Returning Villa hails Asensio and predicts another ´glorious´ Spain era

Saturday s Champions League final certainly lived up to its billing as the greatest game in club football, and there was one moment that will live long in the memory of those present in Cardiff.

Mario Mandzukic ended up on the losing side as Juventus succumbed to a 4-1 defeat to Real Madrid but he will take some solace from the fact that he might well have scored the greatest goal in the history of the modern tournament s final matches.

The Croatia international s stupendous volley had the Principality Stadium on its feet and must even have drawn a wry smile from the watching Zinedine Zidane, who has previously been credited with the best strike in this showpiece.

So does Mandzukic s effort rank as the best among this esteemed company? We ll let you decide. To ma…

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers hailed the hunger of his side after they brushed aside Hibernian on Sunday.

Rodgers side are into the quarter-finals of the Scottish League Cup after a 3-1 victory at Celtic Park.

Daizen Maeda scored twice in the opening 15 minutes during a one-sided start before Nicolas Kuhn s second-half finish made sure of victory after Mykola Kuharevich s header had the visitors back in the contest.

Celtic will face Falkirk in the next round, where Rodgers will hope his Scottish Premiership champions can replicate Sunday s fine performance.

I thought we were excellent from the start of the game. We showed our hunger, Rodgers said after the comfortable triumph.

We said before the game that our playmaker today would be our counte…

Newcastle United are interested in signing Jude Bellingham from Borussia Dortmund in the summer of 2023, according to . The German publication has claimed that Newcastle have joined Liverpool, Real Madrid and Manchester City in the race for the England international midfielder.

Bellingham has been on the books of Bundesliga club Dortmund since 2020 and has been superb for them. The teenager has established himself as a key player in the team and has done well, both in the Bundesliga and in the UEFA Champions League. The teenager has scored four goals and given three assists in 17 Bundesliga matches and has scored four goals and given one assist in five UEFA Champions League games so far this season.

Newcastle are third in the Premier League table at the moment with 39 p…

Conor Gallagher is already feeling at home after swapping Chelsea for Atletico Madrid, having received a rousing welcome at his unveiling at the Civitas Metropolitano on Friday.

Gallagher, who joined Chelsea at the age of six, left in a €42million (£35.5m) deal on Wednesday, penning a five-year deal with LaLiga giants Atleti.

The 24-year-old joined Atleti s other new signings – including former Manchester City forward Julian Alvarez – in being presented to fans at Los Colchoneros stadium on Friday.

Speaking after the event, the England international said: It was amazing, I enjoyed every minute, it was a good sign of what is to come from the fans.

They made me feel at home and it gave me a lot of excitement to be able to play the games in this stad…

Verdict: Away Over 2.5 goals

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Belarus is playing their last card in the hopes of qualifying for EURO 2024. They have a difficult hurdle to cross over in Budapest where they will face an undefeated Romania. The match is crucial for both teams as we enter the last stage of the Group I games. The march will be played on Szusza Ferenc Stadion (Budapest), starting from 21:45.

Belarus

Belarus is not able to play on home soil due to the ongoing war in Ukraine. They will have to travel to Hungary in Budapest where they will host Romania on Szusza Ferenc Stadion. The hosts failed to qualify for any international tournament either the World Cup or the Euro. Their chances are very slim to achieve history, sitting 5th in the table, 8 points f…

Sergio Aguero returned to action with a goal as Manchester City closed out their triumphant Champions League group campaign with a routine 3-0 win over Marseille.

Ferran Torres brought the game to life after a goalless first half, continuing an impressive vein of form in Europe s top competition with a smart 48th-minute finish.

Aguero, who has struggled with the after-effects of meniscus surgery over the early months of the season, came off the bench to seal the points 13 minutes from time, offering Pep Guardiola a timely reminder of his qualities ahead of Saturday s Manchester derby at Old Trafford.

Another substitute, Raheem Sterling, completed the scoring for City, who were already through as group winners and can now boast their best-ever Champions League hau…

Prediction: Morocco win

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The Africa Cup of Nations is slowly progressing into the latter stages of the tournament now, as countries from all across the continent attempt to push themselves to the limit in the name of being called the Champions of Africa. Today we re going to be taking a look at the imminent clash between Morocco and South Africa, which should be a pretty intriguing encounter. If, for nothing else, because of the history that these two nations share in regards to the hosting controversy surrounding the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

South Africa

The 2010 FIFA World Cup was a long time ago, when SA hosted the tournament in their own backyard. Ever since then it s felt like they ve been on something of a gradual decline which,…

Neymar made a mistake when he agreed to his world-record €222million transfer from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain, according to former Blaugrana and Brazil defender Edmilson.

PSG stunned world football when they made Neymar the most expensive signing of all time in August last year, with Barca left helpless as one of their prized possessions walked away.

Since then, Neymar has consistently sparkled in France, scoring 29 goals and setting up another 18 in just 31 Ligue 1 appearances.

However, the Brazil captain has often been surrounded by transfer speculation and reports of discontent, with the latest rumours suggesting he wants a return to Barca.

Whether that comes to fruition remains to be seen, but Edmilson – who spent four years at Camp Nou unt…

FIFPro vice-president Francis Awaritefe said the time for talking and pious statements are over, football leaders must take a stand on racism and discrimination after the Champions League clash between Paris Saint-Germain and Istanbul Basaksehir was postponed.

PSG and Turkish visitors Basaksehir will return on Wednesday to complete their match after Tuesday s Group H meeting was halted amid allegations of racism against the fourth official in Paris.

The fixture was stopped after 13 minutes with both sets of players gathering on the sidelines as Basaksehir substitute Demba Ba remonstrated with fourth official Sebastian Coltescu, saying: You never said this white guy . Why, when you mention a black guy, do you have to say this black guy ?

Both PSG and Basaksehir…

Norwich City shocked Premier League champions Manchester City 3-2 at Carrow Road despite the Canaries coping with a massive injury crisis.

The visitors first league loss since January was self-inflicted as defenders made regular errors, but Norwich, whose goals came from Kenny McLean, Todd Cantwell and Teemu Pukki, fully deserved their second home win since sealing promotion.

Rodri drilled home with two minutes to go to give City hope of a point but defeat on Saturday leaves them five points behind Liverpool in the table, with the Reds holding a 100 per cent record after five Premier League games.

Norwich were without 11 players due to injury and had to name two goalkeepers on the bench, but Daniel Farke s men took a shock lead in the 18th minute.

The Ca…