Dani Alves says Barcelona lived a night to frame after an emphatic 4-0 Clasico victory over Real Madrid on Sunday.
Having not beaten their rivals since March 2019, the Blaugrana ended their three-year wait in spectacular fashion at Santiago Bernabeu.
The in-form Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored a brace, while Ronald Araujo and Ferran Torres were also on target during the comprehensive rout.
Xavi s side trail the LaLiga leaders by 12 points, but still have a game in hand and are full of momentum after stretching their unbeaten run over 90 minutes to 20 matches across all competitions.
Alves, who replaced Jordi Alba for the final four minutes, was a regular feature in El Clasico during his initial stint with Barca between 2008 and 2016.
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Northern Ireland manager Michael O Neill was in an upbeat mood despite seeing his side drawn against Germany, Poland and Ukraine in the Euro 2016 finals.
O Neill s men will face Poland in their Group C opener at the Allianz Riviera in Nice on June 12 before taking on Ukraine in Lyon and world champions Germany at Parc des Princes in Paris.
It promises to be a stern test for Northern Ireland s defence, which will come up against the top scorer in qualifying in Poland s Robert Lewandowski and his Bayern Munich team-mate Thomas Muller.
Lewandowski was on target 13 times for Poland in qualification, while Germany s Muller found the net on eight occasions.
O Neill told BBC Sport: Both showed what they re capable of qualification. In many ways it s a good tes…
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Two camps who are looking to get their first Copa America points on the board late on Wednesday night, Ecuador will meet Jamaica at the Allegiant Stadium.
Ecuador
Starting with Ecuador, suffering major World Cup frustration out in the Middle East 18 months ago as they failed to progress past the group stage, La Tri are desperate to put in a better account of themselves this summer. However, although Felix Sanchez Bas might have seen his squad suffer just a single defeat from any of their opening six World Cup qualifying appearances last year, the Yellows do have the feel of a squad seeking some recent stability. Missing out on what they had billed as a golden opportunity last weekend as they opened their Copa America adventure with a …
England boss Gareth Southgate is proud of reaching 100 games in charge of the Three Lions, but says that statistic means nothing compared to the final result against Switzerland.
Southgate has been in charge of England since 2016 and has led them to a sustained period of relative success.
Having reached the semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup, England finished third in the Nations League the following year and then were runners-up at Euro 2020.
A quarter-final exit to France at the 2022 World Cup followed, but England went into Euro 2024 as favourites.
And while they have so far failed to deliver spectacular performances, the Three Lions are just two games away from another final.
I m very proud but it is the least important stat of the week, said …
Erling Haaland got back on the goal trail as his first-half double helped Manchester City to a 3-1 win over Brighton and Hove Albion at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday.
The Norwegian was kept quiet as City fell to their first defeat of the Premier League season at Liverpool last Sunday, but he bounced back in convincing fashion by putting the Seagulls to the sword.
Haaland was the beneficiary of an Ederson assist when he tapped into an empty net for his first, then rifled home a penalty to double up shortly before half-time.
Leandro Trossard dragged Brighton back into contention after the break, but Pep Guardiola s champions weathered the storm before Kevin De Bruyne made the points safe with a trademark long-range strike.
24 Since his Premier League debut…
Ellen White will be sad to see several talented Spain players miss the Women s World Cup over a dispute with the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) and head coach Jorge Vilda.
Last September, 15 Spain players pledged to resign from the national team unless Vilda was dismissed, claiming his tenure was having a negative impact on their emotional state .
The RFEF stood by Vilda, who has coached La Roja since 2015 but has failed to take the side beyond the last eight of three major tournaments, and just three of the players involved in the dispute have made the trip to Australia and New Zealand.
Barcelona duo Mariona Caldentey and Aitana Bonmati – as well as Manchester United s Ona Batlle – have been recalled by Vilda, but 12 others remain frozen out.
Sp…
Prospective Manchester United investor Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s Nice are emerging as Ligue 1 title contenders this season.
While United suffered their fifth Premier League defeat of the campaign at the hands of local rivals City on Sunday, the French club – bought by Ratcliffe’s chemical company Ineos in August 2019 – ended the weekend unbeaten in 10 games and a point clear at the top of the table.
Here, the PA news agency examines the data behind Nice’s impressive start to the campaign.
Flying high
Sir Jim Ratcliffe dropped in to congratulate Les Aiglons
— OGC Nice (@ogcnice_eng)
Nice are enjoying their best start to a campaign since 2016-17, when they began with an 11-game unbeaten run on their way to finishing third – their highe…
Anthony Martial marked his return from injury with a goal to seal a 2-0 victory over Nottingham Forest and book Manchester United s spot in the EFL Cup final at Wembley.
Holding a comfortable 3-0 aggregate lead from the first leg, United s position never looked to be in real threat but the hosts struggled to capitalise on their chances.
Wout Weghorst hit the post in the first half and United continued to be unable to convert in the early exchanges of the second half until a triple change on the hour mark.
Martial finally broke that deadlock after 73 minutes, with Fred then poking home from close range to add further gloss to the scoreline and secure a date against Newcastle United.
Bring on Wembley.
Bring on the final.
BRING ON UNITED!
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Atletico Madrid will move to the bigger capacity La Peineta stadium during the 2012-13 season under an agreement signed Friday between the club and the Spanish capital.
The stadium, a centrepiece of Madrid s bid for the 2016 Olympics, will be upgraded and expanded to a 73,000-seat venue over three years under the deal reached by Madrid mayor Alberto Ruiz-Gallardon and Atletico president Enrique Cerezo. The construction work will begin in six months.
This is a historic day for the club, said Cerezo.
Atletico s current home, the 55,000-seat Vicente Calderon, is set to be torn down after the move to be turned into a riverside park.
The club lies in sixth place in the Spanish league with 24 points, 11 fewer than leaders Barcelona.
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Northern Ireland will play the penultimate match of their Euro 2024 qualifying campaign away to Finland on Friday.
On their last visit to Helsinki’s Olympic Stadium, Northern Ireland earned a point from a 1-1 draw in October 2015 to secure top spot in their group as they qualified for Euro 2016, but the context is very different this time.
Michael O’Neill’s injury-hit side have won just two of their eight Euro 2024 qualifiers so far – both against San Marino – and will be happy to see the back of this campaign after Monday’s match at home to Denmark.
Here the PA news agency looks at the key talking points ahead of Friday’s game.
The hits keep coming
Northern Ireland squad update
— Northern Ireland (@NorthernIrela…