Diego Simeone accepts his Atletico Madrid side have to beat Granada on Sunday if they wish to capitalise on Barcelona s mini-collapse.

Barca have not won in three La Liga matches, handing Atletico the chance to join them on 76 points for a brief period at least before Luis Enrique s men host Valencia in the late game.

Simeone told a news conference: We have a very clear situation: we need to win and then wait to see what Barcelona do.

What we can affect is beating Granada.

Simeone was not getting over-excited by Atletico s title push, however, and urged his players to focus ahead of the game at the Vicente Calderon.

We live day to day, and can see the situation is changing a lot, he added. We don t think beyond that but the team is strong and i…

Yaya Toure hailed the influence of Samir Nasri and Kevin De Bruyne in Manchester City s 3-0 victory over Chelsea in the Premier League on Saturday.

De Bruyne came back to haunt the club that sold him to Wolfsburg in 2014 on his first return to Stamford Bridge, teeing up Sergio Aguero for the opening goal of the match in the first half.

The Belgian launched the counter-attack through which Nasri laid on Aguero s second after half-time, and the Argentina international completed his hat-trick from the penalty spot after Thibaut Courtois was shown a red card for a foul on Fernandinho.

Despite a trio of strikes from Aguero who took his top-flight tally to 21 for the season it was the performances of the midfield duo that garnered praise from Toure.

It was a b…

​Roberto Mancini struggled to control his frustration after watching Inter throw away a lead to go down 2-1 to Udinese on Sunday.

Mauro Icardi had given Inter the lead before half-time at San Siro, but Bruno Fernandes second-half volley restored parity.

Inter were ultimately the architects of their own fate as Rodrigo Palacio s poor backpass allowed Cyril Thereau in on goal for Udinese s winner, leaving the hosts awaiting a win domestically since Mancini returned as manager.

Mancini was angry at the way his side allowed Udinese back into the match, but remained keen to point out plenty of positives to build on in the coming weeks.

I am angry at this defeat, he told Sky Sport Italia. We cannot do anything now, the guys are working well, we just have to…

Andrei Arshavin s market value has exploded as the player enjoyed a relatively good Euro 2008 campaign. Zenit St. Petersburg now want £24 million for their player and it was thought that no club would pay that amount for a 27 year old winger. However Zenit have recently rejected a £19 million bid and the player s agent is optimistic that a deal can be struck, according to Setanta Sports.

”Barcelona failed with a £12m bid and now an English club have had a £19m offer rejected by Zenit,” said Dennis Lachter, as reported by Setanta Sports.

”Zenit want £24m, so clubs who want to sign Andrei will have to get closer to that figure.

”There are clubs interested in Andrei who …

Ronny Deila will step down as Celtic manager at the end of the season.

The Norwegian was a surprise choice to take over at Celtic Park in June 2014 and he led the club to a Scottish Premiership and League Cup double in his maiden campaign.

Celtic are closing in on the defence of their league title this season, but Deila s position came under severe scrutiny when they were knocked out of the Scottish Cup by fierce Glasgow rivals Rangers in Sunday s semi-final.

An enthralling contest at Hampden Park finished 2-2 after extra-time and Rangers who will return to the Premiership next season earned a 5-4 penalty shootout win.

The pressure had already been mounting on Deila following another failure in Europe, with Celtic failing to qualify for the Champions Lea…

Arsene Wenger has dismissed reports linking Arsenal with a move for Leicester City star Riyad Mahrez, .

The Algeria international is one of three members of the Foxes to be nominated for this season’s PFA Player of the Year with his sixteen goals and eleven assists helping the East Midlands side to the top of the Premier League.

His form has seen him linked with a move to a number of Champions League clubs including Barcelona and Real Madrid, though Arsenal will not be making any enquiries.

Mahrez moved to Leicester from Le Harve in January 2014 and has so far racked up eighty-six appearances in all competitions, scoring twenty-four times.

Claudio Ranieri’s men saw their run of five consecutive victories end at the weekend as they drew with West…

James Milner starred and Daniel Sturridge scored his 50th goal for Liverpool as they eased to a 4-0 Merseyside derby win over 10-man Everton in the Premier League.

Milner delivered the assists for Liverpool s first two goals in Wednesday s contest, which saw Everton s wait for a first win at Anfield since September 1999 extended.

First Milner supplied the cross for Divock Origi to open the scoring in the 43rd minute with his fifth goal in as many games in all competitions.

Milner was at the heart of things again as Mamadou Sakho made it 2-0 in first-half stoppage time, and the three points were all but sealed after Ramiro Funes Mori was shown a straight red card in the 50th minute for a dreadful challenge on Origi.

The Belgium forward had to be taken of…

Leicester City and Tottenham dominated the Professional Footballers Association (PFA) Premier League Team of the Year with four representatives each, as Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea, Arsenal defender Hector Bellerin and West Ham star Dimitri Payet completed the XI.

Tottenham striker Harry Kane and De Gea are the only players selected who also made the team in 2014-15.

De Gea gets the nod between the sticks for the third time in his career, while Bellerin accompanies Leicester centre-back Wes Morgan and Tottenham duo Toby Alderweireld and Danny Rose in defence.

Spurs breakout star Dele Alli and Leicester revelation N Golo Kante form the core of the midfield, with the Foxes forward Riyad Mahrez and free-kick specialist Payet playing out wide.

F…

Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah has revealed the misery he felt after last year s Champions League final still hurts .

Salah enjoyed a fine debut season at Anfield, scoring 44 goals in all competitions and winning the PFA Players Player of the Year and FWA Footballer of the Year awards, but it ended cruelly in the Champions League final as he was forced off with a shoulder injury 30 minutes in, having tangled with Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos.

The Reds went on to lose the game 3-1 and Salah missed Egypt s first match at the 2018 World Cup in Russia. He scored in the next two but did not look at his best as the African nation bowed out with three group-stage defeats out of three.

Liverpool and Salah have a chance at redemption this season having reached th…

Philippe Coutinho was picked to start Barcelona s Champions League semi-final first leg against his former club Liverpool, who selected fellow Brazil international Roberto Firmino on the bench. 

Coutinho has garnered mixed reviews since swapping Merseyside for Catalonia in a reported €160million move in January 2018 but, following a stunning goal against Manchester United in the previous round, he was granted a spot alongside Lionel Messi and another ex-Red Luis Suarez in Barca s front three at Camp Nou. 

Liverpool s own feted trident were not all named from the start, however, with Firmino among the substitutes after sitting out last Friday s 5-0 win over Huddersfield Town with an ankle knock. 

Explaining his decision to be cautious with Firmino, …