(GSM) Inter Milan secured a berth in the 2009/10 Champions League final on Wednesday as they held on for a 3-2 aggregate win over Barcelona after keeping the Catalans to a 1-0 win with 10 men.
In the first half, Barcelona controlled nearly all of the possession, but they struggled to find clear-cut chances against the stout Inter defense.
Things appeared to change in the 28th minute, however, when former Barça man Thiago Motta was sent off for apparently striking Sergio Busquets in the face, though replays showed not much contact.
Despite the protests, Inter were forced to defend with 10 men for over an hour.
They did just that, and with great success for much of the second half, though Bojan should have put Barcelona in front in the 80th minute when he…
Dejan Stankovic revealed his pride after becoming Serbia s most-capped player in their friendly win against Japan.
Stankovic came out of retirement to captain his country, playing the first 11 minutes in Novi Sad before being withdrawn.
The appearance moved the 35-year-old to 103 caps, with Serbia going on to win 2-0 courtesy of second-half goals from Dusan Tadic and Milos Jojic.
The former Inter midfielder who announced his retirement at the end of the season following nine years at San Siro said he was grateful to lead his country out on his final appearance for the national team.
Every game I played (has been) sublimed by these wonderful last 10 minutes and I can only thank everyone who turned up to make it a memorable afternoon, Stankovic told Serbian tele…
Patrice Evra has revealed he was close to re-joining Manchester United but says a person at the club likely stopped his hopes of returning to Old Trafford.
The defender moved to Marseille from Juventus in the January transfer window, but only after he had been heavily linked with Jose Mourinho s side.
Evra, 35, represented United between 2006 and 2014, winning five Premier League titles and the Champions League among 10 major trophies.
He held talks with Mourinho about a return that would have thrilled the United support but ultimately the France international realised the opportunity would not materialise.
I was very close to a return to Manchester United, Evra said to Sky Italia after travelling back to Turin to visit his former Juventus team-mates.
Southampton have announced the signing of striker Charlie Austin from Championship side QPR.
The 26-year-old has penned a deal until 2020 with Ronald Koeman s side after an undisclosed fee was agreed with reports suggesting it is in the region of £4million.
QPR director of football Les Ferdinand said in a statement: It s no secret that Charlie is out of contract in the summer so this is a decision made in the best financial interests of the club.
Charlie has had a significant impact on this football club in his time here and we are hugely grateful to him for his contribution during his spell with us.
Whilst we are sorry to lose Charlie, once he expressed an interest in moving to Southampton, we could not stand in his way.
The forward leaves …
Leeds United are planning to make a £15 million move for Liverpool winger Harry Wilson, according to . Aston Villa and Newcastle United are also interested in the Wales international, according to the British tabloid.
Wilson spent the 2019-20 campaign on loan at Bournemouth, who got relegated from the Premier League to the Championship. The winger made 20 starts and 11 substitute appearances in the league, scoring seven goals in the process, according to .
Leeds have returned to the Premier League for the first time since 2004 and do need to make additions to their squad. Villa narrowly avoided the drop to the second tier of English football, while Newcastle could do with more creativity in their team.
Wilson is a very talented and promising young player who ha…
Barcelona forward Lionel Messi is back in Argentina s squad for next month s friendlies against Brazil and Uruguay after serving a three-month suspension.
Messi was banned by CONMEBOL in August and fined $50,000 for accusing the governing body of corruption following his side s semi-final loss to Brazil at the Copa America.
The 32-year-old has missed Argentina s past four matches all friendlies but is in line to make his return in November after being named in Lionel Scaloni s latest 26-man squad.
Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero is also included for the first time since Argentina s 2-1 third-place play-off victory over Chile in the Copa America, while Tottenham midfielder Giovani Lo Celso returns after sitting out of this month s draw with Germany and vict…
Erling Haaland scored five of Manchester City’s six goals in a superb individual display as the FA Cup holders thrashed Luton at Kenilworth Road to progress to the quarter-finals.
City’s top scorer made it 27 for the season despite having missed almost two months with a foot injury, driving his team on to a ruthless 6-2 victory, though the win owed as much to the excellent Kevin De Bruyne, architect of four of his team-mate’s goals.
Mateo Kovacic also scored with a worthy strike of his own late on after Jordan Clark had netted either side of the interval to haul Luton from three down to within a single goal. In truth, though, they never really got close to City.
Name a better duo. We ll wait.
— Manchester City (@ManCity)
Pep Guardiola’…
Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag says the chance to stop Manchester City’s treble charge provides no extra motivation heading into the FA Cup final.
The eyes of the footballing world will be on Wembley on Saturday afternoon for the first-ever all-Manchester cup final.
United head to the capital looking to end a promising first season under Ten Hag by winning both domestic cups in the same campaign for the first time.
We deserve to be in the final.
— Manchester United (@ManUtd)
Neighbours City already have the Premier League title under their belt and are looking to lift the FA Cup a week before heading to Istanbul to take on Inter Milan in the Champions League final.
Lifting both of those trophies would see Pep Guardiola’s men…
Australia may be without Rhys Williams for the World Cup after the defender suffered a potentially serious Achilles injury on Tuesday.
Williams, 25, went down just before the break in Middlesbrough s 0-0 draw at home to Wigan Athletic, causing a lengthy stoppage. A leg brace was applied and he was provided with oxygen on the pitch, prompting fears of a serious tear.
While Middlesbrough are yet to comment on the severity of the injury, it appears the versatile player – capable of operating at centre-back, full-back and in defensive midfield – is now in serious doubt for Australia s World Cup campaign, which begins against Chile on June 13.
It would be a cruel blow for Williams, who also missed out on a place in the 2010 World Cup squad due to a pelvic problem.
…
Carlos Queiroz was sacked as Portugal coach on Thursday after a disciplinary feud sparked by a six-month ban for insulting officials from the country s anti-doping body.
The former Manchester United boss, who took over in July 2008, also paid a heavy price for a loss of form that saw his team struggle to reach the World Cup and pick up just a point from their opening two Euro 2012 qualifiers.
The Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) has decided unanimously to end the contract of national coach Carlos Queiroz, FPF president Gilberto Madail told a news conference.
Queiroz was serving a six-month ban, which he had described as erroneous and abusive , for hindering dope testers who had turned up to test his players at a pre-World Cup training camp in May.
P…