2014 FIFA World Cup: Tournament in numbers

Barcelona head coach Ernesto Valverde said Lionel Messi will be examined by doctors after sustaining a significant bruise to his nose in Wednesday s Champions League victory over Manchester United.

Messi took a blow in the first half of Barca s 1-0 opening-leg quarter-final success away to United at Old Trafford.

The Barca captain was left bruised and bloodied after United defender Chris Smalling attempted to win the ball ahead of the five-time Ballon d Or winner.

Asked about Messi after the game, Valverde told reporters: Messi wasn t so comfortable after the blow.

We have to examine him tomorrow to see how he is. He was strong, but he has quite a significant bruise.

The  between the  

— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona)

Barca w…

According to a recent report from Marca, Juventus star Cristiano Ronaldo wants to see his club go out of their way to try and sign James Rodriguez – as well as Joao Felix. CR7 spent time with Colombian sensation James at Real Madrid, and now, he wants to get the band back together. The same thing was true of Marcelo, who has also been heavily linked with a move from Real to Juve.

Ronaldo has also had his eye of the aforementioned Felix, who has been on a great run of form for Portuguese giants Benfica lately.

In terms of Rodriguez, it’s no secret that he’s been struggling to put together consistent runs of good form dating all the way back to his heroics in the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

If Rodriguez does indeed make the jump over to the Italian champions, it wo…

Manchester United have now gone four games without a win in all competitions following Tuesday s 0-0 Champions League draw with Valencia at Old Trafford.

Fresh from a humbling week in which they exited the EFL Cup to Derby County and lost 3-1 to West Ham in the Premier League, Jose Mourinho s side produced another lifeless display in their second continental game of the season.

A total of just five shots on target being mustered between the two sides over the whole match underlined the lack of attacking quality, with United again unable to get the best out of Alexis Sanchez, restored to the starting line-up after being dropped at the weekend.

The result means the Red Devils are second in Group H, two points behind Juventus and three above third-place Valencia, bu…

Barcelona have confirmed their stadium move for the 2023-24 season while Camp Nou undergoes renovations and revealed they will play in the city s Olympic stadium.

A significant venture for the Catalan side is currently under development, with the Espai project seeing major works conducted at both Camp Nou and the club s wider complex.

Barcelona will remain at Camp Nou for the 2022-23 season but the following year, in 2023-24, will take temporary shelter at the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys.

Formerly the home of Espanyol, the Estadic Olimpic Lluis Companys is the fifth-largest stadium in Spain with a capacity of 60,713 and hosted the Olympic Games in 1992.

We re talking about an iconic stadium from the Barcelona Olympics, an international reference poin…

After previously incurring the wrath of the Football Association (FA) for a bangers and mash kit, non-league side AFC Bedale have taken a step closer to the veg .

Last year, the FA found Bedale to be infringing sponsorship rules after they revealed a garish uniform that was essentially sausages, mashed potatoes and peas.

The club were banned from wearing it in any matches, a fact rued by the club as it had been voted worst ever kit by the Kitted Out podcast.

But undeterred by that incident, Bedale s desire to upset the applecart has grown, and they hope fans will be able to root for the team in their new kit.

Instead of a sausage, the strip s centre-piece is a carrot, which sees the shorts coloured entirely orange and then the top of the vegetable stops …

Kevin De Bruyne does not expect Belgium team-mate Eden Hazard to finalise a switch to Real Madrid until next week at the earliest.

The Chelsea forward hinted after scoring a brace in last week s Europa League final win over Arsenal that he had played his final game for the club.

And rumours surfaced on Thursday suggesting that an agreement had been reached between Madrid and Chelsea worth an initial £88million, with confirmation soon to follow.

Hazard is currently away on international duty with Belgium, however, with a couple of Euro 2020 qualifiers to come at home to Kazakhstan and Scotland over the next four days, and De Bruyne believes the 28-year-old s full focus is on the Red Devils. 

31 – Eden Hazard (16 goals, 15 assists) was directly involved…

Liverpool managed to grab all three points in what proved an extremely difficult match against a very resilient Wolverhampton Wanderers side at the Molineux on Saturday, courtesy of a late, late goal from Divock Origi.

With Chelsea previously defeated at the hands of West Ham, the Merseysiders had climbed to the top of the Premier League table for a few hours, before defending champions Manchester City beat Watford to regain the summit themselves. Liverpool are therefore in second place, one point behind City, and one ahead of Chelsea in third.

As for Wolves, this defeat didn t do them much damage for the time being. They sit in eighth place with 21 points, just six off West Ham in fourth, though they could drop one spot lower if Leicester City triumph at Villa Park on …

Chris Hughton believes Brighton and Hove Albion s team spirit will be enough to ensure they avoid relegation from the Premier League.

Brighton could have moved eight points clear of the drop zone on Tuesday, but instead are now just two above Cardiff City, who won 2-0 at the Amex Stadium and occupy the final relegation place.

The Seagulls do still have a game in hand compared to Cardiff, although their run-in includes trips to Tottenham and Arsenal, while Manchester City visit the south coast on the final day.

However, Hughton is confident that his side – who have lost four successive league games without scoring – have the quality to beat the drop.

It s still very much in our own hands and that s the way we have to look at it, he told Brighton s off…

Inaki Williams and Diego Llorente hope to use Spain s friendly with Bosnia-Herzegovina to impress coach Vicente Del Bosque ahead of Euro 2016.

The pair are two of 10 uncapped players called up for the pre-tournament friendlies, with layers from Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid absent due to their involvement in the Champions League final.

Neither are expected to force their way into the final 23, but both Williams and Llorente want to use their first experience of the senior national team to make an impact.

Being here is a prize. I want to learn and enjoy the chance I have been given, said Rayo Vallecano defender Llorente ahead of Sunday s match in Switzerland.

We re ready for whatever the coach needs, we re here to bring everything to the table …

Real Madrid have identified Olympique Lyon s Ferland Mendy as their primary defensive target this summer, according to . Having had a nightmare of a season which they ended without any trophies, Los Blancos are set to go through numerous changes in the squad during the upcoming transfer window.

The 23-year-old left-back started his professional career back in 2014/15 with Ligue 2 side Le Havre, and moved to Lyon in the summer of 2017. He has so far made a total of 76 appearances for them and scored three goals. His fine performances have reportedly attracted interest from a number of top European sides, including Real s arch-rivals Barcelona.

Real have already made first concrete steps in their attempt to bring Mendy to the Santiago Bernabeu, and the talks between the t…