Injured Jagielka withdraws from England squad

Barcelona have announced that full-back Douglas has joined Sporting Gijon on a season-long loan deal.

The 26-year-old has made just eight appearances for the first team since signing from Sao Paulo in 2014 and will now look to spark his LaLiga career into life at El Molinon.

FC Barcelona and Sporting Gijon have reached an agreement for the loan of Douglas to the Asturian club for the rest of the 2016-17 season, a Barca statement confirmed.

Sporting have made a contractual agreement that the player will be actively involved in the team during his loan year.

Douglas has only played once in Spain s top flight to date and has failed to earn a place in Luis Enrique s plans, with Aleix Vidal and Sergi Roberto preferred at right-back following Dani Alves move…

Harry Kane will join Tottenham s main training group ahead of the Premier League clash against Wolves as speculation continues over his future, said Nuno Espirito Santo.

Kane reportedly wants to leave for Premier League champions Manchester City and the star forward was absent from Tottenham s shock 1-0 first-leg loss to Pacos de Ferreira in the Europa Conference League on Thursday.

The England international remained in England to build up his fitness and head coach Nuno confirmed Kane will link up with the main group on Friday ahead of Sunday s trip to Wolves.

He trained today. He trained with the group of players that stayed in England, Nuno told reporters after the Conference League defeat.

He trained well and he is going to train tomorrow and when w…

Macedonian club FC Pobeda were on Friday banned from UEFA competitions for eight years for match-fixing, the sport s European governing body announced.

The UEFA Control and Disciplinary Body added that the club president Aleksandar Zabrcanec and player Nikolce Zdraveski have also been banned for life as a result of the investigation.

UEFA said Pobeda had been punished for breaching the principles of integrity and sportsmanship under Article 5 of the UEFA disciplinary regulations by manipulating the outcome of a match .

The investigation centred on a Champions League qualifying tie between Pobeda and Armenian side Pyunik which took place over two legs on July 13 and 21, 2004.

Charges were brought against the club due to reports of irregular betting patter…

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger believes his team are much better than the side that faced Borussia Dortmund two years ago.

Wenger s men played Dortmund in the 2011-12 UEFA Champions League group stages, taking four points from them, and they will do battle again on Tuesday in Group F of this year s competition.

Arsenal top the group after successive wins over Marseille and Napoli and they also lead the Premier League after a stunning start to the season.

Wenger feels his team have progressed substantially since the last time they met Dortmund but knows they still have room to improve.

I believe we are much better. Our young players have gained experience and maturity, Wenger said.

The consistency of our results since January shows that. We are capable to be …

Franck Ribery hopes to play on beyond the age of 40 after joining Fiorentina but says he does not intend to be a rival to Cristiano Ronaldo.

Ribery s 12-year stay at Bayern Munich concluded when his contract expired at the end of the 2018-19 season, in which he won a ninth Bundesliga title.

Following prolonged speculation about his next move, the former France winger agreed a two-year deal with La Viola.

And Ribery, who plans to follow in the footsteps of Serie A veterans such as Francesco Totti, is aiming to lead Fiorentina back into the Champions League.

We have had a very long negotiation, but I am very happy to be here in Florence, said the 36-year-old.

I saw great motivation and great confidence in me from the management, and that is why I…

Not so easy for Messi and co this year

I wonder if the balance of power in European football is about to be over-turned in this season’s champions league?

Usual

Before the competition started nearly everyone thought that the final stages would be fought out between the usual suspects. The four English clubs, the big two from Spain and maybe Jose Mourinho’s Inter, would battle it out amongst themselves.

This week though saw some surprises and some big names come bouncing back down to earth. Of course, the big guns might still dominate the later stages of the competition but isn’t it great that at the halfway point of qualification, nothing is yet certain.

Difficulties

Arsenal drew at AZ Alkm…

Paul Pogba s goal booked Manchester United s place in the EFL Cup final despite Jose Mourinho s side suffering a 2-1 defeat to Hull City on Thursday, United progressing 3-2 on aggregate.

Hull had not scored in four matches against United but Tom Huddlestone put the hosts in front from the penalty spot late in the first half.

The midfielder scored his first goal of the season as he beat David De Gea from 12 yards after a foul had been given against United defender Marcos Rojo from a Hull corner.

Hull had the better of the match, but the world s most expensive footballer proved the difference, Pogba finding the bottom corner after neat build-up play created a clear sight of goal, although Oumar Niasse set up a grandstand finish with a late goal.

Only once i…

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola was unhappy with Everton defender Yerry Mina for what he implied were underhand and unsporting tactics during their 3-0 win at Goodison Park.

The Colombia international was involved in one visible incident with Aymeric Laporte at a corner in the first half in which the City centre-back slapped his opponent in the stomach following an altercation and Mina fell to the floor.

But at the final whistle Guardiola confronted the Everton defender and remonstrated with him as he followed him off the pitch. All City’s players also refused to shake Mina’s hand.

While Guardiola refused to say what Mina had actually done, his unhappiness appeared to centre on the Colombian’s handling of opponents.

“Mina? It’s not necessa…