Bayer Leverkusen 0-2 Juventus: Ronaldo & Higuain on target as hosts are eliminated

Cristiano Ronaldo and Gonzalo Higuain were on target for Juventus as Bayer Leverkusen s Champions League campaign ended with a 2-0 loss at the BayArena on Wednesday.

Juve star Ronaldo scored his 28th goal in 26 Champions League appearances against German clubs in the 75th minute, before Higuain picked out the bottom-right corner in stoppage time.

Maurizio Sarri s side had already wrapped up top spot in Group D and the fact the hosts were the only team with something to play for was evidenced by them having the best chances of the opening period.

But Leverkusen – who would have exited the competition even if they had won due to Atletico Madrid s 2-0 victory over Lokomotiv Moscow – succumbed to Ronaldo and Higuain after the restart and dropped into the Europ…

Lenglet excited about Griezmann’s potential move to Barcelona

Clement Lenglet is part of the French national team for the first time in his career after a good season with Barcelona and there he will play with Antoine Griezmann. One of the 23 world champions from Russia last summer is heavily rumoured to be Barcelona s new signing in a deal worth 125 million euros. Lenglet is definitely excited about such prospect.

Griezmann is one of the three or four best players in La Liga, he told in a news conference.  He is a star and he has been in the competition for several years. He has scored many goals every season. He is the star of Atletico and also one of the great figures of the league.

Griezmann has said that he is leaving Atletico, but not where. We still do not know what team he will play with, he said. We will have…

Guardiola demands focus ahead of Braunschweig clash

Bayern Munich must not underestimate Eintracht Braunschweig in Wednesday s DFB-Pokal clash, says Pep Guardiola.

Pep Guardiola has warned against complacency within his Bayern Munich squad as they prepare to face second-tier Eintracht Braunschweig in the DFB-Pokal.

Runaway Bundesliga leaders Bayern have only lost twice in all competitions this season as they fight for trophies on three fronts, but Guardiola is taking nothing for granted.

The next step in the cup defence sees Braunschweig travel to the Allianz Arena on Wednesday, with a place in the last eight at stake.

The cup is always dangerous, anything can happen, said the Spaniard. [It] is a knockout game. 

We are focused and want to progress to the quarter-finals. 

Anything i…

Juventus v Sassuolo: Padoin calls for response after Coppa defeat

Simone Padoin sees Juventus meeting with Sassuolo on Monday as the perfect opportunity to recover from their Coppa Italia defeat to Fiorentina.

On Thursday, Massimiliano Allegri s men went down 2-1 at home as two goals from Mohamed Salah gave Fiorentina the advantage in the first leg of their semi-final.

It was the reigning Serie A champions  first loss at Juventus Stadium in any competition since April 2013 a remarkable run of 47 games.

As Juve turn their attentions back to the league, Padoin is in confident mood ahead of the visit of Sassuolo.

We need to bounce back from this defeat and I m sure we ll do so at the first time of asking on Monday, he told the club s official website.

We know we ll be up against a decent team and a very young o…

BREAKING NEWS: Bayern Munich sack Nagelsmann and appoint Tuchel

Thomas Tuchel was appointed head coach of Bayern Munich on Friday as the club ruthlessly sacked Julian Nagelsmann.

Reports of Nagelsmann s demise as Bayern boss first emerged on Thursday, and confirmation of the 35-year-old s dismissal meant he lasted less than two full seasons at the helm.

The former RB Leipzig chief guided Bayern to the Bundesliga title last season and led them into the quarter-finals of the Champions League this term, with Manchester City awaiting them in that competition.

Bayern went into the international window second in the Bundesliga, a point behind bitter rivals Borussia Dortmund ahead of their meeting in Der Klassiker on April 1.

The club have opted to act now, during the international break, and Tuchel is the man they have chos…

New York City slump to third consecutive loss, Criscito stunner rescues Toronto draw

Reigning MLS Cup winners New York City continued their recent slump after suffering a third straight loss, going down 3-1 at home to playoff hopefuls Charlotte FC.

Charlotte s win moves them up to 10th in the Eastern Conference, with the visitors scoring twice in the final quarter of an hour to claim victory.

The defeat means City have only managed one point from their past four games and sit third in the east with 42 points from 25 games.

Karol Swiderski had put Charlotte ahead in the fourth minute despite goalkeeper Sean Johnson s best efforts on the line, but City levelled before the half hour mark via Maxime Chanot s 30-yard strike into the top corner.

City s Anton Tinnerholm struck the crossbar from range before Charlotte found an avenue to victory w…

France 2-3 Colombia: Los Cafeteros pull off a stunning comeback to win in Paris

France hosted Colombia for a high-profile international friendly in the run up to the World Cup in Russia this summer. Les Bleus were in excellent form ahead of this clash, losing just once in their past 10 games, while the visitors were looking to end their recent struggles and inconsistency. The 2016 European Championship finalists were the favourites ahead of this clash, but the Colombia squad was by no means lacking in talent.

Giroud grabs an opener for France 

This game represented a clash between the teams ranked ninth and 13th in the FIFA world rankings, suggesting that there was little to separate the two nations, but France unsurprisingly settled into the lion’s share of possession early on and looked the dominant side. Right from the off Les Bleus piled the pressu…

Juventus dominance casts shadow over Serie A

Frank de Boer is a hard-bitten stalwart of modern football, having tasted most of the glorious highs and bitter disappointment to be expected across a playing and coaching career operating near the pinnacle of European football.

Nevertheless, the former Ajax and Netherlands defender gave off a whiff of wide-eyed, naïve idealism when Inter brought shambolic pre-season preparations into the home straight by unveiling him as Roberto Mancini s successor.

No team is unbeatable, sometimes things can change, the newly installed head coach told a welcome news conference.

Juventus have a brilliant team with great individuals and it will be hard to beat them, but it s not impossible. Our target is to be closer to them than last season and fight to make life hard for t…

Hannover seal Briand deal

Bundesliga side Hannover have completed the signing of French forward Jimmy Briand on a one-year contract.

The five-cap France international saw his contract with Ligue 1 club Lyon expire at the end of last season and had been linked with moves to Turkey and England.

However, Briand, who scored 22 goals in 110 league matches for Lyon, is now under contract at the HDI Arena until June 2015.

The former Rennes man follows the likes of Joselu, Ceyhun Gulselam and Hiroshi Kiyotake through the door at Hannover as Tayfun Korkut looks to improve on the club s top-10 finish last term.

The Bundesliga is a new experience for me, for which I am very pleased, Briand told the club s official website.

I m curious about playing in a league in the country of th…

Simeone hails ´incredible season´

After Atletico Madrid concluded their campaign with a dour 0-0 draw at Granada, coach Diego Simeone hailed their season as incredible .

Simeone led the club to a stunning Liga title in 2013-14, upsetting the duopoly of Barcelona and Real Madrid to lift the trophy for the first time since 1996, when the Argentinian was an Atletico player.

Although Atletico ended this season 16 points behind Barca, and failed to recreate last term s run to the UEFA Champions League final, Simeone remains content with his side s achievements.

Top marks for me, he said. This year we won the Spanish Super Cup, we are third, and we ve had a great competition with Real Madrid and Barcelona in the Champions League and the Copa del Rey.

It has been an incredible season.