Real Madrid turned on the style in a 4-1 win at Granada that showed Carlo Ancelotti s team at their most vivacious.
It took them to the top of LaLiga, if only perhaps for a few hours, with Real Sociedad playing later on Sunday, with Marco Asensio, Nacho, Vinicius Junior and Ferland Mendy all on target.
Carlo Ancelotti inherited a side who lost out to city rivals Atletico in last season s title battle, but all evidence at the Nuevo Los Carmenes pointed to this incarnation of Madrid being hard to stop.
Granada had Monchu red-carded midway through the second half, but Madrid were already 3-1 up and pressing for more at that stage.
10 Real Madrid s Vinícius Junior has become the first LaLiga player born in 2000 year to score at least 10 goals in all competit…
Diego Simeone called upon his Atletico Madrid players to be constantly prepared going into the second half of the season and warned of the traps that lie in store as they aim to win their first LaLiga title since 2014.
Luis Suarez scored in the 90th minute to earn Simeone s men a 2-1 victory over Deportivo Alaves on Sunday, extending their domestic winning streak to four matches and moving them two points clear of nearest rivals Real Madrid, who have played two games more.
Asked to assess his side s performance after 15 games of the season, Simeone said he expects the challenge of staying at the top of the table to be one of increasing difficulty.
We understand that the league is complex, Simeone told reporters. It is difficult, it has traps, you have to be con…
Dele Alli admitted Tottenham have lost an unbelievable player in Christian Eriksen.
Eriksen, 27, finalised a long-awaited move to Inter on Tuesday in a deal reportedly worth €20million (£16.8m).
Spurs accepted the cut-price offer after the Danish playmaker entered the final six months of his contract.
Jose Mourinho claimed Eriksen lacked motivation but England international Alli had nothing but praise for his former team-mate, who spent six-and-a-half seasons in north London.
He s a worldie, Alli told Sky Sports. I sent him a sad face on message, but I m sure I ll speak to him.
He s an unbelievable player. Yeah, he ll be missed here, but this is a different step in his career.
Since the start of the season there s been a lot of specu…
While Newcastle might have been forced to settle for a 0-0 stalemate at home against Leicester on Monday night, Eddie Howe’s side did officially punch an emotional Champions League return at St. James’ Park.
Although the Magpies might have been disappointed after missing out on the chance to make another major statement here, Newcastle dominated large spells and largely didn’t have to get out of third gear.
Securing their first top-four finish in 20 years and met by a wave of emotion at the full-time whistle, Howe’s side have certainly enjoyed a history-making campaign in the north east.
However, while Howe’s men might have officially punched their Champions League ticket here, Leicester will know that a single point was not enough on a night when they…
England must be considered among the world s very best sides and they are capable of going all the way in Qatar, says Kalidou Koulibaly.
The Three Lions defeated Koulibaly s Senegal 3-0 on Sunday at Al Bayt Stadium to seal their place in the last eight of the World Cup.
England, World Cup semi-finalists in 2018 and Euro 2020 finalists last year, are the tournament s leading scorers with 12 goals, while they have conceded only twice across their four matches.
France are next up for England on Saturday and while Koulibaly knows the Les Bleus will provide the sternest of challenges, he believes Gareth Southgate s team have every chance of going even deeper into the tournament.
They are very good. We know that they have a lot of talent, a lot of big players,…
Manuel Neuer and Thomas Muller think Bayern Munich should be confident of beating Chelsea in the last 16 of the Champions League.
The Bundesliga champions will meet Frank Lampard s side in a repeat of the 2011-12 final, which Chelsea won on penalties after a 1-1 draw in Munich.
Neuer and Muller played in that heart-breaking home defeat for Bayern, who responded in the 2012-13 season by winning the treble, which included a Champions League final triumph over Borussia Dortmund at Wembley.
With Bayern having recaptured some better form since Hansi Flick took over as interim coach from Niko Kovac, particularly excelling in Europe, Neuer thinks his side can take a healthy level of confidence into the tie.
We re looking forward to London, where we ve had some…
Gianluca Vialli will temporarily step away from his role as delegation chief for the Italian national team to focus on his battle with pancreatic cancer.
Vialli announced he had undergone radiotherapy and chemotherapy in November 2018, having been diagnosed with the disease one year earlier.
The former Chelsea and Juventus forward was initially given the all-clear in April 2020, but announced he was fighting the disease again in December 2021.
Vialli was a visible presence alongside Roberto Mancini in the dugout as Italy won Euro 2020 last year, but the 58-year-old is now putting a temporary halt to his duties with the Azzurri.
At the end of a long and difficult negotiation with my wonderful team of oncologists, I have decided to suspend, hopefully tempo…
Hibernian set up a glamour tie with Aston Villa after goals from Elie Youan and Martin Boyle earned a 2-2 draw against Luzern in Switzerland.
Hibs progressed 5-3 on aggregate to secure a Europa Conference League play-off against a Villa side captained by former Easter Road hero John McGinn, who was part of their 2016 Scottish Cup-winning team.
Youan fired Hibs into an early lead and set up Boyle to level the tie on the night in the 73rd minute, soon after Luzern had got within one goal on the aggregate score.
The Hibs rollercoaster keeps rolling in Europe
— Hibernian Football Club (@HibernianFC)
Villa are scheduled to visit Edinburgh for the first leg next Thursday.
Hibs had extended their first-leg lead in stoppage-time at Easter Road…
Antoine Griezmann is not obsessed with breaking Thierry Henry s goalscoring record for France as he stands on the brink of reaching 100 international caps.
Griezmann will have the chance to secure silverware if he makes his landmark outing on Sunday in the Nations League final, Les Bleus having set up a clash with Spain thanks to a sensational comeback victory over Belgium.
Didier Deschamps side trailed 2-0 at the interval but managed to turn the game around in the second half. Karim Benzema and Kylian Mbappe scored to draw the sides level before Theo Hernandez proved to be the unlikely hero, the full-back thundering in a 90th-minute winner.
Griezmann was not able to add to his tally of 41 goals for the national team, meaning he still trails Henry s career t…
With battles at both ends of the Premier League table now really starting to heat up, we have another stacked schedule on our hands. So, for those of you looking to stick on a Saturday acca, we have found a handful of helpful tips that are worth keeping an eye out for.
Saturday March 11th
BST 12:30 Bournemouth vs Liverpool
While Liverpool might have come under a string of scrutiny this season, Jurgen Klopp’s side are coming off the back of a remarkable romp on home soil. Eventually claiming a history-making 7-0 victory against historic rivals Manchester United, Saturday’s guests now have their sights firmly set on securing a much-needed top-four finish this season. With the mood around Anfield undoubtedly at the highest it has been this season, Klopp’s men will…