Eden Hazard will miss El Clasico on December 18 after Real Madrid confirmed he has suffered a small fracture in his ankle.

Hazard was forced off in the 2-2 Champions League draw with Paris Saint-Germain late last month and required help as he hobbled off the pitch.

Coach Zinedine Zidane expressed concern after the match, convinced it was more than a simple blow , only for initial scans to suggest Hazard had just suffered bruising.

But media reports suggested there was growing concern with Hazard s condition as he was still requiring the use of crutches to walk.

0 Real Madrid have not lost any of their eight games with Eden Hazard (W6 D2), winning 75% of them (6/8), compared to 50% without him (3/6). Injury.

— OptaJose (@OptaJose)

Madr…

Canada remain winless since October 2012 after they drew 1-1 with Bulgaria in Friday s friendly in Ritzing.

Benito Floro s side have plummeted down the FIFA rankings to 110th after a terrible stretch of form that has seen them fail to win any of their last 15 games.

They did at least break one unwanted record in front of a sparse crowd in Austria, though, as Atiba Hutchinson s goal was the nation s first in 11 matches.

Bulgaria entered the match as favourites and took the lead in the 19th minute through Andrey Galabinov.

The Avellino forward showed good strength to hold off the challenge of Canada s Adam Straith and produced a composed finish to open the scoring.

But Canada hit back just eight minutes later through Hutchinson from the penalty spot.

Sv…

English Premier League strugglers Reading have joined the race for highly-rated Blackpool winger Tom Ince after submitting a formal offer in the region of £8 million for the England Under-21 international, .

Ince, 20, has been heavily linked with a return to his former club Liverpool in recent weeks, but talks between the clubs regarding the 20-year-old winger have stalled.

High-flying Capital One Cup finalists Swansea City entered the race for Ince earlier this month, but now Premier League newboys Reading have submitted a bid of around £8 million for the in-demand attacker.

Ince, the son of former England, Internazionale, Liverpool and Manchester United star Paul Ince, has been absolutely brilliant since arriving at the Lancashire-based club f…

Eberechi Eze received his first call-up and Lewis Dunk returned four-and-a-half years after his only cap as Gareth Southgate named the England squad for June’s Euro 2024 qualifiers.

Having kicked off Euro 2024 qualification with wins over Italy and Ukraine, Group C continues with next month’s double header against Malta and North Macedonia.

Southgate has named a 25-man squad, with Eric Dier and Raheem Sterling the high-profile absentees and Crystal Palace attacking midfielder Eze the only uncapped player in the group.

Here we go.

Your squad for June!

…

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag was not particularly concerned about the injury suffered by Alejandro Garnacho on Sunday despite him requiring crutches as he left Old Trafford.

Garnacho was introduced in the second half of United s 0-0 draw with Southampton and went down hurt during the latter stages under a challenge from Kyle Walker-Peters.

The Southampton defender won the ball on the stretch in the penalty area, but Garnacho s right ankle appeared to get trapped between Walker-Peters legs.

Garnacho looked to be in agony but managed to play on until he was withdrawn in stoppage time as Ten Hag sought to bolster 10-man United at the back.

He was subsequently spotted leaving the stadium with the support of crutches.

Erik ten Hag provided a…

Ever Banega was thrilled to reward Sevilla for their faith in him by helping the club to a third straight Europa League title and refused to discuss his potential move to Inter.

The 27-year-old started the match in Basle as Unai Emery s men made history with a 3-1 victory over Liverpool and was only replaced deep into stoppage time.

Banega has been heavily linked with a move to Inter and the Serie A side s head coach Roberto Mancini indicated this week that a deal had been done, even though the player s contract status is unclear with Sevilla believing his appearances have triggered a one-year extension until the end of 2016-17.

But the Argentina international was only interested in discussing Sevilla s success after the match as he made it two Europa League me…

Louis van Gaal was sacked as Manchester United manager on Monday just two days after lifting the FA Cup at Wembley.

While his side too often have produced some forgettable football during his two years in charge, the inimitable Dutchman s remarks in the media will live a little longer in the memory.

From horny players and  fat journalists to sex-masochism and Mr Mike Smalling, here are some of Van Gaal s best one-liners during his time at OId Trafford

The most important difference is that I am training the players, not in the legs, but in the brain, in brain power.   Van Gaal explains part of his philosophy  (July 26, 2014)

I have never had an experience when you lose or draw at home when they are applauding you. They were very important…

Former Perth Glory defender Josh Mitchell has returned home, signing a two-year deal with the Newcastle Jets.

The Belmont-born 28-year-old was invited to a trial with the Jets three weeks ago, impressing coach Gary van Egmond.

Mitchell, comfortable on the left-hand side of defence and centrally, joined the Glory in 2010 after a spell with Romanian side Universitatea Craiova.

Van Egmond hinted at using the defender at left-back and said Mitchell, who failed to earn a new deal with Perth, brought several other strong qualities to his team.

I have coached Josh before and I know what he can bring to the team, he said.

Josh is a very good defender, he is naturally left-sided which helped as that was a position we were looking to fill.

He br…

Real Madrid continued their resurgent form with a 3-1 win over 10-man Athletic Bilbao in LaLiga on Tuesday.

Karim Benzema scored twice in the second half at Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano, lifting Madrid to a fourth straight victory in all competitions.

Zinedine Zidane s men joined Real Sociedad and Atletico Madrid on 26 points atop the table, but they struggled for large parts at home to Athletic.

Madrid played more than 75 minutes against 10 men following Raul Garcia s red card, but Toni Kroos fine opener was cancelled out by Ander Capa.

But Benzema haunted Athletic once more to continue Madrid s winning run.

 Big with another brilliant header!!
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— Real Madrid C.F.  (@realmadriden)

Athletic had made a decent start before …

Neymar will be reassessed by Paris Saint-Germain to determine a recovery time after the Brazil star was ruled out of the Copa America with a serious ankle injury.

Brazil forward Neymar suffered a ligament rupture in his right ankle during Wednesday s 2-0 friendly win over Qatar in Brasilia.

Neymar left the ground in tears as he was carried down the tunnel in the first half before the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) confirmed the PSG star s absence from the Copa America, which gets underway on June 14.

Ligue 1 champions PSG released a statement on Thursday, which read: Neymar Jr. suffered a severe sprain of the outer lateral ligament of his right ankle in Brasilia during a warm-up match for the Copa America.

Paris Saint-Germain s Brazil striker wil…