Gerard Pique described Real Madrid s first-half performance as the worst he has faced in El Clasico encounters despite Barcelona suffering a 2-0 defeat at Santiago Bernabeu on Sunday.
Madrid leapfrogged Barcelona into top spot in LaLiga after claiming their first Clasico league victory in almost four years, with Vinicius Junior and Mariano Diaz on the scoresheet.
Pique got a touch on Vinicius opener but was unable to divert it away from his own net and he admitted his side s second-half display against their bitter rivals was not good enough.
But he also fired a broadside at Zinedine Zidane s men, saying Barcelona missed an opportunity to hurt them during a disjointed opening 45 minutes.
Madrid in the first half was the worst Madrid I ve faced at the Be…
Man Utd v Young Boys: Lifelines, points to prove and stakes to claim – who needs to impress Rangnick
Manchester United s Champions League campaign has been one of the finest of margins, to say the least.
A shock defeat at Wednesday s opponents Young Boys on matchday one was a dreadful start, and at numerous occasions in their following two matches they appeared to be in trouble again.
They needed late winners from Cristiano Ronaldo at home to both Villarreal and Atalanta, coming back from 2-0 down at half-time against the Italians.
Ronaldo then got a last-gasp equaliser away to Atalanta to salvage a 2-2 draw. Had he not delivered the goods on that occasion, United would have gone to Villarreal on matchday five knowing they could be eliminated there and then.
As it was, they ultimately left Spain with a 2-0 win thanks to a couple of goals in the final 12 …
Real Madrid defender Raphael Varane will miss the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final with Liverpool after testing positive for coronavirus hours before the match.
Varane had been rested as Madrid defeated Eibar 2-0 in LaLiga on Saturday, the France international an unused substitute for the fixture.
But Madrid will not have the centre-back to call upon as they take on Liverpool at home on Tuesday.
Real Madrid informs that our player Raphael Varane tested positive in the COVID-19 test he underwent this morning, the club confirmed in a statement on the day of the game.
Varane is a key figure for Madrid. The World Cup winner has started 27 of his team s 29 league games this season and all eight of their matches so far in the Champions League.
Bayern Munich coach Thomas Tuchel insists Harry Kane will be an “absolute success story” for the Bundesliga champions.
The England captain has scored three goals and registered one assist in his first four matches since an initial £86million move from Tottenham and Tuchel believes he is the “perfect” striker for them.
“We have exactly the player we need, with the personality of the way he plays, in Harry Kane,” Tuchel told a press conference ahead of Friday’s visit of Bayer Leverkusen.
“We try to get him more involved in our game and this is going to be an absolute success story.
“We have the perfect striker for us and we are more than happy with him.”
After a tumultuous week with the national team – Germany sacked Hansi Fli…
Manchester City defender Benjamin Mendy was released on bail at Chester Crown Court on Friday.
The France international, who has been charged with seven counts of rape and one count of sexual assault, had been in custody since last August.
Mendy was charged following allegations of attacks on five women that took place between October 2020 and August 2021.
The 27-year-old was granted bail at a hearing on Friday.
He had been due to stand trial this month, but that was put back until June at the earliest.
Mendy had reportedly been moved from HMP Altcourse prison in Liverpool to Strangeways jail in Manchester last month.
Co-defendant Louis Saha Matturie also appeared at the hearing in Chester.
Premier League champions City susp…
Paris Saint-Germain captain Thiago Silva is targeting a positive response in Saturday s Coupe de la Ligue final against Lyon.
PSG go-to-head with Ligue 1 rivals Lyon in the showpiece event at Stade de France but defeat would only increase pressure on coach Laurent Blanc.
The three-time champions, who remain on track to defend their Ligue 1 crown, suffered back-to-back defeats for the first time this season after falling to Chelsea and Lyon in the space of a week.
Blanc s position as coach of the French giants has been the subject of speculation following the club s elimination from the UEFA Champions League.
But Silva has urged his team-mates, who will be without star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, not to dwell on previous results, including their narrow league defe…
Ivan Toney has apologised to Brentford after a video was published on social media appearing to show the forward swearing at his club.
In the short video, Toney repeated to the camera f*** Brentford after a woman filming the clip had said the same.
The former Newcastle United striker, who is on holiday in Dubai during the international break, explained on social media the video was cut short and edited but also apologised to Brentford fans, having already spoken to manager Thomas Frank.
I am aware of a video of me that was published on social media today, taken in Dubai where I have been on holiday during the winter break, the striker posted. In it, I use language that was unacceptable.
— Ivan Toney (@ivantoney24)
The video was c…
Three men have been charged by Victoria Police following the violent pitch invasion that forced Saturday s Melbourne derby to be abandoned.
The A-League clash between Melbourne Victory and Melbourne City saw flares thrown by both sets of fans during the opening quarter of the contest at AAMI Park.
Trouble escalated when a flare appeared to hit a pitchside cameraman before exploding, with City goalkeeper Tom Glover throwing another flare back into the crowd.
Fans behind the goal stormed the pitch and Glover was hit in the face with a metal bucket, while referee Alex King was also struck, leading to the game being brought to an end.
Football Australia chief James Johnson hit out at the horrific scenes and vowed to hand out the harshest of punishments to tho…
Arjen Robben could miss Bayern Munich s DFB-Pokal clash with rivals Borussia Dortmund after head coach Jupp Heynckes was unable to nail down a return day for the winger.
Robben last featured in the 2-1 Champions League win at Anderlecht, where he was substituted due to what was described at the time as a minor calf strain .
He sat out the Bundesliga matches at Borussia Monchengladbach and against Hannover, along with Tuesday s concluding Group B win against Paris Saint-Germain and Heynckes does not expect the 33-year-old to return for Saturday s trip to Eintracht Frankfurt.
Arjen has problems with the sciatic nerve which is a bit inflamed, he told reporters.
Normally it s not a severe injury but a thing of one or two weeks, but we are not able to make a…
Atletico Madrid forward Fernando Torres has responded to speculation that Diego Simeone has had his contract at the club shortened, dismissing them as an unnecessary distraction.
Reports in Spain suggest the Atleti boss has negotiated with the club over reducing the length of his current deal, meaning it will expire in 2018 rather than 2020.
However, Torres stressed the issue was not something he wanted to hinder the team s pursuit of silverware, insisting that his side s focus should be on having a successful season.
It s a hypothesis that is not real, he said at a promotional event. Let s be real. We are one month into the season and this is a very important year for us.
We want to grow after a very good season with a very complicated [Champions Leag…