Messi plans to return in Spain friendly

Thomas Tuchel would not confirm whether Edinson Cavani will feature for Paris Saint-Germain against former club Napoli at the Stadio San Paolo on Tuesday.

PSG visit Napoli in a crucial Champions League clash, the two sides having drawn 2-2 at the Parc des Princes last time out. Napoli are a point behind Group C leaders Liverpool who visit Red Star Belgrade with PSG a point further back.

Were Cavani to feature it would be his first appearance at the San Paolo since moving to the French capital in 2013. 

However, the Uruguay striker missed PSG s wins over Marseille and Lille with a thigh injury, and asked about Cavani s chances of playing, Tuchel told a pre-match media conference: I can t say, it s Monday afternoon so I can t say who will play.

Cavani…

Newcastle United recorded a third consecutive Premier League win with a 2-1 victory at Burnley despite Matt Ritchie missing an open goal from close range.

Rafael Benitez s side led 2-0 thanks to a Ben Mee own goal and Ciaran Clark s header, but Sam Vokes hit back for the hosts before half-time.

Ritchie looked set to make sure of the points early in the second half but the winger, who had set up Clark s goal, bizarrely slotted wide at the back post after DeAndre Yedlin beat Charlie Taylor for pace.

But Newcastle held on for their first top-flight win over Burnley since 1975 to move up to 13th in the table, while a fourth loss in five league games leaves the Clarets still a point and a place above the relegation zone.

Kick-off was delayed for half an ho…

Romelu Lukaku made a swift impact from the bench for a second consecutive match as Manchester United beat Newcastle United 2-0 at St James Park.

The Belgium international was on the pitch for two minutes before rounding out Sunday s 4-1 win over Bournemouth and had only been on for 38 seconds when Martin Dubravka spilled Marcus Rashford s free-kick in his direction.

Rashford continued a purple patch in front of goal 10 minutes from time, meaning a fourth win in as many outings at the start of his reign for caretaker manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer – a feat only previously achieved by club great Matt Busby.

Phil Jones, into the Manchester United defence for the suspended Eric Bailly, made a last-ditch tackle on Salomon Rondon to atone for his own absent-minded play…

Best Odds: 4/6

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Two sides who are desperately seeking an MLS boost this weekend, DC United will welcome Nashville to Audi Field in the early hours of Sunday.

DC United

Starting with the hosts, in the midst of what has become an infamous MLS nightmare, DC United have certainly come under a huge amount of scrutiny so far this season. Last seen putting in another woeful performance as they fell to a 5-0 drumming at the hands of Orlando, the Eagles sit rock-bottom of the Eastern Conference standings. Opening July with an action-packed 3-2 defeat at home against Cincinnati, Troy Lesesne has a huge amount of pressure on his shoulders. In fact, the Washington-based outfit have remarkably failed to muster a single victory from any of their last 11 consecutive…

Schalke chairman Clemens Tonnies has dismissed rumours Joel Matip is set to leave the Bundesliga outfit for Liverpool in the January transfer window.

The Cameroon international s contract at the Veltins Arena is set to expire in June and Liverpool are believed to be keeping a close eye on his situation.

Previous reports suggested Matip is due to join the Anfield side on a free transfer at the end of the season, but recent updates claimed he could already make the move to the Premier League this month.

Nevertheless, Tonnies has laughed off suggestions the centre-back is on the verge of leaving Schalke.

Matip to Liverpool this month? That s a hoax, the Schalke supremo told Sport1.

The 24-year-old is a product of the Schalke youth academy and has de…

Wissam Ben Yedder came off the bench to score the decisive goals as Sevilla moved into the quarter-finals of the Champions League with a stunning 2-1 away win at Manchester United.

At a restless Old Trafford, United never got out of first gear and Sevilla, having dominated the opening leg at home without finding a way to beat David de Gea in a goalless draw, deservedly progressed.

When Ben Yedder came off the bench with less than 20 minutes to play, the game was finely balanced with both sides aware the first goal would be decisive.

And it proved to be the case as Ben Yedder made an immediate impact, collecting a pass from Ever Banega to smash in a low finish.

With United reeling, Ben Yedder soon added his eighth goal of this season s Champions League, De…

A Robert Lewandowski brace and Arturo Vidal s goal helped Bayern Munich close to within touching distance of a fourth successive Bundesliga crown as they downed Schalke 3-0 at the Allianz Arena on Saturday.

The result means Pep Guardiola s men can clinch the title as early as next weekend if second-placed Borussia Dortmund fail to beat Hamburg and Stuttgart in their next two matches, coupled with a Bayern triumph at Hertha Berlin on April 23.

The deserved victory rounded off a fine week for the Bavarian giants in which they also progressed to the last four of the Champions League, but they were made to work for the three points by an stubborn Schalke side who kept them at bay for almost an hour.

The visitors defended stoutly as they sought to keep a first clean s…

Bayern Munich chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has suggested both Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery will be offered contract renewals at some stage in the coming months.

Both wingers contracts are due to expire in June 2017, but Bayern are yet to open talks over new deals with the experienced attackers.

Nevertheless, Rummenigge has made it clear the Bundesliga champions are keen to hold on to both Robben and Ribery beyond the expiration of their existing deals.

I do not rule out that both will sign renewals with Bayern, Rummenigge told Kicker.  We all know how incredibly important they are, both on and off the pitch.

But both will have to be patient for a bit. It is only normal to wait a bit longer with players who are older than 30.

Robben, 32, jo…

Prediction: Real Madrid to win 2-1

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Cadiz and Real Madrid will lock horns with each other in La Liga this weekend. The match between Sergio González’s side and Carlo Ancelotti’s team will be held at the Nuevo Mirandilla and is scheduled to kick off at 5:30 pm UK time on Sunday.

Cadiz

Cadiz are an also-ran in La Liga and are among the clubs who could get relegated to the Segunda Division at the end of the season. They finished 14th in the league last season, and one suspects that they will be happy if they end up in a similar place this time around.

Sergio González’s side are 16th in the La Liga table at the moment with 10 points from 12 matches. Cadiz are three points above the relegation zone and are in real dange…

Excitement of the play-offs

Could the Premier League benefit from a play-off system?

The Premier League season finally grinded to a halt yesterday and what a year it has been.

We’ve had Chelsea winning the league under manager Antonio Conte, even though many people had written them off when they lost 3-0 to Arsenal in September to leave them eighth in the table.

Then there was the puzzling decline of Leicester City under Claudio Ranieri when they looked a former shadow of the side that had won the title the previous year.

We’ve also had an enthralling relegation battle where it looked like Marco Silva’s Hull City would scrape survival only for his unblemished home record to come to a surprising halt against Sunderland to undo all of their h…