Carlo Ancelotti hailed Karim Benzema as a fantastic leader after the Real Madrid striker s sensational hat-trick dumped Paris Saint-Germain out of the Champions League on Wednesday.
PSG looked on course of the last eight when Kylian Mbappe put them 2-0 up on aggregate late in the first half.
Los Blancos roared back in the second period, though, thanks to Benzema s hat-trick – the second and third of which came within the space of just 106 seconds.
It saw him become the oldest scorer of a hat-trick in Champions League history (aged 34 years and 80 days), 17 days older than Olivier Giroud in December 2020 for Chelsea against Sevilla.
The treble also saw him move above Alfredo Di Stefano into third on Madrid s all-time top goalscorer list with 309.
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Sunderland have announced the signing of free agent Anthony Reveillere on a deal until the end of the season.
The 34-year-old full-back arrives on a free transfer, having been unable to find a club since his contract at Napoli expired at the end of 2013-14.
Before moving to Naples, Reveillere spent 10 years at Lyon, where he won five Ligue 1 titles, as well as the Coupe de France in 2008 and 2012.
Reveillere was part of the France squads for the World Cup in 2010 and the European Championship two years later, playing the full 90 minutes in his country s 2-0 defeat to Spain in the quarter-finals of the latter.
He could be in line to make his debut against Arsenal in the Premier League on Saturday, subject to international clearance from the Italian FA.<…
Arsenal’s preparations for their first away Champions League game in six-and-a-half years were thrown into chaos due to travel delays.
Mikel Arteta’s side face Lens in their Group B clash at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis on Tuesday night but had to cancel their pre-match press conference on the eve of the game.
The Arsenal boss was due to speak to the media with France defender William Saliba at 1900 local time but their chartered flight was grounded at Luton airport.
Limbering up for Lens
— Arsenal (@Arsenal)
The Gunners had trained at London Colney at 1130BST before being due to travel to France on Monday afternoon but bad weather saw those plans cancelled.
The PA news agency understands Arsenal will not face a fine as the cancellat…
Arsenal s Alexis Sanchez will score 26 Premier League goals this season if he can maintain his scoring ratio.
Arsenal forward Alexis Sanchez scored twice as the Gunners enjoyed a 2-0 win over Hull City on Saturday afternoon, and set a record for most league goals in a season for his troubles.
The Chilean international has already surpassed Olivier Giroud’s 16-goal return from the last two seasons and still has 13 league games to play.
It’s been five years since any player has scored more than Sanchez, with Robin Van Persie bagging 30 league goals in 2011/12, but how many goals will the South American finish the campaign with?
Sanchez vindicates Wenger’s tactical change
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger spoke earlier in the season on how Sanchez…
Verdict: Both teams to score
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Crystal Palace play host to Arsenal in the Premier League on Monday night as they aim to move away from the relegation zone. However, the Gunners will be hoping for three points in the London derby if they want to stay in touch with the top-four and keep alive their Champions League ambitions.
Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace suffered a 3-1 loss against Southampton in midweek and will be keen to get back to the winning ways that enabled them to beat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge last Saturday. Previous to the game against the Saints, Sam Allardyce’s men looked to have finally adapted to their manager’s philosophy and enjoyed a run of four wins on the bounce in the Premier League. Even though they have emb…
Ivan Perisic is a target for Chelsea and Manchester United / image via goal.com
are reportedly prepared to enter the bidding war with Premier League rivals over Inter Milan top performer Ivan Perisic, but who exactly is the Croatian star?
Problematic Beginnings
From the first moment he graced the football stage, was recognised as an incredible talent.
His home club Hajduk Split would have appreciated the opportunity to keep hold of the Croatian jewel for longer than they eventually did, but much to ignorance of some Hajduk Split fans – who had been angry at then the 17-year-old boy who they felt abandoned the club – young Perisic was forced to move out as his entire family moved to France for personal reasons which had plenty to do with hi…
Arsenal are set to face competition from Barcelona in the race to sign Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Lars Bender, .
Arsene Wenger has been repeatedly linked with a move for the Germany international over the past few seasons, and has renewed his interest after missing out of Real Madrid’s Sami Kherdira.
However, with legendary Barca midfielder legend Xavi coming towards the end of his career, Luis Enrique is set to throw his hat into the ring.
Bender, whose twin brother Sven plays for Borussia Dortmund, has made one hundred and eighty appearances and scored fifteen goals for Leverkusen since signing from 1860 Munich in the summer of 2009.
Internationally he has won nineteen caps for his country, but was not part of the squad that won the World Cup …
Hamburg have completed the signing of Ivica Olic on an 18-month deal six years after the Croatia striker left the club.
Veteran striker Ivica Olic has left Bundeslisa high-fliyers Wolfsburg and joined his former club Hamburg after passing a medical on Friday.
The 35-year-old Croatia international has signed an 18-month deal with Josef Zinnbauer s side on the eve of their first game since the mid-season break against Cologne.
Olic left Hamburg to join Bayern Munich in 2009 after two-and-a-half years at the Imtech Arena following his move CSKA Moscow.
Wolfsburg director of sport Klaus Allofs is disappointed that Olic has opted to leave the club, but wished him well.
He told the club s official website: When Ivica came to us, we made it very cle…
When Lionel Messi sat on the turf, ruefully accepting that an injury to his left knee would end his involvement in Barcelona s Liga match against Las Palmas on September 26, the pensive looks written across the faces of his team-mates and the Camp Nou faithful told a clear story.
Barcelona might be Europe s dominant 21st century club, bursting with talented individuals, but they rightly fear operating without their extraordinary ringmaster, who is finally set to return in Saturday s Clasico trip to Real Madrid.
In every great achievement from the club s recent history, from the tiki-taka perfection of the Pep Guardiola era to the repeat of their 2008-09 treble last season that mixed these fundamentals with more direct, aggressive attacking play, all-time record goalsc…
Matchday sixteen in the Championship concluded with Leeds United returning to the top of the league after coming from behind to win at Wigan Athletic.
The Latics went ahead early on through Reece James though their lead lasted for just three minutes with Pablo Hernandez grabbing the equaliser.
Kemar Roofe then put Marcelo Bielsa’s side in front moments after the restart, and that was enough to seal the victory and see Leeds leapfrog Norwich City back in to first place.
The Canaries rose to the summit on Saturday afternoon after thumping Sheffield Wednesday four-nil at Hillsborough, with all the goals coming in the second half.
Slip
Sheffield United are down to third after they were narrowly beaten at the City Groud – Lewis Grabban’s six…