Lamine Yamal struck twice in the first half to help Barcelona maintain their perfect start in LaLiga with a commanding 4-1 win at Girona, despite them going down to 10 men.
Yamal gave Barca a two-goal lead with two strikes in seven first-half minutes, dispossessing David Lopez before racing through on goal to curl home his first.
The teenager s second came following good work from Robert Lewandowski, who teed him up to strike through a crowded penalty area and in after 37 minutes.
Dani Olmo extended their lead further with an angled finish after the break, then Pedri tapped home a 64th-minute fourth.
Girona substitute Cristhian Stuani netted a consolation goal in the 80th minute, six minutes before Barca were reduced to 10 men, forward Ferran Torres rece…
Mattia Zaccagni says he and Italy are eager to repay head coach Luciano Spalletti, after the substitute s dramatic late equaliser against Croatia sent the Azzurri through to the Euro 2024 knockout stages.
The reigning champions appeared set to finish third in Group B and face a potentially nervous wait for confirmation of their fate, as they trailed to Luka Modric s goal in Leipzig.
However, in the eighth minute of stoppage time, substitute Zaccagni made himself the hero, curling a stunning first-time shot beyond Croatia goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic.
Snatching second place from under the 2018 World Cup finalists nose, Italy kept their title defence alive and will play Switzerland in the last 16 on Saturday.
Spalletti is overseeing the Azzurri s fortunes a…
Barcelona will begin their LaLiga title defence with a trip to Athletic Bilbao on the opening weekend of the 2019-20 season.
Thursday s fixture release also confirmed Zinedine Zidane s Real Madrid will begin a new era with an away match against Celta Vigo, while last season s runners-up Atletico Madrid host city rivals Getafe on the first matchday.
Ernesto Valverde s Barcelona made it back-to-back league crowns by finishing 11 points clear at the top of the table last time out, but fierce rivals Madrid have spent big during the close season to bridge the gap on the reigning champions.
The first El Clasico of 2019-2020 takes place at Camp Nou on October 27 and the reverse fixture at the Santiago Bernabeu is scheduled for March 1, although all fixtures remain subje…
Spain is well positioned to win the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said Tuesday.
We are the champions in Europe and we have the highest expectations to be world champions, he said at an event marking the centenary of the Spanish Football Federation.
I want to thank you in the name of the citizens of Spain for the courage you display in defence of the colours of Spain. Beyond the results obtained, the Roja has always conquered our hearts, he added, using the nickname for Spain s national team.
Gabriel Jorge Sosa, 93, and Alfredo di Stefano, 83, were amongst the oldest former players at the event which was attended by 400 current and ex-Spanish internationals.
Also in attendance were Real Madrid captain Raul a…
Lionel Messi s uncanny ability to create history continued with a record-breaking sixth Ballon d Or on Monday.
The decade-long monopoly on football s most prestigious individual prize held by the Barcelona great and Cristiano Ronaldo was broken a year ago by Real Madrid midfielder Luka Modric.
But once again it was Messi s name on the prize as he added to the Ballons d Or he won in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2015.
Below, with the help of Opta data, we have scrutinised the numbers behind each of the years Messi has been named the world s best.
2009
Could there really have been any other winner in a year in which Messi swept every major honour? There were six collective titles in total as Pep Guardiola s star-studded class won La Liga, the Copa del…
Earlier this week I previewed and predicted the winners for Saturday s (13 August) fixtures, today I will look into the three games taking place on Sunday (14 August) and Monday (15 August).
Chelsea vs. Stoke City: Britannia Stadium
Chelsea are looking to get their 2011-12 Premier League campaign off to a winning start in this one, but Stoke will surely have something to say about that. The Blues come to the Britannia Stadium having made only two signing in the summer transfer window thus far, Romelu Lukaku and Oriol Romeu. Lukaku joins Chelsea from Belgian club RSC Anderlecht, where he earned the nickname, The Next Didier Drogba , which has since also been given to Tottenham Hotspur starlet Souleymane Coulibaly. Romeu comes to the Premier Leag…
A weird scheduling quirk will see the Cleveland Browns face the Baltimore Ravens in two consecutive games, with a bye week in between to lick their wounds after yet another miserable offensive performance.
The Ravens are also limping into this game — figuratively and literally — coming off a meltdown defeat to the Steelers and suffering even more injuries that further decimate the roster.
NFL betting odds currently have Cleveland as a slight home favorite… but can you seriously back the Brownies? Get our thoughts with our free NFL picks and predictions for Ravens vs. Browns on Sunday, December 12.
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There are some intriguing totals on the NFL betting board for Week 7, so they’ll be the focus of this week’s parlay plays.
We’ll “follow the money” with one of our parlay wagers, in which both legs are totals. We’ll also mix in a road favorite with another total play.
Below are our parlay picks for Week 7.
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Week 14 featured a good handful of games with huge weather implications, and although the Week 15 odds may not feature as many games with impactful weather, there are still a few games projected to have some eye-opening and NFL odds-altering weather.
This week features some projected high wind speeds on the East Coast as well as some windy conditions in the cold confines of Lambeau Field.
Continue reading for breakdowns of the forecasts for Week 15’s outdoor matchups before making your NFL picks.
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Week 2 of the NFL preseason continues Saturday night which means you get my Cardinals vs. Colts predictions.
Neither team is likely to play their starters after two days of joint practices but the edge should go to the Colts in the opening half.
Let’s get into the best NFL picks for this preseason game on August 17.
Cardinals vs Colts prediction
My best betColts first half -0.5 (-108 at DraftKings)
My analysisAfter two days of joint practices, the Indianapolis Colts have already announced that none of the starters will play in this game and will instead play next week in the preseason finale. Joe Flacco will also not be playing on Saturday night. This means that Sam Ehlinger will get the start at quarterba…