Olivier Giroud scored his first two goals for Milan to help his side maintain their winning start to the Serie A campaign with a convincing 4-1 victory against Genoa at San Siro on Sunday.

The Rossoneri were made to work hard for last week s 1-0 win over Sampdoria but proved far too strong for Genoa as they put on a show for their returning supporters, scoring all four goals in the first half.

Alessandro Deiola netted Genoa s first goal in six league games versus Milan to cancel out Sandro Tonali s opener, but Rafael Leao s heavily deflected strike and Giroud s double gave the hosts breathing space at the midway point.

Milan were happy to keep hold of possession from that point on as they cruised to a seventh league game without defeat stretching into last seas…

Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino insists everyone at the club remains relaxed heading into the final 48 hours of the January transfer window.

The Blues have been linked with a move for Aston Villa frontman Jhon Duran and Newcastle foward Callum Wilson as well as Bayern Munich’s Alphonso Davies.

England midfielder Conor Gallagher is a reported target for Tottenham to leave Stamford Bridge, while Fulham and Wolves are said to be tracking Armando Broja.

Pochettino, though, maintains his squad is fully focused on just one target – getting a result at Liverpool on Wednesday night.

“I am excited for the for the game tomorrow. It is a great opportunity for us to face a team that is doing really well,” Pochettino said.

“For Thursday (transfer de…

Paris Saint-Germain full-back Maxwell has signed a one-year contract extension, tying him to the Ligue 1 champions until June 2016.

The Brazil international has been a regular in PSG s first team since joining from Barcelona in January 2012, making 128 appearances in all competitions.

During his time at the Parc des Princes Maxwell has won the league title on two occasions and the Coupe de la Ligue last term.

I am very proud of the confidence placed in me by the president Nasser Al-Khelaifi and the whole club, he told PSG s official website. 

I will continue to give everything to help the club try and reach its objectives.

As well as his success in the French capital, Maxwell has also won the domestic leagues in Netherlands, Italy and Spain …

Jurgen Klopp says he is well aware of Southampton s strengths and weaknesses as he goes in search of his first Liverpool win at the third attempt at Anfield this weekend.

Amid much excitement around his appointment, the former Borussia Dortmund coach has overseen a pair of draws so far 0-0 at Tottenham in the Premier League and 1-1 on his Anfield bow against 10-man Rubin Kazan in the Europa League.

Liverpool have shown signs of promise under Klopp but, with plenty of room for improvement, they welcome a Southampton side unbeaten in four across all competitions.

Southampton s last away trip brought maximum points against champions Chelsea at Stamford Bridge and Ronald Koeman s men could face a Liverpool side without Daniel Sturridge (knee).

Roberto…

When Marcus McGuane joined Barcelona B in January 2018 he was the first Englishman to join the Catalan club since Gary Lineker. But now it seems that the 20-year-old will be going on loan to Telstar in the Dutch second division, reports.

The London born defensive midfielder attended Arsenal s Hale End Academy. He was the captain of the Arsenal under-18s and a regular for the under-23 side. After starting in the reserve team, he got a chance to play for the first team quite soon upon his arrival, coming on as a substitute for Aleix Vidal on the 77th minute of the Catalan Super Cup Final, which was held on 7 March 2018.

The Englishman has 24 appearances in one and a half seasons at Barcelona B and with coach Garcia Pimienta having his hands full of midfielders, McGuane …

Football all over the world is currently stopped due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Unfortunately, there’s no end in sight for this pandemic scenario. Japan, China and South Korea are expected to resume their football competitions at some point during May, but things are quite different if we analyze the scenario in Europe. There’s a realistic possibility of several countries not completing their 2019-20 seasons.

Out of the ones that have been affected the most, Italy are undoubtedly the most complicated one. Teams are cutting wages, players are threatening to leave next summer, and several clubs are going through several financial problems. The league has reportedly filed for bankruptcy, and teams such as Juventus and AS Roma are living situations that might not be sustainable …

Raymond Domenech was in line to receive 826,222 euros in bonuses as a result of France s successful World Cup qualifying campaign, according to a report to be published in Le Monde on Tuesday.

Figures from the French Football Federation (FFF) showed that the France coach should receive 198,000 euros for the 2008-09 season and 328,222 for the current 2009-10 season, with a further 300,000 euros in image rights for both campaigns.

A player who participated in all of the France international matches that took place during the same period stood to receive 563,111 euros.

Every qualifying match gives rises to a guaranteed minimum of 10,000 euros for each player called up, no matter what the result is, said Le Monde.

To this fixed amount is added an additiona…

Manchester United target Manuel Neuer said Wednesday he needs Champions League football to fulfill his dream of making the Germany Number One shirt his own, even if that means leaving Schalke 04.

Neuer s agent revealed this month his client has been courted by United, but with two caps to his name the 23-year-old admits: I can only realise my goal of permanently being the national goalkeeper if I play Champions League football.

That is clear and everyone thinks about his career including me, Neuer, who is valued at around 13 million euros (19m US dollars), told German magazine Sport-Bild.

While United are keeping an eye on Neuer, the Royal Blues goalkeeper says he hopes he can win Germany s Number One shirt for next year s World Cup, but first Schalke must qua…

Arrigo Sacchi has said that Barcelona s era as the dominant force in European football is over, proclaiming: A king has died .

Luis Enrique s side were beaten 4-0 by Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League despite the presence of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, Neymar and Andres Iniesta in their starting line-up, and Sacchi said the current Barcelona team lacks the qualities that helped them win Europe s top competition four times between 2005 and 2015.

Barcelona are second in La Liga, a point behind Real Madrid having played two games more, and Sacchi – who was director of football at Santiago Bernabeu for a season in 2004-05 – predicted a shift in the balance of power in Spanish and European football.

A king has died: Barcelona, Sacchi told Gazetta Dello S…

The UEFA Nations League was created in order to make for more international games throughout the year, when the traditional breaks in domestic football occur. Based on this game it seems as if they re off to a pretty good start, with Wales efficiently dispatching of the Irish in Ryan Giggs first home game as manager of the national team.

Starting fresh

Both of these nations were aiming to make a statement after failing to qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, and it was the Welsh who got their campaign for UEFA Euro 2020 off to the best possible start.

Ireland looked out of their depth from the word go, with the Euro 2016 semi-finalists stretching their legs early on with Tom Lawrence smashing them into the lead just after the five minute mark.

Gareth Bale then …