Emilio Butragueno expects Juventus to make it very tough for Real Madrid when the two heavyweights do battle in the Champions League next month.
The quarter-final draw on Friday paired last season s finalists together, with Madrid travelling to Turin for the first leg on April 3 before hosting the return fixture eight days later.
Juve will hope to avenge the 4-1 loss to Zinedine Zidane s side in the Cardiff showpiece last May, a result that saw the Spanish giants retain their European crown.
A 2-1 second-leg victory over Tottenham kept the Serie A leaders in the competition this term and Madrid director Butragueno feels that demonstrated their mental toughness.
Gonzalo Higuain and Paulo Dybala scored in the space of three minutes at Wembley to stun th…
Thomas Tuchel has partnered Timo Werner and Romelu Lukaku in the Chelsea attack from the start for the first time for the visit of Manchester City, who have a number of stars back fit.
Chelsea head into Saturday s Premier League clash at Stamford Bridge top of the table, three points ahead of champions City.
The Blues have beaten City in all three meetings since Tuchel took charge – including the Champions League final – and are looking to become the first side to defeat Pep Guardiola in four consecutive matches.
But Tuchel has mixed things up for this game, shifting from his usual 3-4-3 to a 3-5-2 formation, including N Golo Kante, Jorginho and Mateo Kovacic in central midfield after the trio excelled in the second half of last week s 3-0 win at Tottenham.
Daniel Sturridge is back in football after a year and a half away, signing with the A-League s Perth Glory for the 2021-22 season.
The 32-year-old former Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester City striker has not played since being released by Trabzonspor in March 2020 after being handed a four-month ban for breaching the Football Association s betting regulations.
Sturridge scored seven goals in 16 appearances during his brief stint with the Turkish club after finding the net 97 times in 294 Premier League games.
It’s a fantastic opportunity to try a new challenge, Sturridge told the Perth Glory website.
When the opportunity came about, it felt like the right thing to do, to take my talent somewhere where I can enjoy my football in a competi…
Manchester City s floundering title defence continues on Sunday in a blockbuster Premier League clash against Chelsea.
Manchester City s floundering title defence continues on Sunday in a blockbuster Premier League clash against Chelsea.
Roberto Mancini s side could feasibly be looking over their shoulder at the third-placed Blues who trail City by four points rather than skywards towards runaway leaders Manchester United, who are 12 points clear at the top.
Winless in three in the league, City need victory over Rafa Benitez s side at Etihad Stadium to build some sort of momentum in an unlikely bid to catch their cross-town rivals, who travel to last-placed QPR.
Chelsea, meanwhile, need to keep winning to sew up their spot in the top three, which woul…
Greg Vanney believes the LA Galaxy are in a good spot both physically and mentally ahead of Saturday s clash with fellow Western Conference high-fliers Real Salt Lake.
The Galaxy sit third in the West through 11 matches of the season, though they have failed to win back-to-back road games against Austin FC (0-2) and the Seattle Sounders (0-0).
They are, however, unbeaten in all four of their home league games this term (two wins, two draws), and Vanney is looking forward to returning to Dignity Health Sports Park next time out.
Physically, first and foremost, we re in a pretty good spot. We have a few guys coming back from issues that were pretty minor, Vanney said.
It s good. We ve been able to stay in that space for a while and now we re going into a …
Arsenal would be willing to sell Alexis Sanchez to Chelsea if they received an offer of around £50million, according to Paul Merson.
Sanchez is out of contract in 2018 and talks over a renewal are on hold until the end of the season.
If the Chile international cannot be convinced to extend, former Arsenal star Merson does not think Chelsea s status as a rival club would stop Arsene Wenger from selling, given he would be desperate to avoid losing him for nothing the following year.
He feels the 2012 sale of Robin van Persie to Manchester United when he had one year left on his contract is a sign of what is likely to happen at the end of this season.
And Merson believes Sanchez s arrival at Stamford Bridge would give Chelsea an impressive replacement if Ed…
Marc Pugh has signed a new deal with AFC Bournemouth.
The winger, whose previous contract had been due to expire at the end of this season, will now be tied to the club until 2018.
It s amazing to have it all sorted, Pugh told Bournemouth s official website. I ve always wanted my future to be at AFC Bournemouth I love the place. It ticks all the boxes for me on and off the pitch.
The rise has been incredible. We ve got a great squad and great characteristics in the dressing room that will take us a long way.
It s a pleasure to be a part of such a wonderful football club.
Pugh joined the Cherries from Hereford in 2010, having started his career in Burnley s youth system, before spells with Bury and Shrewsbury.
Bournemouth are third b…
Manchester City are preparing to swoop in to sign Samuel Umtiti from Barcelona in January, according to L Equipe.
The French defender has had a torrid time with injuries since his arrival to Camp Nou in 2016, and though he is now fully fit, he has lost his place in the starting XI completely as Gerard Pique and Clement Lenglet now form head coach Ernesto Valverde s preferred centre-back partnership. Umtiti has so far started just three La Liga games this season, he came on off the bench once as well, and he started once in the Champions League too.
On the other hand, the Premier League champions have come to regret not replacing former captain Vincent Kompany who left the club in the summer, as Aymeric Laporte suffered a heavy injury blow early in the season and won t b…
Verdict: Both teams to score No
Best Odds:
Bookmaker:
United States head into the 2017 Gold Cup with experimental squad and the opening clash against very good Panama side will be a very good test for a number of newcomers. Los Canaleros, on the other hand, plan to take advantage of the opportunity that presented itself and attempt to record a rare win over USMNT.
United States
Having failed to impress at the previous edition of the tournament, when they were beaten by none other than Panama in a third-place play-off, United States were expected to name a strong side for the Gold Cup 2017. However, having the 2018 World Cup finals in mind, new boss Bruce Arena decided to leave all star players out of his squad and instead included a number of newcomer…
Zinedine Zidane and Toni Kroos have lamented Real Madrid s growing injury issues after full-back Dani Carvajal limped off in Sunday s 2-0 win over Valencia.
Carvajal was making his first appearance for Madrid since January 2 but lasted just 28 minutes before sustaining an apparent injury to his right thigh.
He has been restricted to 12 games in all competitions this term and is now considered a big doubt for the Champions League last-16 first leg with Atalanta on February 24.
The Spain international joins the likes of Sergio Ramos, Eder Militao, Alvaro Odriozola, Eden Hazard, Rodrygo, Federico Valverde and Marcelo on the sidelines.
Madrid boss Zidane is concerned about the long list of injuries he has had to contend with this term and is unsure why so man…