Colin Millar

Carlo Ancelotti has said Real Madrid made a “clear assessment” of their first Clasico defeat of the season to Barcelona, ahead of this Sunday’s Supercopa de Espana final. Madrid slumped to a four-goal home defeat to Hansi Flick in October’s La Liga match, with Robert Lewandowski scoring twice and Lamine Yamal and Raphinha also finding the net. That match had been scoreless at half-time but Barca were rampant in the second half, preceding the Catalan side’s slump in form — a run of just five points in their last seven league matches has left them third in the...

FA Cup holders Manchester United will play Leicester City in the FA Cup fourth round. United overcame Arsenal in a dramatic penalty shootout on Sunday and will welcome back their former interim head coach Ruud van Nistelrooy, now at Leicester. There were three other all-Premier League ties, including Brighton & Hove Albion welcoming Chelsea with Aston Villa taking on Tottenham Hotspur and Everton hosting Bournemouth. Elsewhere, 2022 winners Liverpool will travel to Championship side Plymouth while 2024 beaten finalists Manchester City will travel to the winners of the third-round tie...

Ruben Amorim has said Manchester United deserved to progress past Arsenal in the FA Cup and that they controlled the game without the ball. United advanced through to the fourth round on penalties after a dramatic match. Amorim’s side took the lead through Bruno Fernandes after the break but a Diogo Dalot red card and Gabriel equaliser had appeared to turn the game on its head. The away side’s goalkeeper Altay Bayindir — playing ahead of first-choice Andre Onana — saved Martin Odegaard’s penalty in the second half and United saw out the remainder of the game and...

Valencia have signed defender Max Aarons on a loan deal from Bournemouth for the remainder of 2024-25. Aarons has joined the Spanish club until the end of the season, while Valencia will have an option to make the transfer permanent. The full-back joined Bournemouth from Norwich City in the summer of 2023 but has found minutes limited this season, starting just one match. 25-year-old Aarons had previously on Valencia’s shortlist when he was at Norwich City in 2020 but the Spanish club instead signed Alessandro Florenzi on loan from Roma. The right-back joined Bournemouth from Norwich in the...

Bayern Munich have signed United States youth international attacking midfielder Bajung Darboe from LAFC. The German club said on Wednesday that Darboe had joined on a “long-term contract” and would initially join their reserve team. The Athletic reported in November that a deal was expected to come to fruition for the 18-year-old, who has not made a senior appearance in MLS. “A big dream has come true for me. It’s nice to see where my path has taken me,” Darboe said. “It was always a big wish of mine to get to pull on the shirt of this great club one day. The fact it’s...

Ruben Amorim spoke with Sir Jim Ratcliffe following Manchester United’s 3-1 victory over Southampton on Thursday night. Amad scored a late 12-minute hat-trick to secure a dramatic victory United over the Premier League’s bottom side, who took a first-half lead through a Manuel Ugarte own goal. Ratcliffe — whose INEOS group controls football operations at the club — watched United from the stands for the first time since last month’s Manchester derby triumph, in which Amad also starred. “I had five minutes with him to talk about different things and the game,”...

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is holding talks over becoming the new head coach of Turkish club Besiktas. Solskjaer, 51, has been out of football management since leaving his position as Manchester United manager in November 2021. The Norwegian led Manchester United to third-placed and second-placed finishes in his two full seasons at the helm, and guided the club to the Europa League final in 2021 — when they were beaten by Villarreal in a penalty shootout. Besiktas have been without a permanent head coach since parting ways with Giovanni van Bronckhorst in November. Prior to his role at Old...

Domenico Tedesco has left his position as Belgium head coach. The 39-year-old was appointed in February 2023 and won 12 of his 24 matches at the helm, with the team eliminated by France in the round of 16 at Euro 2024. The nation’s disappointing European Championships showing, in which they won just one of their four matches, has been followed by an underwhelming Nations League campaign. Tedesco’s side won just one of their six matches in League A Group 2, finishing nine points behind France and Italy while avoiding automatic relegation to League B by finishing above Israel on goal...

Barcelona’s return to their Camp Nou stadium has been further delayed until May at the earliest. Work to refurbish the Camp Nou and increase its capacity to 105,000 — the largest in European football — began in June 2023. The Catalan club’s original plan was to return to playing at their home stadium before the end of 2024, with Barca president Joan Laporta outlining their aim to re-open at a reduced capacity to mark the club’s 125th anniversary on November 29. In October however, the club said the return would not take place in 2024 and would instead happen in the...

Keylor Navas has joined Argentinean club Newell’s Old Boys. The 38-year-old, formerly of Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain, has not played since leaving the French club at the end of the 2023-24 season. The goalkeeper is best known for his five-year spell at Madrid between 2014 and 2019, where he made 162 appearances and won 11 senior trophies including three Champions League titles. In 2019, he joined PSG — where he was first-choice until the arrival of Gianluigi Donnarumma in 2021.Una leyenda internacional llega al Parque…otra vez 🔥 Orgullosos de anunciarles que...