Blanc talks up Matuidi

Antonio Conte hailed his Tottenham side for showing a strong mentality to return to winning ways against Nottingham Forest, but made it clear this is only the start.

A 3-1 victory at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium saw the north London side end a streak of three consecutive defeats in all competitions, having exited the FA Cup and Champions League either side of a Premier League defeat at Wolves.

A brace from Harry Kane was added to by Son Heung-min s second-half effort to ease the pressure upon Conte, following a sequence of results where his future was brought into question.

That pressure did not affect his side, however, who secured three points comfortably, though Conte was keen to stress this has to be a benchmark for their upcoming matches.

Today was imp…

Liverpool legend John Barnes says Sevilla s back-to-back Europa League titles do not necessarily make them favourites for Wednesday s final in Basle.

Sevilla are on the verge of completing a remarkable treble after getting the better of Benfica and Dnipro in 2014 and 2015 respectively and would become the first team in the history of Europe s secondary club competition to triumph three times in a row.

But Barnes insists Liverpool have every chance of halting Sevilla s run in the competition, having seen off Borussia Dortmund and Villarreal in the last two rounds.

It s a final – anything can happen, the former England international told Omnisport at a Show Racism the Red Card charity match. [They re] two good teams.

Obviously Sevilla have won it for…

Zinedine Zidane believes Real Madrid face a tough task in the final of the Champions League against city rivals Atletico Madrid on Saturday.

The capital clubs meet in European club football s showpiece occasion for the second time in three years, with Madrid winning 4-1 after extra-time in Lisbon in 2014.

Zidane s side come into the final on an incredible run of 12 league wins in a row, although that was not enough to snatch the Liga title from Barcelona.

The Frenchman insists the clash with Atletico is 50-50, although Madrid are in good physical and mental shape .

We know it will be a difficult game but we are in good physical and mental shape, Zidane told UEFA s official website. 

When you re at this club you always have to give the maxim…

Melbourne Victory have signed 2010-11 Johnny Warren medallist Marcos Flores as their international marquee.

The 26-year-old former Adelaide United playmaker, who dazzled the A-League before moving to Chinese outfit Henan Construction 12 months ago, has joined the club on a two-year deal.

The news is a major boost for Ange Postecoglou s side only weeks after marquee star Harry Kewell s departure from the club.

Marcos is the type of player you don t really want to come up against as an opposition coach, so having him on board with us now will be really exciting not only for the club, but for our fans also, Postecoglou said in a club statement.

He s a quality player and I m confident he ll show us the type of form that saw him win the Johnny Warren Medal …

Andrea Pirlo acknowledges Juventus are facing a strange season in Serie A but believes the impact of coronavirus on the schedule has restored balance across European football.

Italian champions Juve are fourth in the table after 11 matches, four points off leaders Milan, but they are not the only top side struggling to match the high standards of previous campaigns.

Liverpool, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain – all reigning champions – are being kept off the top of their respective divisions.

Indeed, each of the leaders in Europe s top five leagues – Tottenham, Real Sociedad, Bayer Leverkusen, Milan and Lille – are playing in the Europa League in 2020-21, rather than joining Juve in the Champions League.

It s a strange champions…

Substitute Bafetimbi Gomis scored with 17 minutes remaining as Al Hilal defeated ES Tunis 1-0 to book a Club World Cup semi-final against Flamengo.

Gomis was a surprise omission from the starting XI in Saturday s match between the champions of Asia and Africa at Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium.

But he made a rapid impact after coming off the bench late on to send the side from Saudi Arabia through, the victors holding on despite Mohamed Kanno receiving a red card with five minutes left.

Buoyed by a vocal support, ES Tunis should have moved ahead when Anice Badri fired wide after Ibrahim Ouattara forced a mistake from goalkeeper Abdullah Al-Mayoof.

Fans on

— FIFA.com (@FIFAcom)

At the other end, Moez Ben Cherifia rushed out to save from Car…

Arsene Wenger is hoping for an improvement against the Premier League s bigger teams as Arsenal aim to end their league drought.

Arsenal s wait for Premier League glory is approaching its 11th year after the club finished fourth last season, five points adrift of champions Manchester City.

During that 2013-14 campaign, which saw them win the FA Cup, Arsenal lost seven games, with four of those coming against the so-called elite clubs.

The London club were humbled by Manchester City (6-3), Liverpool (5-0) and Chelsea (6-0), while they lost 1-0 to 2012-13 champions Manchester United.

Arsenal were also beaten 3-0 by their rivals for UEFA Champions League qualification Everton, who finished fifth.

Speaking to reporters after Saturday s 1-0 pre-season …

Mauricio Isla has revealed that he has completed his move from Juventus to Premier League new boys QPR.

Juve general manager Giuseppe Marotta revealed on Saturday that the Chile international was set for a switch to Loftus Road.

Neither club have confirmed the deal, but the 26-year-old full-back stated on Twitter on Tuesday that he had finalised his transfer to the London club.

He tweeted: A new challenge in my career begins.

I am pleased to be a new QPR player.”

Isla has been with Italian champions Juve for the last two seasons having moved from Serie A rivals Udinese in June 2012.

QPR are also reported to be on the verge of signing Jordon Mutch from Cardiff City as they prepare for their return to the top flight.

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Harry Wilson celebrated his 50th cap with a brilliant double as Wales boosted their Euro 2024 automatic qualification hopes with a 2-1 win over Croatia in Cardiff.

Wilson rewarded an excellent home performance with two clinical second-half strikes, enough to stave off a late Croatia rally that saw Mario Pasalic convert 15 minutes from time.

Wales came into the contest knowing victories in their final three group games were probably necessary to secure a top-two place and avoid the play-offs in March.

On this day exactly years ago, a boy from Corwen made his Cymru debut.

Tonight, on his 50th cap, he kept our dreams alive

— Wales

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Bayern Munich defender Matthijs de Ligt was surprised by the club s decision to part company with head coach Julian Nagelsmann and says it has been hard to swallow .

German heavyweights Bayern officially called time on Nagelsmann s 20-month reign on Friday and swiftly appointed Thomas Tuchel as his successor.

Nagelsmann won the Bundesliga in his only full season in Bavaria, but Bayern find themselves a point behind Borussia Dortmund with 25 games of this campaign played.

Bayern face leaders Dortmund in a huge clash on Saturday, while they also have DFB-Pokal and Champions League quarter-final ties to play in April.

And with the club still in the hunt for a treble, De Ligt – who has been away on international duty with the Netherlands – did not see Nag…