Napoli boss Rafael Benitez is hoping to get reunited with Real Madrid full-back Alvaro Arbeloa, .
The duo worked together for two and a half years at Anfield, although the defender only arrived after the Reds had won the Champions League trophy.
Arbeloa returned to Santiago Bernabeu in the summer of 2009 and has since made 126 La Liga appearances for los Blancos.
However, having lost his place in the side to Daniel Carvajal, which led to him missing out on Spain s World Cup squad, it appears the 31-year-old is pondering a summer exit.
And Rafael Benitez aims to take advantage of the situation and lure him to Stadio San Paolo in the summer transfer window.
The Azzurri apparently need cover at both right-back and left-back and Arbeloa seems like a…
Lionel Messi marked a milestone Barcelona appearance with a fantastic double in an emphatic 5-1 victory over Deportivo Alaves at Camp Nou on Saturday.
Barca captain Messi made his 505th LaLiga appearance for the Catalan giants, drawing level with the club record set by Xavi, and reached 459 goals in the competition with a pair of stunning 25-yard efforts.
At the other end of the scale, two players making their first LaLiga starts combined for the opening goal: Ilaix Moriba marking his league debut for Barca by setting up Francisco Trincao.
Luis Rioja pulled one back for Alaves in the second half but Trincao and Messi struck within 83 seconds of one another and Junior Firpo completed the scoring at the end of a wonderful move.
Simply unstoppable.
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Prediction: Aston Villa to win and both teams to score
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The race for promotion to the Premier League reaches its conclusion at Wembley Stadium on Saturday evening as Aston Villa and Fulham face off in the Championship Playoff final.
Both teams had impressive results in their semi-final fixtures, dismissing of Middlesbrough and Derby County respectively so it is surely set to be a tantalising clash in the capital to see who can return to the promised land.
Aston Villa
Despite falling out of the top-flight of English football only two years ago, Steve Bruce s Aston Villa look in excellent form to return. Finishing fourth in the regular season, the Midlands outfit were much-improved compared to their first season when they finished …
Karim Benzema applauded the performance of Vinicius Junior in Real Madrid s 5-2 win over Celta Vigo, labelling the Brazilian a phenomenon .
Benzema would have been most people s star of the show, the Frenchman scoring a hat-trick and getting an assist.
But Vinicius was Madrid s other key man, scoring the goal that Benzema set up and also winning the penalty that allowed the France international to score his first LaLiga treble since April 2019.
Vinicius frequently ran at the Celta defence and often caused havoc when doing so, tallying 11 dribble attempts – a figure only he (14 vs Real Betis) and Nabil Fekir (14 vs Cadiz) have bettered in a single LaLiga game this term – and completing five of them.
His goal took Vinicius to four for the season, which …
Birmingham City have been deducted nine points rules for breaching rules on profitability and sustainability, the English Football League (EFL) has announced.
The punishment means Birmingham, who have lost their last four league games, drop from 13th in the Championship table to 18th, five points clear of the relegation zone.
Former manager Harry Redknapp spent heavily before steering the club away from relegation to League One in the 2016-17 season, but has denied responsibility for the points deduction.
It s surely down to the people who run the club, like the chief executive and the chairman, or whoever, to know if we ve got any money to spend, Redknapp told The Daily Telegraph ahead of the EFL announcement.
I didn t know anything about Financial …
Sevilla have struck a deal to sign Sampdoria striker Luis Muriel on a five-year contract, subject to the successful completion of a medical.
LaLiga side Sevilla, who announced the agreement on Saturday, will reportedly pay a club-record €20million initial fee plus add-ons to Samp, who retain a sell-on clause allowing them to profit if the Colombia international moves in the future.
Muriel scored 11 Serie A goals for Samp last season, matching his previous season high achieved with Udinese four years ago, and also contributed a team-leading five assists in his 31 appearances.
The 26-year-old had also been linked with Inter, Lazio and Roma, but is now set to end up in Spain.
Sevilla have been busy in recent days, with Muriel, Jordan Amavi and Guido Pizarr…
Zinedine Zidane got everything wrong in Real Madrid s Champions League loss to Chelsea and could pay the price, Predrag Mijatovic has warned.
Madrid were beaten 2-0 by Chelsea in the second leg on Wednesday as Timo Werner and Mason Mount secured a 3-1 aggregate win in the semi-final.
It could have been a far more convincing scoreline had the Blues been more clinical at Stamford Bridge, while Madrid, who had 68 per cent of the ball, had only one shot on target after the 36th minute.
With Sergio Ramos back but the likes of Raphael Varane, Dani Carvajal and Lucas Vazquez injured, Zidane opted for a 3-4-3 system in which his players rarely looked comfortable.
Edouard Mendy made two good saves from Karim Benzema in the first half but the Chelsea goalkeeper wa…
Verdict: Both Teams to Score – Yes
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London-based hotshots Chelsea will be hoping to maintain their perfect record and extend the winning streak to six consecutive matches, after launching a sensational start to the Premier League campaign. Maurizio Sarri’s men lock horns with Greek giants PAOK who have also enjoyed a fully charged start to the new campaign and this promises to be an interesting clash.
They might have been without a league triumph since 1985 but PAOK have made quite a progress during the last couple of seasons in Greece and will be the ones to challenge AEK and Olympiacos for honours this term.
Successive Cup triumph have come as a reward for the progress made under the guidance of Razvan Lucescu who alm…
Israel breathed life into their Nations League campaign with a come-from-behind 2-1 win over 10-man Scotland in Haifa on Thursday.
Dor Peretz and a Kieran Tierney own goal gave the home side a precious first victory in five matches that leaves all three teams level on three points in Group 1 of League C.
The match-turning moments came either side of John Souttar s sending off for a second yellow as Alex McLeish was forced to endure a fifth defeat in seven since returning to Scotland s top job in February.
Scotland had gone ahead through Charlie Mulgrew s 25th-minute penalty, but they were second best for almost the entire contest and can have few complaints after squandering a chance to close in on promotion to the second tier.
The visitors almost fell b…
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have brought in tight end Darren Fells as Rob Gronkowski continues to struggle with injury.
Fells agent Ron Slavin confirmed to NFL.com on Wednesday that the Bucs were signing the veteran to their practice squad and are set to elevate him to the main roster this week.
The Bucs later confirmed they had added Fells and also brought back their former wide receiver Breshad Perriman, who like Fells was initially added to the practice squad.
Gronkowski missed four games for the Bucs due to multiple rib fractures before attempting to return in Week 8 against the New Orleans Saints.
However, he was forced to leave the game with back spasms having not made a catch in the 36-27 loss.
The are signing former TE Darren Fells to the…