Messi, Ibrahimovic lead Puskas Award nominations for best goal

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icklas Bendtner looks set to leave Wolfsburg after being told by the club he no longer needs to attend first-team training.

The former Arsenal striker has struggled to settle since joining in 2014 and has faced a number of disciplinary problems this season, including fines for being late to training and for posting a photo on social media of his Mercedes, which angered the hierarchy of a club sponsored by Volkswagen.

Bendtner, who had been training alone in recent weeks, has now been exempted from training with the rest of the squad and sporting director Klaus Allofs expects a decision on his future to be made imminently.

The current situation is unsatisfactory for all involved and cannot be allowed to become a permanent status, he told the club s offici…

While plenty has been made of Leicester City s incredible turnaround from relegation fodder to potential Premier League champions, captain Wes Morgan says the club s 2014
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 Championship triumph has been invaluable to his side.

Leicester are seven points clear and six games away from a remarkable Premier League title following Sunday s 1-0 win at home to Southampton.

Morgan said the members of the Leicester squad that won the Championship England s second tier have been able to draw on that experience to help them navigate the task of seeing out the Premier League campaign.

In 2015-16, Leicester boast five players that were a part of their Championship win, and while Morgan admits the challenge is bigger this time around, the virtues of momentum are not…

Real Madrid must win at Celta Vigo on Sunday and hope Barcelona and Atletico Madrid slip up if they are to remain in the Liga title race.

Carlo Ancelotti s side dropped points against Valencia and Real Valladolid in disappointing draws last week, meaning Barca and Atletico both now have the league crown in their hands.

Those draws have left Real four points adrift of city rivals and UEFA Champions League final opponents Atletico, who host Malaga this weekend as Barca travel to Elche.

With Diego Simeone s men heading to Camp Nou on the final day, there remains an outside chance for Real to usurp their rivals and claim back the crown they last won in 2012.

Having won the Copa del Rey in April, and with a Lisbon showdown against Atletico to come later this month, A…

Leicester City s outstanding performers: Jamie Vardy, N Kolo Kante, Riyad Mahrez.

Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy looks on course on to join Arsenal this summer in a deal worth around £29M, and there are growing fears his sale could spark a domino effect with a number of other coveted players.

City manager Claudio Ranieri had been desperate to retain the key players from last season’s shock Premier League title triumph, but might struggle to convince Vardy’s teammates to stay if their talisman has sought greener pastures.

Players non-committal due to Leicester’s glass ceiling

Leicester City have had to deal with speculation in the last few months of the 2015/16 Premier League season, but their worst fears are becoming realised with Vardy all bu…

France midfielder Yohan Cabaye believes he and his team-mates can prove head coach Laurent Blanc wrong when Euro 2012 gets underway.

Blanc has said he feels there is a lack of experience in the French midfield as the countdown continues to the head coach naming his 23-man squad for the European Championship in Poland and Ukraine.

Cabaye, who has played 10 times for his country, believes that with more games the midfield will continue to grow.

We, the midfielders, we work hard, we gain experience after every game we play with the national team, Cabaye said.

That s the only way to get this experience playing the games and the competitions.

There is no way you can say you have experience if you are not on the pitch.

France were elimin…

AC Milan and ItalyÂ’s defensive midfielder wants a new deal at his club.

The thirty one year old player, who has been on AC MilanÂ’s books since 1995, said that he felt that at his stage of his career, he needed to sit down with the club and negotiate a new deal.

Ambrosini who made his debut for the Italian national side in 1999 has made no fewer than thirty five appearances for his country but injury ruled him out of the World Cup winning squad in 2006.

He was a part of the Euro 2008 Italian squad.

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As the Christmas season unofficially began on December 1, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer looked anything but merry.

Manchester United had been held to a 2-2 draw at home by promoted Aston Villa and the Red Devils performance was utterly rancid for much of the game. Solskjaer appeared helpless at full-time.

Ahead of a particularly bleak run of mid-winter fixtures, reports suggested Solskjaer could join Santa in expecting to be burdened with the sack for Christmas. Two games to save his job, some said, with Mauricio Pochettino looming large.

Those two matches; Jose Mourinho s Tottenham and Manchester City in the derby – it wasn t the sleigh bells that were ringing. 

Some might have been content with two points, yet they ve managed to take six and left City s ti…

Milan coach Stefano Pioli said he was so overcome with emotion following Sinisa Mihajlovic s return to the Bologna bench on Sunday that he just wanted to hug his opposite number.

Mihajlovic was back on the touchline for the first time since a bone marrow transplant last month, having been diagnosed with leukaemia earlier in the year.

Bologna were unable to make Mihajlovic s return a victorious one, however, as Milan claimed a slender 3-2 win despite Nicola Sansone s late penalty leading to a tense finish.

But Pioli spoke with more enthusiasm about Mihajlovic than he did Milan s performance.

It was a real pleasure to see him, Pioli told Sky Sport Italia. I wanted to hug him, but he said it was better not to [due to his condition]. But it was still excitin…

Kwadwo Asamoah believes Barcelona forward Alexis Sanchez would be a good signing for Juventus.

Kwadwo Asamoah believes Barcelona forward Alexis Sanchez would be a good signing for Juventus.

The Chile international has struggled for consistency since joining the Catalans from Udinese in 2011, and was heavily linked with a move to Juve in the winter transfer window.

Juve are allegedly still interested in the 24-year-old, and Asamoah said he would welcome his former Udinese team-mate with open arms should he move to the reigning Serie A champions.

Alexis is a player with great qualities. He is incredibly quick, Asamoah told Corriere dello Sport.

He could give us a helping hand if he were to make the move to Juventus.

Sanchez has a contr…

Eredivisie giants Twente have confirmed that a number of Premier League sides are watching midfielder Leroy Fer.

Everton had agreed to sign the midfielder on January transfer deadline day, only to pull out of the deal when the player failed his medical.

The Toffees are still believed to be interested, but other Premier League clubs have also joined the race.

Twente have moved to confirm that Fer was watched by a several clubs from England in the weekend’s defeat to Vitesse.

There were a number of English clubs at the game, a club spokesman .

Leroy Fer started his career at Feyenoord, where he became a first team regular at 18, and has since continued to impress in Dutch top flight.

He joined Twente in a €5.5 million move in the summe…