Head coach Francesco Farioli has left Ajax in the wake of an end-of-season collapse that cost them the Eredivisie title. Ajax were top of the Dutch top flight with a nine-point lead with seven games to go but on Sunday ended up finishing a point behind champions PSV Eindhoven. Italian Farioli, 36, l...

Only captains will be allowed to approach referees during Premier League matches from next season. The top flight is set to adopt new guidelines – approved by the game’s law-makers, the International Football Association Board (IFAB), in March – that state only one player from each...

Canada striker Jonathan David has said he will leave Lille this summer amid links to several Premier League clubs. The 25-year-old will depart the French side at the end of the current season when his contract expires. “Every story has a beginning and an end,” the forward said in a vide...

Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti says he has “never had a problem” with the club and does not want to “make a big deal” out of his impending departure for the Brazil national team. The Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) confirmed the 65-year-old’s appointment as...

Real Madrid want Xabi Alonso in place as their new manager in time for the start of next month’s Club World Cup. Sources say the plan is for Alonso, 43, to travel to Madrid on 1 June to prepare the team for their first game of the inaugural Fifa tournament on 18 June against Saudi […]

German referee Felix Zwayer, who once served a ban for alleged involvement in a match-fixing plot, will take charge of next week’s all-English Europa League final between Tottenham and Manchester United. Zwayer, now 43, was given a six-month suspension in 2006 after he was investigated for ta...

After a heartbreaking defeat by Inter Milan in the Champions League semi-finals, there was a very real possibility of Barcelona’s season falling apart. In recent seasons, perhaps it would. Downgrading a potential treble to a solitary cup triumph would have been on brand not so long ago, given ...

Brentford manager Thomas Frank says his team are “dreaming” of Europe after Kevin Schade’s first-half goal at Ipswich Town earned the Bees a fourth consecutive Premier League victory. Schade, who scored twice in last weekend’s 4-3 win over Manchester United, steered a looping...

Carlo Ancelotti has called Xabi Alonso “one of the best in the world” amid rumours the Spaniard will replace him as Real Madrid manager. On Friday, Bayer Leverkusen head coach Alonso said he would be leaving the German club at the end of this season. Alonso is set to be announced as th...

In what has been the worst kept secret in the footballing world, Xabi Alonso has finally told his Bayer Leverkusen players he will be leaving the German club at the end of the season. He will be soon be announced as the new head coach of Real Madrid – once the departure of current boss Carlo...