Ligue 1 Review: PSG extend lead and equal longstanding unbeten record

Belgium goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois criticised UEFA and FIFA for their attitude towards player welfare due to the number of fixtures being crammed into the calendar.

The 29-year-old was speaking on the back of his national side s 2-1 loss to Italy in the Nations League third-place play-off on Sunday.

Both teams rested a number of players for the match at the Allianz Stadium, with Romelu Lukaku and Eden Hazard absent for Belgium due to muscular problems.

Courtois also played a full part in the semi-final defeat to France three days earlier and has questioned why his side had to face Italy in what he felt was a meaningless match.

This game is just a money game and we have to be honest about it, he said in his post-match interview. We just play it because f…

Manchester United have intensified their efforts to sign Jadon Sancho from Borussia Dortmund this summer, according to Laurie Whittwell of . The 20-time English champions are increasingly confident deal could finally be struck, even though there is still a gap in valuation between the two clubs amounting to around £20 million.

United tried to sign the winger last year, but their effort not only fell short of Dortmund s asking price of €120m (around £110m), but it also came too late, well past the deadline set by the Bundesliga side for interest in any of their players to be pursued. It was believed that Dortmund would now accept around £80m, but it seems they still want significantly more than that. Apparently, they want another £20m in the form of various achievable add-…

Despite reports linking him with a number of top clubs across Europe, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia isn t expected to leave Napoli this summer, not unless there s an offer on the table the current Scudetto holders cannot refuse, according to agent Mamuka Jugeli. The talks of a new contract for the Georgian winger are apparently underway.

With 12 goals and 13 assists in 34 Serie A matches last season, Kvaratskhelia was undoubtedly one of the main contributors to Napoli ending a 33-year wait for the Italian crown, earning the Kvaradona nickname from the club supporters. This term, he hasn t quite made the same impact, though the whole team hasn t been able to perform to the same standards.

But at the age of just 23, Kvaratskhelia obviously feels there s still a lot for him to do …

(GSM) Olympique Lyon have not been approached by Chelsea and Internazionale with inquiries about Miralem Pjanic, according to the French club s general manager Bernard Lacombe.

Pjanic has caught the eyes of top European clubs with Inter and Chelsea both thought to be keen on the Bosnia Herzegovina midfielder s services.

But Lacombe insists the club has not received any offers for the 20-year-old.

Inter Milan and Chelsea after him? At the moment there is absolutely nothing, Lacombe told tuttomercatoweb.

Is he on the market? I find it useless to talk about it in those terms. He is a player of Lyon.

If some club arrives with an attractive offer we can sit around a table and talk about it, but, I repeat, this is not the case.

Pjanic arr…

Gleaming machines, computer monitors and sports science experts – walking into the human performance lab at Perform at St George s Park, it is easy feel as though you have been cast as Rocky villain Ivan Drago for a workout at his sinister hi-tech training base.

Shortly, there will be emphatic proof that I am not, by any measure, that type of physical specimen. 

Housed amid the Football Association s sprawling national football centre in Burton, Perform s facilities provide a one-stop shop for the pre-signing football medical. As the deadline to English football s mid-season transfer window looms, the facility is prepared to go into overdrive.

It s a good time,  says sport science lead Dr Carl Wells.  It s hectic because you know you can get a phone ca…

Miguel Almiron scored his first Premier League goal to fire Newcastle United to a 1-0 win over Crystal Palace, while Everton and Arsenal played out a bore draw at Goodison Park.

Paraguay international Almiron volleyed home late on to get off the mark on his 27th appearance in the competition and settle a match that was heading for a goalless draw.

Goals proved hard to come by in the stalemate between Everton and Arsenal, a low-quality match watched from the stands by respective incoming bosses Carlo Ancelotti and Mikel Arteta.

Everton failed to record a shot on target in a top-flight home match for the first time since January 2018, while Gabriel Martinelli went closest to scoring for the visitors.

Elsewhere, Burnley, Sheffield United, Wolves and Southamp…

Prediction: Tottenham win

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Following some dramatic Champions League action in midweek, the Premier League will be back in our lives this weekend as we edge closer and closer towards 2019. One of the games on the bill is Tottenham Hotspur vs Burnley, in what will serve as a minor David vs Goliath battle. Both clubs are heading in very different directions and there s no secret surrounding that, but as we know, these two clubs have a tendency to surprise us every now and again both in a good sense and the bad.

Tottenham

The pieces finally seem to be falling into place for Tottenham this season, as they continue to go in search of success both domestically and in Europe. If they can add some strength in depth into their ranks then th…

Matteo Gabbia scored his first goal for Milan as they thrashed Dinamo Zagreb 4-0 to move just a point away from the Champions League round of 16.

Chelsea s victory at Salzburg earlier on Tuesday gave Stefano Pioli s side the chance to go second in Group E and they grasped that opportunity with both hands.

Gabbia put them in front with a first-half header and they ran away with it in the second half, with Rafael Leao doubling their lead before Olivier Giroud added a third from the penalty spot.

Robert Ljubicic s bizarre own goal summed up Dinamo s night as their hopes of qualifying were emphatically ended, while Milan only need to avoid defeat in a decisive last group match against Salzburg next week to advance.

Gabbia getting it done

— AC Mi…

Ansu Fati has officially become a member of Barcelona s first-team squad following a brilliant breakthrough campaign, with his buy-out clause raised to €400million.

The winger will wear the number 22, which had been left vacant following Arturo Vidal s departure to Inter.

He had previously been given the number 31 shirt, but did not officially count as a first-team player despite making 33 appearances in all competitions in 2019-20.

Barca have also confirmed that the teenager s buy-out clause has gone up from €170m to €400m now he is a first-team player, as was agreed when Fati s deal with the club was renewed in December.

The 17-year-old scored eight goals in total last season for Barca, and has won two caps for Spain – putting in a superb dis…

Northern Ireland return to action with a friendly against Romania in Bucharest on Friday night.

The fixture is the first of back-to-back away games, with a trip to Glasgow to face Scotland up next.

Here, the PA news agency looks at the key talking points ahead of the Romania game.

Youth movement

After a hugely disappointing Euro 2024 qualifying campaign ruined by injuries, it is time for Michael O’Neill to hit the reset button. Those injuries accelerated the need for a rebuild of the Northern Ireland squad, and almost half of the players in O’Neill’s camp have 10 caps or less, and only two of them – Josh Magennis and George Saville – are over the age of 30. But there is much to be encouraged by, with Conor Bradley, Shea Charles, Isaac Price and Trai Hu…