• Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema has signed a contract extension to keep him at the club until 2019. The 26-year-old France international joined Real Madrid in 2009 from Olympique Lyon and has scored 72 goals in 159 appearances for the Primera Liga...
Third qualifying round (second legs) 1st leg 2nd leg Agg. Zenit St Petersburg vs AEL Limassol 0-1 3-0 3-1 APOEL Nicosia vs HJK Helsinki 2-2 2-0 4-2 Malmo* vs Sparta Prague 2-4 2-0 4-4 FC Sheriff vs Slovan Bratislava 1-2 0-0 1-2 Steaua...
Less than 2,000 West Brom fans stayed behind for the lap of appreciation in the last Premier League match at home last season – a defeat to Stoke. That was Pepe Mel’s final chance to say thank you and goodbye. It was blindingly obvious that he was...
Floriana started their 1969-70 lea-gue campaign very indifferently. In their first match they beat Gżira 2-0 and then drew 0-0 with Valletta. Their performances left a lot to be desired and their next match was not much different. Qormi went for a draw...
Howard Webb has retired from refereeing to become technical director of English soccer’s match officials’ association. Webb, 43, said he had enjoyed the “best seat in the house” while refereeing Premier League games over the past 10 years. In 2010 Webb...
Van Gaal wary over Vidal knee injury
Neville: Phil Neville will join a new-look Match of the Day team for next season as the BBC prepare for life after Alan Hansen. Neville’s infamous monotone commentary on England’s opening World Cup match against Italy – which prompted 445 complaints –...
Liverpool’s Raheem Sterling (left) drives the ball past Phil Jones, of Manchester United. Second-half strikes from Wayne Rooney, Juan Mata and Jesse Lingard earned Manchester United a morale boosting 3-1 win over Premier League rivals Liverpool in the...
Defined Spain’s possession-based style
The Premier League is planning a new under-21 tournament this season involving other clubs in Europe – but claims the competition is not a rival to FA chairman Greg Dyke’s ambitions for a ‘B-league’ involving top-flight reserve sides. The plan, which...
Germany’s most populous state North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) is to reduce the number of police on duty at some low-risk matches within the top three leagues as part of a pilot project aimed at reducing costs, NRW’s interior ministry said this week. NRW...
Neymar’s injured back is healing “satisfactorily” although there is no specific date for the Brazil forward to return to training, his club Barcelona said yesterday. Neymar fractured a bone in his back following a challenge from Colombia defender Juan...
Costa Rica goalkeeper Keylor Navas is ready to fight with Iker Casillas and Diego Lopez for a place in the Real Madrid starting line-up after sealing what he called his “dream” move from Levante. “If I am here it’s not because I bought a lottery...
UEFA’s disciplinary panel has taken action against three clubs following racist incidents during the qualifying rounds for this season’s Champions League. Steaua Bucharest, Debrecen and Maribor have all been hit with partial stadium bans, along with FC...
Trabzonspor make double swoop
Sassuolo’s first-choice goalkeeper Gianluca Pegolo will be unavailable for at least six weeks after breaking his leg, it was revealed yesterday. The 33-year-old former Siena keeper fractured his left tibia during training on Monday afternoon and has...
Third qualifying round (second legs) 1st leg 2nd leg Agg. Played yesterday BATE Borisov vs Debrecen 0-1 3-1 3-2 Panathinaikos vs Standard Liege 0-0 1-2 1-2 Maccabi Tel Aviv vs Maribor 0-1 2-2 2-3 Lille vs...
Verona’s fortunes hinge on Toni as Cagliari opt for veteran Zeman
Arsenal can challenge for the Premier League title again after being hamstrung for a decade by repaying the debt on their Emirates Stadium, according to Alisher Us-manov, the club’s second largest shareholder. “I think we begin a new era for Arsenal...
New Tottenham role for Steffen Freund
Reina: Bayern Munich have agreed a deal to sign Liverpool goalkeeper Jose Reina, the Bundesliga champions announced last night. The Spaniard spent last season on loan at Napoli, but is now set to move to Germany on a permanent deal, with Bayern...
Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers insists he will not be signing Mario Balotelli this summer. Rodgers showered praise on Balotelli last week, which led to speculation he could sign the Milan front man. The Liverpool boss has already signed Lille...
Carlo Tavecchio, under fire after referring to African players as “banana eaters”, received a boost in his bid to win the Italian football federation (FIGC) presidency yesterday when the lower league clubs agreed to back him. The Lega Pro, which...
Arsene Wenger is worried Manchester City’s policy of buying up clubs around the world could see them side-step financial fair-play regulations. Former Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard will turn out for City in the coming season having signed on-loan...
Gary Lineker has claimed he feels sick at alleged corruption within FIFA and labelled the decision to play the 2022 World Cup in Qatar as “ludicrous”. Lineker was part of England’s bid team for the 2018 tournament won by Russia, and insists that...
Former Greece coach Fernando Santos (picture) has been banned for eight competitive international matches after he was sent off at the end of the World Cup match against Costa Rica, FIFA said yesterday. FIFA said in a statement that Santos, who was...
Set to announce Les Bleus retirement
Barcelona midfielder Xavi’s pre-season preparations have been set back by a calf strain, though the injury does not appear to be serious. The Spain international, 34, suffered the injury in training but the club hope he will be able to swiftly rejoin...
Birkirkara have concluded discussions to sign Ellinton Antonio Costa Moraes. Last night, the 24-year-old striker, known as Liliu, put pen to paper on a one-year deal with an option to extend his contract at the end of the season. The arrival of Liliu...
Aidan Friggieri (no.7) runs forward during the game against Turkey at the UEFA U-17 Championship. Photo: Darrin Zammit Lupi With the 2014 UEFA U-17 Championship consigned to the arch-ives, Malta’s new youth squad will be involved in their first serious...
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