Sane brushes off talk of Schalke exit

Antonio Conte was delighted with another Chelsea clean sheet as the defending Premier League champions finished 2017 with a 5-0 thrashing of Stoke City on Saturday.

For the fourth successive league match, the Blues were able to shutout their opponents with goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois only called into action on one occasion to deny Saido Berahino.

At the other end the Blues were in fine form with Antonio Rudiger, Danny Drinkwater and Pedro giving them a 3-0 lead after 23 minutes.

Willian and Davide Zappacosta added a touch of gloss to proceedings with late goals to leave Conte content with his side s end to the calendar year.

I think our performance was very positive, he told a media conference. We started the game very well, with great desire to score ea…

Guus Hiddink has spoken with Eden Hazard in a bid to improve the Belgian s below-par performances for Chelsea.

Hazard was an influential figure as Chelsea secured the Premier League title last season, starting every league game and scooping the PFA Players Player of the Year award as a result of his stunning performances.

The 25-year-old netted 14 goals in his 38 Premier League appearances in 2014-15, but has yet to find the net in 26 league outings this term.

Hazard has been consistently beset by niggling injuries throughout the campaign, and interim boss Hiddink, who will make way for Antonio Conte at the end of the season, has told the Belgian he must prove his worth.

It s a long period of absence. It was alarming, Hiddink said ahead of Saturday s mee…

Verdict: Both teams to score

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Celta Vigo haven’t enjoyed such a good start to the new La Liga campaign and they will now attempt to restore some of the lost confidence with a good performance against mighty Barcelona. The Catalans, on the other hand, aim to get closer to domestic double after the impressive 3-0 triumph over Real Madrid in El Clasico.

Celta Vigo

Celta Vigo are now considered a genuine top table side in La Liga following several very successful campaigns, and they are also challenging for European positions. Eager to remain competitive, the club further reinforced the ranks over the summer, signing Emre Mor, Jozabed and Maxi Gomez, among other players, but they have been punching below their weight this term. Midw…

Robbie Keane will spend the next two weeks training with former club Tottenham in preparation for the new MLS season.

Keane, who netted 16 goals as LA Galaxy lifted the MLS trophy for the second successive season in December, will link up with Tottenham at their London training base on Wednesday.

The 32-year-old forward already ruled out the possibility of a return the Premier League before Tuesday s announcement despite speculation linking him to QPR and Sunderland.

Keane enjoyed two spells at White Hart Lane before finally departing the club in 2011 to move to the Galaxy where he played alongside former Manchester United and Real Madrid midfielder David Beckham.

The Irishman spent last January on loan at Aston Villa, netting three times in seven appea…

Iker Casillas said national manager Vicente del Bosque and club boss Jose Mourinho are completely opposite characters.

The 31-year-old has worked with Del Bosque at both club and international level, and has been under the former Inter boss tutelage at the Bernabeu since 2010.

However, he has now revealed that the two coaches have entirely different methods, but was quick to add that he has grown accustomed to Mourinho approach.

The difference between Vicente del Bosque and Jose Mourinho is enormous, Casillas told TF1.

I have known Del Bosque since I was 12 years old at Real. Later I was lucky enough to meet him again with the national team, so it is safe to say we know each other extremely well.

He is more of a calm person, with a peaceful …

Germany dominated the team of the tournament for the Women s Euro 2022 despite losing 2-1 to England in Sunday s Wembley final.

Both teams had won every match en route to a highly anticipated decider at England s national stadium in front of a record crowd for a European Championship match, with 87,192 in attendance.

An extra-time winner from Chloe Kelly proved the difference as the Lionesses claimed their first major title, dealing rivals Germany their first defeat in nine Women s Euros finals.

Beth Mead was forced off in the final but had still done enough to be named player of the tournament, also edging the top scorer award on assists ahead of Alexandra Popp – who missed the match following an injury in the warm-up.

Yet there was room for both super…

Chelsea have been given a fitness boost after confirmation hamstring injuries suffered by Hakim Ziyech and Callum Hudson-Odoi are not serious.

Morocco attacking midfielder Ziyech limped out of Chelsea s 3-1 win over Leeds United in the Premier League last weekend, while England winger Hudson-Odoi suffered a similar injury in training.

However, Chelsea boss Frank Lampard said after his side s 1-1 draw with Krasnodar in their final Champions League group game on Tuesday that the duo will be back soon.

Chelsea face Everton in the Premier League on Saturday before games against Wolves and West Ham on December 15 and 21 respectively.

Both players are hopefully going to be fit for a week on Wednesday, Lampard told a post-match media conference.

They h…

Atletico eyeing Alexis Sanchez

Spanish daily newspaper that Atletico Madrid are considering a move for Barcelona forward Alexis Sanchez.

Los Colchoneros are in desperate need of attacking reinforcements with David Villa leaving and Diego Costa set to follow.

And the latest reports suggest that Atletico Madrid could make an assault on Barcelona star Alexis Sanchez.

Diego Simeone is a big fan of the Chilean and he will go the extra mile to try and lure him to Vicente Calderon.

As new Catalans boss Luis Enrique has yet to make a decision on Sanchez, the forward continues to be linked with a number of Europe s top sides.

Having scored the opening goal in the 3-1 triumph over Australia, the 25-year-old is .

Barcelona keen on Rojo

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Germany international forward Andre Schurrle has revealed he did not want to leave Chelsea but is looking forward to regular first-team football at VfL Wolfsburg.

Schurrle, 24, joined Wolfsburg for a club-record fee of £24.6 million on deadline day after failing to establish himself as a regular fixture at Stamford Bridge.

I wanted to stay but the last weeks or last month I tended towards changing something because I wanted to do what is fun for me and that is to play football, Schurrle said. I could only do it briefly at Chelsea in the past weeks.

After arriving from Bayer Leverkusen for £18 milion in 2013, Schurrle scored 14 goals in 67 appearances in all competitions from the Blues.

The Germany international added: I think I had…

Both Chelsea and Liverpool will be looking to notch up their second successive Champions League victory when they play surprise Romanian package Cluj and PSV Eindhoven respectively on Wednesday.

Chelsea outclassed French side Bordeaux in their first match of the campaign a fortnight ago but may find Cluj a tougher proposition after they pulled off a stunning victory over AS Roma in their debut in the competition.

Liverpool started with a hardfought 2-1 away win over Bordeaux French rivals Marseille and have a good recent record over PSV while the Dutch side s coach Huub Stevens has never won either as a player or coach in England.

Marseille will travel with some trepidation to Madrid to take on dark horses Atletico Madrid.

Chelsea will be hoping to s…