Despite a clatter of unhelpful developments around Manchester City at the start of September, it had at least looked like a useful couple of days for Bernardo Silva.
The Portugal international, City s player of the year when they won an unprecedented domestic treble in 2018-19, suffered a strangely underwhelming season last time around especially for a player who seems so in tune with Pep Guardiola s vision and demands.
Lionel Messi arriving in Manchester would have probably blocked Bernardo s route back to a place on the right of City s front three. But the six-time Ballon d Or winner announced he would remain at Barcelona against his will.
Among Silva s other rivals for the spot are two men who appeared to usurp him in the pecking order last season. But Riyad M…
Milan were pegged back to a thrilling 3-3 draw by Genoa in Serie A on Sunday.
Second-half goals from Matteo Gabbia and Olivier Giroud put Milan on course for victory, but a late own goal from Malick Thiaw rescued a point for the visitors.
Genoa s Mateo Retegui converted a penalty five minutes in, but Milan equalised just before half-time through an Alessandro Florenzi header.
The visitors regained the lead three minutes into the second half, however, when Caleb Ekuban sent a towering header home.
Milan turned the game around in three minutes, as Gabbia headed home in the 72nd and Giroud scored the hosts third of the match with a volley from an acute angle.
Yet Genoa continued to push and a cross into the Milan box was inadvertently turned into his…
The European Professional Football Leagues (EPFL) has insisted it will support any legal action taken by an individual division following FIFA s decision to hold the 2022 World Cup final in November and December.
FIFA confirmed on Thursday that the final of the tournament will take place on December 18, serving as confirmation that the competition will be staged in the last two months of the year.
The switch has been made in an effort to avoid the soaring temperatures in Qatar in the traditional World Cup months of June and July, which can often climb above 40 degrees centigrade.
A November December tournament will greatly affect the domestic leagues in Europe, with the Premier League and La Liga already voicing strong opposition to the change.
The EP…
Unai Emery says Aston Villa must adapt to the varying challenges of European and domestic football ahead of Sunday s Premier League meeting with an amazing Brighton at Amex Stadium.
Villa boss Emery has become renowned as somewhat of a European mastermind, having won three Europa Leagues with Sevilla and another when in charge of Villarreal.
Yet the Spaniard will have been disappointed as Villa slipped to a 4-2 home defeat against Olympiacos in Thursday s Europa Conference League semi-final first leg.
Emery acknowledged his Champions League-chasing Villa must prepare differently for different challenges in Europe as they prepare to return to domestic action against Brighton.
He said: We want to grow up in Europe, playing Europa League and Champions League…
Serhiy Rebrov believes his team will display the spirit of Ukraine in their Euro 2024 opener against Romania on Monday.
Ukraine qualified for the tournament in Germany, with that success coming against the backdrop of Russia’s invasion of the nation, which began in February 2022.
Ukraine reached the quarter-finals of Euro 2020, eventually going down to England, and they could be a team to keep a close eye on.
Coach Rebrov is confident his team will take plenty of spirit into the competition, telling reporters: All the players, me personally, are getting lots of messages from our fighters, from our soldiers, from our friends who are now fighting for the freedom of Ukraine.
I am sure they are very proud of us, we are very proud of them. They are telling …
Jim Curtin believes maintaining an organised, coordinated press will be key for the Philadelphia Union on Saturday, when they take on CF Montreal at Subaru Park.
The Union sit eighth in the Eastern Conference standings, five places but just three points clear of Montreal, after playing out a goalless draw with Toronto FC in midweek.
Philadelphia have only won one of their last nine MLS matches but have taken five points from their last three (one win, two draws), while keeping three straight clean sheets.
Curtin feels picking their moments to strike is the way to go against Laurent Courtois team, saying: We expect a really tough test against Montreal. You can tell they re well-coached, they re well-drilled in the way that they try to pass out of the back.
Brazil captain Neymar admitted that his side s 0-0 draw with South Africa in their opening Olympics clash on Thursday felt like a defeat.
The host nation dominated for large spells in Brasilia, but were unable to find a way past Itumeleng Khune in the South Africa goal, even after they were reduced to 10 men when Mothobi Mvala was sent off following a second booking.
Neymar insists Brazil never expected their challenge for the gold medal to be straightforward, but conceded that the result will be a difficult one to forget.
We knew it wouldn t be a case of coming here and bringing home the gold, he said after the match.
For us, the draw is a defeat. The team played to win, but we know our responsibility. We ll face more difficulties yet.
We …
The knockout rounds of Euro 2024 got underway on Saturday, with the first two teams booking their places in the quarter-finals.
Switzerland stunned the defending champions, sending Italy home after a 2-0 victory in Berlin.
Later, Germany also prevailed by the same scoreline to take a step closer to potential success on home soil, beating Denmark.
Here, we round up the best Opta statistics from the first set of Euro 2024 round-of-16 ties.
Switzerland 2-0 Italy: Vargas ends Azzurri defence
The teams on Switzerland s side of the draw will be looking over their shoulders after they dumped Italy out, largely thanks to Ruben Vargas standout performance.
He set up Remo Freuler s opener before curling in a stunning effort himself, becoming the fir…
Germany tested the crossbar three times during the first-half initially when Julian Brandt s sweetly struck shot cannoned to safety with Weverton beaten.
The hosts much-vaunted frontline of Luan, Gabriel Barbosa, Gabriel Jesus and Neymar began to link pleasingly and, after Renato Augusto spurned an unmarked 23rd-minute chance at the back post, it was Brazil s captain who sent a capacity crowd into raptures.
Neymar s 25-yard free-kick was simply sumptuous, leaving Timo Horn grasping helplessly as it found the net via the underside of his bar.
Germany refused to be daunted by the scoreline or a now ramped-up party atmosphere and a Meyer free-kick caused havoc his delivery from the left deflecting and skimming to top of the crossbar.
From the resulting corne…
Jesus Navas confirmed he will retire from international duty following Spain s Euro 2024 final showdown with England on Sunday.
The 38-year-old, who will bring the curtain down on an international career spanning 15 years, is the last remaining member of La Roja s 2010 World Cup and 2012 European Championship-winning sides.
Navas has appeared three times for Spain during this tournament, captaining the side in their final Group B game against Albania, while deputising for the suspended Dani Carvajal at right-back in the semi-final win over France.
The Sevilla wing-back, who will call time on his professional career later this year, admitted he has played through the pain barrier in recent years.
Speaking ahead of Sunday s final, Navas highlighted similari…