Andrea Pirlo dismissed the idea Barcelona are a club in crisis as he refused to rank Juventus star Cristiano Ronaldo as a superior player to Lionel Messi before their Champions League showdown.

Juventus face a Barca side still reeling from last Saturday s shock 2-1 defeat to newly-promoted Cadiz in LaLiga which left them 12 points behind leaders Atletico Madrid after 10 games.

Ronald Koeman s side have, however, been flawless in the Champions League with five victories from five Group G matches, including a 2-0 win in Turin in October.

Juve s only win at Camp Nou in the Champions League came back in April 2003 (2-1), having failed to win on either of their last two trips there in the competition.

The Bianconeri have not scored in their last four games a…

Raphael Varane sees Real Madrid team-mate Karim Benzema as an inspiration due to his longevity at the very top.

Benzema, 31, joined Madrid in 2009 and has gone on to carve out a fine career at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Arguably the most impressive aspect of Benzema s Madrid career has been his ability to rediscover his best form after struggling in the 2016-17 and 2017-18 campaigns, scoring only 16 goals across 61 matches.

Last term he found the net 21 times and he has started the new campaign in solid fashion as well, scoring four goals in as many games, including a brace in Saturday s 3-2 win over Levante.

  is on |

— Real Madrid C.F.  (@realmadriden)

The Lyon academy product has seemingly established himsel…

Inter Milan are interested in signing Nikola Milenkovic from Fiorentina in the summer transfer window, according to a report in . For Italian champions Inter are on the hunt for a new centre-back, and the Serie A powerhouse have decided on the 24-year-old Serbia international defender.

The Nerazzurri are reportedly looking at Milenkovic as a potential replacement for Milan Skriniar. Paris Saint-Germain, Barcelona and Tottenham Hotspur all are interested in signing the 27-year-old Slovakia international centre-back in the summer transfer window. Inter have also missed out on signing of Gleison Bremer to Juventus.

Milenkovic has been on the books of Fiorentina since 2017 and has established himself as one of the best centre-backs in Serie A. The 24-year-old scored one goa…

Massimiliano Allegri says he will need a year or two to make Juventus Serie A title contenders ahead of Sunday s crunch clash at Roma.

Juve boss Allegri won five consecutive league titles during his previous spell at the club, but took on a rebuilding job when he returned to Turin last May.

The Bianconeri are fifth in the table ahead of their trip to the Eternal City, 11 points adrift of leaders Inter and the champions have a game in hand.

Allegri reiterated that he will need time to make Juve a huge force once again.

I came here knowing that this year we needed to start changing the team, [in order to] be back challenging for the title in a year or two, Allegri said.

We could have done better so far, but it s a matter of experience, it s norm…

So we come to it: the biggest LaLiga game between Barcelona and Atletico Madrid for seven years.

Forget the Champions League disappointments, the off-the-field murmurings about money problems and the lingering toxic cloud of the Super League, and get ready for a title showdown.

League leaders Atletico are two points clear of Real Madrid and Barca with four games to go. If the match produces a winner, that team will have the power to decide their own fate. A draw could be enough for Atleti. A defeat for either may prove fatal to their chances.

The last time these two teams met this late in the season with the title still on the line for both was on that famous final day in 2013-14, when Atleti went to Camp Nou knowing they would win the league if they did not l…

Barnsley head coach Neill Collins applauded the resilience of his side as they came from behind twice to earn a 2-2 draw against travelling Fleetwood.

Devante Cole and Corey O’Keefe provided equalisers for the Tykes after a first-half double from Junior Quitirna.

Collins said: “Today I think it was a winning performance, you look across the season it’s one of our most dominant performances.

“We created loads of chances, created lots of opportunities to create more chances but we obviously shot ourselves slightly in the foot by giving away a really cheap goal and then losing a very good goal from their perspective.

“I think what the fans should be happy with is that we came from behind twice. That’s the first equaliser here (at Oakwell) since t…

Great art will typically have its back to the wall, and for an hour on Tuesday it was a great artist who stood with his back to a red wall on a rainy night in Manchester, unhappy with his lot.

A promising exhibition was turning into a soggy mess as Kevin De Bruyne had his visionary brushstrokes stripped of their customary colour, the false nine lacking his usual lustre.

But then the narrative flipped, and a 50th Champions League appearance in City colours for this wonderful Belgian footballer had its masterpiece, a finish any genuine number nine would admire from substitute Phil Foden s delicious pass. One-nil, and that was how it stayed, a fine result from a taxing evening.

City manager Pep Guardiola had joked about the perception that he can overthink in big…

Bruno Fernandes has said that Juventus forward Cristiano Ronaldo asks him about Manchester United.

Fernandes and Ronaldo are teammates for the Portugal national football team.

Ronaldo was on the books of United from 2003 until 2009 when he moved to Spanish and European giants Real Madrid.

The 35-year-old was hugely successful during his time in Spain, and for the past two seasons, he has starred for a Juventus team who have won Serie A titles.

Fernandes joined United from Sporting Lisbon in the January transfer window, and he has said that Ronaldo still talks about the Red Devils.

“Of course, I spoke with Cristiano after and he spoke very well about the club. I spoke with him some days ago, again.

Every time I speak with him, he asks …

Manchester United have secured the arrival of Netherlands striker Wout Weghorst on loan from Burnley until the end of the season.

Weghorst had been playing for Besiktas, but United have taken over that arrangement, with the Turkish club confirming they received €2.8million (£2.48m) for the inconvenience.

Erik ten Hag was in the market for a new striker following the acrimonious split with Cristiano Ronaldo, whose contract was terminated in November after he criticised the manager and club in a controversial interview.

The United boss was open about his desire to bring in attacking reinforcements and seemed to confirm the club s interest in Weghorst when acknowledging Anthony Martial could not handle the physical demands of being their only striker.

Lin…

Celtic were again tormented by Lukas Julis in another 4-1 defeat to Sparta Prague as they crashed out of the Europa League on Thursday.

Neil Lennon s Bhoys had lost by the same scoreline at home to Sparta earlier in the month and Odsonne Edouard s opener in the away fixture provided only a brief moment of respite before the hosts responded.

Dismal defensive lapses allowed David Hancko and Julis the hat-trick hero in Scotland scoring twice this time to prematurely end this year s European adventure.

And Sparta substitute Srdan Plavsic added the final flourish in the closing seconds.

full-time.

— Celtic Football Club (@CelticFC)

The brutal conclusion was at odds with an encouraging Celtic start which saw Edouard lead a brilliant br…