Diego Costa has been given an eight-match ban following the Atletico Madrid striker s red card against Barcelona last weekend.
Costa was dismissed in the first half of his side s 2-0 loss to Barcelona on Saturday for dissent, having confronted referee Jesus Gil Manzano.
The Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) confirmed on Thursday that Costa s punishment was an eight-match suspension – four for foul-mouthed comments made towards the referee and a further four for grabbing the official s arm. The club have 10 working days to appeal the decision.
Atletico, who trail LaLiga leaders Barca by 11 points following their defeat at Camp Nou, have only seven games left to play this season, so the Spain international will be unavailable for the remainder of the camp…
James Milner believes Liverpool must learn how to do the boring parts of football better after his side threw away a two-goal lead in a 3-3 draw against Arsenal.
Goals from Philippe Coutinho and Mohamed Salah either side of half-time at the Emirates Stadium seemed to have put Liverpool on track for a comfortable Premier League victory.
But, out of nowhere, Arsenal manufactured a spectacular comeback, with goals from Alexis Sanchez, Granit Xhaka and Mesut Ozil turning the game on its head before Roberto Firmino ensured the Reds escaped with a point.
It was a thrilling encounter, the game of the season in the Premier League to date, but two dropped points left Milner an early substitute after Jordan Henderson hurt his hamstring bemoaning his team s lack of defensiv…
8th May 2012
The all-Spanish Europa League final at National Arena in Bucharest should be an exciting affair and there is every chance we will see one of the most entertaining finals in the history of the competition. Neither of the two evenly matched sides are expected to discard their attractive attacking style of play, meaning that a real spectacle is in store for the fans in Romania.
Atletico Madrid are set to contest their second Europa League final in three years, and los Colchoneros will be hoping for another trophy after beating Fulham in the final of the 2009/2010 season. Interesting thing is that none of the players who celebrated the big success three years ago are expected to start against Athletic, with only Alvaro Dominguez, Paulo Assuncao and Eduardo Salv…
Fernando Morientes has hailed Spain s substitutes as he believes they give the team an edge compared to their opponents.
The former Real Madrid striker said the fringe players can make just as big an impact as the regular starters in the team, citing the Euro 2008 and 2010 World Cup finals as an example.
He added such depth was missing in the past for Spain, including during his own time in the national team between 1998 and 2007 when he collected 47 caps and scored 27 goals.
The difference nowadays is that the substitutes have the same potential as the first 11, Morientes told L Equipe.
They played the Euro 2008 final without David Villa, their top-scorer, and they still won.
They played the 2010 World Cup final with Fernando Torres, Jesus …
Nikola Kalinic will travel to Italy and sign a contract with Serie A outfit Fiorentina, Dnipro have confirmed.
Kalinic s agent, Tomislav Erceg, this week revealed the Croatia international striker s intention to leave the Ukrainian city of Dnipropetrovsk for Florence.
And the 27-year-old is now free to link up with Paolo Sousa s men after four years at Dnipro.
Croatian striker Nikola Kalinic has said his goodbyes to the team, coaching staff and management of FC Dnipro, the club announced via their official website on Wednesday.
Instead of travelling to Odessa for the fifth match of the Premier League campaign against Shakhtar [Donetsk], he will instead travel to Italy to sign a contract with Florence-based club Fiorentina.
Kalinic, who opened t…
The LA Galaxy are reportedly launching a move to bring Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard to Major League Soccer, .
Lampard has one year left on his current contract, and the Blues would surely love to get his £130,000-a-week deal off their books as they continue to pursue Luka Modric and Joao Moutinho.
The 34-year-old England international may be in the twilight of his career, but he still has the ability and quality to boss the game, especially in the United States.
Let s be perfectly honest, the talent level in Major League Soccer is nowhere near that of the English Premier League.
With that said, Lampard tallied 19 goals and 10 assists in 57 appearances for club and country last season.
Will the former West Ham United standout be reu…
Manchester United s stars get no let up from Zlatan Ibrahimovic s competitive edge even during training according to Marouane Fellaini.
Ibrahimovic instantly became a favourite with the Old Trafford faithful with five goals in as many games at the start of the season and, although a slump followed, his return of 20 in 33 appearances is a handsome one in his first season in England.
The former Barcelona, Inter and Paris Saint-Germain striker sows the seeds for his exploits on the practice pitches at United s Carrington training base and, even at 35 years old, Fellaini reports he is a relentless presence on a daily basis.
He is always there to train, shouting, he wants to win, the Belgium midfielder told The Telegraph.
We play 10 against 10 and he s there…
FIFA president Sepp Blatter has responded to his provisional suspension from world football s governing body, claiming that the Ethics Committee did not follow the Code of Ethics and Disciplinary Code .
Blatter, along with UEFA president Michel Platini and FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke, was suspended for 90 days on Thursday, following approval by FIFA s adjudicatory chamber of a recommendation made by the ethics committee.
The Swiss attorney general opened criminal proceedings against the 79-year-old last month into allegations that he signed an unfavourable television rights contract with the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) in 2005 and made a disloyal payment to Platini in 2011.
The sanctions against Blatter can be extended by up to 45 days, a move that …
The Mirror understands that West Ham United could be set to sign Jonny Evans from West Bromwich Albion at the end of the season.
The Northern Ireland international had been linked with a big money move over the past two transfer windows with Arsenal and Manchester City both registering an interest.
However, with the Baggies bang in trouble, the centre-back could now leave for as little as £3m.
Leicester City and Everton are also monitoring the situation though the Hammers are keen to steal a march on their rivals after fellow defender Jose Fonte secured a move to the Chinese Super League.
Since arriving at the Hawthorns from Manchester United in the summer of 2015, Evans has racked up ninety appearances in all competitions, scoring five goals.
…
Barcelona captain Andres Iniesta hailed Lionel Messi after the superstar helped the Liga giants past Chelsea and into the Champions League quarter-finals.
Messi brought up his 100th goal in Europe s premier club competition with a brace in the 3-0 second-leg win at Camp Nou on Wednesday.
The Argentina star also set up Ousmane Dembele as Barca sealed a 4-1 aggregate win to move into the last eight.
Iniesta, who came off before the hour-mark after starting despite a hamstring concern, lauded Messi for his latest masterclass.
It s what we always talk about. Leo makes the difference in every game. It s a blessing, he told beIN SPORTS.
I hope we can get closer to this Champions League. We ve taken another step.
— FC Barcelona (@…