Frank Lampard is furious at Chelsea s schedule for the coming week as they must play twice in the space of 48 hours.
The Blues visit Arsenal at 1730 GMT on Boxing Day before kicking off at the same time at home to Aston Villa two days later.
Lampard is particularly frustrated at the prospect as Chelsea s subsequent match against Manchester City has been pushed back, providing a six-day gap, but pleas to rearrange the Villa game have fallen on deaf ears.
It s 48 hours, Lampard told reporters when the two matches in three days were posed to him. I m not trying to be clever there, but it s an important point for us because there are other teams challenging at the top of the league that have two games in three days [72 hours].
Manchester United, Tottenham, …
Clement Lenglet called for two contentious refereeing decisions to be respected after Real Madrid were left disgruntled with VAR during Wednesday s goalless Clasico.
The Barcelona defender was fortunate not to concede a penalty when he caught Raphael Varane s thigh with a raised boot in the first half at Camp Nou.
Referee Alejandro Jose Hernandez Hernandez allowed play to continue and decided against punishing another apparent infringement on Varane a few moments later, the Madrid centre-back tumbling to the floor following a tug on his shirt from Ivan Rakitic.
Neither incident was reviewed on the pitchside monitor as video official opted not to intervene.
Madrid called attention to the two controversial moments in a statement on their website after capta…
Steve Kean has resigned as Blackburn Rovers manager after claiming the club s owners left his position at Ewood Park untenable .
The Scot has been under increasing pressure after failing to meet club owners Venkys target of 16 points from their opening seven Championship matches, falling just two short.
In a statement, Kean said: For reasons that I cannot discuss on legal advice, it is with deep regret, given my hard work and service for the club for a number of years, that I have been forced to resign as manager of Blackburn Rovers Football Club with immediate effect, due to my position as team manager becoming untenable.
I wish to thank all the players and coaching staff for their great support and the majority of the fans, who now see their club heading towa…
Lille s Ligue 1 campaign hit a new low on Friday when they were beaten 2-0 at Rennes, who claimed just their second win of the season.
And there was more bad news for the 2010/11 French champions, with coach Rudi Garcia sent off late on for protesting an 89th-minute decision from referee Nicolas Rainville.
Lille looked positive in the first half of the match at the Stade de la Route de Lorient, but were rocked early in the second half when midfielder Rio Mavuba had to be replaced because of an injury.
Julien Feret handed the home side the lead in the 64th minute, although the visitors were unlucky not be level two minutes later when Aurelien Chedjou s header hit the crossbar.
Substitute Romain Alessandrini made sure of the result on 75 minutes, when he …
Dutch coach Fred Rutten said Thursday he will part company with struggling Bundesliga side Schalke 04 at the end of the season.
Schalke s managing director Peter Peters has said to me there is no future next season for Fred Rutten at Schalke 04, the Dutchman told German tabloid Bild.
The 46-year-old has a contract with Schalke until 2010 having only taken over as trainer of the Royal Blues in July 2008, but the club are eighth in the table and have been blighted by erratic form this season.
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Markus Babbel s Western Sydney Wanderers picked up their first A-League point in six games, but Aaron Calver s 87th-minute equaliser for Western United meant their winless run went on.
The Wanderers came into this match on the back of five successive defeats, with Babbel issuing a strong denial to reports of turmoil behind the scenes.
Patrick Ziegler then headed home 11 minutes from time and it looked as though Babbel would be toasting his first victory since October 26.
Yet an unmarked Calver nodded in a leveller with three minutes remaining to leave Wanderers down in seventh.
We share the points with Western United.
— WS Wanderers FC (@wswanderersfc)
Goalkeeper Daniel Lopar denied Panagiotis Kone with his right foot inside two m…
Zinedine Zidane singled out James Rodriguez for praise after Real Madrid battled to a 2-1 victory over Celta Vigo.
Madrid s 14th consecutive LaLiga win came courtesy of Toni Kroos strike nine minutes from time after Fabian Orellana had levelled Alvaro Morata s opener.
James has been heavily linked with an exit after being left out of Zidane s starting XI for all three of the club s games to start the new season, following a 2015-16 campaign that saw him restricted to only 17 league starts.
But Zidane liked what he saw from the Colombia international after he came off the substitutes bench with 21 minutes remaining on Saturday when the match was still level at 1-1.
I have seen good things from James and, as you say, yes he will be staying, Zidane told rep…
Simone Zaza says he has a new path to take after leaving Juventus for West Ham.
The striker has joined the Hammers on loan for an initial fee of €5million, and the London club have the option to buy Zaza for a further €20m at the end of the season.
The Italy international missed a penalty in the Azzurri s 6-5 shootout defeat to Germany in the quarter-finals of Euro 2016, after an extraordinary season at club level, in which he won the Scudetto, the Coppa Italia and the Supercoppa Italiana.
In an open letter released on social media, he said: I have a new path to take.
Bon voyage, whether it s coming or going, for a lifetime or just a day … to me, who is leaving, and all those team-mates who remain.
The season spent at Juve was extraordi…
Lars Lagerback will not forget the whirlwind last month of his tenure as Iceland co-coach any time soon.
Alongside Heimir Hallgrimsson, Lagerback oversaw a dream run to the quarter-finals at Euro 2016, leaving England in their wake in the round of 16, while also avoiding defeat against Portugal in the group stages.
France proved a class above in the quarter-finals, winning 5-2 with goals from Olivier Giroud (two), Paul Pogba, Dimitri Payet and Antoine Griezmann and Lagerback was not shy to admit the better team won.
I would like to congratulate France. It s a fantastic team, even if we maybe helped them a little bit in the first half, he said.
[Iceland] worked hard and wanted it but we did not use our brains and play the normal way we do.
We we…
European champions Spain made it five wins on a roll as they squeaked past Turkey 1-0 in a World Cup qualifying Group Five game on Saturday.
After an hour of probing the furia roja finally broke the deadlock at the Bernabeu stadium with Gerard Pique bundling in from point-blank range.
Barcelona s Pique, only called into the national squad last month by coach Vicente del Bosque for a debut against England, was in the right place at the right time after fellow attacking defender Sergio Ramos deflected a Xavi freekick into his path.
The effort by the 22-year-old, a mainstay of the Spanish under-19 side which lifted the European Championship in 2006 and who thereafter spent a year at Manchester United, calmed Spanish nerves after the Turks had made arguably the brig…