La Liga will report the “deplorable racist chants” aimed at Vinicius Junior by Atletico Madrid fans to Spain’s legal authorities.

The Real Madrid forward was again the target for abuse by Atletico fans prior to their Champions League last-16 match against Inter Milan on Wednesday night.

The Brazil forward has called on UEFA, which runs the Champions League, to issue sanctions.

Espero que vocês já tenham pensado na punição deles. é uma triste realidade que passa até nos jogos que eu não estou presente!

— Vini Jr. (@vinijr)

European football’s governing body is understood to be reviewing the official match report before making any decision on disciplinary action, but La Liga has acted already even though the match was not under …

Former Aston Villa manager Alex McLeish believes Paul Lambert was never going to face an easy job in charge of the Midlands club.

McLeish moved to Villa Park from bitter rivals Birmingham City, but lasted just the 2011-12 season before being sacked upon Villa narrowly avoiding relegation from the Premier League.

Following his controversial switch from Birmingham, Villa s fans never took to McLeish.

Lambert s subsequent arrival was met with initial optimism, but he has since struggled to meet expectations, guiding the club to successive 15th-placed finishes.

I knew it was going to be a tough ask for Paul, McLeish told The Mirror.

I saw some of his early comments and I think he thought it [the fans displeasure] would turn overnight. But I knew the…

Paul Scholes believes England should adopt an approach similar to that of Liverpool, and go on the offensive at the upcoming FIFA World Cup.

Brendan Rodgers Liverpool lit up the Premier League this season with their attacking displays, scoring 101 goals with a breathtaking brand of football.

Their performances this season have been rewarded by five call-ups to Roy Hodgson s squad for the finals in Brazil, with Glen Johnson, Steven Gerrard, Jordan Henderson, Raheem Sterling and Daniel Sturridge all included in the party of 23.

And Scholes, who played 66 times for England, scoring 14 goals, urged Hodgson to copy Liverpool s expansive style of play when the World Cup campaign gets underway in just over two weeks time.

It would be refreshing for England to adopt Live…

Bundesliga outfit Schalke are set to offload French midfielder Benjamin Stambouli, according to L’Equipe.

The 26-year-old joined the club from Paris Saint-Germain last summer and went on to make 23 Bundesliga appearances.

However, Stambouli clearly failed to justify the €8.5 million invested in him and latest reports suggest that new head coach Domenico Tedesco does not have the midfielder in his plans for the new season.

As a result, Schalke are ready to listen to offers for the Frenchman, although they are holding out for €10 million.

Stambouli had made a name for himself at Montpellier, and he went on to join Tottenham in the summer of 2014.

However, the holding midfielder left Spurs after just one year, going on to do the same at PSG an…

Ahead of kick-off against Dynamo Kiev, Manchester City fans welcomed club great Colin Bell on to the Etihad Stadium turf.

Widely regarded as the finest player in City history, the gesture was to mark the 50th anniversary of former England midfielder Bell signing for the club, while giving a nod to the past on the night Manchester s blue half broke new ground by reaching the Champions League quarter-finals for the first time.

However, Bell s late career was ravaged by a serious knee problem and there was an uncomfortable parallel in the second leg of the last-16 tie as one of City s modern heroes was hit by his own injury curse once again.

Pursued by Kiev winger Oleg Gusev in the fifth minute, home captain Vincent Kompany grimaced, turned and put the ball out of p…

Kingsley Coman has sustained a torn hamstring, Bayern Munich have confirmed, with the winger a major doubt for the second leg of their Champions League tie with Liverpool as a result.

Coman came off the bench during Bayern s 1-0 Bundesliga win at home to Hertha Berlin on Saturday, but lasted only nine minutes before he had to be replaced.

The France winger hobbled off and went straight down the tunnel, with coach Niko Kovac indicating tests would be needed to determine the extent of the injury.

Bayern duly confirmed Coman has torn his left hamstring, with the 22-year-old expected to be out for months rather than weeks.

He is therefore highly likely to be out for Bayern s return leg against Liverpool on March 13, with the sides having drawn 0-0 at Anfi…

La Liga heavyweights Atletico Madrid have announced the departure of the forward Rafael Santos Borre who has finalized the move to River Plate.

The 21-year-old Colombia striker joined Atletico Madrid from Deportivo Cali in 2015 but failed to make his presence known at Vicente Calderon. Consecutive loan spells back with Deportivo Cali during the 2015/16 season and at Villarreal last year got him no closer to Diego Simeone’s plans, however.

Having failed to make a single first-team appearance for Rojiblancos, the 21-year-old moves to River Plate hoping to revive his career.

Santos Borre underwent the medical examinations on Monday and had a training session with his new teammates before his €3 million move was even made official.

Borre’s move away fr…

Cristiano Ronaldo will be the man in the spotlight on Sunday, but Roberto Martinez says Belgium cannot afford to focus only on the Portugal star. 

Ronaldo tied Ali Daei s record of 109 international goals with a pair of penalties against France to send Portugal into the knockout stage of the European Championship. 

Still, Martinez insists Ronaldo will get no special attention in their last-16 clash. 

When you put a plan against a specific player, you can be hurt by other players, the Belgium head coach told a news conference. The way that Portugal plays, they’ve got a lot of threat, they’ve got a lot of pace in behind.

Of course Cristiano Ronaldo seems to be the player that gets the right moment, the right pass and the right chance, and you hav…

Juventus have confirmed the signing of Federico Chiesa from Serie A rivals Fiorentina.

After completing his medical on Monday, the Italy international joins on an initial two-year loan deal at a total cost of €10million.

Juve also have a purchase option, which is for €40m and could rise to €50m.

His arrival comes after Douglas Costa departed the club earlier in the day, the Brazilian returning to Bayern Munich on loan for the 2020-21 season.

Juve had already added midfield duo Arthur and Weston McKennie to bolster the squad, along with forward Alvaro Morata.

Chiesa scored 10 goals in 34 Serie A appearances last term, while he has found the net once in three outings at the start of the new campaign.

The 22-year-old has play…

Celtic captain Callum McGregor has a “very good chance” of facing Rangers but will not be risked on Livingston’s artificial surface.

Manager Brendan Rodgers will delay McGregor’s comeback until after Sunday’s cinch Premiership contest at the Tony Macaroni Arena.

The midfielder has been troubled by Achilles pain and has not featured since coming off at half-time during Celtic’s 7-1 win over Dundee on February 28.

Rodgers said: “Callum has been out on the field, but we are not risking him in this game. But he should hopefully re-join training next week.”

When asked if McGregor had a chance of facing Rangers, Rodgers replied: “Yes, a very good chance.”

Reo Hatate is set to make his return after playing only 19 minutes for Celtic s…