Barcelona left it late to set a new club record unbeaten run with a 1-1 draw at Valencia, which saw them into the Copa del Rey final with an 8-1 aggregate victory.

Defending champions Barca subjected Gary Neville s men to a humiliating drubbing last week, with Luis Suarez scoring four and Lionel Messi netting a hat-trick.

Only five players remained from the 22 who took to the field at Camp Nou and the match had the feel of a dead rubber – not even the most committed Valencia fan could argue with any great conviction that their side would turn this tie around.

And the hosts efforts amounted to a single Alvaro Negredo strike before half-time, although their attacking endeavour arguably merited more.

There were plenty of positives for Neville, who is yet t…

Yaya Toure wants to work with Pep Guardiola at Manchester City next season despite reports to the contrary, according to the midfielder s brother Kolo.

Rumours have been rife that Yaya Toure will depart the Etihad Stadium since news broke this month that Bayern Munich coach Guardiola will replace Manuel Pellegrini at the end of the campaign.

The Ivory Coast star played under Guardiola at Barcelona, but he was sold to City by the Spaniard ahead of the 2010-11 campaign.

However, former City defender Kolo Toure who was on the losing Liverpool side against his brother in Sunday s League Cup final does not believe that necessarily means the end for his younger sibling in Manchester.

Everybody wants to play for Pep, he is quoted as saying by the Manchester Ev…

Swansea defender Angel Rangel was delighted to have been reunited with Wilfried Bony after the Ivorian signed a two-year-contract on the same day that Fernando Llorente left the club.

Paul Clement s squad was depleted by the sales of Gylfi Sigurdsson to Everton, Jack Cork to Burnley and Modou Barrow to Reading, but Rangel was pleased to see Bony, who scored 26 goals in 54 Premier League appearances for the Swans between 2013 and 2015, return to Liberty Stadium from Manchester City.

Bony is reported to have cost Swansea £12 million – the same fee they paid Vitesse Arnhem for his services in July 2013 – but Rangel insisted the 28-year-old forward is worth it.

When you lose important players you always want to replace them with the same quality, if not better,…

Borussia Dortmund are hoping to extend the Bundesliga title race until the final week of the season when they travel to face Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday.

Victory for Thomas Tuchel s men, combined with a defeat for leaders Bayern Munich at Ingolstadt, would mean the battle for top spot goes on after Pep Guardiola s men were made to wait by a 1-1 draw against Borussia Monchengladbach last week.

Dortmund kept up their side of the bargain with an impressive 5-1 demolition of Wolfsburg, meaning they sit five points behind Bayern with two matches left to play.

BVB have won four consecutive matches, scoring 11 goals and conceding just once as they display fine form in recovering from their Europa League exit to Liverpool as they also build up to the DFB-Pokal final …

Italian media are reporting that Premier League powerhouse Chelsea have expressed an interest in signing AC Milan forward Suso.

The 24-year-old has been with Rossoneri since 2015 and was one of the players who have been strongly linked with a departure this summer.

Suso did well to establish himself as one of the key men in AC Milan machine, raking up 16 goals and 16 assists across 69 Serie A matches during the last two seasons with Rossoneri.

Some of Europe’s biggest sides have thus far been linked with a move for Suso but the latest reports have it that Chelsea have joined the race for his signature.

Former Napoli boss Maurizio Sarri is said to be an admirer of Suso’s talents and is exploring an option which could involve sending Tiemoue Bakayoko i…

Frank Lampard has urged the five Premier League clubs in this season s Champions League to stop making excuses and bridge the gulf to tournament favourites Real Madrid.

The LaLiga giants became the first club to win the tournament in consecutive years with their Cardiff triumph in June, underlining their status as Europe s elite side.

But Chelsea legend Lampard wants to see his former club, along with Liverpool, Tottenham and the two Manchester rivals, up their game, with the former England international expecting to see one or two of them in the last four.

Real Madrid are the favourites, from what they did against Man United [in the UEFA Super Cup] and what they did in recent seasons, they have superstars in the team, Lampard, who won the competition in 2012, t…

Gareth Bale has been included in Wales latest squad despite having asked not to be involved in Real Madrid s game at Manchester City earlier this month.

The forward remained in Spain when Zinedine Zidane s side visited the Etihad Stadium for the second leg of their Champions League last-16 tie on August 7.

Zidane, whose team lost the game and were knocked out by City, claimed Bale had requested to be omitted and the 31-year-old has played just 110 minutes since February. 

The likelihood of him taking to the field for Madrid with any regularity next season appears remote – even though Bale is under contract until 2022 – while the 31-year-old s wages and hefty transfer price remain stumbling blocks for a move elsewhere.

However, he remains integ…

Sunderland s home woes plunged to record depths as George Saville s free-kicks twice exposed goalkeeper Robbin Ruiter and earned Millwall a 2-2 draw on Saturday.

The news was better for Wolves as they returned to the Championship summit with a well-earned win at Reading, while Aston Villa also impressed on the road in edging QPR.

At the bottom, Birmingham City celebrated a much-needed three points over mid-table Nottingham Forest.

BLACK CATS, MILLWALL BURNED BY BLUNDERS

Sunderland gave incoming manager Chris Coleman a taste of the challenge ahead as they became the first team in English football history to go 20 competitive home matches without a win.

Coleman, who left his job as Wales boss on Friday, is expected to be appointed at the …

Julen Lopetegui has departed Real Madrid after just 14 matches in charge, bringing to an end a dismal reign in which the European champions quickly fell off the pace in LaLiga.

Madrid were thrashed 5-1 by Barcelona in Sunday s Clasico and, ninth in the table, are already seven points off the summit at this early stage in the season.

But Lopetegui is far from the first man to struggle in the spotlight at the Santiago Bernabeu and in fact joins a long list of highly qualified coaches who have not been able to deliver.

We pick out four men who have failed to live up to expectations in the Spanish capital since the turn of the century.

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Valencia sporting director Jesus Garcia Pitarch says the club will not stand in the way of goalkeeper Diego Alves joining Barcelona.

Alves has been linked to the LaLiga champions in recent days, with speculation mounting that Camp Nou number one Claudio Bravo is close to finalising a move to Manchester City.

Pitarch claimed on Wednesday there is no chance Valencia will allow forward Paco Alcacer to move to Luis Enrique s title-holders.

But the same cannot be said of Alves, with the 31-year-old Brazil international having been assured of an improved contract the club can no longer afford.

Diego Alves situation is different. He was promised a pay rise in the past, but we cannot meet his demands, Pitarch said at a news conference.

It would be great…