Cristiano Ronaldo would have made Real Madrid favourites to overturn a first-leg deficit in their Champions League tie against Manchester City, according to Emmanuel Adebayor. 

Los Blancos lost 2-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu in the first leg of the last-16 clash at the back end of February, with the return meeting postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. 

Madrid were outstanding when LaLiga resumed in June, though, winning 10 and drawing their final game en route to beating Barcelona to the title, their first since the 2016-17 season. 

Former City and Madrid striker Adebayor says Zinedine Zidane s side still have the players capable of turning the tie around but the presence of Ronaldo – who won the Champions League four times with the Span…

Diego Maradona hit out at reports that suggested his health was on the wane after he received medical treatment at the World Cup, appearing on television to say: I am more alive than ever.

The 57-year-old great sparked concern when he was pictured being treated by paramedics following Argentina s 2-1 victory over Nigeria in St Petersburg on Tuesday, but he insisted he was not taken to hospital.

In an interview with Telesur, Maradona suggested that his condition was exaggerated by people who envied him.

I want to let the whole world know that I m more alive than ever, he said. Unfortunately I can t make mediocre people good.

There has been talk of stretchers, ambulances on the internet which triggered a cycle of meaningless lies.

I understand t…

Tottenham s 3-0 defeat at Brighton and Hove Albion on Saturday condemned Spurs to a second successive loss with 10 goals conceded this week, piling the pressure on manager Mauricio Pochettino. 

Spurs were demolished 7-2 in their own stadium by Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Tuesday, prompting further questions of Pochettino, who continues to be linked with a departure. 

Pochettino urged his team to produce a response at Brighton, telling his players to man up and put things right. 

But a Brighton side inspired by 19-year-old Aaron Connolly piled on the misery at the end of a crushing week for Spurs, with Pochettino appearing increasingly defeated and deflated. 

With the manager seemingly running out of ideas, we chart the highs and lows of h…

According to Sky Sports, Tottenham Hotspur have reached an agreement with Dele Alli over a new contract.

Although the deal currently binding the 22-year-old to the North-London club doesn t expire before 2022, he has indicated to his employers that he has no desire to play anywhere else and they have decided to reward him with fresh terms.

Their main star, striker Harry Kane, has already signed a new deal this year, as has manager Mauricio Pochettino.

Alli has returned to full training on Friday after a month out of action due to a hamstring injury, and he s set to be in contention to make the squad for their Monday night showdown with Premier League title holders Manchester City.

So far, the midfielder has made 152 appearances since joining Spurs from M…

Liverpool signed Adam Bogdan from Bolton in 2015, their last summer with Brendan Rodgers at the helm. It didn t take more half a year for his spell at Anfield to effectively come to an end, despite his contract still running.

As Jurgen Klopp took over from Rodgers, mistakes against Watford and Exeter City quickly got Bogdan out of the picture with Simon Mignolet once again coming out as undisputed first choice between the posts. In the summer of 2016 Klopp brought in Loris Karius from Mainz 05 and Bogdan s time with Liverpool was over.

He went on a season-long loan to Wigan Athletic in 2016/17 which ended with an ACL injury that kept him sidelined throughout last season. He is now on another loan, with Hibernian this time, and according to , he has admitted it would tak…

Barcelona have confirmed a deal is in place for the big-money signing of Philippe Coutinho from Liverpool, the Brazil international set to move for a reported fee of £142million.

Coutinho, who joined Liverpool from Inter in January 2013, was the subject of significant interest from Barca in the previous transfer window, but a switch to Camp Nou failed to materialise as Liverpool rejected multiple bids and the playmaker s transfer request.

The leaders of LaLiga will now get their man, with the enormous fee set to make him the most expensive player in the history of Spanish football. It will also be the highest amount ever received by an English club.

Coutinho has agreed a five-and-a-half-year deal and will add further attacking threat to a side already boasting…

Phil Foden admits Manchester City have a big hole to fill after influential midfielder Rodri picked up a three-game ban in Saturday’s win over Nottingham Forest.

The Spain international was sent off early in the second half of City’s 2-0 victory at the Etihad Stadium for raising his hands towards the neck of Forest’s Morgan Gibbs-White.

The treble winners now face being without Rodri for their midweek Carabao Cup trip to Newcastle, next Saturday’s game at Wolves and – most crucially – the encounter at Arsenal on October 8.

Foden said: “He is one of our most important players and he seems to play all the minutes. He is going to be a big miss, but we have players to step up now and we are going to need them.”

Rodri’s dismissal dramatically…

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Liverpool are set to welcome Inter Milan to Anfield for the second leg of their clash in the round of 16 of the Champions League. The Merseysiders won the first leg in Milan by 0-2, courtesy of goals from Roberto Firmino in the 75th and Mohamed Salah in the 83rd minute.

Liverpool

Having taken a trophy this season already by beating Chelsea in the Carabao Cup final the week before last, it s back to business for Liverpool. The talk of the fabled quadruple doesn t stop among the supporters, and even though manager Jurgen Klopp and his players are much more down-to-Earth in this matter, it doesn t mean they ll be slacking up any time soon. The victory in Milan may have given them a strong foothold to win the tie, but as Klopp rightly po…

Salzburg cruised past Genk 4-1 on Wednesday to keep alive their hopes of progressing to the last 16 of the Champions League.

Jesse Marsch s side did not hit the heights of the 6-2 thumping of their Belgian opponents in September but they scarcely needed to get out of second gear against Hannes Wolf s limited outfit.

Patson Daka – who had earlier missed a glaring opportunity – put the Austrian side ahead after 43 minutes before Takumi Minamino doubled their advantage just 98 seconds later.

The impressive Hwang Hee-chan added a third in the second half before Mbwana Samatta headed in a consolation five minutes from time. 

Erling Haaland added a final flourish for Salzburg, though, to ensure they go into their clash with Liverpool on December 10 knowi…

There will be more than just valuable Euro 2016 qualifying points at stake when the Czech Republic head to Turkey on Friday.

Visiting coach Pavel Vrba has agreed to a bet with a brewery in the country that could see him taking part in a job swap if things do not go according to plan.

Should his side claim four or more points from their Group A matches against Turkey and Kazakhstan (on Monday), every fan who attends the November qualifier against Iceland will receive a free beer.

However, if they fail to reach the four-point marker, Vrba will find himself clocking on for a shift at the brewery.

But the former Viktoria Plzen boss has the utmost confidence in his players after they opened their campaign with an impressive 2-1 victory over Netherlands last mo…