Santiago Solari has urged Gareth Bale to make the most of his time in the spotlight and show his quality consistently for Real Madrid.

So often the understudy to Cristiano Ronaldo during the Portugal star s time at the club, it was hoped Bale would become the leading figure of the Madrid attack following Ronaldo s move to Juventus.

However, a return of four goals in 12 appearances in all competitions this season, coupled with a disappointing display in last Sunday s 5-1 Clasico thrashing, has led to increased scrutiny of Bale s credentials to take up Ronaldo s mantle.

Despite this, Solari still hopes to see the Wales international take his chance to shine for Madrid on a regular basis.

He has the spotlight. I hope he shows us his huge talent, he told a …

Atletico Madrid star Antoine Griezmann tried to inspire his team ahead of their clash against city rivals Real Madrid with a video of famous comebacks.

Diego Simeone s men need a remarkable fightback at the Vicente Calderon on Wednesday, trailing the Champions League semi-final tie 3-0.

Cristiano Ronaldo inspired Madrid to their home win, and they are firm favourites to face Juventus in the decider in Cardiff on June 3.

But Griezmann tried to rally his side, pointing to comebacks by the Cleveland Cavaliers, New England Patriots and Usain Bolt, as well as one of Atletico s Madrid derby wins.

— Antoine Griezmann (@AntoGriezmann)

They also called them crazy, text in the video read.

And they did it. And if we have already done i…

While they might have managed to secure a top-four finish on Sunday afternoon, Chelsea could only limp their way over the finish line with a 2-1 defeat away at Villa Park.

On what was a dramatic final day of fixtures from up and down the country, Thomas Tuchel s men saw Bertrand Traoré and Anwar El Ghazi hand them their second Premier League defeat in their final three outings.

Despite Ben Chilwell s consolation goal in the second-half, The Blues were unable to mount a dramatic late turnaround after seeing skipper César Azpilicueta handed a straight red in the final minutes.

Only wrapping up their Champions League return thanks to a favour from Spurs, we have taken a look at five key talking points after Sunday s meeting at Villa Park.

Traore stuns his fo…

Manchester City posted record revenues of £535.2million in 2018-19, according the Premier League champions latest annual report.

Pep Guardiola s side won an unprecedented domestic treble in English football last season, alongside the Community Shield, while City s women s team collected the League Cup and FA Cup.

Revenue scaling £500m for a second consecutive year helped City to return a profit of £10.1m – a fifth consecutive year in the black for the club.

This level of sustained success is possible for many reasons, but in particular because of our people and, critically, because of our ability to plan, said City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak.

As intended by His Highness Sheikh Mansour, our organisation is now at a level of maturity that enables u…

(GSM) Former Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo believes that he can emulate the same success he achieved at his former club with Real Madrid.

The Portugal international, who has had an explosive impact since joining Real in 2009, has already scored nine goals in just four Primera Liga matches during the current campaign.

However, scoring goals is an inherent habit for the 27-year-old, having scored 84 goals in 196 appearances during his time at Old Trafford, with three Premier League winners medals to his name.

Now, Ronaldo is confident that he can win the same number of honours at Los Blancos telling Brazilian television station Globo: I want to win the same number of titles in Madrid as I did during my time at Manchester United.

This is my chal…

France coach Laurent Blanc is grappling with the configuration of his midfield prior to the visit of Romania for the Euro 2012 Group D qualifier at the Stade de France on Saturday.

Les Bleus got their qualifying campaign back on track with a convincing 2-0 victory at Bosnia-Hercegovina in their last outing, having slumped to a shock 1-0 defeat at home to Belarus in their opening game.

The basis for the win in Sarajevo was a dominant display from central midfielders Alou Diarra, Yann M Vila and Abou Diaby in a solid 4-3-3 formation, but both Diarra and Diaby are doubts for the Romania game.

Diarra limped out of training with a leg injury on Wednesday, while Diaby has not trained all week due to an ankle problem sustained on club duty with Arsenal.

The blo…

PSG lead chase for Aurier

Paris Saint-Germain have moved to the front of the queue for Toulouse captain Serge Aurier, .

The Saints have given up on Dani Alves and instead turned their attention to the Ivory Coast star as they look to sign a new right-sided defender.

PSG coach Laurent Blanc and sporting director Olivier Letang have contacted the player to inform him of their interest as they plan to open talks with Toulouse officials.

The Saints have an excellent relationship with le Tefece president Olivier Sadran as witnessed by both Adrien Rabiot and Clement Chantome enjoying low cost loan spells at Stade Municipal.

Serge Aurier, 21, was hoping to move to English Premier League, but he is also interested in joining a top French club.

Ma…

Valencia goalkeeper Diego Alves has extended his contract until June 2019, the Liga club have announced.

The Brazilian joined from Almeria ahead of the 2011-12 campaign, with his previous deal having been set to expire in 2015.

And Alves, 29, has now agreed to extend his stay at Mestalla for an additional four years.

Valencia CF are pleased to announce the reaching of an agreement with goalkeeper Diego Alves to extend his contract at the club through to June 30th 2019, read a statement on Valencia s official website.

Diego Alves participated in a total of 35 games in the most recent campaign.

He was chosen by fans on the club s official social networks as the best player of the 2013-14 season.

Last week, Valencia appointed Nuno Espiri…

Roberto Mancini feels Italy are ahead of schedule despite needing a 94th-minute winner from Matteo Politano to edge past the United States.

Italy struggled in Tuesday s international friendly in Genk until late substitute Politano collected a pass from Inter team-mate Roberto Gagliardini to score deep into added time.

The Azzurri have kept three clean sheets in a row under Mancini but only scored twice in that run, although they have handed opportunities to a batch of young players.

Stefano Sensi started in midfield and impressed Mancini on his international bow, while there were further debuts from the bench for Vincenzo Grifo and Juventus teenager Moise Kean.

Congratulations to Moise , who becomes the first player born in 2000 to play for the !  <…

Speaking to , Reece Oxford has admitted he may have to leave West Ham in search of first-team football.

The 19-year-old central defender, who is also capable of slotting in a defensive midfield position, spoke about the club in a grateful manner, and pointed out that it was the Hammers who gave him his professional debut and made him the player he is, but if they aren t willing to let him play then it may be in everyone s best interest to part ways.

Oxford spent the 2017/18 in Germany, on loan with Borussia Monchengladach, and the Bundesliga side are now interested in a permanent deal. Since his return to the London Stadium this summer, he hasn t been used by manager Manuel Pellegrini at all, and he said he feels angry about missing out on all the action.

He ho…