Didier Deschamps has concerns over the fitness of defensive duo Lucas Digne and Lucas Hernandez as France get ready to play in a new competition  at Euro 2020.

France finished top of Group F thanks to a 2-2 draw against fellow qualifiers Portugal on Wednesday, with second-placed Germany also making it through to the last 16.

Reigning world champions France saw Karim Benzema score twice – his first goals at international level since October 8, 2015 – but had to finish the game in Budapest with midfielder Adrien Rabiot playing at left-back.

Deschamps substituted Hernandez at half-time due to what he described as a minor knee issue, though the Bayern Munich player had also received a yellow card in the 36th minute.

Replacement Digne did not last long …

As quoted by multiple media outlets, Javi Martinez has declared himself ready to leave Bayern Munich when his contract expires at the end of the season.

The 32-year-old Spaniard, who is comfortable playing either as a defensive midfielder or a centre-back, has been at the Allianz Arena for eight years now, since joining from Athletic Bilbao in 2012 for a reported fee of €40 million. He was a very important part of the team which won the 2013 treble, when he famously marked Lionel Messi out of their Champions League semifinal first leg against Barcelona which the Bavarians won by 4-0.

Overall, he has made 252 appearances for the club so far, but last season he lost his place in the starting XI under Hans-Dieter Flick. He was keen to leave this summer, but Flick reporte…

Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata won their first match since the death of head coach and football legend Diego Maradona.

Argentina and Napoli great Maradona – arguably football s greatest ever player – died of natural causes at the age of 60 on Wednesday.

Maradona was buried in a private funeral at the Jardines de Bella Vista cemetery on the outskirts of Buenos Aires after thousands gathered on the streets of the capital to mourn the 1986 World Cup winner on Thursday.

Gimnasia were the first team Maradona had led in his homeland since the mid-1990s after taking charge of the Liga Profesional club last year.

¡Lo jugamos con el corazón!

— #Gimnasia133 (@gimnasiaoficial)

On Saturday, Gimnasia defeated Velez Sarsfield 1-0 away …

Manchester United and Liverpool have been urged by Rio Ferdinand to consider rescuing Raheem Sterling from the wilderness at Manchester City.

Sterling has played a big part in helping City to three Premier League titles since arriving from Liverpool in 2015, but his playing time has reduced this season.

The England international, who was late returning for pre-season training after reaching the Euro 2020 final with his country, has started two of City s six matches this term in all competitions.

He was linked with a move away from the Etihad Stadium during the close season at a time when Pep Guardiola s side were trying to bring in striker Harry Kane from Tottenham.

Barcelona are reported to be showing an interest in signing Sterling on loan in January, m…

Arsenal claimed consecutive Premier League victories over Tottenham for the first time since 2014 as they eased past their North London rivals 3-1.

Having initially made a strong start to life under Nuno Espirito Santo, Spurs have now lost three successive league games, with their manager seeing his first derby effectively lost inside the first 45 minutes.

Emile Smith Rowe s 12th-minute strike gave Arsenal a deserved lead, which was doubled when he teed up Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang 15 minutes later.

Spurs offered limp resistance and the game was essentially put to bed by the excellent Bukayo Saka, with Son Heung-min s effort a mere consolation for Tottenham.

NORTH LONDON DERBY DUB!

— Arsenal (@Arsenal)

Smith Rowe rewarded Arsenal for …

Atletico Madrid s LaLiga title charge is back on track after a 2-0 win over Villarreal at Estadio de la Ceramica on Sunday. 

Diego Simeone s side had picked up just five points from their previous four top-flight games to give rivals Real Madrid and Barcelona hope of reining them in at the summit. 

They secured a vital three points against Unai Emery s side, though, courtesy of Alfonso Pedraza s first-half own goal and substitute Joao Felix s second-half strike. 

The result meant Atleti restored their five-point advantage over second-place Barcelona, who have played a game more, while Real Madrid – who Los Rojiblancos face next weekend – are six points off the top in third.

KEY WIN ON THE ROAD

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— Atlético de Madrid (@atle…

Barcelona could sell Pedri in the summer transfer window, according to . The report has claimed that the defending La Liga champions are open to selling the midfielder due to financial issues, and that Arsenal are among the clubs who are keen on signing the 21-year-old Spain international midfielder.

Pedri has been on the books of Barcelona since 2020 when he joined from Las Palmas. He is injured at the moment and is unlikely to play again for Barcelona for the rest of the season. The Spain international midfielder has made 13 starts and three substitute appearances in La Liga this season. He has scored two goals and given two assists in those games.

The 21-year-old made two starts and two substitute appearances in the UEFA Champions League for Barcelona this campaign. …

Virtual reality could help footballers improve their heading without the repetitive head impacts from a ball, a new study indicates.

Players involved in a study at Manchester Metropolitan University’s Institute of Sport and its Department of Sport and Exercise Sciences demonstrated greater performance in ‘real world’ heading after training with a VR headset compared to a control group who did no training.

The VR group also reported greater self-confidence and efficacy in their heading compared to the control group, the study found.

The study, titled: ‘A preliminary investigation into the efficacy of training soccer heading in immersive virtual reality’, has been published in the journal Virtual Reality on Tuesday.

It provides some insights into …

Former Liverpool midfielder Naby Keita has returned to Germany to join Werder Bremen after the expiration of his contract at Anfield.

The Guinea international’s £52million move to Merseyside from RB Leipzig in 2018 came with high expectations. However, he disappointed in his 129 appearances over five years as he struggled to get to grips with the physicality of the Premier League and missed large amounts of time with a series of injuries.

The 28-year-old featured just 13 times last season, was left out of the Champions League squad due to injury, and started only three Premier League matches.

Bremen will hope the midfielder’s return to the Bundesliga will bring a change of luck after scoring 14 goals and providing 14 assists in 58 matches for Leipzig before …

Lionel Messi s motivation and hunger to succeed at Barcelona has never been in question, according to head coach Ronald Koeman.

The Argentina international failed in his attempt to engineer a move away from Camp Nou during the close-season but is set to become a free agent at the end of the campaign.

He has not always been at his best this season and has admitted in a new interview with LaSexta that the saga surrounding his future has affected his performances.

The truth is today I m fine, Messi said in a short excerpt released by RAC1 on Monday. Today I m fine and I feel like fighting seriously for everything we have ahead of us.

I m excited. I know the club is going through a difficult time, at club and team level, and it is difficult everything that …