Antonio Conte believes he retains the total commitment of his Chelsea squad after their performances were criticised by ex-Manchester United midfielder Roy Keane.

Chelsea returned to winning ways with a 3-0 Premier League win over West Brom after shock defeats to Bournemouth and Watford led to renewed speculation over Conte s future.

The Premier League champions lie fourth, 19 points behind Manchester City with 11 games of the season remaining and Keane appeared to liken Chelsea s efforts this time around to their feeble title defence in 2015-16, where a dramatic slump in form saw Jose Mourinho sacked before Christmas.

These Chelsea lads are so unprofessional, Keane told ITV Sport. When they go and win the league in the last few years, they ve [subsequently] dow…

Franck Ribery s arrival at Salernitana was compared to Diego Maradona joining Napoli, but the veteran winger just wants to help the club retain their Serie A status. 

It was confirmed on Monday that Ribery, 38, had signed a one-year contract at the Stadio Arechi. The deal will be extended for another year if the club achieve certain sporting objectives. 

The former France international was a free agent after leaving Fiorentina, where he spent two seasons following the conclusion of a trophy-laden 12-year stint with Bayern Munich. 

He will spend 2021-22 with Salernitana, who have started their first top-flight campaign in 23 years with back-to-back defeats against Bologna and Roma. 

Salernitana sporting director Angelo Fabiani last week said R…

Real Madrid assistant coach David Bettoni urged patience with Eden Hazard after the playmaker showed signs of his best in a win over Deportivo Alaves.

Hazard has struggled to find his best form since arriving at Madrid from Chelsea in 2019, but he scored once and set up another in Saturday s 4-1 LaLiga victory.

The 30-year-old scored and assisted in a single game for Madrid for just the second time and first since October 2019 before coming off just after the hour-mark.

Bettoni, who took charge for the game after Zinedine Zidane tested positive for coronavirus, said Hazard needed time.

I think Eden has had a tough season and a half with Real Madrid, he told a news conference.

We have to be patient with him, although obviously in football and esp…

Saudi Arabia captain Salman Al Faraj has been ruled out for the remainder of the World Cup through injury.

The Al Hilal defender injured his leg in Tuesday s shock 2-1 win over Argentina and left the stadium on crutches.

Al Faraj did not feature in Saudi Arabia s 2-0 loss to Poland in their second Group C contest on Saturday and will play no further part in their Qatar 2022 campaign.

A Saudi statement confirmed the news on Sunday and added Al Faraj, who has been capped 71 times for his country, will undergo a full recovery programme.

National team head coach permits Salman Al Faraj to leave the training camp to recover from his injury

— Saudi National Team (@SaudiNT_EN)

Saudi Arabia are also without Yasser Al Shahrani after he underwen…

FIFA has confirmed Cristiano Ronaldo did not score Portugal s first goal in Monday s win over Uruguay after Adidas match ball technology revealed there was no touch on Bruno Fernandes cross.

Ronaldo was initially thought to have scored his ninth World Cup goal when he attempted to meet Fernandes inswinging delivery with a glancing header, putting Portugal on course for a 2-0 win.

The five-time Ballon d Or winner celebrated the strike wildly, though FIFA later intervened to award Fernandes with his first World Cup goal.

Fernandes later made the points safe from the penalty spot as Portugal confirmed their place in the last 16, and the use of technology from match ball suppliers Adidas means his brace will stand.

A statement from FIFA provided to ESPN read…

The agent of Benfica midfielder Nemanja Matic has moved to deny speculations linking his client with a January exit from Estadio da Luz.

Matic, 24, has largely impressed in covering for Javi Garcia’s departure and has already seen his name linked to top European clubs.

Media reports in England yesterday suggested Liverpool were planning a January assault on the highly rated midfielder, but the player’s representative says the Serbian player is not yet ready to leave the Eagles.

“He wants to play at least two seasons at the highest level at Benfica before considering other scenarios,” agent Dejan Mitrovic .

Matic already has some Premier League experience, having played for Chelsea during the 2009/2010 season.

Following a loan spell at Vit…

Bayern Munich will play in the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals unless Arsenal can do something no club has done in over four years.

Arsenal must score a minimum of three goals at the Allianz Arena on Wednesday and overcome Bayern by a two-goal margin to defeat the Bundesliga leaders in their two-legged round-of-16 tie.

Bayern put one foot in the next round when they embarrassed Arsenal with a 3-1 defeat in the first leg in London with Thomas Mueller scoring one goal and setting up another for the German club.

The last time a team scored three times at the Allianz Arena and knocked off Bayern by two goals was in February 2011 when Borussia Dortmund triumphed 3-1.

But even that result would only mean extra time in Munich.

Werder Bremen were the…

Barcelona have appointed Ernesto Valverde as their new head coach on a two-year contract.

The Catalans were in the market for a new man in charge following Luis Enrique s decision to leave the club at the end of the 2016-17 campaign and they have turned to the former Athletic Bilbao boss.

Valverde will be presented as Barca head coach at a media conference on Thursday.

I have spoken personally with Ernesto Valverde and I told him of our decision, said club president Josep Maria Bartomeu.

He said he is very excited and very happy, that it s a great challenge to come in as head coach of Barca. 

There is time to talk about why we chose him. We know he has ability, his knowledge and his experience. 

He loves youth football and he has a s…

Thiago Alcantara believes Pep Guardiola completely changed the way the game is seen in Germany during his time in charge of Bayern Munich.

Spain international Thiago considered the Bundesliga to be primarily focused on power and strength before Guardiola arrived in 2013.

However, following Guardiola s three years in charge of the Bavarian giants, the former Barcelona midfielder now feels possession and domination of the game are of greater importance.

Pep brought greater emphasis on putting value on possession and controlling the game, Thiago told Marca.

The Bundesliga has always been a competition of strength, power and goals.

He changed the concept of German football in general and they found a harmony that saw them go on to become world…

Bayern Munich winger Leroy Sane says he has been unfairly put in the bling-bling drawer and will take criticism as an incentive to realise his potential.

Sane was unable to hit the ground running at Bayern after joining the European champions on a five-year deal from Manchester City in July for a fee of €49million, which could rise to €60m.

The winger missed almost the entire 2019-20 season with City due to a torn anterior cruciate ligament before returning to his homeland.

Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge last month warned Sane must show more desire and says Bayern will be prepared to kick his butt if needed to get the best out of their big-money signing.

Sane has since taken his goal tally to seven for the season, while also providing fiv…