Sports

Diego Simeone believes LaLiga s engrossing four-way title race is good for Spanish football and insists leaders Atletico Madrid are only focusing on themselves following Barcelona s slip-up.

Barca missed the chance to go top of LaLiga on Thursday as they slipped to a stunning 2-1 home defeat against Granada, with coach Ronald Koeman sent off prior to Jorge Molina s 79th-minute winner.

It means Atletico lead Real Madrid and Barca by two points, with Sevilla just a point further back with five games to play.

Atletico visit Elche on Saturday prior to Madrid s clash with Osasuna. Barca face Valencia at Mestalla on Sunday and Sevilla host Athletic Bilbao on Monday.

1 Last night vs Granada, Barcelona suffered a LaLiga defeat at the Camp Nou despite leading at …

Bochum will be playing in the Bundesliga once again next campaign after staving off relegation with a penalty shoot-out victory over Fortuna Dusseldorf in the play-offs.

Heiko Butscher s side finished 16th in the German top-flight table in the 2023-24 season, though got the better of their 2.Bundesliga opponents to secure another season in the competition.

Needing to overturn a three-goal deficit from the first-leg play-off defeat, Philipp Hofmann stole the show with a goal in either half before Kevin Stoger s 70th-minute penalty sent the tie to extra time.

The pair could not be separated across an additional 30 minutes at Dusseldorf Arena, ensuring spot-kicks were required to decide the fate of the two Bundesliga hopefuls.

Andre Hoffmann missed Dusseldor…

Paris Saint-Germain are interested in signing Bayern Munich left-back Alphonso Davies, according to . The report has claimed that Davies is out of contract at Bundesliga champions Bayern in the summer of 2025, and that French champions PSG are among the clubs who are keen on securing his services.

Davies is one of the best left-backs in the world and is also able to play as a winger. The 23-year-old Canada international has been on the books of Bayern since 2018 and has developed into a superb player at the Allianz Arena.

During his time a Bayern so far, Davies has won the Bundesliga title five times, the DFB-Pokal twice and the UEFA Champions League on one occasion. The Canada international left-back has made 10 starts and one substitute appearance in the Bundesliga so…

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang hit a personal milestone as his first Premier League hat-trick saw Arsenal past Leeds United on Sunday.

Aubameyang and Hector Bellerin put Arsenal 4-0 up by the 47th minute at Emirates Stadium, though Leeds did strike back twice to make things a little more uncomfortable for Mikel Arteta s side.

That match followed on from Wolves beating Southampton in the day s early kick-off, and West Brom holding Manchester United to a 1-1 draw – Bruno Fernandes stunner earning the Red Devils a point.

In the late game, lowly Fulham picked up a much-needed win by seeing off a lacklustre Everton 2-0 at Goodison Park.

23 Leeds have both scored (40) and conceded (42) 40+ goals in just 23 Premier League games this season; only Tottenham in 2007-0…

England manager Gareth Southgate insists he has never doubted the quality of Luke Shaw.

Manchester United left-back Shaw is expected to make his first England appearance in two-and-a-half years away to Albania in World Cup qualifying on Sunday.

Shaw only has eight caps and has not played for England since a Nations League match against Spain in September 2018.

He has excelled for United at club level this season and has been rewarded with a place in the England squad, which Southgate says is thoroughly deserved.

Luke played in the first Under-21 game I took charge of – John Stones played right back in fact! Southgate said ahead of the match with Albania in Tirana.

There s never been any doubt in our mind about Luke s quality. 

He’s…

Nice midfielder Hatem Ben Arfa has not given up hope of returning to the France team in time for next year s UEFA Euro 2016.
 
After a forgettable 2014-15 campaign, Ben Arfa has hit the ground running this season, with his brace in Nice s 4-1 win over Saint-Etienne on Sunday making him Ligue 1 s joint-top goalscorer.
 
Ben Arfa s sparkling form has some believing he could make a return for France and the 28-year-old, who has not represented the national team since earning his 13th cap in 2012, admits an international recall is on his mind.
 
It s still far but why not, Ben Arfa said via L Equipe when quizzed about his hopes of making the European Championships, which get underway on June 10, 2016.
 
The France team has many good players. It is already a very solid group t…

Competition: Euro 2016 Qualifier
Market: Turkey to win against Netherlands
Odds:

Netherlands are in grave danger of missing out on qualification following a recent defeat to Iceland. The Oranje travel to face Turkey this weekend, but could well come unstuck on the road given how strong the home side are in their own backyard. Danny Blinds men recently suffered a shock defeat to Iceland, and are desperate for a result today to turn their qualifying campaign around.

Six points off an automatic promotion place, and with defeat against Turkey tonight seeing them out of a playoff spot in the group, Netherlands can‘t afford another defeat. Turkey are in good form too, winning four and drawing two of their last six games, so they could well be in pole position to…

Former European champions Italy made certain of their place at Euro 2016 with a 3-1 win over Group H rivals Azerbaijan at the Tofiq Bahramov Stadium on Saturday.

The group leaders needed one win from their final two qualifiers and goals from Eder, Stephan El Shaarawy and Matteo Darmian ensured they go into Tuesday s qualification finale with Norway assured of their spot in France next year.

Antonio Conte without Domenico Berardi, Andrea Pirlo and Lorenzo Insigne due to injury saw his side lead early on courtesy of Eder s second international goal as he finished off a Pirlo-esque pass from Marco Verratti.

Dima Nazarov levelled for Robert Prosinecki s Azerbaijan, who had demonstrated solidity in qualification with three straight draws, but El Shaarawy p…

Struggling Premier League heavyweights Liverpool and Chelsea played out a goalless draw at Anfield in Jurgen Klopp s 1,000th game in management.

The clubs find themselves level on points in mid-table and Saturday s 0-0 result does neither side s hopes of challenging for the top four any good.

Kai Havertz thought he had given Chelsea the lead inside three minutes, only for VAR to rule it out for a tight offside, while Benoit Badiashile wasted a good opportunity.

New signing Mykhailo Mudryk was handed his debut in the second half and also went close for Chelsea, but there was to be no breakthrough at either end.

Congratulations, Jurgen will mark an incredible achievement for the boss

— Premier League (@premierleague)

Havertz turned the…

Inter Miami had their six-match unbeaten streak snapped by New York Red Bulls, who cruised to a 4-0 victory in MLS.

Former Manchester United utility Phil Neville – current head coach of the franchise co-owned by ex-Red Devils team-mate David Beckham – had overseen a club-first run of three consecutive victories.

Inter Miami were also in the midst of their best undefeated run in the team s young existence, having kept four straight clean sheets for the first time in their history.

However, 10-man Inter Miami crashed back down to earth at the hands of the visiting Red Bulls on Friday.

Patryk Klimala opened the scoring in the 18th minute before Red Bulls team-mate Omir Fernandez doubled the lead just past the half-hour mark at DRV PNK Stadium, where Inte…