Dimitri Payet and Lucas Ocampos haunted Athletic Bilbao for a second time in the Europa League as Marseille cruised into the quarter finals 5-2 on aggregate.
Both Payet and Ocampos found the back of the net in the first leg at the Stade Velodrome last week and they were at it again on Thursday, Marseille running out 2-1 winners at San Mames.
However, their progress was marred by reports of trouble before the match between Marseille fans and security staff, while flares were also reportedly thrown from the travelling supporters.
That could well bring sanctions from UEFA, but on the pitch Marseille were excellent with the impressive Payet a shining light.
A marauding run, including a one-two with Kostas Mitroglou, was ended by Inigo Lekue s crude challen…
Real Madrid retirement? / Image via espn.com
All media drama and public speculations aside, Real Madrid were always Cristiano Ronaldo’s preferred destination and the Portuguese superstar looks set to prove it with putting pen to paper on a new deal that would see him retire at Santiago Bernabeu.
Numbers don’t lie
Cristiano Ronaldo started his Real Madrid career in 2009 upon his record-breaking transfer fee worth £80 million and it is fair to say that former Manchester United winger went on to repay every single penny invested in his transfer from Old Trafford.
Having marked his Los Blancos debut against Deportivo La Coruna with a goal, Cristiano Ronaldo went on to score in each of his four league fixtures for the club thus becoming the first Real Ma…
Montenegro forward Stevan Jovetic remains on the outskirts of Inter Milan squad as Stefano Pioli continues to ignore the 27-year-old Podgorica-born attacker, who only made 5 Serie appearances this season.
Still tied to Manchester City, Stevan Jovetic’s loan is due to expire at the turn of the year when Inter will be forced to pay €13.5 million in an obligatory purchase clause.
it is however becoming increasingly unlikely that he will be staying at Inter as Nerazzuri are looking for options to part ways with the 27-year-old.
Fiorentina are keen to offer an escape route for their former player according to reports from , but face a stern challenge as Inter seem unwilling to let the Montenegrin go on loan and would rather recoup the sum they need to invest in a…
What the papers say
The Evening Standard reports Fulham are ahead of Liverpool and Manchester United in the battle to sign Fluminense’s 22-year-old Brazil midfielder Andre.
The same newspaper says Fulham have also showed interest in 24-year-old Denmark striker Jonas Wind, who has scored eight goals in 11 matches so far for Bundesliga side Wolfsburg.
The Daily Star reports there could be a cleanout at Manchester United next year with the possibility of 15 players leaving the Premier League club. The first player out the door is rumoured to be 23-year-old Jadon Sancho.
Social media round-up
Man Utd are in advanced talks to tie down exciting attacking talent Ethan Wheatley to his first pro contract as other clubs start to circle for the 17-year-old…
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Luis Enrique has hailed the progress of Neymar during his three-year reign at Barcelona, but rued the lack of trophies in an impressive individual season for the forward in 2016-17.
Barca take on Alaves in the Copa del Rey final at the Vicente Calderon on Saturday, giving the head coach a chance of silverware in his final match.
Forward Neymar will be central to his side s hopes after a superb individual campaign which he has described as his best at Camp Nou since signing from Santos in 2013.
Luis Enrique agrees Neymar, who has 19 goals, has made significant progress in the mental aspect of his game under his stewardship, but regrets Barca s failure to win LaLiga or the Champions League to mark the campaign with top trophies.
Neymar has evolved since I …
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Juventus and Lazio are scheduled to face each other at the Allianz Stadium in Turin on Sunday evening, in what s set to be the final match of the 15th round of the Serie A season, indeed the final match of the Italian top flight before the World Cup in Qatar starts, and the final match of the calendar year. It is only one of the big games of the round, which also includes Napoli facing Udinese and Atalanta playing host to Inter Milan.
Juventus
When Juventus exit from the Champions League became a mathematical certainty even with a game left, there was a lot of talk about what had gone wrong for the Old Lady this season, and speculation about the possibility of head coach Massimiliano Allegri losing his job. However, it seems Allegri an…
Arsenal remain in contract talks with striker Eddie Nketiah.
Nketiah s deal expires at the end of this month and the 23-year-old has been linked with London rivals Crystal Palace.
Arsenal released their retained list on Friday, revealing the Premier League club are in ongoing discussions with academy graduate Nketiah after offering him fresh terms.
Nketiah, who spent a loan spell with Leeds United in the 2019-20 season, has made it clear he wants regular first-team football.
He forced his way into the side towards the end of last season, scoring doubles against Chelsea and Leeds before finding the back of the net in a 5-1 final-day rout of Everton.
Fellow striker Alexandre Lacazette left the Gunners as a free agent and has rejoined Lyon.
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According to a recent report from Gazzetta dello Sport, Dries Mertens could be looking into the possibility of a move to either Major League Soccer or the Chinese Super League during the January transfer window. The Napoli star could have a deal to make the jump over to China already on the table, but even if he doesn’t, many clubs around the MLS are said to be more than willing to put the groundwork in to get a deal off the ground.
Mertens, 32, is widely considered to be one of the greatest players in the recent history of Napoli and as such, they aren’t likely to let him go without a fight.
The money that is being offered outside of European football these days is utterly unbelievable, but even with that being the case, Mertens has many fans believing he will rema…
Premier League success has increased Liverpool s hunger to win trophies and enter a period of sustained success , says chairman Tom Werner.
Liverpool were crowned champions of England on Thursday after Manchester City s 2-1 loss at Chelsea left Pep Guardiola s side 23 points adrift of the Reds with seven games remaining.
Jurgen Klopp masterminded the end of the club s 30-year wait for top-flight glory and will now turn his attention to surpassing City s single-season Premier League record of 100 points.
It is the fourth trophy Liverpool have won since Klopp arrived at Anfield in October 2015 – they won the Champions League, UEFA Super Cup and Club World Cup last year – and Werner believes there is a significant appetite for more silverware.
We certai…
According to a recent report from Gazzetta dello Sport, Olivier Giroud’s proposed switch from Chelsea to Inter Milan has hit a few stumbling blocks. For a while now it’s been reported the Frenchman was in talks with the Serie A giants over the potential of making a deal happen, following a frustrating start to the new campaign in which he hasn’t really featured all too heavily for the Blues. In terms of the stumbling blocks that are currently in place, one is believed to be the £6.8 million per year salary that Giroud has – and that Inter cannot, or perhaps will not, match.
The second is that Giroud wants a deal that is longer than 18 months, which is what Inter are currently believed to be offering. While it’s not impossible to picture the two parties mov…