BARCELONA (AFP) – Gerard Pique sparked Barcelona’s flailing Champions League campaign into life on Wednesday (Oct 20) by scoring the only goal in a 1-0 win over Dynamo Kiev, a victory that was witnessed by a half-empty Camp Nou. The attendance was recorded at 45,968, with several blocks of seating filled by only a handful... » read more
PARIS (AFP) – Real Madrid thrashed Shakhtar Donetsk 5-0 in the Champions League on Tuesday (Oct 19) as Karim Benzema scored on the eve of his trial in France on charges of complicity in blackmail. A first-half own goal from Serhiy Kryvtsov put Real on their way before Vinicius Junior scored two superb goals before... » read more
MADRID (REUTERS) – Antoine Griezmann scored twice but was sent off for Atletico Madrid as they fell to a 3-2 Champions League Group B defeat to Liverpool whose in-form attacker Mohamed Salah netted a double, including the winner from the penalty spot. Salah opened the scoring with a deflected effort in the eighth minute and... » read more
LONDON (AFP) – Manchester United will be without Raphael Varane due to a groin injury that leaves Ole Gunnar Solskjaer short on options at centre-back for a demanding few weeks. The French defender suffered the injury during his country’s 2-1 win over Spain on Sunday (Oct 10) in the Nations League final. “Raphael Varane sustained... » read more
MILAN, ITALY (REUTERS) – France’s midfielder Adrien Rabiot has been ruled out of Sunday’s Nations League final against Spain after testing positive for Covid-19. Rabiot, who plays for Juventus, was isolating and did not travel to Milan from Turin with the squad. The rest of the French team underwent rapid tests and were all in... » read more
TURIN, ITALY (AFP) – Romelu Lukaku and Eden Hazard will miss Belgium’s Nations League third-place playoff with Italy as they are not fully fit, coach Roberto Martinez said on Saturday (Oct 9). “They both got overloads in their muscles in different areas, and we didn’t have the facilities in our camp to be able to... » read more
PARIS (AFP) – Six-time winner Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, a five-time victor, were among the 30 names revealed on Friday (Oct 8) for the Ballon d’Or award. The serial favourites face competition that includes Kylian Mbappe, Neymar, Karim Benzema, Jorginho and N’Golo Kante who are also considered as leading runners in the list unveiled... » read more
LONDON (AFP) – Newcastle United director Amanda Staveley on Thursday (Oct 7) said the club’s new Saudi-led ownership aims to win the Premier League within 10 years after a £300 million (S$500 million) takeover. A consortium headed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund passed the Premier League’s owners’ and directors’ test to become the club’s... » read more
MANCHESTER, UNITED KINGDOM (AFP) – Amnesty International has condemned the Premier League’s test to assess the suitability of owners and directors as unfit for purpose as a Saudi-led consortium completed its takeover of struggling Newcastle on Thursday (Oct 7). The human rights group has lobbied English football chiefs for more than a year to reject... » read more
LAS VEGAS, NV, Oct 5, 2021 – (ACN Newswire via SEAPRWire.com) – Stephen Crystal of SCCG Management and the leadership of Major Arena Soccer League (MASL) announced today a partnership to bring MASL events to the US sports betting industry. The Major Arena Soccer League represents 16 teams across the United States and Mexico. The... » read more
LONDON (AFP) – Manchester United were held at home by Everton on Saturday (Oct 2) after Cristiano Ronaldo was dropped to the subs bench as Chelsea scored two late goals against Southampton to top the Premier League table. Elsewhere, Brighton drew 0-0 with Arsenal to end the Gunners’ recent winning streak while Leeds earned their... » read more
MADRID (REUTERS) – Moldovan side Sheriff Tiraspol pulled off a remarkable 2-1 win away to Real Madrid in the Champions League on Tuesday (Sept 28), snatching a shock victory thanks to a sensational 89th-minute strike from Sebastien Thill. Competition debutants Sheriff went ahead against the 13-times European champions in the 25th minute with a header... » read more
PORTO (REUTERS) – Mohamed Salah struck twice as Liverpool sauntered to a 5-1 victory against injury-struck Porto to seize command of a daunting looking Champions League Group B on Tuesday (Sept 28). A tricky-looking fixture on paper was negotiated with ease by Liverpool who were far superior in every department and helped by a woeful... » read more
PARIS (AFP) – Lionel Messi scored his first Paris Saint-Germain goal on Tuesday (Sept 28) and it was a significant one, helping put Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City to the sword in a 2-0 Champions League win for the French club. Messi’s goal was both stunning and also so typical of the Argentine, as he burst... » read more
LIVERPOOL (REUTERS) – Andros Townsend and Abdoulaye Doucoure were on target as Everton condemned Norwich City to their sixth straight Premier League defeat with a comfortable 2-0 win at Goodison Park on Saturday (Sept 25). Norwich have lost their last 16 Premier League games under manager Daniel Farke, having previously been defeated in 10 consecutive... » read more
LONDON (AFP) – Colombia midfielder James Rodriguez left Everton to join Qatari club Al-Rayyan for an undisclosed fee on Wednesday after falling out of favour at the Premier League club. With the transfer window in the Middle East still open until the end of the month, Rodriguez travelled to Qatar to tie up his move... » read more
RENNES, FRANCE (AFP) – Substitute Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg’s equaliser allowed Tottenham Hotspur to come away with a 2-2 draw from their trip to France to play Rennes in the new Europa Conference League on Thursday (Sept 16). Loic Bade’s own goal had given Spurs the lead in an entertaining encounter in Brittany but Flavien Tait equalised... » read more
BRUGES, BELGIUM (AFP) – Lionel Messi has been handed his first start for Paris Saint-Germain in their Champions League opener away to Club Brugge in Belgium on Wednesday (Sept 15). The Argentine teams up with Neymar and Kylian Mbappe as PSG coach Mauricio Pochettino lines up all three members of his all-star attack together for... » read more
BARCELONA (REUTERS) – Two goals from Robert Lewandowski and one from Thomas Mueller propelled Bayern Munich to a 3-0 win at Barcelona in their opening Champions League game on Tuesday (Sept 14) in another brutal demonstration of the gulf in class between the two sides. Mueller gave Bayern the lead in the 34th minute with... » read more
BERN, SWITZERLAND (REUTERS) – Manchester United coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said poor discipline cost his side in their 2-1 Champions League defeat to Young Boys on Tuesday (Sept 14), but insisted there was plenty of time left to turn things around. United had taken an early lead through Cristiano Ronaldo and appeared on course to... » read more