Cavani hints at Napoli stay

Man of the hour / Image via mirror.co.uk

Spain’s biggest teams met in an emotional night at Camp Nou on Saturday evening as both sets of fans paid their respect to Dutch legend Johan Cruyff before and during the match.

It was a thrilling affair as you should expect it to be in the Spanish El Clasico between Barcelona and Real Madrid.

Gerard Pique’s header put Barcelona in front after 56 minutes of action, but Karim Benzema’s acrobatic effort equalized the score only six minutes later, before Cristiano Ronaldo sealed the win for his team with a composed finish inside the box with five minutes off time.

Los Blancos managed to close the gap to seven points behind La Liga leaders, who have lost their first domestic game since October 2015 and here are …

Ryan Bennett s late goal gave Wolves a 2-1 win at Bristol City in a fiery top-of-the-table Championship clash on Saturday to send them 10 points clear, while Derby County picked up a fifth win in six by beating Ipswich Town 2-1 to move up to second.

It was also a positive day for Chris Coleman and Sunderland, as they moved themselves out of the bottom three with a 1-0 win at Nottingham Forest, while fellow strugglers Burton Albion drew 0-0 at home to Norwich City.

Bristol City were by no means the only side in the top five to suffer defeat, though, with Leeds United beaten 1-0 by rock-bottom Birmingham City.

Hull City let a two-goal lead slip at home to Fulham in their 2-2 draw, Brentford beat Sheffield Wednesday 2-0 and Reading were held 1-1 at Barnsley.

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Andrea Pirlo s last-gasp strike earned 10-man Juventus a dramatic 2-1 win over city rivals Torino in Serie A on Sunday.

The veteran playmaker lashed home a low shot from 25 yards with virtually the last kick of the game to cruelly deny Torino and extend Juventus remarkable winning run at home in the league to 25 matches.

It looked as though the reigning champions and leaders would have to settle for a draw when Torino s Bruno Peres scored a superb individual goal midway through the first half, cancelling out Arturo Vidal s twice-taken penalty in the 15th minute.

The home side were even reduced to 10 men in the 78th minute when Stephan Lichtsteiner picked up a second yellow card, but Massimiliano Allegri s men were still able to find a winner right at the end.<…

Competition: Premier League

Market: Arsenal to beat Crystal Palace

Odds:

The Premier League returns for yet another huge weekend of action as the competition continues to heat up. Every side in the league will want to embark upon a run of wins to move up the table, and with this in mind, struggling Arsenal host Crystal Palace on Saturday.

Arsenal have been awful in recent weeks and they will feel that the Champions League places are slipping through their fingers this season. After 23 games they have won 11 times, drawn six and lost six, scoring 41 times and conceding 30 goals. In their last five they have won once, drawn three times and lost once, seeing them onto 39 points for the season so far. Their last game ended in a damaging 2-1 defeat …

Lilian Thuram s retirement has meant one of France s finest players of the past decade, who transcended the sport and made an impact in political and social circles, has finally hung up his boots.

The 36-year-old defender announced his retirement at the Parc des Princes in Paris on Friday just weeks after a one-year contract at Paris Saint Germain was scuppered when his medical examination discovered a heart problem.

Thuram won the 1998 World Cup and 2000 European championship with France and earned a national record of 142 appearances.

The elder statesman of French football was also held in high esteem in the dressing room and was admired by team-mates.

The former Monaco, Parma, Juventus and Barcelona defender had his greatest hour for his national …

Neymar has revealed Paris Saint-Germain s staff predicted he would score a free-kick against Montpellier on Saturday, with the Brazil international s set-piece goal helping to spark a come-from-behind win.

PSG were trailing to Leandro Paredes own goal when Neymar won a set-piece 25 yards out in the final 20 minutes having been fouled by Pedro Mendes, who was sent off for picking up a second booking.

Brazil international Neymar stepped up and dispatched a brilliant strike into the top-right corner of the net to equalise, with Kylian Mbappe and Mauro Icardi then on target in a 3-1 victory.

Neymar later revealed PSG s staff felt he would score a free-kick in the game, which helped imbue him with the confidence as he stood over the ball.

It was a very tough …

History was made at Wembley as Manchester City became the first English men s team to win a domestic treble, with club legend David Silva once more central to their success.

The Man City fans call El Mago, the magician, scored the opening goal against Watford in the FA Cup final as Pep Guardiola s men added the trophy to the EFL Cup and the Premier League title they beat Liverpool to last week.

It has been at times a strangely underwhelming campaign for David Silva, who has shown the first signs his influence is on the wane, with namesake Bernardo eclipsing him in the City midfield more often than not.

But as Watford threatened to play party poopers and upset the massive odds against them in the opening stages at Wembley it was the 33-year-old midfielder, often …

West Bromwich Albion have completed the signing of Joleon Lescott on a free transfer from Manchester City, .

The 31 year old had looked to be closing in on a move to Hull City, though he has opted to reunite with new Baggies boss Alan Irvine, who he worked with for three seasons at Everton.

In his five years with City, Lescott won two Premier League titles, the FA Cup and the League Cup though he had been used sparingly last season, with just eight starts coming in the league.

The defender began his career with Wolverhampton Wanderers, where he spent six seasons before moving to Goodison Park in 2006, and then onto to the Etihad Stadium.

Internationally, he has been capped twenty-six times by England, scoring his only goal in a 1-1 draw with France …

Newly-promoted Racing Lens are set to make a move on Newcastle defender Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa, .

Les Sang et Or are on the lookout for defensive reinforcements and boss Antoine Kombouare is reportedly keen on the France international.

Yanga-Mbiwa has largely struggled at the start of his career in England and he is being linked with a return to French Ligue 1, with Bordeaux also interested in his services.

The 25-year-old joined the Magpies in January 2013 following several very successful seasons with Montpellier, but he has so far made just 37 Premier League appearances.

And with Newcastle looking to shake up the squad this summer, the centre-back will probably be allowed to leave in case of a good offer.

The lack of first team football at club lev…

Carlo Ancelotti insisted Real Madrid have not contemplated defeat in Sunday s Clasico as they fight to keep LaLiga title hopes alive.

Defeat at Camp Nou would be a devastating blow to last season s champions and leave them 12 points adrift with 12 rounds of games remaining.

Head coach Ancelotti told his players to treat Barcelona as a lion, not as a cat , predicting even he would be nervous about entering their den, but he pledged Madrid would go on the attack.

Italian boss Ancelotti has won three of his seven LaLiga meetings against Barcelona, losing the other four. He can become the fifth Real Madrid coach to win four or more Clasicos in LaLiga, after Miguel Munoz (12), Francisco Bru (5), Luis Molowny (5) and Zinedine Zidane (4).

If he and Madrid fall s…