The Manchester City boss heaped praise on the midfielder ahead of his expected departure from Camp Nou Pep Guardiola put Andres Iniesta among the greatest players of his generation as speculation mounts that the midfield maestro will call time on his Barcelona career.  The World Cup-winning Spain stalwart enjoyed a trophy-laden spell under Guardiola’s guidance at Camp Nou from 2008 until 2012, collecting a haul of honours including three La Liga titles and two Champions League crowns. Guardiola was famously impressed by Iniesta in his teenage years, telling Xavi the that he would “retire us all”, and has spoken about the pleasure of managing the virtuoso talent. Article continues below Editors' Picks Sarri vindicated for…

There is something distinctly familiar about Australian side Newcastle Jets’ new kit. The A-League outfit tweeted a picture of their new strip that will be debuted on Tuesday. You would be forgiven for doing a double take and think you may have seen the shirts somewhere before. Both the home and away strip has a striking resemblance to Crystal Palace’s current kit. The club’s Twitter account posted a tweet asking what their third team shirt looked like. The official Palace club shop account even poked fun at the similarities between the two. Some kit manufacturers have been guilty of lacking imagination in recent seasons with designs for clubs with the…

Oldham boss Paul Scholes got off to a winning start on his managerial debut with a 4-1 victory over League Two strugglers Yeovil. The Manchester United legend was indebted to Merseysiders Jose Baxter and Callum Lang for scoring the first couple of goals to kick-start his career in the dugout. Mohamed Mouche and Christopher Missilou completed the rout in the final two minutes after Bevis Mugabi had reduced the deficit. Scholes had his issues with one particular Jose in the last few seasons – admitting he expected scrutiny from Mourinho after criticising his Old Trafford reign – but he will have been delighted with the man-of-the-match version he inherited. The…

Click:polymer insulator Luka Modric and James Rodriguez will also be missing for the second leg of the last-16 tie in the Copa del Rey Zinedine Zidane has opted to rest Cristiano Ronaldo and Luka Modric for Real Madrid’s Copa del Rey encounter with Sevilla. WATCH: Ronaldo’s amazing toast trickery Ronaldo also missed the first leg of the round of 16 tie, with Madrid cruising to a 3-0 win at the Santiago Bernabeu without their star attacker. Editors' Picks Sarri vindicated for dropping Kepa as Chelsea & Pedro impress in Spurs win Magnificent Mane takes centre stage as league leaders Liverpool put on a five-star show Lukaku sends reminder that his…

Watford’s head of academy Darren Sarll has left his job as “amicably” two weeks after he was accused of bullying. Sarll was suspended last month amid a club investigation after safeguarding officers were alerted to the claims. A statement on Watford’s official website said: “Watford Football Club has amicably parted ways with Head of Academy Darren Sarll.” A club spokesman added: “We’d like to thank Darren for his efforts and achievements on and off the pitch, and wish him all the best for the future. “Darren has brought a wealth of experience to his role, has been nothing but dedicated during his time at Watford and is now moving on to his…

Harry Kane, Dele Alli and Ben Davies will all miss Tottenham’s Champions League round of 16 clash against Borussia Dortmund through injury, while Danny Rose faces a late fitness test. Kane, Alli and Davies remain sidelined despite suggestions the former could be back for Wednesday’s visit of the Bundesliga side due to an accelerated return from an ankle problem. Alli is also on track to be back from a hamstring injury prior to the expected date, but neither player featured in an open training session on Tuesday morning. Rose also missed out at Hotspur Way having picked up a shin wound during Sunday’s Premier League defeat of Leicester. The England…

The Catalans advanced to the final for a fifth year in a row after getting past Valencia Barcelona head coach Ernesto Valverde said the Spanish giants deservedly reached the Copa del Rey final after getting past Valencia. Goals from Philippe Coutinho and Ivan Rakitic saw Barca to a 2-0 win on Thursday as the cup holders advanced 3-0 on aggregate. The victory ensured Barca progressed to the Copa del Rey final for a fifth year in a row and Valverde heaped praise on his team ahead of the final against Sevilla. Editors' Picks Sarri vindicated for dropping Kepa as Chelsea & Pedro impress in Spurs win Magnificent Mane takes centre stage…

Manchester City welcome Chelsea to the Etihad this afternoon looking to keep the pressure on Premier League title rivals Liverpool. Pep Guardiola’s side have won back-to-back top-flight games while the Reds got back to winning ways on Saturday after draws with Leicester and West Ham. Chelsea were beaten 4-0 last time out on the road at Bournemouth, but took their frustration out on bottom-club Huddersfield last weekend, hitting five past the Terriers. The Blues beat City in the reverse fixture at Stamford Bridge in December and are in need of another big performance as they look to keep their top-four hopes on track. What time is kick-off? The massive clash…

Ainsley Maitland-Niles has spent time responding to fan comments on Instagram following Arsenal’s win over Huddersfield on Saturday. The Gunners emerged 2-1 victors, but hardly left fans full of confidence with Maitland-Niles one of the most criticised. In an unusual move, the 21-year-old took to Instagram to address the issue just hours after the full time whistle. Rather than posting a statement, Ainsley Maitland-Niles began responding to individual comments and apologising to his critics. The right-midfielder/right-back wrote messages such as “Sorry, I’ll take it into consideration,” and, “I’ll try do better man,” to those who sent negative messages. In the match itself, Alex Iwobi and Alexandre Lacazette scored first-half goals…

Perry Groves has called for stubborn Arsenal manager Unai Emery to reinstate Mesut Ozil to his first-team, saying the Gunners are ‘crying out’ for the German’s creative flair. No one appears to really know what’s going on with Ozil at the Emirates Stadium, after he missed another big game on Thursday night as Arsenal suffered a 1-0 defeat to BATE Borisov in the Europa League. The midfielder is said to have trained all week, but missed the BATE trip through illness – the same reason why he apparently did not feature in the squad to face Huddersfield in the Premier League at the weekend. Whether the mystery illness is real…