David de Gea is not a new problem for Manchester United. Of course, his backers – and that appears to include many people at the club – will always point to his shot-stopping ability, which has clearly been a strength over the course of his career in England.

We can t forget that legendary performance against Arsenal in a 3-1 away win for United in the 2017-18 season, when De Gea equalled a Premier League record by making 14 saves.

But if that kind of goalkeeper becomes less reliable at arguably the one thing they re good at, questions have to be asked. De Gea was, of course, culpable in United s 4-0 humiliation by Brentford on Saturday.

He let Josh Dasilva s tame long-range effort sneak into the bottom-right corner, and that opened the floodgates on what wa…

Ryan Giggs is to face a retrial next year on assault charges and controlling behaviour, a judge has ruled.

The former Manchester United player had been on trial for four weeks, but jurors were discharged last week after failing to reach a verdict following 23 hours of deliberations.

Giggs is accused of assaulting ex-girlfriend Kate Greville, causing actual bodily harm, and using controlling and coercive behaviour against her from August 2017 to November 2020.

He was also charged with the common assault of Ms Greville s younger sister, Emma. Giggs denies all the allegations against him.

Prosecutor Peter Wright QC confirmed at Manchester Crown Court on Wednesday the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) will seek a retrial, with a date of July 31, 2023 being set.…

Arsenal forward Bukayo Saka insists he is not concerned about burnout and is ready to answer manager Mikel Arteta’s challenge of playing 70 games this season.

The England winger, 22, captained the Gunners to a 5-0 victory over Sheffield United on Saturday afternoon to keep them within two points of the top of the Premier League.

Saka has started all-but one of Arsenal’s Premier League and Champions League games this season, sitting out the victory over Manchester City with a hamstring complaint.

Missing the win ended a streak of 87 successive league appearances for Saka, stretching back to May 2021.

Saka’s durability has been an asset for club and country as Arteta called for him to keep playing and contributing to Arsenal’s quest for silverware.<…

According to Fabrizio Romano, Juventus are deep in talks to sign Angel Di Maria as a free agent when his contract with Paris Saint-Germain expires at the end of the season, but while the renowned transfer expert says nothing has been agreed as of yet, Gazzetta dello Sport claim an agreement in principle has been reached.

Be that as it may, it seems the 34-year-old winger is indeed likely to move to Italy for the next stage of his career after seven years in Paris. Before that, he played four years for Real Madrid and spent the 2014-15 season at Manchester United. For PSG, the 121-cap Argentina international has made a total of 294 appearances in all competitions, scoring 92 goals and contributing 118 assists. He could play once more for the French champions, when they take on M…

Juventus faltering end to their Serie A campaign saw Inter finish just one point behind the Bianconeri in 2019-20.

Antonio Conte s side had looked like genuine title challengers in the first half of the season, yet a poor run pre-lockdown saw them all but fall out of contention before a late charge – combined with Juve s inconsistencies – made things tight after the title was already wrapped up.

Yet heading into Conte s second season, there should be genuine optimism at San Siro.

Inter may have failed to win the Europa League – going down to serial champions Sevilla in the final – but with Romelu Lukaku and Lautaro Martinez, along with some promising new additions, they look all set for a strong title tilt this time around.

Juve, under the tutelag…

Pep Guardiola made clear James Milner should have been sent off during Manchester City s 2-2 draw with Liverpool, adding how his side may not have been so lucky in the same situation.

Having already received a booking in the first half, Milner escaped a second yellow card when he appeared to foul Bernardo Silva.

The incident occurred in the second half with the score at 1-1 and, not long after the reprieve, Liverpool s right-back, filling in for the absent Trent Alexander-Arnold, was involved in his side s second goal, scored by Mohamed Salah.

While Kevin De Bruyne scored an equaliser to make sure the Premier League champions claimed a point, Guardiola was in no doubt referee Paul Tierney had erred in not dismissing Milner.

It s a yellow card, the City…

Leonardo Mancuso scored to secure a surprise 1-0 victory for newly-promoted Empoli in Turin that left Juventus stunned and still without a win in Serie A this season.

Mancuso ended his side s five-game run without a league goal at Juve in the competition as he opened the scoring from close range, while Guglielmo Vicario impressed in goal.

Without Cristiano Ronaldo as he edges closer to returning to Manchester United, Juve s main attacking threat came through Federico Chiesa, but even he could not steer any of his three attempts past the Empoli goalkeeper.

Chiesa forced early saves from Vicario, with surging runs creating both opportunities before the goalkeeper produced smart saves to parry away.

However, it was Mancuso who struck first, profiting from…

Zinedine Zidane insisted there was no shame in Real Madrid s shock loss to third-tier side Alcoyano in the Copa del Rey.

Madrid were stunned by the Segunda Division B outfit in the last 32 as Juanan scored a 115th-minute winner on Wednesday.

Jose Solbes had earlier cancelled out Eder Militao s opener and Alcoyano found a winner despite Ramon Lopez s red card in extra time.

But Madrid head coach Zidane dismissed suggestions the defeat was shameful for the LaLiga champions.

Those are your words. Those words, they do not belong to me, he told a news conference.

This is football, difficult things because it s true that we play against a Segunda B team and we need to win the match normally, but at the end it hasn t been like that and this does not me…

Xavi believes Barcelona can end an eight-year wait for Champions League glory this season as he told his players to dream of lifting the trophy.

The head coach sends his side into their opener against Viktoria Plzen on Wednesday, desperate for them to avoid a repeat of the last campaign s group-stage exit.

Barcelona finished behind Bayern Munich and Benfica, with Xavi appointed midway through that group campaign after Ronald Koeman was sacked.

The serious damage had been done by a 3-0 loss at Benfica, and Xavi could not drag Barcelona through to the knockout rounds.

However, he has had two busy transfer windows since then and Barcelona are a new-look and refreshed team, with much of their previous baggage shaken off.

Last season s failure in Europ…

Pedri was the hero for Barcelona as they saw off a LaLiga challenge from Celta Vigo to take an unpersuasive 1-0 win on Sunday.

Despite a bright, almost bombastic start from Xavi s side, the Blaugrana gradually faded once again in defence of an early lead, ultimately escaping with all three points intact.

A week on from a similar performance against Mallorca, questions may be lingering about Barca s prowess, even as they sit top of the table.

Yet after the sting of a Champions League loss to Inter in midweek, the Catalans were at least back to winning ways.

A dominant start from Barcelona hinted at a blowout scoreline, and Pedri s poacher s finish amid defensive disarray in the 17th minute certainly whet the appetite.

But a subsequent struggle to f…