Timeloaded

Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri has backed forward Alvaro Morata to "restart" his season after the Spaniard scored in the 1-0 Europa League victory over Hungarian champions Vidi on Thursday. The goal was Morata's second in 10 appearances this season but the striker also had a glaring miss in the first half, shooting wide when one-on-one with the goalkeeper to underline his continuing crisis of confidence. Morata missed several other chances before scoring 20 minutes from time and Sarri is hopeful the striker will gain enough confidence from the goal to kickstart his season. "It's very important for him to score," the Italian said. "He played a very good match. I think Alvaro can restart from this performance." Morata became Chelsea's record signing when he joined the club under Sarri's predecessor Antonio Conte last year, but the forward has struggled to adapt to the pace and physicality of the English game. Sarri is short of at...

Manchester United set for UEFA charge? UEFA have opened disciplinary proceedings against Manchester United following their Champions League clash with Valencia on Tuesday. The Red Devils were due to kick off their game at 8pm but the clash had to be delayed by five minutes. That was  supposedly  due to Jose Mourinho’s side arriving to the game late. Jose Mourinho claimed after the game that it was down the refusal of a police escort. “We left the hotel at six o’clock, hoping that 30 minutes would be enough,”   Mourinho explained before the game. “Which normally is but this time the police refused to do an escort so we come by ourselves. And we took from the Lowry Hotel, 75 minutes. “And UEFA were nice, the referee was nice to allow us to start the game five minutes later because we at least need half an hour to be prepared but was not a problem with the club organisation. “We anticipate everything that it could be dangerous, in the sense of arrivi...

Paris Saint-Germain coach Thomas Tuchel described Neymar as "sensational" after the world's most expensive player scored a hat-trick in a sublime display to lead Paris Saint-Germain to a 6-1 rout of Red Star Belgrade in the Champions League on Wednesday. The Brazilian admitted before this game that he still did not feel back to 100 percent after the foot injury which required surgery and saw him miss the last three months of last season. But he tore Red Star apart with two goals in the space of two first-half minutes at the Parc des Princes, the first a delightful curling free-kick, before completing his hat-trick from another stunning free-kick late on. "I really liked the effort made by the whole team, but Neymar was sensational," said Tuchel. "You can feel that he is hungry in every match, that he wants to be decisive, win the ball back, be at the heart of the play. "He is one of the best players in Europe and that is very, very importa...

Inter Milan recovered from a goal down for the second Champions League game in succession as a 2-1 win at PSV Eindhoven kept them on course for the last 16 on Wednesday. Inter, the last Italian side to win the Champions League in 2010, fell behind to a spectacular strike from Pablo Rosario before Radja Nainggolan levelled on the stroke of halftime. The impressive Mauro Icardi grabbed the winner on the hour mark as the Italians, who beat Tottenham 2-1 in their opening fixture, maintained their 100 percent record in Group B alongside Barcelona. PSV are pointless after two games having lost 4-0 to Barcelona last month. "We do everything to win," Inter's Croatian midfielder Marcelo Brozovic told Sky Sport Italia. "Even when we went behind, we kept believing." Rosario stunned Inter with the opener after 27 minutes when he unleashed a 25-yard screamer into the top corner. The velocity and accuracy left Inter goalkeeper Samir Handanovic rooted to the spo...

Lionel Messi lifted Barcelona out of their recent slump with a magical display as his side beat Tottenham Hotspur 4-2 in a thrilling Champions League Group B clash on Wednesday. The Argentine maestro scored two goals to take his Champions League haul to 105, was the instigator in two others and was twice denied by the woodwork as he lit up Wembley Stadium. Messi, 31, was applauded off by both sets of fans at the end of an absorbing contest that kept Barca at the top of the group and Tottenham in trouble after two defeats. Philippe Coutinho and Ivan Rakitic scored in clinical fashion as Barcelona went in 2-0 ahead at halftime. But Barcelona needed Messi at his best to repel a tenacious Spurs fightback as Harry Kane and Erik Lamela gave the hosts hope. Only when Messi struck his second in stoppage-time could Barca coach Ernesto Valverde breathe a little easier. Barcelona, without a win in their last three La Liga games, were supposed to be vulnerable but on a pitch baring ...

A double from Antoine Griezmann helped lift Atletico Madrid to a 3-1 win over Club Bruges in the Champions League on Wednesday, earning them a second consecutive victory in the competition and a commanding position in Group A. France striker Griezmann gave the home side the lead shortly before the half-hour mark after seeing an earlier strike ruled out for narrowly straying offside, although Atletico's seemingly comfortable advantage was soon shot down from out of nowhere. Dutch winger Arnaut Danjuma appeared to pose little threat as he hovered on the left hand side of the penalty area but surprised everyone in the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium with a perfectly struck shot into the far top corner to equalise in the 39th minute. Atletico might have felt a sense of deja vu from their disastrous 1-1 draw at home to Qarabag last year which led to them being knocked out in the group stages, and after the interval put all their efforts into regaining the lead. Spain midfielder ...