Under-fire Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane is convinced he retains the full support of the club and his players amid a difficult run of results.

Madrid head to Sevilla on Saturday having failed to win any of their previous three LaLiga matches, suffering losses to Valencia and Deportivo Alaves either side of a draw with Villarreal.

Los Blancos have never endured a winless run of four league games under Zidane, and the champions are already seven points adrift of pacesetters Real Sociedad – though arguably the greater concern is second-place Atletico Madrid.

Diego Simeone s men are unbeaten this term and, although a point behind La Real, they have two games in hand on them and one on their city rivals.

Tuesday s 2-0 defeat to Shakhtar Donetsk increase…

Inter dropped points for just the third time this season as they played out a frustrating goalless draw with Roma in a forgettable Serie A encounter.

The build-up to the game was dominated by a controversial Corriere dello Sport headline in which the words Black Friday were placed in between images of Inter striker Romelu Lukaku and Roma defender Chris Smalling, former Manchester United team-mates, with the publication s strident denial that their front page was racially insensitive merely drawing more criticism.

On the pitch there were few talking points, although Inter will rue Roma goalkeeper Antonio Mirante making fine saves in each half to deny Lukaku and Matias Vecino.

A point means Inter are unbeaten in eight games but champions Juventus can reclaim top sp…

Swansea City have completed a deal for 19-year-old midfielder Matt Grimes from Exeter City for an undisclosed fee.

Grimes has penned a four-and-a-half-year contract at the Liberty Stadium and will be available for the Premier League match against West Ham on January 10.

The England Under-20 international had been the subject of intense transfer speculation after a string of impressive performances for League Two outfit Exeter.

He only made his professional debut in August 2013 and has featured 25 times in all competitions this season.

Grimes arrives at a time when Swansea boss Garry Monk is short on option in the centre of midfield, with Jonjo Shelvey facing a four-match suspension and Ki Sung-yeung heading for the Asian Cup with South Korea.

Ex…

German media outlet have rejected a big money offer for star player Shinji Okazaki.

The Japanese striker has been in scintillating form ever since he joined from Stuttgart in the summer of 2013 and his impressive displays did not go unnoticed.

According to Bild, Premier League newcomers Leicester City submitted a €10 million proposal for his services, but Mainz decided to reject the bid.

While the offer was definitely tempting for the Bundesliga side, club manager Christian Heidel did not want to rob coach Kasper Hjumland of his best player.

Meanwhile, Leicester City have agreed a transfer fee with HNK Rijeka for Croatia international striker Andrej Kramaric, but it remains to be seen if the hotshot will be granted a work permit.

The Foxes cou…

RB Leipzig boss Marco Rose does not understand criticism of Erling Haaland s performances for Manchester City, quipping: If you don t want him, send him to me.

Leipzig travel to the Etihad Stadium for the second leg of their Champions League last-16 tie against City on Tuesday, having recovered from a goal down to clinch a 1-1 draw in last month s first leg.

Rose s men contained Haaland – who he coached during a one-season spell in charge of Borussia Dortmund – on that occasion, but the Norwegian has hit an astonishing 28 goals in 26 Premier League appearances this term.

Despite those returns, some have suggested Haaland is unsuited to Pep Guardiola s possession-based style of play, with former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher questioning whether the strik…

Juventus and Atletico Madrid will face off at the Serie A giant s training ground on Sunday after security concerns led to the cancellation of a pre-season friendly in Tel Aviv.

The teams had been due to meet at Bloomfield Stadium on Sunday, but heightened tensions in the Gaza Strip raised doubts over whether the match could take place in Israel.

Earlier on Saturday, it was announced that the contest had been cancelled, but Juventus have now revealed the match has been moved to Italy.

Originally scheduled to take place in Tel Aviv, the game between the two footballing giants will now be played in Turin at the Juventus Training Centre in Continassa, read a statement from Juve.

The friendly, which will serve as both teams final outing before they begi…

Giacomo Bonaventura scored the only goal of the game as AC Milan made it 10 matches unbeaten in all competitions with a 1-0 Serie A win over Sampdoria.

The Rossoneri have experienced a significant upturn in fortunes under Gennaro Gattuso and they dominated an eventful contest at San Siro.

Ricardo Rodriguez saw a seventh-minute penalty saved, but Milan were not punished for his profligacy and Bonaventura netted what proved to be the decisive goal six minutes later.

But the remaining 77 minutes were filled with incident, Milan seeing a Leonardo Bonucci effort ruled out for offside while Hakan Calhanoglu struck the crossbar.

A lifeless Sampdoria team did not offer a genuine threat until Gianluca Caprari squandered a late chance to equalise and seventh-placed…

Antonio Conte believes winger Juan Cuadrado can still have a future at Chelsea.

Cuadrado was a high-profile signing from Fiorentina during the January 2015 transfer window but, as Chelsea eased towards that season s Premier League title, the Colombia international failed to make an impression in the English top flight.

After no goals in 13 league appearance – only four of which were starts – Cuadrado returned to Serie A with Juventus, who he helped to a fourth consecutive Serie A crown during a season-long loan spell.

Speaking after Chelsea s 2-0 friendly defeat at Rapid Vienna on Saturday, former Italy and Juve boss Conte revealed he was an admirer of Cuadrado during his own time in Turin and hopes the 28-year-old will be ready to fight for his place when h…

Manchester City defeated a jaded Chelsea to clinch a 2-1 FA Cup semi-final win and book their second final appearance in three years.

Goals from Samir Nasri and Sergio Aguero put City two goals up after 47 minutes but Demba Ba s hooked volley midway through the second period guaranteed a riveting finale.

City held firm to end Chelsea s notable run of seven consecutive FA Cup Wembley wins, including final triumphs in four of the six previous seasons.

Roberto Mancini s team will be the strong favourites to lift their second cup in three years when they face Wigan Athletic here again in the final on May 11.

It was all City early on as the 2011 winners carried on from where they had left off at Old Trafford six days earlier.

Aguero and Tevez both came…

Mexican league leaders Tigres play ninth place Monterrey looking to maintain their lead at the top of Liga MX as the Clausura nears completion.

Fired by the goals of Emmanuel Villa and the midfield control provided by Carlos Salcido, Tigres currently sit one point clear of Atlas at the top of the table as they look to record their first league win since 2011.

Atlas who are unbeaten in four games will be hoping Monterrey can cause an upset against Tigres so they can leapfrog their rivals at the summit when they travel to 14th placed Puebla on Saturday.

Reigning Clausura champions Santos still maintain hope of retaining their title but know that they need to beat Cruz Azul if they are to really put themselves in contention.

Third placed America, inspired b…