Atletico Madrid striker Fernando Torres has urged his side to keep focused on their UEFA Champions League goal ahead of Saturday s home clash with Athletic Bilbao.
Torres scored the sole goal on Wednesday as Atletico recorded a hard-earned victory over Villarreal that sent them six points clear of fourth-placed Sevilla in La Liga.
The top three sides in Spain automatically qualify for next season s Champions League group stages and, with just four matches of the season remaining, Diego Simeone s men are well-placed to achieve that feat.
Winning at Villarreal, who sit sixth, was seen as significant in that bid, although Atleti will face a Bilbao side unbeaten in three games.
And Torres said accumulation of points is still his side s focus.
Adding …
Thiago Silva said the unique talents of Zlatan Ibrahimovic will decide the Serie A title race in AC Milan s favour.
The San Siro outfit have had to get by without their talismanic striker for their past three Serie A outings following the Sweden international s straight red card against Napoli earlier this month for a slap on Salvatore Aronica.
However, Ibrahimovic will be available for this weekend s trip to Palermo, and the power forward s return cannot come soon enough as far as Silva is concerned.
Ibra is our extra weapon, the Brazil international told La Gazzetta dello Sport.
He s 50 per cent of our squad. After the three-game ban, he will return even stronger than before. We need Ibra s determination, grit, his goals and his hunger. He s unique …
Demarai Gray s courageous early goal earned Leicester City a 1-0 home win over Premier League high-flyers Burnley on Saturday, maintaining their momentum under new manager Claude Puel.
The Foxes have now collected 11 points from six league games since the Frenchman s appointment as Craig Shakespeare s successor, losing only to leaders Manchester City.
Leicester were in front early in beating Tottenham 2-1 on Tuesday and the hosts made a similarly strong start here by scoring the opening goal after six minutes at the King Power Stadium.
A Riyad Mahrez cross evaded the entire Burnley back line, with goalkeeper Nick Pope pushing the ball straight out to Gray, who tapped in his second Premier League goal of the season, though his momentum saw him clatter into the p…
Liverpool look set to lose Emre Can at the end of the season with contract talks stalling, according to the Mirror.
The Germany international appears to be heading closer to the Anfield exit door as his current deal with the club runs down, and with Bayern Munch and Juventus keeping a close eye on the situation.
He could sign a pre-contract agreement with either club in January and the Reds current limits on what they offer their players may see them lose out.
Can moved to Merseyside in the summer of 2014 and has since racked up one hundred and forty-three appearances for the club in all competitions, scoring eleven goals the latest of which coming in the Reds’ 3-0 win over Maribor in the Champions League on Wednesday.
He has been capped a total of…
Barcelona presidential candidate Victor Font believes he can convince disgruntled superstar Lionel Messi to remain at Camp Nou beyond this season.
Messi s future remains an important topic at embattled LaLiga giants Barca after he handed in a transfer request following a tumultuous 2019-20 campaign.
The six-time Ballon d Or winner was tipped to join Premier League powerhouse Manchester City before opting to remain in Spain, though he has since been linked to Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint-Germain and Inter.
Font, who is in the running for the presidential election which takes place on January 24 following Josep Maria Bartomeu s resignation in October, talked up the importance of re-signing Messi.
I m convinced that with a competitive, exciting and, especi…
The Football Association has charged Burnley striker Andre Gray with misconduct after homophobic posts from his Twitter account were widely circulated.
The tweets, posted in 2012 and shared across social media last weekend after he scored in Burnley s surprise 2-0 Premier League win over Liverpool, included the remark: Is it me or are there gays everywhere? #Burn #Die #Makesmesick .
Gray issued an apology in which he claimed he was now a wholly different person and did not hold the beliefs written in those tweets whatsoever .
But the FA has nonetheless issued a charge of misconduct as a result of the comments, which it deemed to be abusive and/or insulting and included an aggravating factor relating to sexual orientation.
Burnley s Andre Gray has been ch…
Arsenal are determined to exploit their second chance as they head to Monaco fighting to save their UEFA Champions League season.
Arsene Wenger takes his side to former club Monaco on Tuesday with a 3-1 deficit from the first leg of their last-16 tie.
After being ripped apart on the counter at home, Wenger hopes to utilise all his nous and experience in big occasions to guide Arsenal into the quarter-finals for the first time since 2010.
He said: Monaco are in a very strong position but we have experience, and the desire and belief that we can do it. So we are here to do it.
We will have to play on full power, focusing on our offensive and defensive games. The desire is there.
I am confident. The odds are stacked against us, but we will give …
that AS Roma are hot on the trail of Sassuolo stars Gregoire Defrel and Lorenzo Pellegrini.
The Giallorossi have been trying to bring the French forward to Stadio Olimpico for quite some time, and they are hoping to agree a loan deal with an option to buy until the end of the winter transfer window.
Defrel’s arrival would help compensate for the absence of Mohamed Salah, who is away on Africa Cup of Nations duty, with the Frenchman impressing to score 6 goals in first 19 league fixtures this season.
At the same time, AS Roma seem to have regretted selling talented midfielder Lorenzo Pellegrini to Sassuolo as they now want him back.
The 20-year-old has been in fine form ever since he joined the Neroverdi and the Giallorossi now hope to cut their losses…
West Ham United are keen on signing Emmanuel Adebayor on loan from Tottenham Hotspur, .
The Hammers want to bolster their striking options after suffering back to back Premier League defeats and have identified the former Arsenal and Manchester City man as their top target.
Adebayor has been left out of the match-day squads for all three of Spurs’ games so far this season, and made just nine league starts in the 2014/15 campaign.
The 31 year old moved to White Hart Lane initially on loan in the summer of 2011, and has made one hundred and six appearances for the North London club in all competitions, scoring forty-one goals.
The Togo international, who is in the final year of his current deal, had been also linked with a move to Aston Villa thou…
Barcelona officially opened the new Johan Cruyff Stadium, which will host games for Barca B and their women s teams.
The new 6,000-seater stadium – located at the club s training ground in the suburbs of the city – pays tribute to the legendary Cruyff, who played for the Blaugrana between 1973 and 1978 before coaching them between 1988 and 1996.
Cruyff died in 2016 and is widely credited with laying the foundations for the unprecedented success the club has enjoyed over the past 15 years.
Lionel Messi, Gerard Pique and Sergio Busquets were among the Barca stars in attendance at the opening, which hosted a friendly between the club s Under-19s and a youth side from another of Cruyff s former teams, Ajax.
The opening followed on from Monday s unveilin…