Defender Alejandro Balde is confident Barcelona can end their Rayo Vallecano “curse” on Saturday.
The reigning LaLiga champions have not beaten Rayo in four attempts and will hope to put the record straight when they head for the Estadio de Vallecas this weekend.
Balde told the club’s official website: “This is an important match for the team. We haven’t beaten Rayo Vallecano for two years and I think a win on Saturday will break the curse of not winning.
Balde talks
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“The start of the season was good. We are in third place in the league and we are already close to qualifying for [the knockout stage of] the Champions League.
“We are four points away from the top, but the season is still long…
Jose Mourinho has been backed to do a great job at Roma by Paulo Fonseca, the man he will be replacing at the Serie A club.
Roma announced on Tuesday that Fonseca will step down from his role at the end of the season to make way for the arrival of Mourinho.
It marks a swift return to management for the Portuguese, who was sacked by Tottenham on April 19 after a disappointing 17 months in charge. He left Spurs with a 51 per cent win ratio in all competitions only with Leiria (45 per cent) at the start of his managerial career had he posted a worse return.
However, Mourinho won two league titles, the Coppa Italia twice and a Champions League during his only previous spell in Italian football, which was with Inter between 2008 and 2010.
Fonseca expects h…
Putting in what was a dominant display in north London on Sunday afternoon, Arsenal breezed their way back to top spot in the Premier League table as they claimed a 2-0 victory against Brighton.
While the Gunners might have suffered just a second Premier League defeat of the season away at Aston Villa last weekend, Mikel Arteta’s young squad came roaring back here.
Watching ex-Manchester City striker Gabriel Jesus open the scoring eight minutes after the restart, Arsenal were completely dominant at the Emirates as they put Brighton to the sword.
With Kai Havertz eventually wrapping up all three points in the final few minutes, Arteta’s side now hold a single-point buffer over the chasing pack and smelling a golden chance to make real history in the New Year.…
Wales play their penultimate Euro 2024 qualifier in Armenia on Saturday.
Automatic qualification is in Wales’ own hands as two closing victories will book their place in Germany next summer.
Here, the PA news agency takes a look at some of the main talking points of the game in Yerevan.
Deja vu
The parallels between Wales’ successful Euro 2020 qualification and the current campaign are hard to resist.
Wales reached Euro 2020 with a fast finish – holding 2018 World Cup finalists Croatia to a Cardiff draw before winning in Azerbaijan and downing Hungary after back-to-back summer defeats.
Having suffered another pointless June and just beaten Croatia in Cardiff, Wales head to the Caucasus region again to take on Azerbaijan’s neighbour Armeni…
Kylian Mbappe is further away from Real Madrid than ever before despite slaying Barcelona, according to former Santiago Bernabeu sporting director Jorge Valdano.
Mbappe netted a stunning hat-trick as Paris Saint-Germain thrashed an overmatched Barca 4-1 in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie on Tuesday.
Such a performance will undoubtedly further endear the France forward to the Madrid faithful and he has been frequently linked with a move to the Spanish capital.
The 22-year-old s contract at PSG expires at the end of next season, however Valdano believes his Camp Nou heroics have given him leverage to demand the sort of wage only the Ligue 1 giants are in a position to afford.
After this, Mbappe is further from Real Madrid than ever bef…
Ansu Fati will take over the famed number 10 shirt at Barcelona that has been vacated since Lionel Messi s move to Paris Saint-Germain.
Messi s 21-year association with Barcelona came to an end in August when joining PSG on a free transfer after a new deal at Camp Nou could not be agreed.
The six-time Ballon d Or winner had worn the 10 jersey since Ronaldinho s departure in 2008 and has become synonymous with the shirt, which was also sported by Rivaldo and Romario in the past.
There had been suggestions Barca would leave the number unoccupied, but it was confirmed on Wednesday that fellow La Masia graduate Fati will inherit it.
Fati has been with the Catalan giants for the past nine years, the last two of those in the first team
Our new number
…
Competition: Euro 2016 Qualifier
Market: Republic of Ireland to win against Germany
Odds:
Republic of Ireland host Germany tonight in the Euro 2016 qualifiers, and Martin O’Neill’s side are desperate to get a result to all but ensure of their place in the playoffs. It won’t be easy to get a result against the world champions, but Ireland have been in fine form ahead of the meeting to at least come away with a share of the spoils.
Third in Group D ahead of this week’s outing, four points ahead of fourth-placed Scotland, Ireland are in pole position to make the playoffs. They could still make the top-two automatic qualifying places with a win, but Germany are no slouches. The Eagles are top of the pack after eight games, and are coming off the back of …
Competition: Euro 2016 Qualifier
Market: Republic of Ireland to win against Georgia
Odds:
Republic of Ireland host Georgia in Group D of the Euro 2016 qualifiers, with Martin O’Neill’s men in need of win to stay in contention of making next year’s finals. Currently third in the table, Ireland are just two points adrift of second-placed Poland, and one point ahead of fourth-placed Scotland.
A win could see them into an automatic spot in the table depending on results, and home advantage should see them taking all three points. Bet 365 are giving odds of 8/15 for Green Army to come out on top against a Georgia outfit who are all but ruled out of qualifying for the 2016 tournament.
The home side are unbeaten in their last three group games, picki…
Belgium cruised to a 4-1 away victory over Andorra on Saturday, sealing their qualification for Euro 2016.
Radja Nainggolan s deflected effort gave Marc Wilmots men the lead, before Kevin De Bruyne struck with a stunning free-kick just before half-time.
Alarm bells were briefly ringing after the break when Andorra s record goalscorer Ildefons Lima netted a penalty, but Belgium quickly responded with a spot-kick of their own, scored by stand-in captain Eden Hazard.
Laurent Depoitre made it four with a close-range finish, before Hazard missed a chance to net his second penalty of the match as his effort was saved in the closing stages.
After reaching the World Cup quarter-finals in 2014, Belgium will now play in the Euros for the first time in four tourname…
Carlo Ancelotti says Luka Modric and Toni Kroos understand the need to refresh Real Madrid s midfield after the duo found themselves on the bench for last week s win at Athletic Bilbao.
Modric and Kroos were introduced as late substitutes during Madrid s impressive 2-0 win at San Mames on Sunday, with the former Germany man making the points safe with a fine long-range finish.
Modric s tally of 17 starts in all competitions this season has been bettered by team-mates Federico Valverde (24), Kroos (21) and Aurelien Tchouameni (18), while no Madrid midfielder has made more total appearances than Eduardo Camavinga s 27.
Speaking ahead of Thursday s Copa del Rey quarter-final against rivals Atletico Madrid, Ancelotti said the experienced players in his squad understo…