Portugal´s Petit set to sign for Cologne

Harry Redknapp has urged QPR s supporters to be at their raucous best for the visit of under-fire Premier League champions Manchester City.

The London club s fans stuck by Redknapp during a difficult start to the season and have been rewarded with improved performances in recent weeks.

The vocal away support was noticeable last Saturday, when Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho commented on it to Redknapp following the leaders 2-1 win at Stamford Bridge.

He came up to me during the game and he said they were fantastic, Redknapp said. They have stuck behind the team and that s all we can ask.

They made a lot of noise last week and that s really good. The fans can make or break a team.

Such support at Loftus Road will be valued on Saturday as Redknapp tar…

Sochaux s incredible survival bid continued with a 2-1 win at Rennes while Paris Saint-Germain set a new Ligue 1 points record on Saturday.

PSG – crowned champions of the French top flight on Wednesday – won 3-1 at third-placed Lille to keep the race for the final UEFA Champions League place alive.

But the real drama was at the other end of the table as Herve Renard s Sochaux won again.

They sat six points adrift of safety in late March but a seven-match unbeaten run – of which four have been wins – have given Sochaux every chance of remaining in Ligue 1 with one match remaining.

Their latest triumph means they are now just one point behind the 17th-placed Evian TG, while Montpellier, Guingamp and Nice could also be relegated on the final day of the seaso…

Kevin De Bruyne says it was unfair treatment from Jose Mourinho that ultimately led to his departure from Chelsea in January 2014.

The Belgium international – now starring for Manchester City having signed from Wolfsburg at the start of the season in a £55 million deal – is preparing to face his former club on Saturday.

De Bruyne previously stated that he felt like he had nothing to prove to Chelsea due to his lack of first-team action, with only two Premier League starts to his name during his spell at his old side.

Ahead of this first return to Stamford Bridge, the playmaker has lifted the lid on what he felt was unjust criticism from then-manager Mourinho, who has since been sacked, that prompted him to resist Chelsea s plea to stay put.

He call…

Fenerbahce have emerged as the main competition to Liverpool, for Albert Riera s signature. Liverpool was strongly linked with Riera for a number of months and now Barcelona-based media are suggesting that The Reds have made fresh contact.

But the Turkish giants have recently appointed Luis Aragones as coach and the man who led Spain to Euro 2008 glory, is eager to add some players he knows well to his squad.

Top scorer Dani Guiza has already moved to Istanbul from Mallorca and now Aragones is ready to turn his attention to Riera according to SkySports.com

Sources claim Liverpool is willing to pay around £8 million for Riera, but that figure falls about £4 million short of Espanyol s valuation.

However, having paid the €17.4…

Lionel Messi scored a hat-trick in the week he was crowned the world s best player as Barcelona eased to a 5-2 home win over Real Mallorca and reclaimed top spot in LaLiga.

Antoine Griezmann gave Barca a seventh-minute lead and Messi then took over with a couple of goals, either side of Ante Budimir s strike against the run of play.

On a day when the home side s front three clicked into gear, Luis Suarez added a fourth before the end of the first half with a sublime back-heel to round off a fluid passing move.

Budimir pulled another back for Mallorca 26 minutes from time, but Messi rounded off his hat-trick late on as Barca maintained their good form and overtook Real Madrid at the summit.

Two goals in the Camp Nou for Ante Budimir

— LaLiga (…

Massimiliano Allegri is confident Juventus will settle on a great coach as his successor at Allianz Stadium.

After five Serie A titles in as many seasons, Allegri will leave his post following the final game of 2018-19 with Sampdoria next Sunday.

Juve made the surprise announcement on Friday and are now beginning the process of appointing a replacement capable of continuing their incredible run of domestic dominance.

Lazio s Simone Inzaghi, France boss Didier Deschamps, Chelsea head coach Maurizio Sarri and the unemployed Antonio Conte are among the names linked to the post.

I don t know who [will take over], Allegri told Italian television programme Striscia la Notizia when asked about his potential replacement.

Someone needs to sit on the benc…

that Manchester City are the latest club to have joined the race for Barcelona forward Alexis Sanchez.

The Citizens were among the clubs trying to sign the Chilean in the summer of 2011, but he ultimately opted to join Barcelona instead.

That proved to be a poor decision as Sanchez has since failed to establish himself as a first team regular at Camp Nou, and was heavily criticized for his disappointing showings this season.

He could, therefore, decide to bail out at the end of the season, with Juventus, Manchester City and Liverpool all keen.

Roberto Mancini looks set to remain without Edin Dzeko in the summer transfer window and he is confident Sanchez would be a decent replacement for the Bosnian.

Sanchez is still just 24 and many believe he …

Arsenal exited the Champions League at the last-16 stage for the third consecutive year despite beating Bayern Munich 2-0 in the second leg.

Olivier Giroud stunned the 68,000 sell-out Allianz Arena with a third-minute goal to give the visitors hope of pulling off a Munich miracle.

Despite Bayern dominating for most of the match, Arsenal held firm at the back and Laurent Koscielny s 84th-minute header equalled scores on aggregate.

This set up a pulsating finale but Arsenal were unable to score the goal required to overturn the 3-1 first-leg deficit and exited by account of the away goals rule.

The two-legged defeat means that Bayern become the third European powerhouse in three years to knock Arsenal out at the last-16 juncture, following Barcelona in 2011…

Levi Colwill will not be leaving Chelsea this summer in spite of continued interest from Liverpool and Brighton, the PA news agency understands.

The club are not willing to entertain offers for the 20-year-old defender, who starred for England Under-21s as they beat Israel 3-0 on Wednesday to advance to the European Championship final in Georgia.

He is currently contracted to Chelsea until the summer of 2024 with an option of another year if certain criteria are met.

Our are finalists!

…

Real Madrid president Florentino Perez ruled out further additions following Los Blancos Super Cup win over Eintracht Frankfurt, as he backed the team s ability to cover for talismanic striker Karim Benzema. 

Goals from David Alaba and Benzema – who moved above Raul in Madrid s all-time goalscoring charts – sealed a deserved win for the Champions League holders on Wednesday.

The triumph represented the ideal start to Madrid s 2022-23 campaign and meant the Spanish giants have now won 17 of their last 19 one-legged finals. 

Since winning the Champions League and LaLiga last season, Madrid have added highly rated midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni and powerful defender Antonio Rudiger, both of whom appeared from the bench in Helsinki.

And Perez is satisf…