A new era begins in earnest for Barcelona, with Joan Laporta s second spell as president confirmed on Sunday following his victory in the election.

Regarded as arguably the most important political event at the club in a generation, much was said to be riding on the collective decision of the socios, or members, who voted.

Laporta, Toni Freixa and Victor Font had spent months outlining their plans in public, with La Masia, the club s crippling debt and the tumult caused by the previous administration among the main focuses.

But outsiders can be forgiven for thinking the election essentially boiled down to which candidate stood the best chance of convincing Lionel Messi to stay.

Laporta s first spell as president, from 2003 to 2010, coincided with Messi s …

Unai Emery has set his sights on the Champions League after guiding Villarreal to their first major European title thanks to an upset of Manchester United in the Europa League.

Villarreal surprisingly conquered United in the Europa League final following a marathon 11-10 penalty shoot-out in Gdansk, where the match finished 1-1 after extra time on Wednesday.

Gerard Moreno s first-half opener was cancelled out by United star Edinson Cavani in the 55th minute and the showdown was decided on penalties.

United goalkeeper David de Gea missed the only penalty of a lengthy shoot-out as Emery became the first head coach to win either the UEFA Cup or Europa League four times, surpassing Giovanni Trapattoni.

LaLiga outfit Villarreal are the first side to win in the…

Raphinha has responded to Kylian Mbappe s claims that the Euros are harder than the World Cup by reminding the Frenchman who beat them in the 2022 final.

In an interview, Mbappe noted that France had not won the European Championships in 24 years, which is something he will be looking to change this year.

That observation then led to him saying, The Euros is a difficult competition, more than a World Cup. All the teams know each other, and the style of soccer is similar. Group stages are difficult.

However, Brazil s Raphinha was not happy with the 25-year-old s comparison, pointing out that Argentina prevented them from winning the World Cup in 2022.

Unfortunately for him and fortunately for us, he lost a World Cup against a South American team, Raphinh…

Harry Maguire called for Manchester United players to rally around one another and stick together after their Champions League last-16 exit to Atletico Madrid.

United managed a 1-1 draw in the first leg at Atletico to keep hopes alive of making just a third quarter-final in the competition since finishing runners-up under Alex Ferguson in 2010-11.

But a Renan Lodi first-half header condemned United to a 1-0 defeat at Old Trafford on Tuesday, sealing a 2-1 aggregate triumph for Diego Simeone s battling visitors.

That ended United s hopes of silverware for yet another season, with Ralf Rangnick s remaining goal being to secure a top-four finish a race that looks set to go to the wire.

Indeed, fourth-placed Arsenal could be seven points clear of United by t…

Fikayo Tomori says Milan must keep their heads as they chase what would be the club s first ever Italian league and cup double.

Defender Tomori helped Milan rebound from goalless draws against Bologna and Torino by securing a 2-0 win over Genoa on Friday, and they sit top of Serie A for now.

A two-point lead over second-placed Inter comes with the caveat that Milan have played one more game than their city rivals, who they must tackle next in the semi-finals of the Coppa Italia.

That derby tie is poised at 0-0 after the first leg, with the second game coming up on Tuesday.

Milan are unbeaten in their last three games against Inter across all competitions (W1, D2), while Inter have been eliminated in each of their last four Coppa Italia semi-finals.

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Ukraine have joined Spain and Portugal in a joint bid to host the 2030 World Cup, it was announced on Wednesday.

Spain and Portugal had already joined forces with an Iberian bid to host but Ukraine have joined as a third host, with the bid now being referred to as a European bid .

Reports on Tuesday revealed Ukraine s involvement, and it was confirmed on Wednesday by the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) and the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) at UEFA s Swiss headquarters, with Europe s governing body backing the bid.

According to reports, the plan is for Ukraine to play host to one group in the 48-team tournament – which will be the second with expanded teams after the 2026 World Cup in North America; hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada.

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Newcastle United are interested in signing Ivan Rakitic from Sevilla in the summer transfer now, according to . The report has claimed that the Premier League club are willing to pay the La Liga outfit €10 million + variables for the 34-year-old Croatian midfielder.

Rakitic starred for Sevilla from 2011 until 2014 before he moved to Barcelona. The Croatian was a massive success at Camp Nou, as he won the La Liga title four times, the Copa del Rey on four occasions, and the UEFA Champions League once.

The 34-year-old moved back to Sevilla in 2020, but his second spell at the Spanish club has not been hugely successful. Rakitic is past his prime, but he should still be able to do a decent job for Newcastle in the middle of the park.

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Xavi says he will leave Barcelona with no regrets and continue to follow their fortunes as a fan, after his impending departure from the club was confirmed.

The former midfielder revealed in January that he would be leaving Barca at the end of the season, but was convinced to remain in charge last month by club president Joan Laporta.

However on Friday ahead of the Blaugrana s final match of the LaLiga season against Sevilla this weekend the club confirmed Xavi would be departing after all.

The 44-year-old guided Barca to the LaLiga title last season in his first full campaign in charge, but they will finish at least 12 points adrift of champions Real Madrid in second place this time around.

It turned into a trophyless campaign for the Blaugrana, who bowe…

Thomas Muller and Manuel Neuer are 10-in-a-row heroes for Bayern Munich, the lone mainstays of a decade of Bundesliga dominance.

Saturday s win against Borussia Dortmund means Bayern are German champions again, and veterans Muller and Neuer have been instrumental in the latest success.

Muller now has 11 Bundesliga titles in all, having also been a part of the triumphant 2009-10 team, and that stands as an all-time record.

There have been times in recent seasons when both Muller and Neuer have come under scrutiny, their places in the Bayern side being called into question.

Stats Perform has looked at how these two pivotal figures for Die Roten have bounced back in magnificent style.

The reinvention of Thomas Muller

Muller was integral to the …

Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 700th career goal but it was not enough as Ukraine beat Portugal 2-1 in Kiev to book a place in the Euro 2020 finals, leaving their opponents with work to do if they are to qualify.

The hosts needed just a point in Monday s qualifier to secure a top-two finish in Group B, but picked up all three as they inflicted a first defeat in 14 games on the reigning European champions.

First-half strikes from Roman Yaremchuk and Andriy Yarmolenko earned victory for Andriy Shevchenko s side, who held on with 10 men after Taras Stepanenko was shown a second yellow card for handling the ball inside the box.

Ronaldo scored the resulting penalty 72 minutes in to bring up his personal landmark, but Portugal could not find a leveller and may now ne…