Barcelona saw their 25-match winning run at home in La Liga come to an end on Saturday as Valencia beat the champions 3-2 at Camp Nou.
On a day when Spanish football remembered former national team coach Luis Aragones, who died on Saturday, Gerardo Martino s side got off to a fine start as Alexis Sanchez s seventh-minute effort fortuitously beat Valencia keeper Diego Alves and, although they generally dominated the first half, the visitors drew level just before the break.
Dani Parejo finished off a move he started to peg the hosts back and the diminutive Pablo Piatti put Juan Antonio Pizzi s men ahead with a header early in the second half.
Lionel Messi then equalised for Barca from the penalty spot on 54 minutes after Ricardo Costa was adjudged to have handled in the…
Atletico Madrid duo Koke and Juanfran have signed long-term extensions to their contracts with the Liga champions.
The Spain internationals were central figures as Atleti claimed their first Liga title since 1996 last term, while they were also involved in the club s run to the UEFA Champions League final, where Diego Simeone s side lost to city rivals Real Madrid in extra time.
Koke, 22, came through the youth ranks at Vicente Calderon and has made 169 appearances for the club, scoring 13 goals. He has extended his stay at the club until 2019.
Juanfran, meanwhile, has been in the Spanish capital since joining from Osasuna in 2011.
The 29-year-old has since made 161 outings for Atletico and has been rewarded with an extension, until 2018.
In addit…
Former Real Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas feels Gianluigi Buffon deserves to win the Champions League, but he will still be cheering for his boyhood team when they take on Juventus on Saturday.
Buffon has won numerous trophies throughout his illustrious career, but Champions League glory has evaded the veteran shot stopper until now.
The 39-year-old lost the final in 2003 and 2015 and he will be hoping it is third time lucky in Cardiff this weekend.
Had the opponent not been Real Madrid, I would have wanted Buffon to win the Champions League with all my heart, he deserves it, Casillas told La Gazzetta dello Sport.
I obviously support Madrid, but Buffon s career should not come to an end without him having won the Champions League. He has won almost…
Aaron Ramsey has challenged Arsenal to win the FA Cup and repay the great faith that Arsene Wenger has shown in the players this season for little reward.
The Gunners came from behind to beat Manchester City 2-1 after extra time on Sunday and book an FA Cup final meeting with London rivals Chelsea – their third trip to the Wembley final in four years.
The competition is Arsenal s last hope of silverware in what still could be Wenger s final season at the club, having suffered Champions League elimination in the last 16 and languishing seventh in the Premier League.
With Wenger yet to publicly commit to a reported two-year deal that is thought to have been offered to him, Ramsey hopes helping Wenger to a record seventh FA Cup triumph can go some way to making …
Memphis Depay remains committed to Lyon, insisting he has never expressed a desire to leave the club.
Depay has been linked with a move away from the Groupama Stadium, with Paris Saint-Germain, Inter and Barcelona all said to be interested in the former Manchester United forward.
He scored six goals for Lyon in the 2019-20 Champions League, helping Lyon reach the semi-finals as Les Gones knocked out Juventus and Manchester City last month following the resumption of the competition from its coronavirus-enforced suspension.
He hit the ground running in Lyon s first game of the 2020-21 Ligue 1 campaign, scoring a hat-trick for Rudi Garcia s men in a 4-1 win over Dijon.
Speaking to NOS, Depay, whose contract expires at the end of the season, said of specu…
Jose Mourinho says he saw a great Roma in Sunday s 1-0 loss to Juventus and is convinced his side are moving in the right direction despite the defeat.
Moise Kean scored the only goal of the game at Juventus Stadium as Rodrigo Bentancur s header deflected in off the striker in the first half, with Jordan Veretout seeing a penalty kept out by Bianconeri goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny.
Roma out-shot Juventus 15-6 and edged possession with 52.1 per cent, but were unable to breach the hosts stubborn rear-guard in Turin.
Giallorossi boss Mourinho believes his beaten side did enough to win the match and is encouraged by the progress Roma are making under his stewardship.
I can only say I saw a great Roma today. That s what I told my players in the locker room, M…
On Tuesday, the NHL announced a blockbuster TV rights deal with Turner, but this new agreement will have no bearing on EA’s NHL franchise, at least not for current or past games. A spokesperson for EA Sports told GameSpot that NHL 21 and any past games are not impacted by the new rights deal with Turner. Whether or not EA is planning any changes for this year’s inevitable NHL 22 remains to be seen, however.
“We’re excited for our partners at the NHL on their new deal with Turner Sports but today’s news doesn’t impact EA Sports NHL 21 or any past games of the franchise Come from Sports betting site VPbet . We look forward to sharing details on the next iteration of the EA Sports NHL franchise at a later date.”
We hav…
English football giants Manchester United were once the target of a takeover by Myanmar s military junta, according to an American diplomatic document revealed by whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks.
A cable sent from the US embassy in Rangoon to Washington, details of which have been published on the website of British daily newspaper the Guardian, revealed military commander-in-chief Than Shwe was advised by his grandson before January 2009 to look into the possibility of buying United.
The cable said an offer of one billion US dollars (634 million pounds) was under consideration before being scrapped in favour of creating a new Burmese football league.
This proposal, which never became an offer to United s American-based owners the Glazer family, was reportedly…
Arsenal landed a stunning blow in the title race and left rivals Chelsea on the canvas following a 3-1 victory at The Emirates on Monday.
Goals from Alex Song, Cesc Fabregas and Theo Walcott helped the Gunners end their big two hoodoo which had seen them draw one and lose 10 of the last 11 games against championship rivals Chelsea and Man United and moved them to second on the English Premier League table.
And it means they are now United s closest rivals at the top of the league just two points adrift of the summit and right back in the title hunt.
In contrast, Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti is under severe pressure, with his team lying fourth in the table, only one point above fifth-placed Tottenham and two ahead of sixth-placed Bolton who visit Stamford Bridge…
Wayne Rooney is determined to end Manchester United s long wait for a trophy this season despite admitting their Premier League title challenge could be over.
Excluding the Community Shield in 2013, United have not claimed any silverware since Alex Ferguson delivered the title in his final season in charge at Old Trafford in 2012-13.
Louis van Gaal s side endured a dismal run of form at the end of last year which saw them exit the Champions League and fall away from the pacesetters at the top of the table.
Though Rooney accepts that closing the 12-point gap to leaders Leicester City looks unlikely, the United captain insists they must push for success in the FA Cup and Europa League in order to finish the campaign in positive fashion.
The important thi…