David Villa has hailed Marco Asensio as spectacular and believes Spain have the talent in their ranks to enjoy a new glorious era.

Spain coach Julen Lopetegui handed New York City striker Villa a shock recall at the age of 35 for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Italy and Liechtenstein, with his last international appearance coming at the 2014 World Cup.

Villa was part of a golden generation for Spain and counts a European Championship and a World Cup among his list of achievements with his country.

The former Barcelona star sees a similar level of quality in Spain s current crop, and reserved particular praise for Madrid s star talent Asensio.

We have to see [Asensio] to enjoy him, he told a news conference. He s spectacular and he has had an i…

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…

Cristiano Ronaldo has his sights set on another slice of history when Lokomotiv Moscow travel to Juventus in the Champions League on Tuesday.

The 34-year-old – who is the competition s all-time top goalscorer – is aiming to score against his 34th different opponent, which would take him one clear of Real Madrid icon Raul.

Tottenham, meanwhile, will hope the prolific Harry Kane can kick-start their stuttering campaign against Red Star Belgrade, while Manchester City s Raheem Sterling will be licking his lips at the prospect of facing winless Atalanta.

Elsewhere, under-pressure Zinedine Zidane takes his Real Madrid side to Galatasaray and Paris Saint-Germain visit Club Brugge.

Here is the pick of the key Opta facts for Tuesday s eight matches.

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Jose Mourinho s Roma threw away a two-goal lead and squandered a late penalty as they lost 4-3 to 10-man Juventus in a whirlwind Stadio Olimpico clash.

The game was set up nicely after an early goal for each team from Tammy Abraham and Paulo Dybala, before a chaotic second period saw two strikes from distance by Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Lorenzo Pellegrini put the hosts apparently in charge.

However, a remarkable seven-minute turnaround saw goals from Manuel Locatelli, Dejan Kulusevski and Mattia De Sciglio put Juventus in front, before a Wojciech Szczesny penalty save from Pellegrini completed a miserable final 20 minutes for the Giallorossi.

Juve suffered a blow when Federico Chiesa was forced to come off with a knee injury in the first half following a tackle…