Gareth Bale lauded his Real Madrid team-mate Luka Modric as an unbelievable player after the midfielder clinched the FIFA Best Men s Player award.

Modric saw off Mohamed Salah and former Madrid colleague Ronaldo who won in 2017 to the Best Men s Player award at the ceremony at London s Royal Festival Hall, having enjoyed a stellar 2018 in which he won the Champions League and reached a World Cup final.

And Bale, whose sensational overhead kick in Madrid s victory over Liverpool in the final of Europe s elite club competition lost out to Salah s goal against Everton in the Puskas Award, took to social media to heap praise on Modric.

Congratulations my friend! An unbelievable player and an unbelievable season, the Wales star tweeted.

Congratulations my fri…

Massimiliano Allegri accepts the only way Juventus can turn around their season is to approach big matches with less fear after going down 2-0 to Milan on Saturday.

Juve s recent upturn in results, in which they had picked up their first back-to-back wins of the season against Bologna and Maccabi Haifa, came to a halt at San Siro.

Fikayo Tomori s opener late in the first half was added to early in the second by Brahim Diaz, who ran half the length of the pitch before firing past Wojciech Szczesny.

Eighth-place Juve are at risk of dropping into the bottom half on Sunday depending on results elsewhere, having collected just 13 points from their opening nine matches.

And Allegri, who has come under fire for his tactics this season, accepts his side have take…

Pep Guardiola credited Erling Haaland for his rapid adaptation to Manchester City s style of play, claiming the Norwegian has become more involved in their build-up in recent weeks.

Haaland has scored 20 goals in just 13 appearances for City since his move from Borussia Dortmund, including five in three Champions League outings.

The Norwegian hit a brace in a 5-0 home victory over Copenhagen in the competition last week and will likely play a central role when City look to confirm their place in the knockout stages by winning Tuesday s return fixture in Denmark.

Speaking on the eve of that game, Guardiola compared Haaland s recent displays to his first few outings with City, hailing the 22-year-old for improving his all-round contribution.

Asked how Haa…

Aston Villa striker Gabriel Agbonlahor is to undergo a minor groin operation on Monday and is expected to be out of action for at least two weeks, manager Gerard Houllier confirmed.

The 23-year-old will be unavailable for England s Euro 2012 qualifier against Montenegro on October 12.

Agbonlahor will miss Villa s Premier League clash at Tottenham on Saturday, although Houllier is hopeful he will be available for the home clash with Chelsea on October 16 or the trip to Sunderland a week later.

Houllier said: Gabby will have a minor operation on Monday evening on his groin.

He had to leave training this morning because it was too painful.

I think the England squad is given on Monday and that has definitely ruled him out. He wouldn t be able to pl…

Alessia Russo scored the only goal to hand Arsenal a 1-0 win over Tottenham in the north London derby in front of another sold out crowd.

The Gunners sold out the Emirates Stadium for a second straight game as 60,050 watched the hosts keep the pressure on in the Women’s Super League title battle.

Russo provided the winning moment four minutes after the break, lashing home from six yards after being set up by England team-mate Beth Mead.

Smashing it home!

— Barclays Women s Super League (@BarclaysWSL)

Manchester United lost further ground on the top three as they were held to a 1-1 draw at West Ham.

Rachel Williams gave the visitors a fourth-minute lead with her 50th WSL goal.

But Viviane Asseyi equalised five minutes from ti…

Antoine Griezmann was on target for the fourth successive match as Atletico Madrid secured a 3-0 La Liga victory over Deportivo La Coruna at the Vicente Calderon.

The Frenchman s rich vein of scoring form continued as he added to Saul Niguez s first-half opener with a brilliant cross-goal finish, ensuring Atletico – who added a third through Angel Correa – kept pace with Liga leaders Barcelona, who defeated Getafe 6-0 earlier on Saturday.

Diego Simeone s side dominated the game from the opening exchanges and moved into a first-half lead when Saul exposed some poor defending by arriving into the box late and heading beyond German Lux.

Yannick Ferreira Carrasco was denied by the Argentinian goalkeeper before striking the crossbar early in the second h…

Barcelona are lining up a move for Arsenal star Mesut Ozil, .

The Germany international is in fine form for the Gunners so far this season, racking up eighteen assists in twenty-eight games in all competitions while he has also chipped in with seven goals.

The twenty-seven year old moved to the Emirates Stadium in the summer of 2013 for a club record fee and twelve months later was part of the Germany squad that won the World Cup in Brazil.

During his time in North London, he has won the FA Cup on two occasions having also won domestic trophies at both Real Madrid and Werder Bremen.

He also won the La Liga title during his time in Madrid, and could now be set for a sensational return to Spain with Barcelona keen to secure his services in the summer,…

Felipe Melo believes Inter made a mistake appointing Mauro Icardi as captain due to his lack of maturity.

The 24-year-old took the armband from Andrea Ranocchia prior to the 2015-16 season, when Roberto Mancini was head coach, but his impressive form on the pitch has been overshadowed by moments of controversy.

Icardi continues to divide opinion among fans in Italy and in Argentina due to his marriage to Wanda Nara, the ex-wife of team-mate Maxi Lopez, while he was fined by Inter for comments made in his autobiography that caused outrage among some of the club s supporters.

Felipe Melo – who joined Palmeiras from Inter on loan in January and is set to seal a permanent move when his contract expires this month – feels the Nerazzurri still rely too heavily on I…

Neymar could make a sensational return to Barcelona in the future if the opportunity arises, according to the club s sporting director Pep Segura.

The Brazil forward has frequently been linked with a move away from Paris Saint-Germain since joining the club from Barcelona for a world-record transfer fee of €222million in August 2017.

While his goal output has been good, the 26-year-old has struggled to form a partnership with PSG s Uruguayan striker Edinson Cavani and he has, at times, cut an unsettled figure at Parc des Princes.

Neymar s decision to leave Barcelona led many to believe there could be no way back, but Segura told La Vanguardia: All players who are in the market are likely to come if they fit our needs.

Today, Neymar is not in the mar…