Gianluigi Buffon said Cristiano Ronaldo is free to decide what he wants to do in his life after the Juventus superstar did not attend the Ballon d Or ceremony.

Five-time Ballon d Or winner Ronaldo was nowhere to be seen as former Real Madrid team-mate Luka Modric received the coveted individual award in Paris on Monday.

Ronaldo, who had split the last 10 Ballon d Or honours with Barcelona s Lionel Messi, finished second behind Modric.

Paris Saint-Germain goalkeeper and ex-Juve captain Buffon was asked about Ronaldo s absence and he told reporters: I think we are all free people.

Everybody decides what he wants of his life.

 Winner of the 2017 Ballon d Or, Cristiano Ronaldo () is 2nd this year

— #ballondor (@francefootball)

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Karim Benzema scored twice during a rampant first-half display as 10-man Real Madrid moved into third place in LaLiga with a 4-2 victory at Espanyol.

Having lost 1-0 in the corresponding fixture last season, Madrid were quick to ensure they did not suffer a similar fate this time around – Benzema ending a three-match scoreless run before Sergio Ramos, who later went off injured, doubled the visitors tally with his 50th headed goal for Los Blancos.

Leo Baptistao hauled Espanyol back into the contest, but Benzema had the final say of a frantic opening 45 minutes when he slotted in on the stroke of half-time.

Gareth Bale s goal three minutes after his introduction added further gloss, only for Raphael Varane s red card to make things complicated, but though Robert…

Carlo Ancelotti insists his Real Madrid players are not playing in fear of injuries before the World Cup, as Luka Modric and Karim Benzema were ruled out of their Champions League trip to RB Leipzig.

Having established a four-point lead over Leipzig at the summit of Group F, Madrid can secure top spot with a game to spare by avoiding defeat against the Bundesliga outfit on Tuesday.

However, Madrid s efforts to do so could be hampered by the absences of Modric and Benzema, while in-form midfielder Federico Valverde has joined the duo on the sidelines after suffering a knock in Saturday s win over Sevilla.

All three players are set to feature when the World Cup begins in less than a month s time, but Ancelotti does not feel the tournament is impacting players thou…

Mauro Icardi would welcome an extended stay at Paris Saint-Germain.

The on-loan Inter striker plundered a hat-trick as Thomas Tuchel s side thumped Saint-Etienne 6-1 in the Coupe de la Ligue on Wednesday, taking his tally to 17 goals in 19 appearances across all competitions for PSG.

Icardi s agent and wife Wanda Nara sparked a fresh wave of speculation over the player s future by telling Eurosport nothing is certain in terms of whether the Ligue 1 champions will exercise an option to purchase, reported to be in the region of €70million, at the end of the campaign.

We haven t talked about it with the club yet, but for sure I m very well here, Icardi said after his hat-trick heroics, as quoted by Corriere dello Sport. 

There are still four to five mon…

Prediction: Match to end in 1-1 draw

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Norway and the Czech Republic will face each other in a friendly international game this weekend. The match between Ståle Solbakken’s side and Ivan Hašek’s team will be held at the Ullevaal Stadion in Oslo, Norway and is scheduled to kick off at 5 pm UK time on Friday.

Norway

Norway have some of the best players in the world, but they will not play in the UEFA Euro 2024 finals. They do not tend to qualify for major tournaments, and once again they have failed to do so. 

Ståle Solbakken’s side finished third in UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying Group A with 11 points from eight matches. Norway ended up six points behind second-placed Scotland and finished 10 points behind leaders Spai…

Real Madrid will once again be without Karim Benzema when they face Girona on Sunday and Rodrygo is also an injury doubt.

Captain Benzema trained on Friday, but the Ballon d Or winner is still being troubled by muscular fatigue in his left leg.

Los Blancos head coach Ancelotti on Saturday revealed his star striker has undergone tests, which came back all clear.

But Madrid will not take any risks with the France international s fitness, while forward Rodrygo may also miss the LaLiga clash with Girona at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Ancelotti said of Benzema: Yesterday he trained, after that he wasn t feeling very well. We had some tests and everything was fine, but we just want to be careful.

The tests were quite positive, there was no problem at all, b…

Juan Roman Riquelme and Juan Sebastian Veron have been recalled to the Argentina squad for two friendlies against Brazil in September.

New Argentina coach Alejandro Sabella has named two squads for the national team s forthcoming matches.

A group of European-based players has been chosen for matches in Asia, against Venezuela on September 2 and Nigeria four days later.

The Europe-based squad does not include unsettled Manchester City striker Carlos Tevez, but does feature his club team-mate Sergio Aguero, as well as Barcelona star Lionel Messi and Real Madrid striker Gonzalo Higuain.

Olympic Marseille midfielder Lucho Gonzalez and Lyon striker Lisandro Lopez are recalled, while Inter Milan forward Diego Milito misses out.

Sabella, who was confir…

Former Sunderland chairman Niall Quinn believes it would take a terrible sequence of events for manager Steve Bruce to be sacked.

Quinn stepped down as chairman earlier this week to take on an international development role at the club, with owner Ellis Short taking the reins in the boardroom.

And Quinn, who appointed Bruce as Black Cats boss back in 2009, believes he is still the right man for the job and that Short will give him his full backing following the reshuffle.

This can be the making of Steve Bruce, Quinn told the Daily Mail. (He) is not isolated by this, it s the exact opposite.

It s time for him to build a closer relationship with Ellis.

Steve will get time for this team to gel. There s another window looming. Unless the situati…

Roy Keane insisted he is only focused on the Republic of Ireland, despite speculation linking him with a return to club management with Celtic ahead of Euro 2016.

Celtic will part ways with Ronny Deila at the end of the season, and former midfielder Keane has emerged as a potential replacement.

Keane spent six months in Glasgow following his Manchester United departure in November 2005.

But the 44-year-old said he has not been approached by the Scottish champions and has no offers on the table.

The only time you think you might be interested in a job, or the only time you know, is if you re asked, Keane told ESPN s Beyond the Pitch podcast.

So this idea of speculation about other clubs there s always club jobs coming up.

There ll be clu…

Verdict: Bayern

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Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund square off in the DFB Cup final this Saturday with Der Klassiker being the fitting end to an exciting campaign which saw the Bavarians retain the Bundesliga title. Spotlight will be upon Borussia Dortmund captain Mats Hummels, who will join Bayern in the summer transfer market and German defender is likely to be put through a rough treatment from the stands should he feature on Saturday.

Bayern Munich

Pep Guardiola lead his team to their fourth Bundesliga title on the bounce and the Bavarians will be confident of success as they prepare to lock horns with Thomas Tuchel’s side. DFB Pokal triumph would provide a happy ending to Pep Guardiola’s reign at Bayern Munich in his final ga…