Emma Hayes admitted it would be a fairytale end to her Chelsea career by lifting the Women’s Champions League for the first time at the end of the season.

Hayes will end her 12-year stay with the west-London club after this campaign.

The Champions League is the one major trophy that has eluded the 47-year-old during that time, with the Blues having lost 4-0 in the 2021 final to Barcelona and reached the semi-finals on three other occasions.

Speaking ahead of Chelsea’s opening Group D fixture v Real Madrid, Hayes told a press conference: “It would be a fairytale to win it, of course. But I didn’t grow up liking fairytales – my sister did.

“I would love nothing more than to be in a winning position with this team.”

Chelsea beat Real 2-…

The nerves are starting to jangle on the blue half of Merseyside, with Everton slipping into the relegation zone last week after their derby defeat to Liverpool was preceded by Burnley s win against Wolves.

Frank Lampard s men have six games to rescue their Premier League status, starting on Sunday with a clash against the Toffees manager s former employers.

Chelsea themselves have very little to play for, having pretty much cemented their place in third, which could play into Everton s hands at Goodison Park.

This is the first time Everton are playing a Premier League game when starting the day in the relegation zone since December 2019, which coincidentally was a 3-1 home win against Chelsea.

With Burnley facing an out-of-form Watford on Saturday, Lam…

The Champions League returns this week with all four Premier League sides kicking off their campaigns having had very different relationships with this competition in recent seasons.

Manchester City are out to defend their crown, whilst Arsenal and Newcastle are back after lengthy absences, although Eddie Howe’s side have had by far the longer wait at 20 years.

Manchester United, meanwhile, will be looking to bring Erik ten Hag some respite from a disappointing start to the domestic season.

The PA news agency looks at the four sides the English clubs will face first.

Manchester City v Red Star Belgrade (Tuesday)

Getting back into action!

— Manchester City (@ManCity)

Red Star Belgrade clinched a record 34th league title in comprehen…

Trent Alexander-Arnold has seemingly taken a swipe at former Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp after labelling his short stint under Arne Slot as refreshing .

Alexander-Arnold burst onto the scene at Anfield in 2016, and it was under Klopp s guidance that the England international made his name in the Premier League.

The 25-year-old won seven major honours under the German head coach, with only Roberto Firmino (355), Mohamed Salah (349) and James Milner (323) making more appearances than Alexander-Arnold (310) under Klopp in all competitions.

But following Klopp s departure at the end of last season, his successor Slot has adapted well to life on Merseyside, winning five of his first six games in all competitions.

The latest came last weekend in a com…

Lionel Messi should be appreciated by fans of all countries at the World Cup as he will be missed like Roger Federer and more when he retires, says Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni.

Messi scored twice from the bench in Argentina s 3-0 win over Jamaica on Tuesday, their penultimate friendly before Qatar 2022.

The Albiceleste head to the finals as one of the favourites, having won the Copa America last year.

That was Messi s long-awaited first major international honour, and this could be the 35-year-old s last chance to win a World Cup, having lost in the 2014 final.

Although the Paris Saint-Germain superstar remains on top of his game, scoring six goals across his past four matches for club and country, Scaloni knows he cannot go on forever.

And the…

With another stacked schedule from across all of Europe s elite this weekend, Sunday certainly promises a host of noteworthy affairs.

So, for those of you who are looking to stick on a Sunday accumulator, we have found a trio of helpful tips that are worth keeping an eye out for.

Sunday, October 22nd
BST 15:15 Girona vs Almeria

Heading into October’s international break with a gritty 1-0 victory away at Cadiz, it is no secret that Girona are enjoying a remarkable La Liga purple patch. Enjoying a stunning run of form since opening up the 2023/24 campaign and riding what has been a major wave of momentum, Sunday’s hosts will be relishing their return here. Opening this weekend’s fixtures sat second in the table and continuing to receive a string of plaudi…

Inter have confirmed the signing of Mehdi Taremi on a three-year contract following his departure from Porto.

The deal between Inter and the striker, who left Portugal after seeing out the end of his contract, was reached earlier this year, and was confirmed after he completed his medical.

Taremi made 182 appearances for Porto after joining in 2020, scoring 91 goals in all competitions.

The Iran international enjoyed a distinguished four-year spell at the club, winning the Primeira Liga, two Portuguese Super Cups, three Portuguese Cups and the Portuguese League Cup.

Speaking to the club website, he said: I am very happy to be here today, it is a dream come true for me. I feel good and I am very happy. I have to say that this is the happiest moment of my l…

Carlo Ancelotti is as impressed by Karim Benzema s leadership and personality as his outstanding goalscoring exploits after another dominant Champions League display.

Benzema became the fourth player in Champions League history to score a hat-trick in consecutive performances on Wednesday.

The France forward netted all three Real Madrid goals in their 3-1 win at Chelsea in the first leg of their quarter-final, having also hit a treble against Paris Saint-Germain in the last-16 second leg.

This was the first hat-trick against Chelsea in any European competition and moved Benzema to 11 goals for the campaign – the most by any Frenchman in the European Cup or Champions League in a single season.

Benzema has 37 goals across all competitions in 2021-22, but …

England began their World Cup year with a 2-1 friendly victory over Switzerland at Wembley on Saturday thanks to Harry Kane s late winner.

The Three Lions were by no means spectacular, but Gareth Southgate will in all likelihood be content as they got the job done despite fielding a somewhat unfamiliar starting XI.

Nevertheless, Southgate may have expected more from a first half that Switzerland had by far the better of, with Breel Embolo s headed opener one of nine shots to England s two.

But a fierce Luke Shaw hit right before the break had the hosts level at the interval.

The hosts enjoyed greater control in the second half and eventually dealt the decisive blow via Kane s penalty, his 49th international strike, leaving him behind only Wayne Rooney …

Erik ten Hag admitted his Manchester United side should have scored more goals after they eased into the fourth round of the FA Cup with a 2-0 win over League One Wigan.

United had 33 attempts at goal, 14 of them on target, but in the end only managed to beat Latics’ impressive young goalkeeper Sam Tickle twice, first with Diogo Dalot’s 22nd-minute curling shot and then with a 74th-minute penalty from Bruno Fernandes.

Rasmus Hojlund and Alejandro Garnacho both hit the crossbar while Marcus Rashford brought some fine saves out of Tickle, but this was the 18th out of 23 domestic games in which United’s forwards failed to find the net.

Fourth round bound! battled past a tough task in the form of to secure their place in the fourth round!

— Emirat…