Barcelona will secure top spot in their group with another positive result on Wednesday in what is arguably the biggest game of Champions League matchday five.
Lionel Messi is close to a personal milestone but Juventus will be desperate to avenge their 3-0 loss at Camp Nou and secure passage to the last 16 themselves.
Manchester United are also on the brink of the knockout phase and will look to fit-again Paul Pogba to improve on a pretty miserable record in the competition, while Paris Saint-Germain represent a daunting prospect for Celtic and Brendan Rodgers.
Chelsea will look to follow them into the next round and will hope Eden Hazard continues his electric form against Qarabag, while Atletico Madrid and Roma face off in a potentially pivotal showdown in the…
Neymar has revealed Lionel Messi played a key role in his successful adaptation to life at Barcelona after a difficult start in Catalonia.
The Brazil international joined Barca from Santos in 2013, but went through a tough period early on at Camp Nou.
Messi, though, took Neymar under his wing to help him become a key figure at Barca.
I have a nice story about Messi, Neymar told CNN.
Soon after I arrived, it was not a great moment in my career and he was the one who helped me. He saw that I was sad, with my head down, that things were not going right for me.
He told me to keep going, to be happy and to play the way I know. He told me this and he helped me a lot at that moment in time.
He is a person who I admire a lot.
Neymar a…
Arsenal captain Mikel Arteta has extended his contract by an extra year until June 2016.
The Spanish midfielder moved to Arsenal from Everton in 2011 and was appointed skipper 12 months ago after Thomas Vermaelen s departure to Barcelona.
Arteta made just seven Premier League appearances last season, however, as a long-term calf injury laid him low for much of the campaign.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger believes the 33-year-old still has plenty to offer, though, and hopes to have Arteta back running things from the middle of the park in 2015-16.
He will stay with us for one more year because he has extended his contract, Wenger told Arsenal s official website.
He s one of the leaders in the club because he s the captain of the team. I expect him…
Greg Dyke, the chairman of the Football Association, has outlined proposals for changing the rules concerning home-grown players in English football.
The suggestions are part of the England Commission, set up in 2013 to help improve the flow of young English talent coming through at the game s top level. Work permit regulations will also be more stringent.
Dyke has made the following recommendations:
Home-grown players to be defined as someone who has been registered with any club affiliated to the FA for three years prior to their 18th birthday, rather than their 21st, as is currently the case.
A reduction in the maximum number of non-home-grown players in a 25-man first-team squad from 17 to 13, phased over four years from 2016.
A requireme…
AC Milan have completed the signing of Everton winger Gerard Deulofeu on loan until the end of the season, the Italian club have confirmed.
The Spain winger moved to Goodison Park on a permanent deal in 2015 having impressed on loan on Merseyside during the 2013-14 campaign.
Defulofeu has struggled for game time under Ronald Koeman this term, though, and has just four Premier League starts to his name.
Milan were soon credited with an interest in his services in the January transfer window, but the move was thought to have stalled over the Serie A club s reluctance to pay a loan fee.
However, the two teams have now reached an agreement with Milan posting on Twitter: @gerardeulofeu joins #ACMilan on a loan deal until 30/06/2017 #welcomeDeulofeu.
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Roma stalwart Daniele De Rossi has warned his team-mates of the dual threat they will be need to counter on Wednesday in the form of Barcelona and Lionel Messi.
The sides meet at the Stadio Olimpico in Group E of the Champions League on Wednesday as Luis Enrique returns to his former club with the defending champions.
Grouped alongside BATE and Bayer Leverkusen, Barca and Roma will be fancied to progress to the knockout stages, with De Rossi also warning of the need to avoid a repeat of the 7-1 mauling they suffered at the hands of fellow European heavyweights Bayern Munich last term.
Barcelona are a special side in that, as well as being the best team, they also boast the best player around, he said on Tuesday.
It s doubly difficult coming up aga…
Manchester United will face trips to Kazakhstan and Serbia in the Europa League, while 2018-19 runners up Arsenal were grouped with last season s semi-finalists Eintracht Frankfurt.
United, Europa League winners in 2016-17, were placed in Group L in Friday s draw and will take on Astana, Partizan Belgrade and AZ.
Though a long trip to Kazakhstan for the Astana clash is far from preferable and Belgrade will prove a difficult place to visit, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer s side will be clear favourites to progress.
Arsenal were drawn in Group F, with Bundesliga side Frankfurt likely to present the biggest challenge to the Gunners, who must also take on Standard Liege and Vitoria Guimaraes.
The 2019/20 group stage draw!
Which games are you excited for? …
Harry Kane brought up a century of Premier League goals with a nerveless 95th-minute penalty in Sunday s 2-2 draw between Liverpool and Tottenham.
The Spurs star had missed from the spot just eight minutes earlier in a thrilling Anfield finale which also saw Mohamed Salah and Victor Wanyama score sensational goals.
Kane already has more Premier League goals to his name than any Spurs player.
With triple figures now in the bag, we analyse the Opta data behind Kane s ton
100 Harry Kane has scored 100 goals in the Premier League in just 141 appearances only Alan Shearer (124) reached the 100 goals in the competition in fewer games. Ton.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe)
100 Kane is Spurs top-scorer in the Premier League. Teddy Sheringham (…
Karim Benzema has urged Eden Hazard to make another story at Real Madrid, after the Belgium star impressed against Deportivo Alaves on Saturday.
Hazard scored himself and also set up the first of two Benzema goals as Madrid eased to a 4-1 win over LaLiga strugglers Alaves, relieving some of the pressure on Zinedine Zidane, who was absent from the touchline after testing positive for COVID-19.
Madrid had lost their previous two matches, against Athletic Bilbao in the Supercopa de Espana before going down to minnows Alcoyano in the Copa del Rey in midweek.
Casemiro opened the scoring before Benzema struck either side of Hazard s third goal of the season in all competitions.
Hazard, signed from Chelsea in 2019, has struggled for fo…
Best odds: 8/15
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Dinamo Zagreb travel to the north-west of England to face Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday evening in the second round of this season s Champions League Group C matches.
Manchester City
The Premier League champions have started the season relatively well, winning five of the seven league games so far and failing to beat only Tottenham Hotspur and Norwich City. However, they trail the leaders and Champions League holders Liverpool, who have managed to win all seven so far. Apart from that, they ve launched their Carabao Cup campaign with a 0-3 win over Championship side Preston North End. As for the Champions League, Pep Guardiola s team won their opening game away to Shakhtar Donetsk by the same scoreline, and they si…