Plauseorminus

Frank Lampard has told Antonio Conte to revert to the gameplan which saw Chelsea overcome Atletico Madrid when they face Roma in the Champions League tonight. The Premier League champions will hope to solidify their position in Group C when they meet the same opposition who were unlucky to be held to a thrilling 3-3 draw at Stamford Bridge a fortnight ago.  Conte has largely stuck with the 3-4-3 formation which brought his side so much success last season but Lampard believes it is imperative he packs the midfield against the Serie A side, in much the same way he did against Atletico last month. On that night Cesc Fabregas, Timeoue Bakayoko and N’Golo Kante dominated the middle of the park, contributing to a 2-1 victory that represented Chelsea’s most complete performance of the season so far. Kante’s likely return from a three-week injury-enforced absence will come as a welcome boost to his manager who was forced to deploy David Luiz in midfield against Roma in the reve...

Mauricio Pochettino claims Harry Kane has a chance of featuring against Real Madrid on Wednesday. The Tottenham striker missed Saturday’s 1-0 defeat against Manchester United at Old Trafford with a minor hamstring injury. Kane played an instrumental role in helping his side record a morale-boosting draw at the Bernabeu a fortnight ago which further boosted his side’s hopes of qualifying from Group H. The 24-year-old trained with his teammates ahead of tomorrow’s glamour tie at Wembley and Pochettino was cautiously optimistic his star man could play a part. ‘We are really confident,’ said the Spurs boss. ‘Maybe it’s possible but I don’t want to say 100% as we have one more day. Yesterday and today was good though.’

If there’s one place you don’t want to be getting stitches, it’s probably on your penis – and that’s the unfortunate fate one Argentine footballer suffered this weekend. Albacete defender Mariano Bittolo was involved in a freak collision with one of his team-mates, which saw his sensitive meat requiring urgent attention during a 0-0 Spanish Segnda division draw with SD Huesca. No players scored on the pitch on Saturday, and it’s unlikely Bittolo will be scoring off it in the immediate future after fellow Albacete star Roman Zozulya’s studs scraped down his member and cut it open as the pair jumped near each other in their own penalty area. Bittolo was seen rolling around in agony and pounding the floor in sheer pain before being immediately substituted off. Club doctor Eduardo Rodriguez told Spanish newspaper Marca that he required TEN stitches to mini-Bittolo after the unfortunate 82nd minute collision. It’s not expected that the 27-year-old will miss any matches as a resul...

Eden Hazard believes Chelsea are still capable of winning the Premier League title this season. Antonio Conte’s champions are sitting down in fourth, nine points adrift of league leaders Manchester City, but Hazard thinks injuries and bad form can see Pep Guadiola’s side loosen their grip. The Blues have returned to winning ways in recent weeks, following three matches on the bounce without a victory, and head into Tuesday night’s Champions League clash with Roma full of confidence.  Asked about Chelsea’s title chances this term, Hazard said: ‘The season is long, you never know what is going to happen. ‘They [Manchester City] are top of the league and play well, they score a lot of goals. ‘But you never know injury, bad form – so will so we will see. We want to be at the top of the league at the end of the season, we have a lot of games to play so we will see at the end.’ The Belgian forward insists he’s back to full fitness after sustaining an ankle injury earlier i...

Chelsea stricker Alvaro Morata wishes he had never left Juventus to rejoin Real Madrid after claiming that Zinedine Zidane's side treated him like a kid. Morata, 25, moved to Juventus during the summer of 2014 after being restricted to a secondary role by Carlo Ancelotti during the 2013-2014 campaign. The Spain international won the Serie A title twice with Juventus and reached the Champions League final in 2015 after scoring two goals against Real in the semi-final. In the summer of 2016 Los Blancos decided to activate a buy-back clause included in his sale to the Italian giants. Upon his return, Morata scored 15 goals under Zidane's leadership to help Real to win both the Champions League and La Liga title last season. However, it had previously emerged that the Spaniard wanted to leave Real again after having grown frustrated with Zidane due to his continued faith in Karim Benzema. "[I returned to Real Madrid] because there were contractual agreements to ...

Andres Iniesta will miss the Champions League trip to Olympiakos on Tuesday night with the Barcelona captain remaining on the sidelines alongside Arda Turan, Aleix Vidal, Ousmane Dembele and Rafinha Alcantara. Gerard Pique is also out due to suspension but Thomas Vermaelen and Javier Mascherano have returned to Ernesto Valverde's 20-man travelling squad after both centre-backs missed the 2-0 victory at Athletic Bilbao on Saturday [28 October] due to injury and illness. Furthermore, the Barcelona boss has also promoted goalkeeper Adrian Ortola and 19-year-old midfielder Carles Aleña from the second team to complete his squad. "For this match, the Barça coach will not be able to count on the suspended Gerard Piqué or the injured Ousmane Dembélé, Rafinha, Aleix Vidal, Arda and Iniesta" the Catalans confirmed in the club official website. "However, Vermaelen's medical discharge has been received and Mascherano (without medical discharge) travels, as do...

Yaya Toure has vowed to win the Champions League with Manchester City, insisting he has unfinished business in Europe. The Ivorian won European football's biggest prize in 2009, when Barcelona beat Manchester United 2-0 in Rome, before swapping Catalonia for the blue half of Manchester at the end of the following season. Since arriving at the Etihad, the 34-year-old has epitomised City's transformation from also-rans toPremier League heavyweights, winning two Premier League titles, the FA Cup and two League Cups. However, City's domestic success is yet to be translated onto the continental stage, with the Citizens yet to get past the semifinal stage in the Champions League, after losing 1-0 on aggregate against Real Madrid two seasons ago. Pep Guardiola's first campaign in charge, meanwhile, ended with the Citizens knocked out in the quarter finals by Monaco and Toure is desperate to win the competition again. "I want the Champions League again - so ...