Messi and Xavi lead Mascherano tributes ahead of Barcelona exit

Chelsea coasted into the final of the FIFA Club World Cup with a 3-1 victory over Monterrey at the International Stadium in Yokohama.

The attacking midfield triumvirate of Eden Hazard, Oscar and Juan Mata sparkled as the Champions League holders eased to the win in the semi-final clash.

A well-taken first-half finish from Mata gave the Blues the lead, before a deflected Fernando Torres strike and an own goal from Darvin Chavez promptly after half-time helped see off the challenge of the CONCACAF champions, although Aldo De Nigris did score a superb consolation late on for the Mexican side.

A bright start from the west London side was rewarded in the 17th minute when Mata opened the scoring in style with a sweeping finish after an intricate passing move involvin…

Market: PSG win Both teams to score

Odds: 13/8 @

With the French Super Cup up for grabs on Wednesday night, PSG will welcome Toulouse to the Parc des Princes.

Starting with the hosts, while Nice might have caused PSG some mild headaches this season, it is no surprise that the French icons are tipped as a landslide contender to defend their Ligue 1 crown in 2024. Last seen heading into the festive interval with a 3-1 victory at home against Metz, Luis Enrique’s side are already holding a five-point buffer over the chasing pack. Eventually punching a Champions League knockout stage ticket last month and avoiding what would have been major European scrutiny, the former Barcelona boss will be confident of claiming a first piece of silverware of the season here. Lo…

Liverpool have reached an out of court settlement regarding disputes over the sale of the club in October 2010.

Former owners Thomas Hicks and George Gillett were upset about the sale of the club by then directors Sir Martin Broughton and Christian Purslow, along with current director Ian Ayre to Fenway Sports (then New England Sports Ventures).

As a result, a number of allegations were made by the former owners against the three directors which resulted in legal proceedings as the allegations were denied.

Now though, Liverpool have released a statement stating a settlement has been reached and the claims have been withdrawn.

The statement reads: The parties have now agreed a settlement (the terms of which are confidential).

All claims and alle…

Arsenal v West Ham United
English Premier League
Emirates Stadium, London
Wednesday 23 January, 2013
19:45 GMT

Arsenal have a great chance to close the gap on Everton to just one point in the race for the Champions League places. However, a win for West Ham will take them back into the top half of the table ahead of the second half of the season.

Arsenal Preview

Arsenal have not been as strong at home as they would have liked this season with five wins, two draws and three defeats. They have suffered recent defeats to Manchester City and away at Chelsea which will make them determined to improve. They are the odds on favourites to win with better value available via .

Injuries and Suspensions

Mikel Arteta and Tomas Rosicky will both miss the match w…

Taking to the stage after The Beatles would have been an unenviable task for any band, yet, strangely, Julen Lopetegui should be able to understand that phenomenon after the announcement of his impending Real Madrid adventure.

Sure, it is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, but can he realistically live up to the success and sheer adoration that has gone before?

Zinedine Zidane is The Beatles. The Frenchman enjoyed a quite remarkable tenure at the club – one that defies belief.

Within six months of his January 2016 appointment, Zidane led Madrid to Champions League success, defeating pretenders and city rivals Atletico Madrid in a penalty shoot-out.

Suggestions of being lucky were never far away – after all, Roberto Di Matteo won the Champions League…

Jonny Evans has completed his transfer from relegated West Brom to Leicester City on a three-year deal.

The former Manchester United centre-back often impressed during his three years at The Hawthorns and had been heavily linked with Arsenal and Manchester City last year.

But the 2017-18 season was a disaster for West Brom, as they were relegated from the Premier League despite a late push for survival under Darren Moore following the sacking of Alan Pardew.

Although his form on the pitch was steady, Evans played his part in disrupting the club s campaign, as he was one of four members of the squad involved in an incident during a team break to Barcelona in February.

Evans, Gareth Barry, Boaz Myhill and Jake Livermore were forced to apologise after they b…

Marcus Rashford and three other Manchester United first-team players returned to training on Wednesday in a major boost for their Europa League quarter-final second-leg trip to Sevilla.

Rashford suffered a groin injury in United s 2-0 win over Everton on April 8 and was subsequently ruled out for a few games .

Although not deemed a serious injury, Rashford s form this season has seen his importance to United increase exponentially, with his 28 goals across all competitions already comfortably his best season.

Therefore his absence was a frustrating blow to United and manager Erik ten Hag, but there appears to be a chance he could feature at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan on Thursday.

There s big news coming out of Carrington ||

— Manchester United…

The talks between Inter Milan and AS Roma about a proposed swap deal involving forwards Edin Dzeko and Alexis Sanchez have broken down, according to Sky in Italy.

Roma have decided to pull out of the negotiations until Inter call them back with a more favourable proposal, and CEO Tiago Pinto, representing Roma in the talks, has gone back to the Italian capital. Apparently, there was strong disagreement about the wages of the two players.

The 34-year-old striker is now set to remain at the Stadio Olimpico for the remaining part of the 2020-21 season, despite his situation at the club being unstable following a reported fallout with head coach Paolo Fonseca. Dzeko has so far scored eight goals in 20 appearances in all competitions this season, and his contract runs until …

Inconsistent winger Gervinho could be the key for Arsenal when they host Norwich in the English Premier League with third spot on the line.

Gervinho has been a popular target for disgruntled Arsenal fans this season as the London-based side have failed yet again to challenge for the Premier League title but with two goals and three assists in Arsenal s past three fixtures, the 25-year-old Ivory Coast international has found top form.

Arsenal can boost their UEFA Champions League qualification hopes and move from fifth into third spot in the English Premier League with a win over Norwich at the Emirates on Saturday and Gervinho could well be critical to the home side s chances.

The former Lille man set up the opening goal in Arsenal s 2-1 win over West Bromwich Al…

Nicolas Leoz has resigned from FIFA s executive committee and also as president of Conmebol for health reasons.

The 84-year-old, who had heart surgery for the fourth time in December, has headed Conmebol since 1986, and been on FIFA s executive committee since 1998.

I have invited you to this meeting to share with you my retirement from FIFA, Leoz said, before adding that he had informed president Sepp Blatter of the news.

I m announcing my retirement from all FIFA committees because it s important for my life, the Paraguayan said.

I still have good mental health but physically I m often impeded. I feel very happy because I m retiring with the tranquility and knowledge of having done a sincere and honest job.

In 2010 Leoz was accused by the BB…