Manchester United target Atletico star Falcao

Antonio Conte challenged his Inter players to learn from last week s defeat against Real Madrid as they prepare for Tuesday s must-win clash with Borussia Monchengladbach.

Inter have failed to win any of their opening four Champions League games for the first time ever and only a victory will do in Germany if they are to avoid early elimination.

The three-time European champions lost 2-0 at home to Madrid in their last Group B outing – Rodrygo s deflected strike off Achraf Hakimi adding to Eden Hazard s early penalty.

Conte acknowledged Inter made life difficult for themselves against Madrid in a match that saw Arturo Vidal dismissed for dissent, and the Inter boss is now after a response if his side are to keep their slim qualification hopes alive.

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Neymar, Gabriel Martinelli and Bruno Guimaraes are among the notable absentees from the 23-man Brazil squad for the friendly in Morocco later this month.

Neymar tied the Selecao all-time scoring record of the late Pele (77) with his goal against Croatia as Brazil were eliminated in the World Cup quarter-finals in December.

An ankle injury sustained in Paris Saint-Germain s recent win against Lille will keep him from beating that record in Morocco though.

With head coach Tite stepping down after that defeat in Qatar, interim Brazil boss Ramon Menezes will take charge of the friendly and has selected nine new faces, including Chelsea s Andrey Santos – back on loan at Vasco da Gama – Wolves midfielder Joao Gomes and Athletico Paranaense striker Vitor Roque.

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Luka Milivojevic had a stoppage-time penalty saved as Crystal Palace missed the chance to halt Manchester City s unbeaten start to the season, although the Premier League leaders winning run has been stopped at 18 matches following the goalless draw at Selhurst Park.

Pep Guardiola s men went into the match one win away from equalling the record for successive wins in Europe s top five leagues set by the Catalan s Bayern Munich side but they were ultimately frustrated by a well-drilled Palace side who were only denied all three points by Ederson s heroics at the end.

City showed two sides to their game in the first half, as they created a few good chances with some expansive football  Bernardo Silva and Sergio Aguero going particularly close, with the latter introduced…

Xavi acknowledged a Barcelona return for Lionel Messi is impossible at present but refused to rule out a reunion in future, as he rejected comparisons between himself and two legendary Blaugrana coaches.

Messi s 21-year association with Barcelona came to an end last August when he joined Paris Saint-Germain on a free transfer amid the Catalan club s financial woes.

However, the seven-time Ballon d Or winner s six league goals during his debut campaign in Paris represented his worst such tally since he netted the same amount in LaLiga as an 18-year-old in 2005-06.

Messi has just one year remaining on his contract in the French capital – though an option exists for a further 12 months with PSG – and Barcelona president Joan Laporta said on Sunday he did not …

Atletico Madrid star Antoine Griezmann is at the same level as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, according to David Villa.

France international Griezmann has enjoyed his best season to date in 2015-16, scoring 29 goals in all competitions to keep Atletico in the hunt for a league and Champions League double.

And Villa, who left Atletico to join New York City just prior to Griezmann s arrival from Real Sociedad in 2014, has no doubt that 25-year-old must now be considered among the very best players in the world.

Asked by Marca if he were at Messi and Ronaldo s level, Villa said:  Yes. At the highest level you have to analyse things in a certain way, with all the different players, but Griezmann is one of the best players right now in world football. For the th…

Championship high-flyers Brentford have completed the signing of Rangers midfielder Lewis MacLeod for an undisclosed fee.

The 20-year-old midfielder has put pen-to-paper on a three-and-a-half year deal, which will take effect when the transfer window opens on Saturday, at Griffin Park.

MacLeod, who earlier this year earned his first call up to the Scotland national team but has yet to make his debut, has made 20 appearances in all competitions for Rangers this season, scoring eight goals.

He is a player who can play in all midfield positions, he has two excellent feet and an eye for goal, manager Mark Warburton told Brentford s official website. 

He will be an excellent addition to the playing squad and I am sure he will play a key role in the secon…

At Wembley yesterday afternoon Manchester United started this season in the exact same fashion as they ended last season. They did it by winning silverware courtesy of a penalty shoot-out. OK, the Community Shield might not have quite the importance of the Champions League, but the win will have sent a few messages out to their title rivals.

The first few minutes at Wembley were largely forgettable but United looked the more dangerous side. They played some lovely short passing football but lacked the killer instinct in the final third. One of the reasons for that was that they didn’t seem to be playing anyone up front! With Nani, Giggs and Tevez all turning up in midfield and on the wings, there were often no strikers visible at all.

The game went into…

Dutch midfielder Evander Sno has moved from Celtic to Ajax, the club where he started his career, on a three-year-contract, the Dutch club said on its website Thursday.

The 21-year-old trained at the Amsterdam club before transfering to Feyenoord then moved to Scotland in 2006. He played 49 times and scored one goal in his two seasons in Scotland.

Sno was in the Dutch squad for the Euro 2008 football championships last June.

It was Ajax s fifth acquisition recently, after Dario Cvitanich (Banfield), Miralem Sulejmani (Heerenveen), Ismail Aissati (PSV Eindhoven) and Oleguer Presas (Barcelona).

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Arsene Wenger is confident midfield duo Jack Wilshere and Aaron Ramsey can be tied down to new deals at Arsenal.

Much of the uncertainty regarding contracts at the Emirates Stadium over the past year has finally been resolved, with Alexis Sanchez sold to Manchester United and Mesut Ozil committing his long-term future to the Gunners.

The saga of those two high-earning stars, who were out of contract at the end of this season, followed the club s contentious decision to award Wenger a two-year extension at the end of the 2016-17 campaign. 

Wilshere is into the final six months of his Arsenal deal but has enjoyed an impressive resurgence of late, having spent last term on loan at Bournemouth following an injury-ravaged spell.

The Daily Telegraph reports t…

Competition: FA Cup

Market: Manchester United to beat Huddersfield

Odds:

The FA Cup continues this weekend as even more incredibly exciting and unpredictable action will surely accompany the most shocking competition in football. With this in mind, Huddersfield host Manchester United on Saturday.

Huddersfield have been very poor this season and they will be desperate to clinch a win that would boost their morale massively. In the league they have struggled after 27 games, they have won seven, drawn six and lost 14 games, while they have scored 23 times and conceded 47 goals. In their last five they have won just once, losing their other four games which has seen them onto 27 points. The newly-promoted side are just a single point clear of the r…