Lionel Messi wins sixth European Golden Shoe

Lionel Messi claimed his sixth European Golden Shoe thanks to his 36 LaLiga goals for Spanish champions Barcelona.

Messi clinched the award – handed to the player with the most league goals in any of Europe s top-flight leagues – for the third consecutive year, beating Kylian Mbappe by three following Paris Saint-Germain s defeat Friday.

Mbappe needed to score five goals in PSG s Ligue 1 finale to collect the Golden Shoe, however, the French sensation could only manage one in a 3-1 loss at Reims.

Messi now has two more Golden Shoes than Juventus superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, who last won the award in 2014-15.

 goals in = 18/19
 Congrats, Leo!
 

— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona)

The 31-year-old Messi led Barca to back-to-back LaLig…

Ajax in fine company after another away win

Ajax became just the third team to win the away legs of their last-16, quarter-final and semi-final Champions League ties in a single campaign.

Donny van de Beek scored the only goal against Tottenham in London on Tuesday as surprise semi-finalists Ajax seized a 1-0 first-leg lead in the last four.

And that victory came after winning away in stunning fashion at both defending champions Real Madrid – a staggering 4-1 success – and Cristiano Ronaldo s Juventus.

Ajax join Bayern Munich, in the 2012-13 season, and last term s Madrid side in achieving such a run of results on the road.

3 are the third team to win their round of 16, quarter-final and semi-final away game in a Champions League season, after FC Bayern in 2012-13 and Real Madrid in 2017-18. H…

Inter work on Gleison Bremer deal

Inter Milan are working on signing Gleison Bremer from Torino this summer, according to Fabrizio Romano. They ve placed the centre-back on top of their wishlist for the next transfer window and the talks between the two clubs have been in progress for over two months now.

Having followed a path which led through several academies in Brazil, Bremer eventually became a first-team player at Atletico Mineiro at the start of July, 2018, but Torino swooped in immediately and took him to Italy, paying just under €6 million for his services at the time.

Since then, he s gone on to make a total of 104 appearances for the Serie A side, scoring 13 goals and assisting his teammates five times.

Interestingly enough, Bremer extended his contract with Torino in early Februar…

Perez joins Leicester from Newcastle

Leicester City have signed Ayoze Perez from Newcastle United in a deal reported to be worth £30million.

Spanish striker Perez has signed a four-year deal at the King Power Stadium after Leicester activated the buy-out clause in his Newcastle contract.

I m very happy and very pleased. I m very proud to be part of the Leicester family and I can t wait to get started, Perez told LCFC TV.

The club want to keep growing as much as they can and that s something I like. I spoke with the manager and that was important. That made me feel very comfortable about the decision to come here.

Brendan Rodgers said: I think Ayoze will be a wonderful addition to the squad. He s quick, has a good eye for goal and he s experienced in the Premier League too.

I thi…

Crouch considering future

Stoke City s he would consider his future should the Potters get relegated to the Championship this summer.

Since then, Stoke have lost at home to Crystal Palace and now sit bottom of the table. With three points less and a significantly worse goal-difference than the 17-placed Southampton, and with only the game away to Swansea remaining, it would be fair to say their chances of survival are now in the realms of fantasy.

Since his arrival from Portsmouth in 2011, the tall striker has made 234 appearances and scored 59 goals for . Now 37, Crouch signed a one-year contract extension with the club in November, one that would see him stay there until 2019.

However, he says he didn t even consider the possibility of the club not playing in the Premier League next s…

Manchester United Are Making the Same Mistakes as Liverpool Three Decades Ago (Video)

Manchester United are the Premier League leaders when it comes to the number of titles won with 20 under their belt. However, the last time they won it was back in 2013 under Sir Alex Ferguson, and since the legendary manager retired, they have never even been in contention to win it.

Speaking on BBC Radio, journalist Rory Smith compares the situation they re in now to the one Liverpool went through around the time they won their last league title in 1990. One of the bigger long-term mistakes he feels they made was back in 2012, when they chose to sign Robin van Persie over Robert Lewandowski.

https://twitter.com/5liveSport/status/1128185675449135105

 

Moscow streets alive as Russia knock out Spain

The streets of central Moscow were full of proud Russians on Sunday, celebrating their country s progression to the last eight of the World Cup.

Earlier in the day, the host nation had held 2010 champions Spain to a 1-1 draw after extra-time before saves from Igor Akinfeev denied Koke and Iago Aspas in the shoot-out to put Stanislav Cherchesov s side through.

While there was unbridled joy at the Luzhniki Stadium, that paled into insignificance when compared to the outpouring of national pride on Tverskaya Street, the main thoroughfare heading towards Red Square.

Thousands of Russians had come out with strangers hugging and high-fiving each other with most clad in either a scarf or flag.

Lively on the streets of Moscow tonight!

— Jon Fisher (@f…

Allardyce wanted N´Zonzi for England

Steven N Zonzi s cap for France Under-21s has ruled him out of a place in Sam Allardyce s England squad after the Football Association contacted FIFA about the player s eligibility.

Allardyce, who signed N Zonzi  for Blackburn Rover in 2009, admitted the Sevilla midfielder was of interest to his England plans, but the 27-year-old s appearance for France at under-21 level, earned in a match against Belgium in 2009, means he is unavailable. 

We did have a call, and it would have been of interest for me, Allardyce told The Guardian. We did explore it, but it was impossible, and it s dead now.

James Milner s retirement from international football after England s disappointing Euro 2016 campaign has made midfield an area of concern for Allardyce, but the Liverpo…

Benitez wanted to develop a project at Newcastle United

Rafael Benitez has insisted he wanted to remain in charge of Newcastle United as he prepares to take over at Chinese Super League club Dalian Yifang.

Benitez left Newcastle last week, much to the chagrin of Newcastle s support, who were desperate for the club to secure the former Liverpool and Real Madrid manager to a new contract.

Having joined Newcastle in March 2016, Benitez failed to save the Magpies from Premier League relegation but guided them straight back to the top flight before securing a 10th-place finish in 2017-18 and 13th last term.

During his time at St James Park, Benitez was not shy in airing his frustration with Newcastle s ownership, who he believed failed to back him in the transfer market.

Dalian Yifang looks set to be the next ste…

West Ham 0 Wolves 1: Traore punishes slack Sanchez to sink Hammers

Adama Traore struck deep into stoppage-time to claim Wolves first Premier League win of the season and pile further misery on to West Ham with a 1-0 triumph.

A forgettable encounter at London Stadium appeared to be drifting towards a goalless draw before Carlos Sanchez dallied on the ball and had his pocket picked by Ruben Neves.

Livewire winger Traore had been on the periphery since his 62nd-minute introduction but Wolves record signing needed no second invitation to take centre-stage.

Michail Antonio and Marko Arnautovic drew fine saves from visiting goalkeeper Rui Patricio in an improved second-half showing from West Ham, but they remain rooted to the bottom of the table after four defeats out of four under Manuel Pellegrini.

GOAAAAAAAAAALLLL! ADAMA TR…