Barca go 31 LaLiga games unbeaten to tie club record

Dutch World Cup star Arjen Robben was Tuesday voted the Bundesliga s best player during the 2009-2010 season in a German footballers poll dominated by champions Bayern Munich.

The attacking midfielder, widely regarded as one of the top players in last Sunday s World Cup final, scooped 72 percent of the votes in the survey conducted by the German Professional Footballers Association (VDV).

In second place with six percent of the votes was fellow Bayern player, German central midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger, who also starred in the World Cup in South Africa.

The prize for the Bundesliga s best young player went to Thomas Mueller, the German international winger who won the Golden Boot in South Africa for the most goals scored and was also named the young player …

Brazil s hopes of appointing highly-regarded Muricy Ramalho as the successor to Dunga as national team coach were shattered on Friday when his Fluminense club refused to release him.

We are not interested in releasing Muricy, said Alcides Antunes, the vice-president of Fluminense, who currently top the regional championship and have the 54-year-old under contract until December.

Ramalho is very happy at Fluminense and he is happy to continue. There will be other opportunities in the future for him to coach the national team.

Earlier Friday, Ricardo Teixeira, the head of the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF), told TV Globo that he had met Ramalho and was hopeful of having him in place at the head of the team by Monday.

Now it s up to him to resol…

Italy are three points away from a Euro 2016 berth but Stephan El Shaarawy and Co. are not taking anything for granted as they prepare to face Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan will host Italy in Baku on Saturday, with the Group H leaders knowing a win is enough to secure their ticket to France next year.

Italy top the standings on 18 points after eight matchdays, two points clear of Norway, who travel to the former next week.

Azerbaijan are eight points adrift of the play-off spot and out of qualifying contention.

However, El Shaarawy insists the Italians are not underestimating Azerbaijan, who have held Norway and Croatia to goalless draws.

It s definitely a very important game, because we ll be in the European Championships with a win, El Shaarawy told r…

Atletico Madrid were confirmed as La Liga champions on Saturday, breaking an 18-year drought for the club.

Atletico s triumph their first since 1996 ended a nine-year spell where only heavyweights Barcelona or Real Madrid won the Liga trophy.

Despite leading the league by as much as six points in April, Diego Simeone s side were made to work until the very last day of the campaign for their 10th Liga title, with a tense 1-1 draw at the second-placed Barcelona.

Barcelona could have won the league themselves with victory, and went 1-0 up through a stunning Alexis Sanchez strike only for Atletico defender Diego Godin to power home a headed equaliser just after half-time.

Atletico were denied the chance to win the title last week after being held to a nervy 1-1 home…

Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois feels they silenced their critics by winning the Premier League after a disappointing 2015-16 campaign.

The Stamford Bridge side had to settle for 10th place in the table last term, having won the title the previous season, and were heavily criticised for their poor performances.

The Blues more than made up for it under Antonio Conte in 2016-17, though, and were crowned champions again on Friday following a 1-0 win over West Brom.

We had a bad season. We had a lot of critics, everybody in the team, a lot of laughter at us, Courtois told reporters.

It is not nice after a season when you won the league. Some of the criticism was deserved, some not, but to bounce back in this way, to be champions again and to have been t…

AS Roma have set their sights on Hamburg midfielder Kerem Demirbay, .

The Giallorossi plan to build on the strong finish to the season and they are expected to further reinforce the squad in the summer.

According to Il Corriere dello Sport, Roma sporting director Walter Sabatini is currently closely monitoring the performances of Hamburg starlet Kerem Demirbay.

After showing some promise during the loan spell at Kaiserslautern, the 22-year-old has impressed while on loan with Fortuna Dusseldorf, scoring 5 goals in 17 league appearances.

The central midfielder appears to have done enough to catch the eye of top European clubs and a move away from Imtech Arena may be on the cards at the end of the season.

Demirebay is a Germany Under-21 internation…

In a showdown between two European icons on Wednesday night, Barcelona and Inter Milan played out a Champions League thriller as they eventually had to settle for a 3-3 draw.

While the former Spanish champions might have snatched a last-gasp equalizer as Robert Lewandowski bagged another brace at the Nou Camp, Xavi s side now find their Champions League hopes hanging by a thread.

Although Barca might have entered the interval with a 1-0 lead following Ousmane Dembele s opener, the second-half quickly descended into chaos as both sides created a string of golden chances.

However, while Inter might have been seconds away from booking their knockout stage ticket after second-half goals from Lautaro Martinez, Nicolo Barella and Robin Gosens, the Nerazzurri still fin…

Cristiano Ronaldo said he promised to always be looking for more and more and more after scoring another hat-trick in Portugal s World Cup qualifying rout of Luxembourg.

Ronaldo netted his 58th career hat-trick – his 10th for Portugal – as the Selecao eased past minnows Luxembourg 5-0 on Tuesday.

The five-time Ballon d Or, 36, winner scored two penalties within five minutes early in the first half before completing the treble three minutes from the end of the match after Bruno Fernandes and Joao Palhinha had also found the back of the net.

Portugal are one point behind Group A leaders Serbia, though they have a game in hand, heading into next month s crucial showdown on the road to Qatar 2022.

58 Against Luxembourg this evening, Cristiano Ronaldo scor…

Manchester United midfielder Owen Hargreaves was handed a shock first Premier League start since September 2008 in Saturday s clash with Wolves at Old Trafford.

Hargreaves seemed to have been written out of United manager Sir Alex Ferguson s plans this season as he struggled to overcome long-term knee problems.

But the England star was surprisingly included in the United line-up for his first senior appearance since coming on as a substitute for less than a minute at Sunderland last season.

…

The French national team may have ended their year on a high with a 2-1 defeat of England at Wembley, but the domestic league is still waiting for a side to take the title race by the horns.

After 13 rounds of the campaign, the top 12 clubs in the French first division are separated by just four points and second-bottom Nancy are as close to leaders Brest (eight points) as bottom side Arles-Avignon.

Paris Saint-Germain, who have lost just one of their last 15 matches in all competitions, are currently fifth, two points off the lead, and their Brazilian forward Nene says they should set their sights as high as possible.

We ve started well, said Nene, who struck a last-minute equaliser at Lorient in PSG s last league outing.

The objective is a top-three …