Barcelona revert to tradition with new kit

Paris Saint-Germain dropped points from a winning position for the second week running as Bordeaux recovered a 2-2 draw at the Parc des Princes.

PSG collapsed from two goals up to lose at Monaco in their previous Ligue 1 game and again failed to make the most of an advantage after Neymar had turned Saturday s match in their favour.

The reigning champions trailed to debutant Timothee Pembele s 10th-minute own goal, but Neymar equalised with a penalty he won himself for his 50th Ligue 1 strike in his 58th appearance a 21st-century record and then had a hand in Moise Kean s swift second.

Thomas Tuchel s side were comfortable until 20-year-old PSG academy graduate Yacine Adli brought Bordeaux back level less than two minutes after his introduction, dealing the capita…

Barcelona s players have visited the area set aside by the club for tributes to former coach Tito Vilanova, who died on Friday.

Vilanova, who served as assistant to Pep Guardiola before taking charge of first-team affairs at Camp Nou, passed away at the age of 45 following a lengthy battle with throat cancer.

After succeeding Guardiola for the 2012-13 season, Vilanova guided the club to the Liga title with a club-record haul of 100 points.

However, his sole campaign in charge was interrupted by illness and he was forced to step down last July.

The club confirmed on Friday that Vilanova had passed away, with Barcelona s playing squad and coaching staff the first visitors to a space at the club s stadium set aside for tributes.

Coach Gerardo Martino led the …

Marc Wilmots is keen to plan for a Belgium defence without injury-plagued captain Vincent Kompany.

Kompany made just 22 appearances for Manchester City in all competitions in 2015-16 and a thigh problem has ruled him out of Euro 2016.

Belgium suffered further blows in their preparations for the tournament in France with defenders Nicolas Lombaerts, Dedryck Boyata and Bjorn Engels all pulling out of the squad due to injuries.

After shoddy defending enabled Finland to take the lead through Kasper Hamalainen in a 1-1 draw in Brussels on Wednesday, Wilmots admitted a new consistent pairing at the back is needed to replace Kompany and former international Daniel Van Buyten.

We need time to establish this defence. An understanding will come, especially wit…

Rafael van der Vaart has labelled the home leg of Hamburg s relegation play-off against Greuther Furth as crucial to their survival hopes.

Hamburg have never been demoted from the Bundesliga since its formation in 1963, but have struggled this season and only avoided automatic relegation by one point.

They face Greuther, who finished third in the second tier, over two legs for a place in the top flight next term.

Netherlands international Van der Vaart believes Hamburg must gain an advantage from the first leg at the Imtech Arena.

We have to make our own game, he told Bild. Then we have a good chance.

How we play at home will be crucial. It is important in Hamburg to get a good result.

They will come with confidence.

As third in the table in the…

Diego Simeone was in a happy mood after Atletico Madrid exceeded last season s La Liga points tally with four matches remaining.

Fernando Torres scored the only goal of the game in the 38th minute as Atletico edged Athletic Bilbao 1-0 on Wednesday.

Torres first-half strike maintained the pressure on title holders Barca, with the two teams level on 79 points, a point more than Atletico collected throughout the 2014-15 campaign as they finished third last term.

The dressing room is happy, Simeone said via the club s official website.

Exceeding the numbers of last season with four rounds to go is a very important step with the competition that we have with ourselves and our own requirement to continuously improve ourselves.

To surpass the numbers …

Dutch and Aston Villa defender Wilfred Bouma will almost definitely miss the beginning of the 2008/9 English Premier campaign.

The Aston Villa defender dislocated his right ankle in his side’s 1 – 0 victory over Denmark’s OB Odense in the Intertoto Cup.

The thirty year old defender only lasted a quarter of an hour on the field before having to be stretchered off.

The victory now means that Villa will go through to the second round of the cup.

…

Angel Di Maria revealed he is in talks with Juventus over a new contract after his header saw off Freiburg in the first leg of their Europa League last-16 tie.

The Argentina international settled the opening leg at the Allianz Stadium when he powered home Filip Kostic s 53rd-minute cross for his fourth goal in this season s competition.

Di Maria, who also netted a hat-trick against Nantes in the previous round, has now been directly involved in seven goals in his last six European appearances.

The 35-year-old endured an injury-hit start to life in Turin after signing a 12-month deal last July, but has already registered 10 goal involvements in 2023 (seven goals, three assists).

Bruno Fernandes and Toulouse s Branco van den Boomen are the only other midfie…

Leroy Sane s star quality offered a timely weekend boost to Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola as Alexis Sanchez prepares to take up residence on the other side of town.

Back in action for the first time since their first top-flight defeat of the season at Liverpool, the Premier League leaders were 2-1 up but enduring a nervy spell in Saturday s home match against Newcastle United.

It fell to Sane to offer a demonstration of his game-breaking qualities. The Germany international took possession and embarked upon a dizzying dribble past a succession of challenges before squaring for Sergio Aguero to complete his hat-trick and seal the points.

The 22-year-old has racked up 10 goals and 13 assists from the left-hand side of City s attack this season – a position…

Daryl Janmaat, Gerard Deulofeu and Roberto Pereyra scored late goals as Watford piled the pressure Antonio Conte with a scintillating 4-1 win at home to 10-man Chelsea on Monday.

Eden Hazard s fine finish appeared to have saved a point for the Premier League champions, who were again awful after a 3-0 home thumping at the hands of Bournemouth last time out.

However, it only served the sting the Hornets into a late flurry, which handed Javi Gracia a massive win on his home bow as Watford boss.

Tiemoue Bakayoko was booked twice inside five first-half minutes, although the Blues were already in the midst of a sloppy performance, in which they failed to test Watford s back line sufficiently.

And Watford led before half-time when Troy Deeney slammed home a pen…

Spain midfielder Andres Iniesta has insisted the reigning world and European champions have not lost their desire to win titles.

Vicente del Bosque s men are widely regarded as favourites to win Euro 2012, but have shown in Poland and Ukraine only glimpses of the form which saw them crowned European champions four years ago.

It is wrong to think that there is less hunger than in previous times, you never lose it, Iniesta told Deportes Cuatro.

We are very eager to win another Euro title and make history.

Spain were at times on the back foot in Monday s 1-0 victory against Croatia, but Iniesta does not think his team performed below expectations.

I do not think that Spain played poorly, the Barcelona midfielder said. Other teams have also had m…