Barcelona returned to winning ways in La Liga with a 3-0 thumping of Malaga that saw them move back to the top of the league.

The Catalan giants dropped to third in the table after Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid won earlier in the weekend, but reclaimed their place at the summit with a thoroughly convincing performance on Sunday.

After consecutive La Liga draws against Atletico and Levante – the first time Barca went two league games without winning since May 2011 – Gerardo Martino s side dominated the first half and took the lead through Gerard Pique in the 40th minute, his second goal in as many matches.

Barca would have led by more if it were not for the brilliance of Malaga goalkeeper Willy Caballero, but goals from Pedro and Alexis Sanchez in the first 20 min…

Sprint king and eight-time Olympic champion Usain Bolt said he will prove people wrong after the Central Coast Mariners trialist trained for the first time on Tuesday in his bid to earn a football contract.

Bolt dominated the athletics track and the Jamaican great is now trying to fulfil his dream of becoming a professional footballer having linked up with A-League outfit the Mariners for an indefinite trial.

The Australian public got their first glimpse of Bolt training in Gosford, where the 32-year-old who previously spent time with Bundesliga giants Borussia Dortmund, Mamelodi Sundowns and Stromsgodset after retiring from athletics in 2017 took part in a brief session.

After touching down in Australia on Saturday, Bolt wearing gloves and a jumper under the Ne…

(GSM) Italy manager Marcello Lippi has shouldered the blame for the team s early exit from the World Cup. The World champions finished last in Group F with Paraguay and Slovakia going through to the second round of the competition.

Italy were defeated by Slovakia 3-2 and crashed out today and 2006 World Cup-winning coach Lippi accepted his responsibility for Italy s premature exit.

I take all responsibility, all responsibility for what happened, said the 62-year-old, who returned to the post after two years away in 2008.

If a team turns up at such an important game like tonight with terror in their heart and their legs, and is unable to express its ability, it s because the coach didn t train the team as he should.

I don t regret coming back. It was …

Midfielder Aleksandar Ignjovski has declared his intention to leave Werder Bremen at the end of the season.

The Serbia international joined Bremen from OFK Beograd in 2011 following a spell on loan at 1860 Munich, but has found Bundesliga starts hard to come by during the current campaign.

And, with Bremen battling against relegation, the 23-year-old has now confirmed that he will depart the Weserstadion in search of pastures new.

I have informed the club on Monday that I ll go to the end of the season, he is quoted as saying by Bild. It was a difficult decision.

The aim was not primarily about money. I m a defensive midfield player and want to prove myself in the future in this position.

I had a wonderful time here. I assure you that I will give everything…

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored a goal in each half as Arsenal eased to a 4-2 win over Vorskla in the Europa League.

The Ukrainian visitors proved stubborn opponents initially, but the result was rarely in doubt from the moment Aubameyang broke the deadlock after 32 minutes.

Danny Welbeck was on target early in the second half before Aubameyang doubled his tally and Mesut Ozil came off the bench to get in on the act.

Captain Vladimir Chesnakov gave Vorskla something to shout about with an excellent finish 14 minutes from time and Vyacheslav Sharpar found the net in similar style with the last kick of the game.

Alex Iwobi was Arsenal s liveliest attacking threat during a largely forgettable opening and the Nigeria international s fine cross allowed Auba…

Manchester City fans must have been over the moon when they saw that their team were going to face Lyon in the quarter-finals of the Champions League this season. The French side are the underdogs in Europe’s premier club competition, and not many would fancy them to go all the way. On the other hand, City have one of the best and strongest squads in Europe, and a world-class manager in Pep Guardiola, who won the Champions League twice with Barcelona.

However, Guardiola could not guide Bayern Munich to Champions League success during his three years in charge of the German club, and his quest to lead City to European glory will have to wait for one more season at least. That’s because the Premier League giants went down in the quarter-finals on Saturday evening.

Th…

Experience

You’ve got to hand it to Harry Redknapp. I saw the Tottenham boss saying at lunchtime on transfer deadline day that it was very unlikely that his club would be making any moves in the transfer market.

Manager

I also heard him tell another reporter who described him as a ‘wheeler, dealer’ to “fu*k off, I’m a football manager not a fu*king wheeler, dealer”.

Then, what do you know, two hours before the deadline closes they move in to make a signing. Not just any old signing, but Dutch international midfielder Rafael Van der Vaart for £8 million from Real Madrid.

Technical

The transfer of the twenty-seven year old was held up due to technical difficulties but was completed yesterday.

Van der Vaart was Redknapp s…

AC Milan are eyeing a move for out-of-favour Everton forward Kevin Mirallas, .

The Belgium international moved to Goodison Park from Olympiacos in the summer of 2012, and has since racked up one hundred and sixteen appearances in all competitions, scoring twenty-nine goals.

However, he has played just seven times in the league so far this season, with six of those outings coming as a substitute while his only goal of the campaign came in the League Cup second round victory over League One Barnsley.

He has fifty-one caps for his country, though he has played only three minutes for them this calendar year.

With the European Championships only six months away, the twenty-eight year old is keen to play more regularly to be in contention to make the cut …

France and England paid tribute to the victims of the Manchester and London terror attacks in a pre-match ceremony ahead of their international friendly in Saint-Denis.

A suicide bomber targeted people attending an Ariana Grande pop concert at Manchester Arena on May 22, killing 22 and injuring 116, while seven more people died and 48 were injured when three men mowed down pedestrians on London Bridge before attacking members of the public around Borough Market in the English capital on June 3.

When England and France met previously in November 2015 at Wembley, the match came in the aftermath of a series of co-ordinated terror attacks in Paris that left 130 dead and hundreds wounded.

Before that game, fans from both countries joined in as the words to the French …

An Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting double and goals from Joshua Kimmich, Jamal Musiala and Alphonso Davies helped Bayern Munich to a 5-2 comeback victory over Augsburg to seal their place in the DFB-Pokal third round.

Mads Pedersen put Augsburg in front, but Choupo-Moting scored either side of Kimmich s beautiful finish to put the Bundesliga champions 3-1 up.

An own goal from Dayot Upamecano caused some fears of a Bayern collapse, but Musiala and Davies struck late to make sure of the victory.

Bayern s return to form continues as they reach the next round of a competition they have won on 20 occasions, 14 more than any other team.

The hosts started brightly and took the lead after nine minutes, Pedersen rifling superbly into the bottom right corner from 25 yards…