Lionel Messi s twin moments of inspiration helped Barcelona overcame a shaky hour to win 2-1 at PSV and sew up top spot in Group B.

Comfortable 4-0 victors in the reverse encounter, Ernesto Valverde s men enjoyed no such dominance in Eindhoven as they came under heavy scrutiny for long periods.

The visitors had the woodwork to thank for denying PSV a lead on three occasions, before captain Messi took charge in the second half.

He broke the deadlock with a sublime piece of penalty area composure and then delivered the set-piece from which Gerard Pique ensured a late Luke de Jong header would be nothing more than a consolation.

PSV s bright start could well have come with early reward through Gaston Pereiro.

The winger forced Marc-Andre ter Stegen…

The worst-kept secret in football is finally out – Erling Haaland will be a Manchester City player from next season onwards.

The Norway international will bring the curtain down on a two-and-a-half-year stay with Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga to join the Premier League champions, who confirmed a deal in principle on Tuesday.

The arrival of the Leeds-born forward at the Etihad Stadium – to a club where his father played two decades ago – brings one of the game s hottest talents to British shores.

In addition, it fills the gap Pep Guardiola has sought to occupy since Sergio Aguero s exit at the end of last term and further bolsters City s already fearsome arsenal.

As the Opta numbers from his time at Dortmund illustrate, Haaland could well…

Jose Mourinho wants to see the basics of every job from his Tottenham team against Aston Villa, although he is concerned there was no response from last week s defeat to Arsenal.

Spurs had the chance to move on from their north London derby defeat by securing a place in the last eight of the Europa League, having taken a 2-0 lead over Dinamo Zagreb into the second leg in Croatia.

But a desperate performance saw Tottenham crash out of the competition as Mislav Orsic s hat-trick his second for Dinamo in Europe inspired a stunning 3-0 home win after extra time.

It was just the third time in 196 European matches as a coach Mourinho had lost by a three-goal margin.

For sure, it is one of the most difficult, I m not sure it is the most difficult one, Mourinho…

Gennaro Gattuso believes the signings of Gonzalo Higuain and Mattia Caldara show AC Milan have lost none of their prestige.

The Rossoneri, sixth in Serie A last season, acquired the pair from Juventus on Thursday as part of a deal that included Leonardo Bonucci returning to his former club.

The latter s desire to leave after just one year was viewed as an indictment of a malaise that has seen Milan fail to achieve a top-four finish since 2012-13.

Gattuso, though, believes the addition of two internationals reflects positively on his club s stature.

These [transfers] are [for] important players. Mattia is a very important player, Gonzalo we all know, the Milan boss told reporters.

The important thing for me is to make them feel at home …

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Within touching distance of lifting the La Liga title since 2017, Real Madrid will welcome Villereal to the capital on Thursday night.

Real Madrid

Starting with the hosts, avoiding a late scare away at Granada in midweek and picking up what should be a crucial 2-1 win on their travels, Real Madrid know that three points on Thursday will be enough to see them lift the La Liga title. With Barcelona continuing to slip up since making a return from football s enforced break, Los Blancos have only gone from strength to strength. Remarkably enjoying a nine-match winning run since returning last month, Zinedine Zidane s men have continued to gain plenty of plaudits for their displays at the back throughout the second half of the campaign. Whi…

Norwich City secured promotion to the Premier League with a 2-1 victory over Blackburn Rovers at Carrow Road on Saturday.

Daniel Farke s side needed only a draw to guarantee their place in the top flight next season, with third-placed Leeds United six points behind them with two games remaining.

The Canaries went one better, though, with superb goals from Marco Stiepermann and Mario Vrancic sending them back to the top of the Championship and guaranteeing they will play Premier League football next season.

Sheffield United had moved top with a 2-0 win over Ipswich Town, but Norwich looked set to overtake them once more when Stiepermann drilled a good finish beyond Jayson Leutwiler with 13 minutes played.

The party atmosphere in East Anglia increased whe…

Diego Costa regrets initially leaving Atletico Madrid for Chelsea but feels everything has fallen back into place after an acrimonious parting of ways with former coach Antonio Conte.

The Spain international joined Chelsea after scoring 27 times for Atletico in the 2013-14 LaLiga campaign, encouraging the Premier League side to part with a reported £35million (€40m).

Costa was a success in England, scoring 52 times in the top flight across his three seasons at Stamford Bridge, but his final year was mired by reports of a rocky relationship with Conte.

The Italian was understood to have fallen out with Costa in January 2017 when the striker was linked with a move to the Chinese Super League.

Although they appeared to bury the hatchet and Costa went on t…

Perhaps taking a page out of legendary Manchester United boss Alex Ferguson s playbook, it is out with the old at Manchester City and in with the new in what has been a busy transfer window to date.

On the back of winning a fourth Premier League title in five seasons, City have waved goodbye to long-serving and reliable midfielder Fernandinho, while sanctioning the exits of forwards Gabriel Jesus and Raheem Sterling – the latter s move to Chelsea going through on Wednesday.

It is undoubtedly a risk from City s perspective, not least with Jesus and Sterling joining fellow big-six clubs Arsenal and Chelsea respectively, but one the reigning English champions feel is worth taking as they freshen up their side.

Plenty of focus will undoubtedly be on new arrivals E…

Jamie Carragher does not believe former Liverpool team-mate Steven Gerrard will use Aston Villa merely as a stepping stone to the top job at Anfield.

But Carragher also knows Gerrard would love to become Liverpool manager one day if he first made a success of his new role with Villa.

Gerrard was confirmed as Villa s latest head coach on Thursday, replacing Dean Smith at the helm at Villa Park after a five-game losing streak.

Smith led his boyhood club back into the Premier League and reached an EFL Cup final, winning 39.6 per cent of his 139 games in charge in all competitions.

Gerrard has had a rather different task at Rangers in the meantime, finally cutting short Celtic s run of consecutive Scottish Premiership titles at nine by triumphing in 2020-21.<…

Liverpool and Wolves could be involved in another deal, while Arsenal s shortlist reportedly includes four players.

Premier League champions Liverpool confirmed the signing of Diogo Jota from Wolves on Saturday, with Ki-Jana Hoever heading in the opposite direction.

But the business between the clubs may not end there.

TOP STORY – WOLVES TARGET OXLADE-CHAMBERLAIN

Wolves are eyeing a move for Liverpool midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, according to the Mirror.

The report comes after Liverpool signed star midfielder Thiago Alcantara from Bayern Munich earlier this week.

Oxlade-Chamberlain arrived at Anfield from Arsenal in 2017, and made 43 appearances in all competitions in 2019-20.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain emerges as …