Diego Simeone did not feel Atletico Madrid were any better against Barcelona on Saturday than in previous meetings, with Lionel Messi s absence instead the decisive factor.
Atletico have had a poor record against Barca in Simeone s time at the club, going 20 without a win in this fixture before their 1-0 success in 2020-21.
But they have now gone three without conceding to the Blaugrana in LaLiga for the first time, having drawn 0-0 at the end of last season and won 2-0 on Saturday.
Barca had 70.4 per cent of the possession but created only nine shots worth a combined 1.0 expected goals at the Wanda Metropolitano.
New Paris Saint-Germain signing Messi had scored 26 goals in 30 LaLiga games against Atleti – only managing more against Sevilla (30) and Val…
Liverpool forward Danny Ings has joined fellow Premier League club Southampton on a season-long loan with the deal including an obligation to buy.
Ings had been deemed surplus to requirements by Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp, but looked set to stay on at Anfield after a reported switch to Crystal Palace failed to materialise.
However, Southampton moved for the former Burnley man on Thursday, with the paperwork completed in time to beat the deadline, and Ings joins on a one-season loan ahead of a permanent transfer next year.
The England international became Southampton s fourth transfer of the window and manager Mark Hughes is thrilled to have secured the 26-year-old.
There was significant competition for Danny, with a lot of clubs keen to complete a d…
A partnership led by American businessman Bill Foley has completed its takeover of Premier League side Bournemouth in a deal reportedly worth more than £100million.
Previous owner Maxim Demin has sold his 100 per cent stake to Foley s Black Knight Football Club, ending his 11-year stewardship of the Cherries.
Foley, who owns NHL ice hockey franchise the Vegas Golden Knights, is the club s new chairman and is backed by a minority ownership group that includes American actor Michael B. Jordan.
I have tremendous respect for the passion and support the Bournemouth community shows for this club and believe that connection to the community is the foundation for success of any sports team, Foley told Bournemouth s official website.
We will move forward with…
´The team could have lost its head´ – Inzaghi hails Inter´s mentality after comeback win over Venezi
Simone Inzaghi praised his Inter players for not losing their heads after they came from behind to beat Venezia 2-1 at San Siro on Saturday.
Thomas Henry had put Venezia in front against the run of play with an excellent header, before Nicolo Barella ensured Inter went into the break level.
The reigning champions looked like they would drop points at home in Serie A for only the third time since October 2020, but Edin Dzeko sealed an important win in the 90th minute.
The result lifted the Nerazzurri five points clear of Milan at the Serie A summit, with Inzaghi citing his players ability to remain calm after Venezia s opener as the key to their success.
The team believed to the end. The lads did so well considering we were coming off the Atalanta game…
Brendan Rodgers is eager to return to the Premier League one day but is in no rush to leave the best job in the world at Celtic amid reports of Arsenal identifying him as a potential successor to Arsene Wenger.
Following Wenger s announcement that he will step down at the end of the season after 22 years in charge, Arsenal have been linked with several candidates.
Luis Enrique, Massimiliano Allegri, Patrick Vieira and Mikel Arteta are among those touted, but Rodgers has emerged as one of the frontrunners having already coached extensively in the Premier League, including narrowly missing out on the title with Liverpool in the 2013-14 campaign, and on the back of a second successive league triumph at Celtic.
And although Rodgers likes the idea of returning to the …
s Rafinha spent the second half of 2017/18 on loan at , and Tuttosport claim the Italian club may still return to discuss a potential new deal for the player.
The midfielder is set to begin pre-season training with the Catalan club, but he is aware that his future lies away from the Camp Nou. Barcelona have received no offers for his services yet, and Inter are monitoring the situation closely. Should that remain the case towards the end of the transfer window, they may decide to start fresh negotiations to try and bring Rafinha back to the north of Italy.
The 25-year-old Brazilian spent three years with Barcelona B before going out on loan to Celta Vigo for the 2013/14 season. Between the summer of 2014 and the end of 2017, he made 79 appearances for the Blaugrana and…
that Kevin Naughton has decided to leave Tottenham in January.
The 26-year-old has struggled for playing time in spite of injury to Kyle Walker and he is no longer prepared to wait for his chance at White Hart Lane.
With USA full-back DeAndre Yedlin also set to arrive, Naughton is hoping to leave the club in the winter transfer window.
Seeing as how the defender s contract is due to expire at the end of the current campaign, quite a few Premier League sides are showing interest in his services.
According to London Evening Standard, the likes of Crystal Palace, Swansea and Leicester City are all keen on Naughton.
The full-back, who is capable of playing on either side of defence, has only made a total of 41 Premier League appearances since arrivi…
Weston McKennie has arrived in Turin ahead of his transfer from Schalke to Juventus.
Juve have made something of a surprise move for McKennie, who had been linked with a number of Premier League clubs.
The United States international broke into the Schalke team in 2017-18, after making his debut the previous season, and went on to make 75 Bundesliga appearances in total.
McKennie, who is capable of playing in either midfield or defence and scored three league goals last season, is reportedly set to sign for Juve on loan, with the Serie A champions having an obligation to buy based on the number of appearances the 21-year-old makes.
touches down in Turin!
— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen)
Ahead of a medical reportedly scheduled for Friday,…
Real Madrid s dismal run of form continued as Ajax won 4-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu to dump the Champions League holders out of the competition for the first time since 2014-15.
After winning Europe s elite club tournament in three consecutive years under Zinedine Zidane, a tough first campaign since the French icon s departure was capped in remarkable fashion on Tuesday in a 5-3 aggregate loss.
Madrid fell apart in the first half and saw their 2-1 first-leg lead overturned in the opening 20 minutes by goals from Hakim Ziyech and David Neres as Ajax ran riot.
The irrepressible Dusan Tadic added another with a controversial second-half strike, leaving Madrid requiring three goals to stay in the competition, and although Marco Asensio got one back, a fourth home…
The architect for Tottenham s stadium may finally be able to get some sleep once the Premier League club have staged their first competitive fixture in their new home.
Spurs host Crystal Palace on Wednesday in their state-of-the-art 62,000-seater ground, which is an arena Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino has called the best in the world .
Christopher Lee, an architect from Populous, first became involved in the project in 2012 and was armed with a desire for the stadium to avoid the soulless stereotypes surrounding many other new grounds – a vision also held by Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy.
We shared a lot of similar aspirations for how stadiums should be – urban regenerations, democratic buildings, Lee told Omnisport.
English footbal…