Simeone urges Atletico fans to keep violence out of football 'I don't think this (violence) has anything to do with sport and it seems they are using sport to make a greater impact'
Juventus were astonishingly held to a 3-3 home draw by Lech Poznan as the Europa League group stage kicked off on Thursday while holders Atletico Madrid began the defence of their crown with a 1-0 defeat at Aris Salonika.
Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero is close to agreeing a deal to join Barcelona after his contract expires at the English Premier League champions, manager Pep Guardiola said.
Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone praised the 'decisive' Antoine Griezmann after his two goals helped down Olympique de Marseille 3-0 in the Europa League final on Wednesday and tried to convince the striker to resist the lure of Barcelona.
Vinicius Jr came off the bench to score once and set up another goal to steer champions Real Madrid to a 4-1 fightback victory over Espanyol.
Late Griezmann strike ends Atletico's away day hoodoo
Cristiano Ronaldo scored a hat-trick and passed the landmark of 300 club goals as Real Madrid put a turbulent week behind them with a 4-0 win at home to Getafe in La Liga on Sunday to close to within four points of second-placed Atletico Madrid.
Ronaldo had failed to score in his last four league games for Real and his rotten run in front of goal looked set to continue when his spot-kick was turned away by visiting goalkeeper Roberto.
An off-key Liverpool were frustrated for a second successive game by struggling opponents as they were held to a 0-0 Premier League draw at Newcastle United on Wednesday.
Real Madrid president Florentino Perez has ruled out an immediate return of the recently sacked Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho despite having `good memories` under the Portuguese's tenure in the club.
Former Uruguayan forward Diego Forlan's is widely speculated to become the marquee player of Atletico de Kolkata for the third season of ISL but the team owners remained tight-lipped on the subject. "We have not yet decided on our marquee player. We will announce the name before the (August 28) deadline and he will be befitting," co-owner Sanjiv Goenka told reporters on Friday.
A repeat of the 2014 Champions League final between Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid is still possible after Friday's semi-final draw.
The league, which was announced on Sunday with 12 founding members, has been championed by Real Madrid president Florentino Perez, the new competition's chairman. It is now left with three Italian clubs -- AC Milan, Juventus and Inter Milan -- plus Perez's Real Madrid along with Barcelona and Atletico Madrid from Spain.
Inter Milan have completed the signing of Brazil centre back Miranda from Atletico Madrid as they look to shore up a defence that struggled during a disappointing 2014-15 season.
Real Madrid survived an early Atletico Madrid onslaught to reach the Champions League final 4-2 on aggregate on Wednesday and set up a mouth-watering clash against Juventus.
Barcelona snapped their four-match winless streak in LaLiga with an emphatic 7-1 victory over Valencia on Sunday.
Describing it as his 'dream' to stay at Real Madrid for many years to come, star striker Cristiano Ranoldo has reiterated his desire to continue with the Spanish giants following a stellar year for the Portugal forward. "It's my dream to keep playing for Real Madrid and I really want to stay here for many years because the club holds a special place in my heart," Ronaldo was quoted as saying by goal.com.
For months, the 2024 Ballon d'Or seemed to have a clear front-runner, with everyone anticipating the coronation of Vinícius Júnior as the new king of football.
Having absorbed the body blow of losing striker Radamel Falcao in the close season, Atletico Madrid have emerged as genuine contenders to break the title stranglehold of Real Madrid and Barcelona.
Atletico Madrid's players are hoping coach Diego Simeone can become the club's equivalent of Alex Ferguson.
Real Madrid's Rodrygo struck twice and Jude Bellingham was also on target as the visitors enjoyed a 3-0 win at lowly Cadiz.
European champions Real Madrid will face former champions Liverpool, FC Basel and debutants Ludogorets of Bulgaria following the draw for the group stage of the Champions league on Thursday.
Real Madrid secured a club record 16th straight victory when Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale struck in a laboured 2-1 win at Malaga on Saturday that put them five points clear of second-placed Barcelona in La Liga.
The France striker was fouled by Leicester's Marc Albrighton on the edge of the box and referee Jonas Eriksson deemed the action to have continued into the penalty area.
Barcelona were drawn in Group E with Bayern Munich, Benfica and Dynamo Kyiv.
Real Madrid's unbeaten start to the La Liga season came to an abrupt and surprising end as Real Mallorca claimed a stunning 1-0 victory at a rocking Son Moix on Saturday to climb out of the relegation zone.
IMAGES from the Europa League matches played on Thursday
Costa turned Juanfran's low cross into the net in the 69th minute for Atletico's third goal in the first leg of the last 16 tie against third division Lleida but immediately limped to the sidelines. He did return to the pitch, however, and completed the game despite bleeding from his knee.
Bayern Munich are desperate to avoid losing a third consecutive Champions League semi-final to Spanish opponents when they host Atletico Madrid on Tuesday but coach Pep Guardiola has his work cut out to end his time in Germany on a high.
Spain manager Luis de la Fuente left Barcelona's 17-year-old defender Pau Cubarsi and midfielders Marcos Llorente and Aleix Garcia out of his 26-man squad
IMAGES from the UEFA Champions League matches played on Wednesday.
Atletico Madrid's French forwards Antoine Griezmann and Kevin Gameiro fired them to a first win in three league outings as they beat Valencia 3-0 on Sunday to maintain their hold on Spain's fourth Champions League qualifying place.
A round-up of Friday's action in La Liga, and Bundesliga.
With sports events around the world suspended because of the coronavirus pandemic, football clubs and leagues have been discussing pay cuts with players to help them make it through the crisis.
A round-up of Tuesday's action in the UEFA Champions League.
Valencia lost ground in the battle with Atletico Madrid and Sevilla for third place in La Liga when they conceded a late Aritz Aduriz equaliser in a bad-tempered 1-1 draw at Athletic Bilbao on Thursday.
Playing without crowd will be peculiar: Suarez
Barcelona were hailed as La Liga champions-elect in the Catalan media after their 1-0 win at Real Madrid on Saturday, while the capital's press called for sweeping changes at Real after another domestic failure.
Atletico Madrid striker Diego Costa haunted Arsenal again by firing his side to a 1-0 win in Thursday's Europa League semi-final second leg to send the Spaniards into the final and deny Arsene Wenger a dream end to his long reign as Arsenal coach.
Barcelona made a disappointing start to their Champions League campaign by losing 2-1 to AS Monaco on Thursday.
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