The Champions League s round of 16 continues on Tuesday, when Turkish champions Besiktas, one of four teams unbeaten in this season s tournament, travel to face Bundesliga heavyweights Bayern Munich.
Another side yet to taste defeat in Europe is Barcelona, who renew acquaintances with regular continental foes Chelsea.
Lionel Messi will be seeking to finally score against the Blues, while Luis Suarez is also desperate to end a Champions League dry spell.
Here, we look at the best of the Opta numbers ahead of these two crunch clashes…
Bayern Munich v Besiktas
6 Bayern have reached the Champions League semi-finals in six of the last eight seasons. Meanwhile, this is the first time Besiktas have reached the knockout stages of the compet…
Diego Maradona s remarkable all-round World Cup record is one which may never be matched.
The Argentina legend died at the age of 60 on Wednesday, prompting tributes from across the football world.
Reflections of his career will see so many of Maradona s magical moments highlighted, though perhaps most memorable are his 1986 exploits in Mexico, a tournament which gave Argentina their most recent World Cup success.
Opta statistics help to illustrate Maradona s remarkable performances on football’s biggest stage and highlight how difficult his legacy at the tournament will be for a modern player to match.
10 Diego Maradona was involved in 10 goals at the 1986 World Cup (5 goals, 5 assists), no player has been involved in as many goals in a single men s …
Borussia Monchengladbach coach Marco Rose says Manchester City were out of our league after their Champions League last-16 defeat.
Manchester City accounted for Gladbach 2-0 on Tuesday to seal a 4-0 aggregate victory and Rose said they were simply outclassed by the runaway Premier League leaders.
The result was City s 24th win in their past 25 matches in all competitions, while they become only the third team in Champions League history to keep seven consecutive clean sheets.
City have conceded only once in eight Champions League matches this season which is the joint-fewest for any side after eight games in a single season in the competition, along with Ajax in 1995-96.
Kevin De Bruyne and Ilkay Gundogan netted goals inside the first 20 minutes to put t…
A nonplussed David de Gea believes Manchester United are enduring their most difficult time since his arrival in 2011.
The Red Devils suffered a third defeat in six Premier League matches on Sunday, as they went down 1-0 to Newcastle United at St James Park.
Matty Longstaff s second-half strike proved the difference between the two sides, with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer s men mustering just three shots on target.
United, who have scored only twice in their past five games in all competitions and are enduring their worst start to a league season in 30 years, have still not won away from home since beating Paris Saint-Germain in March.
The initial upturn in results after Solskjaer replaced Jose Mourinho last December have long since subsided, and De Gea, who endu…
Morocco boss Walid Regragui warned his team are ready to die for it as they look to secure a last-16 spot at the World Cup and send a Group F heavyweight home.
The Atlas Lions are on the brink of the second round after holding Croatia to a goalless draw and topping that result with a 2-0 victory against Belgium. They have recorded successive clean sheets in a World Cup for the first time since 1986, the only past finals where they went past the group stage.
Their third game in Qatar comes on Thursday against Canada, who cannot go any further after failing to pick up a point so far. Morocco may be able to qualify for the knockout phase even if they lose, such is their strong position.
Belgium, ranked second in the world, sit third in the group on three points, beh…
Celtic are aiming to complete an unbeaten season against Rangers when they travel to Ibrox on Saturday.
The Hoops have twice beaten their Glasgow rivals at Hampden this term and have collected seven points from three meetings in the league.
Here we look back at six previous campaigns when either side could not get a win in the derby fixture.
Rangers 2020-21
Steven Gerrard’s side went unbeaten against everyone in the league as they clinched the title and also knocked Celtic out of the Scottish Cup at Ibrox to consign their rivals to a barren season. The fixture was not quite the same that season, along with many other things in life, as each match was played behind closed doors because of the pandemic.
Celtic 2016-18
Brendan Rodgers went through two fu…
Antonio Conte admits the coffers are empty at Inter and dealings in the current transfer window will need to be negotiated with intelligence and wit .
Inter sit second in the Serie A table, with themselves, Juventus and Lazio in a three-way fight for the Scudetto.
This month presents a chance to strengthen as the Nerazzurri chase their first league title since 2010, but Inter chief executive Giuseppe Marotta has made it clear to Conte he will have to play the market smartly.
There is no money, Conte said. Therefore we will have to do well to find good-value situations.
Inter are firmly in the market for Tottenham s Danish midfielder Christian Eriksen and they reportedly want striker Olivier Giroud to join them from Chelsea.
A deal for Mancheste…
Struggling Granada have axed head coach Robert Moreno following a run of nine games without a win in LaLiga, with Ruben Torrecilla to take over.
Granada have spent most of the decade in the top flight, besides for two years in the Segunda Division from 2017 to 2019, and are in threat of relegation.
The club confirmed Moreno s departure following their 3-1 defeat away to midtable Valencia on Saturday.
Granada are currently 17th in LaLiga, three points above 18th-placed Alaves in the drop zone having collected one point from their past seven league games.
Moreno, who previously coached Monaco and Spain on an interim basis, had been in charge at Nuevo Los Carmenes since 2021.
Recreativo Granada s Ruben Torrecilla will take over as interim head coach …
Ronald Koeman had an eye-catching statement about the importance of Lionel Messi to Barcelona as he was quizzed on both his own future and that of his captain.
Barca can no longer win LaLiga following Sunday s results, with Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid both victorious elsewhere as the Blaugrana lost 2-1 at home to Celta Vigo.
Atleti s triumph meant Barca would not have been able to finish this season as champions regardless of their result against Celta, though Koeman s side could not deliver anyway.
Although they led through Lionel Messi in the first half, Santi Mina netted before the break and then late on to seal a fine victory for the Galicians.
It was a familiar sinking feeling against Celta, who have now beaten Barca five times since the start of…
Wolfsburg midfielder Ignacio Camacho has called time on his playing career at the age of 30 after struggling with a persistent ankle injury.
Former Atletico Madrid and Malaga man Camacho spent three seasons with Wolfsburg but last made a competitive appearance in September 2018.
The ex-Spain international injured his ankle in a DFB-Pokal game against Hannover in 2017 and failed to truly recover, despite undergoing five separate operations to resolve the issue.
Wolfsburg announced on their official website on Monday that Camacho s contract has been terminated, but he will stay at the club on a two-year training programme, which involves learning about the academy and other departments.
I fought non-stop to get back on the pitch, Camacho said. But I m le…