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Xavi bemoaned the state of the Coliseum Alfonso Perez pitch after Sergi Roberto was injured in Barcelona s goalless LaLiga draw at Getafe on Sunday.

The misfiring Blaugrana were held at relegation-threatened Getafe after failing to score for a third consecutive game.

Barcelona remain well on course to win the title, leading Real Madrid by 11 points with nine games to play, but were left to rue their lack of a cutting edge once again.

Sergi Roberto was replaced by Eric Garcia early on due to a hamstring injury and Xavi put that down to the playing surface.

The head coach said, according to Marca: The state of the grass has affected us. Yesterday we trained with a dry field. I have been criticised a lot for the issue of the surface. Today the whole world ha…

Ainsley Maitland-Niles has committed his future to Arsenal after signing a long-term contract extension with the club.

The versatile youngster joined Arsenal s academy when he was nine years old and made 28 appearances for the first team during the 2017-18 season.

At 17, he made his debut and became Arsenal s second-youngest Champions League player when he came off the bench against Galatasaray, making his Premier League debut four days later against Newcastle United. 

Maitland-Niles spent the 2015-16 season on loan at Ipswich Town and has also captained the England Under-20 side, playing a key role as they won the World Cup for the first time in 2017.

Arsenal also confirmed Maitland-Niles will wear the number 15 shirt next season.

New season…

Garry Monk is the man charged with helping Middlesbrough to promotion next season

At the start of last season, I have to admit I thought Middlesbrough would have enough about them to stay in the Premier League. Under Aitor Karanka Boro were a very well drilled team.

Unfortunately, a solid defensive set-up was not enough, as the north east side suffered relegation, having scored the fewest goals in the Premier League.

Karanka’s temporarily replacement Steve Agnew did very little to convince that he was the man to take the club forward. However, the club now have appointed a bright young head coach in Garry Monk.

Monk has shown promise in his short managerial career

Good young British bosses are short on the ground. Clubs prefer to use foreign bo…

According to a recent report from Calciomercato, Lazio star Sergej Milinkovic-Savic is on the verge of finally agreeing to a new five-year contract with the club. The midfielder was heavily linked with a switch to both Manchester United and Juventus during the recent summer transfer window, but neither club was able to get a deal over the finish line. Milinkovic-Savic has been a constant force in the middle of the park for Lazio for a while now, and it appears as if the Italian giants will succeed in their mission to keep him on the books for the foreseeable future.

The 24 year old Serbian first joined Lazio back in 2015 from Genk, and has made well over 100 appearances for the club. He has also been representing his country at the national team level since back in 2017, which …

Wilfried Zaha has always dreamed of playing for Arsenal, according to his brother, who has pleaded with Crystal Palace to agree a deal with the Gunners.

Reports on Monday suggested Arsenal had lodged a bid of £40million for Zaha – half of Palace s rumoured £80m valuation for the 26-year-old, who has four years left to run on his deal at Selhurst Park.

As speculation began to circulate on Monday, Zaha – who netted 10 goals in the Premier League last term – scored in Ivory Coast s 4-1 Africa Cup of Nations win over Namibia.

Meanwhile, his brother Judicael urged Palace to cut a deal with Arsenal.

Wilfried will always hold Crystal Palace and their fans in the highest regard and all the support they ve given means the world to him, Judicael told Sky …

Barcelona s stars have stopped being surprised by Lionel Messi s continued brilliance, according to midfielder Sergio Busquets.

The Argentinian superstar has once again been in imperious form this season, scoring 43 goals in 40 games across all competitions.

Busquets has played alongside the 31-year-old for more than a decade and says there is nothing Barca s players have not seen the unique Messi do.

We have the good fortune to train with him every day, he told the Daily Mail.

I ve spent the last 11 years with him, so you get that greater concentration of him doing these things.

We re not quite as surprised by it all. There isn t a goal he s scored on the pitch that we haven t seen in training and he s also repeating goals he has scored in pr…

South Africa survived a late penalty scare to knock pre-tournament favourites Morocco out of the Africa Cup of Nations and reach the quarter-finals.

Bafana Bafana were the better side and eventually ran out 2-0 winners over the 2022 World Cup semi-finalists – who had Sofyan Amrabat sent off in the closing stages after Achraf Hakimi had missed from the spot.

South Africa won just one group game to reach the knockout stages while Morocco had dominated Group F as they went in search of just a second AFCON title.

Just a bunch of winners standing on Business !!!!

Bring on the Quarter Finals!

— Bafana Bafana (@BafanaBafana)

It was Hugo Broos’ side, however, who would hit the front as Evidence Makgopa finished off a flowing move with a…

Champions League holders Liverpool need at least a point against Salzburg to secure their progression from Group E, though they will come up against an Erling Haaland in sensational form.

Salzburg s youngster has found the net in all of their group games so far this season and will become the first player to convert in his first six Champions League appearances should he score for Salzburg against the Reds.

Barcelona have top spot in Group F secured but Inter still have it all to play for on Tuesday as they look to edge out Borussia Dortmund, and Antonio Conte s side have no Lionel Messi to worry about, with Ernesto Valverde resting Barca s talisman.

Chelsea will look to end a five-match winless run at home in the Champions League to ensure their place in the las…

Fran Kirby says England will lean on the experience of head coach Sarina Wiegman in their Women s Euros semi-final showdown with Sweden.

Wiegman s side are seeking a third appearance in the final of this competition when they clash with the 1984 champions at Bramall Lane on Tuesday and first since 2009.

Following their dramatic quarter-final victory over Spain, the Lionesses are now unbeaten in 18 matches, while Sweden have not lost since a 2-1 defeat by Denmark in March 2020.

The tournament hosts will also be aiming to avoid a fourth successive semi-final defeat in major competitions, having fallen at this stage of the 2017 European Championship as well as the World Cup in 2015 and 2019.

Meanwhile, Wiegman is looking to lift this trophy for the second t…

Massimiliano Allegri says Juventus are a different beast to the one who stumbled in the Champions League final two years ago and he will accept nothing but victory against Real Madrid on Saturday.

As they will be in Cardiff, Juve sought a treble when they faced Barcelona in Berlin, but they were left dented by a 3-1 defeat.

Allegri freely admits that his side then had not reached the final out of expectation, but he says with a sixth straight Serie A title and the Coppa Italia in the bag that this year feels much different.

He told a news conference: In 2015 we got to the final but at the same time we were not strongly motivated, we were not confident enough because we had lots of years of struggle in the Champions League.

We certainly didn t end up in …