Messi Player of the Year, Ronaldinho Player of the Decade

Thiago Silva claims he was scapegoated during his time at Paris Saint-Germain and is thankful to Frank Lampard for bringing him to Chelsea last year.

The Brazilian centre-back was speaking after the Blues 1-0 win over Manchester City in Saturday s Champions League final at Estadio do Dragao.

Silva became the oldest player to appear for Chelsea in a major European final, overtaking Claude Makelele, but the 36-year-old lasted only 39 minutes before limping off injured.

He is also only the fifth player to play in the Champions League final in consecutive seasons with different teams, after Marcel Desailly, Paulo Sousa, Samuel Eto o and Alvaro Morata.

Kai Havertz netted the only goal of the game in Porto three minutes after Silva exited the field as Chelsea b…

Juventus head coach Andrea Pirlo defended the decision to rest star forward Cristiano Ronaldo after his side were held to a 1-1 draw by Benevento.

Pirlo revealed on the eve of Saturday s Serie A clash that Ronaldo would not make the trip to Ciro Vigorito as he was a bit tired .

The Portugal international has played 14 times for club and country this season, scoring in eight of those matches, including Juventus last two games.

Juve struggled in Ronaldo s absence against Benevento as they scored from one of their 16 attempts Alvaro Morata s first-half strike, which was cancelled out by Gaetano Letizia.

But Pirlo was content with his big call to rest the 35-year-old, which was a decision taken even though Juve are already through to the last 16 of the Cha…

James Milner claimed to be falling out of love with the game  after more VAR controversy in Liverpool s 1-1 Premier League draw with Brighton and Hove Albion on Saturday. 

Diogo Jota s 60th-minute strike appeared to be sending the visitors three points clear at the top of the Premier League but VAR, which had earlier disallowed goals for Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane, intervened in stoppage time. 

Andy Robertson swung out a foot and clipped Danny Welbeck in the penalty area, and though referee Stuart Attwell did not spot the infringement initially, he changed his mind after viewing the pitch-side monitor.

Pascal Gross slammed home from the spot to seal a point for the Seagulls and extend the Reds winless run on the road in the top flight to four games.

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Thomas Tuchel hopes to see another Paris Saint-Germain against Manchester United after again condemning a perceived poor attitude in their draw with Bordeaux.

PSG let a two-goal lead slip to lose at Monaco last week and Tuchel said afterwards his side did not play seriously enough and completely stopped playing football .

Although the reigning Ligue 1 champions bounced back by scraping past RB Leipzig in the Champions League in midweek, it was more of the same against Bordeaux.

PSG trailed to debutant Timothee Pembele s 10th-minute own goal but looked to be cruising after Neymar scored a penalty his 50th Ligue 1 goal and Moise Kean quickly added a second.

However, former PSG player Yacine Adli equalised and Tuchel s men were perhaps fortunate to escape w…

Hamit Altintop is using insider information to help Turkey plot Germany s downfall in Wednesday s Euro 2008 semi-final.

The Gelsenkirchen-born Altintop has been busy giving the lowdown on his Bayern Munich colleagues Miroslav Klose, Lukas Podolski, Philipp Lahm, Marcell Jansen and Bastian Schweinsteiger in the German side facing the Turks in Basel.

There are five Bayern players in the German side and we re always talking about them with Hamit and he ll continue to give information to us about them, said Semih Senturk on Monday.

Senturk played a pivotal role in getting Turkey to their first ever semi-final at a European championships, his goal in the dying seconds of extra time setting up the victorious penalty shoot against Croatia.

He reckoned that …

He is regarded as one of the world s most talented playmakers.

Yet unfortunately for Cesc Fabregas his country Spain have an abundance of them and he must therefore await his chance from the bench as the Furia Roja look to beat Russia on Thursday to reach the final of Euro 2008.

Cesc says that s fine by him as long as he preferably gets at least a taste of the action.

If I have to help the team in the last half-hour as has happened until now, or even five minutes, or even not at all, that s okay by me. I am not seeking to cover myself in glory but I want it for the team, for Spain, said Arsenal s Catalan gunner.

I am available for the coach for the first minute, the 60th, the 90th, extra-time or penalties, he insisted.

Just 21, Fabregas has …

Philadelphia Union used an action-packed first half to see off Portland Timbers 3-0 as Seattle Sounders had to settle for a goalless draw with Austin in MLS.

Goals from Kacper Przybylko and Sergio Santos in the opening 45 minutes helped the Union ease past the Timbers on Sunday.

Przybylko headed home the opener in the 26th minute and Santos doubled the lead five minutes later at Subaru Park, where he redirected his team-mate s shot.

VAR and a handball denied the Union a third goal, but Philadelphia made it 3-0 in the 63rd minute when Jack Elliott poked home to heap further misery on Portland.

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— PhilaUnion (@PhilaUnion)

The result snapped the Union s run of five consecutive …

Marek Hamsik celebrated his new status as Napoli s all-time record goalscorer by netting decisively in the Serie A leaders 1-0 win at Crotone.

Napoli wore shirts adorned with commemorative patches to honour Hamsik scoring his 116th goal for the club against Sampdoria last weekend – surpassing Diego Maradona s long-standing record.

The Slovakia midfielder continued a current purple patch to score his third in as many matches with an assured finish after 17 minutes, extending the advantage over Juventus for Maurizio Sarri s men at the summit to four points ahead of the weekend action.

Hamsik had number 117 in his sights after 10 minutes when he exchanged passes with Lorenzo Insigne but saw his effort deflected behind by Stefan Simic.

It arrived soon eno…

Jonas Gutierrez is set to return to training with Newcastle United next month following treatment for testicular cancer.

Alan Pardew has revealed that the popular Argentinian midfielder could make a sensational return to the club after winning his year-long battle with cancer.

Gutierrez, 31, has been back in training with his first team, Argentinian side Velez Sarsfield, in anticipation of a return to Tyneside.

We had a response from his surgeon to say that in about a month s time he can cope with professional training, Pardew said.

So we are not rushing him in any shape or form, just letting Jonas have some time because it s such an illness that you do need a lot of recovery time for that.

But he s in great shape. Colo (Fabricio Coloccini) tel…

Roberto Martinez is enthused by Everton s ever-improving defence as they travel to a Sunderland side hoping to consolidate their own upturn.

The Mersyside club have taken seven points from the last nine available to them in the Premier League, conceding just one goal in the process.

That comes in stark contrast to Everton shipping 10 goals in their first three games of the season including six at home to Chelsea before being overturned 3-2 at Goodison Park by Crystal Palace.

And with a trip to the Stadium of Light to come on Sunday, Martinez believes his side are starting to click once again as they sit just two points adrift of the top six in ninth, while only three sides have scored more than their 19 goals.

He said: In the table you are where you deser…