Atletico Madrid have confirmed that Saul Niguez has agreed terms on a new contract at the Vicente Calderon until 2021.
Wednesday s announcement means Saul, who came through the ranks at Atletico, has extended his previous deal by a further 12 months.
Saul made his debut for the club in a Europa League clash with Besiktas in March 2012, before going on loan to Rayo Vallecano for the 2013-14 campaign.
Since returning to Atletico, Saul has become an established member of the first team and his wonderful solo effort against Bayern Munich helped the club into the Champions League final, where they will face city rivals Real Madrid.
I am very happy to continue to defend this shirt, Saul said after signing the deal.
Atletico sporting director Jose Luis …
Austria on Monday reimposed frontier controls as part of a major security operation for the European football championships which start this week.
About 2,000 Austrian police and 143 foreign police were to carry out border checks until July 1, Interior Minister Gunther Platter said.
Austria is part of the Schengen zone in Europe which allows passport free travel between European Union members of the scheme. But the rules allow for restrictions to be reimposed for special events.
We want checks to be as fluid as possible, while stopping troublemakers, said the minister who added that authorities would also seek to prevent clandestine migrants creeping through.
Austria expects up to one million visitors for the tournament which starts June 7. Euro 2008…
Serge Gnabry has joined Hoffenheim on a one-year loan deal from Bayern Munich, the Bundesliga champions have confirmed.
The former Arsenal winger, who turned 22 on Friday, joined Bayern from Werder Bremen last month for a fee believed to be in the region of €8million.
However, he will spend the first season of a three-year deal on loan at Hoffenheim, who are set to make their Champions League debut this term.
Gnabry impressed as part of Germany s victorious team at the European Under-21 Championship and his arrival offsets Hoffenheim s loss of Niklas Sule and Sebastian Rudy, both of whom begin their Bayern careers this season after securing moves back in January.
It was the explicit request from Serge to be loaned out for a year so he could get more ex…
Ilkay Gundogan said helping Barcelona financially made his departure from the club easier to swallow after he sealed a return to Manchester City on Friday.
Gundogan joined Barca last year after enjoying seven trophy-laden campaigns with City, winning 14 pieces of silverware during his time at the Etihad Stadium, including captaining the side to a Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup treble in 2022-23.
The midfielder made 51 appearances in his single season with the Catalan giants – more than any of his team-mates, scoring five goals and adding 14 assists in all competitions.
He also created more than twice as many chances (132) as any other Barcelona player, with Raphinha a distant second by that metric with 53.
Ninety-seven of those chances were…
He may refuse to believe in them, but Turkey coach Fatih Terim s team almost pulled off another miracle as the Euro 2008 come-back kings finally made their exit on Wednesday.
Turkey s 3-2 defeat was only sealed by Germany defender s Philipp Lahm s 90th minute striker as Terim s team threatened a fourth consecutive last-grasp win.
After Semih Senturk had forced an equaliser just four minutes from time to make it 2-2 it looked like Turkey were going to give Germany the same treatment they had handed out to Switzerland, the Czech Republic and Croatia.
But it was not to be and the 2002 World Cup semi-finalists took their Euro 2008 bow.
Whatever he may believe, Terim has worked miracles with his side.
A former captain of his country, the 54-year-…
The Australian top flight is nearing its Grand Final as the Newcastle Jets and Melbourne Victory get ready to settle the season in a highly-anticipated match this Saturday night at McDonald Joes Stadium.
In the meantime, the league’s TV has decided to give a rearview of the campaign and handpicked the best goals of the year 2017/18.
You should not be surprised to see plenty of great goals in it.
Enjoy.
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Chelsea sacked manager Carlo Ancelotti on this day in 2011, one year after he had led the club to a domestic double.
The Italian, then 51, won the Premier League title and the FA Cup with the Blues in 2010, but was ruthlessly dismissed by club owner Roman Abramovich after failing to deliver a trophy the following season.
The Blues finished second in the title race, nine points adrift of Manchester United, after exits in the Champions League, FA Cup and League Cup and Ancelotti fell victim to his earlier success.
Chelsea finished empty handed for the first time in three years and a club statement read: “This season’s performances have fallen short of expectations and the club feels the time is right to make this change ahead of next season’s preparations.”…
The Detroit Lions and Pittsburgh Steelers are, without a doubt, two NFL teams playing against one another this week. What this game lacks in glamour it makes up in NFL betting value and thankfully, that’s what we’re focusing on in this preview.
The winless Lions will come to Heinz Field as 8-point underdogs and while a win is likely out of the question (but who knows, as evidently every playoff contender in the AFC must take a hideous loss this year), can Detroit cover that spread?
A game with a face only a mother could love, here are our picks and predictions for the Lions vs. Steelers with kickoff on November 14.
(*Editor’s Note: These picks were made prior to Saturday’s news regarding Ben Roethlisberger’s status as Out for Sunday.)
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The New York Jets will look to silence the critics following an 0-1 start to the 2022 season when they visit the Cleveland Browns at FirstEnergy Stadium on Sunday afternoon in Week 2.
The Browns — who won their season opener via a last-minute field goal against Baker Mayfield and the Carolina Panthers — now seek their first 2-0 start since 1993. Can they win and cover as sizable favorites?
Find out in our free NFL picks and predictions for Jets vs Browns on Sunday, September 18.
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Week 1 of the NFL season is in the can, and we already have some league-wide trends developing.
Road teams cleaned up against the spread, covering in 12 of the 16 games, while low scores led to 12 of the 16 games going Under. Of course, these things tend to even out a bit as the season goes on, but it’s not rare to see a particular trend linger for a few weeks as the season gets going.
Before we get into my favorite trends for every game in Week 2, remember to avoid betting NFL trends blindly. I use trends as a starting point for a handicap and always try to find additional data points to support them before making my NFL picks and predictions.
Let’s get into the NFL odds action for Week 2!
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