Staying or leaving? / Image via socceraspects.com
The Portuguese star has been surrounded by much of speculation for a long period of time.
The embarrassing El Clasico result seems to have been the breaking point for Cristiano Ronaldo, who is once again in the centre of attention as rumours about his departure from Santiago Bernabeu continue to swirl.
Change of scenery
Cristiano Ronaldo looks far from happy and motivated under Rafael Benitez.
Unhappy with Florentino Perez’s decision to part ways with Carlo Ancelotti and to appoint Rafa Benitez has reportedly caused much aggravation with Cristiano Ronaldo, who didn’t believe that the Spanish manager was the right man for Los Blancos.
Benitez’s short reign at the club h…
Leicester City are one of the few clubs outside of the current so-called ‘big six’ to have won the Premier League title. When Claudio Ranieri’s team won the title in 2015 it was regarded as one of the biggest shocks in sporting history.
Since the triumph, unsurprisingly have not managed to repeat the feat and have been competing in mid-table in the top-flight. However, the Foxes are just one of the teams who finished last season just below the top six last season who are outsiders to finish in that supposed elite group next season.
Leicester have a promising squad
On Monday, Leicester sealed the £40million signing of highly-rated Belgium midfielder Youri Tielemans. The 22-year-old impressed in the second half of last season on-loan from Monaco.
His perfo…
Zinedine Zidane has returned to Real Madrid less than a year after resigning in the wake of a third straight Champions League triumph.
With their defence of Europe s premier club trophy having ended in a stunning last-16 elimination at the hands of Ajax, Madrid sacked their manager for the second time this season – a 4-1 win at Real Valladolid on Sunday suggesting the decision to dispense with Santiago Solari had already been made.
Los Blancos are simply playing for a top-four finish in LaLiga this season and a dismal campaign has led to uncertainty over the futures of a number of their big guns.
We look at how Zidane s return may impact Gareth Bale, Sergio Ramos, Marcelo and Isco.
Bale no longer backed?
The duo shared a fraught relat…
Gerard Pique has told Barcelona to be wary of the threats posed by Chelsea ahead of next week s last-16 Champions League tie.
Barcelona travel to the Premier League champions for the first leg of their clash on Tuesday, the Catalan giants having seen their comfortable cushion atop LaLiga cut to seven points after back-to-back draws.
Chelsea and Barca have a rich shared history in the Champions League, having faced each other 12 times in the tournament since 2000, most recently in the 2011-12 semi-finals.
There have been four Chelsea wins to three for Barca during that time and although the Blues have made a poor attempt at defending their league title, Pique believes Antonio Conte s men should not be underestimated.
Expectations are maximum, Pique said…
Gianni Infantino was on Friday elected the new president of FIFA after polling the necessary number of votes in the second round.
Infantino sprung a surprise by outstripping favourite Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa in the first round by 88 votes to 85.
In round two, candidates required the approval of 104 FIFA federations in Zurich and Infantino comfortably broke through this barrier, claiming 115, to become the successor to Sepp Blatter.
Bahrain s Sheikh Salman took 88 votes second time around, with Prince Ali bin al-Hussein and Jerome Champagne taking four and zero respectively. Tokyo Sexwale, the fifth candidate at the start of the day, withdrew prior to the first round.
Dear friends, I cannot express my feelings in this moment. I told you …
Javier Chicharito Hernandez has revealed he will be allowed to leave West Ham United this summer, as relayed by Sky Sports.
It had been reported back in May this year that the Hammers would be willing to listen to offers for the Mexico international, who said recently that his agent was looking for potential buyers for his services. If one isn t found, the former Manchester United striker would be happy to remain at the London Stadium and see the final 12 months of his contract out.
West Ham are hoping the sale of Chicharito will generate some funds for new signings this summer, as they explore the possibility of bringing in Maxi Gomez of Celta Vigo. The are reporting that manager Manuel Pellegrini is keen on pairing up Marko Arnautovic with Gomez next season, leaving …
Real Madrid derailed Spain s World Cup preparations when they poached Julen Lopetegui just two days before the tournament, leading to the coach s sacking, so it was with a certain inevitability that their biggest star put the buffers on what would have been a morale-boosting win against Portugal.
Spain s World Cup hopes had threatened to unravel even before Cristiano Ronaldo scored the first goal of a sensational hat-trick in the fourth minute in Sochi, with Madrid behind the Royal Spanish Football Federation s (RFEF) decision to ruthlessly dismiss Bernabeu-bound head coach Lopetegui.
There were reports of a dressing-room revolt as Spain s stars pleaded with RFEF boss Luis Rubiales to allow Lopetegui a stay of execution.
Determined not to be a doormat for the Eur…
Newcastle United managing director Lee Charnley insisted the process of scrutinising has already begun after the club were relegated from the Premier League.
Not even the late appointment of former Real Madrid coach Rafael Benitez could save Newcastle, who will drop to the second tier of English football after arch-rivals Sunderland defeated Everton 3-0 on Wednesday.
Sunderland s victory ensured they cannot be overhauled in 17th position heading into the final game of the season, with Newcastle and Norwich City now preparing for life in the Championship.
You can t pretend it hadn t been coming. not learned lessons from 2009. Hard as it is for me to say, well done Sam and
— Alan Shearer (@alanshearer)
Benitez s future is now the…
The FIFA World Cup kicked off in Russia early this month with the hosts hammering a poor Saudi Arabia side 5-0 in the opening match. It has been a tournament of firsts, from the implementation of VAR to the World Cup debuts of Panama, Iceland and Achilles the psychic cat…
At time of writing, there hasn’t been a single goalless draw in the tournament in 30 matches, and for the first time in their World Cup history. There is no doubt that this World Cup has been a joy to watch and the . In this article we take a look at some of the stand-out stats from the tournament so far and see what it can tell us.
Goals galore
This World Cup has been called ‘boring’ by some spectators recently, but the statistics beg to differ. As well as there not been a single goal…
Simone Inzaghi hailed his Lazio side as extraordinary after their 2-0 victory over Roma in the Coppa Italia semi-final first leg.
The Biancocelesti had not prevailed in a Rome derby since the Coppa Italia final in 2013, but goals from Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Ciro Immobile capped a performance in which Lazio rose to the occasion against their in-form neighbours.
As the designated home side in the first leg, Lazio kept Serie A s joint leading goalscorer Edin Dzeko at bay and go into the return fixture in prime position to progress to the final.
Coach Inzaghi told Rai Sport: We played a perfect match. We took nothing for granted: a parade of shots were saved by [Lazio goalkeeper, Thomas] Strakosha.
My boys were extraordinary. They gave everything they h…