Argentina s Lionel Messi has singled out Spain as the team to avoid at the 2018 World Cup.

La Albiceleste only narrowly clinched a spot at next year s tournament during the final round of CONEMBOL qualifying, beating Ecuador 3-1 while Peru and Colombia drew 1-1.

It was a little too close for comfort, particularly when Ecuador initially went 1-0 up in that match, before a Messi hat-trick blew them away.

Jorge Sampaoli s side will need to improve significantly if they are to have a similar impact to the 2014 edition, when they lost to Germany after extra-time in the final.

And Messi conceded that Argentina are probably not among the main favourites this time.

He told ESPN: Spain, Brazil, Germany and France are the teams with the best image at the mo…

Liverpool superstar Mohamed Salah has reached 150 direct goal involvements in the Premier League, becoming the third-fastest player to do so.

Salah, who already had 11 league goals for the season heading into Saturday s game with Southampton at Anfield, squared for Diogo Jota to make it 2-0 to Liverpool in the 32nd minute.

It was Jota s second goal of the encounter, with the Portugal forward having put the Reds in front inside two minutes, and came after Salah himself had curled just wide, with Sadio Mane also having had a goal disallowed.

Thiago Alcantara then made it 3-0 to Liverpool before the break to put Jurgen Klopp s team in complete control.

By setting up Jota s goal, Salah moved onto 42 assists across his Premier League career, which combined wi…

Martin Montoya has arrived in Milan ahead of his proposed move to Inter from Barcelona.

The full-back has risen through the ranks at Camp Nou and made the breakthrough into the first-team in February 2011.

However, Montoya has failed to nail down a regular starting berth for the Spanish champions and has largely played second fiddle to Dani Alves.

With Alves having signed a new two-year contract last month and Aleix Vidal signing from Sevilla, Montoya s chances of first-team football appeared even more limited.

Subsequently the 24-year-old is set to kick-start his career with Inter, and the Serie A side posted a picture of president Erick Thohir meeting Montoya at Milan Malpensa airport on Thursday.

Montoya is now expected to undergo a medical, a…

Juventus coach Antonio Conte has reiterated that he was unaware of any match-fixing while he was at Siena.

It has been alleged that the former Italy international was aware of a plot to arrange the outcome of a crucial Serie B clash with Novara on April 30, 2011 and the 42-year-old s house was searched on Monday as part of a police investigation into Scommessopoli .

However, Conte said that he has nothing to hide from the Cremona public prosecutor leading the corruption enquiry and insists that there was nothing untoward about Siena s return to the top flight last summer.

My history as a football player and coach speaks for itself: you can ask my team-mates, my players and my opponents, he stated during a press conference on Monday.

But for all my hon…

Massimiliano Allegri called his Juventus side sluggish and complacent after they let a one-goal lead slip in a 2-1 defeat to Inter at San Siro.

The Bianconeri looked set to make it four wins from four Serie A matches when Stephan Lichtsteiner opened the scoring after 66 minutes, but the lead was quickly overturned by a determined Inter side.

Goals from Mauro Icardi and Ivan Perisic condemned Juventus to their first Serie A defeat to Inter since November 2012, and Allegri said he hoped his players would learn from the shock result.

After taking the lead, we didn t even hold it for two minutes, Allegri told Sky Sport Italy.

We got sluggish and complacent, dropping the intensity levels. This defeat has to burn within us and teach us a real lesson, getting …

Al Ain forward Ryan Babel has put himself at the centre of a sexism controversy after Twitter posts on Friday.

The former Liverpool man, 28, hit out at a user who questioned why he disliked Real Madrid coach Rafael Benitez.

In response, Babel tweeted: I think u should concentrate on growing some tits instead of speaking about football Ur a girl.. Stay in ur lane..

The Dutchman continued: Atleast let your brother or your boyfriend make the comment then we can argue

Not gonna argue with a lil girl, with all the respect.. C mon now.

Babel then tweeted what he claims to be his mobile number, inviting people to direct their displeasure personally.

The former Netherlands international has found trouble on social media previously.

Ba…

Riyad Mahrez has hit out at completely untrue reports claiming he went on strike after Leicester City blocked a deadline-day move to Manchester City.

The Algeria international won the PFA Players  Player of the Year award after leading the Foxes to a shock Premier League title triumph in 2015-16.

But Mahrez has been open about his desire to move on from the club, putting in a public transfer request at the end of last season.

A transfer for Mahrez failed to materialise, although he was linked with Roma, and he subsequently started the new campaign with Leicester.

Riyad Mahrez has today returned to training with the squad:

— Leicester City (@LCFC)

Premier League leaders City moved for Mahrez in the January transfer window but Leicest…

Lukasz Piszczek scored once and had a hand in two more to help Borussia Dortmund to a 3-0 Bundesliga victory over Wolfsburg at Signal Iduna Park as they returned to winning ways after a disappointing week.

Jeffrey Bruma inexplicably headed the ball into his own net in the 20th minute, with Polish wing-back Piszczek adding his name to the scoresheet early in the second half, before Ousmane Dembele put the match to bed on the hour mark.

Dortmund have endured a difficult few days ahead of Saturday s encounter as they followed up a shock domestic loss to bottom club Darmstadt last week with a Champions League defeat to Benfica.

To make matters even worse, Dortmund were handed a partial stadium closure following the incidents during the match against RB Leipzi…

Dominik Szoboszlai’s agent has said that Arsenal want to sign the RB Salzburg in the January transfer window. Matyas Esterhazy has been quoted as saying by that “Arsenal’s interest is real”, adding that Italian giants AC Milan are also interested in the 20-year-old midfielder.

Szoboszlai has been on the books of Salzburg since 2018 and has established himself as an important player in the team. The Hungary international midfielder has made five starts and one substitute appearance in the Austrian Bundesliga so far this season, scoring one goal in the process, according to . The youngster has also scored two goals in three Champions League matches so far this campaign, according to .

Both Arsenal and Wolves are aiming to finish in the top four of the Premier Lea…

Sergio Ramos said Eden Hazard s arrival at Real Madrid could herald a new era for the club, while insisting the recent speculation over his own future had not affected his morale.

Hazard completed his transfer from Chelsea on Friday in a deal that could be worth €140million and Ramos indicated he feels the Belgium international can help Madrid to challenge for LaLiga in 2019-20.

Zinedine Zidane s men lost three of their last four LaLiga games of the 2018-19 season as they finished third, 19 points behind winners Barcelona, but Madrid supporters will hope the marquee signing of Hazard finally fills the gap left by Cristiano Ronaldo when he left Santiago Bernabeu before the season commenced.

Ramos expressed his satisfaction at the 28-year-old s arrival, telling r…