Barcelona midfielder Ivan Rakitic paid a glowing tribute to Gianluigi Buffon ahead of Wednesday s Champions League match against Juventus, stating the veteran goalkeeper s heart-wrenching farewell from international football was tough to witness.
Buffon returns to Europe s top competition after Italy s ignominious exit from the World Cup, with Sweden s play-off triumph over the Azzurri denying the 39-year-old a fitting career farewell at Russia 2018.
Asked whether he had any consoling word for Buffon at a pre-match news conference, Rakitic suggested it would be ridiculous to assume there is any wisdom left for all-time great top receive on the beautiful game.
If I have to explain something about football to Buffon that would be a difficult challenge. I don t thi…
On a night that was billed as a crucial showdown in Group H, Chelsea managed to book their spot in the knockout stage of this year s Champions League with a thumping 4-0 win against Juventus.
Laying down what was a real marker at Stamford Bridge, the defending European champions breezed their way past Tuesday s guests as Thomas Tuchel s men enjoyed a night to remember in west London.
With their homegrown academy stars really stealing all of the headlines, we have taken a look at the main talking points as Chelsea hit the Old Lady for four and brought an end their Champions League romp.
A domestic European double for Chelsea?
While Chelsea might have entered the international break with a 1-1 draw at home against Burnley, the Blues have only marked their return …
Michael Carrick reiterated his focus is purely on Manchester United s clash with Premier League leaders Chelsea amid speculation Ralf Rangnick is set to take over as manager on a short-term contract.
Rangnick is widely anticipated to be appointed on a six-month deal following the end of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer s reign last week, with a potential longer stay at Old Trafford in role a behind the scenes.
The German, who is head of sports and development at Lokomotiv Moscow, will not be in charge in time for Sunday s visit to Stamford Bridge.
United head into that fixture 12 points behind the leaders and six points adrift of the top four, and temporary boss Carrick is solely concentrated on narrowing those gaps rather than talk of what change may come to the club afte…
Per Mertesacker and Alexis Sanchez were on target as holders Arsenal claimed a 2-0 FA Cup third-round win over Hull City.
Steve Bruce s team had surged into a 2-0 lead when the teams met at Wembley in last season s final before the north London club secured a 3-2 extra-time triumph to lift the famous trophy.
But Hull were unable to worry Arsenal in the same manner during the opening stages this time, and the hosts were good value for Mertesacker’s headed opener.
Alexis, Nacho Monreal and the returning Theo Walcott all went close to doubling the lead before the early inventiveness faded from Arsenal’s play.
Arsene Wenger s men still largely retained control of the contest and Alexis sealed a deserved return to winning ways eight minutes from time, f…
Spain goalkeeper Pepe Reina is tipping Fernando Torres to light up Euro 2012, revealing that the forward is looking sharp in training.
Torres took a long time to settle at Chelsea following his 50-million-pound switch from Liverpool in January of last year but the much-maligned forward showed signs of a return to form towards the tail end of the season.
Reina now believes that his former Reds team-mate, who scored the only goal in the Euro 2008 final win over Germany, could now prove the ace in Spain s pack in Poland and Ukraine.
It might be his tournament, the 31-year-old shot-stopper told AS. He is playing at a very high level and in training he is very switched on.
Spain begin the defence of their European title against Italy, a side whose preparati…
Neville Southall believes Kepa Arrizabalaga and David de Gea could learn valuable lessons from world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua.
Chelsea made Kepa the world s most expensive goalkeeper in 2018 but he made the latest in a number of errors as the Blues went down 2-0 to Premier League champions Liverpool on Sunday.
He is now set to be replaced as Chelsea s number one, with Rennes keeper Edouard Mendy reportedly close to a £22million (€24m) move to Stamford Bridge.
Manchester United goalkeeper De Gea, meanwhile, has endured several difficult campaigns and is under additional pressure to retain his place between the posts following Dean Henderson s return from a fine loan spell with Sheffield United.
Southall, who helped Everton to two league title…
Premier League strugglers Stoke City are enduring a difficult time in English top flight of late which resulted in manager Mark Hughes getting a sack just last week.
Sitting in 18th place in the standings, Stoke City are given
The Potters have yet to announce the new boss but the club are nevertheless actively working on reinforcing the squad during the January transfer window.
According to reports coming from the Spanish media outlet Marca, Stoke City are looking to bring a familiar face back to the bet365 Stadium – Bojan Krkic.
The Spanish striker has failed to establish himself as a first-team regular at Alaves this term and has only started three La Liga matches thus far. Stoke City’s second-top scorer in the 2015/16 season will have the final s…
Nuno Espirito Santo was happy with Harry Kane s display as a substitute in Tottenham s 1-0 victory over Wolves on Sunday.
Dele Alli s penalty – the midfielder s first Premier League goal since March 2020 – proved decisive at Molineux as Nuno got one over on his former club.
Spurs talisman Kane, a transfer target for Manchester City, missed the opening two games of the season – a win over the champions and a defeat to Pacos de Ferreira in Europa Conference League qualifying – but returned to a rapturous welcome from the travelling support.
Kane came on in the 72nd minute, and perhaps showed just why Nuno has been reluctant to call on him so far, away from the transfer speculation.
It has been widely reported that Kane would like to join City, but …
Zinedine Zidane is not entertaining speculation about transfer talks with David Alaba as Real Madrid battle to defend their LaLiga title.
Bayern Munich defender Alaba is out of contract in Germany at the end of the season and negotiations over an extension have so far proved fruitless for the European champions.
The Austria international has been mooted as a target for Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain as well as Madrid, although Zidane s outfit are considered favourites for his signature in some quarters.
Alaba was a key part of the Bayern team that won the Champions League last season.
However, since the start of 2019-20, he has committed four errors leading to shots in the competition, a joint-high among defenders. Non…
Mary Earps insists that there are “so many more levels” for England to reach ahead of their quarter-final meeting with Colombia on Saturday.
After finishing goalless in normal time, the Lionesses progressed to the final eight with a penalty shoot-out win against Nigeria with Chloe Kelly smashing home the decisive spot-kick.
It was a tricky test for Sarina Wiegman’s side, who were reduced to 10 when Lauren James was sent off for a stamp on Michelle Alozie, but Earps believes “the best is yet to come”.
“I think it’s an exciting time to be an England player for sure, but we have to earn that right every day,” the goalkeeper said.
“And I think that we’re constantly looking to improve and drive performance and drive our standards and I thin…