Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are not as outstanding as they once were, according to former Bayern Munich boss Ottmar Hitzfeld.
Messi has scored 43 goals in all competitions this term, more than any other player in Europe s top-five leagues, to help spearhead Barcelona s latest treble charge.
Ronaldo has managed a more relatively modest 24 goals in his first season with Juventus, but his hat-trick against Atletico Madrid sealed a Champions League quarter-final spot for the Serie A leaders and kept alive his chances of winning the trophy for the sixth time in his career.
However, both players were overlooked for the 2018 Ballon d Or, with Luka Modric ending a 10-year Messi-Ronaldo duopoly by winning France Football s coveted prize.
And Hitzfeld believ…
Tottenham Hotspur are interested in signing Andre Gomes, currently at Everton on loan from Barcelona, according to .
The Toffees are keen to make the deal permanent this summer, but they are set to face stiff competition from the north Londoners whose president Daniel Levy has approved an expense of £30 million to acquire the services of the Portuguese midfielder. There are other interested clubs as well, who believe Gomes would be a bargain signing given the season he s had at Goodison Park.
The interest from Spurs seems to have been going on for a while now. They tried to sign him on loan in January 2018, and they recently sent chief scout Steve Hitchen to watch him play in the Merseyside Derby at Anfield this season. Mauricio Pochettino, who is a big admirer of th…
Maxi Gomez scored an 82nd-minute equaliser for Celta Vigo to extend Real Madrid s winless away run in LaLiga to four matches in a 2-2 draw at Balaidos.
Defeat at Girona and goalless stalemates at Atletico Madrid and Athletic Bilbao plunged Madrid into worrying run of away form, although a 3-0 home reverse to fierce rivals Barcelona in their last league outing is likely to have given them the bigger headache over the Christmas period.
But Zinedine Zidane s men were unable to break that streak on Sunday, despite the best efforts of Gareth Bale, who scored both of the visitors goals in his first league start since September following calf and hamstring problems.
Iago Aspas hit the post for Celta before Daniel Wass opened the scoring with a wonderful chipped goal…
Atletico Madrid welcomed Valencia to the Wanda Metropolitano stadium on Wednesday evening in the 34th round of the 2018/19 La Liga season.
It was the visitors whose need for points was in theory bigger ahead of the clash as they battle for a finish to the campaign that would lead them into the Champions League next season, but Atletico aren t the kind of team that would allow anyone an easy game in their home. Further more, the bragging rights in the Spanish capital are still at stake with Real Madrid looming close behind.
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Atletico boss Diego Simeone will be without the suspended striker Diego Costa. Defenders Lucas Hernandez and Jose Maria Gimenez missed out through injury.
Jan Oblak was in goal. Stefan Savić and Diego Godin were the last defensive …
Marouane Fellaini insists there is a growing belief at Old Trafford that Manchester United are realistic Premier League title challengers.
While the former Everton midfielder – who much like the 20-time English champions is experiencing an upturn in fortunes – admits a return to the top four and UEFA Champions League qualification is the club s main aim this season, Fellaini knows United are well placed to kick on.
Six successive wins means United are third, eight points adrift of leaders Chelsea, and are firmly banishing the memories of a painful 2013-14, when they finished a lowly seventh.
Last season was not good enough for Manchester United, Fellaini told The Times.
We know that and we are working hard to put that right.
In some…