Football throws up so many twists, turns and scenarios. Thanks to COVID-19, Spanish football will dish up something truly unique in April.

Two Copa del Rey finals will take place in the space of a fortnight after the 2020 decider was postponed amid the coronavirus pandemic, with Athletic Bilbao front and centre.

Athletic will face rivals Real Sociedad in the mouthwatering rescheduled final on April 3 before going head-to-head with Lionel Messi s Barcelona in the 2021 showpiece on April 17.

Unfortunately, fans are barred from attending Derbi Vasco in Seville, one of Spain s most famous rivalries as the Basque region is split between Athletic and La Real.

But it still represents a mammoth occasion in the inter-city rivalry, with Athletic – spearheaded by …

Anthony Gordon insists he was never desperate to leave Everton after being linked with a move to Chelsea in the recent transfer window.

Reports claimed Chelsea were willing to pay up to £60million to prise the 21-year-old away from Goodison Park, while Tottenham and Newcastle United were also rumoured to be interested.

However, the move never materialised and Gordon has enjoyed a promising start to the season for the Toffees, scoring twice in their opening seven matches.

And while the forward expected speculation over a possible exit, he was never the one pushing for a move.

That s [speculation] part and parcel of football, Gordon told reporters.

When you re doing well there s always going to be speculation. But the place is so good that it s n…

France s hopes of automatic qualification for the FIFA World Cup hang by a thread heading into Tuesday s match in Belarus.

Didier Deschamps men drew 0-0 with Georgia on Friday and, with Spain winning in Finland, they now trail the Group I leaders by three points with just two games left to play.

Goals have proven hard to come by for the French in recent matches, with Les Bleus having drawn a blank in their last five outings.

The stalemate in Tbilisi underlined their woes in front of goal, with Olivier Giroud and Karim Benzema both guilty of wasting the kind of opportunities that they have been putting away for their club sides.

France do at least have the comfort of a five-point gap over the third-placed Finns, which should ensure that they claim a play-off spot …

Stoke City striker Kenwyne Jones has said that there is “no truths” in reports suggesting that he was set for new contract talks at the club,

The Trinidad-and-Tobago front man’s current deal at the Britannia Stadium is set to expire at the end of this season, and manager Mark Hughes has said that a new deal will have to be earned.

The 28 year old has made 85 Premier League appearances for the Potters since signing from Sunderland in 2010, while he also played for the club thirteen times in a loan spell towards the end of the 2004/05 campaign, while they were in the Championship.

He moved to England in 2004 when he signed for Southampton, while he also had a brief loan spell Sheffield Wednesday before his first spell at Stoke.

Internationally,…

For the first time in nine years, there is a void where Lionel Messi s greatest rival for the title of LaLiga s best player once stood and, in theory, Antoine Griezmann should be the one to step up and fill it.

The France star could easily have been playing alongside Messi at Barcelona had things gone a little differently in pre-season, but instead he will line up against Real Madrid for Atletico on Saturday.

After months of flirting with Barca – even going as far as reaching an agreement with them, depending on who you believe – Griezmann published a video on June 14 documenting his inner conflict, as he tussled with the idea of ditching the Wanda Metropolitano for Camp Nou.

The film concluded with Griezmann announcing his decision to stay in Madrid, having …

Former Barcelona attacker Gerard Deulofeu believes comparisons to Lionel Messi early in his career hurt his chances of success at the LaLiga giants.

Deulofeu, 23, is part of Spain s squad after impressing since his move on loan to AC Milan from Everton in January.

During his period at boyhood club Barca, he spent time on loan at Everton and Sevilla before completing a permanent move to the Premier League side in 2015.

Deulofeu said being compared to Barca and Argentina great Messi created unreasonable expectations for him at the club.

It was more harmful than beneficial, he told Forza Milan.

Normally I don t read the newspapers, but I remember a headline well and it ended up hurting me because there were too many expectations on me from Barcelon…

There s a lot of things to come. You go through a lot of steps until you are finally ready to join team training. They are all quite a way.

Nobody told me, fasten your seatbelt, the boys will be ready and in team training next week, but they are in a good way.

Sunday s meeting with bitter rivals United comes at a potentially pivotal moment, with the Red Devils still hopeful of pushing Manchester City all the way in the title race and Klopp s men needing a boost to their top-four hopes.

Although United were in action as recently as Thursday, beating Roma 6-2 in their Europa League semi-final first leg, Klopp doubts Liverpool can count on much of an advantage in terms of freshness.

Whatever situation you are in, when you re a Liverpool player or manager…

UEFA and the Football Association are in talks over moving the Champions League final from Istanbul to the UK after Turkey was placed on the country s travel red list

Manchester City and Chelsea qualified for the May 29 showpiece with respective victories over Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid this week.

On Thursday, UEFA said it remained committed to staging the game in the Turkish capital, despite the country being under a coronavirus lockdown until May 17 and having the eighth-highest amount of active COVID-19 cases in the world.

UEFA also intended to operate with a reduced capacity at the Ataturk Stadium, although new government rules announced on Friday mean City and Chelsea fans travelling would have to quarantine in government-approved hotels upon their…

Palermo have officially announced the signing of goalkeeper Francesco Benussi from U.S.Lecce. The player had joined the Rosanero on loan for the latter part of the 2009/10 season, and the club have now decided to acquire his services on a permanent basis. Benussi has signed a three year contract with the Sicilian outfit.

Benussi, a product of Venezia s youth system, had loan spells with Lumezzane, Ascoli and Arezzo before making the switch to Lecce in 2005. Before joining Palermo on loan, he also had loan stints at Siena and Livorno.

Benussi s arrival effectively means that Rubinho s Palermo career is all but over.

[Source:- Palermo ]

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Hosts France confront Spain in the final of the Under-19 European Championship in Caen, northern France on Friday, as the tournament s most eye-catching sides bid to bow out in glory.

The two teams have illuminated and dominated the competition; France netting 12 goals in four matches and Spain producing performances reminiscent of the slick football that took the senior side to World Cup glory in South Africa.

These two teams have demonstrated they are the best in the tournament, said Spain coach Luis Milla.

Both have a very similar way of playing. The small difference is that France look to take advantage of their speed while we like to use our passing combinations more; we like to be elaborate.

Spain s opponents are trying to restore some lustre to…