Joao Felix continued his dream start for Barcelona with two goals and an assist as his side swept past Royal Antwerp 5-0 in their first game in Champions League Group H.
The Portugal international, who scored on his debut in another 5-0 win over Real Betis at the weekend, was in superb form against the Belgians who were returning to top-level European competition for the first time in 65 years.
Barca boss Xavi showed no mercy to Antwerp as he brought Ilkay Gundogan and Raphinha into his starting line-up and watched his side predictably dominate the opening exchanges at the Nou Camp.
Player of the Match!
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona)
It took just 11 minutes for Felix to make the breakthrough when he cut in from the left and flashed the opener …
Ahead of the FIFA World Cup in Brazil, Juan Mata has put Spain s recent success down to the players familiarity with one another.
Defending champions Spain will start the finals as one of the favourites to lift the trophy, having beaten Netherlands 1-0 in the 2010 showpiece.
Either side of that victory, they won UEFA Euro 2008 and Euro 2012 and further success would only increase their standing as one of the greatest national sides in world football.
And Mata feels having a core of players that have played together for years, both at club and international level, has played a key role in their triumphs.
I think we are like a family, he told Laureus.
We ve known each other for a long time and we ve played together for the last six, eight years so we feel rea…
Eintracht Frankfurt chief executive Axel Hellmann claimed Cristiano Ronaldo was even offered to us earlier in 2022.
Ronaldo left Manchester United in November after a controversial interview with Piers Morgan signalled the end of his time with the club.
However, Ronaldo had seemingly wanted to leave United ahead of the 2022-23 campaign, with the 37-year-old eager to play Champions League football.
Eintracht chief Hellman said even the Bundesliga club, who won the Europa League last season, were offered Ronaldo as he searched for a way out of Old Trafford.
He was also offered to us. Yes, even we were offered him, Hellman said in a documentary shown by DAZN.
Hellmann added: I have the feeling he was offered to every Champions League club.
…
It s safe to say that when the Champions League groups were announced earlier this season, Roma weren t given much of a chance by most experts and pundits.
After all, the Giallorossi were placed into a quartet that included Chelsea and Atletico Madrid. The Blues notably won the contest in 2012, and are the last English side to lift the trophy. Meanwhile, under the tutelage of Diego Simeone, Los Rojiblancos made it to the final in 2014 and 2016, only to be twice thwarted by cross-town rivals Real Madrid.
So whilst debutants Qarabag were expected to be the group s whipping boys and they duly delivered Roma, most figured, would have to settle for the Europa League. Besides, the Lupi had little to show that they were truly ready to mix it up with the bigger sides in Europe.…
Xavi has backed Gerard Pique s decision to quit Spain duty after the 2018 World Cup, labelling criticism aimed at the defender as embarrassing .
The centre-back announced that the World Cup in Russia will be his last major international tournament in the aftermath of Spain s 2-0 qualifying win over Albania.
Pique was accused by some of cutting the regulation short-sleeved jersey in order to remove the trim on the shirts that bears the design of the Spanish flag, although the 29-year-old produced proof after the match that he had in fact cut the sleeves of a shirt that did not have the same flag design.
The Barcelona centre-back has regularly courted criticism due to his public backing of Catalan independence, as well as often stoking the fires with Clasico rival…
Barcelona have been banned from signing players for next season after irregularities were found in their dealings at youth level by FIFA.
The club have been sanctioned for breaching rules in 10 signings between 2009 and 2013, with FIFA placing an embargo on Barca for the next two transfer windows.
Barca s transfer dealings have come under huge scrutiny this season, with former president Sandro Rosell resigning after questions were raised over the close-season signing of Neymar.
The Brazilian officially moved to Camp Nou for €57.1million, though the striker s former club Santos only received a fraction of that and now the signing of youngsters from abroad in recent years has landed the Spanish champions in more hot water.
A FIFA statement read: The FIFA Discipli…
Former AC Milan goalkeeper Zeljko Kalac claims Graham Arnold will restore pride to the Socceroos after naive attempts to emulate Brazil and Barcelona that have left Australia a joke .
Having been announced as Ange Postecoglou s long-term replacement on Thursday, Arnold will leave Sydney FC and take over the national team after the World Cup in Russia, where Dutchman Bert van Marwijk will lead the Socceroos.
Arnold has established Sydney as the dominant force in domestic football after guiding the Sky Blues to the premiership-championship double last season, as well as the 2017 FFA Cup, and they are on track to do the double again this term.
The 54-year-old s appointment has divided opinion among fans following his brief tenure as Socceroos coach after Guus Hidd…
Mauro Icardi ended a 10-week wait for his 100th Serie A goal in style with a first-half hat-trick against his former club Sampdoria.
The Inter captain has only made three appearances in that time due to injury but Sampdoria were unable to cope with the striker at Stadio Luigi Ferraris on Sunday.
Icardi opened the scoring from the penalty spot to score his 100th Serie A goal, quickly adding a second with a superb backheel, a third with a powerful close-range finish and an improvised fourth shortly after the break.
The striker was left out of the Argentina squad by coach Jorge Sampaoli this week but demonstrated his goalscoring ability in a devastating display to become the sixth youngest player to reach 100 goals in Serie A.
100 Mauro has now become the …
Gerrard recognised a privately educated and mild-mannered son of a football family who could go blow-for-blow on the field with his own all-action working-class hero, while Lampard last week labelled the man who famously came close to joining him at Chelsea in 2004 as his toughest opponent.
He had everything, he said in a Daily Mail interview with Gerrard s friend and long-time Liverpool colleague Jamie Carragher. He d deal with you defensively and hurt you going forward.
The legacy they leave behind, purely in terms of numbers and medals, is impressive.
Thrust among a plethora of supreme strikers, Lampard is fourth on the Premier League s all-time goalscorers list with 177 – a season-long encore at Manchester City in 2014-15 lifting him above Thierry Henry.<…
Patrick Cutrone has left Wolves and returned to Italy, signing for Fiorentina on loan.
Fiorentina stated the loan was for two years and included an obligation to buy, while a release from Wolves detailed it as an 18-month deal with a purchase option.
Wolves shelled out a reported £16million to sign Cutrone from Milan in July and the striker made 24 appearances in all competitions.
However, the Italy international started just nine games in all competitions and failed to complete the 90 minutes once.
Cutrone, who scored three goals for the club, was picked in Nuno Espirito Santo s starting line-up once in the past 15 matches and has opted to return to Serie A.
Fiorentina will hope Cutrone can rediscover his best form in familiar surroundings, with…