Ferran Torres hit a brace as Spain beat Portugal 2-0 to win the European Under-19 Championship on Saturday.

La Roja followed up their triumph at June s continental U21 tournament with another success in Armenia.

Torres opened the scoring in the 34th minute against last year s champions, converting a left-wing cross from Sevilla prospect Bryan Gil.

The Valencia forward struck again six minutes into the second half, turning and rifling home from inside the box to settle the Iberian derby.

Captain Abel Ruiz had a great chance to add a late third for Spain but scuffed his effort wide, before tempers boiled over in the closing stages.

Spain celebrated victory in the annual competition for the first time since 2015, when Marco Asensio, Dani Ceballos…

Gareth Bale may be a bit lonely at Real Madrid as uncertainty grows over his future, according to Rafael van der Vaart.

Bale, 29, has started Madrid s past two matches on the bench, coming on to score the winner from the penalty spot against Levante on Sunday.

But the Wales star celebrated angrily, leading to fresh speculation about his future at Madrid, where he arrived from Tottenham in 2013.

Bale s former Spurs team-mate Van der Vaart said the star attacker liked his space, but feels he may be struggling in Spain.

He is a very calm player. He wants to be alone, he doesn t have much contact with his team-mates, he told El Larguero on Tuesday.

In Spain it is important to speak Spanish and I think he is a bit lonely in the team.

Bale, w…

Ashley Young insists Manchester United have not been in awe of Manchester City s performances this season.

Pep Guardiola s side won the EFL Cup final against Arsenal last week and are cruising towards the Premier League title, with a 15-point lead at the top ahead of their meeting with champions Chelsea on Sunday.

Barring a dramatic collapse in the coming weeks, it will be the second time City have been crowned champions in the last five seasons, while United have not been close to a title triumph since Alex Ferguson s retirement in 2013.

But Young insists they have plenty to play for domestically and in the Champions League and says City are not discussed by the squad.

We aren t in awe of Man City, he told The Daily Mail. They have had a good season, yo…

Gareth Southgate backed Harry Kane to return to form with England as they prepare for October s World Cup qualifiers.

Southgate s side are set to face Andorra and Hungary but their captain Kane comes into next month s internationals out of form with Tottenham.

Despite collecting the Premier League Golden Boot last campaign, the 28-year-old has struggled this term, failing to score or assist in 378 top-flight minutes attempting just nine shots and creating only four chances.

Kane s international form, by contrast, has not dropped, with the forward netting in 15 consecutive games across the World Cup and European Championship qualifiers.

However, Southgate remained firm on his stance about his star striker as he expressed his support for Kane, who is on hi…

Ernesto Valverde praised Lionel Messi for always delivering after the star guided Barcelona past Manchester United and into the Champions League semi-finals.

Messi scored a first-half brace and Philippe Coutinho added Barca s third in a 3-0 win over United at Camp Nou on Tuesday, a result that sealed a 4-0 aggregate success.

The goals were Messi s first in the Champions League quarter-finals since April 2013 as Barca moved into a last-four meeting with either Liverpool or Porto.

Valverde was predictably delighted with Messi, who is up to 45 goals in all competitions this season.

Messi always appears, he told Movistar. Not only in moments, but in the games as a whole.

He scores but is also the offensive weight of our team.

Now we just n…

It has been a while back that Ajax were interested in signing Dušan Tadić from Southampton, and now claim that the Dutch club have actually made contact with the Saints to inquire about and discuss a potential deal. According to their sources, the negotiations between the two clubs are ongoing, and one of those sources even goes as far as believing the deal to be likely as the winger believes the time is right to return to Holland.

After starting his professional career with Serbian club Vojvodina, Tadić had a pair of two-year spells in Holland. In the summer of 2010 he moved to Groningen, and moved on to Twente in 2012, before joining Southampton two years later. So far, he has made 162 appearances for the Saints and scored 23 goals in the process. He is currently at the …

Karen Carney will bring her playing career to an end when England face Sweden in Saturday s Women s World Cup third-place game and says she has given heart and soul to the Lionesses.

Since making her senior international debut as a 17-year-old in 2005, Carney went on to become a key member of the England squad, playing in four World Cups and winning 143 caps.

The silky-skilled Chelsea midfielder, who can play on either flank or in an advanced central role, announced on Friday she will retire from club and national team duty at the end of England s stay in France.

She had hoped to sign off as a World Cup winner, but defeat to the United States in the semi-finals means England will play for bronze.

Carney has started all of England s games at France 2019 on…

A failure to invest sufficiently in the playing squad, the lack of an effective strategy for the future and poor recruitment during the early years of this decade has eroded United s domestic pre-eminence to the unthinkable point where the Red Devils are by no means guaranteed Champions League qualification, let alone certain to mount the perennial title challenge they took for granted for 20 years from 1993 onwards. 

Louis van Gaal s underwhelming second season saw the team fail to seize the unique chance presented to them by the simultaneously weak campaigns produced at Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester City.

Now, 2016-17 looms as potentially one of the most competitive in Premier League history, with Pep Guardiola and Antonio Conte arriving at the …

When Real Madrid host Barcelona at Santiago Bernabeu on Sunday, two of the best players the game has ever seen will be looking to lead their respective teams to victory.

Cristiano Ronaldo is without doubt Madrid s go-to guy when it matters most, while Lionel Messi has developed into the Catalans undisputed star man since making his senior debut in 2004-05.

The two have dominated the sport like no others before them, winning nine Ballons d Or between them since 2008. Who is the better player of the two, though? 

Fans of the Argentine will point to his five Ballon d Or awards and his numerous trophies with Barcelona.

Those in favour of the Portuguese will highlight the fact he has not only done it in LaLiga with Madrid, but has also enjoyed success�…

Manchester United great Paul Scholes returned to action for his local non-league team on Saturday – but he was unable to prevent Royton Town from losing 1-0 to Stockport Georgians.

Scholes donned the number eight jersey for Royton, whom his son Arron plays for, when they found themselves without a raft of senior players.

Word of the 11-time Premier League winner stepping out in the 11th tier of English football soon got out, with plenty of fans in attendance to see him roll back the years.

Usually these sort of games attract 40 or 50 people but there were a lot more there when word got out that he was playing, Royton chairman Gary Leeming told BBC Sport.

I can t imagine Stockport Georgians have ever had so many people on their car park.

Good …