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BARCELONA SUFFER GRIEZMANN INJURY BLOW EN ROUTE BATTLE FOR LA LIGA TITLE

Barcelona forward Antoine Griezmann is set to miss his side’s final two La Liga games after picking up a thigh injury during Saturday’s 1-0 win over Real Valladolid.

Griezmann, 29, was brought off at half time after suffering a knock and the club released a statement on Sunday to confirm the forward will be out of action.

Barca did not confirm how long Griezmann will be unavailable but he is expected to miss the matches against Alaves and Osasuna.

The France international has endured a tough debut campaign since his €120 million transfer from Atletico Madrid.

Griezmann has scored 15 goals in all competitions but was left out of the starting lineup for a number of weeks under manager Quique Setien.

Griezmann’s brother and father criticised Setien on social media after the Barca boss refused to apologise for bringing Griezmann on in stoppage time against Atletico.

A source say the club have reassured Griezmann that he is part of their future plans after meeting with his camp this week.

According to the source, the meeting went “perfectly,” with both the club and the player’s camp expressing a desire for the relationship to continue.

Barca are one point behind league leaders Real Madrid who have a game in hand on their fierce rivals.

Barca face the prospect of playing German champions Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarterfinals if both sides make it through their round-of-16 ties.

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POLICE ARREST 12 YEAR OLD FOR SENDING RACIAL MESSAGES TO PALACE’S ZAHA

West Midlands Police have arrested a 12-year-old boy after Crystal Palace winger Wilfried Zaha received racist messages on social media ahead of the club’s Premier League clash with Aston Villa on Sunday.

Zaha, 27, shared the obscene messages on Twitter before the match and Villa said they would investigate the incident with police.

After Villa’s 2-0 win over Palace, a police statement read: “We were alerted to a series of racist messages sent to a footballer today and after looking into them and conducting checks, we have arrested a boy.

“The 12-year-old from Solihull has been taken to custody. Thanks to everyone who raised it. Racism won’t be tolerated.”

Earlier, Villa responded with a social media post: “We deplore the disgusting racist messages sent to Wilfried Zaha.

“We condemn all forms of racial discrimination and stand with Crystal Palace. We are working with the police in investigating this extremely serious matter and when the culprit is identified AVFC will issue a lifetime ban.”

Palace also supported Zaha with a statement: “This is an absolute disgrace and should not be happening. We stand with you, Wilf, and anyone else who has to suffer such horrific abuse.”

Before the match, Palace manager Roy Hodgson was asked about the incident and told Sky Sports: “It is very saddening on the day of a game that a player wakes up to this cowardly and despicable abuse.

“I think it is right that Wilf made people aware of it; I don’t think it is something he should keep quiet about.

“I think it is very good that our club, Aston Villa and the Premier League are doing everything they can to find out who this despicable individual is and one can only hope that they will get identified and they will get called to account and they will pay for these actions.

“There is literally no excuse; there is no excuse at all.”

Before kickoff, both sets of players took a knee to support the Black Lives Matter movement.

Since the Premier League returned from the suspension caused by the coronavirus pandemic, playing and coaching staff have taken a knee to show their support for the campaign.

A Premier League statement read: “This behaviour is completely unacceptable and the Premier League stands alongside Wilfried Zaha in opposing this, and discrimination in any form. There is #NoRoomForRacism, anywhere.

“We will continue to support players, managers, coaches and their family members who receive serious discriminatory online abuse.

“Through our dedicated reporting system we can take immediate action on cases like this.”

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EVERTON’S SEAMUS COLEMAN BLAMES TEAM MATES FOR WOLVES HEAVY DEFEAT

Everton ace defender, Seamus Coleman has torn into Everton’s players after their defeat to Wolves.
Carlo Ancelotti’s side slipped to a humiliating 3-0 reversal at Molineux on Sunday in a performance devoid of any genuine positives for the visitors.

It marked the Blues’ third winless result in the space of six days, following a loss to Tottenham and a 1-1 home draw with Southampton earlier this week.

And Everton captain Coleman admits that standards clearly slipped in his team’s latest setback, which leaves them 11th in the Premier League table.

He said: “We need to ask serious questions of ourselves.

“We can all play badly, misplace passes and crosses, but the attitude and desire weren’t there and we got beat by the better team.

“We need to have a good, hard look at ourselves. Maybe we’re not where we think we are. As individuals and as a club, we need to be expecting better.

“That won’t be good enough for this manager and it’s certainly not good enough for this football club.”

Ancelotti backed up the Republic of Ireland defender’s scatching criticism of his teammates by insisting that they fell far below the standards he expects.

“It was a really frustrating day and performance,” said the Everton manager.

“There are some excuses but I don’t want to have excuses; the performance was not acceptable. The spirit of the team was unacceptable.

“I spoke to the players and we have to prepare and work differently and have a different attitude.”

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SERGE AURIER’S BROTHER KILLED IN FRANCE SHOOTING

Tottenham star Serge Aurier’s brother has been shot dead on the streets of France at 5am this morning.

The Ivory Coast full-back featured in Spurs’ 2-1 win over north London rivals Arsenal on Sunday evening.

But his brother Christopher, 26, has been fatally shot in the early hours of the morning in Toulouse.

Aurier’s brother was pronounced dead in hospital, while the perpetrator is still said to be on the run and is yet to be caught by authorities.

Local residents called the police after discovering a man lying on the ground with a gun wound to the stomach.

Local media outlet La Dépêche are indicating that the incident occurred near a late night establishment.

Tottenham confirmed the news on social media this morning with a touching statement.

The Club is deeply saddened to confirm media reports that Serge Aurier’s brother passed away in the early hours of this morning,” it read.

“Everybody at the Club sends their sincerest condolences to Serge and his family. Our thoughts are with them all.”

Christopher Aurier also played football, albeit at an amateur level, currently at Toulouse Rodéo in the fifth-tier of the French football pyramid.

Christopher also trained at RC Lens like his older brother, but failed to break through to the highest level.

The sibling also had trials at English club Brentford in 2011.

Back in 2017, Christopher was arrested for allegedly stealing from a sex worker in Lille.

According to reports the two men involved arranged the meeting via the internet, before threatening the woman in her flat with a fake handgun and tear-gassed her when she refused to hand over money.

Christopher is said to have left DNA at the scene.

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WE AREN’T DONE YET: DE GEA OPTIMISTIC UNITED WILL DO MORE AFTER BREAKING NEW RECORD

David de Gea has warned Manchester United have achieved nothing yet.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side kept the pressure on the Premier League’s top four following Thursday’s 3-0 win at Aston Villa.

Fifth-placed United are a point behind Leicester – who they face on the final day of the season – and two adrift of Chelsea as they bid to return to the Champions League.

However, with four games remaining De Gea insisted the job needs to be completed.

“Of course we are very confident now but we haven’t done anything yet. We have some important games coming now so we need to be very, very focused and keep the level that we showed today and in the last four games,” the goalkeeper said.

“We’re in a good mood, a good way, so yes, we keep looking forward to the next game.

“We’re really happy with three massive points and we’re really close to fourth and third positions. We are showing a lot of good things, like we did in the last three or four games. It’s great to see the team performing like this.”

De Gea kept a clean sheet on his 399th appearance for United at Villa Park, the most games of any overseas player for the club, surpassing Peter Schmeichel’s record.

“Sorry to Schmeichel,” he told mufc.com. “It’s great. That means I’ve been here a long time and I’ve been playing really, really well to the top level so I’m really, really proud. I’m happy to play for this club for that many games.

“Hopefully I have another 400 games coming. So I’m really, really happy.”

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GUARDIOLA WARY OF REAL MADRID EN ROUTE HIS TEAM’S UCL AMBITION

Pep Guardiola warned his Manchester City players not to look too far ahead after their route to a possible final was mapped out on Friday.

The Blues discovered that they will face either Juventus or Lyon in the quarter-final, and then possibly Barcelona or Bayern Munich in the semis, after today’s draw in Nyon.

But they have to finish the job against Real Madrid in the second leg of their last 16 game on August 7 or 8, to reach the tournament for the last eight next month.

It could be an extremely tough route to the final, but Guardiola insisted that he only has his sights fixed on Madrid, with City having a slender 2-1 lead from the first leg in the Bernabeu.

Guardiola was also puzzled by suggestions that he, or City, had influenced Uefa’s decision to play that second leg at the Etihad Stadium, after it was initially touted that all last-16 second legs might also be switched to Portugal.

When asked about the draw, Guardiola said: “We have to play against Madrid. If we think about the next step, the kings of this competition will put us out.”

And he was nonplussed by the suggestion that it was unusual that the second leg be staged in Manchester.

“The first leg we played in Madrid, the second leg we play at home,” he said – there had been mischievous suggestions in Spain that he had personally tried to influence that decision.

“It’s a normal situation. It’s not about advantage. It is what it is. In knockout games it’s one at home and one away.

“Why should we play in another place? The first leg we played in Madrid, the second leg we will play at home.

“It is not about advantage, it is what it is. When it is a knockout game with two legs, there is one at home and one away.”

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EVERTON 1-1 SOUTHAMPTON: DANNY INGS SCORES AGAIN TO KEEP THE GOLDEN BOOT CHASE ALIVE.

With less than three weeks to go the race for the Premier League Golden Boot is gathering steam after Danny Ings was on target again on Thursday.

Ings’ 19th league goal of the season put Southampton ahead in their eventual 1-1 draw at Everton, with the striker now just three behind Leicester’s Jamie Vardy in the overall standings.

It now appears to be a four-way battle for the Golden Boot, with Ings one behind Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and level with Mohamed Salah – the duo who shared the award last season with Sadio Mane when scoring 22 goals apiece.

Vardy’s two-goal lead over Aubameyang makes him the favourite to pick up the Golden Boot, with matches at Bournemouth and home to Sheffield United to come.

The 33-year-old recently received a silver fox from Leicester after reaching 100 Premier League goals, while he is two goals away from matching his tally of 24 in the 2015-16 title-winning campaign.

However, his rate has somewhat slowed in the second half of the season, having initially reached 17 goals in the first 18 matches.

Ings meanwhile is comfortably enjoying his most prolific season in the top-tier – his previous best of 11 coming at Burnley in 2014-15, while a year prior he scored 21 league goals for the Clarets in the Championship.

Both Vardy and Ings will be aiming to become just the third English striker to win the Golden Boot since the turn of the century.

Kevin Phillips won the award for his impressive tally of 30 goals in 1999-2000 for Sunderland, while Tottenham’s Harry Kane was the top scorer in 2015-16 (25 goals) and 2016-17 (29).

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UEFA CONFIRM VENUE FOR UNITED VS LASK EUROPA RETURN LEG GAME

Manchester United will play the second leg of their last-16 Europa League tie with LASK Linz at Old Trafford, UEFA have confirmed.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side won 5-0 in Austria the day before UEFA halted the competition as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak across Europe.

Plans have since been unveiled to finish the Europa League in a final eight tournament in Germany in August, with quarter-finals, semi-final and final all played over one leg.

But United will keep home advantage for the second leg of their tie with the side who finished second in the Austrian Bundesliga and they will be near certainties to complete the job and ensure they make the last eight of the Europa League, with the draw for the competition to be staged tomorrow.

UEFA have confirmed the remaining ties in the Europa League and the Champions League will be played at home venues, as long as that league is back up and running and there are no travel restrictions in place.

A UEFA statement said: “Consistent with the principle of sporting fairness and considering that current conditions – all clubs due to play at home the return leg of the Round of 16 are currently playing the remaining matches of their domestic leagues in their own stadiums and that travelling is possible without restrictions for the visiting clubs – the UEFA Executive Committee decided that the remaining UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League Round of 16 second-leg matches will be played at the home teams’ stadiums.

“As already communicated in June, the ties FC Internazionale Milano v Getafe CF and Sevilla FC v AS Roma, whose first leg was also postponed, will be played as a single leg in Germany.

“UEFA will continue to monitor the situation and reserves the right to reassign any such matches to the venues of the final tournament of the relevant competition should new events occur that would make it impossible to play one or more matches at the original venues.

“The respective fixture lists will be communicated after tomorrow’s draws at UEFA’s headquarters in Nyon.”

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ANOTHER VAR CONTROVERSY AT VILLA PARK AS MANCHESTER UNITED MAKE SPOT KICK RECORD

VAR took centre stage once more on Thursday night when a controversial first-half penalty was awarded to Manchester United during their encounter at Aston Villa.

Bruno Fernandes was involved in the major talking point at Villa Park, with the Portuguese winning a soft spot-kick which he then converted after treading on Ezri Konsa’s foot on the edge of the area before hitting the deck.

In winning the penalty United made it 13 spot-kicks for the 2019/20 Premier League season, equaling the record held by Leicester in 2015-16 and Crystal Palace in 2004-05.

It was a decision which left many bewildered, especially as it looked as though Fernandes had committed a foul on Konsa, as opposed to the other way round.

Manchester United legend Peter Schmeichel expressed his disbelief at the decision on Twitter writing: “I am sorry, but that was not a penalty. VAR continues to be a joke..

“What is the point of VAR when it doesn’t correct a clear and obvious refereeing mistake like that?”

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Arsenal draw at Home

Jamie Vardy’s late equaliser gave Leicester City a vital point to keep their Champions League hopes on track and end Arsenal’s recent winning streak.

The Gunners looked on course for a fifth successive victory to maintain their own outside chance of a place in Europe’s elite competition next season after Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang swept in his 20th league goal of the season in the first half.

Leicester goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel kept Arsenal at bay with a string of fine saves before the interval, twice denying Alexandre Lacazette as well as Bukayo Saka – and it proved to be a vital contribution.

Arsenal were reduced to 10 men with 15 minutes left when Eddie Nketiah was sent off four minutes after coming on as substitute for a high challenge on James Justin, and Leicester cashed in when Vardy slid home Demarai Gray’s cross in the 84th minute, the goal finally awarded after a lengthy VAR check for offside.

It was Vardy’s 22nd league strike of the season and restored his two-goal advantage over Aubameyang at the top of the Premier League scoring charts.

Leicester drop to fourth, four points ahead of Manchester United having played a game more, but this was an important point that left Arsenal frustrated in seventh.