Lionel Messi could throw in the towel on his career in Europe and play out his days in MLS – but it would be a people-pleasing move if he returns to Barcelona next season.

That is the verdict of Gerard Pique, Messi s long-time former Barcelona team-mate who is as interested as anyone in the Argentina great s next step.

Messi is approaching the end of his two-year contract at Paris Saint-Germain, having joined the French club when Barca were mired in a financial crisis and could not keep him on.

He will turn 36 in June, and his performances at the World Cup for Argentina, along with a number of fine club showings, have suggested he could keep going at a high level.

MLS club Inter Miami have also been big admirers of Messi and are seemingly ready with an …

Stefano Pioli is dreaming of going all the way with Milan in this season s Champions League after overcoming Tottenham in the first knockout round.

Milan held Tottenham to a goalless draw in Wednesday s last-16 second leg in north London to secure a 1-0 aggregate victory and a place in next week s quarter-final draw.

Mike Maignan made a superb save late on to deny Harry Kane, but Milan finished the game with an expected goals (xG) return of 1.37 compared to 0.46 for Spurs.

It is the first time since the 2011-12 campaign that Milan have reached the final eight of the competition, and Pioli is excited for what is to come.

We were good today. We asked the team to play with personality, he told Prime Video. We never gave up and it s a well-deserved passage t…

Luciano Spalletti promised Napoli can beat Milan without Victor Osimhen as he told his team to enjoy every moment of the club s maiden Champions League quarter-final.

The first leg at San Siro takes place on Wednesday, just 10 days after Napoli suffered an unexpected 4-0 trouncing at home against Milan in Serie A.

That result came almost out of the blue, with Napoli streaking away at the top of the league, where they now hold a 16-point lead over second-placed Lazio as a first Scudetto since 1990 looms.

Osimhen, their 25-goal striker, has not played for Napoli since before the recent international break due to an abductor muscle injury sustained on Nigeria duty.

He missed the Milan game in the league, from which Napoli bounced back with a 2-1 win over Lec…

England manager Gareth Southgate is gearing up to be without a number of star names in his Euro 2024 build-up.

The 23-man squad is likely to include players who will feature in the Champions League final on June 1 at Wembley, just 15 days before their Group C opener against Serbia in Gelsenkirchen.

Southgate faced a similar difficulty before the inaugural Nations League finals in 2019, when seven players arrived late after Liverpool beat Tottenham in the Champions League final.

Kick-off times have been confirmed for the three Group C fixtures

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— England (@England)

There were similar headaches ahead of the last Euros as Chelsea and Manchester City contested the 2021 Champions League final, but Southgate insisted it was just an o…

Roy Hodgson is to remain as Crystal Palace manager for the new season at the age of 76.

Here, the PA news agency looks at the five men to manage in the Premier League after turning 70.

Roy Hodgson

76 years, three days (on the date of Palace’s first game of the new season)

Hodgson’s extended stay means he will take charge of the clash with Sheffield United three days after his 76th birthday. Remarkably he has had three separate spells in the top flight since turning 70, keeping Palace safe from relegation in 2020-21 and again last season, but failing to achieve the same feat with Watford in between times.

His 47-year managerial career has taken in a total of 17 clubs in six countries, including four in Sweden, as well as the national teams of England,…

Competition: Euro 2016
Market: Italy to win against Sweden
Odds:

Italy lock horns with Sweden in their second Euro 2016 Group E clash at the Stadium Municipal this afternoon, and are big favourites to come out on top with how well they’ve begun this summer’s tournament.

The Azzurri are currently top of Group E with three points from their opening game victory over Belgium, two points clear of Sweden and the Republic of Ireland in second and third respectively. A win for Italy will see them into the knockout round, and the manner of their performance against Belgium could see them beating Sweden too.

As for the aforementioned, the Swedes drew their opening game of the Euros to Ireland, but could still end the day top of Group E with a win at the …

Manager Rob Page says Wales should not move home games to the Principality Stadium ahead of Euro 2028.

The UK and Ireland’s bid to host Euro 2028 was formally approved on Tuesday, with the 74,500-capacity home of Welsh rugby in Cardiff among the 10 venues to be used for the tournament.

The idea of playing at the Principality Stadium – Wales have played there only once since 2011, a 4-1 friendly defeat to Spain in October 2018 – angers a large section of the Dragons’ fan base, who prefer that games are played at the 33,280-capacity Cardiff City Stadium.

But Noel Mooney, chief executive of the Football Association of Wales, last month raised the possibility of the men’s national team playing there before Euro 2028 to allow players and supporters to get us…

Best Odds: 1/2

Bookmaker:

With plenty of pressure on their shoulders on Tuesday evening, the Netherlands will travel to Munich when they meet Romania for their Round of 16 showdown.

Romania

Starting with Romania, only continuing on what has been a history-making summer over in Germany, the Tricolours find the mood in their camp at a red-hot high. Booking a maiden knockout stage ticket and remarkably finishing at the top of Group E ahead of European giants Belgium, Edward Iordabescu’s men have embarked on an iconic fairytale. However, signing off their Group E campaign with a 1-1 stalemate against Slovakia last week, the Yellows will be more than aware that they face a huge leap up in class on Tuesday evening. Signing off their EURO 24 preparations with a lack…

Khvicha Kvaratskhelia says Georgia are ready to leave our mark and write a new page of history on their major international tournament debut at Euro 2024.

Willy Sagnol s side, who qualified via the play-offs after beating former champions Greece on penalties, are the only debutants in Germany, where they commence their campaign against Turkiye on June 18.

The Crusaders will also play Portugal and Czechia in Group F, with Kvaratskhelia insisting he and his team-mates are not appearing in the tournament just to make up the numbers.

The Napoli winger, who helped the Partenopei to the 2022-23 Scudetto, scored four goals for Georgia during qualifying, in which he also completed the joint-most dribbles along with Belgium s Jeremy Doku (both 44).

On being consid…

Euro 2020 is just days away, and that means the rumour mill is about to go into overdrive.

International tournaments always represent something of a showcase for clubs seeking reinforcements and this year will be no different, even if the impact of the pandemic means spending may not quite reach levels of old.

There will be several players eager to impress at these finals: some will be long-term targets out to justify the hype, while others will be seeking a new challenge as contracts begin to wind down.

Using Opta data, Stats Perform has compiled a list of some of the candidates vying to be front and centre of this particular shop window

Belgium: Jeremy Doku

One of Belgium s less-known attacking stars, Jeremy Doku was directly involve…