Zinedine Zidane hailed Karim Benzema s impact against Eibar and felt the forward was part of an impressive all-round Real Madrid performance.
Madrid romped to a 4-1 away victory and were three goals up within 29 minutes despite being without Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Alvaro Morata while resting the likes of Marcelo and Toni Kroos as part of eight changes ahead of Tuesday s Champions League game at Napoli.
Benzema stepped up in the absence of the key attacking stars, scoring twice, assisting one for James Rodriguez and playing a part in the build-up for Marco Asensio s goal after the break.
Zidane felt Madrid had reacted in the ideal way after Wednesday s 3-3 home draw against Las Palmas.
He was involved in all four goals, Zidane said of Benzema …
Daniel Sturridge marked his return to the Liverpool starting line-up with the opening goal as Jurgen Klopp s side thrashed hapless Aston Villa 6-0 at Villa Park.
Remi Garde warned before Sunday s game that his team would have no chance if they did not improve upon their performance in last week s win over Norwich City, and the game was put beyond their reach in the first half as Sturridge for the fifth time in four league games for Liverpool against Villa and James Milner found the net.
Emre Can s fine low finish made it 3-0 early in the second half before Divock Origi and Nathaniel Clyne scored one each inside a ruthless five-minute spell in which Villa s resistance completely collapsed.
Kolo Toure s header made it six for the visitors to inflict a worst-eve…
Didier Deschamps hopes a Frenchman will win the Ballon d Or and named Antoine Griezmann, Raphael Varane and Kylian Mbappe as players he feels deserve it.
The trio were instrumental in delivering France s second World Cup triumph in Russia but Deschamps pointed to the trophies they won at club level when giving them his backing.
Griezmann, who chose to stay at Atletico Madrid rather than join Barcelona in the close season, triumphed in the Europa League in 2017-18, while Varane was part of the Real Madrid side that won a third consecutive Champions League title.
Mbappe, meanwhile, helped Paris Saint-Germain to a clean sweep of domestic trophies in his first season at the club.
When asked whether he would be upset not to see a member of his France side win …
A Dries Mertens double enabled Napoli to defeat Fiorentina 4-1 and set a new club record Serie A points total with one game of the 2016-17 season to go.
The routine success on Saturday at Stadio San Paolo edged Napoli back to within a point of Roma – 5-3 victors over Chievo earlier in the day – and kept alive hopes of leapfrogging them on the final weekend and finishing second behind Juventus, who need one win from their final two games to reclaim the title.
Victory moved Napoli on to 83 points, surpassing the 82 amassed in the 2015-16 campaign.
Kalidou Koulibaly put the hosts ahead after just eight minutes, making no mistake when Ciprian Tatarusanu could only parry a Marek Hamsik header into his path.
It should have been 2-0 when Mertens beat th…
Celtic have appealed against Yang Hyun-jun’s red card and written to the Scottish Football Association with “serious concerns” over the standard of officiating during their 2-0 defeat by Hearts.
Yang was sent off in the 16th minute following a VAR review after initially being booked for catching Alex Cochrane with a high boot.
Celtic Football Club can confirm that it will be appealing the red card issued to Hyunjun Yang during Sunday’s match against Hearts at Tynecastle.
We have also written to the SFA to raise our serious concerns regarding the use of VAR and the decisions made within the match.
— Celtic Football Club (@CelticFC)
Both sides had penalties awarded during the cinch Premiership encounter at Tynecastle on Sunday.
Ce…
The impact of weather conditions on soccer betting has been long studied.
Strong winds, heavy rain and excessive heat can all influence the outcome of a bet.
In this article, I will pinpoint how the weather influences a football match and, how to take advantage of weather conditions in soccer betting.
Weather Conditions that influence soccer betting
It is well-known that most matches are played in rainy conditions.
Conversely, the games from Portugal and Spain are held in stadiums where temperatures often exceed 40 degrees Celsius. In the Scandinavian countries, the wind repeatedly disrupts the flow of a match, leading to surprise full-time results.
Therefore, the most influential weather conditions that can change the course of a matc…
Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Yohan Cabaye would welcome the arrival of Chelsea s Eden Hazard at the club.
Hazard has scored 16 goals in all competitions this season and turned in a number of superb displays, helping to keep Chelsea in the running for UEFA Champions League and Premier League glory.
He has also been talked up frequently by boss Jose Mourinho, who has expressed disbelief at the Belgian s lack of individual awards this term.
Ahead of Chelsea s Champions League quarter-final ties with PSG next month, Cabaye has expressed his belief that Hazard would fit in well at the Parc des Princes.
Hazard is a player that I would like at PSG, said Cabaye in a video chat posted by the club.
He would do so well in Paris and in Ligue 1. He s one of the best …
Arsenal have sacked coach Gustavo Alfaro just over a week before their Copa Libertadores round-of-16 tie against Union Espanola.
Alfaro, 51, had been in charge since 2010 in his second stint with the Argentine club and planned to quit at season s end.
While he has led Arsenal into the Copa Libertadores knockout stages for the first time, they are bottom of the Argentina Primera Division with just one win in 10 league matches.
Gustavo Alfaro has ceased to be Arsenal coach and this evening he will bid farewell to the squad, Arsenal said in a statement.
Last Thursday, at a news conference, the trainer had announced he did not intend renewing his contract at the end of the season.
Alfaro led Arsenal to Copa Sudamericana glory in 2007 and to the 2012 Clausura t…
Fedor Smolov insists he is no hero as Confederations Cup hosts Russia prepare to take on Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal on Wednesday.
Krasnodar striker Smolov has been the leading scorer in Russia s top flight for the past two campaigns and capped a man-of-the-match display with the second goal as Stanislav Cherchesov s side overcame the All Whites 2-0 in Saint Petersburg in the tournament opener.
His performance has seen his face adorn every newspaper in the country since but he accepts a far sterner test now awaits in the shape of Ronaldo, Ricardo Quaresma, Pepe and Co.
Smolov told FIFA.com: We have to prepare for Portugal in a serious way, they have one of the best players in the world [Ronaldo], and I think we need to make a good start in this match.
Crystal Palace have joined the race to sign Manchester City striker Kelechi Iheanacho, according to the Mirror.
The London club, who named former Ajax coach Frank De Boer as their new boss on Monday, are looking to add more firepower to their squad to lessen the burden on key man Christian Benteke.
Leicester City and West Ham United are also interested in securing a deal for the Nigeria international, who broke into City’s first team at the beginning of the 2015/16 campaign.
During his first campaign with the club he scored fourteen times in all competitions though he only managed half as many last time around, with his opportunities more limited following the arrival of Brazilian Gabriel Jesus.
In total, the twenty year old has played sixty-four t…