Atletico Madrid midfielder Mario Suarez has called for more of the same as his side prepare to host Villarreal on Sunday.
While much of the attention has been on Real Madrid and their 19-match winning streak, as well as the arrival of Luis Suarez at Barcelona, last season s Liga champions have quietly gone about their work.
Diego Simeone s side lie third in the table, just four points behind their in-form city rivals Real.
A run of five successive wins ended in Turin on Tuesday, but Atletico s goalless UEFA Champions League draw at Juventus was enough to ensure they finished on top of Group A meaning they could avoid some of European football s heavyweights in Monday s draw for the last 16.
It was a thoroughly professional performance from Atleti, who ab…
Liverpool supporters will have their first opportunity to acclaim last season s champions when Wolves visit on Sunday, and perhaps Diogo Jota will briefly have to take a back seat for the first time since his Anfield arrival.
A crowd of 2,000 is expected on the first weekend since March that fans have been allowed into Premier League grounds, with Liverpool having scooped the title during the pandemic lockdown months, ending a 30-year wait.
It means those players who drove Jurgen Klopp s side to glory will be the focus for many, but Jota has made such an impact since arriving to strengthen the ranks that he is unlikely to go unappreciated.
Given Wolves are his former club, the evening clash is bound to be a special occasion too for the Portuguese forward, who …
Frank Lampard believes Manchester City cannot yet be considered among the greatest teams in Premier League history but will absolutely deserve that mantle if they sustain their blistering start to the season.
City have swept aside almost everyone in their path so far, winning 10 of 11 top-flight matches to sit eight points clear of Manchester United and Tottenham at the summit.
Their total of 38 league goals is 15 more than closest challengers United, and City are overwhelming favourites to claim the first league title of Pep Guardiola s reign.
But Lampard who spent the 2014-15 season at the Etihad Stadium has urged caution when it comes to heaping praise on England s form side, stressing the need for City to perform at a consistently high level over the course …
Jose Mourinho says Alex Ferguson and Manchester United have been unfairly criticised for allowing Paul Pogba to leave the club for Juventus in 2012.
The France international departed Old Trafford seeking more first-team opportunities when his contract expired four years ago, before sealing a return this month in a world-record £89million deal.
Pogba is set to make his second United debut on Friday, with Mourinho s men hosting Southampton in the Premier League.
The Portuguese is delighted to have the 23-year-old to call upon, but thinks Ferguson did everything he could to prevent him from leaving in the first place.
Mourinho said: I didn t know him at that time. What I know is that the club tried everything to keep him, so sometimes people are a bit unfa…
Karim Benzema admitted his France side could do little to stop Spain s dominance in their 2-0 quarter-final loss at Euro 2012.
The striker spent an isolated evening in attack at the Donbass Arena as his team could only manage one shot on target.
Laurent Blanc s men succumbed to Spain s possession and high-pressing football and Benzema said his side failed to cope, although he pointed out that their opponents were equally restricted in front of goal.
If you look at the whole game, Spain had one chance, one penalty and that s about it, Benzema told RMC. There are always regrets after a game.
Every team that plays against Spain does not see the ball. You have to stay at the back and wait for a counter-attack. That is their style and it is the way it is, v…
Enner Valencia scored twice as Ecuador spoiled the party by beating hosts Qatar 2-0 in the first game of the World Cup.
Valencia had an early goal contentiously ruled out for offside at Al Bayt Stadium on Sunday, but Qatar were unable to heed the warning.
The clinical captain become Ecuador s leading World Cup goalscorer with a tally of four by opening the scoring with a penalty and struck again with a bullet first-half header.
Qatar looked out of their depth in their first ever World Cup match, failing to register a shot on target as Ecuador made an encouraging start in Group A.
5 Enner has scored each of Ecuador s last five goals at the the record is held by Eusébio (Portugal 1966), Paolo Rossi (Italy 1982) and Oleg Salenko (Russia 1994) who scored s…
AC Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri has thanked owner Silvio Berlusconi for turning down Paris Saint-Germain s Thiago Silva bid.
Brazil international Thiago Silva appeared bound for the Parc des Princes after the Qatari-owned Ligue 1 club reportedly offered 46 million euros for his services.
However, Berlusconi changed his mind over the deal and Thiago Silva now looks set to remain at San Siro along with another rumoured PSG target, striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
It was a big decision and President Silvio Berlusconi gave a huge gift to the team and fans, Allegri told Sky Sport Italia.
Ibrahimovic will also stay. He had a strong season, scoring 28 goals. The club decided not to dismantle the squad and will keep the foundations of the team intact.
…
Bayern Munich s search for coach Thomas Tuchel s successor is not distracting the team from their preparations for next week s Champions League semi-final first leg against Real Madrid or their final Bundesliga matches.
That was the vow from Tuchel before Bayern first face Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday with the league title already secured by Bayer Leverkusen.
Bayern will part ways with Tuchel at the end of a disappointing domestic season, a year earlier than his contract.
Austria coach Ralf Rangnick confirmed this week there had been contact with Bayern while several other coaches have been linked with the club.
Tuchel, however, said the team was shutting out any such distractions as they chase a spot in the Champions League final.
In the next…
The South African government has strenuously denied any wrongdoing during the bidding process for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
A United States Department of Justice indictment on Wednesday alleged the country s government paid $10million in bribes to secure the event.
The allegations came as part of a wider operation that saw 14 people, including nine past and present FIFA officials, indicted for racketeering, conspiracy and corruption.
South Africa s minister for sport and recreation, Fikile Mbalula, said: The Department of Sport and Recreation hereby indictates that all funding by the South African government was transferred by National Treasury to the National Department of Sport and Recreation for South Africa.
No such amount was paid by the Depar…
PSV Eindhoven coach Dick Advocaat feels the Eredivisie side s 14 million euro-asking price for Ola Toivonen is not unrealistic.
The attacking midfielder recently voiced his dismay with the Eindhoven outfit s hefty financial demands as he has set his sights on a move away from PSV.
But his club seem to have no intention of lowering their price tag.
Toivonen is worth 14 million euros, Advocaat told reporters.
With all due respect, but if Ajax receive 8.5 million euros for Vurnon Anita, and Twente get 15 million euros or so for Luuk de Jong, then Ola is worth that much, too.
I hope that he will not leave PSV this summer. If he has one more great season, he can move to a really big club next year.
Toivonen has developed into a key player…