Manchester City confident of sealing £32m deal for Eliaquim Mangala

Manchester City are hopeful of finally landing Porto’s Eliaquim Mangala for around £32m, in what will be the champions’ most expensive signing of the summer window.
While the club is not expecting to announce the transfer in the next 48 hours, there is a quiet confidence the France central defender will

Manchester United owner Malcolm Glazer dies aged 86

Malcolm Glazer, the head of the family that own Manchester United, died on Wednesday morning aged 86, in his hometown of Tampa.
While Glazer drove the controversial process that took control of United for the family in 2005 by leveraging the club with a £500m-plus debt, his recent failing health had meant that two of his sons, Joel and Avram, took on the hands-on role of leading the club. His passing should have little if any effect on the overall structure of the club, with the family retaining a 90% share with the remaining 10% listed on the New York stock exchange.
A statement from the 20-times champions last night said: “The thoughts of all at the club are with the family at this time.”

Cristiano Ronaldo ruled out of Real Madrid's La Liga game at Celta Vigo

Cristiano Ronaldo is out of Real Madrid's La Liga match at Celta Vigo on Sunday, Carlo Ancelotti said on Saturday.
The Portugal captain, who has been struggling with minor injuries in recent weeks, limped out of Wednesday's 1-1 draw at Real Valladolid with an apparent thigh strain. With the Champions League final against Atlético on 24 May looming, it has been decided not to risk aggravating the injury, Ancelotti told a news conference.
"Cristiano Ronaldo is not playing tomorrow because

Manuel Pellegrini fully expects his Manchester City side to win title

A bullish Manuel Pellegrini has said he expects to win the Premier League title after a 4-0 victory over Aston Villa took Manchester City two points clear of Liverpool going into Sunday's final game of the season, the visit of West Ham United.
Two goals from Edin Dzeko plus one apiece from Stevan Jovetic and Yaya Touré, all in the second half, swept City to 100 league goals for the season, with Pellegrini aiming what sounded like a barb at Chelsea's José Mourinho by claiming he has chosen creative football for his team.
While the implication of this was that the Portuguese utilises a more negative approach for Chelsea. "Of course I expect to win the title because now we are top of the table," Pellegrini said. "It is the last game. Win the next game and we can win the title."
In reality, given City's goal-difference advantage of 13 over Liverpool, a point would suffice.
Pellegrini pointed out that before victory City had led the standings for only 11 days. "It is a strange season, maybe, because we were never top of the table," he said. "Everyone said we were favourites but we were nine points behind Liverpool and eight

Chelsea's José Mourinho: Eden Hazard does not sacrifice himself for the team

José Mourinho has lamented Eden Hazard's error in Chelsea's Champions League elimination but has no qualms with the Belgian's comments following the midweek exit to Atlético Madrid. Hazard, one of Chelsea's best players for much of the season, failed to track back to allow Atlético to equalise in Wednesday's Champions League semi-final second leg and later said the Blues are set up to counterattack, not to take the initiative in games.
The comments were interpreted as a slight on Mourinho's tactics, which have been criticised of late, and coming from a player linked with Paris Saint-Germain this summer led to speculation over his future.
"I listened to the interview," said Mourinho, whose side lost 3-1 to Atlético and play Norwich in the Premier League on Sunday. "There was nothing critical in

Gareth Bale hopes for Champions League glory after Bayern crushed

Gareth Bale helped Real Madrid to dismantle Bayern Munich in their own stadium, taking his club to a first Champions League final since 2002, and said that momentous nights such as these were the reason why he moved from Tottenham Hotspur for a world record £86m last summer.
Real won 4-0 at the Allianz Arena to advance 5-0 on aggregate and they will face either Chelsea or Atlético Madrid in the final in Lisbon. Carlo Ancelotti, the Real manager, said he would be happy to face Chelsea, who sacked him in 2011 while José Mourinho, the Stamford Bridge manager, would surely like to face Real, from where he departed last summer.
It was the sheer force of Real's first-half performance against the defending champions that took the breath away, with Sergio Ramos heading two

Chelsea critics are just jealous of José Mourinho, says André Schürrle

André Schürrle has claimed "everybody" at Chelsea believes they can win a Champions League and Premier League double, this season and critics of José Mourinho's tactics are simply jealous of his success.
Chelsea are two points behind the league leaders, Liverpool, following Sunday's 2-0 win at Anfield and take a goalless draw into the Champions League semi-final second leg against Atlético Madrid at Stamford Bridge. Mourinho, true to form, rubbished Chelsea's Premier League title prospects in the aftermath of their Liverpool victory but Schürrle suggested an opposing view is held inside the club's Cobham training ground. The Germany international also

Benzema gives Real a lead

Real Madrid took a step towards their first Champions League final in 12 years by beating Bayern Munich 1-0 at the Bernabeu thanks to a first-half goal by Karim Benzema.
Carlo Ancelotti's side must still survive another 90 minutes against the European champions, but head to the semi-final second leg in Munich with the added advantage of not conceding an away goal.
The visitors dominated possession but were unable to

Cristiano Ronaldo to have late fitness test on Wednesday before Bayern tie

Cristiano Ronaldo will undergo a fitness test on Wednesday morning to decide if he can take part in the Champions League semi-final first leg against Bayern Munich at the Bernabéu.
The Real Madrid coach, Carlo Ancelotti, said he was "confident" that the competition's top scorer would be available but insisted that they will not take any risks with his fitness. Gareth Bale is doubtful after having suffered with a bout of flu.
Ronaldo has missed the last four games, including the final of the Copa del Rey, through injury. The Portuguese had suffered a knee injury and then had hamstring problems. The club had been cautious about his prognosis, saying little publicly, and Ronaldo had also

Mourinho threatens to play weakened Chelsea team against Liverpool

José Mourinho is threatening to rest virtually his entire Chelsea team and potentially hand Liverpool the Premier League title after revealing he will seek permission from Roman Abramovich to pick a deliberately weakened side in protest at being made to play the game on Sunday.
Mourinho's plan is likely to infuriate the Premier League and also has serious ramifications for Manchester City, who are relying on Chelsea to beat

David Moyes sacked by Manchester United and replaced by Ryan Giggs

David Moyes has been sacked by Manchester United after just 10 months in charge and replaced by Ryan Giggs. The club are believed to be interested in putting Giggs in charge temporarily until the end of the season.
Giggs, 40, has been combining playing with studying for his Pro-Licence, learning at the feet of the manager for the majority of his career at United, Sir Alex Fergsuon.
United released a

Chelsea beware: Diego Costa is Atlético Madrid's warrior

Diego Costa hit the post against Getafe. Painfully so. There were six minutes remaining and it was 1-0 to Atlético Madrid when Adrián laid the ball across the face of goal from the right; it was escaping the striker but he was not going to let it go, so he flew at it, launching himself. The ball hit the back of the net and Costa hit the post. Hard. The goal secured a vital victory that kept Atlético top of the table, but Costa was down. The full-back Filipe Luís approached him and immediately signalled to the bench. As he turned away he looked to

Lukas Podolski double eases Arsenal past Hull in FA Cup final rehearsal

Arsenal maintained control of their Champions League destiny with a clinical victory over Hull City.
Lukas Podolski scored either side of half-time after Aaron Ramsey got his 16th goal of the season to keep Arsène Wenger's men in the top four ahead of Everton. Hull were by no means outclassed but were guilty of failing to take their chances early in the contest.
Steve Bruce will pray his side are sharper in front of goal when the teams meet again in the FA Cup final on 17 May.
Arsenal weathered an early flurry from Hull and a

Diego Costa will be fit to face Chelsea in Champions League semi-final

Diego Costa will be fit to play against Chelsea in the Champions League semi-final on Tuesday 22 April.
The 25-year-old forward, tipped to join Chelsea in the summer, collided with a post when scoring Atlético's second goal in the 2-0 win at Getafe on Sunday. He left the field on a stretcher but Atlético have played down concerns that his shin injury was serious.
"Luckily, Diego Costa only has a wound after

UEFA Champions League Semi Final Draw

The semi-final pairings are determined by an open draw in which no teams are seeded and clubs from the same national association can be drawn against each other. The side drawn first will play the first leg at home.

Semi-finalists

Real Madrid CF (ESP) vs FC Bayern München (GER)

Club Atlético de Madrid (ESP) vs Chelsea FC (ENG)

UEFA Champions League Quarter Final

QF 4 Manchester United (ENG) Vs Bayern Munich (GER)

QF 3 Paris Saint German (FRA) Vs Chelsea (ENG)

QF 2 Real Madrid (ESP) Vs Borussia Dortmund (GER)

QF 1 Barcelona (ESP) Vs Atletico Madrid (ESP)

Here we go...


Real Madrid recap: An explosive force in this

Manchester United's Robin van Persie fears missing World Cup

 

Robin van Persie may not play for Manchester United again this season because of a sprained knee, with the striker concerned his World Cup hopes could be ruined if he returns too early.
Although the club stated that the Dutchman would miss "four to six weeks", it is understood that Van Persie, who had the injury rescanned in Holland on Friday, has been informed of the need for caution. The striker is to undergo treatment on the knee and, even if Van Persie waits the full six weeks, which would take him into early May, he will have to be very careful returning then so as not to compromise playing for Holland at Brazil 2014.
Van Persie suffered

Ronaldo double completes Real Madrid's thrashing of Schalke

 

Real Madrid's young forward Jesé faces a lengthy period on the sidelines after rupturing the cruciate ligament in his right knee in Tuesday's Champions League win over Schalke.
The 21-year-old was knocked to the ground and landed awkwardly when he tangled with the Schalke defender Sead Kolasinac in the second minute of Real's 3-1 second-leg victory at the Bernabéu and had to be replaced by Gareth Bale.
"He has had bad luck

David Moyes bullish amid first hints of Manchester United hierarchy doubt

David Moyes is coming under increasing scrutiny from the Manchester United hierarchy, though the manager insists that his situation remains the same.

When asked about his job security, before Wednesday's Champions League second leg against Olympiakos, Moyes said: "My future has not changed one bit. I have got a great job, I know exactly the direction I want it to go in. It's not been the season we hoped we would have but I have ideas of what I want to do and put in place when the time is right.

"The most important thing now