Prediction: Marseille vs Panathinaikos

Xabi Alonso has revealed he left Real Madrid for Bayern Munich because he was curious to find out Pep Guardiola s coaching secrets.

The 37-year-old swapped clubs in 2014 after five seasons at the Santiago Bernabeu, where he won six major trophies.

Alonso left Madrid three months after helping them to Champions League glory and went on to spend three years with Bayern before announcing his playing retirement.

Explaining his reasons for wanting to leave the Spanish giants, Alonso told The Athletic: I was so curious to find out [Guardiola s] secrets.

Feels good to be back home

— Xabi Alonso (@XabiAlonso)

He has a relentless natural enthusiasm. Football seasons are long but right until the very end, Pep never seemed to be tired. 

<…

Former Real Madrid and Tottenham attacker Rafael van der Vaart has announced his retirement from football with immediate effect.

The 35-year-old signed with Esbjerg in August but has been plagued by injury, only seeing a total of 55 minutes in the Danish Superliga.

And the 109-times capped Netherlands international, who also played for Ajax, Hamburg, Real Betis and Midtjylland, feels he cannot play on.

I just have to stop now. I m not here to rehabilitate, but to play football, Van der Vaart, who played in his country s World Cup final defeat to Spain in 2010, told De Telegraaf.

I would have wanted to become a football grandpa, but that is not the case. I can only be grateful for all the years I was allowed to play football, all those players, staff,…

Gabriel Jesus grabbed four goals as Manchester City all but secured their place in the EFL Cup final with a crushing 9-0 first-leg victory over Burton Albion on Wednesday.

The Premier League champions have now put 16 goals past lower-league opposition in the past four days, Pep Guardiola s men having thrashed Rotherham United 7-0 in the FA Cup on Sunday.

Kevin De Bruyne s first headed goal in English football set the hosts on their way, with Jesus adding a quickfire double before Oleksandr Zinchenko fortuitously opened his City account.

Jesus took his tally to four either side of Phil Foden s tap-in, before Kyle Walker and Riyad Mahrez completed a miserable night for Burton s cup heroes.

7 Manchester City are the first English league side to score at leas…

Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo is reportedly looking to leave the Spanish club this summer

According to and virtually every other news agency out there, Cristiano Ronaldo wants to leave Real Madrid and Spain this summer.

The Portuguese international is believed to be furious with the way he has been treated by the Spanish authorities concerning allegations that he owes the country £14.7million in taxes, something he has vehemently denied.

A summer move for Ronaldo would be quite incredible. The 32-year-old has become a club legend in Madrid and broken a whole host of records with Los Blancos. However, if he wants to leave, then no doubt the Spanish club are unlikely to stand in his way.

Most high profile transfer of the summer

Without a dou…

Ange Postecoglou has declared his desire to “win things” during his second season as Tottenham manager.

The 58-year-old joined Spurs last summer after two seasons as Celtic boss, during which time he lifted five trophies, including the Scottish Premiership twice.

During his first season in North London, Postecoglou guided Spurs to a fifth-place finish, just two points away from Champions League qualification but 25 points adrift of champions Manchester City.

While the attention on the Australian might have lessened since his headline-grabbing start to last season, his hopes have certainly not diminished.

I guess I m not the shiny new thing anymore, so there s other new managers. People can go off and discover them and their childhood and not have to …

Robert Lewandowski said never stop dreaming after the Bayern Munich star finally won his first Champions League title.

Bayern claimed their sixth European Cup/Champions League crown and completed the 2019-20 treble thanks to Sunday s 1-0 victory over Paris Saint-Germain.

Kingsley Coman s second-half header separated the two teams in Lisbon, where Bayern became the first team in European Cup/Champions League history to win 11 successive games.

It capped a memorable night for Lewandowski, who had never won the Champions League prior to the PSG showdown after losing the 2012-13 final against Bayern during his time with Borussia Dortmund.

…

Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen has set his sights on replacing Manuel Neuer as Germany s first-choice goalkeeper.

Bayern Munich star Neuer has been Joachim Low s regular starter since before the 2010 World Cup, with Ter Stegen established as his back-up in recent years.

Neuer has captained his country since Bastian Schweinsteiger s international retirement in 2016, but Ter Stegen wants to take his place between the sticks.

Of course, you hope to play. Now my expectations are to keep improving in order to become Germany s number one, he said in quotes reported by Sport.

Semifinals !!

— Marc ter Stegen (@mterstegen1)

Ter Stegen was guilty of making some high-profile mistakes early on in his international career, but …

LA Galaxy striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic has his work cut out to surpass David Beckham as the greatest coup in MLS history, according to Bruce Arena.

Ibrahimovic marked his debut with a sensational double in the 4-3 derby victory over Los Angeles FC, but he scored just once in his next seven appearances and was sent off in a 1-0 win against Montreal Impact on May 21.

Following his return from suspension, the Swedish striker has notched four times in three outings, but Arena thinks it will be difficult for him to make more of an impact in the United States than Beckham.

Former Manchester United and Real Madrid midfielder Beckham joined the Galaxy in 2007, won successive MLS Cups and, having retired in 2013, is in the process of setting up his own Miami-based franchise…

According to a recent report from AS, Atletico Madrid star Marcos Llorente has been attracting the attention of several clubs across European football. The midfielder has slowly but surely been improving his game for a few years now, to the point where he is now viewed as one of Atletico’s hottest young prospects. 

However, the club currently has no plans to sell Llorente, who only recently signed from Real Madrid during the recent summer transfer window. 

Atletico’s first team squad features an awful lot of competition for places, and once Llorente is able to get a full season under his belt, you’d imagine Atletico will be eager to do everything within their power to keep him on the books. 

They’ve never been against selling off some of their bigge…

According to a recent report from Calciomercato, Juventus are ready and willing to make a strong push to try and sign Paul Pogba from Manchester United, marking the Frenchman’s return to the club in the process. His future at Old Trafford is as much of a mystery to the club themselves as it is to just about anyone else, although Ole Gunnar Solskjaer seems to be of the belief that he’s definitely going to stay at the club. 

Pogba has been suffering from his latest injury setback and isn’t likely to return for at least a few more weeks, potentially until the transfer window comes to an end. 

Juventus seem to be gearing up for a busy few weeks as they continue to try and fend off the challenge of Inter Milan in the Serie A title race. They’ll need every big na…