Barcelona have lodged an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) after Fifa ruled the club must release Lionel Messi for the Olympic Games.
Messi has made it clear that he wishes to go to the Olympics but Barcelona have made it equally clear that they don’t want him to.
Fifa ruled on Wednesday that clubs must release players aged 23 or under for the Olympics if a nation requests them.
Barcelona join German clubs Schalke and Werder Bremen in appealing to the CAS after losing key players to the Games.
The CAS have said they will deliver their final ruling on or before 6 August 2008.
Barcelona want Messi for the first leg of their Champions League third qualifying round tie on 12 August. But with the Olympic football tou…
Matheus Pereira scored one and provided three assists as West Brom moved back above Leeds United to the top of the Championship with a 5-1 thrashing of Swansea City.
The Baggies recorded their biggest win of the season and of Slaven Bilic s time in charge having been set on their way by Semi Ajayi s 25th-minute header.
Pereira then swept in his fifth goal of the season and though Sam Surridge reduced the deficit by poking in from on the line, Pereira released Hal Robson-Kanu to make it 3-1 before half-time.
A delicious chip from Pereira led to Matt Phillips heading in a fifth 20 minutes from time and West Brom s Brazilian playmaker also teed up substitute Kyle Edwards to get in on the act in a sixth successive win.
Full-time at The Hawthorns!
Borussia Dortmund ended the 2018/19 season in second place of the Bundesliga, but several were quite sad once the campaign ended. Since BVB spent most of the campaign at the top of the standings, finishing the year empty handed certainly felt like a disappointment for the German giants’ fanbase.
However, fans shouldn’t feel like that. In fact, not even one person associated with Borussia Dortmund should feel this season was a wasted year. In fact, this could be a huge year for the future of the club since they proved they can go toe-to-toe with Bayern. Something that was quite unlikely just 12 months ago.
A team built for the future
It only takes a look at the squad to see this club has a bright future ahead of themselves. Despite losing key players over the past f…
Inter win race for Argentine starlet
Italian daily that Inter are on the verge of signing Tigre midfielder Ruben Botta.
According to the Italian newspaper, the Neroazzurri have reached an agreement with the player’s representatives over a five-year deal worth around €1 million per campaign.
Once club president Massimo Moratti gives the green light, the transfer will be officially completed.
Inter have thus managed to win the race for the player who was also followed by Juventus, Tottenham and Roma.
The best thing here is that the 23-year-old holds an Italian passport and arrives at Giuseppe Meazza on a free transfer.
Ruben Botta is an attacking midfielder who has only recently established himself as a first team regular at Tigre, but…
Sunderland are keen on agreeing a permanent deal for Liverpool’s Fabio Borini, .
The Italian enjoyed a successful loan spell with the North East club last season, where his seven goals in thirty-two league appearances helped to secure their Premier League status.
His form saw him named the Black Cats’ Young Player of the Year, though he missed out on Italy’s squad for this summer’s World Cup finals in Brazil.
The Merseyside club are holding out for £12.5m for the man they signed from Roma two seasons ago, though Sunderland are set to test their resolve with a bid of £10m.
At just 23, Borini has played for five different clubs having begun his professional career with Chelsea though he was loaned to Swansea City after making just four subst…
Eric Dier conceded Tottenham only had themselves to blame after a late collapse at bottom-of-the-table Southampton meant they were forced to settle for a 3-3 draw.
Spurs led 3-1 with 13 minutes remaining, but Theo Walcott got a goal back for Saints before James Ward-Prowse converted a stoppage-time penalty after Pape Sarr was adjudged to have fouled Ainsley Maitland-Niles.
Antonio Conte appeared to be furious at the decision, but Dier acknowledged the result should have already been put to bed by that point of the match.
We only have ourselves to blame, the Spurs defender told Premier League Productions.
Sloppy mistakes. We lost possession easily and didn t have control of the game at 3-1 when we should have.
We conceded really poor goals and …
Aston Villa central midfielder Douglas Luiz will sign a new contract with the club, according to . The report has claimed that the Brazil international midfielder will put pen to paper on a three-year contract with the Villans.
Newcastle United wanted to sign Luiz from Villa in the January transfer window and made a bid of £30 million. The Villans turned it down, with manager Steven Gerrard keen on keeping the former Manchester City prospect at the club. Manchester United have considered making a bid for Luiz in the summer transfer window.
Luiz has scored and created nine big chances in 104 appearances in the Premier League in his career so far. The midfielder made and three substitute appearances in the Premier League for the Villans last season, scoring two goa…
We will officially know the first Champions League quarter-finalists on Tuesday as Liverpool host Porto and Real Madrid travel to Paris Saint-Germain.
Liverpool already have one foot in the last eight after their thumping 5-0 first-leg win so eyes will turn to the Parc des Princes where PSG will need to overturn a 3-1 deficit to progress.
Denied the services of the injured Neymar, PSG will need big performances from Edinson Cavani and Kylian Mbappe if they are to stun their Spanish opponents.
Here are some of the best Opta numbers surrounding the two fixtures.
Paris Saint-Germain v Real Madrid
33 Thirty three per cent of teams to have lost 3-1 away in the first leg of a Champions League knockout tie have progressed to the next rou…
Lionel Messi is not among the three finalists for the UEFA Best Player in Europe Award.
Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo and his team-mate Gareth Bale as well as Atletico Madrid attacker Antoine Griezmann make up the final list.
Messi was not even placed fourth in the long list of 10 candidates as Barcelona team-mate Luis Suarez bumped him down to fifth.
Ronaldo is favourite for the award, having led Real Madrid to their 11th Champions League win in 2015-16, before being crowned European champion with Portugal after seeing off France in the final at Euro 2016.
Bale, meanwhile, also won the Champions League with Madrid, while inspiring Wales to the semi-finals at the European Championship.
France striker Griezmann lost the Champions League fin…
This morning s Daily Telegraph reports that Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is looking to find a long term replacement for his troubled centre-half and former captain William Gallas.
The newspaper says that Wenger is very interested in twenty-four year old Juventus defender Giorgio Chiellini.
The Italian international who had an exceptional Euro 2008 has struggled a little this term with injury and form, but is still regarded as one of the best defenders in Serie A. It is unlikely that Juventus would be happy to see him go.
(Source Daily Telegraph)
…