Diego Simeone criticised the refereeing as LaLiga champions Atletico Madrid were held to a 2-2 draw away to Levante after an explosive final 15 minutes.
Matheus Cunha put Atletico ahead in the 76th minute with his first goal for the club but Simeone was shown a second yellow card soon after for remonstrating with the fourth official on Thursday.
Referee Pablo Gonzalez Fuertes then deemed Renan Lodi handled the ball in his own box after reviewing footage at the pitchside monitor.
Enis Bardhi, who cancelled out Antoine Griezmann s opener with a penalty that was awarded for a foul by Luis Suarez on Ruben Vezo, blasted in the 90th-minute spot-kick to earn Levante a share of the spoils.
Asked about the decision to award the second penalty, Simeone…
Fernando Santos hailed Portugal s strength of character after they kept their European Championship defence alive with a 2-2 draw against France in Budapest.
Cristiano Ronaldo netted a penalty in each half of the Euro 2020 fixture to move level with Ali Daei as the most prolific international footballer of all time on 109 goals.
When Karim Benzema s second goal of a gripping contest at the Puskas Arena gave world champions France a 2-1 lead two minutes into the second half, Portugal – who suffered a chastening 4-2 defeat to Germany last weekend – were staring at elimination.
But superstar captain Ronaldo induced a handball from Jules Kounde that was punished by whistle-happy referee Mateu Lahoz and stepped up to do the rest.
What I really liked was t…
Chelsea midfielder Ramires has revealed he hopes to represent Brazil at the 2012 Olympics in London and is keen to run out at Wembley.
The tough-tackling 24-year-old won a bronze medal in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, but is hoping to secure gold for his country four years on.
I had never played an official competition for the national team before, so to go to the Olympics, where Brazil had never won a gold medal, was like something out of this world, Ramires told chelseafc.com.
We hoped to win and we felt we were going to, but unfortunately we finished third. I still have the medal today and keep it as if it is pure gold.
The football competition will be held at venues all over England, including the historic Wembley stadium, and Ramires said he would h…
Wales manager Rob Page reflected on a “cruel” defeat after his side’s hopes of qualifying for Euro 2024 ended in a heartbreaking penalty shoot-out loss to Poland.
Daniel James missed the decisive spot-kick as Wales were beaten 5-4 on penalties after a goalless draw at the Cardiff City Stadium.
Page told S4C: “It is a cruel game and that is what I have said to the players. One kick away from qualifying and it hurts.
“I thought we were the better team. I’ve just said to the group, ‘look how far we have come – we are that disappointed we have not qualified for a major tournament’.”
Page offered sympathy to James and praised his squad for their efforts throughout the qualifying campaign.
He added: “We will rally round ‘Deej’.…
Australia international goalkeeper Mitchell Langerak has no intention of leaving Borussia Dortmund ahead of the 2014-15 Bundesliga season.
Langerak is a two-time Bundesliga winner with Dortmund but he has played second fiddle to number one keeper Roman Weidenfeller since arriving from A-League club Melbourne Victory in 2010.
The 25-year-old has made a total of 10 appearances in four seasons, leading to suggestions he may leave in search of regular game time.
But Langerak, who was Australia s back-up glovesman at the FIFA World Cup in Brazil, insists he will not be following Robert Lewandowski through the exit door after positive discussions with coach Jurgen Klopp.
I m going to stay at Dortmund, I m happy there, my football s going forwards, Langerak tol…
Barcelona have revealed Adriano could miss the start of the new Liga campaign after tests revealed he had an abnormal heart rhythm .
The Brazilian utility man, who has made 90 league appearances since joining the Catalan giants from Sevilla in 2010, has been ruled out for four to six weeks after the problem was discovered during a routine pre-season medical.
The 29-year-old was subjected to a check-up earlier this week after reporting back for training with the first-team squad.
A statement on the club s official website read: Adriano Correia has undergone an electrophysiological study in order to treat the abnormal heart rhythm discovered during his medical on Monday.
He will be sidelined for four to six weeks. The player will undergo physical training …
Ousmane Dembele will make his full debut for Barcelona in Tuesday s Champions League Group D match against Juventus at Camp Nou.
Dembele became Barcelona s record signing when he joined for an initial €105million from Borussia Dortmund last month and he came off the bench for a maiden outing against Espanyol in LaLiga on Saturday.
The France winger laid on Luis Suarez to complete a 5-0 rout of Barca s city rivals and he comes into Ernesto Valverde s side for Gerard Deulofeu in the only change from the weekend line-up.
Barcelona beat Juventus in the 2015 Champions League final but were dumped out of last season s competition at the quarter-final stage by Massimiliano Allegri s men.
Barça XI:
1.Ter Stegen
2.Semedo
3.Piqué
4.Rakitic
5.Sergio
8.A.In…
Czech Republic coach Pavel Vrba believes midfielder Borek Dockal will recover from his ankle injury in time for Euro 2016.
Dockal is one of Czech Republic s star attackers, but Vrba played down fears the 27-year-old could miss the tournament, where his side face Spain, Croatia and Turkey.
The Sparta Prague forward is not expected to play any part in Czech Republic s final pre-competition friendly against South Korea on Sunday, but Vrba says he will be ready for their first tournament match.
After a medical examination I see no reason why he would not be available on June 13, Vrba said of Czech Republic s opening match against Spain in Toulouse.
I do not see complications, so we will take the opportunity to give other players game time.
Vrba,…
Cast your minds back to May 2016. Leicester City under popular boss Claudio Ranieri had achieved the unthinkable and won the Premier League title despite being 5,000-1 outsiders with the bookmakers at the start of the season.
Yet since that triumph, which was heralded the world over, Leicester have struggled to reach those same remarkable heights and have plateaued towards mid-table mediocrity.
Claude Puel paid the price for a recent poor run of form, which yielded just one win in nine competitive outings, as he was sacked on Sunday less than 24 hours after a 4-1 home loss to Crystal Palace.
In the aftermath of Puel s departure, we take a look at the club s fortunes since the greatest achievement in their history.
70 Leicester Cit…
Paris Saint Germain are considering a £90m move for Chelsea midfielder N’Golo Kante, according to the Mirror.
The big-spending Ligue One outfit are keen to bring in a tough-tackler after concentrating on strengthening their attack in the summer with the signings of Neymar and Kylian Mbappe.
Kante has excelled at Stamford Bridge but could well be interested in securing a move to the city of his birth having left France for the Premier League just over two years ago.
The twenty-six year old spent the 2015/16 campaign with Leicester City playing in all but one of their league games as they defied the odds to clinch the title while he became one of only a small handful of players to lift the famous trophy with two different clubs having helped the Blues to fi…