Spain midfielder Koke has signed a seven-year contract extension at Atletico Madrid, committing him to the LaLiga club until June 2024.
The 25-year-old s previous contract still had two more years to run, although last week he stated his desire to retire with his boyhood club.
A product of Atletico s youth system, Koke joined their academy as an eight-year-old and made his debut for the first team at 17, coming on against Barcelona at Camp Nou in September 2009.
In total he has played 323 games for Atleti, scoring 28 goals and winning the 2012 Europa League and 2013 Copa del Rey alongside LaLiga in 2013-14, when he was a key performer as Diego Simeone s men stunned Spain s big two.
Heartbreak in the 2014 and 2016 Champions League finals against Real Madri…
Best Odds: 13/5
Bookmaker:
Looking to pick up their first Bundesliga win at the second attempt on Friday night, Leipzig will welcome Stuttgart to the Red Bull Arena.
RB Leipzig
Starting with the hosts, while RB Leipzig might have made a major statement earlier in the month as they landed a remarkable 3-0 romp against reigning Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich, the Red Bulls certainly came crashing back down to earth last time out. Eventually slumping to what would have been a disappointing 3-2 loss at the hands of Bayer Leverkusen when opening up the 2023/24 campaign, Marcos Rose’s men will be seeking an immediate response here. Gaining a string of plaudits last season as they claimed another bronze medal finish among Germany’s elite, Leipzig will be excit…
Graham Arnold will stay on as Australia head coach heading into the 2026 World Cup.
The Socceroos reached the round of 16 in Qatar last year, matching the achievement of 2006.
After losing to eventual finalists France in their opening group game, Australia beat Tunisia and Denmark to record their best performance at a World Cup finals. They lost 2-1 to a Lionel Messi-inspired Argentina in a tight last-16 tie.
Arnold, who was caretaker manager of the national team between 2006 and 2007 and also took charge of Australia s Olympic side at the delayed Tokyo 2020 tournament, has now signed a new contract to keep him in place through to the 2026 World Cup, which will be held in the United States, Mexico and Canada.
Football Australia chair Chris Nikou said: Wha…
Monaco coach Leonardo Jardim praised his side for overcoming a slow start against Metz to record a 15th straight Ligue 1 victory, a new record in the competition.
Radamel Falcao s 78th-minute goal secured a 1-0 away win and moved the champions one clear of the previous best of 14 set by Bordeaux in 2009.
Monaco s run began back in February and has been completed without Kylian Mbappe, who was left out of Friday s squad amid rumours of an impending move away from Stade Louis II.
The visitors were made to work for their piece of history by a resilient Metz before Falcao s late intervention made it 23 league matches unbeaten.
We re happy because we finished with a win and we set a new record of 15 wins in a row, Jardim said after the match.
I thin…
Barcelona finished on top of Champions League Group H despite slipping to a shock 3-2 defeat to Royal Antwerp in a dramatic contest at the Bosuilstadion.
After the first half had seen Arthur Vermeeren’s early effort for the hosts cancelled out by Ferran Torres, former Tottenham striker Vincent Janssen restored the lead for Mark van Bommel’s Antwerp 11 minutes after the break.
Barcelona then hit back via Marc Guiu in stoppage time, only for George Ilenikhena to reply moments later to wrap up a historic win for the Belgians, who had lost each of their previous five games in what was their debut Champions League group campaign.
WHAT A GAME!
LEAVING THE UCL IN STYLE…
3-2 (FT)
— Royal Antwerp FC (@official_rafc)
Barca had …
Best Odds: 7/10
Bookmaker:
Looking to pick up a Champions League first-leg advantage in Germany on Wednesday night, Manchester City will make the trip to RB Leipzig.
RB Leipzig
Starting with the hosts, while RB Leipzig might have been left hugely frustrated by their 2-1 loss at home against Union Berlin on February 11th, Marco Rose s men came roaring back last weekend. Picking up some perfect momentum as they breezed their way to an eye-catching 3-0 romp away at Wolfsburg, the former Borussia Dortmund boss has seen his side impress many on either side of the World Cup break. Along with opening February with a 3-1 victory against Hoffenheim as they extended on their DFP Pokal adventure, the Whites will be desperate to spring a major upset on Wednesday night. Now…
Gareth Southgate has offered his full backing to John Stones following the defender s costly error against the Netherlands, insisting he remains England s best centre-back.
Thursday s Nations League semi-final was poised at 1-1 in the first half of extra time when the 25-year-old was caught in possession on the edge of his own box.
Stones was robbed by Memphis Depay, who forced a save out of Jordan Pickford, but Kyle Walker bundled the ball into his own net under pressure from Quincy Promes.
The Netherlands went on to win 3-1 to set up a showdown with Portugal in the final, with Stones taking plenty of flak after the match.
It s all over in Portugal and it ends in disappointment for the .
Congratulations to the Netherlands on reaching the final. <…
Liverpool left Manchester City s unbeaten Premier League record in tatters with a thrilling 4-3 win over the leaders.
Anfield has long provoked a sense of dread for City, who last won at the Merseyside ground in May 2003, and they collapsed under an unsustainable weight of individual errors as Liverpool ran amok after half-time.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain produced a midfield performance to thrill the Liverpool faithful in the wake of Philippe Coutinho s departure to Barcelona and opened the scoring with an excellent ninth-minute opener on an afternoon of high-class finishing.
Leroy Sane thrashed a shot beyond Loris Karius at the near post to draw City level five minutes before half-time and Jurgen Klopp s choice of goalkeeper might have come in for greater scrutiny …
Roma significantly boosted their chances of progressing to the Champions League knockout stages with a 2-1 win over 10-man CSKA Moscow at the Luzhniki Stadium on Wednesday.
Eusebio Di Francesco s side punished Hordur Magnusson for receiving two yellow cards, with Lorenzo Pellegrini adding the winner to his assist for the opener to put Roma on the brink of the last 16.
Kostas Manolas capitalised on poor goalkeeping from Igor Akinfeev to put the visitors in front, but CSKA drew level after the restart through Arnor Sigurdsson.
Roma needed less than three minutes to take advantage of their numerical superiority and seal the win following Magnusson s dismissal, though Pellegrini appeared to have stroked home from an offside position.
CSKA beat Real Madrid in …
According to a recent report from Sky Sport Italia, Juventus’ chief football officer Fabio Paratici has ruled out the possibility of making any signings during the upcoming January transfer window. The expectation has always been that the Old Lady would be dipping into their pockets in order to try and bring in a few new faces, especially when you consider just how tight the Serie A title race is right now with Inter Milan and Lazio keeping it tight as we head into the second half of the campaign.
Paul Pogba is the big name that continues to be linked with a return to Turin, but it really doesn’t seem as if that’s going to be done until the summer at the very least. Paratici has always been pretty active when it comes to discussing Juve’s transfer dealings, and ba…