England Under-21s boss Lee Carsley hailed the cutting edge shown by his side in the opening minutes of their 2-0 victory over Germany in the European Under-21 Championship.
The Young Lions hit the front after just four minutes when Cameron Archer latched onto a threaded pass from Jacob Ramsey before slotting the ball past Noah Atubolu, and they made it 2-0 with 21 minutes on the clock as Harvey Elliott scored a superb solo effort.
England secured a quarter-final date with Portugal on Sunday by topping the group with three straight 2-0 wins over their group-stage opponents, while holders Germany were sent crashing out.
Six goals Three clean sheets Nine points from a possible nine
A perfect Group C campaign for our . Now to focus on the knockouts
Atletico Madrid head coach Diego Simeone hailed Joao Felix for his impact in Saturday s 3-2 loss to Cadiz amid reports about transfer interest in the Portuguese forward.
Atleti, who were eliminated from the Champions League after a 2-2 draw with Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday, conceded within the first minute against Cadiz and trailed 2-0 in the dying moments before 60th-minute substitute Joao Felix led a late rally.
The 22-year-old s 85th-minute over-head kick was deflected in by Luis Hernandez, before the Portuguese equalised with a rifled shot in the 89th minute. The goals were his first since April.
Joao Felix spurned a late header which Atleti would lament as Ruben Sobrino bundled the ball in from close range for a 98th-minute winner for Cadiz.
Despit…
AC Milan striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic will miss his Champions League return to Barcelona after picking up an injury in training on Monday.
The 29-year-old, who made 29 appearances for Barcelona during the 2009/10 season, suffered an adductor injury during the final practice session before the squad was set to head out for Spain and was left behind as his team-mates boarded their flight.
Club CEO Adrian Galliani was not overly upset by the news though, telling reporters: I m not crying about it. It s not a knockout game, there will be others. (Alexandre) Pato and (Antonio) Cassano, two champions, will play.
The club website also confirmed that Milan will give Ibrahimovic a few days to recover before he returns to full training.
And the Swede may not be the…
Roma s Brazilian centre-back Juan could be set for a move back to South America, according to his agent Michael Gerbino.
The player has yet to appear for the capital club this season due to injury and recuperation from muscular problems, and Gerbino warns that there are other clubs looking to take on his services.
It is too soon to talk about it, but an offer from Brazil has already arrived, one that economically cannot be matched in Europe, the agent told calciomercato.com.
There has been talk in the Italian press linking the defender with a January move to Juventus, but Gerbino denied any truth to the speculation.
I do not know, maybe it is possible, but at the moment I am not working on it, he said.
Roma s next fixture is the Derby della Cap…
Marco Verratti has suggested he could spend the rest of his career with Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint-Germain.
The 23-year-old Italy international midfielder moved to the French capital from Pescara in 2012 and won his fourth consecutive top-flight title this season.
Despite the one-sided nature of PSG s dominance on the domestic stage, there is no sense of Verratti who penned a contract extension until June 2020 in February wanting a new challenge.
If I feel like I do now, I don t want to change teams because I don t know how I ll find it elsewhere, he told RMC Sport. Of course, there are other very strong teams, but PSG can become that way too.
I m already playing for a great team in a great city, so I don t see why I should leave. It s possible that …
David Moyes has confirmed his interest in staging a reunion with Manchester United duo Adnan Januzaj and Marouane Fellaini at Sunderland.
Januzaj was handed his United debut by Moyes in 2013, but fell out of favour under Louis van Gaal and had a disappointing loan move to Borussia Dortmund cut short last term.
Fellaini is also very familiar with the new Sunderland boss, who signed the towering Belgian for Everton and again during his time at Old Trafford.
Having replaced England manager Sam Allardyce at the Stadium of Light just 21 days before Sunderland s Premier League opener against Manchester City, Moyes is aware of the need to move fast in the transfer market as he tries to improve on consecutive seasons of battling the drop on Wearside.
Quizzed on J…
Newcastle United were denied a valuable win at Wolves as Willy Boly forced a 1-1 draw in the final few seconds at Molineux.
Isaac Hayden looked to have secured three important points for the visitors in their fight for Premier League survival, only for Boly s header to deny them a third win in four league matches in the fifth minute of injury time.
Rafael Benitez cut a furious figure on the touchline, with the equaliser coming close to a minute after the allotted time added on had expired.
Raul Jimenez fired over from a decent position, having earlier seen penalty shouts waved away following a Christian Atsu challenge, as Wolves provided all the early attacking endeavour.
Martin Dubravka made a good save to deny Jimenez a goal before the break, the strike…
Aikor Karanka feels joining Middlesbrough was the best decision of his life.
After spending three years as an assistant to Jose Mourinho at Real Madrid, the former centre-back took up the head coach role at Boro in 2013.
Karanka s team suffered defeat in the 2014-15 Championship play-off final but secured automatic promotion to the Premier League in the following campaign.
Boro began their top-flight season with a 1-1 draw at home to Stoke City on Saturday, and the Spaniard is elated with how his career is panning out.
Coming here is the best decision I ever made in my life, said Karanka in an interview with El Pais.
On a personal level, it was a matter of improving myself. I came from a tough Championship and reached the Premier League.
Goalkeeper Alisson has revealed how he feels part of the Liverpool family thanks to the club s efforts to help him settle into life on Merseyside.
The Brazil international has enjoyed two hugely successful seasons with Jurgen Klopp s Reds since his arrival from Roma in July 2018.
After lifting the Champions League trophy at the end of his debut campaign, he helped Liverpool end a 30-year wait for a league title this year, albeit injuries and a suspension restricted him to 29 top-flight appearances.
The 27-year-old cost what was then a world-record fee for a keeper Chelsea surpassing it soon after for Kepa Arrizabalaga but has proved his value to the newly crowned Premier League champions since.
It is not just on the pitch where Alisson feels right at home…
20:00 Bayern Munich vs Chelsea
Last seen claiming the DFP Pokal title thanks to a dramatic 4-2 win against Bayer Leverkusen last month, it has been nothing short of a sensational end to the extended campaign for Bayern Munich. Only going from strength to strength since returning from football s enforced break back in June, the German heavyweights stormed towards their eighth straight Bundesliga crown and are in the midst of a remarkable purple patch. Enjoying a silverware sweep domestically this year, Saturday s hosts have remarkably won each of their last 17 matchups across all formats and are unbeaten since opening 2020. With some believing that this new Bayern squad are surpassing Pep Guardiola s former record breakers, Hans-Dieter Flick s side are seen to be one of the leadi…