Olivier Giroud went some way to silencing the boo-boys by scoring twice as France rounded off their preparations for Euro 2016 with a classy 3-0 beating of Scotland in Metz.

Arsenal striker Giroud was on the scoresheet in Monday s unconvincing 3-2 win over Cameroon, but was still largely jeered by the Nantes crowd.

But Giroud s impressive international form continued against a poor Scotland team, opening the scoring with a clever flick before following up Dimitri Payet s saved shot to make it seven goals in as many France outings.

Laurent Koscielny s first international goal made it 3-0 before the break and the only surprise was that no more arrived in the second half, although Paul Pogba did strike the post.

Giroud, whose domestic position is seemingly …

Spain have earned a place in the final of this year s UEFA Euro Under-21 tournament at the expense of Ukraine, beating the young representatives of the war-troubled country by 5-1 at the Steaua Stadium in Bucharest. Ukraine took the lead after 13 minutes through Shakhtar Donetsk midfielder Artem Bondarenko, sparking a fierce reaction from Spain.

It took Braga striker Abel Ruiz just four minutes to capitalize on a mistake by Volodymyr Brazhko and equalize, and another seven for Athletic Bilbao midfielder Oihan Sancet to get his team in front with a lovely shot from outside the box. In the second half, Real Madrid s Antonio Blanco (54 ), Osasuna s Aimar Oroz (68 ) and Manchester City s Sergio Gomez (78 ) made sure Spain s triumph was comfortable in the end.

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Knowing that they face what is another must-win Bundesliga showdown on Friday night, Bayern Munich will make the trip to Freiburg.

Freiburg

Starting with the hosts, while Freiburg might have eventually extended on their Europa League adventure as they secured a 3-2 victory against French outfit Lens on February 22nd, Christian Streich’s men have struggled to find any kind of stability this season. Last seen making an immediate return to losing ways as they slumped to a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Augsburg, the Reds have recorded just a single win from any of their previous seven appearances across all competitions. Continuing to show some glaring defensive issues and almost sat in Bundesliga limbo, Friday’s hosts will also be concer…

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.