Former Chelsea midfielder Michael Ballack criticised the referee s decisions after his old club were knocked out of the Champions League by Barcelona.

Lionel Messi scored twice and set up Ousmane Dembele in a 3-0 win for Barca at Camp Nou that sent his side into the quarter-finals 4-1 on aggregate.

But former Germany international Ballack felt Chelsea were unfairly treated by referee Damir Skomina, who rejected a penalty appeal when Gerard Pique challenged Marcos Alonso in the box, with the score at 2-0.

Same old story #referee, Ballack wrote on Twitter, seemingly referring to the infamous semi-final between Chelsea and Barca in the 2008-09 Champions League.

Same old story

— Michael Ballack (@Ballack)

On that occasion, Chelsea felt w…

Verdict: Celtic to win by 2+ goals and Odsonne Edouard to score anytime

Best Odds: 21/20

Bookmaker:

Starting off their Champions League qualifying campaign on Tuesday night, Celtic will welcome KR Reykjavik to Glasgow for a one-off meeting in midweek.

Celtic

Starting with the hosts, after missing a pair of Premiership fixtures due to off-field issues, Celtic should be raring to go after being last seen settling for a point away at Kilmarnock eight days ago. With their Old Firm rivals already building a six-point buffer over them, the defending Scottish champions will undoubtedly be glad to make a return to home soil on Tuesday night. Despite their disappointing draw away at Rugby Park earlier in the month, Neil Lennon s men did open up the 2020/2021 do…

Arsenal have finally brought in midfield reinforcements after securing the signing of long-term target Thomas Partey from Atletico Madrid.

Partey, 27, has cost Arsenal £45million (€50m) after the club opted to trigger his release clause just 32 minutes before Monday s transfer deadline, and he has signed a long-term contract.

Lucas Torreira has moved in the opposite direction after agreeing to join Atletico on a season-long loan.

Ghana international Partey has long been admired by Arsenal and was said to be their primary midfield target, along with Lyon s Houssem Aouar who has remained in France beyond the deadline.

Welcome to the Partey!

— Arsenal (@Arsenal)

The Gunners were reported to have made their interest known to…

The Bundesliga s biggest showdown of the season takes place on Saturday as Borussia Dortmund host Bayern Munich at Signal Iduna Park.

These teams have shared the last eight domestic titles, as well as five of the last six DFB-Pokals, and their rivalry remains the most talked-about for viewers of German football.

The emergence of RB Leipzig has threatened to upset the balance of power, but it would take a bold individual to bet against early pace-setters Dortmund or the resurgent champions when it comes to this year s title race.

The first Klassiker of the season therefore comes at an intriguing moment, with Bayern leading Dortmund by three points at the summit but only after some early 2017-18 jitters under Carlo Ancelotti, who was sacked in September and rep…

Manchester City star Bernardo Silva could leave the Premier League champions, according to manager Pep Guardiola.

Silva was tipped for a City exit in the off-season amid links with Atletico Madrid and Barcelona but the Portugal international remained in Manchester.

The 27-year-old has started five of City s six Premier League matches this season, while he scored the winner in the 1-0 victory at Leicester City.

After impressing in Saturday s 1-0 win away to rivals and Champions League holders Chelsea, Guardiola praised Silva.

All I want is for Bernardo to be happy, here or anywhere. All I want is his happiness because he s a guy that deserves the best, said Guardiola.

He s so intuitive it s not his role as a holding midfielder but he knows exactl…

Porto joined Manchester City in the Champions League knockout stages after a 0-0 draw where Gabriel Jesus was denied a winning goal by VAR. 

Pep Guardiola s side were already through to the last-16 and will now progress as group winners, although they will be frustrated to have lost their 100 per cent record in this season s competition having dominated for long periods at Estadio do Dragao. 

Jesus scored on the rebound when Agustin Marchesin tipped his 80th-minute header onto the crossbar, although replays showed Joao Cancelo was fractionally offside before delivering his cross to the Brazil striker. 

Marseille s win over Olympiacos rendered this match to be academic, with the other two teams in Group C on three points apiece. 

City penned Porto int…

According to a recent report from Sky Italy, Inter Milan officials have now held talks with Olivier Giroud’s agent – agreeing terms ahead of a potential move during the January transfer window. 

The Frenchman has been linked with a series of clubs throughout the course of the window up to this point, but now, it really does seem like he’s ready to leave Chelsea for pastures new. 

His contract with the Blues is set to expire during the upcoming summer transfer window, with the belief being that he has agreed to a two and a half year deal that would see him remain in Milan until at least the summer of 2022, unless he chooses to retire before that point. 

Inter have had to agree a formal deal, though, with the Londoners asking for a fee of between €8…

While the 2022 Qatar World Cup might be just around the corner, it will be Europe s elite that takes center stage once again this weekend. On that note, we have found a handful of helpful tips that are worth keeping an eye out for if you re looking to place a Saturday acca.

Saturday October 22nd
BST 15:00 Morecambe vs Barnsley

While Barnsley might have once again lost their Championship status last season, Saturday s guests have their sights firmly set on an immediate second-tier return. Despite being last seen playing out a 0-0 stalemate away at Bolton, Michael Duff s men should find the mood in their camp at a real high. Opening this weekend s fixtures battling it out in the play-off places, the Yorkshire-based outfit should be smelling the chance to lay down a mar…

Best odds: 6/5

Bookmaker:

AS Monaco will play host to Bayer Leverkusen at the Stade Louis II on Thursday, in the second leg of their meeting in the knockout stage play-offs in the Europa League. The French team won the first leg in Germany by 2-3 as the contest saw the scoreline turned over twice.

It was an own-goal by goalkeeper Lukasz Hradecky that gave Monaco a lead in the ninth minute, but his teammates Moussa Diaby (48 ) and Florian Wirtz (59 ) made it 2-1. Still, goals from Krepin Diatta (74 ) and Axel Disasi (90 +2) meant that Monaco went home with an advantage.

AS Monaco

They may not be quite as good as when they won the Ligue 1 title in 2016/17, featuring the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Radamel Falcao, Bernardo Silva, Allan Saint-Maximin and Fabinh…

The German Football Association (DFB) has announced it will not support Gianni Infantino s re-election as FIFA president.

Infantino is set to be re-elected at the 73rd FIFA Congress in Rwandan capital Kigali on Thursday after no challengers came forward to stand against him in the leadership race.

However, despite Infantino having a clear run at another term in charge, Germany have joined a select few nations to publicly declare they do not back the decision.

The DFB added in a statement on Wednesday that it has contacted FIFA in recent weeks on a matter of issues but has received no reply or only insufficient information.

DFB president Bernd Neuendorf said: The DFB will not support the re-election of FIFA president Gianni Infantino in Kigali.

W…