Antonio Conte believes it is wrong to attribute Chelsea s dominance of the Premier League to their absence from European competition this season.

Chelsea are seven points clear of Tottenham at the top of the table heading into the Easter weekend fixtures and travel to Manchester United on Sunday.

United boss Jose Mourinho has regularly complained of fixture congestion this season, with his EFL Cup winners currently in the quarter-finals of the Europa League.

Mourinho and his Manchester City counterpart Pep Guardiola have both cited the advantage afforded to Conte by being able to implement his tactics across unbroken midweeks on the training field.

But the former Juventus and Italy coach noted third-placed Liverpool have enjoyed similar benefits on the ba…

Dirk Kuyt is confident he can help new club Feyenoord to win trophies this season, having completed his return to De Kuip this week.

After nine years playing abroad, the former Netherlands international returned to Feyenoord this week after agreeing a one-year deal to move from Fenerbahce in April.

The 34-year-old joins a side that finished fourth in the Eredivisie last term while making the round of 32 in the UEFA Europa League.

Feyenoord are without a title since the KNVB-Beker in 2008 and Kuyt told a news conference:  One of the disappointing things from my first spell is that I never won a trophy. I certainly have the ambition to do that this time.

Feyenoord s financially difficult period is behind it and a very talented team has been put togethe…

Gianluigi Donnarumma hailed the perfect year after Paris Saint-Germain and Milan won their respective leagues, but the goalkeeper has no regrets after leaving the Rossoneri.

Donnarumma was met with widespread condemnation by the Milan supporters after not renewing his contract, before opting to join PSG on a free transfer ahead of the 2021-22 season following his successful Euro 2020 campaign with Italy.

The 23-year-old kept five clean sheets in his 17 Ligue 1 appearances as he shared the goalkeeper duties with Keylor Navas, with PSG securing a record-equalling 10th Ligue 1 title.

Milan, meanwhile, edged out Inter to secure their first Serie A crown in 11 years, much to the delight of Donnarumma.

After winning the title, the perfect year was the Sc…

Chelsea midfielder Andre Schurrle is closing in on a move to Bundesliga side Wolfsburg, .

The World Cup winning midfielder has fallen down the pecking order at Stamford Bridge, having started just five league games so far this season.

With the Blues linked with moves for Fiorentina’s Juan Cuadrado and Douglas Costa of Shakhtar Donetsk, Schurrle is set to see his opportunities under Jose Mourinho even more limited, and he now looks set to return to his home country.

Prior to his move to the Blues, the twenty-four year old spent two seasons with Bayer Leverkusen, who signed for from Mainz, the side with whom he began his career, in the summer of 2011.

Chelsea host Liverpool in the second leg of their Capital One Cup semi-final with Liverpool with the…

Arsene Wenger says Arsenal have no fear in European away games and believes the Gunners have shown over the years they can beat any opponent.

Arsenal initially struggled in away games when they first made it into the Champions League, drawing with Lens and losing to Dynamo Kiev to crash out in the group stages in 1998-99. 

Draws away to Fiorentina and Barcelona a season later saw them again fail to reach the knockout stages.

Since then they have reached the final in 2005-06 and the semi-finals again in 2008-09, with Wenger claiming the club has gotten rid of the fear that held them back before, although they have not progressed beyond the round of 16 in the previous five campaigns.

The Champions League was a new competition for us when we first started …

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers wants his team to show they can take on the best in the world when they host Atletico Madrid on Wednesday.

The Hoops are looking for their first points of the Champions League campaign after going down against Feyenoord with nine men and losing to a last-gasp goal against Lazio after being denied the lead for a second time by a marginal offside decision.

Rodgers said: “We are playing one of the top clubs in the world and one of the best teams.

“We want to be able to take on the best teams in the world. We don’t have to be the best in the world but we certainly want to be able to take them on.”

Celtic warmed up with a dominant display in Sunday’s 4-1 win over Hearts.

“The players will go into it with great…

Samir Nasri has ended his six-year stint at Manchester City by joining Samuel Eto o at Turkish club Antalyaspor.

City confirmed the move on their official Twitter account, with Antalyaspor also announcing his arrival shortly after.

The former France international is understood to have inked a two-year deal with the Super Lig side where he links up with former team-mates Jeremy Menez and Johan Djourou.

Nasri originally joined City from Arsenal for a reported £25million in 2011 and has won two Premier League titles and an EFL Cup with the Citizens, for who he made 176 appearances.

However, he was not part of Pep Guardiola s plans last season and spent the campaign on loan at Sevilla and, although he re-joined City for a pre-season tour of the United State…

Austria coach Marcel Koller has extended his contract until 2017 after successfully guiding the nation to their second European Championship.

Since taking charge in November 2011 Koller has overseen an upturn in their form, his side dropping just two points from 10 matches during qualification for Euro 2016 as they topped Group G Austria s first successful qualification having co-hosted on their only previous appearance in 2008.

His reward for reaching the finals in France is a new deal with the Austrian Football Federation (OFB).

Marcel Koller will remain team manager of the national team after Euro 2016, an OFB statement read.

The 55-year-old Swiss and the OFB have agreed on a contract extension until 2017. 

Since 2011 Marcel Koller has l…

Mark Hughes has insisted that Peter Crouch is not for sale, according to the Express.

The Stoke City manager called on the striker in Saturday’s match against Leicester City and was justified in doing so as the thirty-six year old grabbed an equaliser to salvage a point for his side.

That appearance saw the former England international equal the record of substitute appearances in the Premier League and he is keen to play more regularly though Hughes wants to keep hold of his man.

Crouch moved to Stoke from Tottenham Hotspur in the summer of 2011 and has since racked up two hundred and ten appearances in all competitions, scoring fifty-eight times.

His goal on Saturday saw him extend his own record of the most Premier League headed goals, which now…

Real Madrid have confirmed Kylian Mbappe will wear their famous number nine jersey as they revealed the date for his official unveiling.

Mbappe, who is joining Los Blancos as a free agent after leaving Paris Saint-Germain, will be unveiled as a Madrid player at an event at the Santiago Bernabeu on Tuesday, July 16.

The 25-year-old is fresh from exiting Euro 2024, with France having lost 2-1 to Spain in the semi-finals.

Mbappe failed to score from open play through the tournament, after suffering a broken nose during France s opening match, though he did break his Euros duck by converting a penalty in their final group game against Poland.

Madrid also revealed Mbappe will take the number nine shirt previously worn by Karim Benzema.

Changes with shi…