Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Mohamed Salah have all been nominated for UEFA s Champions League positional awards, with the list dominated by Real Madrid players.
Madrid won their third consecutive European title with thanks to a 3-1 win over Liverpool in Kiev, Gareth Bale netting a brace.
Bale did not make the cut of players voted for by coaches of the 32 teams from the 2017-18 Champions League group stage and 55 journalists representing each of UEFA s member nations, with Ronaldo, Messi and Salah the attackers put forward.
Keylor Navas may have his position at Madrid under serious threat following the signing of Thibaut Courtois but is nominated in the goalkeeping category alongside Alisson and Gianluigi Buffon.
Madrid have a clean sweep among the…
I am a lover of good football and a cr7 fan too..but i respect Messi to the core at a very higher level as high or a bit higher than my idol cr7
However, i refuse to agree that messi is a more complete player .based on the criteria
hit target with both feet
hit target with head
dribbles
positioning
pace
ronaldo and messi cn do all of this but ronaldo beats messi by a very far margin on the head target and distance target goals even though messi outshines him in dribbles not by enough margin to cover for his other lack
Platini said the same of messi when he was to equal his ballon dor so am not surprised ronaldo phenomenon delima is saying this He should stop watching the back of his tv and should be babysitted to ensure he watches the front of the tv
…
Irish Premier League outfit Shamrock Rovers have been handed a dream draw in the group stages of the Europa League.
The Rovers will make history as the first side from Ireland to ever reach the group stages of a European competition and they will be ecstatic with their draw, which will see them play home and away matches against English Premier League outfit Tottenham.
Joining the Rovers and Spurs in Group A are Greek outfit PAOK and Russian side Rubin Kazan.
The news will boost the mood of Rovers fans even further, after they qualified with a brilliant 2-1 win in extra time against Partizan Belgrade on Wednesday, which saw them progress 3-2 on aggregate.
Stoke City’s first appearance in European competition for 37 years was a successful one as they ne…
Hat-trick Hero / Image via dailymail.co.uk
Cristiano Ronaldo took the match-ball home with him on Saturday night at Vicente Calderon as he ended up singlehandedly guiding his team to the impressive 3-0 victory over Atletico Madrid.
Ronaldo s hat-trick allowed Los Rojiblancos to reaffirm their top spot in the La Liga standings and extend the gap in front of second-placed Barcelona who were held to a goalless home stalemate by the nine-man Malaga.
Our in-depth match report is right here for all of those who might have missed the action-packed derby match at Vicente Calderon:
Team News Form Guide
Two sides had contrasting fortunes heading into the Madrid derby as far as the selection options were concerned.
Diego Simeone received some encouraging n…
Jose Mourinho says he will only take five minutes to celebrate before turning his thoughts to next season if Chelsea seal the Premier League title this weekend.
Mourinho s side know victory over Crystal Palace on Sunday will be enough to secure their first league championship since 2010.
The Portuguese, who already boasts seven league titles from spells with Porto, Chelsea, Inter and Real Madrid, has fond memories of previous successes, but plans to swiftly refocus once silverware is secured.
I have replicas of every cup I won, and I don t care about the replicas. Or the medals. They re in my houses. I have some in Portugal, some here, some in my son’s room. I really don t care, said Mourinho.
What stays forever is the feeling, the emotion, the memo…
The cashout feature is the most powerful tool for in-play and pre-match betting that a punter can use to secure a potential profit. Although this relatively new option offered by the can be a great way to navigate through live soccer betting, there are many factors you need to master before cashing out a wager.
What is cashout in soccer betting?
Cashout is the option to close a bet while the game is still being played, or a prematch bet slip is still open. This new feature had been developed as pre-match option but progressed to betting. It was refined over time with new perks added by the bookmakers to attract more customers.
While initially the cashout option was attributed to the most popular bets like the result and goals, today you can cash out a bet on , , , …
Werder Bremen have signed Borussia Dortmund centre-back Omer Toprak on a season-long loan with an option to buy to further strengthen their defence ahead of the new Bundesliga season.
Toprak was a regular in the Dortmund side of 2017-18 but fell out of favour last season, making just one Bundesliga start as Lucien Favre s side narrowly missed out on the title.
He becomes the second defender to join Florian Kohfeldt s side in the close-season, after fellow centre-back Marco Friedl arrived in a €3.35million deal from Bayern Munich.
Dortmund announced that Werder have agreed a purchase option as part of the deal, which will take effect under realistic circumstances .
Turkey international Toprak, 30, started his career at Freiburg where he helped the club…
Atalanta have completed the signing of Russia international midfielder Aleksey Miranchuk from Lokomotiv Moscow.
The 24-year-old is reported to have joined until 2025 and is understood to have cost an initial €14.5million.
Lokomotiv announced at the end of August they had agreed a fee with Atalanta for the attacking midfielder, but only on Friday did the Serie A club confirm the deal had been concluded.
Capped 25 times by Russia, Miranchuk made his senior Lokomotiv debut as a 17-year-old in April 2013 and went on to play 228 times for the club, where his twin Anton remains a player.
He had reportedly been tracked by Milan, among other clubs, but he bolsters the creative options of Atalanta, who are preparing for a second successive season in the Champion…
Tottenham s experience from last season will count for nothing when they face Newcastle United on Sunday, according to Cristian Stellini.
Spurs head to St James Park looking to stay in the chase for Champions League qualification.
Stellini s side are fifth, three points behind Newcastle in the top four, having played a game more and possessing an inferior goal difference.
Defeat to Newcastle would leave Tottenham six points adrift and facing a huge uphill battle, but they can at least recall how the previous season ended.
Spurs chased down Arsenal, aided by a Newcastle win over the Gunners, to finish in the top four.
Meanwhile, Newcastle have not been in contention for a European finish in more than 10 years.
However, Stellini does not see…
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Looking to get the new La Liga campaign underway with an early statement in Basque Country, Athletic Bilbao will welcome Getafe to the Estadio San Mames on Thursday evening.
Athletic Bilbao
Starting with the hosts, while Athletic Bilbao might have eventually fallen short last season in the race to claim a famous Champions League ticket, the Lions did gain a string of plaudits from across Spain’s elite. Signing off the 2023/24 campaign with a gritty 1-0 win away at Rayo Vallecano, Ernesto Valverde’s men will simply be looking to carry on from where they left off back in May. With a Europa League adventure approaching on the horizon, the former Barcelona boss saw his squad suffer just a single defeat from any of their final five La L…