Los Angeles FC have won the Major League Soccer Supporters Shield and next month they will be attempting to win their first MLS Cup since setting up the franchise in 2018. But whilst the players are trying to make a big victory on the pitch, the club want to make another win, but this one off the pitch.

According to Gianluca Di Marzio, LAFC are potential suitors for Juventus striker Mario Mandzukic. The California-based club are interested in the Croatian veteran as he is nearing his departure from Turin. The MLS transfer window has closed and the player would not be able to take part in MLS until the 2020 season comes by.

It is a well-known fact that Juventus have tried to sell Mandzukic this summer, with teams like Manchester United and PSG targeting him, but no deal …

Rangers manager Walter Smith has labelled Celtic s current squad a poor set of professionals, triggering a war of words with Hoops boss Neil Lennon following the last Old Firm derby of the season.

Celtic s 2-1 defeat of Rangers at Parkhead on Tuesday night made no difference to a title race that Smith s squad wrapped up last month and the action on the pitch quickly gave way to unusually acrimonious exchanges in the press room.

Smith had been infuriated by Celtic defender Andreas Hinkel s pre-match claim that the Hoops had been the better team this season and his response represented a departure from the usual protocol that Old Firm managers avoiding inflaming the bitter rivalry between the two clubs.

If he (Hinkel) sits down and he analyses what he said then y…

(GSM) Chelsea s Didier Drogba has insisted a League and FA Cup double is a distant possibility because of Portsmouth boss Avram Grant.

The Israeli coach, who faces his former employers today, steered Chelsea to the final of the Champions League in 2008 after replacing Jose Mourinho as caretaker manager in September 2007.

And Grant s ability to take Chelsea to their first Champions League final means the Blues squad still has immense respect for the job Grant did.

A reason why the Blues know there is no room for complacency in the FA Cup final at Wembley today.

The challenge is very exciting because we have never done the double and this is the chance to make history for the club, said Drogba.

But we know how motivated they will be and we know A…

Former Italy international striker Giuseppe Rossi reportedly plans to quit Artemio Franchi in the January transfer window, La Nazione can reveal.

The 28-year-old finally returned into action this season after yet another injury nightmare, but he has been unable to rediscover his scoring touch.

Rossi failed to score a single goal in nine Serie A outings, and no wonder he has mostly been restricted to substitute appearances of late.

According to reports, the experienced forward is not satisfied with the amount of playing time and he could express his desire to leave in January.

In case Fiorentina should be ready to listen to offers for his services, the likes of Empoli, Sampdoria and Real Betis are likely to offer him an escape route from Artemio Franchi.<…

Arsenal forward Lukas Podolski has completed a move to Super Lig champions Galatasaray, on an initial three-year deal.

Germany international Podolski had been widely expected to leave the Emirates Stadium ahead of the new season, having spent the latter half of the 2014-15 campaign on loan at Inter.

Despite scoring just once in 18 appearances for the Serie A club, Galatasaray have paid Arsenal €2.5million for the 30-year-old, who has 125 international caps to his name.

Podolski arrived for a medical before being presented at a news conference on Saturday.

The former Bayern Munich forward joined Arsenal from Cologne in 2012 and enjoyed a fruitful first season in England, scoring 11 goals in 33 Premier League appearances.

However, he then dropp…

Real Madrid might be heading for a European Super League at some point in the future but a 0-0 draw with Getafe on Sunday was a reminder of the charms of good old LaLiga.

An under-strength Madrid were given a rough ride by their near neighbours and lost ground to Atletico Madrid as a result, Diego Simeone s team seeing their lead at the top of the table grow from one point to three on Sunday.

After Atletico s 5-0 thumping of Eibar earlier in the day, the onus was on Zinedine Zidane s Madrid to follow up their Champions League success against Liverpool and last week s victory in El Clasico.

This was far from being classic Madrid, although they played their part in an entertaining tussle against relative minnows at Coliseum Alfonso Perez, the sort of match that …

Kylian Mbappe and Neymar were both on target as Paris Saint-Germain ramped up their preparations for the 2019-20 run-in with a 4-0 friendly victory over Celtic. 

PSG s Ligue 1 season was curtailed by the coronavirus pandemic as was Celtic s similarly successful league campaign in Scotland but the French champions have a series of key fixtures still to come. 

Thomas Tuchel s side return to competitive action in Friday s Coupe de France final against Saint-Etienne, before facing Lyon a week later in the last Coupe de la Ligue showpiece. 

Of surely greater concern to PSG, though, is the Champions League quarter-final tie with Atalanta that lies ahead next month as part of an eight-team tournament in Lisbon. 

PSG are warming up nicely for that toug…

Dutch defender John Heitinga will be firmly in the spotlight here on Tuesday in the World Cup semi-final as he is assigned the task of neutralising Diego Forlan, the Uruguayans most potent attacking threat.

The 26-year-old Dutchman who will win his 60th cap in easily the most important match of his career will have one advantage in that he played alongside the former Manchester United striker for one season at Atletico Madrid before the defender moved to Everton.

The two remain friends but Heitinga said that would count for nothing as the Dutch attempt to reach their third final, but first in 32 years and the Uruguayans look to move closer to recording their third triumph but first in 60 years.

He (Forlan) is a really good player, said Heitinga.

I have…

Spain s victorious World Cup squad returned to a heroes welcome in Madrid on Monday with hundreds of thousands of fans cheering the team as they paraded through the capital s streets on an open top bus.

People chanted Campeones! Campeones! Campeones! and waved red and gold Spanish flags at the players as the black bus crawled along a roughly eight-kilometre (five-mile) route through the city s main thoroughfares amid scorching temperatures.

Fans waved at the players from balconies while others climbed on trees to get a better view of the 23-man squad which won the World Cup on Sunday for the first time in Spain s history with a 1-0 extra-time defeat of the Netherlands.

We can speak of there being several hundred thousand people, a spokeswoman for the mayor s of…

Valencia midfielder Andre Gomes believes his team s refusal to accept a draw at home to Zenit in the Champions League on Wednesday resulted in their 3-2 defeat.

The Spanish side were looking to make a statement of intent in their first Champions League game since the 2012-13 season, but they were ultimately left ruing defensive frailties and a lack of concentration.

A pair of Hulk goals  the second being a trademark screamer  gave Zenit a two-goal lead at the break and, although an Axel Witsel own goal was followed by Gomes equaliser in the 73rd minute, the Russian side had the last laugh.

Witsel produced a neat finish from 25 yards just a few minutes later to secure all three points for Zenit, catching Valencia off guard as they desperately sought a winner, a…