Atletico Madrid kept their noses ahead of city rivals Real with a routine 2-0 Liga victory at struggling Granada on Saturday.

Having seen Rafael Benitez s men pick up a 4-1 derby victory over Getafe earlier in the day, Atleti re-established their two-point advantage in second place thanks to goals from Diego Godin and Antoine Griezmann.

The visitors had dominated the early stages and fully deserved to go ahead through a Godin header after 20 minutes, with Fernando Torres and Koke having both squandered earlier chances to open the scoring.

Torres wasted another chance to score his 100th Atleti goal – a milestone he has been chasing since mid-September – as the visitors struggled to put the game to bed, but Griezmann eventually wrapped up the three points 14 …

Pep Guardiola stood by the comments he made about Manchester City s support after the win over RB Leipzig, despite facing criticism from a fan group.

City beat Leipzig 6-3 in their Champions League opener on Wednesday, yet the Etihad Stadium was far from full.

Guardiola said afterwards that he hoped fans would come and back the team in their next outing, against Southampton on Saturday.

This led to anger from City s official supporters club, whose general secretary Kevin Parker told Sky Sports: [What he said] did surprise me. I m not sure what that s got to do with him.

He s absolutely the best coach in the world but, in the nicest possible way, I think maybe he should stick to that.

The subject was broached again in Friday s pre-match news co…

Paul Lambert conceded a draw was a fair result after his Aston Villa side played out a drab goalless stalemate at Hull City on Saturday.

In a game of few chances at the KC Stadium, both teams consolidated their promising mid-table starts to the Premier League season.

Victory on the back of their memorable 3-2 comeback over Manchester City would have meant three consecutive league wins for Villa for the first time since April 2010.

Gabriel Agbonlahor, back in the side following an ankle injury, spurned arguably Villa s only clear opening seven minutes after half-time.

I don t think either side did enough to win the game, said Lambert. It wasn t a great game for people to watch. But we have been involved in some big matches this year and this is a hard place to com…

Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi insists he wants to remain with the Catalan giants for the rest of his career. 

Messi, who has been with Barcelona since the age of 13, claimed a record fifth Ballon d Or crown on Monday.

The 28-year-old won a total of five trophies with the club in 2015 and guided Argentina to the final of the Copa America, suffering a penalty shoot-out loss to hosts Chile. 

And despite stating in 2013 he wanted to return to boyhood club Newell s Old Boys before he retires, it appears Messi has changed his plans. 

I have said it a thousand and one times, it is the same response as always, he told reporters.

My idea is to finish at home, and my home is Barcelona. I hope it can be like this.

Messi s contract at Barc…

Prediction: Atletico Madrid to win 2-0

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Atletico Madrid and Real Sociedad will face each other in La Liga this week. The match at the Wanda Metropolitano promises to be an exiting game of football and could prove to be crucial in the race for the title. It is slated to kick off at 9pm UK time.

Atletico Madrid

Atletico Madrid are favourites to win the La Liga title this season. Diego Simeone’s side are at the top of the league standings at the moment with 77 points from 35 games. Atletico are two points clear Real Madrid with three more matches left for both sides, meaning that their destiny is in their own hands. Barcelona are second on 76 points, but Ronald Koeman’s side have played 36 games.

Simeone’s side have …

Manchester United have been hit by a setback for Antony ahead of the FA Cup final, with Erik ten Hag saying it is “unlikely” the winger will be fit to face Manchester City.

The 23-year-old winger went down in agony last Thursday during the first half of the penultimate Premier League game of the season against Chelsea.

Antony left on a stretcher and Ten Hag feared a “serious” injury, only to allay concerns three days later by saying the “first assessment is not too bad” and that he had a “good opportunity” to face City.

But this week has not gone as well as expected and the Brazil international now looks set to miss the first ever all-Manchester FA Cup final.

“Unlikely (he will be fit),” he said. “Dos Santos (Antony) still has a chan…

Brazil international midfielder Hernanes believes his January move from Lazio to Internazionale will help him achieve great things.

Hernanes, 28, turned down a lucrative contract offer from the Biancoceleste club in order to complete a move to Inter Milan last week.

The highly-rated 28-year-old joined Lazio from São Paulo in a deal worth €11.1 million in August 2010 to win the Scudetto and play in the UEFA Champions League.

But after three-and-a-half years, one trophy (Coppa Italia, 2012–13) and three straight UEFA Europa League campaigns, Hernanes came to the realisation that he could not achieve his high ambitions at Lazio.

A move to the San Siro will allow him to reach new heights and achieve his long-term goals.

When I ar…

Rick Karsdorp has signed a 12-month contract extension with Feyenoord to temper speculation about a move to Bayern Munich.

Recent reports suggested Bayern have already held talks with the right-back s entourage over a potential transfer ahead of next season, while Manchester United have also been credited with an interest in the defender.

However, the 22-year-old has now committed his future to Feyenoord until 2021, much to the delight of sporting director Martin van Geel.

The fact that Rick has made his Netherlands debut this season says a lot about his development, Van Geel stated.

He has earned a new and improved contract with his performances. Rick has developed into an important player at Feyenoord.

We are happy that he still sees a futu…

Paris Saint-Germain star Kylian Mbappe admits the amount of money involved in the highest level of football has become indecent .

The 19-year-old became the second most expensive player in history when he completed a permanent transfer to PSG from Monaco this year for a reported fee of €180million.

His team-mate Neymar joined from Barcelona in 2017 for €222m in a deal that shook the European game and led to four more deals worth more than €100m, including Mbappe s taking place over the next 12 months.

Reports based on documents from whistleblowing platform Football Leaks this month claimed Mbappe asked for a five-year contract worth close to €55m after tax when he joined PSG, along with various performance-based incentives, which was turned down by the cl…

Mohamed Sissoko s agent Jose Segui says the midfielder is on his way out of Juventus, but not until the end of the season.

Sissoko, 25, has started just two matches this season for the Turin side, finding his path to the first team blocked by Brazil international Felipe Melo.

Mali international Sissoko began his career at Valencia, before following manager Rafael Benitez to Liverpool in 2005. He made the move from Merseyside to Serie A in 2008, but may in line for a return to the English Premier League, according to Segui.

We are looking for a new arrangement for Sissoko, Segui said.

I think that he ll finish the season with Juventus because a sale right now would be too expensive (for interested clubs).

But I believe that we are looking fo…