Sports

David de Gea failed at the end of a marathon penalty shootout as Villarreal dashed Manchester United's hopes of Europa League glory in Gdansk. This was a disappointing contest lacking in quality and producing only three shots on target across 120 minutes - but drama arrived with the spot-kicks. All 20 outfield players converted their penalties in an increasingly tense stadium, before Villarreal goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli blasted home his effort and then denied De Gea, who was crestfallen at the end. It gave Villarreal a first major trophy in their history and saw former Arsenal boss Unai Emery lift the…

Grasshopper Club Zurich has appointed former Super Eagles combative midfielder, Seyi Olofinjana as its new technical director. The 40-year-old Nigerian was most recently loan-manager at Wolverhampton Wanderers. Olofinjana will take over the position of Technical Director at Grasshopper Club Zurich with immediate effect and will be responsible for the sports department. He takes over the position of interim sports director from Jimmy Berisha, who is stepping back into his role as managing director. Olofinjana played for Stoke City, Hull City and Wolverhampton Wanderers during his playing career. After his active career, he was employed by Wolverhampton Wanderers in various roles.…

Sergio Ramos has been left out of Spain boss Luis Enrique's Euro 2020 squad Real Madrid centre-back Ramos, 35, has been struggling with injury and has only played one game since the end of March. His absence means there are no players from Real Madrid picked by Enrique for this summer's delayed tournament. Manchester City defender Aymeric Laporte had his switch from France to Spain approved by Fifa recently and he makes the 24-man squad. He is one of 10 players from the Premier League picked by Enrique, including Brighton keeper Robert Sanchez, Leeds United defender Diego Llorente and Wolves…

Napoli’s failure to qualify for the Champions League on the final day of the season has seen Gennaro Gattuso relieved of his duties at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona. The Partonepei had to win to guarantee Champions League football but only managed an underwhelming draw against Hellas Verona. Their slip allowed Juventus to leapfrog them into the top four as they thrashed Bologna. “Dear Rino,” tweeted Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis after the game. “I’m hppy to have spent almost two seasons with you. “Thanks for your work. I wish you all the best wherever you go. A hug to…

Atletico Madrid edged city rivals Real Madrid to the La Liga title in dramatic fashion by coming from behind to beat Real Valladolid in the final game. Diego Simeone's side trailed to Oscar Plano's strike but turned the match around in the second half through goals from Angel Correa and Luis Suarez. It was a highly satisfactory triumph for Los Colchoneros as they finished two points ahead of defending champions Real, who end the season without silverware. Barcelona - playing without skipper Lionel Messi, who was resting before the summer's Copa America - won 1-0 at Eibar through Antoine Griezmann's…

Nigeria's Maduka Okoye has made it into the Eredivisie Team of the season. The super eagles goalkeeper  was included for his fine displays between the sticks for Sparta Rotterdam. The Nigerian moved to Sparta Rotterdam from Fortuna Dusseldorf at the start of the season. Since his arrival, Okoye has conceded 35 goals in 28 games, kept 10 clean sheets and saved 33% of the penalties he faced. “With competitors such as Remko Pasveer from Vitesse and Sergio Padt from FC Groningen, the choice was not easy but Okoye had a wonderful season at Sparta,” voetbalzone said on their website. The…

Leicester City lifted the FA Cup for the first time as Youri Tielemans' stunning long-range goal earned the Foxes victory over Chelsea at Wembley. Tielemans collected a loose ball 30 yards out before rifling an unstoppable shot into the top corner. Chelsea thought they had equalised late on but VAR ruled out Wes Morgan's own goal due to offside in the build-up. The Foxes held firm in stoppage time to earn Brendan Rodgers his first major trophy in English football.

The FA Cup Final awaits at Wembley as Chelsea take to the stage against a Leicester City side looking to win the competition for the first time. After 90 minutes, Chelsea are the favourites at 19/20 with Betfred while Leicester are 16/5 while a draw is 5/2. The Blues are the favourites to lift the trophy for the ninth time at 1/2 with the Foxes 13/8. Thomas Tuchel's side have beaten Morecambe, Luton Town, Barnsley, Sheffield United and Manchester City in the process - conceding just one goal against Championship side Luton. Chelsea will be confident after seeing off favourites…

Terem Moffi is among the top goal scorers in Lique 1 this season. Super Eagles Technical Adviser Gernot Rohr has drawn up a provisional squad list of 31 players for Nigeria’s prestige international friendly game against five-time African champions Cameroon in Austria on Friday, 4th June 2021. The game will take place at the Wiener Neustadt in the Austrian capital, Vienna starting from 8.30pm Austria time. Headlining the list unveiled on Friday is Captain Ahmed Musa, with deputy captain William Ekong, goalkeeper Maduka Okoye, defenders Kenneth Omeruo and Chidozie Awaziem, midfielders Wilfred Ndidi and Oghenekaro Etebo and forwards Victor Osimhen,…

The Champions League final between Chelsea and Manchester City on 29 May will take place in Portugal with 6,000 fans from each club able to attend. The game has been moved from Turkey to the Portuguese city of Porto because of coronavirus restrictions. Portugal is on England's green list so players and fans can attend without having to quarantine on their return home. Turkey is on the red list. The final had been due to be staged at Istanbul's Ataturk Olympic Stadium. "To deprive supporters of the chance to see the match in person was not an option and I…