Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone insisted a top-three finish in La Liga remains the club s aim ahead of the visit of Real Sociedad to the Vicente Calderon on Tuesday.
Atleti effectively ended Real Madrid s title hopes when they won 1-0 at Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday, but the Argentine coach played down talk of pushing Barcelona for the title.
Antoine Griezmann s 53rd-minute goal gave the 2013-14 champions a valuable Madrid derby victory over Zinedine Zidane s side and moved Simeone s men four points clear of their city rivals in second place.
Barcelona responded to that impressive result with a 2-1 win over Sevilla on Sunday to maintain their eight-point gap at the top.
Rather than trying to catch the holders, Simeone is focusing on keeping Madri…
Son Heung-min s link-up with fellow Tottenham star Harry Kane is purely a pay-off for hard work .
Son scored twice on Wednesday, either side of a Kane penalty, as Spurs ran out 3-2 winners over Eintracht Frankfurt in the Champions League.
Antonio Conte s side moved to the Group D summit after coming from behind to defeat the Europa League holders at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Kane set up Son for the equaliser after the hosts fell behind to Daichi Kamada s early strike, meaning the pair have now combined to score on 50 occasions for Spurs across all competitions.
Kane has teed up 24 goals for Son, who has supplied 26 assists for the England captain. Since the start of last season, Liverpool s Mohamed Salah, the scorer of a record-setting hat-trick in L…
The outoome of Liverpool s clash with Manchester City is likely to hinge on how Virgil van Dijk copes with absolute phenomenon Erling Haaland, according to Gary Neville.
City trail Premier League leaders Arsenal by a point ahead of their trip to Anfield on Sunday, while Liverpool are 13 points further back, seemingly out of title contention already.
Pep Guardiola s men are the only unbeaten side in the Premier League, thanks in no small part to the extraordinary exploits of Haaland.
Having only played nine games in the top flight, Haaland has already broken the records for most goals (15) and goal involvements (18) in a player s first 10 appearances in the competition.
A trip to Merseyside will see Norway striker face arguably his toughest opponent yet i…
Spanish international midfielder Ruben de la Red has called an end to his footballing career because of a heart defect, his club Real Madrid announced on Thursday.
De la Red, whose condition was detected after he fainted in a King s Cup match in October 2008, will continue working at the Spanish giants as a coach.
I am starting a very exciting stage in my career, said De la Red, who won Euro 2008 with Spain while playing his club football with Real s La Liga rivals Getafe.
I wish to send my support to all those players out there whose careers were also cut short. I am also very grateful to all the people who have supported me since I fainted.
I ve fought against this in vain and doctors advised me to stop.
He added: Real Madrid have watched m…
Aston Villa whiz-kid Barry Bannan is delighted with his new lease on life at the club, saying former boss Martin O Neill left him disheartened.
The 20-year-old has impressed as part of a youthful side at Villa Park under Frenchman Gerard Houllier, with the likes of Marc Albrighton, Ciaran Clark, Jonathan Hogg, Eric Lichaj and Nathan Delfouneso getting their own time to shine in the English Premier League.
Bannan s performances led to a call-up from Scotland, and he promptly starred in his country s 3-0 win over the Faroe Islands on Tuesday.
But he could easily have departed Villa due to a poor relationship with previous manager O Neill, with Bannan forced to go on-loan to Derby County and Blackpool in the past two seasons to get first-team opportunities.
Jonas Gutierrez has succeeded in his disability discrimination case against Newcastle United, with a tribunal ruling he was dropped from the first team because of his cancer.
The Argentine midfielder was suing his former club over the manner of his departure at the end of last season, following his battle with testicular cancer.
The employment tribunal also ruled the club made it impossible for the 32-year-old to trigger a contract extension through appearances.
Further claims of unfavourable treatment and harassment were dismissed by the tribunal in Birmingham, and a remedy hearing, at which compensation will be discussed, is to be scheduled in due course.
Gutierrez had been a first-team regular at Newcastle prior to his diagnosis in 2013, but accuse…
Gareth Bale believes Real Madrid have learnt the lessons of their Champions League scare at Wolfsburg.
Madrid face Manchester City in the first leg of their semi-final on Tuesday a stage it looked like Zinedine Zidane s men might struggle to reach.
They went down 2-0 against the Bundesliga side in the first instalment of their quarter-final, only for a Cristiano Ronaldo hat-trick to stunningly turn the tie on its head.
Bale scored a brace as Madrid completed the same feat within 90 minutes at Rayo Vallecano on Saturday and, ahead of another away first leg, he reported a cautious confidence among Zidane s squad.
He told a pre-match news conference: I think we re feeling confident at the moment.
We had not a great performance away to Wolfsburg bu…
Dayot Upamecano will not be leaving RB Leipzig this year, but head coach Julian Nagelsmann accepts the club may not be able to resist offers at the end of the season.
The 21-year-old has been linked with Manchester United, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Arsenal after an impressive 2019-20 campaign for Champions League semi-finalists Leipzig.
He recently admitted to talking to other clubs despite appearing to end speculation over his future by signing a new three-year deal with the Bundesliga side at the end of July.
And Nagelsmann concedes it may prove too difficult to keep hold of the highly rated centre-back who scored for France on his second appearance on Tuesday in next year s window.
He will be here for the season. I m sure about that, Nagelsman…
Sadio Mane insisted Liverpool had learned from the mistake of last season as they continue their charge towards the Premier League title.
Liverpool claimed 97 points in 2018-19 but ended up one behind champions Manchester City.
But they are well on track to better that tally, sitting on 52 through 18 games and holding a 13-point advantage at the top.
Mane, who has scored nine league goals this season, said Jurgen Klopp s side had taken plenty from last campaign, when they held a seven-point lead at the top in January.
If you lose the league that hurts you in the head mentally, so we always focus on the same target – we want to win something, he told UK newspapers, via The Telegraph.
We have learned from the mistake last year. That was a tough …
Although Inter Milan might have been seeking an immediate response on Sunday night, the Nerrazzuri were forced to settle for a late 1-1 stalemate at the San Siro.
Crashing out of the Champions League in midweek and suffering real European heartbreak, it appeared that Simone Inzaghi’s side were firmly on course to making it 11 Serie A victories on the bounce.
With ex-Manchester United defender Matteo Darmian opening the scoring just moments before the half-time break, Inter dominated large spells here.
However, although Inzaghi’s men might still hold a remarkable 14-point buffer at the top of the Serie A table, Inter suffered more late frustration as Juan Jesus headed home from close range with just nine minutes left on the clock.
Missing out on what …