Diego Simeone felt Atletico Madrid s pace and precision was key to their 3-0 Copa Del Rey victory at home to Eibar in the first leg of the quarter-final on Thursday.

Goals from Antoine Griezmann, Angel Correa and Kevin Gameiro ensured Atletico will go into next Wednesday s second leg with a commanding lead after a routine victory at the Vicente Calderon.

Eibar s slack defending made it a comfortable win for Atletico, with Simeone highlighting the positive impact of Yannick Carrasco and the improving Nicolas Gaitan, along with the trio of scorers.

It was an important game, we backed the team to win duels one against one, Simeone said.

With the speed of Griezmann, Correa, Carrasco and Gaitan, which is fine, we could do damage. With some precision we were …

Atletico Madrid have signed Monaco goalkeeper Benjamin Lecomte in a season-long loan deal.

The 30-year-old is set to provide back-up for Jan Oblak after joining the LaLiga champions on Thursday

Lecomte suffered an injury in pre-season and Alexander Nubel was installed as Monaco s first-choice keeper following his move from Bayern Munich.

Former Montpellier and Lorient number one Lecomte had made 60 appearances for Ligue 1 side Monaco, keeping 20 clean sheets.

He signed a five-year deal when arriving in the Principality from Montpellier in 2019.

…

New Major League Soccer season is coming very soon and things are starting to get heated in the United States and Canada. That is also the case at Toronto FC, the runners-up of the last MLS Cup, in which they lost to Seattle Sounders. The 2017 champions are going to have an important season ahead of them and it could become even more important if the latest rumours turn out to be true.

Toronto FC are open to selling their main striker Jozy Altidore, according to ESPN. All this came about after the American forward publicly criticized the club, which Toronto boardroom did not like. The US international was critical of how the club handled an injury to captain Michael Bradley and now the club might be getting rid of him.

Altidore did not enjoy are great season, as he was …

Liverpool s Premier League title challenge faces a significant hurdle on Sunday when they head to Old Trafford to face Manchester United.

Such is the rarity of the Reds mounting a serious tilt for a crown they last wore in 1990, this meeting is already something of an historic moment.

The last time they visited their fierce rivals in a league match while they occupied one of the top two positions, the year was 1996 and Jurgen Klopp was a 29-year-old Mainz defender.

That match which was started by an Eric Cantona rabona from kick-off (no, really) saw United triumph 1-0. But who was involved?

David Beckham smashes home a superb winner for v Liverpool in 1996.

— Manchester United (@ManUtd)

MANCHESTER UNITED

Peter Schme…

Inter midfielder Roberto Gagliardini looks set to leave San Siro at the end of the season after claiming he needs more regular football.

The 28-year-old former Atalanta player, who has been capped by Italy, has started only two Serie A games this season for the Nerazzurri.

One of those came on Sunday when he helped Simone Inzaghi s team to a 1-0 win against Hellas Verona, playing the full game.

Gagliardini has featured off the bench six times in the Italian top flight this term, but he wants greater and more consistent involvement, and that will probably mean his future lies elsewhere.

He was praised by coach Inzaghi on Saturday, commended for an excellent display, but Gagliardini s contract expires at the end of the campaign and all signs point to a part…

The transformation of Barcelona under Johan Cruyff took an important step forward on May 10, 31 years ago.

The Catalans won their first trophy since the great Cruyff s return to his old club, beating Sampdoria to claim the Cup Winners Cup.

Liverpool became European champions for the second time on this day in 1978 as they defended the trophy by defeating Club Brugge.

More recently, May 10 has brought about historic achievements from Stephen Curry and Rafael Nadal.

1978 Liverpool defend European Cup

Liverpool became the first English team to retain the European Cup in 1978 – and they did so at the national stadium, too.

A solitary goal from Kenny Dalglish in the second half secured a 1-0 victory over Club Brugge at Wembley i…

On Wednesday night, Atletico Madrid defeated neighbours Real Madrid 4-2 after extra time in the European Super Cup. Los Rojiblancos have proven difficult opponents for both Real Madrid and Barcelona in recent seasons in most encounters.

Atletico have punched above their financial weight to great effect to challenge arguably the two biggest football clubs in the world in recent seasons. In 2014, Atleti even broke the duopoly by winning La Liga. This season they could repeat the trick, as the team from the Spanish capital look to be even stronger than ever.

Diego Simeone one of the best coaches in the world

One of the major factors in Atletico Madrid being able to go be competitive against the much richer teams of Real Madrid and Barcelona is the presence of the brillian…

Italy coach Roberto Mancini was pleased with his side s display against Spain on Wednesday despite a 2-1 defeat ending their world-record 37-game unbeaten run.

La Roja booked their place in Sunday s Nations League final thanks to two Ferran Torres strikes before half-time.

The Azzurri s cause was not helped by Leonardo Bonucci receiving a second yellow card in between the Manchester City forward s double.

Lorenzo Pellegrini halved the deficit seven minutes from full-time, but Luis Enrique s men held firm to set up a clash with either France or Belgium in Sunday s decider.

While disappointed that his side s superb unbeaten run was over, Mancini was not too hard on his players.  

Games are like this, sometimes incidents change them. The first h…

Thomas Tuchel has told Chelsea s players there will be no time to celebrate if they beat Leicester City in the FA Cup final… because they must immediately begin preparations for another crunch clash with the same opponents.

The Blues have the opportunity to garnish their impressive recovery under Tuchel with some silverware at Wembley on Saturday.

However, a lacklustre 1-0 loss to Arsenal in midweek leaves their top-four hopes in the balance.

They slipped behind Leicester and are now fourth in the standings, knowing Liverpool could be just a point behind them by the time they host Brendan Rodgers side on Tuesday.

There are no celebrations, no celebrations planned. These are special times, Tuchel told reporters.

If we win there s nothing plann…

Chelsea have fined Kepa Arrizabalaga one week s wages for refusing to be substituted in Sunday s EFL Cup final defeat to Manchester City.

Kepa twice required treatment during extra time at Wembley, with Willy Caballero Manchester City s shoot-out hero in the 2016 final prepared to come on.

Sarri appeared to be furious as Kepa defied his order to come off, with Caballero left confused on the sidelines during a long delay.

The Chelsea boss explained in his post-match news conference that it was a misunderstanding , saying he understood the apparent injury to Kepa was more serious than the Spaniard felt.

The Italian reiterated in Chelsea s statement that there was a mix-up and Kepa has since apologised to Sarri and the rest of the team, though that has not s…