Van Dijk misses Liverpool´s Club World Cup semi with illness

Antonio Conte has stressed there will be no second chances for Inter when they take on Barcelona in a crucial Champions League clash on Tuesday.

Inter welcome Barca to San Siro sitting second in Group F, level on seven points with Borussia Dortmund, who face Slavia Prague.

The Nerazzurri who hold a two-point lead over Juventus at the top of Serie A must at least match Dortmund s result to ensure their place in the knockout stages.

While Conte is not thinking too far ahead in regard to how far his team can go in the competition, he emphasised Inter must grasp their final opportunity to progress.

This is a very important game for me and the club. Our qualification hopes are on the line. It is a very big moment in our season, Conte told a news conference.

Chile full-back Mauricio Isla is eager to remain at Juventus and secure a starting place in Antonio Conte s XI.

The 26-year-old, who can also play in midfield, is currently in action at the FIFA World Cup and has helped his country to victories over Australia and Spain.

Despite being a regular in Jorge Sampaoli s side, Isla has struggled to merit a regular berth at the Juventus Stadium since arriving from Udinese in 2012 and made just 18 Serie A outings last term

However, Isla is hopeful he can become an important figure for the Scudetto holders.

I am working hard for both Chile and Juventus, for me it is all good, he said.

Will I stay at Juventus? I know that all the fans support me.

I have learned from many players at Juventus and c…

Marseille have completed the signing of winger Romain Alessandrini from Ligue 1 rivals Rennes.

The details of the contract have not been released by Marseille, but the 25-year-old is reported to have signed a four-year deal at the Stade Velodrome.

Born in Marseille, the move sees Alessandrini return to his home town and he becomes the club s first major signing since Marcelo Bielsa was announced as their new coach in May.

Alessandrini joined Rennes in 2012 from Clermont Foot and consistently caught the eye with his strong performances at the Stade de Route de Lorient.

His form in in Brittany in 2012-13 earned him a call-up to the France squad for their February 2013 friendly with Germany, although he was an unused substitute for the game.

Alessan…

After coming through part one of a huge week unscathed – albeit with Karim Benzema suffering an injury scare – Real Madrid now turn focus to a huge showdown with fierce rivals Barcelona at Camp Nou.

While the odds were massively stacked in Madrid s favour when protecting a 5-2 lead in their Champions League last-16 tie with Liverpool, going through 6-2 aggregate winners, the opposite is true in their LaLiga title battle with Barca.

Madrid have struggled for consistency domestically and are nine points adrift of the leaders with 12 rounds of games to play after this weekend. Put simply, it is win-or-bust for Los Blancos outside title hopes.

Carlo Ancelotti s side have a great recent record against their Clasico foes in the league but, regardless of Sunday s re…

Yeremy Pino and Borja Iglesias have been called up to Spain s squad for their upcoming Euro 2024 qualifiers against Norway and Scotland.

Pedri and Gerard Moreno withdrew from the squad over the weekend due to injury.

Barcelona star Pedri missed Sunday s crucial Clasico win over Real Madrid after he failed to recover from a hamstring issue, and he will not feature in Luis de la Fuente s first games as Spain boss.

Moreno, meanwhile, suffered a muscular problem during Villarreal s 3-0 LaLiga win over Osasuna.

Winger Pino teed up Villarreal s final goal in that win, and the 20-year-old – who has netted three times in LaLiga this term and was included in Spain s World Cup squad – has been called in.

He is joined by Real Betis forward Iglesias, who …

Monaco have confirmed their interest in Lyon youngster Willem Geubbels and hit out at the 16-year-old s club for suggesting previous wrongdoing relating to the transfers of Rachid Ghezzal and Jordy Gaspar.

Geubbels is regarded as one of France s most talented young players and has reportedly attracted interest from some of Europe s biggest clubs during his time at Lyon.

His contract expires at the end of next season and Lyon revealed on Thursday they have been told he will seek to join another club instead of signing professional terms with them.

In their statement, Lyon highlighted the lengths they have gone to during Geubbels development, giving him personalised education, progressive introduction to the first-team squad and extremely important contract proposa…

Newcastle United have confirmed that winger Florian Thauvin has re-joined Marseille on a one-year loan deal, with an obligation to make the move permanent.

The 23-year-old left the Stade Velodrome for Newcastle in August 2015 for a fee believed to be in the region of £15million, signing a five-year deal at St James Park.

Thauvin failed to live up to that price tag, though, and returned to the Ligue 1 side on a temporary basis in January after just 16 competitive appearances for Newcastle.

He returned to Newcastle at the end of his loan spell and featured in four of their five pre-season friendlies, but will now ply his trade for Marseille again in France.

CONFIRMED: returns to

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Wigan manager Roberto Martinez says Victor Moses may leave the club but only after his transfer value is met.

Chelsea have been consistently linked with a move for forward Moses throughout pre-season, however the Champions League winners have refused to budge on their nine million-pound offer, with Wigan believed to be holding out for 10.

Moses joined the Latics for an undisclosed fee in 2010 from Championship outfit Crystal Palace and Martinez says it is only a matter of time before the 21-year-old moves on to one of the English Premier League giants.

There s been a lot of talk and speculation about Victor Moses, he said.

For Victor it s been an exciting summer. I spoke with him and told him he should be very proud, as a footballer at 21, to get the i…

Werder Bremen have announced the permanent signing of Nils Petersen from Bayern Munich on a four-year contract.

The striker has spent the last year on loan at Werder, scoring 11 goals in his 35 appearances for the club as they survived relegation with one game of the Bundesliga season remaining.

His move to Werder proved a good one, as he ended the season as the club s joint top goalscorer with Aaron Hunt and impressed the hierarchy enough to want to sign him on a permanent basis.

We re delighted that Nils will be continuing to go for goal wearing the Werder crest over the coming years, sporting director Thomas Eichin told the club s official website. He s shown this season that he fits in perfectly here.

We know he s got tremendous potential and now, with this long…

Matthijs de Ligt hailed Bayern Munich for their unbelievable performance against Bochum but admitted he wants to be playing more for the team.

The Netherlands international started for the first time in Bayern s dominant 7-0 win on the road, opening his account for the club with Bayern s second goal.

Signed from Juventus, De Ligt came off the bench in the German Super Cup victory against RB Leipzig and in the opening Bundesliga game of the season, with early opportunities limited as he entered the weekend with just eight minutes of league football.

De Ligt got his chance on Sunday and capped off his display with a goal in Bayern s rout, before later making it clear he wants to be starting more games – though he acknowledged the fierce competition he faces.<…