Football: Midweek Action

Premier League 
Palace vs Bournemouth
19:30

Burnley vs Man City
20:15

Ligue 1 
Angers vs Marseille
18:00

Bordeaux vs Nimes
18:00

Brest vs Strasbourg
18:00

Lyon vs Lille
20:05

Coppa Italia
Cremonese vs Empoli
14:00

Genoa vs Ascoli
17:00

Fiorentina vs Cittadella
20:00

Saturday's crop of matches

England
12:30 Tottenham vs Arsenal
15:00 Bournemouth vs Man City
15:00 Brighton vs Huddersfield
15:00 Man Utd vs Southampton
15:00 Wolverhampton vs Cardiff
17:30 West Ham vs Newcastle

Spain
12:00 Espanyol vs Valladolid
15:15 Villarreal vs Alaves
17:30 Huesca vs Sevilla
19:45 Real Madrid vs Barcelona

Germany
14:30 Frankfurt vs Hoffeinham
14:30 Hertha vs Mainz 05
14:30 Leverkusen vs Freiburg
14:30 Nurnberg vs Leipzig
14:30 Schalke vs Dusseldorf
17:30 M'gladbach vs Bayern

Italy
14:00 Empoli vs Parma
17:00 Milan vs Sassuolo
19:30 Lazio vs Roma

France
16:00 Caen vs PSG
19:00 Angers vs Monaco
19:00 Nimes vs Rennes
19:00 Reims vs Amiens

Scotland
15:00 Kilmarnock vs Motherwell
15:00 st. Mirren vs Livingston

Netherlands
17:30 Heracles vs Utrecht
18:45 Excelsior vs PSV
18:45 Vitesse vs NAC

Player Profile - Vinicius Junior

Vinicius Junior against Barcelona in 2019

Vinícius José Paixão de Oliveira Júnior was born on 12 July 2000 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 
He spent his youth career at Flamengo where he was promoted to their senior side in 2017. 

He made his debute for Flamengo on 13 May 2017 as an 82nd-minute substitute in a 1–1 draw against Atlético Mineiro.

He extended his contract with the club from 2019 until 2022, with a significant salary increase and a buyout clause increase from €30 million to €45 million

His first professional goal was against Palestino in a Copa Sudamericana. 
He made 37 appearances and scored 7 times for the Brazilian club. 
He signed for Real Madrid in a national record for an U-18 player, €45 million deal, which was made effective after his 18th birthday. 

The Vinicius deal to Real Madrid is the second most expensive sale of a player in the history of Brazilian football behind only Neymar.


After Madrid officially presenting Vinícius as a Real Madrid player on 20th July 2018, he made his debut on 29 September 2018, coming in as an 87th minute substitute in a goalless draw against Atlético Madrid.

Vinícius made his first start on 31 October in a 4–0 Copa del Rey away victory against Melilla

Vinicius playing for Brazil 

Vinicius Junior training at Real Madrid 

Fans reactions after the EL Clasico

Barcelona won the 2nd leg of the Copa del Rey semifinal after beating rivals Real Madrid 0:3 at the Bernabeu on Wednesday night.

After a 1:1 draw in the Camp Nou, Madrid couldn't capitalize on their away goal.

A brace from Luis Suarez and a Verane own goal helped sail Barca through to the final with a 1:4 win on aggregate.

Barca will face either Valencia or Betis in the final.

Here are some tweets from the El Clasico 

Football matches around the world

Wednesday 27 February 2019

English premiership

19:45 Arsenal vs Bournemouth 

19:45 Southampton vs Fulham 

20:00 Crystal Palace vs Man Utd 

20:00 Chelsea vs Tottenham 

20:00 liverpool vs Watford 

20:00 Man city vs West Ham 

Scottish premiership 

19:45 Aberdeen vs Hamilton 

19:45 Hearts vs Celtic 

19:45 Kilmarnock vs Motherwell 

19:45 Rangers vs Dundee 

19:45 St Johnstone vs Hibernian

Spanish Copa del Rey 

20:00 Madrid vs Barcelona 

France FA cup 

19:30 Rennes vs Orleans 

20:00 Lyon vs Caen 

Coppa Italia semi finals

20:00 Fiorentina vs Atalanta 

Real Madrid vs Barcelona (score prediction and lineups)

Madrid forward Vinicius Junior 

This is looking like Real Madrid's best chance at ending the season with a trophy. A win or a scoreless draw puts the club in the final. 

The two fierce rivals will play twice this week, first on Wednesday in the Copa del Rey and then again on Saturday at Santiago Bernabeu in the league. 

Real Madrid holds a slight advantage over Barca following a 1:1 draw in the first leg at the Camp Nou.  

The last time Real Madrid played El Clasico at home without Ronaldo was on May 2, 2009. Barcelona won that match 6-2, with braces from Lionel Messi and Thierry Henry.

Barcelona and Real Madrid have never played to a 0-0 draw as the Cope del Rey history tells us  

27 February 2019 
20:00 GMT

What you need to know about the big game - Chelsea vs Tottenham

Chelsea defender Emerson

After Sunday's impressive cup final against Man City, Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri believes his side is improving but need to find consistency against next opponent Tottenham at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea began the season with an 18 match unbeaten run which was halted by Tottenham in November.

Both teams would try to bounce back from the defeats they suffered in their last outings.

Chelsea will be looking to finish the season in the top 4 while Tottenham still hopes a win at Chelsea will keep them in contention for the premier league trophy.

27 February, 2019
20:00 GMT

Build up to the big game - Lazio vs Milan

Milan defeated Napoli by 3 goals to nil in their quarterfinal game. 

After an intensed 1:1 quarterfinal game against Inter which saw Lazio player Radu being sent off in the extra time. Lazio won 3:4 on penalties.

Ciro Immobile is Lazio's top scorer with 4 goals. 

Piatek has 2 goals for Milan. 

Both teams face each other for a place in the final which will take place on 15 May 2019.

Winner from this match will face either Atalanta or Fiorentina in the 2nd semifinal match tomorrow 27 February.

A brief history about Coppa Italia
Juventus is the competition's most successful club with 13 wins, followed by Roma with 9. Juventus has contested the most finals with 18, followed by Roma with 17 finals. The winner automatically qualifies for both the UEFA Europa League group stage and the Supercoppa Italiana the following year.

Current champion: Juventus F.C. (13th title)

Most successful club(s): Juventus (13 titles)

Alex Sandro to Chelsea in January

Chelsea are reportedly maintaining their interest in Brazil international Alex Sandro whom they hope to pursue from Juventus during the winter transfer window.

The 26-year-old has been a vital player in the Bianconeri ranks helping them to two Serie A crowns in his past two seasons in Turin.

Antonio Conte's side failed with multiple attempts to land the left-sided defender in the summer, and according to The Mirror, they will try again for his signature in the New Year.

The Premier League holders are prepared to make a £60m bid for Sandro in January as they seek to find a suitable competitor to Marcos Alonso for the left wing-back spot.

Conte has been constantly linked with a return to his native Italy, but the Blues' hierarchy are doing their best to prolong the 48-year-old's stay at Stamford Bridge.

The former Italy coach was rewarded with an improved deal earlier in the summer, but he refused to extend his contract beyond the summer of 2019.

Legendary striker Alan Shearer to inspire England's final push towards World Cup qualification.

Gareth Southgate has turned to legendary striker Alan Shearer to inspire England's final push towards World Cup qualification.

Manager Southgate is set to unleash an attacking quartet of Harry Kane, Raheem Sterling, Marcus Rashford and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain as he looks for the win over Slovenia that will book a place at Russia 2018.
And the 47-year-old has enlisted the help of his old international team-mate Shearer, who scored 30 times in 63 games for his country.

The former Newcastle forward met the squad on Tuesday and Kane, who captains England, said: 'He came in and spoke to the lads. It was great to hear from him.
'The lads were attached to him telling the stories about England and his career, what he'd come through, the ups and downs.
'It was great to hav
e an England legend come in with his experience.'

Jupp Heynckes, the new Bayern Munich manager?

The 72-year-old is set to return for a fourth spell in charge of the German champions, who he led to a Bundesliga, German Cup and Champions League treble in 2013.
Heynckes retired after that successful season but is believed to have agreed a contract until the end of the season.
Bayern sacked Ancelotti as manager following last month's 3-0 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain, with his assistant Willy Sagnol taking charge of the team on an interim basis.
They drew 2-2 at Hertha Berlin last Sunday, leaving them five points behind leaders Borussia Dortmund.
Former Dortmund boss Thomas Tuchel had been strongly linked with the Bayern job, as was Hoffenheim's Julian Nagelsmann.
Bayern's next fixture is at home to Freiburg on October 14, and four days later they welcome Celtic to the Allianz Arena in the Champions League

WHAT IS REALLY WRONG WITH BARCELONA?!

According to manager Luis Enrique, his team's downturn is a simple case of bad luck.
That, at least, was his explanation for their latest setback, Sunday's 2-1 home defeat by Valencia, when he claimed he was happy with the performance and that "we only lacked the necessary fortune to win the game".
The local media agreed, with newspaper Mundo Deportivo's front page on Monday featuring a headline which lamented: "1-2. How unfair!"
It is true that Barca created plenty of chances to claim three points: Suarez headed over from close range, Gerard Pique dragged a golden chance wide and visiting keeper Diego Alves made excellent saves from Messi (twice), Ivan Rakitic and Neymar. In addition, Valencia's opener was a freak own goal as Rakitic deflected a cross into the net.

Similarly, Barca's other recent defeats have contained moments of ill fortune.
In the home defeat by Real Madrid that started the rot, for example, Barca flew out of the blocks and should have taken the lead when Suarez inexplicably mis-kicked in front of an open goal. Bad finishing rather than bad luck, true, but the outcome may have been very different if he had scored.
And in stoppage time at the end of their decisive Champions League defeat by Atletico Madrid, Barca were denied a penalty when home captain Gabi blocked Andres Iniesta's goalbound shot with his arm clearly inside the area, only for referee Nicola Rizzoli to judge wrongly that the offence had taken place outside the box.

So things have gone against them - but they have benefited from the rub of the green too. Gareth Bale had a goal disallowed harshly in the Clasico defeat, while Iniesta was lucky to avoid a red card for a deliberate handball at Atletico.
Bad luck, then, is not the only answer to Barca's malaise. So what is?

AGBONLAHOR SUSPENDED BY ASTON VILLA

Aston Villa have suspended striker Gabriel Agbonlahor and begun an investigation after he was allegedly pictured with laughing gas canisters.

According to reports, the 29-year-old was pictured partying in London on the same night Villa were relegated.

Agbonlahor was already on the sidelines after being told he was not fit enough.
He was suspended by Villa earlier this month after he was pictured appearing to hold a shisha pipe while in Dubai, but the club took no further action.
Villa were relegated from the Premier League after losing 1-0 to Manchester United at Old Trafford on Saturday.

They are bottom of the table after collecting only 16 points from 34 games.
The West Midlands outfit are also without a manager following the sacking of Frenchman Remi Garde and have been hit by two key resignations.
Former Football Association chairman David Bernstein and Lord King, a former Governor of the Bank of England, both quit the board on Monday.

EVERTON CLOSER TO 200M TAKEOVER

Kenwright has conducted a search for investment for more than a decade.
But the latest moves are felt by those close to the club as representing the most positive and hopeful development since the theatre impresario indicated his willingness to sell.
Kenwright, who bought the club from Peter Johnson for £20m on 26 December 1999, said as far back as November 2007: "If the right person stands in front of me and wants to take this club forward, then I will sell."
Former Everton midfielder Peter Reid told BBC Radio 5 Live that the club needed new investment and a new ground.
"We've got a great squad of players and a good manager, but we need to get a new stadium to keep pace with the other clubs in this Premier League," he said. "You need the revenue that generates.
"If Bill Kenwright says it's OK, let's get it done."
After years of inactivity regarding a sale, it is understood there has been a growing iintent to do a deal in recent months, fuelled by growing, serious interest from a number of groups.
If the deal is completed, it would mean both Merseyside Premier League clubs would be under American stewardship.
Moores, who bought baseball team San Diego Padres from Liverpool chairman Tom Werner for $80m (£53.7m) in 1994, is believed to be worth about £500m.
Moores and Noell have a background in technology.
Moores founded BMC software and also JMI Equity, a venture capitalism arm of his empire, which Noell helped to co-found.

ANALYSIS ON ZOUMA'S INJURY

Kurt Zouma's serious knee injury is a bitter blow to an outstanding young player, ruling him out of the rest of this season and France's Euro 2016 bid.
It may, however, open the door to fresh possibilities for his two experienced central defensive team-mates at Chelsea, John Terry and Gary Cahill.
Terry reiterated on Sunday that he has had no dialogue with Chelsea since he left the club's hierarchy bemused by announcing he was not getting a new contract and would leave at the end of the season.
Will Chelsea now be tempted to revisit negotiations to buy time and see how Zouma recovers - or is owner Roman Abramovich's mind made up and it is the end of the road for the 35-year-old iconic club captain?
Cahill, meanwhile, was reported as being unsettled in January after falling behind Zouma and seeing his own Euro 2016 prospects being hit by a lack of first-team football.
He will now be right back in the frame, ready to secure his Chelsea future and cement his place in England's plans for France this summer.

ZOUMA OUT FOR SIX MONTHS AND NEEDS SURGERY

Chelsea defender Kurt Zouma faces six months out because he needs surgery on the knee injury he suffered on Sunday.

The 21-year-old landed awkwardly after contesting a high ball and was taken off on a stretcher in the 1-1 Premier League draw with Manchester United.
"Scan today has shown I injured my anterior cruciate ligament. I will have surgery this week and will come back stronger," Zouma tweeted.
Chelsea said he would be out for "approximately six months".
The France centre-back has made 32 appearances for the Blues this term.
The most recent of his two France caps was in an international friendly with Denmark in October.
France host this year's European Championship, which begins in June.
Zouma and John Terry have become preferred starters in central defence as Chelsea have gone nine matches without defeat under interim manager Guus Hiddink.

BARCELONA ONE MATCH AWAY FROM SETTING A NEW RECORD

Barcelona boss Luis Enrique says "there is still a long way to go" this season after the treble chasers equalled a club record of 28 unbeaten games.

Sunday's win over Levante was their 10th in a row and if they do not lose to Valencia on Wednesday, they will break the record set in 2010-11.
It was Enrique's 100th game in charge.
"More than statistics, I am interested in the collective objectives that we have and we can only reach them at the end of the season," said Enrique.
"We are very well-positioned in all competitions, but there is a long way to go."
Barcelona, who won the treble in Enrique's first season in charge, are top of La Liga by three points from Atletico Madrid with a game in hand.
They face Arsenal in the Champions League last 16, and Valencia in the Copa del Rey semi-final, having won the first leg 7-0.
"We're getting things right," said Barca left-back Jordi Alba. "It's quite some achievement to go 28 games without losing. We have to stay top.
"At the Mestalla, we'll go out to win the match as we always have done. The first leg result was very favourable, but we still have to look to win the second leg, so it's an important match."

"MOURINHO LINK TO UNITED IS INVENTED" - LOUIS van GAAL

Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal has responded angrily to speculation about his job after it emerged Jose Mourinho is in talks with the club.

The BBC has learned that former Chelsea boss Mourinho could be set to take over at United this summer.
Asked about his future, Van Gaal, 64, accused media of "inventing" the story and said there was no need for United to issue any kind of denial.
Van Gaal's contract runs until the end of next season.
Speaking after Sunday's 1-1 draw at Chelsea, he was involved in a frosty exchange with a reporter in the post-match news conference.
Van Gaal questioned whether the reporter had spoken to either Ed Woodward, the club's chief executive, or the Glazers, the owners, to find out what was going on behind the scenes.
Instead of writing stories about his future, Van Gaal said the media should be praising his team for their recent performances, including the one that gave them a point against Chelsea.
"It was not a 'boring' match," insisted the former Ajax, Barcelona and Bayern Munich manager.
"For the third game in succession, our football was sparkling. So I hope to get the support of the media this week. But you write what you like."
He also referenced Sir Alex Ferguson's three years without a trophy at the start of his United reign, clearly insinuating that things would get better under him.
"Maybe you remember the difficult first years of Fergie," said Van Gaal. "You have to study... study statistics."
He has clashed with the media before.
Last month, the former Netherlands coach claimed journalists had "sacked" him three times already this season.
United had the better of the first 70 minutes at Stamford Bridge and led through Jesse Lingard's goal, only for Diego Costa to equalise in added time.
United lie fifth in the Premier League table, six points short of the top four.

"I WANT SOLUTION TO TICKET ROW" says LIVERPOOL BOSS KLOPP

Several thousand supporters walked out on Saturday before Liverpool threw away a 2-0 lead to draw 2-2 with Sunderland.
A supporters' group had urged fans to leave their seats in the 77th minute in protest at the £77 top-priced ticket in the new main stand next term.

"It's not what we want," said Klopp, who missed the game with appendicitis.
"What I know is everyone in the club has a big interest in finding a solution for this.





"LFC thanks fans for submitting questions for tonight's Q&A however due to ongoing ticketing discussions, this will no longer take place," said a statement on the club's Twitter account

I AM STAYING AT REAL MADRID - RONALDO

Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo says he will not leave the club before his contract expires in 2018.

The 31-year-old Portugal captain has been continually linked with former club Manchester United, who sold him to Real in 2008, and Paris St-Germain.
"I want to stay here two more years. The two years I'm talking about take me to the end of my contract," he is quoted as saying by AS.
"And the future, we'll see."
Ronaldo was speaking at an event to collect his Pichichi trophy, which he won for being last season's La Liga top scorer with 48.
"This is the best league in the world, although I also played in the Premier League," he said.
"It's fantastic, competitive, and with great players. It is a privilege to leave my mark on it."