Benteke: Villa transfer request was a mistake

Barcelona s bid to complete an unbeaten LaLiga season collapsed in astonishing circumstances as Ernesto Valverde s champions collapsed to a 5-4 defeat at Levante.

Unheralded Ghanaian forward Emmanuel Boateng was the hero for home side as he doubled his tally of goals in Spain s top flight with a hat-trick.

Boateng s initial first-half strikes were pegged back by Philippe Coutinho but an often wretched Barcelona showing  without the rested Lionel Messi  collapsed into all-out defensive shambles after half-time.

Enis Bardhi, who hit the post in between Levante s first two goals, found a pair of sublime finishes amid the chaos and Boateng making a claim for the matchball.

Coutinho led the Barca fightback by completing a treble of his own and Luis Suarez …

Lucas Hernandez has signed a new four-year deal at Atletico Madrid.

The French defender came through the club s academy and played 16 first-team matches last season, including the Champions League final defeat to rivals Real Madrid in May.

Hernandez had been a regular in Atleti s reserve team since 2014, while making a number of youth international appearances for France.

Upon securing a contract to keep him at the Vicente Calderon until 2020, the 20-year-old expressed his delight.

I m very happy to stay in the club of my life, he told Atleti s official website.

…

France will be a better side at the World Cup for having experienced the pressure of hosting the European Championships, according to Louis Saha.

Les Bleus have underwhelmed in recent years, last challenging meaningfully at a major tournament in 2006, but they nearly clinched the Euros on home turf in 2016, coming unstuck against Portugal in the final.

Although France again left the public disappointed with their failure to secure silverware, former international Saha believes it was an experience that will benefit the team in Russia.

France have shown some consistency for the last four years. They keep getting better and the level has increased, Saha told Omnisport.

The players know each other better some players are stronger now and bring confidence. …

West Ham have completed the club-record signing of Sebastien Haller from Eintracht Frankfurt for a reported fee of £45million.

The Premier League side agreed a deal on Tuesday with Frankfurt, who granted Haller permission to travel to London for a medical.

The 25-year-old has now signed a five-year deal with the Hammers, with the option of a further 12 months.

The striker becomes the most expensive signing in the club s history, eclipsing the reported £36m paid to Lazio for Felipe Anderson last year.

I feel really great, Haller told West Ham s website. I think it s a really good opportunity for me to be here.

It means a lot [to be the record signing]. It proves that the club [has] really wanted me for a long time. I felt this desire to sign me…

England s World Cup rivals should take note: Fabio Capello has unfinished business with the world s biggest sporting event.

The Italian who has guided England to next year s finals in South Africa with two games to spare, has been unfamiliar with failure as a coach.

As a player however, Capello learned what it was like to suffer crushing professional disappointment and World Cups loom large in his personal scrapbook of regrets.

The 63-year-old is easily caricatured as a man with no room for sentimentality in his life.

Yet he becomes almost wistful when he reflects on what might have been in 1974, when an Italian squad managed by the late Ferruccio Valcareggi arrived in West Germany as the form team in European football.

We arrived as one of the …

Ex-Germany goalkeeper Jens Lehmann was on Sunday warned to watch his future conduct by his Stuttgart coach Markus Babbel.

The 39-year-old, who turns 40 next month, landed himself in hot water a fortnight ago when he failed to get permission from his club to attend Munich s Oktoberfest beer festival which earned him a one-match suspension.

Jens must know that he is constantly in the media s spotlight because he is a well-known name, Babbel told Bild on Sunday.

He must refrain from quick-tempered and rash actions and concentrate on doing the essentials well.

Jens needs to enjoy the last years of his career, it is a farewell tour for him even if he is not yet conscious of it.

Lehmann won 61 caps for Germany and spent five years at Arsenal before…

Barcelona are considering a bid for Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech as they look for a replacement for the outgoing Victor Valdes,.

Spain international Valdes is set to quit the Nou Camp when his contract expires at the end of this season, leaving new manager Gerardo Martino in need of a new number one.

Pepe Reina, who is currently at Napoli on loan from Liverpool, has been strongly linked with a move back to the Catalan club where he began his career, while they are also considering a move for Thibaut Courtois.

The Belgium international joined Chelsea from Genk in 2011, but has not played for the Blues as he moved to Atletico Madrid on loan shortly after signing, and has been in the Spanish capital ever since.

The Spanish champions have already made an enq…

Hirving Lozano has the tools to play in the Premier League  according to Mexico head coach Juan Carlos Osorio, who backed the PSV striker to take his side a long way at the World Cup.

Everton and Arsenal have been linked with the 22-year-old, who scored for Mexico as they recorded a 1-0 victory over Germany in their World Cup Group F opener.

Lozano scored 17 goals in 29 Eredivisie appearances for PSV in 2017-18, and Osorio claimed he has the qualities to play in a stronger league.

Since he moved to PSV Eindhoven, I think he has made the next step up, Osorio told Sky Sports News. He s an unbelievable prospect.

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His pace, his ability to take people on mak…

World Cup winner Fabio Grosso has been tasked with guiding Verona back to Serie A next season after agreeing a two-year contract with the Gialloblu.

Grosso – who scored the penalty that saw Italy crowned world champions in 2006 – makes the move having coached Bari in Serie B during 2017-18, the club finishing seventh.

They failed to get through the play-offs, though, despite a 2-2 draw with Cittadella, the latter progressing from the preliminary round due to a better league position.

That proved to be Grosso s last match in charge as the former Juventus youth coach moved north to the Stadio Marc Antonio Bentegodi.

Verona endured a difficult campaign in the Italian top flight, finishing second bottom with 25 points from their 38 matches.

Grosso…

Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting scored four times as Bayern Munich launched their DFB-Pokal campaign with an emphatic 12-0 rout of Bremer.

Jamal Musiala grabbed a brace while Malik Tillman, Leroy Sane, Michael Cuisance, Bouna Sarr and Corentin Tolisso were also on target as Julian Nagelsmann’s side eased through to the second round of the competition.

On top of his four goals, Choupo-Moting also provided assists for Musiala and Sarr on a miserable day for fifth-tier Bremer, who had Ugo Nobile sent off later on.

For Bayern, it was the second-highest margin of victory in their history after a 16-1 thrashing of Waldberg in 1997.

Though much-changed by Nagelsmann, Bayern never looked in danger of suffering only a second defeat in 24 competitive matches against sid…