Afonso Alves on his way to Qatar

Emotions will run high at El Madrigal on Sunday as Barcelona play their first game since the death of former coach Tito Vilanova.

Gerardo Martino s men face a game against Villarreal just two days after Vilanova s passing following a lengthy battle with throat cancer was confirmed.

The assistant to Pep Guardiola during a period of glorious success at Camp Nou, Vilanova subsequently took over as first-team coach and led the Catalan giants to the Liga title with a club-record haul of 100 points in 2012-13.

Having battled ill health and spending time in hospital during his brief reign, Vilanova stood down in July 2013 to be replaced by Martino.

His condition then worsened earlier this month and Barca released a statement on Friday confirming Vilanova s passing at th…

Scotland international winger Robert Snodgrass has talked up a potential move to Scottish champions Celtic in the summer, as current club Norwich City near relegation to the Sky Bet Championship.

The Canaries (8-8-20) are currently in 18th-place in the English Premier League table, with two fixtures away to Chelsea and at home to Arsenal remaining on schedule. As a result, Norwich are priced at to suffer relegation, and rightfully so.

Simply put, the club are in shambles, as evidenced by the fact that 40-year-old goalkeeper Carlo Nash, who has not made one first-team appearance for the Canaries this season, is the leading vote-getter for Norwich City Player of the Season.

Nash has received about 2,000 votes via mail and social media (Facebook and Twitt…

Atletico Madrid striker Radamel Falcao believes the first goal will be crucial in Wednesday s Europa League Final with Athletic Bilbao.

Falcao scored in last year s Europa League final as Porto triumphed 1-0 over fellow-Portuguese club Braga.

This season it is an all-Spanish final and while the Colombian striker would love to score again he would give up that opportunity as long as Madrid score first.

To score a goal in a final is something special, Falcao said in the lead-up to Wednesday s final.

It happened to me last year but I have to say, that the important thing is not who scores, but that the team scores.

Anyway, it s true that in a final whoever scores the first goal can control the rest of the game.

Madrid won the Europa Le…

Milan legend Alessandro Nesta says the side must play with more consistency if they are to return to the UEFA Champions League.

The San Siro outfit missed out on Europe s premier competition this season after a poor 2013-14 campaign that saw them finish eighth.

Milan have shown signs of improvement under the stewardship of coach Filippo Inzaghi this term, but a 1-0 loss at Genoa last weekend has left the club seventh and five points adrift of third place.

Nesta who won two Serie A titles and two Champions League medals during a 10-year stay  feels the club must perform better on a week-to-week basis in order to push for a Champions League return.

I have travelled the world and the name of Milan is always too important to finish eighth, the centre-ba…

Emre Can launched into a scathing attack on the performance of the referee after Borussia Dortmund were knocked out of the Champions League following a 2-0 defeat against Chelsea.

Graham Potter s side faced a tough task after losing the first leg 1-0 in Germany, but Raheem Sterling s first-half goal and a Kai Havertz penalty secured a 2-1 aggregate win for the Blues.

Havertz s penalty was the subject of much controversy after the forward was allowed to retake the spot-kick following encroachment from Salih Ozcan during his first missed attempt, a decision that left Can furious.

The referee was to blame, the Dortmund midfielder told Prime Video.

I don t understand the second penalty. How can you give it? I don t give a damn who ran into the penalty ar…

Milan have confirmed Daniel Maldini has joined Spezia on a season-long loan, leaving San Siro for the first time.

The 20-year-old is a third-generation footballer with the club, having followed in the footsteps of his father, modern legend Paolo Maldini, and grandfather, club icon Cesare Maldini, in playing for Milan.

Cesare started his Serie A career at Triestina and ended his playing days at Torino, but Paolo stayed with Milan throughout.

This now represents Daniel s first move away from the club, having made 15 Serie A appearances for the Rossoneri across three seasons. However, those outings have only amounted 194 minutes.

At Spezia, the 20-year-old will get the opportunity to establish himself in the top flight.

Official Statement: Daniel Ma…

CSKA Moscow have announced the return of Ahmed Musa on loan for the remainder of the season after the forward failed to make an impact at Leicester City.

Leicester paid a reported club-record £16million to sign Musa in July 2016 as they bolstered their squad for a Champions League campaign in the wake of their stunning Premier League title success.

But the Nigeria international only scored two top-flight goals in his first campaign, while his only strike this term came in a 4-1 win over Sheffield United in the EFL Cup second round in August.

Musa has subsequently been allowed to depart the King Power Stadium until the end of the season.

Ahmed will be included in the Red-Blues squad list for the national league and the Europa League knockout stage, said …

Newcastle Jets cemented their place in the top two of the A-League with a 2-0 victory over Melbourne Victory played out in front of new Socceroos coach Bert van Marwijk.

The Jets are clinging onto the coattails of runaway leaders Sydney FC, and closed the gap back to nine points with Saturday s success at McDonald Jones Stadium.

Nigel Boogaard headed home a free-kick in the first half, before Australia youth international Riley McGree scrambled home a 70th-minute goal to make sure of the points after good wing play from Andrew Nabbout.

Nabbout has impressed since returning to the A-League with the Jets in 2016 and has been mentioned as a chance for the Socceroos World Cup squad. Another fine performance in front of the new national coach will do his chances no ha…

Tottenham Hotspur have signed Russia striker Roman Pavlyuchenko from Spartak Moscow on a five-year deal and Croatian defender Vedran Corluka from Manchester City, the club confirmed on Monday.

The club told the Stock Exchange they had signed the 26-year-old Russian for 14 million pounds (25.2 million dollars) and confirmed on their website the arrival of 22-year-old Corluka.

We are delighted to announce that we have reached agreement with Manchester City for the transfer of Vedran Corluka to the Club, Spurs said in a statement.

Corluka, who has been capped 24 times by Croatia, won successive titles with Dynamo in 2006 and 2007.

He left for the Premier League and Manchester City in August 2007, where he featured at right-back, centre-back and in midfi…

Rio Ferdinand resumed training with his England team-mates here on Monday, handing Fabio Capello a major boost ahead of Wednesday s World Cup qualifying clash with Croatia in Zagreb.

Manchester United defender Ferdinand had been struggling with a neck problem and missed the 2-0 victory over Andorra here on Saturday.

But after Monday s session, he was passed fit to travel to the Croatian capital and will expect to return to the centre of defence alongside captain John Terry, with Everton s Joleon Lescott making way.

Head coach Capello, who is under pressure after England s lacklustre display against the group minnows, is expected to promote Joe Cole to the starting line-up after the Chelsea midfielder came off the bench to score both goals against Andorra.

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