Milan (AFP) – Frank de Boer has been sacked as coach of Inter Milan after just 11 Serie A games for failing to ignite the Italian giants at home and in Europe. Sunday's loss at similarly struggling Sampdoria was Inter's fifth league defeat since the start of the season and prompted a fan backlash on […]

Berlin (AFP) – Bayer Leverkusen will be without influential captain Lars Bender for Wednesday's crunch Champions League clash with Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley. Right-back Bender, who won a silver medal with Germany at the 2016 Rio Olympics, is out with a bruised heel from Saturday's 2-1 comeback win at Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga. Also out […]

Berlin (AFP) – Germany's prolific Miroslav Klose, the all-time World Cup top-scorer, announced his retirement on Tuesday at the age of 38. Germany's leading scorer with 71 goals in 137 internationals was without a club after his Lazio contract expired last season and he will now join the national side's coaching team. Klose hit a […]

Milan (AFP) – Frank de Boer has been sacked as coach of Inter Milan after the Serie A giants slipped to 13 points off the pace in Italy's top flight. "Inter Milan announces that Frank de Boer has been relieved of his duties as first-team coach," said a club statement. "The first-team squad will be […]

Paris (AFP) – Stung by a chastening 4-0 defeat at the Camp Nou two weeks ago, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola makes a second attempt to outwit his former club Barcelona in the Champions League on Tuesday. Guardiola's men were undone by the second-half dismissal of goalkeeper Claudio Bravo on October 19, when Lionel Messi […]

London (AFP) – Mauricio Pochettino insists the frustration of Tottenham's recent barren run won't become a distraction as his injury-plagued side look to get back on track in the Champions League. A 1-1 draw against Leicester on Saturday left Tottenham manager Pochettino counting the cost of five games without a victory. West Bromwich Albion, Bournemouth […]

Paris (AFP) – AFP Sports looks ahead to Wednesday's Champions League action with reigning champions Real Madrid, Juventus, Borussia Dortmund and debutants Leicester City all looking to clinch places in the last 16 with two games to spare (kick-offs 1945 GMT): Group E At Monaco Monaco (FRA) v CSKA Moscow (RUS) Monaco top the group […]

London (AFP) – Burnley striker Andre Gray says he wants to move on now he has returned to first-team action following a four-game ban for homophobic tweets he made several years ago. The 25-year-old — who played in Saturday's 0-0 draw with Manchester United in the Premier League — published the tweets when he was […]

Stoke-on-Trent (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Ivory Coast striker Wilfried Bony ended a 10-month goal drought with a brace against former club Swansea City as Stoke City's revival continued with a 3-1 win in Monday's Premier League clash. Both goals for the 27-year-old Manchester City loanee were set up by another former Swansea favourite, Joe Allen, […]

Manchester (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola will have a Halloween trick up his sleeve when his old club Barcelona visits on Tuesday, according to the Catalan giants' coach Luis Enrique. Guardiola sprang a surprise in the teams' first Champions League Group C encounter at the Camp Nou two weeks ago, picking […]

Madrid (AFP) – After another case of so near yet so far for Atletico Madrid, the spectacular form of Yannick Carrasco is powering the latest strong bid from Diego Simeone's men to finally be crowned kings of Europe. Victory at home to Champions League debutants FC Rostov on Tuesday will seal Atletico's place in the […]

Berlin (AFP) – World champions Germany will be granted an audience with Pope Francis when the team travel to Italy for a friendly international next month, head coach Joachim Loew confirmed on Monday. Germany play a 2018 World Cup qualifier away to minnows San Marino on November 11, then face Italy in a friendly in […]

Manchester (United Kingdom) (AFP) – Manchester United left-back Luke Shaw hailed Bastian Schweinsteiger's return to first-team training after the former Germany midfielder's exile came to an end on Monday. The 32-year-old has not featured since United manager Jose Mourinho's pre-season arrival and was written off as an asset in the club's financial results for the […]

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s move to Arsenal in 2011 came at an unusual time. The then 18-year-old was surely a big prospect, and the Gunners weren’t the only massive club to be in on the Ox sweepstakes, but Arsenal supporters wanted proven players at that particular time. When Chamberlain arrived, the north London club was yet to […]

Madrid (AFP) – Gareth Bale's new six-year Real Madrid contract will see the Welshman reportedly rake in well in excess of 115 million euros ($126 million) as the Spanish giants bet on Bale to lead another glorious era at the Santiago Bernabeu. Bale, who has won two Champions League titles in three years in Spain, […]