Inter head coach Simone Inzaghi admitted he had only previously dreamt about his team reaching the final four of the Champions League.

The Nerazzurri were drawn into what was considered a group of death earlier in the tournament when they were put in with Bayern Munich and Barcelona, making it through as runners-up ahead of the LaLiga giants.

Inter beat Benfica 5-3 on aggregate following a 3-3 draw at San Siro in the quarter-finals on Wednesday, meaning they will face city rivals Milan in the semis for the first time since the 2002-03 season, while it will also be the first time the two will meet five times in one season.

There is great happiness, Inzaghi said after the game. We played a great game against a difficult team.

We fully deserved this semi-f…

FC Cincinnati head coach Pat Noonan expects a tough test against the Philadelphia Union despite their recent form, as he faces his former side this Thursday.

The Orange and Blue come into the contest as the overwhelming favourites having won eight of their last nine matches, the latest coming in a 4-2 win over San Jose Earthquakes last time out.

Noonan s side are just two points behind the Eastern Conference league leaders, Inter Miami, but have played two games less than the side directly above them.

However, Noonan was quick to look past the two sides differing recent form, insisting the game will be a tougher encounter than many will expect.

“They ve been stable for a long time, and when you re stable and at the top of the league for so long, anytime…

Unai Emery is not satisfied with Aston Villa s performance levels despite their impressive start to the Premier League season, demanding a step up when they go to Ipswich Town.

Villa have won four of their five Premier League games this season to sit third in the table, just one point adrift of pacesetters Manchester City.

Emery s team fought back to beat Midlands rivals Wolves 3-1 last week before overcoming Wycombe Wanderers in the EFL Cup in midweek, while they also started their Champions League campaign with a comfortable 3-0 win at Young Boys.

Despite seeing his team win three straight Premier League games ahead of their trip to Portman Road, Emery wants more.

Ipswich will be different but difficult, like the match before. We are trying to build a …

Kadidiatou Diani scored twice as free-shooting Lyon made a flying start to their Women s Champions League campaign against Galatasaray.

The first Turkish side to qualify for the group stage, Galatasaray proved no match for the eight-time champions in Tuesday s Group A clash at the Groupama Stadium.

Diani was the leading scorer in last season s competition, scoring eight times, and continued her exceptional form with a double. She scored either side of Vanessa Gilles goal on the stroke of half-time.

Lyon, who finished as runners-up to Barcelona last term, had 40 shots, which ranks as the joint third-highest total in a single match in the competition s history.

Both higher totals came in 2023-24, with Barcelona having 41 shots in a match against Rosenborg,…

An entire month’s worth of football is behind us with curtain down on the glorious World Cup 2018 we’ve witnessed in Russia.

after a commanding and highly-organised performance which saw Didier Deschamps’ men earn critique initially for their seemingly defense-oriented approach and applauded ultimately for what turned out to be a systematically controlled display with every aspect of their game well thought through and analysed.

Ballon d Or Perspective

The quadrennial competition was also a perfect opportunity for leading world stars to further strengthen their stock and make a strong case for themselves in the race for the highest and most prestigious individual achievement Ballon d’Or.

Some did better than the others and the fact Luka Modric and Kyli…

Wolves will hope that Liverpool have one of their off days whilst Liverpool will be hoping to continue their mini revival.

Wolves boss Mick Mccarthy has come under fire this season for fielding weakened teams against some of the top teams in the division, on the basis that the game is likely to be lost, so the best option is for him to rest his key players for more winnable games. Whatever we think of this, it s unlikely to happen against Liverpool, who most would argue are eminently beatable this season. Wolves are sure to have a real go at Lverpool on their own turf, and we can expect blood and thunderto be their chosen style of play. For me, Wolves are still missing the tricky wing play of Michael Kightly, but their aerial prowess and never say die attitude has seen them pic…

Lionel Messi beat Virgil van Dijk to the 2019 Ballon d Or by a slender seven-point margin, the award s organisers have confirmed.

France Football declared Messi s record sixth victory to be among the narrowest in the 63-year history of the prestigious prize.

The Barcelona captain finished top of the count with 686 points, just ahead of Liverpool defender Van Dijk s 679.

Third-placed Cristiano Ronaldo, who did not attend Monday s ceremony, tallied 476 points, 210 fewer than long-time rival Messi.

Sadio Mane, fourth on 347 points, was the only other player to exceed the 200-mark.

The history of the award has had tighter scores, but the number of voting journalists 176 this year was [in the past] much smaller, read a post on France Football s websit…

Despite the fact that the transfer window is closed at the moment, there are still many rumours circulating around clubs in the English Premier League. Most the the speculation seems to be concerning the top teams in the league, including Liverpool and Chelsea. The rumours will only increase following big away defeats by Liverpool and Chelsea so let s get started.

We start off my addressing the transfer speculation surrounding Chelsea and Stamford Bridge. According to a Andre Villas-Boas, striker Nicolas Anelka wants to leave Stamford Bridge for greener pastures. It remains a mystery why Chelsea did not sell Anelka, who is in the last year of his contract. Surely, Anzhi Makhachkala would have coughed up 15 million pounds for the Frenchman, right?<…

It’s a matchup of two teams looking to improve their playoff standing in their respective conferences when the Cincinnati Bengals host the San Francisco 49ers.

The Niners saw their three-game winning streak snapped last week and are still dealing with a plethora of injuries, while the Bengals were left licking their wounds after giving up 41 points in a loss to the Chargers.

Which team will bounce back, cover the short spread and move one step closer to the playoffs? Find out in our free NFL picks and predictions for 49ers at Bengals on December 12.

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Tis the season for scary movies with Halloween happening on Monday. And under all that slashing and screaming and gore that populates the film genre, aren’t horror movies just underdog stories at their core?

We have lone survivors like “Final Girls” Laurie Strode and Ellen Ripley, who overcome the odds to whoop the big baddy and win the day. You also have guys like Chris Washington in “Get Out” and Ash Williams in “The Evil Dead” going to great lengths to come out on top, like chopping off their own hand and braining someone with a bocce ball.

And, even considering the evil antagonists in horror flicks, you often have a one-man wrecking crew like Jason Voorhees and Michael Myers, who are massively outnumbered, seem to …