Wales defender Rodon leaves Spurs for Rennes ahead of World Cup

Philippe Coutinho should not have gestured to the Barcelona fans as he did after scoring in Tuesday s victory over Manchester United, according to Rivaldo.

Barca booked their place in the Champions League semi-finals with a 3-0 win over United at Camp Nou, Coutinho completing the scoring with a fine 25-yard strike after Lionel Messi s first-half double.

The Brazil international, who has been criticised for a lack of consistency this season, celebrated his goal by facing the fans, putting his fingers in his ears and closing his eyes.

Rivaldo, who won two LaLiga titles with Barca between 1997 and 2002, warned Coutinho against such antics and suggested he let his performances do the talking instead.

It was not a good gesture. He scored a great goal, but it …

Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone has defied the odds with his teams time and time again

I have to admit my liking of Diego Simeone has grown since his early days at Atletico Madrid and the Argentinian boss just keeps helping his side to defy the odds against the big boys.

Wednesday night’s 2-0 win over European champions Barcelona in the Champions League quarter-final second leg was enough to see Atleti through to the semi-finals of the competition and see the European champions eliminated.

A propensity for upsetting the odds

During his playing career Diego Simeone liked to upset people. It was almost his trademark. He would do near anything to win, as he is a winner. He proved that during his time at Atletico when he would La Liga in 1996, which was…

Tianjin Quanjian and Belgium midfielder Axel Witsel insisted he had no plans to leave China just yet.

Witsel, 28, starred for Zenit before making the move to the Chinese Super League (CSL) in January 2017.

Amid reports he could leave Tianjin for a return to Europe, Witsel said he was going nowhere.

I am a player from Tianjin Quanjian and none of these rumours would affect me, he told Tianjin TV.

I love Quanjian and the city of Tianjin and I am willing to stay here. I will spare no effort in getting better results for Tianjin Quanjian.

The head coach [Paulo Sousa] tells me I am the core player of the team. And I will be charged with taking the squad to a new level.

I ll strive to meet his demands.

An 87-time Belgium internation…

Tom Rogic s transfer saga took another twist on Tuesday with the Central Coast Mariners quashing rumours of a bid from Queens Park Rangers.

Recent reports had suggested the English Premier League club submitted a $700,000 offer for the midfield star but the Mariners denied any such offer existed, confirming the club were merely sent an invitation for Rogic to trial at Loftus Road which the Mariners rejected.

All the Mariners have had is a letter from them asking for Tom to come and trial and we rejected that. We did have an inquiry from a UK agent with Tommy coming to trial, which was great, but we said he wouldn t be going to trial. That s all it s been, Mariners director of football Lawrie McKinna told the Sydney Morning Herald.

Rogic is on trial with Scotti…

this morning that Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney could be the target of a massive bid from Paris St Germain.

With a massive transfer budget to spend, PSG boss Carlo Ancelotti has reportedly suggested that Rooney is one of his main targets this summer.

Rooney had a fantastic season for Manchester United in the Premier League of course, scoring 27 goals as the Red Devils finished 2nd to local rivals Manchester City.

There have been doubts about his future in the past too, with a transfer request handed in back in October 2010.

However, with a to put an end to rumours of his departure, it would surely take a massive bid to prize Rooney away from Old Trafford.

This is something they could be faced with, should reports of a £100m bid from PS…

Paris Saint-Germain have condemned all forms of racism following the postponement of their Champions League match with Istanbul Basaksehir.

Tuesday s Group H meeting was stopped after 13 minutes with both sets of players gathering on the sidelines following allegations of racism against the fourth official.

Basaksehir substitute Demba Ba remonstrated with fourth official Sebastian Coltescu, saying: You never said this white guy . Why, when you mention a black guy, do you have to say this black guy ?

Both sets of players then left the field and play did not resume for over two hours before the match was called off and pushed back to Wednesday at 18:55 CET (17:55 GMT).

The game will restart from the 14th minute and a new refereeing team will be in plac…

Pep Guardiola remained guarded on the prospect of extending his Bayern Munich contract this week, but Franz Beckenbauer hopes he will stay.

Honorary president Franz Beckenbauer is confident coach Pep Guardiola will sign a new contract at the Allianz Arena and stay beyond 2016. 

The former Barcelona boss agreed a three-year deal with Bayern in 2013 but, with that due to expire at the end of the next season, there has been speculation his time with the club may soon come to an end.

Guardiola refused to directly answer questions about his future this week, instead claiming it was a dream come true to have coached the German powerhouse.

However, with Guardiola having enjoyed Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup success last term, Bec…

Mkhitaryan could leave Dortmund

German daily newspaper that Borussia Dortmund could cash in on Henrikh Mkhitaryan in the summer.

The Armenian midfielder enjoyed a good start to his career in Germany, but has been utterly disappointing this term, having failed to manage a single goal or assist in 13 league outings.

And with his current contract due to expire in June 2017, chances are that Borussia will listen to offers for his services next summer.

Italian giants Juventus appear to be leading the chase having confirmed their interest in his services, but few more top clubs are likely to be in the mix as well.

Mkhitaryan arrived at BVB as a replacement for Mario Gotze, and he in turn scored 9 goals in 44 Bundesliga appearances.

Borussia Do…

PSV Eindhoven s hopes of Champions League survival have already suffered a huge blow at the hands of the Spanish following Atletico Madrid s 3-0 win in the Philips Stadium two weeks ago.

Now the Dutch giants face the daunting prospect of keeping Atletico old boy Fernando Torres under tabs if they are to revive their bid to reach the knockout stages at the expense of Liverpool at Anfield here on Wednesday.

Rafael Benitez s side are unbeaten this season and Torres s return to goalscoring form has left Liverpool s Spanish manager brimming with optimism about the rest of the campaign.

Torres had appeared to be suffering something of a hangover from his efforts in Spain s triumphant Euro 2008 campaign but he looked back to his best as he claimed both goals in the …

Assistant coach John Carver has branded Scotland’s squad the “most focused group” he has ever worked with and stressed there were no thoughts of Euro 2024 qualification ahead of Friday’s game in Cyprus.

A fifth win from five qualifiers in Larnaca could see Scotland qualify on Tuesday night, when they host England in a friendly, if other results go a particular way.

But Carver knows the only outcome they can effect is on Friday night at the AEK Arena and nothing else is worth thinking about.

The former Newcastle interim manager is sure Steve Clarke’s players will only have eyes for Cyprus and not next summer in Germany.

“We have not even discussed England or anything outside the game on Friday night against Cyprus,” he said.

“We hav…