Real Madrid set a new record Champions League record following their quarter-final triumph over Bayern Munich.

A thrilling 4-2 win at Santiago Bernabeu on Tuesday secured a 6-3 aggregate victory for the holders against the Bundesliga leaders and Decima-winning former head coach Carlo Ancelotti.

The win sealed the holders place in the last four for the seventh season in a row something no other club has managed in the tournament s modern history.

Barcelona reached the last four six times in a row from 2008 until 2013, while Bayern made it to that stage on five consecutive occasions between 2012 and 2016.

Cristiano Ronaldo scored a hat-trick to reach 100 goals in the Champions League, with Marco Asensio adding a fourth after Robert Lewandowski s penalty and…

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England take on Switzerland on Tuesday as Gareth  Southgate’s men hope to get back to winning ways following three consecutive defeats. Switzerland arrive in Leicester on the back of the 6-0 thumping over Iceland at the beginning of the UEFA Nations League and will be determined to gain further momentum against the Three Lions.

England

England national team have yet to recover from their World Cup heartbreak. The Three Lions fought bravely in Russia but were unable to get past the eventual runners-up Croatia who defeated them after extra time in the semi-finals 2-1 and were ultimately forced to settle for fourth on the back of a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Belgium in the 3rd place match.…

Jurgen Klopp described Real Madrid as favourites to win Saturday s Champions League final as he challenged Liverpool to stand up to the Spanish giants big-game belief.

Madrid are into their fifth final in nine seasons following a series of incredible comeback victories in the three previous knockout rounds.

Carlo Ancelotti s men trailed for 178 minutes in their semi-final with Manchester City, and were 5-3 down going into the final minute of normal time in the second leg, yet they still advanced 6-5 on aggregate.

That came on the back of a Karim Benzema-inspired comeback against Paris Saint-Germain in the last 16 and a similarly impressive recovery effort to see off Chelsea in the quarters.

Indeed, Los Blancos have trailed for 243 minutes in games in thi…

Mikel Arteta has called for patience with VAR and wants to see the technology remain in the Premier League despite the Arsenal boss facing a Football Association charge following recent criticism of the system.

After last month’s 1-0 loss at Newcastle, Arteta labelled the decision to award Anthony Gordon’s matchwinner “embarrassing” and a “disgrace” while Arsenal followed up his comments with an official statement backing his take.

Arteta has since been charged by the FA and will find out if he faces any punishment for his comments next week.

Arsenal, who sit top of the Premier League after a late win at Brentford last weekend, host Wolves on Saturday – themselves having been stung by controversial VAR calls this season.

Tonight has finally…

Roberto Mancini has revealed he twice considered stepping down as Italy head coach, but is now determined to win the World Cup with his country after deciding to stay on.

The 57-year-old guided Italy to Euro 2020 success exactly one year ago, only to then miss out on qualification for Qatar 2022 following a shock play-off loss to North Macedonia.

It is the second successive World Cup the four-time winners have missed out on, having previously failed to reach Russia 2018.

Despite the latest disappointing qualifying campaign, Italian Football Federation president Gabriele Gravina confirmed in March that Mancini would remain in the job if he wished.

However, Mancini has admitted he contemplated walking away after the loss to North Macedonia, as well as eight…

He creates systems to have one-on-one situations and it s the system where I can flourish the most.

He didn t ask me to have stats. He just asked me to take, hit and centre. And that was what I appreciated very much.

Injuries have blighted Coman s career in recent years and he only returned in February from a two-month absence due to a knee problem.

A thigh injury then meant Coman missed Bayern s three games before their campaign was halted by the suspension of competitions due to the spread of coronavirus.

The Bundesliga is eyeing a return to action in early May and Bayern s players were back training in small groups this week, much to Coman s delight.

We had not touched a ball on a football pitch for almost a month and even if we re split …

Leeds United are set to sign Georginio Rutter from Hoffenheim in the January transfer window, according to . The report in the French news outlet has claimed that Premier League club Leeds have agreed to pay Bundesliga outfit Hoffenheim €40 million in transfer fees to bring the 20-year-old striker to Elland Road in the middle of the season. The youngster will sign a five-and-a-half-year contract with the West Yorkshire club.

Rutter is one of the best young strikers in the Bundesliga and has been on the books of Hoffenheim since 2021 when he joined from Rennes. The 20-year-old is part of the France Under-21 set-up at the moment.

So far this season, the striker has made 11 starts and four substitute appearances in the Bundesliga for Hoffenheim, scoring two goals and giv…

Barcelona have announced they have reached an agreement to sign Sevilla defender Jules Kounde, with the Blaugrana seeing off competition from Chelsea.

Kounde, who has starred for Sevilla since arriving from Bordeaux in 2019, seemed set to join Chelsea after also being heavily linked with a move to Stamford Bridge throughout the 2021 transfer window.

However, despite Barcelona reportedly failing to match Chelsea s offer of £55million (€65m) for the 23-year-old, the Blaugrana had been touted as Kounde s preferred destination.

On Thursday, they announced a deal is now in place with Sevilla for the transfer of the France international, with the move subject to a medical.

Kounde ranked first in duels won (169), second in blocks (17) and second in headed …

Juventus attacker Juan Cuadrado cannot see Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi joining Cristiano Ronaldo at the Serie A champions.

Messi has sensationally told Barca he wants to leave the club, where the six-time Ballon d Or winner has spent his entire professional career.

Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain and Inter have been most strongly linked with moves for the 33-year-old.

Others have suggested Messi could join Ronaldo in Turin to bring together the two best players of the modern day, but Cuadrado would be surprised if such a move happened.

I can t imagine it at all. The truth is that I don t, he told ESPN Nexo on Thursday.

Cuadrado added: Just like with Cristiano, many people did not believe and suddenly he arrived.

Juve are prepar…

Andrew Robertson believes Liverpool have been let off the leash.

The stand-in skipper hailed the Reds’ fresh start following their 3-1 win at Wolves on Saturday.

Robertson scored his first goal since May 2022 – also against Wolves – with five minutes left before Harvey Elliott’s shot deflected in off Hugo Bueno in stoppage time.

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It capped a comeback started by Cody Gakpo’s second-half equaliser and extended Liverpool’s unbeaten run in the Premier League, stretching back to last season, to 16 games.

They finished fifth last season, 22 points adrift of champions Manchester City but Robertson welcomed the clean slate.

“It’s a new start. We’ve got a lot of new players, kind of…