Sports

Inter went back to the top of the Serie A table with a routine 3-1 win against Roma at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza on Saturday.

Goals from Denzel Dumfries, Marcelo Brozovic and Lautaro Martinez took the Nerazzurri to victory, continuing their excellent record against the team from the Italian capital, despite a late strike from Henrikh Mkhitaryan.

It was not the result or performance that former Inter coach Jose Mourinho will have been looking for, with the defeat coming as a big blow to the Giallorossi s hopes of European qualification.

Simone Inzaghi will have been very pleased with what he saw from his team, who move a point ahead of Milan in the race for the Scudetto having played the same number of games, with their city rivals facing Lazio in Rome on Sun…

It was almost as though Thomas Tuchel was trolling Pep Guardiola, picking three defensive midfielders and two strikers. 

Guardiola had paid a high price for leaving his water carriers out of May s Champions League final battle between these teams. On Friday, he pointedly stressed he would not complain about his squad, yet also acknowledged City lacked a lethal finisher in the mould of a Romelu Lukaku. 

But this was a day when Guardiola resoundingly won the tactical battle, inflicting a first defeat of the season on Tuchel s Chelsea, ending City s sequence of three successive defeats to the men in royal blue. 

Chelsea had last enjoyed a longer run of wins against City when they strung eight together from December 2005 to March 2009, the balance of power in…

Diego Maradona enjoyed a stellar career, playing for some of the world s biggest clubs and instilling himself in World Cup folklore.

It is a year since the Argentina great died at the age of 60 after suffering a heart attack.

While his career was not shy of controversy, at his best Maradona was simply unplayable, and enjoyed success in South America and Europe, as well as on the international stage.

Stats Perform takes a look at his five greatest achievements, from World Cup success with Argentina to an era of Serie A glory with Napoli.

Bernabeu ovation

It takes something truly magnificent for Real Madrid fans to contemplate applauding a Barcelona player. Maradona delivered just that in June 1983, when he rounded Los Blancos goalkeeper Agustin and t…

Mikel Arteta said Mauricio Pochettino was “like a father” to him in his early playing days ahead of their meeting in Arsenal’s clash against Chelsea in the Premier League.

Arteta played alongside the Chelsea boss at Paris St Germain before their rise as coaches in Europe’s top divisions.

The Arsenal manager talked up the influence Pochettino had on him as a player, admitting he was inspired by the Argentinian as a teenager.

Now playing: Mikel s pre-Chelsea press conference

Watch LIVE here

— Arsenal (@Arsenal)

The pair will face off at the Emirates on Tuesday.

When asked how influential Pochettino was for Arteta as a player, he said: “He’s one of the most.

“I was 17 or 18 in Paris with no experience in pr…

Rodri deserves to be in contention to win the Ballon d Or and has revolutionised the way people look at holding midfielders, believes Lucas Leiva.

Rodri enjoyed another magnificent campaign in 2023-24 as Manchester City retained their Premier League crown, then was named Player of the Tournament as Spain won Euro 2024.

The 28-year-old played 50 matches for City across all competitions last term, with Pep Guardiola s team only losing one of those games – versus Manchester United in May s FA Cup final.

He also contributed eight goals and nine assists in the Premier League last term, both of which represent his best figures in any league campaign.

At Euro 2024, he ranked seventh among all players for open-play passes (430) and fifth for open-play passes …

Pep Guardiola insisted Manchester City are not experiencing a personality crisis as he aimed a startling put-down at former Manchester United stars Patrice Evra and Dimitar Berbatov.

The City manager was riled by criticism from Evra and Berbatov, now both working as pundits, after City surrendered a winning position to go out at Real Madrid s hands in the Champions League semi-finals.

Evra claimed Guardiola can’t train people with personality , while Berbatov offered a response that was not far from Guardiola s own assessment, albeit saying City had to be more concentrated and focused in the closing moments.

There was also criticism from former Milan and Madrid star Clarence Seedorf, who said City lacked the necessary mentality to come through such a test, c…

Newcastle and Arsenal are set to go toe to toe for the services of Borussia Dortmund star Julian Brandt, according to the . No move is likely to happen in January, so the two Premier League rivals are preparing to try and make it happen at the end of the season as they seek to strengthen their wide attacking positions.

Brandt has been targeted by Premier League clubs for a long time now. He confirmed that Liverpool wanted him in 2017, when he was still at Bayer Leverkusen. He refused to leave the BayArena at the time and the Merseysiders signed Mohamed Salah instead, and it s fair to say they haven t looked back.

Two years later, Brandt left Leverkusen for Dortmund in a deal worth €25 million, and since then, he s made a total of 185 appearances for the black-and-yell…

Picking up a 6-0 win away in Bulgaria amidst a string of off-field issues last month, England have bounced back from their shock defeat against the Czech Republic and Gareth Southgate s side have all but confirmed their spot as Group A winners. Still boosted by their bronze medal finish in the inaugural Nations League, Thursday s hosts have continued to gain a reputation for their free-scoring antics and one man to watch out for at Wembley will be the red-hot Marcus Rashford. Once again finding the net against Brighton on Premier League duties over the weekend, the 22-year-old has now recorded seven goals in his last eight matches for club and country, including finding the net out in Bulgaria last month. Given Montenegro s continued issues during qualifying, the Manchester United ace s…

Gareth Southgate insists England will head into Euro 2024 ready to handle the expectation that comes with being ranked one of the tournament favourites.

The England boss and his players were pitted against Denmark, Serbia and Slovenia in Group C for next summer’s finals in Germany in Saturday night’s draw in Hamburg.

Southgate has overseen a transformation of England’s fortunes since he took over in 2016, steering them to a first World Cup semi-final since 1990 at the 2018 tournament in Russia and a first-ever Euro final appearance in 2021.

There were further signs of progress in December’s run to the World Cup quarter-finals and the side are firm favourites to take the final step and claim silverware, thanks in no small part to Real Madrid star Jude Bell…

Vicente del Bosque insisted nothing has changed for Spain after the two-time defending European champions crashed to a surprise 1-0 friendly defeat to Georgia.

After comfortable wins over Bosnia-Herzegovina and South Korea, Spain s Euro 2016 preparations were dealt a blow following Tuesday s warm-up defeat at the Coliseum Alfonso Perez.

Tornike Okriashvili s goal five minutes before half-time was enough to sink Spain, who had their 11-game unbeaten run ended.

But Del Bosque was not too downbeat post-match, as Spain prepare for Group D fixtures against Czech Republic, Turkey and Croatia in France.

It was a disappointment. We have not played badly, but we have been unable to overcome an orderly defence, Del Bosque told reporters. We appreciate what they…