Gennaro Gattuso found positives in AC Milan s draw with Fiorentina after his tired squad battled back to share the spoils at Stadio Artemio Franchi on Saturday.
Milan s Serie A form has been inconsistent throughout the 2017-18 campaign and they went into the clash in Florence having suffered back-to-back defeats against Verona and Atalanta.
However, there were positive signs with Wednesday s victory over Inter in the Coppa Italia quarter-final – Gattuso s men winning in extra time thanks to Patrick Cutrone.
Milan s struggles in front of goal continued against the Viola with only one shot – which was off target in the first half.
1 AC Milan fired only 1 shot in the first half against Fiorentina, less than in any other first half of the current Serie A…
Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham will be given every possible chance to make his return against Aston Villa on Wednesday, Frank Lampard has said.
The 22-year-old came off at half-time of the Champions League draw with Valencia on November 27 with a hip injury.
As a result, he missed the 1-0 home defeat to West Ham at the weekend when the Blues failed to score in the Premier League for the first time since the opening weekend of the season.
However, they could have their top scorer back when they host Villa, the club he spent last season on loan with.
We re giving him every possible chance to be fit, Lampard said at a pre-match news conference.
He s still got some pain in the area of the injury, [we will] make a judgement tomorrow.
It s p…
Newcastle United defender Steven Taylor is looking forward to new challenges after announcing he will leave the relegated Premier League club.
The 30-year-old has been a first-team regular at St James Park since making his debut in March 2004, making 268 appearances over 13 seasons.
He will not add to that tally, though, after both parties opted not to extend his current deal, meaning Taylor will become a free agent later this month.
Taylor admitted it will be a huge wrench to leave the club and not help them battle to get back into the top flight after their relegation to the Championship in 2015-16.
It will be a huge wrench to leave Newcastle but I ve been offered exciting opportunities both in the UK and abroad and I m really looking forward to my n…
Ernesto Valverde sent a timely reminder to his Barcelona players of the challenges ahead after they wrapped up the title in LaLiga on Saturday.
Lionel Messi came off the bench to score the only goal against Levante at Camp Nou, ensuring Barca retained their top-flight crown by moving nine points clear of Atletico Madrid – against whom they boast a superior head-to-head record – with three games to go.
Although the Catalan giants enjoyed the post-match celebrations on the pitch with family and friends, Valverde called for focus with the Champions League and Copa del Rey still up for grabs.
We are happy, but we still have challenges ahead, said the Barca coach, with Liverpool the visitors on Wednesday in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final.
Barcelona in talks for Marquinhos
Catalan daily newspaper that Barcelona are stepping up their efforts to sign Brazilian defender Marquinhos from Paris Saint-Germain.
The Saints officials are reportedly open to the possibility of cashing in on their prized asset having secured the signature of David Luiz from Chelsea.
El Mundo Deportivo understands that PSG president Sheikh Nasser Al-Khelaifi and Barca chief Josep Maria Bartomeu have spoken about the talented defender.
But, having paid €32 million for the youngster s services just a year ago, the French giants are unlikely to accept any offer lower than the said amount.
The good news is that Marquinhos himself appears to be interested in a switch to Camp Nou, as witnessed by .
The 20-y…
Bursaspor have announced the signing of Queens Park Rangers defender Anton Ferdinand on loan until the end of the season.
The 27-year-old had made just nine English Premier League appearances for QPR this campaign and has opted to join the Turkish Super Lig side to get more playing time.
The Istanbul outfit have the option of making the signing of the Peckham-born centre-back permanent at the end of his temporary deal.
Ferdinand has been at Loftus Road for just one-and-a-half seasons after joining QPR from Sunderland in August 2011.
The defender, brother of Manchester United star Rio Ferdinand, began his career at West Ham United.
Bursaspor are seventh in the Turkish Super Lig, nine points behind leaders Galatasaray.
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Bournemouth were able to get the job done this time as they held on for a crucial 1-0 win over Liverpool at Vitality Stadium.
A week after Bournemouth had thrown away a two-goal lead at Arsenal, Philip Billing s first-half strike secured an advantage they protected admirably on Saturday.
Mohamed Salah missed a penalty for Jurgen Klopp s men in the second half as a team who put seven past Manchester United only six days prior failed to break down their lowly hosts.
Defeat is a blow to Liverpool s top-four hopes, but the win sees Gary O Neil s side climb out of the relegation zone in the Premier League.
Liverpool went close to taking the lead in the sixth minute when Virgil van Dijk headed a Trent Alexander-Arnold corner goalwards, only for Jefferson Lerma …
Brighton and Hove Albion have issued a statement denying they have reached an agreement for the sale of defender Marc Cucurella, following various reports of a deal with Chelsea.
The Blues are pushing to sign the Spain international in a deal reportedly worth in excess of £50million, having leapt ahead of Premier League champions Manchester City in the hunt for his services.
Progress was seemingly made on Wednesday when a number of media outlets reported Brighton had agreed to the sale of Cucurella to Chelsea, which would have seen the Blues spending in the window extend following the captures of Kalidou Koulibaly, Raheem Sterling and Gabriel Slonina – the latter remaining with Chicago Fire on loan.
Brighton moved swiftly to make it clear that was not the case…
Mark Hughes has held preliminary talks over extending his contract at Stoke City and says he is very happy at the club.
Stoke City manager Mark Hughes has revealed he has held preliminary discussions over extending his contract with the Premier League club.
Hughes signed a three-year deal when he was appointed as Tony Pulis successor at the Britannia Stadium in May 2013.
The former Manchester City boss has enjoyed success in Staffordshire, guiding Stoke to a first top-half finish in the Premier League last term and generating further optimism ahead of the current campaign with the high-profile signing of Bojan Krkic from Barcelona.
Bojan has played an integral role in putting Stoke on course for a second successive top-10 finish and the club s board app…
Barcelona defender Dani Alves admits he is hoping Atletico Madrid prevail over bitter rivals Real Madrid in Saturday s much-awaited Champions League final.
Diego Simeone s Atletico knocked defending champions Barcelona out of the tournament in the quarter-final stage, before edging past Bayern Munich in the semis.
Madrid are the only team that stand in Atletico s way of a maiden Champions League crown, in a rematch of the 2014 final that ended 4-1 in favour of the former after extra time.
But Dani Alves is hoping for a different result at the San Siro, with the Brazil international of the belief that Atletico are more than worthy winners of the competition.
I want Atletico to win in. But not just because I want Madrid to lose, the 33-year-old told A…