Liverpool boost as Barcelona pick Xavi replacement after Champions League exit

Liverpool are set to turn their attention to Ezequiel Lavezzi after their attempts to sign Edinson Cavani spurned by Paris Saint Germain, .

Cavani had been top of Brendan Rodgers wish list, though PSG president has insisted that the Uruguay international will remain at the club through the next transfer window.

Lavezzi, who switched to Paris from Napoli a year before Cavani made the same move, has started just two league games this season and could be allowed to make way in January.

In total, the 29 year old has made ninety appearances in all competitions for PSG, scoring twenty-three goals and was part of the squads the won back to back league titles in 2012 and 2013.

Laurent Blanc’s side currently sit third in the French top flight, seven points…

Coach Slaven Bilic named a full-strength Croatia squad on Monday for upcoming World Cup 2010 qualifiers against Belarus and England early next month.

Croatia face Belarus at home on September 5 before travelling to London for a showdown with England four days later.

Bilic s 24-man squad features several players from the English Premier League including the in-form Tottenham midfielder Luka Modric and Brazil-born Arsenal striker Eduardo Da Silva.

The only player missing is defender Robert Kovac due to an injury. The Dinamo Zagreb veteran was not expected to make the starting line-up for the two qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

After seven matches, Croatia sit second in World Cup qualifying Group Six on 14 points, seven behind leaders Eng…

Borussia Dortmund star Marco Reus has passed his driving test – two years after he was hit with a massive fine for using a fake licence.

The Germany international was found to have been using a counterfeit Dutch licence when he was pulled over by police in November 2014. A Dortmund court fined him €540,000 for the offence.

Reus was forced to sit out Euro 2016 after struggling with a groin injury in the latter stages of the 2015-16 season, but it would appear he has made effective use of his time.

According to reports in Germany, Reus passed his theory and practical examinations on Monday and and he collected his licence prior to Dortmund training early on Tuesday.

Yes, it s true that I ve passed my driving test, he told Bild after driving to train…

Shinji Kagawa helped himself to a first-half brace and Andre Schurrle scored a maiden Borussia Dortmund goal as Thomas Tuchel s side eased to a 3-0 DFB-Pokal win at Eintracht Trier.

Dortmund s fourth-tier opponents famously subjected them to a 2-1 defeat in this competition back in 1997, but there was never the slightest hint of a repeat after Tuchel named a strong line-up and was rewarded by a dominant display.

Kagawa could find his place under threat from Mario Gotze this season following the latter s return from Bayern Munich, but, with the 2014 World Cup winner sidelined due to a minor thigh complaint, the Japanese took the opportunity to impress.

Gotze s compatriot Schurrle, a close-season recruit from Wolfsburg, was involved in much of Dortmund s impress…

It looked like 10-man Fulham were going to keep Chelsea frustrated until Mason Mount intervened.

The midfielder fired home with 12 minutes remaining to secure a 1-0 victory, just the Blues second in their past seven Premier League games.

It was fitting that Mount proved the match-winner following another exemplary display in the Chelsea midfield, settling the contest with his second goal from outside the box this season.

The 22-year-old has 11 goals and 10 assists in 78 career appearances as a Premier League player for Chelsea. At the same age, Lampard (for West Ham) had scored 18 times and set up a further eight, but having played 44 further matches.

Ahead of Tuesday s trip to Leicester City, the Chelsea boss said of his struggling stars: There are thin…

Milan came from behind to clinch a hard-fought 1-1 draw at Salzburg in their Champions League opener, as Alexis Saelemaekers cancelled out a superb solo goal from Noah Okafor.

Okafor s outstanding strike gave Salzburg the lead midway through an evenly matched first half, only for Saelemaekers to smash home an equaliser shortly before the break on Tuesday.

Stefano Pioli s men failed to build on the Belgium international s effort but almost grabbed a stoppage-time winner through Rafael Leao, who was denied by the frame of the goal.

Having failed to escape the group stages in the Champions League last season, however, the Serie A champions may still be relieved to escape without defeat ahead of meetings with Dinamo Zagreb and Chelsea.

Both sides created open…

Brazil are champions of the 2009 South American Sub-20 Championships as the only remaining rivals, Uruguay, were held to a 2-2 draw by Paraguay.

Jonathan Urretaviscaya put Uruguay in the lead after 13 minutes but two goals from Aldo Paniagua, both in the first half, turned things around in Paraguay s favor.

Santiago Garcia scored back for Uruguay on 73 minutes but it wasn t enough to win this match and keep pressure on final group leaders Brazil.

For Brazil, this is their tenth Sudamericano Sub-20 title after 1974, 1983, 1985, 1988, 1991, 1992, 1995, 2001 and 2007.

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A Nigerian football star sentenced to 40 lashes in Sudan for driving under the influence of alcohol insisted on Thursday on his innocence and said he could not imagine himself being flogged.

I am not guilty of this crime and I cannot even imagine myself being flogged so I don t put my mind there, said Stephen Worgu, 20, who plays for Sudanese first division outfit al-Merreikh of Omdurman, Khartoum s twin city.

On Tuesday, a Khartoum court condemned the young footballer to 40 lashes and ordered him to pay a fine of 50 Sudanese pounds (20 dollars) for alcohol consumption and 200 Sudanese pounds for driving under the influence.

Article 78 of the penal code in the conservative, mainly Muslim state forbids alcohol consumption.

Worgu, a Nigerian Christian who…

Manchester City and Barcelona are set to battle for the services of Arsenal full-back Hector Bellerin when the transfer window reopens, .

Both sides inquired about the Spain international during the summer though feel he will be a more realistic target come January.

Bellerin broke into the Gunners first team during the 2014-15 campaign and has since racked up seventy-eight appearances for the club in all competitions, scoring three goals.

He also played eight times for Watford during a loan spell early in his career while internationally he has won three senior caps for his country.

He was part of the Spain squad that attended the European Championships in France this summer but was an unused substitute in all four of their games at the tournament.…

Out-of-form Rennes will attempt to upset the odds at Paris Saint-Germain for the third season running in Friday s Ligue 1 clash.

Philippe Montanier has backed Rennes to end their Ligue 1 wobble and produce another famous victory at Paris Saint-Germain on Friday.

A superb run of form saw Rennes go unbeaten in the league from October 4 until a 4-0 reverse at home to Montpellier on December 6.

That setback started a six-match winless league run and has seen Rennes slip to 10th in the table.

A trip to the Parc des Princes to play champions PSG poses another daunting challenge for out-of-sorts Rennes, particularly considering Laurent Blanc s men have not been beaten on home soil this term.

However, Rennes have reason to be cautiously optimistic ahe…