Alex Neil has challenged Norwich City to rise to the occasion when they meet fierce rivals Ipswich Town in a mouth-watering Championship play-off semi-final.

Norwich were looking good value to earn automatic promotion back to the Premier League at the first attempt until a loss to fellow play-off side Middlesbrough and a draw at Rotherham United halted their push.

A 4-2 beating of Fulham ensured a third-placed finish and a tie with East-Anglian foes Ipswich, marking their first meeting outside of the regular season since the 1985 League Cup.

We know exactly what it means to everyone, and it means a hell of a lot to myself and the players as well, Neil, in charge at Carrow Road since January, told Norwich s official website ahead of Saturday s first leg at Por…

Andre Gray came off the bench to earn Watford a late 2-1 Premier League win at home to Leicester City in Brendan Rodgers first game in charge of the Foxes.

Jamie Vardy s equaliser seemed to have earned Rodgers men a draw at Vicarage Road on Sunday after the striker cancelled out an early header by Troy Deeney 15 minutes from time.

But, after a poor clearance by Kasper Schmeichel, Deeney lifted the ball into the path of Gray and the substitute beat the Leicester goalkeeper in stoppage time.

Watford beaten 5-0 at Liverpool in midweek collected their third Premier League win in four games, while Leicester will hope Rodgers can get off the mark next weekend.

Adrian Mariappa should have given Watford an early lead but fired straight at Schmeichel from six …

Neymar was delighted with Paris Saint-Germain s thrashing of Monaco as he urged his team to continue building on their impressive start to the season.

The Brazilian scored a second-half penalty after Edinson Cavani had struck a hat-trick for PSG, who cruised to a 4-0 win at Stade Louis II on Sunday.

PSG have won all 13 of their Ligue 1 matches this season, opening up a 13-point lead atop the table.

Neymar, 26, was thrilled with the result and happy for Cavani, who took his tally to eight league goals this season.

I m very happy, happy for the goal and especially for the victory, he said.

Edi s hat-trick … not only him but we are also happy for him to have made the goals. He is our number nine.

I hope that we can continue to play our p…

Verdict: Barcelona to win, both teams to score yes

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The international break is over and top-flight football is set to return in Europe. And while there are several big games all over the continent, few can be considered as bigger than the one Atletico Madrid and FC Barcelona will play this Saturday at Wanda Metropolitano Stadium. Kick-off is scheduled at 19:45 BST.

Atletico Madrid

Diego Simeone s men have been a tad inconsistent to start the season both at the domestic and European level. They are contenders on both La Liga and the UEFA Champions League. But the results have not gone their way thus far. Even though Atletico remain unbeaten in La Liga with four wins and three draws, they sit in fourth place with 14 points. Their re…

According to a recent report from Sky Sports News, Barcelona are said to be in talks with Manchester United over the potential signing of Juan Mata. The 30 year old attacking midfielder has been with the Red Devils since back in 2014, when the jump over from fellow Premier League side Chelsea. Despite having a series of memorable moments for United in the last few years, he hasn’t quite been able to re-discover the form that first put him on the map during his days with the Blues and Valencia. Mata, who is also a tenured Spain international, would likely fit quite well into the fast moving attacking style of Barcelona.

Despite his small stature Mata is widely considered to be one of the most underrated players in the top flight of English football, and there’s a good chance…

Mainz goalkeeper Loris Karius is reportedly on the radar of quite a few high-profile clubs, according to his agent.

The 22-year-old was a member of Manchester City between 2009 and 2011 having joined from Stuttgart youth academy, but he was then allowed to join the Bundesliga side on a free transfer.

Karius needed a while to prove his worth at Coface Arena, but he has been club s first choice goalkeeper for some two years now.

And having largely impressed in Germany s top flight, he has been linked with clubs like Inter Milan, Liverpool and Aston Villa of late.

Karius  official representative Florian Goll is not at all surprised that his client has become a hot commodity in the transfer market.

It is obvious that a goalkeeper so young and senio…

Aston Villa have pulled off a significant coup by agreeing to sign Barcelona midfielder Philippe Coutinho on loan for the rest of the season.

The Brazil playmaker returns to the Premier League four years after leaving Liverpool to join Barca in a big-money move.

Coutinho will be reunited with his former Reds team-mate Steven Gerrard, who was appointed as Villa boss in November.

The 29-year-old Coutinho, who is contracted to Catalan giants Barca until June 2023, spent a loan spell with Bayern Munich in the 2019-20 season.

He has endured an injury-hit time at Camp Nou, with Barca attempting to cut him from their squad in the last off-season as they looked to clear room on the wage bill to not only register new signings, but also keep hold of Lionel Mess…

The FIFA Council has approved the voting regulations for the 2026 World Cup, which includes an open ballot, president Gianni Infantino has confirmed.

On June 13, the FIFA Congress will convene to vote on the host of football s showpiece event, with Morocco and a joint North American venture between the United States, Canada and Mexico the only bids in play.

Scrutiny over the 2010 vote that awarded this year s staging of the event and the 2022 tournament to Russia and Qatar respectively led to the FIFA corruption scandal and, ultimately, the ousting of long-term president Sepp Blatter.

The ramifications of that episode are still being felt by football s world governing body, and in an attempt to make the process more transparent the bidding regulations, published …

Manchester United midfielder Michael Carrick admits that he asked not to be selected for England after becoming depressed  when away with the national team.

The 36-year-old, who is retiring at the end of the season, has played 34 times for his country.

He cites the 2010 World Cup in South Africa as the moment when his love affair with international football ended, revealing he asked the FA to no longer pick him.

Carrick told BBC Two s Premier League Show: I d been in the squad a long time and I ll be honest, I was finding it hard going away with England.

I didn t mind going away with United in pre-season for three weeks and coming back, but going with England, it was almost depressing in a way.

It made me really down, so I came to the point af…

Alvaro Morata claims he has realised a dream by sealing a transfer back to Real Madrid from Juventus.

The Spain international, who left for the Serie A champions in 2014, moved back to the Santiago Bernabeu last month after Madrid activated their €30million buy-back option.

Reports continue to link Morata with a subsequent transfer to Chelsea, but the 23-year-old says he is relishing the prospect of working under Zinedine Zidane at the club he joined as a youth player in 2008.

It is incredible to be here again, he told Madrid s official website, ahead of his arrival for a pre-season training camp in Montreal. It is a dream come true and I can t wait to get started.

I can t wait for tomorrow to arrive so we can get to work. Zidane works hard and does …