Wales, golf, Madrid… in that order – Bale celebrates Euro 2020 qualification

Italy defender Leonardo Bonucci has completed a move to Union Berlin after leaving Juventus.

Bonucci, 36, still had one more year on his contract with the Bianconeri, but was not in the plans for the new season.

Having made more than 500 appearances for Juve over two spells, Bonucci leaves the Italian giants having won the league title eight times as well as four Italian Cups.

Remember this, Unioner. There are few people on earth who understand the art of defending better than this man. It is a great honour and a privilege to have him here. Eisern!!!

— 1. FC Union Berlin (English) (@fcunion_en)

Bonucci was part of the Italy side which beat England on penalties to win the Euro 2020 final at Wembley and hopes regular football again will help con…

Al Ahly booked a return to the CAF Champions League final with a comfortable 3-1 victory over Wydad Casablanca in the second leg of their last-four clash. 

The eight-time champions took an early lead and never looked like missing out on a 13th appearance in the showpiece as they went on to seal a 5-1 aggregate triumph at Cairo International Stadium. 

Just as they did in the first leg, Al Ahly quickly opened the scoring when Marwan Mohsen tucked the ball past Ahmed Tagnaouti in the fifth minute and a VAR check showed the offside flag had been incorrectly raised. 

Hussein El Shahat doubled the Egyptian side s advantage when he turned Yahia Attiyat inside out, and Yasser Ibrahim s header before the hour mark effectively ended the tie as a contest. 

Subst…

Hannah Dingley’s appointment as caretaker head coach of Forest Green sees her take another step forward in an already ground-breaking career.

Her historic elevation to the top job at New Lawn on Tuesday night means she has become the first woman to manage a professional men’s team in England.

“I’m really excited for this next step of my career,” she told the club website.

We can confirm that Hannah Dingley has been named our Caretaker Head Coach.

Dingley will take charge of the team for tomorrow night’s friendly at Melksham Town.

— Forest Green Rovers (@FGRFC_Official)

“Pre-season has just begun, and the full season kicks off very soon. It’s an exciting time in football.

“I am grateful for the opportunity to st…

Domenico Tedesco does not believe he has anything to prove on his return to Germany with new side Belgium after previously being sacked by RB Leipzig and Schalke.

Leipzig parted company with Tedesco in September 2022, nine months after he took up the position, despite winning the DFB-Pokal in the 2021-22 campaign.

The 37-year-old was also ousted by Schalke in March 2019, a year on from guiding the club to a second-place finish in the Bundesliga.

But ahead of Belgium s friendly with Germany in Cologne on Tuesday, Tedesco insists he is content with what he achieved across his two spells in the country where he grew up.

I love my job and I am happy with what I have already achieved, he said at Monday s pre-match press conference.

I always want to …

Barcelona and Bayern Munich will lock horns on Tuesday in a tantalising Champions League group game at Camp Nou.

It will be the first meeting between these sides since last August in Lisbon, when they served up a 10-goal contest that will live long in the memory – although that s something Barca fans must wish were not so. 

Bayern were 8-2 winners in that quarter-final, utterly dismantling a Barca side who looked increasingly lost at sea with every goal that went in. It was a match with seismic repercussions, too: while the Bundesliga giants went on to win the treble, Barca sacked head coach Quique Setien, Lionel Messi asked to leave and the end of Josep Maria Bartomeu s presidency was hurried along.

It was also a statistical outlier in terms of more than a me…

Market: Lincoln double chance

Odds: 8/15 @

Looking to make it three victories on the bounce in midweek, Lincoln will travel to the Sixfields Stadium when they meet a struggling Northampton on Tuesday night.

Starting with the hosts, while Northampton might have signed off their pre-season preparations with a 3-1 victory away at MK Dons, Jon Brady’s men have drastically struggled to keep up that momentum. Last seen over the weekend putting in another downbeat display as they were hit with a 2-1 loss at the hands of Wigan, the Cobblers have lost each of their first three appearances across all competitions since opening the 2023/24 campaign. Likewise, crashing out of the EFL Cup last week after suffering a routine 3-0 drumming at the hands of Championship outfit …

Tottenham head coach Ange Postecoglou does not predict Liverpool or Manchester City falling away in the coming years irrespective of who manages both clubs.

City have won five of the last six Premier League titles with current leaders Liverpool breaking the monopoly in 2020, but Jurgen Klopp will depart Anfield at the end of the campaign.

Klopp will leave after nine seasons in England and Pep Guardiola will match that tally next term.

Postecoglou has repeatedly expressed his desire for Spurs to regularly compete with the best clubs in England, but knows they must improve and not rely on others to dip in order for that to happen.

“If that’s your only hope, waiting for the top ones to slip? I just don’t think you get there. I really don’t,” he sai…

Diego Simeone said he was pleased after Atletico Madrid ended their winless run at home by defeating Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League.

Atletico had gone four home matches in all competitions without a win prior to Tuesday s 1-0 victory over German visitors Leverkusen in Madrid.

Simeone s side had also only scored once in their previous three fixtures at Wanda Metropolitano, where Alvaro Morata s 78th-minute header settled the Group D contest.

I feel good when I see passion and the team had it, head coach Simeone told reporters when asked about his mood after Atletico joined Juventus on seven points atop the group.

The team knew what they were playing at. We could play badly or well, but they knew what to play at. There was a way and when we re o…

Cristiano Ronaldo joined an elite list of players by scoring the 700th goal of an incredible career in Portugal s 2-1 defeat to Ukraine on Monday.

Portugal may have suffered a setback in their Euro 2020 qualifying campaign, but it was still an occasion to remember for the 34-year-old in Kiev.

Ronaldo converted a second-half penalty to reach the personal landmark, 17 years on from scoring his first senior goal for Sporting Lisbon against Moreirense.

Here, we take a closer look at the Juventus forward s scoring stats for club and country down the years with the aid of Opta.

700 Cristiano Ronaldo has scored his 700th career goal for club and country:

Sporting CP 5
Manchester United 118
Real Madrid 450
Juventus 32
Portugal 95

Legendary. <…

Arsenal and Manchester City played out a thrilling 2-2 draw in their opening Women s Super League clash on Sunday.

The WSL s all-time top scorer Vivianne Miedema marked her City debut with a goal against her former club at the Emirates Stadium, where Beth Mead snatched a share of the spoils late on.

Miedema s deflected effort in the 42nd minute cancelled out Frida Maanum s early opener.

Maanum s close-range strike came just 45 seconds after Miedema had arrowed a shot wide after capitalising on slack play from her former team.

Caitlin Foord had a goal narrowly disallowed for offside early in the second half, and Arsenal s frustrations were compounded when Jessica Park put City ahead with a stunning effort from the edge of the box, with the ball clipping in…