Lyon s first home Champions League group-stage game will be played behind closed doors as a result of crowd trouble against CSKA Moscow last season, UEFA has confirmed.
The governing body charged the French club under multiple counts, including throwing of objects, setting off of fireworks, crowd disturbances, racist behaviour and blocking stairways.
As a result, UEFA s Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body (CEDB) has fined Lyon €100,000 and determined that the next European game they host must be played without fans in attendance.
A ban for another home fixture has been deferred for a two-year probationary period.
Lyon were already in the midst of a two-year suspended ban imposed by the CEDB following crowd trouble in the first leg of their Europa Lea…
Kepa Arrizabalaga feels his battle with David de Gea to be first-choice goalkeeper can only be a good thing for Spain.
Chelsea keeper Kepa has started four of the national team s last five matches, with De Gea returning to the XI for the 4-0 win over the Faroe Islands last month.
De Gea endured a poor World Cup after a disappointing club campaign with Manchester United, but national team boss Robert Moreno recently stated he does not have an undisputed number one.
Spain take on Norway in Oslo on Saturday and Kepa is keen to earn a recall to the starting line-up.
My goal is to play, he said at Friday s pre-match news conference. All players want to be in the starting XI. I am obviously confident and want to help the team.
If I am one of the ele…
He has tamed Fabio Capello s Three Lions, demolished Diego Maradona s dream and snuffed out Lionel Messi s magic, but can Germany coach Joachim Loew now inflict some World Cup pain on Spain?
After routing Argentina 4-0 in Sunday s quarter-final, Germany face Spain in Wednesday s semi-final in Durban with a place in the July 11 final against either the Netherlands or Uruguay at stake.
My team showed great resolve, a great willingness to win and it wasn t just a high-level victory, but a true champions performance, beamed Loew after Germany out-classed Maradona s Argentina.
The 50-year-old s contract with the German Football Federation (DFB) expired last Wednesday, but if Germany are crowned world champions next Sunday, Loew will be able to name his price.
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Thierry Henry questioned why Barcelona were not awarded a penalty in their contentious 1-0 loss to Inter despite 20 billion cameras spotting Denzel Dumfries handball.
Inter claimed a valuable victory at San Siro in Tuesday s Champions League tie through Hakan Calhanoglu s brilliant first-half strike.
But Barca were left furious after a Pedri equaliser was ruled out by VAR for handball against Ansu Fati in the build-up, before having a late penalty call rejected.
A cross towards Fati was cut out by the hand of Dumfries, but Slovenian referee Slavko Vincic and his officials decided against awarding the visitors a stoppage-time penalty.
It is a decision that left Xavi furious, with the Barca boss already on a yellow card for protesting the disallowed goal, a…
AC Milan defender Philippe Mexes has rubbished speculation linking him with a summer move away from San Siro.
The Frenchman has a contract until June 2015 with the Rossoneri and having struggled for playing time this season, he was tipped to leave the club in search of first team football at the end of the current season.
However, Mexes has made it clear he has no intention to leave AC Milan before his contract expires and instead hopes to sign a new deal.
“I have one year left on my contract and I plan to respect it until the end,” the experienced defender said to Sky Sport Italia.
“I hope to sign an extension. I know I am 32 and I don t run after money. I earned this contract because I had been out of contract at Roma.”
Philippe Mexes j…
Hull City manager Steve Bruce has defended owner Assem Allam and called for an end to the row over the proposed name change of the club.
The Premier League outfit have enjoyed a largely successful spell under the stewardship of Allam, who took over in December 2010, culminating in promotion to the top flight last season.
But his idea to rebrand the club as Hull Tigers has sparked outrage among some supporters, with Allam vehemently defending the proposal.
The row has led to Bruce calling on everyone at the KC Stadium to unite as he prepares his charges for a trip to table-toppers Arsenal on Wednesday, adding that fans should accept Allam s decisions due to his positive impact on the local community.
We can t let it be a distraction and to be fair I m fed up talki…
Arsenal greats Ian Wright and Martin Keown have questioned Arsene Wenger s decision to drop Alexis Sanchez and suggested the Chilean star, who has been linked with Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain, would be right to leave the club.
Amid reports that a falling out with Wenger was behind the surprise exclusion of Sanchez from the starting line-up for Arsenal s 3-1 defeat against Liverpool, former Gunners striker Wright expressed his sympathy for the Chile international and claimed other clubs will be monitoring the situation.
Sanchez was brought on as a second-half substitute at Anfield when Arsenal were already 2-0 down and he made a positive impact, providing the assist for Danny Welbeck to pull a goal back.
Wright speculated about how the omission and Arsenal s…
Diego Simeone hopes to see a renewed confidence in Fernando Torres after his goal secured a 1-0 victory for Atletico Madrid at Getafe.
The former Chelsea striker scored for the 100th time for Atleti against Eibar last week after going five months without getting on the scoresheet and he struck with just two minutes on the clock to seal three points on Sunday.
It is the first time since October 2013 that Torres has scored in consecutive matches for his club and Simeone expects the 31-year-old to go from strength to strength in the coming weeks.
He started very well, it was a very quick play in front of the area, with a good finish, said the Atletico coach.
Goals always strengthen the forwards and hopefully that s the case with Fernando.
Atle…
Juventus defender Leonardo Bonucci says he has settled his dispute with Massimiliano Allegri and would like to emulate his head coach by taking charge of Juventus in future.
The 31-year-old incurred the wrath of Juventus supporters when he moved to AC Milan in July 2017 after falling out with Allegri during the previous season.
After a year at San Siro, Bonucci returned to the club where he won eight Serie A titles and he is compiling notes on Allegri and other coaches in his career, with a view to moving into the dugout at the end of his playing days.
My dream is to become an important coach of a great team, possibly Juventus, Bonucci told Corriere dello Sport.
So, I m observing and putting aside all the secrets of the various coaches that I have had t…
With Sunday s 3-0 win over Crotone, Juventus were crowned champions for the sixth time in succession, an unprecedented feat in Italian football history.
Some will have hoped for Roma and Napoli to be able to genuinely cause Juve trouble in the race for the Scudetto, particularly with the Turin giants having lost Paul Pogba and Alvaro Morata.
There was no stopping Massimiliano Allegri s men in the end, though, as they held off their biggest rivals without any major problems, despite a few surprise defeats.
They stepped up to the plate when it mattered most and comfortably cruised to more domestic glory. These are the games that made the difference for the Old Lady.
La è Campione d Italia 2016-2017!
— Serie A TIM (@SerieA_TIM)