Just when Derby County thought their season couldn’t get any worse they were thrashed 6-0 at home to Midlands rivals Aston Villa at Pride Park here Saturday.
Already relegated from the Premier League and with just 11 points to their name, this latest defeat was Derby’s 25th in a league campaign that has so far yielded just a solitary win in 34 games for the bottom-of-the-table club.
The feud which once simmered between Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger has long since come off the boil, but the Manchester United manager would still find it hard to suppress a smile if he inflicted a final ignominy on his old rival on Sunday.
Juventus dealt a potentially fatal blow to 10-man AC Milan’s Champions League hopes with a 3-2 win in blockbuster match in Turin on Saturday.
Goals from Alessandro Del Piero, David Trezeguet and Hassan Salihamidzic gave the hosts the edge over the reigning European champions, who counted two Filippo Inzaghi goals while Daniele Bonera was dismissed in the second half.
Roy Keane insists that Sunderland haven’t yet secured their Premier League future.
A fourth consecutive win for the Black Cats at home to Manchester City on Saturday will all but see the north-east club safe.
Luca Toni saved Bayern Munich’s blushes against courageous 10-man Getafe here Thursday with a late extra time double to put the German giants into the UEFA Cup semi-finals on away goals.
The high achieving Spaniards, who were down a man after just six minutes, produced another heroic performance after eking out a crucial 1-1 draw in the first leg of this quarter-final in Munich last week.
South Africa star Steven Pienaar has warned Everton they have until the end of this month to make his loan move from Borussia Dortmund permanent or risk losing him to a Premier League rival.
Pienaar has successfully adapted to English football since joining the Toffees at the start of the season and would like to extend his stay at Goodison Park.
Scottish Premiership leaders Rangers are still confident they can knock Sporting Lisbon out of the UEFA Cup quarter finals on Thursday despite failing to score in the first leg at Ibrox last week – according to midfielder Lee McCulloch.
The Portuguese side gained the advantage in the tie when they secured a 0-0 draw in Glasgow.
Three months before he takes over as Bayern Munich head coach, Jurgen Klinsmann is already causing waves in the south Germany city as he prepares for his first season in charge.
Klinsmann will succeed Ottmar Hitzfeld, who will coach Switzerland after Euro 2008, on July 1 and has begun instigating changes which have not gone down well in Munich.
Manchester United were given a boost on Monday when a scan revealed that defender Rio Ferdinand had not broken a bone in his left foot, as had been feared.
The England defender left Middlesbrough on crutches after Sunday’s 2-2 Premier League draw, leading some to predict his season could be over.
Spanish giants Barcelona will be out to ease the pressure on their under-fire coach Frank Rijkaard and president Joan Laporta by progressing to the Champions League semi-finals on Wednesday.
The 2006 continental champions beat German side Schalke 04 1-0 in Gelsenkirchen last Tuesday to take the advantage in their quarter-final clash but they have to put behind them some disappointing recent domestic displays.
