Mourinho equals Clough and Ferguson record with EFL Cup triumph

Eden Hazard suffered fresh injury woe as the Real Madrid winger hobbled out of Saturday’s game against Deportivo Alaves. 

The Belgium international has been blighted by ankle and leg problems since joining Zinedine Zidane s Spanish giants from Chelsea 18 months ago. 

It was not immediately clear what his latest problem was, with Hazard able to walk off the Alfredo Di Stefano stadium pitch, albeit in obvious discomfort, to be replaced by Rodrygo after 28 minutes of the game. 

Hazard had gone down in the Alaves penalty area moments earlier, although it was ruled that no foul was committed. 

He was seen to grimace, stooping over after getting back to his feet and appearing to be in pain. 

It was just Hazard s third LaLiga appearance o…

Valencia and Newcastle are among clubs showing interest in Nice midfielder Albert Rafetraniaina, .

The Spanish giants were the first high-profile side to be alerted of the 17-year-old footballer and they are closely monitoring his performances with a view of luring him to Mestalla in the future.

According to L Equipe, Newcastle have recently joined the race as the St James Park outfit remain attentive of the French market.

The talented footballer was born in Madagascar but he has spent his entire career up to date in Nice and he has a French passport.

While making 19 appearances for the reserve side last term, Rafetraniaina was also handed a first team debut in October 2012.

He has made three substitute appearances in Ligue 1 this season and is p…

AC Milan striker Carlos Bacca is considering his options amid reported interest from West Ham, according to the player s agent.

The Serie A outfit are already thought to have turned down one bid from West Ham for the Colombia international, who scored 20 goals in all competitions during the 2015-16 season.

The Hammers are said to be ready to make an improved offer for Bacca in the coming days, and agent Sergio Barila insists nothing is off the table.

I m waiting, nothing is decided, he told TutoMercatoWeb.com. Me and Bacca are evaluating more than one situation at the moment.

Carlos is already at a great team, but we must know the direction of Milan before making a decision about his future.

And West Ham are not the only club with designs on re…

West Ham United F.C. midfielder Joe Cole will be a free agent when the transfer window re-opens in the summer.

The former England international, 32, joined the Hammers on a free transfer from Liverpool in January 2013 and has gone on to net four goals in 37 appearances in all competitions during his second stint at Upton Park.

However, Cole gradually fell out-of-favour with manager Sam Allardyce as the 2013/14 campaign progressed, with his last start coming in the 3-0 Capital One Cup defeat to Manchester City on 21 January.

His last Premier League start was at home to West Bromwich Albion on 28 December.

A lack of first-team opportunities has led the 32-year-old midfielder to seek pastures new this summer.

I m a free agent now and I m l…

Real Madrid kept pace with Barcelona and Atletico Madrid in what promises to be an enthralling La Liga title race with a 3-0 win over Villarreal on Wednesday.

Karim Benzema opened the scoring late in the first half, netting for the fourth league game in a row, before further strikes from Lucas Vazquez and Luka Modric made it a comfortable victory in the second period. 

Cristiano Ronaldo left the field in stoppage time in apparent discomfort to spark injury fears on an otherwise positive evening for Madrid.

Barca s stunning loss of form in recent weeks allowed Zinedine Zidane s side to close to within one point of the summit, but the pressure was asserted back onto Madrid as the defending champions demolished Deportivo La Coruna 8-0 before kick-off at the San…

Udinese forward Antonio Di Natale said on Saturday he has put June s costly Euro 2008 penalty miss against Spain well and truly behind him.

Di Natale was one of two Italy players to miss penalties in the quarter-final shoot-out wich Spain won before going on to lift the trophy in Vienna.

But Di Natale, whose only start in the competition came in Italy s embarrassing opening 3-0 drubbing at the hands of the Netherlands, says he is not letting that affect him ahead of the new season.

I feel calm and collected. I realise I can t live off memories, obviously I look back at the good ones but like everyone I have to start from scratch again, he said.

Di Natale has been at the centre of transfer speculation during the close season with some of Italy s top t…

Marcus Rashford highlighted the importance of Manchester United s Europa League victory over Real Betis after the humiliation against Liverpool.

An unchanged United side bounced back from Sunday s Anfield rout with a 4-1 victory at Old Trafford to take command of the round of 16 tie.

Rashford opened the scoring with his 26th goal of an outstanding season, with Antony, Bruno Fernandes and Wout Weghorst on target in the second half after Ayoze Perez had equalised for the visitors.

While the win will not wipe away the pain experienced on Merseyside, it put United back on track and Rashford says there must be more to come.

It s always important to win the next fixture, it s the only way for us to bounce back and try to continue the momentum we had before th…

MKHITARYAN EDGES AHEAD ON CREATIVITY

Sanchez is slightly behind Mkhitaryan in terms of assists, however. Mkhitaryan provides an average of 0.24 assists per game, compared to 0.22 for Sanchez.

The duo are remarkably similar on touches per game Mkhitaryan taking 74.61 to Sanchez s 74.46  but there is an indication the United man may be less selfish.

On average, Mkhitaryan completes 51.47 passes per Premier League match compared to Sanchez s 48.16, while his ball retention is also significantly better.

The Armenian s passing accuracy in the Premier League stands at 83.44 per cent, well clear of Sanchez s 75.86 per cent, so perhaps he will fit Arsene Wenger s philosophy.

Wow, super happy to have received most of the votes in Armenia s top 10 athlete…

Clarence Seedorf has been appointed as head coach of LaLiga strugglers Deportivo La Coruna.

The former Ajax, Real Madrid and Netherlands midfielder has been installed, along with assistant Valerio Fiori, until the end of the season at the Riazor.

Seedorf succeeds Cristobal Parralo, who was appointed as interim boss until June when he succeeded Pepe Mel last October.

However, Friday s 5-0 hammering at the hands of Real Sociedad persuaded Deportivo to cut his tenure short after two wins in 13 LaLiga games, with the side languishing third bottom.

Benvido ao Clarence!

— RC Deportivo (@RCDeportivo)

Former AC Milan boss Seedorf had a brief spell in charge of Chinese team side Shenzhen in 2016.

He appeared in line for a surprise swi…

With the conclusion of an exciting group stage which saw both co-hosts fall by the wayside, an intriguing quarter-final line-up has emerged.

One match a day from Thursday through to Sunday will see the remaining eight teams whittled down to a final four.

First up on Thursday, Group A winners the Czech Republic take on Portugal.

Taking place in Warsaw s national stadium, Portugal will be hoping to continue the momentum gained from a hard-fought victory over the Netherlands.

Cristiano Ronaldo announced his arrival at the tournament with a fantastic display to knock out the World Cup finalists of 2010 and Portugal s hopes will again rest on his shoulders.

Standing in his way will be Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech, who was back to his best against Pola…