Zlatan Ibrahimovic insisted Serie A leaders Milan need the  courage to dream  of lifting their first league trophy in 10 years.

Ibrahimovic was Milan s joint top goalscorer, netting 14 times, when the Rossoneri lifted their 18th and last Scudetto in 2011.

The 39-year-old has been in near unstoppable form this campaign, scoring 10 goals in six league matches to fire Stefano Pioli s undefeated Milan to a three-point lead over city rivals Inter atop the table after 11 rounds.

Defending champions Juventus have dominated Serie A over the past decade but Ibrahimovic is full of belief that Milan can prevent the Old Lady from clinching a 10th successive title.

The team must have the courage to dream of winning the Scudetto, we have a long way ahead, said Ibra…

Luka Modric acknowledged Real Madrid are in a very difficult situation with their Champions League hopes in the balance following another defeat to Shakhtar Donetsk.

Madrid crashed to a 2-0 loss at Shakhtar on Tuesday in a result which leaves the LaLiga champions third in Group B and facing group-stage elimination heading into the final matchday.

Upstaged by Deportivo Alaves in LaLiga on Saturday, Madrid slumped to back-to-back defeats after succumbing to second-half strikes from Dentinho and Manor Solomon in Kiev.

Madrid have now conceded nine goals in the Champions League this season, their worst defensive total at this stage in the competition s history.

Zinedine Zidane s side also lost to Shakhtar at home and so trail Tuesday s opponents due to thei…

Alexandra Popp said it would be the icing on the cake if she wins the Golden Boot and Germany lift the trophy in Sunday s Euro 2022 final against England.

Popp appears to be in a straight shoot-out with England s Beth Mead for the top goalscorer prize, with both players having netted six goals from five games.

Having returned from a long knee injury lay-off to make her mark, the 31-year-old Germany captain instinctively ranks winning the tournament far above the prospect of an individual accolade.

She converted two crosses from Svenja Huth, one with a smart volley and the other with a powerful header, as Germany beat France 2-1 in Wednesday s semi-final.

Mead was among the scorers as England crushed Sweden 4-0 on Tuesday to become the first team into the …

Nico Williams climbed off the bench to score the winner as Athletic Bilbao came from behind to beat Atletico Madrid 2-1 and reach the Supercopa de Espana final at King Fahd Stadium.

Atleti looked set to face city rivals Real Madrid in the final after Unai Simon s unfortunate own goal put them in front in the second half.

But Athletic mounted a fightback, Yeray Alvarez equalising and substitute Williams completing the comeback with nine minutes to play in Riyadh, where Jose Maria Gimenez saw red late on.

The holders and LaLiga leaders Madrid will do battle for the first trophy of the season on Sunday.

All over in Riyadh.

— Atlético de Madrid (@atletienglish)

Joao Felix had the ball in the back of the net only eight seconds into t…

Former Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal has warned compatriot Erik ten Hag against taking the managerial reins at Old Trafford this summer.

Speaking at a media conference ahead of the Netherlands  friendly against Germany, Van Gaal said the in-demand Ajax coach should choose a football club, not a commercial club.

Van Gaal spent two years in the Old Trafford dugout between 2014 and 2016, bringing the club their first major trophy since Alex Ferguson s retirement when he led them to the FA Cup in 2016.

With the Red Devils interim boss Ralf Rangnick widely expected to vacate the post to focus on a consultancy role with the club after an underwhelming season, Van Gaal has warned Ten Hag, considered one of the frontrunners for the job, against making the mo…

Middlesbrough have completed a double swoop for Melbourne City keeper Tom Glover and Central Coast Mariners midfielder Sam Silvera.

Both free agent Glover, 25, and 22-year-old Silvera, who has joined for an undisclosed fee, have signed three-year deals at the Riverside Stadium.

Glover, an A-League title winner in 2020-21, was on the opposing side as Silvera’s Mariners took the prize at the end of last season.

He will provide competition for Liam Roberts and Sol Brynn and plug the gap left by Zack Steffen following his return to Manchester City after last season’s loan spell.

A product of Tottenham’s Academy, Glover did not make a senior appearance for the North London club before moving back home to Melbourne in August 2019 after loan spells with Ce…

Stefano Pioli warned his Milan players against complacency after they took a significant stride towards Champions League qualification with a resounding 3-0 win over top-four rivals Juventus on Sunday. 

Brahim Diaz opened the scoring on the stroke of half-time before Franck Kessie missed the opportunity to double their advantage shortly before the hour mark, when Wojciech Szczesny pawed away his penalty. 

It mattered little in the end, though, as substitute Ante Rebic and Fikayo Tomori sealed a first away Serie A win against the Bianconeri since March 2011 inside the final 12 minutes. 

The victory was Milan s 14th away from home in the league this season, with only Inter in 2006-07 (15) registering more in a single campaign in the history of the competitio…

Old Trafford will not bring Roma many happy memories when they return for their Europa League semi-final first leg against Manchester United on Thursday.

The Giallorossi first made the trip to Manchester in April 2007, having won the home leg of their Champions League last-eight tie.

That had been the sides first ever meeting and it remains Roma s sole win in six attempts. Three times they have lost at United and the pick of those matches, in 2006-07, saw a remarkable 7-1 humbling.

With the use of Opta data, we look back on that evening and what it meant for those involved.
 

Roma s ruins

This was a major European quarter-final and Roma were set to be far from straightforward opposition for United.

The 2-1 win for the hosts at the Stadio…

Giuseppe Marotta missed out on signing Erling Haaland when the superstar striker was valued at a snip of his current value, while the Inter chief cannot see Paul Pogba ever returning to Serie A.

Now at Borussia Dortmund, Norway international Haaland is rated in the top bracket of the world s most lethal finishers, and he has been linked with the biggest clubs in Europe.

Marotta, Inter s chief executive for sport, has disclosed that during his time in a similar role at Juventus, there was an opportunity to snap up Haaland for what now would look like a bargain fee.

Speaking at the Festival dello Sport, Marotta said: A big miss in my career? I say Haaland. When I was at Juve, I could get him for about €2-2.5million.

But at the time we didn t have t…

Everton will be without star playmaker James Rodriguez as Carlo Ancelotti takes on his former club Chelsea on Saturday.

James, 29, sustained a minor calf problem in last week s 1-1 Premier League draw at Burnley and has not trained this week.

Everton have lost their last two home games against Leeds United and Manchester United, dropping to ninth in the table after topping the standings in the early stages of 2020-21.

Ancelotti has not lost three straight home league games as a manager since 2006 with Milan, while March 2016 was the last time it happened for Everton.

They will now bid to avoid that fate at Goodison Park against an in-form Chelsea side who sit third in the table.

We have James out – he had a little problem in the game against B…