Born, Diego Armando Maradona, to a poor family that had moved from Corrientes Province, at the Policlínico (Polyclinic) Evita Hospital in Lanús, Buenos Aires Province Argentina on October 30, 1960. He was raised in Villa Fiorito, a shantytown on the southern outskirts of Buenos Aires, Argentina.

He was the first son after four daughters. He has two younger brothers, Hugo (el Turco) and Raúl (Lalo), both of whom were also professional football players. His father Diego Maradona “Chitoro” (1927–2015) was Guaraní, and his mother Dalma Salvadora Franco ‘Doña Tota’ (1930–2011) was of Italian descent.

Football career

Maradona started his club football career with Argentinos Juniors, a reputable club in his native Argentina, in 1976. He left the club in 1981 after scoring 116 goals in 167 matches before joining Argentina giant Boca Juniors in the same year. At Boca Juniors Maradona played a total of 40 matches scoring 28 goals in the process.

Barcelona was his next destination after leaving Boca in 1982, but injury denied the genius a career with the cules as he can only make just 36 appearance for the Blaugrana in his two year stint scoring just 22 goals despite his high profile move and huge expectations. He joined Napoli in 1984, and it was in Napoli that the light at the end the tunnel shone.

His stint with Napoli was highly successful as he led the team to a UEFA cup, two Serial A title and scoring 81 goals in 188 matches between 1984 to 1991. He also had stints with devil’s, Newell Old Boys before finally returning to Boca Juniors. In all Maradona played a total of 491 matches, scoring 259 goals in his club career.

Maradona’s national team journey started when he represented Argentina at the under20 level from 1977 and he was drafted into the first team that same year, playing for both the under20 and the national team until 1979 when he stop representating the under20’s to focus on the Abiceleste after scoring 8 goals in 15 matches, and leading the team to win the 1979 under20 world cup in Japan.

His senior national team career produced a total of 34 goals in 91 matches and lead the Argentina national team to win the world cup at the Mexico 86. Maradona played in four FIFA World Cups, and won the golden ball for player of the tournament in Mexico.

In the 1986 World Cup quarter final, he scored both goals in a 2–1 victory over England that entered football history for two different reasons. The first goal was an unpenalized handling foul known as the ” Hand of God”, while the second goal followed a 60 m (66 yd) dribble past five England players, voted ” Goal of the Century ” by FIFA.com voters in 2002. He also won three Copa America in his trophy laden national team career.

Coaching career

Maradona was coach of Argentina’s national football team from November 2008 to late 2010. He was in charge of the team at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa before leaving at the end of the tournament. After stint with the Argentine national team, he coached Dubai-based club Al Wasl in the UAE Pro-League for the 2011–12 season.

In 2017, Maradona became the coach of Fujairah before leaving at the end of the season. In May 2018, Maradona was announced as the new chairman of Belarusian club Dynamo Brest. He arrived in Brest and was presented by the club to start his duties in July. From September 2018 to June 2019, Maradona was coach of Mexican club Dorados. He was the coach of Argentine Primera División club Gimnasia de La Plata from 2019 until his death in 2020.

His death

Maradona, also known as the golden kid, “Ma-Gi-Ca” ( magical) and many more , was a visionary player and regarded by many as the greatest football player of all time died on 25th of November, 2020 at a hospital in Tigre, Buenos Province, Argentina aged 60 years and 25 days.

• Barcelona face Lucescu’s team in Kiev
• Blaugrana will be hoping to forget A.Madrid disappointment in la liga.

Barcelona will face Mircea Lucescu’s Dynamo Kiev in tonight second leg group stage encounter in Ukraine. The first leg ended 2-1 in favor of Fc Barcelona at the Nou Camp.

With several of Barca’s first team players injured and some expected to be rested for Koeman’s men there maybe opportunities for new additions and youngsters to make their mark.

The season started on a difficult note for the cules in the league but everything has been smooth so far in the champions league with Barca recording three wins in three matches played.

The blaugrana outfit lost away to Athletico Madrid in la liga over the weekend with a lone goal, But they will be hoping to get over that disappointment when they face Dynamo tonight.

Probable Lineup and Team News;

Dynamo: Bushchan; Kędziora, Zabarnyi, Mykolenko, Karavaev; Shaparenko, Shepeliev, Garmash, Buyalskiy, De Pena; Supryaha
Out: Tsygankov (illness), Rodrigues (illness), Syrota (illness), Duelund (illness), Shabanov (illness), Tymchyk (adductor), Kostevych (knee), Rusyn (collarbone)
Doubtful: Sydorchuk (match fitness)

Barcelona: Ter Stegen; Dest, Lenglet, Mingueza, Alba; Pjanić, Aleñà, Dembélé, Coutinho, Trincão; Griezmann
Out: Piqué (knee), Roberto (thigh), Araújo (hamstring), Busquets (thigh), Fati (meniscus), Umtiti (match fitness), Messi (rested), De Jong (rested)

– Leeds put up a fantastic performance against Liverpool at anfield

– The premier league newcomers lost 4-3, but will take positivity

– Mohammed Salah scored a hat trick to make it a winning start for the reds

Leeds United lost their first match of the 2020/21 season against Liverpool at anfield.

The premier league newcomers were fantastic and can take a lot of positivity from the match despite losing 4-3 against the premier league champions.

Mohammed Salah open the scoring just four minutes into the match from the spot, before Harrison levelled for Leeds eight minutes later, and in another eight minutes later Van Dijk headed Liverpool back in front on 20 minutes from Andy Robertson’s corner, but was caught out at the other end in jaw-dropping fashion.

Bamford pull Leeds levelled again, Salah scored his second on the night to make it 3-2 in the 33rd minutes.

Klich scored in the second half to draw Leeds levelled before Salah make it a hat trick from the spot, after Rodrigo tripped Firmino, in the 88th minutes to win the match and made sure of a winning start for the reds.

Virgil van dijk was guilty for some of the goals scored by Leeds as his errors gifted Leeds two goals in the match, and the Liverpool defense was troubled for much of the first 45 minutes. The rare mistake prompt former Liverpool defender and legend Jamie Carragher to term Virgil performance as ‘arrogant’

He said: ‘It’s a brilliant game. I said hopefully after 17 minutes we’d get 90 minutes of this. This could be 7-7 at the end of the game.

‘Alisson is not happy, he gets between the centre backs there. Virgil van Dijk, that’s just too arrogant.’

Leeds United will be banking on the fine performance in their next match and will hope to get a favourable result.

– Jadon Sancho can still be a United player this season.

– Solskjear admitted funds may hinder any deal materialising

– But United still wants to keep getting better.

Manchester United are still hopeful of completing a deal for Dortmund young sensation Jadon Sancho. The England International have impressed in Germany and United have been, for sometimes, trying to lure him back to England.

The club have secured just one deal so far in this window – bringing in Donny van de Beek from Ajax for £40million.

But the Borussia Dortmund star Jadon Sancho remains their top target, while numerous other players are being linked with a move to Old Trafford.

The hope of any deal to be done will depend on whether the Reds have the financial backing to make the deal happen as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer himself admitted to the BBC that Manchester United may not have the funds to sign Jadon Sancho this summer.

“Not everyone can spend millions and millions,” he said.

But, the coach did also say that they’re always trying to get better.

“We are always trying to improve and to see if there’s any way possible that we can improve this squad and bring players in that will have the right level of quality and the right personality and have all the right criteria,” he said.

– The Ajax star is rated high by the former Netherlands manager.

– He will be second player to leave Ajax for Barca in the space of one year.

According to French outlet, Le10 Sport, new Barcelona coach Ronard Koeman wants to make Ajax midfielder Donny van de Beek his first signing.

Barca raided the Dutch giants last summer to sign Frenkie de Jong and now they will return to the Eredivisie if reports are to be believed.

Van De Beek is currently rated at £39.6m , which by Barcelona’s standards, would be quite cheap.

Real Madrid are also interested in the 23-year-old but he isn’t thought to be a priority.

Van De Beek has been growing in stature in recent seasons. He scored ten times in all competitions this term, registering 11 assists in the process.

– Valencia Ferran Torres joins Man City

– He will replace Sane, who left for Bayern last month.

Manchester City have completed the signing of Valencia winger Ferran Torres for a fee of 23m euros (£20.87m).

He is the citizen’s first summer signing and replaces Germany forward Leroy Sane, who left on 3 July for Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich.

The 20-year-old Spanish winger has signed a five-year contract at the Etihad.

“Every player wants to be involved in attacking teams and Manchester City are one of the most attacking in world football,” Torres said.

‘I want to be the best’ – Ferran Torres speaks to Guillem Balague
“I am so happy to be joining City.”

City’s director of football Txiki Begiristain added: “We have followed Ferran’s progress closely and have been very impressed.

“He is young and still developing, but his technical qualities are exactly what we are looking for in a winger. He is quick, direct, can create space with one movement and is capable of producing match-winning moments.”

City have also had a £40m bid for Bournemouth centre-back Nathan Ake accepted. The former Chelsea youngster will become Pep Guardiola’s side second signing of the in the coming weeks.

Specifically, Atletico Madrid’s Jose Gimenez has caught the eye of Lampard with his scouting team now keeping close tabs on the Uruguayan star, according to The Telegraph.

The report states that in order for Gimenez to make a move to Stamford Bridge, Lampard would have to offload at least one centre-back because of the first team’s current defensive depth.

Meanwhile, Chelsea’s pursuit of Kai Havertz has been boosted after the Standard reported that Bayer Leverkusen are more inclined to part with the German after the club missed out on a Champions League spot for next season.

Sources told ESPN’s James Olley earlier this week that the Blues are confident of securing a deal in the region of £70-£75 million despite Leverkusen demanding closer to £90m when initial contact was made prior to this month.

Bayer Leverkusen finished fifth in the Bundesliga and will instead play in the Europa League, while Chelsea can secure a Champions League spot by getting a result against Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier League on Sunday.

Declan Rice has also been touted as a possible option at Chelsea, though that deal looks unlikely after West Ham United secured their Premier League status for next season.

– Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored two first half goals against Sassuolo.

– The win took Milan to 5th ahead of Roma who has played one game less.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic rolled back the years with two fine finishes to help AC Milan beat Sassuolo 2-1 in Serie A on Tuesday night.

The 38-year-old found the net twice in the first half as Milan remained unbeaten since the restart of the season and guaranteed a place in the Europa League .

The Swede got in front of his marker to head home from Hakan Calhanoglu’s cross in the 19th minute to score the first goal of the game.

He scored a second, latching on to a through ball before rounding Andrea Consigli and finishing just before half-time.

Francesco Caputo had equalised from a penalty for Sassuolo, who had Mehdi Bourabia sent off in first-half stoppage time.

It was Milan’s seventh victory in the nine games since Serie A resumed following the pandemic-enforced break, having drawn the other two matches.

The win saw the Rosonneri move up to fifth with 59 points, enough to guarantee them at least a place in the Europa League qualifying rounds next season.

Ibrahimovic has impressed since rejoining on a free transfer in December, starting regularly and contributing eight goals and four assists in 17 appearances in all competitions.

– France football announced the decision to cancel award this year

– It comes a result of disruption of the football season due to Coronavirus pandemic.

– FIFA awards to be the major award this year, but unclear about the how and where.

The prestigious Balon d’or will not be awarded this year because the coronavirus pandemic has disrupted the soccer season.

Awarded by France Football magazine, the Ballon d’Or has been given out every year since Stanley Matthews won the first one in 1956.

The sport magazine started giving out a women’s award in 2018, but that has also been put on hold.
“It’s such a strange year that we couldn’t treat it as an ordinary one.

Let’s say that we started talking about (making the decision) at least two months ago,” France Football editor Pascal Ferre told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.

“It isn’t a decision we took lightly but we had to accept it couldn’t be a normal or typical Ballon d’Or winner, and what really worried us it that it wouldn’t be fairly awarded.”

Because the game’s rules have been modified during the pandemic, the award itself was impacted.

“The season started with certain rules and ended with other rules. In January and February, soccer was played in front of full stands. Then from May and June it was with empty stands,” Ferre said. “Then we had the five substitutes rule and not three. Then other changes happened in terms of the competitions, notably the final eight (eight-team knockout format) for the Champions League when it had started with home and away legs.”

The Champions League would have massively weighed on the award’s outcome but with a format inadvertently providing a shortcut for an eventual victor. With the European Championship and the Copa America also postponed this year.

“The Ballon d’Or would have been decided over just three games: quarterfinal, semifinal, final,” Ferre said. “There were loads of changes (to soccer’s rules) which are totally legitimate and which we don’t contest given the worldwide health crisis, but we couldn’t consider this as a typical year. Exceptional circumstances led to an exceptional decision.”

The Kopa Trophy for the best player under 21 and the Lev Yashin award for best goalkeeper have also been cancelled this year, Ferre confirmed.

Ronaldo, who will be 36 in February, can still win an Italian league-Champions League double with Juventus this season, but he is not the only player affected by France Football’s decision.

Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski reached 50 club goals for the first time and can win a treble. Kylian Mbappe and Neymar can clinch quadruples for Paris Saint-Germain.

“Look at Lewandowski’s performances this year, his form has been at the level of Messi and Ronaldo,” Ferre added. “And Paris players, imagine if they win the Champions League.”

To maintain the award’s authenticity and level of suspense, players were not informed of the decision before the announcement.

“We are independent and autonomous enough not to have to raise our little finger and ask what they think,” Ferre said. “We will take their frustration as a sign of their attachment to the award.”

Without the Ballon d’Or, The Best awards by FIFA will be the prized individual honours in world soccer this year.

FIFA plans to organize the voting in several categories but it is unclear how or where the awards will be made.

If the virus impacts next season the same way, however, the Ballon d’Or award will be awarded.

“It would be less of a problem in terms of fairness, because this time around we’ve had two parts to the season: normal and not normal,” Ferre said. “Imagine that in 2021 all matches are played behind closed doors (without fans) and with five subs. We would adapt, because it would be comparable.”

To fill this year’s gap, the magazine created another trophy: the France Football Dream Team.

– The Blues were 3-1 winners against the Reds at Wembley.

– Giroud and Mount scores in quick succession before an own goal from Maguire.

– Fernandez scored a consolation from the penalty spot to make it 3-1.

– Chelsea will now meet Arsenal in the final.

Chelsea defeated Manchester United 3-1 at Wembley, to secure a place in the FA Cup Final.

This year FA Cup final will be the team’s 14th performance in the finals.

Olivier Giroud and Mason Mount scored the two goals for Chelsea, while Harry Maguire from Manchester United scored an own goal. Bruno Fernandes scored a penalty for the Red Devils.

After their triumph at the semi-final, Chelsea is to meet Arsenal for the final fight for the championship. On Saturday, Arsenal beat Manchester City, scoring two goals.

We’re into our 14th FA Cup final! 🙌MUNCHE pic.twitter.com/dixd09f5GJ

— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) July 19, 2020

The FA Cup Final is scheduled to take place on Wembley stadium on 1 August. This will be Chelsea’s 14th Cup Final, as Arsenal will perform in the finals for its 21st time.

The Gunners will be hoping to get one over there London rivals when they face-off, Chelsea were 4-1 winners in their last final together in the Europa league.

– Huesca gained promotion to the Spanish top flight after 3-0 win over Numancia.

– Shinji Okazaki scores 12th goal of the season.

– Kelechi Nwakali celebrates the achievement.

Former Japan forward Shinji Okazaki helped Spanish second-division club Huesca book its ticket back to the top flight Friday, scoring his 12th goal of the season in a 3-0 win over Numancia.

With the victory, second-place Huesca moved to 67 points on the year and secured an automatic promotion to La Liga with one match remaining in the current campaign.

Cadiz, which leads the 22-team division with 69 points, had already secured the other automatic promotion slot.

Okazaki netted in the 78th minute after forward Rafa Mir completed a second-half brace to put Huesca ahead at Estadio El Alcoraz.

Huesca competed in La Liga for the first time last season but was immediately relegated. The 34-year-old Okazaki said he wants to contribute to the club staying in the Spanish League’s top division.
“Next season will bring a bigger challenge. There are many big teams,” Okazaki said. “I want to do my best to score a lot of goals so the team can stay (in La Liga).”

A member of the Leicester City side that won the 2015-2016 English Premier League title, Okazaki signed with Huesca in September.

He was a member of Japan’s last three World Cup squads and has scored 50 goals in 119 international games.

Meanwhile, Nigeria midfielder Kelechi Nwakali also celebrate the teams promotion.

The former Golden Eaglets and Flying Eagles skipper has gone on to four appearances off the bench after overcoming a work permit obstacle, logging 58 minutes.

Writing on Instagram, Kelechi Nwakali wrote : “It can only be God 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏 i am forever grateful”.

Nwakali would be hoping to feature in La Liga next season, after he could not feature for Arsenal due to the fact that he is yet to featured in competitive game for the Super Eagles. But the Spanish Football Federation will give the attacking midfielder the green light to feature in La Liga next season because of the Cotonou Agreement.

– Leeds spiral debt in 2003 raised fears the club might go out of business.

– but new owner who bought the remaining 50 percent of the club stake in May has been able to show light at the end of the tunnel.

– The team is also hailed by all those that have associated with it in the past.

Leeds’ debts had spiralled to over £100million in 2003 under former chairman Peter Ridsdale and there were fears the club could go out of business.

They were forced to sell all their players and other assets, including Elland Road Stadium and their Thorp Arch academy, and have since stumbled from crisis to crisis under a succession of different owners.

Leeds went into administration in 2007 under Ken Bates and fared little better under subsequent owners GFH Capital before the arrival of controversial Italian Massimo Cellino.

During Cellino’s chaotic three-year ownership Leeds had seven different managers, but current owner Andrea Radrizzani bought a 50 per cent stake in Leeds in January 2017 to signal the dawning of a new era.

Radrizzani purchased the remaining 50 per cent from Cellino the following May and Leeds made a bold statement of intent by appointing Bielsa in the summer of 2018.

It was an expensive gamble, but Bielsa proved an instant hit, transforming the same squad he inherited into genuine promotion challengers in his first season.

That ended in disappointment when Leeds fell short in the play-offs, but Bielsa and his players have bounced back.

Leeds have continued to light up the Championship with Bielsa’s exciting brand of football and few could begrudge them their place back among the elite.

Former manager Kevin Blackwell, who guided Leeds to the Championship play-off final in 2006, said promotion was “massive” for the club.

“Knowing the club, the fans and the expectation, this is massive for them and all credit to Bielsa and his team for getting them over the line. I know how tough it is.

“Leeds United is one of the clubs that every team wants to beat and that’s what makes it harder to get out of the Championship, so all credit to the owner, Bielsa and his players.

“Believe me, to win the Championship it is a tough, tough slog and the pressure was really on Leeds this time.”

Leeds promotion was also greeted with joy by a host of their former players.

Former goalkeeper Paul Robinson told Sky Sports: “It’s been long-awaited and very long overdue. When I played that last game in 2004, 16 years ago, you never envisaged that Leeds United would be out of the top flight for so long, and even dropping to the third tier of English football.

“From what Marcelo Bielsa inherited two-and-a-half-years ago – a team that finished 14th in the Championship – to now automatic promotion to the Premiership, it’s absolutely fantastic.

“The biggest thing Leeds did at the end of last season was keep the manager.
“We’ve heard plaudits from many managers, Pep Guardiola to name one, that name him as a mentor or guru.

“He’s an oddball, he’s a scientist, he’s a professor of the game.
“We’ve seen that with spygate and everything else that comes with him, but it just all adds to the Leeds United history. Love them or loathe them, they’re back in the Premiership.”

– Jubilant fans gathered and partied into the night at Elland Road.

– Leeds player also in party mode as they pay tribute to Bielsa.

– The Argentine lead Leeds to the premier league after fallen short last term.

Leeds fans partied into the night after sealing promotion to the Premier League following 16 years outside the top flight.
The West Yorkshire club were guaranteed automatic promotion from the Sky Bet Championship after second-placed West Brom lost 2-1 at Huddersfield.

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Leeds had moved on to 87 points on Thursday following their 1-0 home win against Barnsley and West Brom’s defeat left them five points behind with one game to play.

Jubilant fans gathered at Elland Road to celebrate the club’s return to the top table of English football, while the players were also in party mode as they danced and saluted supporters from the windows of the stadium.

And videos on social media showed manager Marcelo Bielsa, the inspiration behind the club’s resurgence, elbow-bumping fans near his home in Wetherby as they congratulated him.

However, the owner of a BMW car spotted at Elland Road will not be celebrating this morning as it was badly damaged.
Homegrown midfielder Kalvin Phillips declared Bielsa the “best manager in the world”.

The 24-year-old told BBC Radio Leeds: “There’s no manager I would rather be under than Marcelo Bielsa right now.
“At an age when I’m trying to develop, he’s the perfect manager to have. The Premier League is the best league in the world and, after 16 years, we’re back in there.”

Captain Liam Cooper said the club’s promotion had “still not properly sunk in”.
“Our club, our fans and our players have sacrificed so much – we’ve been in the doldrums for 16 years,” he added.
“To be part of this team and to lead this team to promotion back to where we know we’ve always belonged is unbelievable.”
It has been a long and often tortuous road back for Leeds, who were relegated from the Premier League in 2004 amid a spectacular financial meltdown.

The West Yorkshire club have spent 13 seasons in the Championship and three in League One after dropping into the third tier for the first time in their history in 2007.

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– Leeds United back in the premier league after West Brom defeat to Hudersfield.

– The all whites will play in the premier league next season for the first time in 16-year.

– Club owner needs to persuade Bielsa to lead the team in the league next season.

Leeds United are back in the Premier League after a 16-year absence. And fans of the Whites have wasted no time in beginning the celebrations after their long stint outside English football’s top division was brought to an end on Friday night.

West Bromwich Albion’s defeat to Huddersfield Town, thanks to Emile Smith Rowe’s late winner, ensured Marcelo Bielsa’s men will be back in the Premier League next term.

Leeds moved on to 87 points on Thursday following their 1-0 home win against Barnsley.
West Brom, who remain on 82 points, have one game remaining and will drop out of the automatic promotion places if Brentford avoid defeat at Stoke on Saturday.

And their defeat was enough for Leeds fans to head to Elland Road and the statue of Billy Bremner to celebrate their side’s achievement.

For Leeds, relegated in 2004 amid a spectaular financial meltdown, having been Champions League semi-finalists just three years previously, it has been a tortuous road back to the top tier.

It has encompassed 15 managers, five owners, one relegation to League One, one administration, four play-off defeats and a number of other near misses.

But under the stewardship of the iconic Argentine, Bielsa, Leeds have put last season’s playoff defeat to Derby County behind them and marched to promotion – and almost certainly the Championship title.

Former Leeds goalkeeper Nigel Martyn, part of the Champions League semi-finalists, tweeted: “Congratulations to everyone at LUFC on promotion, so pleased for the management, players and most importantly the fans.
“The football has been amazing to watch and it’s fully deserved. Now go and win it outright!!”
Liverpool midfielder James Milner, who started his career at Leeds, tweeted: “Congratulations LUFC. #backwhereyoubelong #MOT”

The question now for owner Andrea Radrizzani, who bought a 50 per cent stake in the club in January 2017, before purchasing the remaining 50 per cent from Massimo Cellino in May 2018, is whether he can persuade Bielsa to lead them on their Premier League return.

The man known as El Loco (mad man) will no doubt desire assurances as he looks to make Leeds competitive in the top flight.

The French man came back to the bernabeu side after a year away, last year.

And real madrid has started taking major trophies in only his first full season back.

There was Zinedine Zidane again, being thrown into the air by his Real Madrid players in another title celebration.

With the Frenchman back in charge, Madrid are back to collecting major trophies.

Madrid clinched their 34th Spanish league title — and first since 2017 — after extending their perfect run following the pandemic break with a 2-1 win over Villarreal on Thursday, opening a seven-point gap to second-place Barcelona with one round to go.

Barcelona lost to 10-man Osasuna at the Camp Nou Stadium. Karim Benzema scored twice to give Madrid their 10th consecutive league victory. It was the only team with a perfect record after the coronavirus-enforced break, having trailed Barcelona by two points before the league was halted.

Lionel Messi in rare interview after osasuna game blames the team for being weak.

Says Barcelona must quickly change course to have a chance in the champions league.

Barcelona’s Spanish league title defence come to a disappointing and meek end, and Barca skipper Lionel Messi didn’t hold back.

Messi blasted his team for being “weak” after Real Madrid wrested the league title away from Barcelona for the first time in three years on Thursday, and said it must quickly change course to have a chance at winning the Champions League.

Real Madrid clinched the title by beating Villarreal 2-1 but would have lifted the trophy regardless of that result after Barcelona slumped to a 2-1 loss to an Osasuna side that finished with 10 men.

“This game represents the entire year. We have been an erratic and weak team,” Messi said in a rare TV interview just after the final whistle sounded at an empty Camp Nou.

“Madrid did its part by winning all its matches, which is impressive, but we also helped them to win this league. We have to be critical of how we have played, starting with the players, and the rest of the club.”

The team will now shift it’s focus to the champions league next month in Lisbon, Portugal. With Barcelona needing to overcome Napoli in the second leg, after a 1-1 draw in the first leg, to enter the tournament-style proper.

The 17 year old, join top young players to make the switch to Dortmund in recent time.

Jude Bellingham has completed a medical at Borussia Dortmund ahead of his proposed transfer there from Birmingham City.

Although Bellingham has not signed a professional contract with the Blues, it is understood they will receive a transfer fee in excess of £26m.

The Championship side are due a guaranteed £25m up front and “several millions more” depending on appearances, achievements and milestones.

Bellingham left Birmingham airport on Thursday morning on a private jet to fly to Germany, and was not required to quarantine because of the travel corridor between the UK and Germany.

Borussia Dortmund appear keen to keep Bellingham away from German media. The club had four cars waiting for the plane – and all four drove off in different directions, hoping to keep his whereabouts a secret.

The Bundesliga club have courted the midfielder, who turned 17 in June, for more than two years, amid stiff competition from most of Europe’s top teams, including Chelsea, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and, most notably, Manchester United.

The England U17 skipper has chosen Dortmund due to the club’s long history of developing young talent and their policy of giving them the chance to play in the Bundesliga.

Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will be disappointed to have missed out on the highly-talented box-to-box midfielder.

United pulled out all the stops in their attempts to sign him, offering him a tour of their training ground with Sir Alex Ferguson.

Jude Bellingham will be joining a club ‘steeped in big history by winning trophies’ if he moves to Borussia Dortmund, says Paul Lambert

Despite Thursday’s developments, it is understood Bellingham will still feature in Birmingham’s vital final two games of the season against Preston on Saturday and then versus Derby on July 22.

Leicester, Chelsea, Manchester United, Wolves, Sheffield United, Arsenal, Tottenham and Burnley are all in the running for Europe.

Following Manchester City’s European ban being lifted, ZSB looks at the most ask questions. What does it mean for Premier League teams in the running for Europe? How many teams will qualify and who can qualify?

For Champions League qualification:

Two teams have already booked their place in European competitions or their qualifying rounds – Liverpool as Premier League winners and Manchester City, who confirmed their status as runners-up with the win at Brighton at the weekend, but there is still plenty of competition for places.

With City reinstated back into European competitions, after the team was initially ban from Europe competition for two-years by Uefa, the top four teams in the Premier League will qualify for the group stages of the Champions League.

Winning the Champions League or Europa League also guarantees a place in the group stages, with Liverpool and Chelsea having done so last season.

Despite mixed results in the first legs of their knockout ties, Chelsea, in the champions league, Manchester United and Wolves, in the Europa league, are still in the hunt in those competitions.

Holders Liverpool were knocked out of the Champions League by Atletico Madrid just before the suspension of football, but have already booked their place in next season’s competition as Premier League champions.

There are three ways to qualify for the Europa League:

1— the fifth position team on the table qualify directly to the group stage of the Europa league.

2— win the fa cup and qualify directly to the Europa league group stage.

3— win the carabao cup and qualify for the second qualifying stage of the Europa league.

If the winners of the FA Cup and Carabao Cup finish fifth or higher in the Premier League, their Europa League spots go to the next-highest ranked team not qualified for UEFA competitions in the Premier League.

For example, last season, Manchester City won both cups and the Premier League.

Therefore, their spot in the group stage from the FA Cup victory was given to Manchester United – who finished in sixth – and seventh-placed Wolves entered into the second qualifying round.

Manchester City’s Carabao Cup win this term is good news for the European-football chasers.

Because City are guaranteed to finish as Premier League runners-up, their place in the second qualifying round of the Europa League transfers to the next highest-placed side, in this case in sixth place.

The FA Cup is down to the final four – City, Chelsea, United and Arsenal – and fans of European hopefuls should follow the action there closely, too.

Should City or a team in the top five also win the FA Cup, the Europa League second-round qualifying spot will drop to the team who finishes seventh.

Can a team gain European qualification if finishing in eighth?

No. Seven is the maximum any country can have in European competition, unless a team qualifies by winning the FA Cup or a European competition.

So this season, it will not be possible to qualify for Europe by league position any lower than seventh even if Manchester United or Wolves win the Europa League and finish fifth.

Both the Uefa Champions League and Europa league will end in a tournament style in Lisbon next month.

News Highlights:

– Adebayo Akinfenwa gets invite to Liverpool trophy parade but Klopp.

– The Nigerian is part of the first Wycombe team to achieve promotion to the championship in their 133 years history.

– He achieve that at the age of 38, and Klopp sees it as an amazing story.

The Wycombe Wanderers striker will get to party with the Reds, with the German manager inviting him to their Premier League celebrations.

Wycombe Wanderers striker Adebayo Akinfenwa’s televised plea for talks with Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp have proved successful to a certain extent – he has bagged himself an invite to the club’s Premier League trophy parade.

Akinfenwa, a long-time Liverpool fan, was part of the Wycombe side that achieved promotion to the Championship for the first time in their 133-year history thanks to Monday’s 2-1 League One play-off final victory over Oxford United.

In his speech, he said the only person who could “hit me up on WhatsApp this time is Klopp” so they could celebrate their successes together, and the German duly obliged with a congratulatory video message.

Klopp then went one better on Tuesday, extending Akinfenwa an invitation to the club’s Premier League trophy parade, when such an event can go ahead.

“When it’s possible, in the future one day,” Klopp said when asked if the two will meet. “I don’t know when exactly, but he is invited for the parade, 100 per cent.

“I saw, before the video, when he was sitting in the team meeting in a Liverpool kit, which I thought was really funny. I watched the game [and] yes, he responded – he sent a video back. It’s private [what he said], at least a few things in life should stay private. It was nice, he was obviously really happy.”

Klopp said stories in football such as that of Akinfenwa – who could play in England’s second tier for the first time at 38 years old – were part of why he loves the sport so much.

He said: “I just enjoy these kind of stories. I like it because, how you know, as a player I was in similar situations, that’s how it is.
“Football meant everything to me before somebody thought, ‘It’s worth giving him some money for it’ and that never changed. That’s why I always will love this game because you can fulfil your own dreams, it just depends on the dreams.

“For some teams it’s a bit earlier, for other teams they have to wait a little bit longer but if you work hard then there is still a chance for you and still a possibility for you. I hope this game stays like it is – and I’m not worried about that, this game will always have these kinds of chances.

“It’s just exactly how it should be: if you work really hard, you can make it.”

Akinfenwa responded to Klopp’s invitation with a delighted post on Twitter: “This is getting silly now, I’m smiling like a grown kid.”

News Highlights:

– Manchester City successfully appealed their two-year Europe ban.

– CAS agree with UEFA on compliance but believe there was no case of forgery of documents.

– Therefore, the blues will pay €10 million in fine.

Manchester City have successfully appealed their two-year ban from all European club competitions.

The Premier League club had been accused of inflating the value of their sponsorship deals in order to comply with Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations that restrict the amount of money a team can spend relative to how much they make, eventually requiring clubs to break even within a specific timeframe.

As a result, UEFA – European football’s apex body – banned the club from taking part in the Champions League for the next two seasons, and fined them €30 million.

Manchester City appealed the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), arguing that the leaked documents that sparked the investigation were deliberately taken out of context and presented in a way that made it seem like the club had something to hide.

In their ruling on Monday morning, CAS agreed with UEFA that Manchester City “did fail to cooperate with the UEFA authorities”, but ultimately “did not disguise any equity funding”.

In there statement CAS then concluded: “As the charges with respect to any dishonest concealment of equity funding were clearly more significant violations than obstructing the CFCB’s investigations, it was not appropriate to impose a ban on participating in UEFA’s club competitions for MCFC’s failure to cooperate with the CFCB’s investigations alone”.

Man City, who will now €10 million in fine, was initially given a two year Europe ban that could have seen them disqualified even if they qualify for the champions League as one of the top four clubs in England, the premier league side currently sit second on the table behind champions-elect Liverpool.

• News Highlights:

• Messi has record a remarkable 20 goals, while he has also provided 20 assists.

• Becoming the first la liga player to achieve the feat in one season.

• Also becoming the second player in Europe top 5 league to complete the 20-20 double after Arsenal Thierry Henry.

• Quique Setien rues the missed opportunity to rest players because of lack of goals in the first half.

Lionel Messi shattered yet more records as he became the first La Liga player to score 20 goals and register 20 assists in the same season.

The Argentine set-up Arturo Vidal’s winning goal in Barcelona’s 1-0 win over Real Valladolid at the Nou Camp.

Messi had already put up a career high 19 league assists but added another to further etch his name into the record books.

Xavi registered 20 assists in Barcelona’s 2008/09 treble winning season, but Messi has three games to surpass that number.

He becomes only the second player in Europe’s top five leagues to complete the 20-20 double with Thierry Henry also doing so for Arsenal in 2002/03.

Messi’s pass for Vidal was the game’s standout moment and, momentarily at least, cut the gap to Real Madrid to one point.

It will take Los Blancos to slip up twice for the Catalans to win the league title.

And Quique Setien admitted in the post-match comments, having left Luis Suarez out of his starting XI, that he couldn’t afford to rest his talisman.

“Of course,” Setien said when asked whether Messi needed a rest. “I’ve said it before, but the score was too tight.

“If we’d have scored more goals in the first half, maybe more players would’ve been rested. The team was tired.

“They had players up front with quality and committed men forward. We couldn’t cover the whole pitch. We had to drop back and that made it more difficult for us.

“We should’ve put the match to bed in the first half – we could’ve scored two or three goals. [There was] the anxiety of knowing that you’re only 1-0 up and that they can score at any moment.

“In the second half, we struggled. We noticed fatigue in some players to a point.”

Formula 1 will use radio-controlled trollies to maintain social distancing during the podium ceremony – with the system making its debut during Saturday’s Formula 2 podium celebrations.

During the Austrian Grand Prix Last weekend, drivers had to walk up and collect their trophies before returning to their plinths, which were situation on the start/finish straight.

The ceremony wasn’t very ‘F1’, but was put in place quickly because of the need to comply with the social distancing rule under COVID-19 protocol

this weekend, a new system will be in place for Styrian GP – also at the Red Bull Ring – with a new podium featuring a sponsor backdrop, but more intriguingly, the trophies will be delivered robotically.

Four remote-controlled trollies were used to hand the two winners’, second-place and third-place trophies during the F2 presentation and they will also be used during Sunday’s F1 podium celebration.

The champions league draw for the quarter finals and semi final was made in Nyon, Switzerland early Friday morning.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic the quarter-finals and semi-finals will be one-legged affairs as opposed to the traditional two.
The competition’s completion will take over 12 days in Portugal with all ties behind closed doors. The final will be held at Benfica’s Stadium of Light on August 23 in Lisbon.

It was a positive draw for those four clubs as they have managed to avoid the big-hitters.

PSG and Lyon have been the only two teams still in the competition that have not returned to action domestically, after the French top flight was finished early due to the pandemic.

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FULL DRAW

Quarter-final draw:

Wednesday, August 12: Atalanta vs PSG (Estadio do Sport)

Thursday, August 13: RB Leipzig vs Atletico Madrid (Estadio Jose Alvalade)

Friday, August 14: Barcelona/Napoli vs Bayern Munich/Chelsea (Estadio do Sport)

Saturday, August 15: Manchester City/Real Madrid vs Juventus/Lyon (Estadio Jose Alvalade)
Semi-final draw:

Tuesday, August 18: Winner of Quarter-Final 2 vs Winner of Quarter-Final 1 (Estadio do Sport)

Wednesday, August 19: Winner of Quarter-Final 4 vs Winner of Quarter-Final 3 (Estadio Jose Alvalade)

Final

Sunday, August 23: FINAL

RB Leipzig or Atletico Madrid will face Atalanta or PSG in the other semi-final, which will provide the ‘home’ team for the final at the empty Estadio da Luz on August 23.

Beforehand though, there are four last-16 ties to be completed.
Aside from City and Chelsea, the second legs of Juventus versus Lyon (0-1 on aggregate) and Barcelona versus Napoli (1-1 on agg) need to be played.

News Highlights:

The Red Devils defeated Villa 3-0 to be in torching distance of Leicester and Chelsea in 3rd and 4th respectively.

Bruno Fernandez, Paul Pogba and Mason Greenwood’s goals give United smooth sailing. Get praises from de Gea.

The win meant United keep up pace with Chelsea and Leicester City in the Premier League as the race for Champions League spots hots up.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men are now 17 games unbeaten in all competitions and are looking strong as the season draws to a close.

Goals from Bruno Fernandes and Paul Pogba helped get the three points against struggling Villa and De Gea praised both players afterwards.

He added: “They are working well together. We are creating many, many chances. That’s good for the team.

“Not just them, the guys on the bench as well. The whole team is playing very well and we’re focused. We are in a very good way.

“Both goals, one from Paul and one from Mason [were un-saveable]. Pepe [Reina] had a few players in front of him but the finish was very good. Great goals.
“The team is playing really well.”

Manchester United will be looking to make it to the top four in order for them to return to champions league football next season.

News Highlights:

David de Gea now have more games for United than Schmeichel after yesterday night game.

The Spaniard jokingly apologize to the former United legend for breaking his games record.

Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea jokingly apologised to Peter Schmeichel after overtaking him to become the most capped foreign player for the club.

The former Athletico Madrid goalstopper was in goal for the 399th time in a United shirt on Thursday night as his team easily beat Aston Villa 3-0 in the Premier League .

His latest appearance means he has now played more games for the club than Schmeichel but he still has some way to go to break the record for most games for a keeper.

That is held by Alex Stepney, who made 539 appearances for United and won the European Cup in 1968.

But it was certainly a landmark night for De Gea at Villa Park and the former Atletico Madrid stopper was clearly delighted.

“Sorry, Schmeichel!” he told MUTV when told about the record. “No, It’s great.
“I think that means I’ve been here a long time and I’ve been playing really really well at the top level so I’m really really proud.

“I’m happy to play for this club for that many games.
“Hopefully there is another 400 games coming so I’m really really happy.”

De Gea arrived at Old Trafford from Atletico Madrid back in 2011, under then boss Sir Alex Ferguson, and has now kept 111 clean sheets in his 309 Premier League appearances.
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The former Arsenal and Barca man, knee for the same time a white policeman knee on Floyd neck.

The Montreal Impact coach, Henry also wore a T-shirt with the slogan “Black lives matter”

Thierry Henry took a knee for eight minutes and 46 seconds at the start of a Major League Soccer game on Thursday.

Montreal Impact took on New England in their first game of the “MLS Is Back” tournament.

Henry, who also wore a T-shirt with the slogan ‘Black Lives Matter’, took a knee inside his technical area at kick-off in memory of George Floyd, a Black man who died after a white police officer knelt on his neck for the same amount of time.

“Well I sat down for eight minutes and 46 seconds, I guess you guys know why,” he said afterwards.
“So that was just to pay tribute and show support to the cause, that was basically it and pretty simple.”

The former Arsenal and France striker had called last month for urgent action to be taken to stop racism in the wake of Floyd’s death.

Impact lost 1-0 in Thursday’s game.

Henry is not the first sporting figure to use their platform to support the campaign for social justice.

Premier League players have been taking a knee prior to matches in the restarted season while Formula 1 drivers, including world champion Lewis Hamilton, did the same prior to Sunday’s Austrian Grand Prix.

Lewis Hamilton also have a face off with Bernie Ecclestones over the treatment and victimization of blacks due to racial differences.

In second separate arrest for the same crime in the last two months, Farid El Malai arrested for indecent exposure.

Ligue One footballer Farid El Malai has been taken into custody for a second allegation of indecent exposure.

Having already been charged with sexual exhibition following a complaint that surfaced in May, the Angers winger has been accused of a further two flashing offences and has been called into questioning by the local authorities, according to Ouest France report.

The 23-year old spent time in police custody on Wednesday morning, before returning to training for an afternoon session.

Angers winger Farid El Melali taken into police custody this morning following another complaint against him alleging that he partook in public masturbation, on top of his initial arrest in May in a separate claim against him for the same type of crime.

Like most other major football competitions, the 2019-20 Champions League and Europa League tournaments were drastically impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.

Action is, however, set to resume in August, with UEFA altering the normal structure of each competition in order to fit games into a tight window before the beginning of the 2020-21 season.

The European governing body is gearing up for the knockout round draws in July, but when will they take place and which teams are involved?

The 2019-20 Champions League and Europa League quarter-final and semi-final draws will be held on Friday July 10 in Nyon, Switzerland.

Proceedings for the Champions League draw will commence at 11am BST (6am ET) . The corresponding Europa League draws will take place an hour later at 12 noon BST (7am ET) .

News Highlights:

Eric Dier hit with a fine of £40,000 and four-game ban for entering the stand in March.

Tottenham will not be appealing the ban- Mourinho.

Eric Dier has been hit with a four-match ban by the FA for entering the stands to confront a supporter after Tottenham’s FA Cup defeat to Norwich in March.

The decision will leave Spurs boss Jose Mourinho incensed after he repeatedly argued against a sanction for the defender.

Dier will miss Thursday’s visit to Bournemouth and Sunday’s north London derby as well as the matches against Newcastle and Leicester, before potentially returning at Crystal Palace on the final day of the season.

He was also fined £40,000 and warned about his future conduct.
The four-person independent regulatory commission heard that Dier entered the stands after Spurs’ fifth-round loss on penalties to confront a spectator who hurled expletives at him before becoming embroiled in a row with his brother, Patrick.

Dier admitted improper conduct but denied his actions were threatening. The commission, which included two former professional players, subsequently found his actions to be “clearly threatening” and rejected his position that his sole intention in entering the stands was to protect his brother.

Tottenham manager, Jose Mourinho has since affirm the management will not be appealing the ban and fine.