Chelsea will be boosted by the return of Marcos Alonso for the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie against Barcelona but Tiemoue Bakayoko is not expected to play, according to Antonio Conte.
Spanish defender Alonso sat out Chelsea s 4-0 rout of Hull City in the FA Cup fifth round on Friday, having missed back-to-back Premier League fixtures due to hamstring and ankle problems.
Struggling midfielder Bakayoko was also absent for the clash at Stamford Bridge amid his woes and head coach Conte all but ruled out the Frenchman for Tuesday s visit of LaLiga leaders Barca.
Bakayoko I don t think will be available for the Barcelona game, but Alonso is ready to play, Conte told reporters.
A special moment for our Chelsea mascots today!
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Luiz Felipe Scolari insists his future as Brazil coach is out of his hands following a dismal end to the side s FIFA World Cup campaign.
Scolari was bullish in his post-match media conference on Saturday after watching Brazil lose 3-0 to the Netherlands in the third-place play-off in Brasilia, claiming his team had played well throughout the tournament and were on the right track.
In charge of the national team for their last World Cup triumph in 2002, Scolari returned for a second spell at the helm in 2012.
After FIFA Confederations Cup victory last year had raised hopes among Brazilians, Scolari s men failed to deliver over the past month in front of their passionate support under the immense pressure of an expectant home nation.
The manner of Brazil s …
Roma midfielder Salih Ucan has pledged to help the club challenge for the Serie A title after completing his move from Fenerbahce.
The 20-year-old Turkey international moved to the Stadio Olimipico on an initial season-long loan earlier this month after spending two seasons with the Turkish champions.
Roma can extend the loan for another year, at no additional cost, and also sign the player permanently in the 2016-17 season for a fee of €11million.
Ucan is keen to show his worth as Rudi Garcia s side seek to improve on last season s second-place finish.
I put in some big performances at Fenerbahce. [Roma s director of football Walter] Sabatini wanted to sign me on the back of the success I had there, he said.
There are lots of great midfiel…
Argentina head coach Lionel Scaloni has hailed Lionel Messi as the best player of all time after scoring one goal and setting up two others in the 3-0 Copa America quarter-final win over Ecuador.
Messi was the architect as La Albiceleste progressed to the Copa semi-finals where they will take on Colombia on Tuesday in Brasilia.
The six-time Ballon d Or winner set up Rodrigo De Paul for Argentina s 40th-minute opener, before assisting Lautaro Martinez s 85th minute sealer.
Messi grabbed a goal of his own in stoppage-time with a trademark free-kick which took him to 76 international goals in his 149th appearance for La Albiceleste.
Leo s game, I honestly don t know if he s going to get tired of being praised every day, Scaloni said at the post-game media c…
Luis Suarez scored twice as LaLiga leaders Atletico Madrid secured a comfortable 3-1 home victory over Elche.
Atletico had lost the Madrid derby in their last league fixture, ending a 26-match unbeaten run in the competition.
But there was little danger of them suffering a second straight top-flight loss from the moment Suarez put them in front four minutes before half-time on Saturday.
Suarez added a second after the break as he emphatically ended a three-match run without a goal.
Lucas Boye headed in to give Elche hope, but Atletico sealed all three points when substitute Diego Costa converted a penalty with 10 minutes remaining.
is averaging a goal every 82 minutes for in !
— LaLiga English (@LaLigaEN)
Atletico thought …
Giorgio Chiellini has warned Juventus that they are running out of time to be ready to start their Serie A title defence against Fiorentina on Sunday.
Massimiliano Allegri s side have had mixed results in pre-season, with a win over Tottenham in the International Champions Cup not enough to dispel doubts raised from a penalty shootout defeat to Melbourne Victory and a 2-2 draw with Espanyol.
Juve endured a miserable start to their title defence in 2015-16, taking just three wins from their first 10 matches, before a remarkable run of 26 victories in their final 28 games saw them clinch a fifth Scudetto in a row.
And Chiellini has urged his team-mates to sharpen up this week in order to avoid another disappointing start to the campaign against a strong Fiorentina …
Turkish club Caykur Rizespor are on the verge of completing a double swoop for ex-Arsenal duo Mathieu Flamini and Emmanuel Adebayor.
The pair will join one-time Liverpool goalkeeper Charles Itandje in Rize on free transfers after their respective contracts at Arsenal and Crystal Palace were not renewed at the end of the 2015-16 season.
Adebayor has a proven track record at the highest level, scoring 46 league goals for Arsenal in a three-year stay at Emirates Stadium before spells with Manchester City, Real Madrid and Tottenham, while former AC Milan midfielder Flamini made 242 appearances across two spells with the Gunners.
We reached an agreement in principle with both players, Caykur Rizespor coach Hikmet Karaman told Anadolu Agency.
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PSV have bolstered their squad with the signing of Mexico international Andres Guardado on a season-long loan from Valencia.
The left-sided midfielder played in all four of his country s games at this year s World Cup as they reached the round of 16 before an agonising last-gasp defeat to Netherlands.
Guardado, who took his tally of caps to 108 in Brazil, signed for Valencia in May 2012 after five years with Deportivo La Coruna.
After making 44 appearances in his debut season at the Mestalla, his first-team chances dried up last term and he spent the second half of the campaign on loan at Bayer Leverkusen.
The 27-year-old joins Luuk de Jong as the Eindhoven club s only other major foray into the market in the transfer window so far.
I am very ple…
Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur are battling to secure the services of Manchester City defender Matija Nastasic, .
The 21 year old centre-back had been linked with a move to West Ham United, though he has rejected the chance to join them on loan to instead hold out for a potential offer from a club competing in Europe.
Since moving to England from Fiorentina in the summer of 2012, he has racked up fifty appearances in all competitions for the club, scoring his one and only goal in a 7-0 win over Norwich City in November 2013.
However, he is set to fall further down the pecking order at the Etihad Stadium following the summer arrival of Eliaquim Managala from Porto.
Both North London giants Arsenal and Spurs are considering a move for the Serbia intern…
Going into the January transfer window, reports surfaced claiming Arsenal were interested in signing Jesper Lindstrom from Eintracht Frankfurt. Now, German journalist Florian Plettenberg says the interest from the Gunners is still there, but the race for the services of the player has gotten interesting with Liverpool ready to swoop in as well.
Leading the race for the Premier League title at the moment, Arsenal don t need much tinkering, but increasing the depth of the squad, particularly in the middle of the park which is what they ve been trying to do since last summer, would certainly make sense for the future challenges. Liverpool, on the other hand, need a complete overhaul of their midfield section, with three players from the department set to leave Anfield at the end o…