Athletic star Williams says Valverde would succeed at Barcelona

Juventus progressed to the Coppa Italia final as they kept Inter at bay to secure a goalless draw in the semi-final second leg and a 2-1 aggregate victory.

A mistake-ridden Inter performance had given Juve the advantage in the tie and crucial away goals in the first leg.

The Nerazzurri consequently spent much of the return leg in Turin attacking in search of the goals that would turn the tie on its head.

Impressive work by Juve s rearguard ensured they never arrived and only the reflexes of Samir Handanovic stopped Cristiano Ronaldo from sending the Bianconeri into a final with Atalanta or Napoli in more convincing fashion.

Achraf Hakimi was a constant threat down the right in the opening 45 minutes, and the game s first clear-cut chance came in the 25th…

Real Madrid are one of the top title candidates in the 2019-20 LaLiga season and their top priority is to fight against FC Barcelona and Atletico Madrid for the title. Los Merengues will begin their title defence on the road this next Saturday against Celta Vigo at Balaidos. Los Gallegos were one of the worst teams in the league last season, and will try to bounce back with a strong performance in the season opener. The kick-off for this match will be at 16:00 hrs BST.

Celta Vigo

There s no question that Celta Vigo had an underwhelming season during the 2018/19 campaign, and the best reflection of that was the fact they finished in 17th place of the standings. In fact, the Balaidos outfit ended last term winning just one of their last five matches (W1, D3, L1), albeit that lone…

Frank Lampard is adamant England will not get swept up in the hype surrounding their prospects at this year s World Cup in South Africa.

England may have won the World Cup just once, on home soil in 1966, but every subsequent appearance they have made at a major football tournament has sparked hopes of a similar outcome among their fans.

Chelsea midfielder Lampard was a member of the England squad at the 2006 World Cup in Germany where the team lost in the quarter-finals to Portugal after some players had suggested they could win the event.

During Fabio Capello s two years in charge of England the team has undergone a major upsurge in fortunes, from failing to qualify for Euro 2008 under former boss Steve McClaren to World Cup contenders.

But the Italian…

Swansea City have reached a pre-contract agreement with Real Betis regarding the summer transfer of defensive midfielder Jose Canas amid reports manager Michael Laudrup has fallen out with club chairman Huw Jenkins over transfer budgets, .

Canas, 26, helped Betis secure a UEFA Europa League play-off berth after achieving a seventh-place finish in La Liga last season.

The Swans are looking to build on arguably their greatest ever season, having finished in the top half of the English Premier League table and won the Capital One Cup, and the signing of Canas is certainly a step in the right direction.

The 26-year-old midfielder, who made 29 appearances across all competitions for Real Betis last season, will join the Swans via free transfer on 1 July…

Barcelona have announced the €41million signing of Bordeaux winger Malcom, who had appeared set to join Serie A side Roma.

The Brazilian attacker has agreed a five-year contract and will undergo his medical tests on Wednesday before joining the Catalan giants on the club s pre-season tour.

Premier League giants Arsenal and Tottenham were reportedly interested in the 21-year-old but Roma emerged as the most likely contenders for his signature this week.

Bordeaux announced on Monday that a €40m deal had been agreed with Roma, but Malcom reportedly rejected the switch in favour of a move to Camp Nou.

Bem-vindo Malcom! Welcome!

— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona)

Malcom who scored 12 goals in Ligue 1 last season has developed into one …

CSKA Moscow president Evgeniy Giner has confirmed Aleksandr Golovin is close to leaving the club but refuted claims a deal with Chelsea has been agreed.

Reports in the English media emerged on Tuesday suggesting Chelsea had won the race to sign 22-year-old Golovin, one of the stars of Russia s World Cup campaign.

The midfielder has become a hot property in Europe with Arsenal and Juventus both heavily linked, while Ligue 1 side Monaco this week revealed they had submitted a bid.

Giner expects Golovin s new home to become clear in the coming days and acknowledged he will leave CSKA to fulfill his potential and become a big star .

In order not to ruin [Golovin] we must let him go. But we have no solution for today, Giner told Russian outlet Sport24.…

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Hoping to secure back-to-back Premier League victories on Sunday afternoon, Manchester United will welcome West Ham to Old Trafford.

Manchester United

Starting with the hosts, eventually leaving Wolves with a remarkable 4-3 victory earlier in the week, Manchester United will now be desperate to find some crucial Premier League stability. Extending on their FA Cup adventure last week as they secured an action-packed 4-2 win away at League Two outfit Newport, Erik ten Hag’s side know the importance of mounting a genuine top-four charge in 2024. Crashing out of the Champions League back in December and with no European adventure on the horizon for this year, the former Ajax boss has found some extended pressure on his shoulders. Claimi…

(GSM) Manchester City defender Micah Richards is desperate to join England s squad for the World Cup. Richards has also expressed his frustration at not being picked.

The 22-year-old knows he must perform up to his best for Manchester City if he is to feature at the World Cup this summer. However, he claims he should be in the England squad.

It s definitely frustrating and every time the full squad s named and I m not in there I m devastated, because I know with my ability that I think I should be, he told The Independent.

If you look at my England career, I ve played 11 times and in all those games I think I ve done reasonably well.

I could watch them over and over again, and it was just the disappointment of not going to the [2008] Euros.

R…

The offices of Sports Direct have been searched by police in relation to the ongoing investigation surrounding takeovers at Rangers.

The sportswear company belongs to Mike Ashley, the owner of Newcastle United who also holds a share in the Scottish Championship club.

Rangers went into liquidation in 2012, a year after Craig Whyte who was arrested as part of the investigation  purchased the club for £1 from David Murray.

Charles Green then bought the club, although his tenure ended in controversy as it was alleged he had links to Whyte over the original buy-out.

A Police Scotland statement confirmed that a property in Derbyshire had been searched, while Sports Direct revealed that the investigation was not directed at the company, but that it wo…

Paris Saint-Germain will be without top scorer Zlatan Ibrahimovic as they aim to secure a third successive Ligue 1 title at Montpellier.

Laurent Blanc s men go into the penultimate game of the season six points ahead of second-placed Lyon.

A draw will be enough for the capital club to win the league regardless of Lyon s result at home to Bordeaux but Ibrahimovic, who has scored 30 goals in all competitions despite an injury-hit campaign, will have to be content watching from the sidelines at the Stade de la Mosson.

Ibra has calf pain,  Blanc said. David Luiz has recovered sufficiently to figure in the squad. There are two suspended players, Thiago Motta and Marco Verratti.

Seventh-placed Montpellier famously beat PSG to the title in 2012 and are just…