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Atalanta s players crumpled to the turf dejected, crestfallen and beaten.

Gian Piero Gasperini s side were a had been half a minute, plus stoppage time, away from a place in the Champions League semi-finals before late goals by Marquinhos and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting saw Paris Saint-Germain break their hearts in Lisbon.

It concluded a season of unlikely triumph surrounded by crushing tragedy for the club and their city of Bergamo.

As they prepare to host Real Madrid on Wednesday, memories of their previous Champions League home game remain vivid, yet feel like they are from another time altogether.

Game zero

On February 19 last year, around 40,000 Atalanta fans – a shade under a third of Bergamo s population – packed themselves into coach…

Surprisingly enough, Serie A title holders Juventus failed to beat Sassuolo at home on Sunday. Despite Leonardo Bonnuci opening the scoring for the Old Lady, they allowed the visitors to bounce back, equalize and take the lead, before a Cristiano Ronaldo penalty snatched a point back for them. Goals for Sassuolo were scored by Jeremie Boga and Francesco Caputo.

Caputo scored the one which saw the game turn on its head after a failed attempt at a clearance by 20-year-old Matthijs de Ligt and a goalkeeping blunder by 41-year-old Gianluigi Buffon.

Not de Ligt s best performance today

Dicky (@DickyJuve)

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At the midpoint of Serie A, Fiorentina and Bologna, separated by a single point in the league standings, are set to collide in the Coppa Italia quarterfinals on Tuesday evening.

Fiorentina aim for their seventh national cup and currently hold a higher position in the league compared to Bologna. However, Bologna s recent triumph over Inter Milan in the last-16 stage has ignited aspirations of securing their first Coppa Italia victory in 50 years.

Fiorentina

Fiorentina, last year s runners-up in the Coppa Italia, have their sights set on redeeming themselves this season and clinching the trophy in Rome after their painful loss to Inter in the 2023 final.

Despite also facing defeat in the Europa Conference League final, the Vi…

Gareth Bale gave up fighting for a place at Real Madrid, according to former Los Blancos striker and director of football Predrag Mijatovic.

Bale is the subject of much transfer speculation, with the Wales star – signed by Madrid for what was a world-record fee in 2013 – seemingly set to return to Tottenham.

On Wednesday, Bale s agent Jonathan Barnett confirmed to Stats Perform News that talks were ongoing between Spurs and Madrid. There has also been reported interest from Manchester United.

Mijatovic believes the 31-year-old, who made just 20 appearances last season having slipped far down the pecking order under Zinedine Zidane, stopped pushing for a place in the side.

However, he is unsure who is to blame for a breakdown in the relationship betw…

Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak has confirmed the club intends to bring in further transfer market reinforcements as they aim to take back the Premier League title from Liverpool.

Pep Guardiola s side were unable to make it three domestic titles in a row in 2019-20, falling well short of a dominant Liverpool, who ended 18 points clear of second-placed City.

Winger Ferran Torres and defender Nathan Ake have already arrived at the Etihad Stadium from Valencia and Bournemouth respectively, for a combined outlay in excess of £60million.

Speaking to his club s official website, Khaldoon said City would seek to strengthen further and would not limit themselves to younger players if readymade, experienced performers are what Guardiola requires.

Wh…

Goals at the start of each half ensured Mali advanced to the Africa Cup of Nations quarter-finals with a 2-1 victory over Burkina Faso.

Mali have not trailed in the tournament so far and their chances of doing that were minimised when Edmond Tapsoba put through his own goal three minutes in, but Burkina Faso had Herve Koffi to thank for keeping the deficit to just one at the break.

Lassine Sinayoko doubled Mali’s lead with the first chance of the second period and Aston Villa winger Bertrand Traore brought Burkina Faso back into it from the penalty spot. Mali, however, held on to book their spot against Ivory Coast in the last eight despite a late offside scare.

FULL-TIME!

The Eagles grab the win from Burkina Faso! |

— CAF (@CAF_Online)

Xavi believes Pedri was a deserved winner of the 2021 Golden Boy award but will not rush the Barcelona midfielder back into action. 

Spain international Pedri was a landslide victor in the voting for Europe s best player aged under 21 – his 199-point advantage over runner-up Jude Bellingham making it a record-breaking success. 

The 18-year-old featured in more games in all competitions (52) for Barcelona last season than any other player, accumulating four goals and six assists in the process. 

He then became the youngest player to represent Spain at a major tournament during Euro 2020, finishing the competition with more passes completed in the final third (177) than any other player. 

Pedri followed that up by travelling to Tokyo for the Olympic G…

Sergio Ramos has become the most capped European footballer of all time, surpassing the record set by Italy legend Gianluigi Buffon.

Real Madrid centre-back Ramos earned a 177th appearance for Spain in Saturday s Nations League match against Switzerland, having pulled level with Buffon when coming off the bench against the Netherlands on Wednesday.

It means Ramos, a World Cup winner with Spain, is now just eight short of the overall record held by Egypt s Ahmed Hassan.

As well as his triumph in South Africa in 2010, Ramos has won two European Championships with Spain and scored 23 goals for his country – putting him joint eighth on the list with Alfredo Di Stefano.

177 Sergio Ramos will make his 177th appearance for Spain (129 wins, 23 goals), becom…

Leon Goretzka praised Hansi Flick following reports Bayern Munich are looking to unite him with Thomas Tuchel in a new coaching team.

German publication Bild suggested interim boss Flick could be kept on as an assistant at Allianz Arena if the Bundesliga side succeed in prising Tuchel from Paris Saint-Germain.

Flick took charge in a caretaker capacity following Niko Kovac s departure in November and has overseen four wins and a defeat in all competitions.

Chief executive Karl-Heinz Rummenigge reaffirmed his support for the 54-year-old following the weekend loss to Bayer Leverkusen, a result midfielder Goretzka insisted was not Flick s fault.

He told us what we did well and what we did badly, the Germany international told news portal T-Online.

W…

Mesut Ozil must have enormous hunger to play football again but can flourish in the warm environment he will receive at Fenerbahce, says former Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger.

World Cup winner Ozil is edging ever closer to a move to the Super Lig giants, bringing an end to a seven-and-a-half-year stay with the Gunners.

The former Germany international has not featured for Arsenal since March after being frozen out by boss Mikel Arteta and was not included in their Premier League or Europa League squads for this season.

Wenger was the man to bring Ozil to Emirates Stadium from Real Madrid in 2013 but the attacking midfielder fell out of favour under both Unai Emery and Arteta.

The legendary former Gunners manager is convinced of Ozil s enduring quality ahead o…