Zinedine Zidane could breathe a sigh of relief as an own goal from Yassine Bounou gave Real Madrid a 1-0 win at Sevilla.
Madrid’s head coach has come under mounting pressure after an unsteady start to the season in LaLiga and in the Champions League.
His side carved out plenty of chances to beat Sevilla comfortably but could not find a decisive finish, until the home side s goalkeeper ran out of luck in the second half.
Ferland Mendy s low cross looked sure to be turned home by Vinicius Junior, but he made only the slightest of connections and the ball deflected in off Bounou, with Thibaut Courtois late save from Lucas Ocampos at the other end securing a valuable victory.
1 Yassine Bounou is the first goalkeeper to score an own goal in LaLiga this …
Real Madrid vs Atletico Madrid 11th or 1st European title / Image via footyheadlines.com
The stage is set and European football community will be in for yet another memorable Champions League final on 28 May in Milano, there is no doubt about that.
The fans are in for another classic clash between Madrid rivals Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid who earned their right to fight for the trophy having beaten Bayern Munich and Manchester City in the competition’s semi-final, respectively.
Diego Simeone and Zinedine Zidane are presented with a glorious chance of crowning the season with the most coveted title of them all. At the same time, La Liga rivals are still vying for domestic honours, with Los Rojiblancos sitting level with Barcelona and Los Blancos just a poin…
Guus Hiddink has described Chelsea s failure to secure European Football next season as a football disaster .
After cantering to the Premier League title in 2014-15, a tumultuous season that included the sacking of Jose Mourinho nears its conclusion with Chelsea unable to achieve even a spot in the Europa League.
Departing Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini claimed it would be disastrous if his side failed to earn a top-four spot and a place in the Champions League.
And Chelsea s interim boss Hiddink acknowledged that, in footballing terms, a failure to play in Europe is a huge underachievement for a club of Chelsea s size.
When I talk about big words like disaster , there are bigger things in the world, but in the football world you migh…
Espanyol shrugged off the loss of departing first team stars Albert Riera and Pablo Zabaleta to defeat Valladolid 1-0 on Saturday in the curtain raiser of the 2008/09 Spanish league season.
Espanyol s Luis Garcia, still recovering from the disappointment of being dropped from the Spain squad shortly before Euro 2008, had the honour of scoring the first goal of the new season a minute after the break.
It proved enough as Espanyol won their first league match since mid-March while new coach Bartolome Marquez enjoyed a winning start in his first match in charge.
Espanyol went into the match trying to reshuffle their team after deciding to sell Riera and Zabaleta despite having little time to find replacements.
Spanish international Riera is poised to jo…
Arsenal have been relentless in their quest for the Premier League title, doing very well without Emile Smith Rowe, once considered among the hottest prospects wearing the Gunners shirt. Since his return to contention after a long-term injury absence, the 22-year-old attacking midfielder hasn t been able to displace either Martin Odegaard as the No. 10, or Gabriel Martinelli on the left wing.
Here s what manager Mikel Arteta has to say on the subject.
He needs to prove how much he wants to win and how much he s going to contribute to this team to be better and to win, he s going to have to show that to get into the team.
Mikel Arteta on Emile Smith Rowe fighting for a place in the Arsenal team since his return
— Football Daily (@footballdaily)
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Marcus Rashford has been left out of the Manchester United matchday squad for the first time this season for Sunday s clash with Newcastle United at St James Park, as Paul Pogba returns to the team.
The England international has been at least a substitute in every match in all competitions under Jose Mourinho in 2017-18, although he did not get off the bench in their last away game, when they lost 2-0 to Tottenham.
Rashford, who made a second-half appearance against Huddersfield Town last Saturday, reportedly picked up a minor muscle complaint and his condition was being monitored throughout the week.
Manager Jose Mourinho confirmed the 20-year-old was omitted due to an injury problem, along with midfielder Ander Herrera.
Both are injured, he told Sky Sp…
Competition: La Liga
Market: Villarreal to beat Getafe
Odds:
La Liga continues this weekend with another massive round of games that will be hugely important towards the final standings of the competition. The table has remained exceptionally tight this year which means that a single win can often see a team rise a number of places. With this in mind, Villarreal host Getafe on Sunday.
Villarreal have been in good form this season and they are still in the hunt for a Champions League place, although this dream is fading. After 24 games they have won 11, drawn five and lost eight, scoring 35 goals and conceding 29 times. In their last five they have won twice, lost twice and drawn once, which has seen them onto 38 points. Sunday s hosts are only …
Barcelona director Andoni Zubizarreta wants his team to overcome Bayern Munich and seal a return to a magical place , Wembley Stadium.
Barca were drawn to face Bayern in the semi-finals of the Champions League, the prize on offer a final in London, the scene of the Catalan club s previous European Cup triumphs in 1992 and 2011.
And although Bayern Munich already crowned Bundesliga champions this season represent a formidable obstacle for Tito Vilanova s men to overcome, Barca are determined to progress to this year s tournament decider.
We hope to reach Wembley, a magical place for us, former Spain international Zubizarreta told reporters following the draw in Nyon on Friday.
We are two great teams, with different styles. But we are going to play our fo…
Stoke City are close to securing a permanent deal for Liverpool winger Oussama Assaidi, .
The winger spent last season on loan with Mark Hughes’ side, for whom he made twenty-five appearances in all competitions, scoring five goals including a dramatic last minute winner in a 3-2 victory over Chelsea at the Britannia Stadium back in December.
He moved to Liverpool in August 2012, but made just four substitute appearances in the Premier League during Brendan Rodgers’ first season in charge of the Merseyside club.
The Potters are also keen on landing England U21 international Nathan Redmond from Norwich City, while they are working on a loan deal for Barcelona forward Bojan, who spent last season on loan with Ajax.
Stoke begin the 2014/15 campaign…
Prediction: Arsenal win
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The Premier League is back once again this weekend as continue on through the always-crazy month of December. There are so many teams up and down the top flight who are in desperate need of some points on the board now that we re in the midst of the busy winter schedule, especially with such a short spell of time between these fixtures and the games earlier on in the week. Today, we re going to be taking a look at a clash between two PL originals: Everton and Arsenal.
Everton
Carlo Ancelotti s tenure has been full of ups and downs thus far and while the defeats this season have been hard to take, it s nothing when compared with the euphoria that Toffees fans feel to see their side pushing for the top fou…