Champions League Overview: Five Things We Learned from the Opening Round

Inter reacted with dismay and great sorrow on Friday as the Italian FA refused to overturn the red card shown to Romelu Lukaku when he stood up to racist abuse against Juventus.

The Belgian striker converted a penalty in the fifth minute of stoppage time to earn Inter a 1-1 draw in the Coppa Italia semi-final first leg on April 4 at the Allianz Stadium.

He then used his finger to shush the home fans vitriol and that reaction was deemed a bookable offence by referee Davide Massa.

Lukaku had already been booked for a foul in the 80th minute, so the second yellow card saw him dismissed.

The Inter frontman called for action from Serie A officials after being targeted for abuse, while team-mate Edin Dzeko described the treatment from the Juventus fans as somet…

Arsenal winger Bukayo Saka was one of the three players that missed from the spot as England lost the shootout in the Euro final to Italy. The 19-year-old received a large amount of social media abuse in the aftermath, both racial and otherwise, but many people showed support in that difficult time for him.

For that, he is thankful.

I just want to say a big thank you to all the fans who went out of their way to show their love for me.

Arsenal s Bukayo Saka has a message to all the fans who sent him support this summer.

— Football Daily (@footballdaily)

…

(GSM) The Deutscher Fußball-Bund (German FA) extended the contract of national team coach Joachim Löw on Wednesday, locking up the coach through the 2012 European championships in Poland and Ukraine.

Löw, 49, has been the manager of Die Mannschaft since 2006, succeeding Jürgen Klinsmann as the man in charge following the Germans third-place finish in a World Cup they hosted.

DFB President Theo Zwanziger said of the deal, I am glad that we were able to shake on a contract extension and now can go calmly into the World Cup year.

Löw has managed 45 games for Germany since taking over, and has won 33 of those games against just six defeats. He also guided Germany to the final of Euro 2008, where his side were beaten 1-0 by Spain.

Zwanziger al…

Barcelona lost the first of the three titles they won in an extraordinary 2008/09 season on Wednesday as despite beating Sevilla 1-0 they went out of the Kings Cup on the away goal rule when the last 16 tie finished 2-2 on aggregate.

Barcelona coach Josep Guardiola who guided Barca to the Cup, league title and Champions League trophy in an amazing debut season as coach did not take the match lightly playing essentially his first choice team against a side whose league form has fallen away alarmingly having lost their last three matches.

However, it was the hosts who turned on the early pressure with first midfielder Koffi Romaric who was controversially left out of the Ivory Coast African Cup of Nations squad powering a header which was punched away by Barcelona goalkee…

Real Madrid midfielder Mateo Kovacic claims he did not feel wanted by coach Roberto Mancini at Inter.

Croatia international Kovacic moved from Inter to Estadio Santiago Bernabeu in August, having only joined Inter in January 2013.

Mancini returned for his second spell as Inter coach in November last year but, despite being one of the star performers at the San Siro, Kovacic told Sportske Novosti that his relationship with the former Manchester City boss was distant.

I am not sure, did Mancini want me in Inter or not? he said.

We had no relationship; not good, not bad. I don t know what he thought and in the end I was glad to leave because I don t know what would have happened to me.

Mancini never told me anything. In fact, he did, when I was le…

Joe Hart has acknowledged he may need to leave Manchester City permanently to resurrect his career.

Hart has recently had loan spells at Torino and West Ham, but was unable to force his way into Gareth Southgate s 23-man-squad for the World Cup in Russia.

The 31-year-old made his first appearance for City since 2016 in a pre-season friendly defeat to Borussia Dortmund, but says he wants to go to a club where he is the number one goalkeeper.

I need to go somewhere permanent, I think that’s obvious, he said.

“I did what I did in the previous two seasons because I needed to play to be involved in the World Cup and look where that got me.

I’m experienced. I ve played at the highest level for a long time and done a lot of things in the game. I…

Sporting Kansas City treated their home fans to an impressive 4-1 upset win against Minnesota United on Saturday, with William Agada netting a brace on his birthday.

Against the Western Conference s fourth-placed side in Minnesota, 12th-placed Sporting closed the first half in style, with three goals in the space of 15 minutes.

The first was courtesy of a friendly bounce, with a hard, low cross in the 31st minute being deflected by the Minnesota goalkeeper straight off the legs of centre-back Michael Boxall and into the back of the net for an own goal.

Johnny Russell then hit the post in the 41st minute, but was able to track down the rebound and dish one off for Erik Thommy in the box, who sidestepped a challenge before firing home Sporting s second goal.

<…

Mikel Arteta has declared he is happy to see his players bickering after Ben White and Oleksandr Zinchenko had a spat in the win at Nottingham Forest – insisting a Premier League title race is not a Disney fairy tale.

The Arsenal boss then bizarrely attempted to make light of the on-pitch altercation when he remarked that he pair were now so close they were even “sharing wives”.

White and Zinchenko were separated by coaching staff after the 2-1 victory at the City Ground, a result which kept alive the Gunners’ title ambitions.

Asked if he liked to see his players arguing, Arteta replied: “Maybe we have a different understanding of what the word fight means.

“A conversation can get heated with emotion after the game when you are at 200 beeps a …

MLS side Chivas USA have announced on their official website that they have signed midfielder Mauro Rosales from Seattle Sounders.

The Argentine has been acquired in exchange for the rights on forward Tristan Bowen and the club s No. 2 allocation ranking.

Mauro Rosales leaves Seattle after spending last three years there, having joined the club from River Plate in the winter of 2011.

The 32-year-old has largely impressed at the start of his MLS career, managing 12 goals and 34 assists in 90 league appearances for Seattle Sounders.

Rosales began his professional career at Newell s Old Boys, and he made a total of 119 league appearances, scoring 30 goals, before joining Ajax in the summer of 2004.

The winger didn t quite manage to prove his worth i…

Cardiff City manager Malky Mackay has admitted he expected to be sacked over the weekend.

On Monday, the Scot confirmed reports that he had received an email from club owner Vincent Tan prior to Saturday s Premier League match at Liverpool, telling him to resign or be relieved of his duties.

Cardiff subsequently released a statement on Sunday confirming Mackay would remain in charge, with dialogue planned between the manager and Tan.

In a press conference 24 hours later, Mackay said: “I did feel I was going to lose my job on the weekend. The email (from Tan) deeply upset me.

I declined to resign and expected to be sacked over the weekend. To give the fans a clap (at Anfield) was something I wanted to do for the support they had given me.

I don t know if w…