Barcelona will take a slender advantage to Camp Nou after they beat Real Madrid 1-0 in their Copa del Rey semi-final first leg at the Santiago Bernabeu on Thursday.
An Eder Militao own goal was all that separated the two Spanish giants, with Carlo Ancelotti s men having a lot of the ball but unable to craft much in the way of chances.
Militao s own goal was only the fourth this century in a Clasico, three of which have favoured Barca after Ivan Helguera s in May 2002 and Raphael Varane s in February 2019.
Madrid may consider themselves fortunate not to lose by more, however, with Ansu Fati inadvertently denying team-mate Franck Kessie a certain goal in a second half largely dominated by the hosts.
3 Éder Militao own goal is the fourth scored this way in …
Milan have re-signed forward Brahim Diaz on a two-year loan deal from Real Madrid.
The Rossoneri announced on Monday the 21-year-old Spaniard will be tied to the Serie A club until June 30, 2023 and will wear the number 10 shirt.
Diaz spent last season on loan at San Siro where he scored four goals and provided three assists in 27 games in Serie A, 17 of which ended in victories for Stefano Pioli s side.
The former Manchester City man, who signed for Madrid from the Premier League club in January 2019, had 26 shots for Milan last season with a conversion rate of 15.38.
Diaz, a technically gifted and skilful attacker, joined City in 2015 after showing promise in Malaga s youth ranks.
Same face, new vibe
— AC Milan (@acmilan)
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When Thomas Tuchel arrived at Chelsea in January 2021, there were some raised eyebrows and curiosity over whether the German could succeed where his predecessor, club legend Frank Lampard, had fallen short.
It did not take long for Tuchel to turn doubters into believers, leading the Blues to a top-four finish, an FA Cup final and a Champions League triumph.
However, with the 48-year-old celebrating a year in charge at Stamford Bridge, he has recently experienced perhaps his first rocky period in England, having won just one of his previous seven Premier League games prior to Sunday s victory against Tottenham. Chelsea now sit 10 points behind leaders Manchester City, having played a game more.
As Tuchel blows out the candles on his anniversary cake, Stats Pe…
Marcus Thuram will leave Borussia Monchengladbach as a free agent at the end of the season after the Bundesliga club finally gave up hope of keeping the France forward.
The 25-year-old is enjoying his most fruitful goalscoring campaign and has been linked with clubs including Inter, Chelsea and Newcastle United.
In 28 games, he has managed 16 goals and five assists, already beating his haul of 14 goals from the 2019-20 campaign.
Thuram, who can play as a striker and as a left winger, is the son of former France defender Lilian Thuram.
Gladbach sporting director Roland Virkus said it was with regret that the club would part company with former Guingamp after four years together.
Algerian defender Ramy Bensebaini will also leave on a free transfer, …
Thomas Tuchel denied joining Bayern Munich was a backwards step and claimed the team he has inherited from Julian Nagelsmann would be title contenders if given a chance to play in the Premier League.
The former Chelsea boss had been recently linked with Tottenham and conceded on Saturday he had not expected his next job to be one in the Bundesliga.
Such a stance is understandable, given Tuchel would have looked at Bayern, perhaps the only team that could presently tempt him back to Germany, and believed they were planning a long-term tenure for Nagelsmann.
Until his sacking, that remained the Bayern stance, with Nagelsmann s departure and Tuchel s arrival announced simultaneously by the German giants on Friday.
Tuchel could scoop a treble in his first mon…
Recently-retired players who could be at risk of feeling “in limbo” at the end of their careers are being offered the chance to join a new union-funded fitness network.
The RECONNECT initiative has been launched by the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) to help ex-pros manage the physical and mental transition away from playing full-time.
Leicester’s 2016 Premier League title-winning captain Wes Morgan took part in the initial session at Loughborough University last month alongside former England striker Ellen White and ex-Leeds forward Jermaine Beckford, among others.
“A lot of players that I speak to who have recently retired struggle with finding what to do next,” Morgan said.
“The routine they are so used to gets taken away at r…
Lille were crowned Ligue 1 champions on Sunday as they pipped Paris Saint-Germain to the title by a single point.
Christophe Galtier s side won 2-1 at Angers to ensure they finished 2020-21 in top spot, with PSG s 2-0 victory at Brest proving academic.
It is Lille s fourth top-flight title in the professional era and their first since 2010-11, when Eden Hazard was named the competition s player of the year.
Lille s points tally of 83 is the best in their history and they only lost three matches all season, the last of which was in March against Nimes.
— LOSC Lille EN (@LOSC_EN)
It is Galtier s first Ligue 1 title as a coach, while Sunday s match is expected to be his last at the club before he takes charge of Nice.
Lille s t…
Ten-man Tottenham recovered from an early setback to start their Europa League campaign with a commanding 3-0 victory over Qarabag.
Despite Radu Dragusin s early red card, goals from Brennan Johnson, Pape Sarr and Dominic Solanke helped Ange Postecoglou s side to a third straight win in all competitions.
Just seven minutes had elapsed when the hosts were reduced to 10 men as last-man Dragusin dragged down Juninho after he was caught in possession.
However, Spurs responded brilliantly to take the lead just five minutes later, with Solanke stealing possession and feeding Johnson, who applied a neat first-time finish.
The hosts survived a scare before the break when Juninho steered wide from Elvin Cafarquliyev s cross but doubled their advantage seven minute…
Thomas Christiansen believes Panama s exit from the Copa America will prove to be a learning experience for his players following their defeat to Colombia.
Panama had no answers to a James Rodriguez-inspired performance, bowing out of the competition after a 5-0 defeat to Los Cafeteros in Arizona.
Christiansen s side reached the knockout stages of the tournament for the first time in their history, having fallen in the group stages in 2016.
Panama finished second in Group C in this year s edition behind Uruguay, knocking out hosts United States out in the process.
¡FINAL DEL PARTIDO !
Termina el compromiso y la participación de
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Former Manchester United captain Harry Maguire’s move to West Ham has stalled, the PA news agency understands.
The 30-year-old centre-back became the most expensive defender in history when joining the Old Trafford giants from Leicester for £80million in 2019.
Maguire was swiftly handed the captain’s armband, but a lack of form and game time led Erik ten Hag to last month name Bruno Fernandes as United’s new skipper.
West Ham’s initial £20m bid for the England international was rejected before an improved offer in the region of £30m was accepted by the Red Devils last week.
But the PA news agency understands the Hammers are looking at other potential options as the move has stalled, albeit the transfer is not dead.
Maguire was an unused…