2 As his team girds up for a relegation dogfight, Werder Bremen keeper Mio Backhaus has spoken on his “fighting hairstyle” and the manner in which competition from Arsenal loanee Karl Hein helped him raise his game. In his debut Bundesliga season, the Mönchengladbach-native and new Germany U21 No. 1 has done well for both

Lionel Messi will have the chance to claim yet another, albeit unofficial, trophy with Argentina when they face Spain in the Finalissima during the upcoming March international window. However, concern is mounting over a potential setback for Messi, as one of La Albiceleste’s key players has raised injury worries. During Wednesday’s UEFA Champions League clash

WOLVERHAMPTON, England — Arsenal blew a two-goal lead at last-place Wolves on Wednesday to give a huge boost to Manchester City in the race for the Premier League title. The league leader was held to a surprise 2-2 draw at Molineux, having led 2-0 in the second half. Teenage debutant Tom Edozie scored in the

MILAN — AC Milan fell seven points behind Inter Milan in the Italian title race after drawing 1-1 at home to Como on Wednesday. Argentina midfielder Nico Paz put the visitors ahead in the 32nd minute following a clumsy error from Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan. The France No. 1 tried passing the ball from the

Inter president Giuseppe Marotta wants to move past the Bastoni/Kalulu red‑card row as Inter head to Bodo/Glimt; the artificial turf could blunt Inter’s attack, so punters might favour a narrow Inter win or a draw with under 2.5 goals, or back Inter -0.25 Asian handicap if priced competitively. Stankovic’s strong form at Club Brugge suggests

Arsenal dropping points in successive Premier League games is not in the script for the Gunners in search of a first title in 22 years, failing to take advantage of a visit to bottom club Wolverhampton Wanderers that would have increased their lead over Manchester City to seven points. Arsenal’s progression to the Carabao Cup

Thunderbolt in the Premier League! This Wednesday evening, Arsenal were on the pitch at Wolverhampton for an early Matchday 31 in the Premier League. With a win, the Gunners could have temporarily gone seven points clear (with one more game played, of course) of Manchester City. Advertisement A week after their slip-up at Brentford (1-1),

Spanish football expert Guillem Balague was at the Estadio da Luz in Lisbon on Tuesday as Real Madrid’s Champions League play-off tie at Benfica was halted for 10 minutes after Vinicius Jr reported alleged racist abuse. It marked the 20th time Vinicius alleges he has been the subject of abuse during his eight years at

Real Madrid have been warned to not expect Rodri to join them if he chooses to leave Manchester City due to his preference for another Spanish club. Rodri is on the road back to his best after missing almost all of last season due to tearing his ACL and having repeated injury setbacks this campaign,

What started as a good news story from the progressive heartlands of German football has, in the space of two weeks, taken a series of confusing, distressing and bizarre turns. On January 30, ahead of Koln’s Bundesliga game against Wolfsburg, Pascal Kaiser publicly proposed to his boyfriend. “I don’t want to hide, I want to