Football

August 26 (The Guardian) - Lionel Messi has told Barcelona that he wants to leave the club immediately – and on a free transfer. The Argentinian, who according to RAC1 radio had told new manager Ronald Koeman that he felt “more out than in”, has sent a fax to Barcelona informing them of his desire to go. His camp believes...

July 28 (AFP) - Jurgen Klopp was voted the League Managers' Association Manager of the Year on Monday after ending Liverpool's 30-year wait to win the Premier League. Klopp led Liverpool to the Premier League title in the same season they were FIFA Club World champions. The German's award was announced by former Manchester United boss Alex Ferguson, after whom...

Madrid, July 17 (Reuters) - Real Madrid clinched a record-extending 34th La Liga title with one game to spare by beating Villarreal 2-1 at home on Thursday thanks to two goals from their leading scorer Karim Benzema. Real have 86 points after 37 games, seven more than deposed champions Barcelona who were beaten 2-1 at home to Osasuna. Benzema fired...

June 30 (Reuters) - The Premier League said on Monday that there was one positive result from the latest round of COVID-19 tests of players and staff conducted last week, taking the total number of cases to 19 since testing began last month. The English top-flight restarted its season earlier this month after a 100-day hiatus due to the pandemic...

London, June 25 (Reuters) - Liverpool were back at their lethal best to beat Crystal Palace 4-0 at Anfield on Wednesday, moving within two points of securing the Premier League title. The victory, with goals from Trent Alexander-Arnold, Mohamed Salah, Fabinho and Sadio Mane, ensured Juergen Klopp's side could be crowned champions on Thursday if second-placed Manchester City fail to...

London, June 22 (Reuters) - Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea must go back to basics to boost his confidence and reverse his disappointing run of form, former captain Gary Neville has said. De Gea deflected Steven Bergwijn's shot into his own net in a 1-1 Premier League draw with Tottenham Hotspur on Friday and the Spaniard was lambasted by...

June 13 (Evening Standard) - AC Milan and Juventus joined together to take a stand against racism by wearing customised shirts before their Coppa Italia semi-final second-leg tie on Friday evening. The Serie A clubs each warmed up in tops displaying anti-racism messages and support for the Black Lives Matter movement. Star names such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Paulo Dybala...

Dubai, June 11 (Reuters) - A Qatari company helping build a 2022 World Cup stadium has been banned from the event’s projects after its labourers went unpaid for months, organisers said on Thursday, in a case Amnesty International said showed inadequate worker welfare standards. Around 100 employees of a Qatari subcontractor, Qatar Meta Coats (QMC), working on the Al Bayt...

June 6 (Reuters) - Thousands of fans poured into stadiums in Vietnam on Friday as the country resumed top-flight soccer without social distancing measures or curbs on crowd sizes, owing to its success in combating the spread of the novel coronavirus. Matches in Vietnam’s professional league were suspended in March but with no coronavirus deaths and just 328 confirmed cases,...

June 6 (PTI) - The Indian football team's postponed 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying round game against Asian champions Qatar at home was on Friday rescheduled to October 8 as the continental body proposed new dates for the matches. India then take on Bangladesh away on November 12 and host Afghanistan on November 17. The Asian Football Confederation (AFC), in...