Atletico Madrid interested in Telles

Europa League holders Atletico Madrid will face German big guns Bayer Leverkusen, while Liverpool meet Italy s Napoli following the draw for the group stage on Friday.

Atletico, who beat Fulham in last year s final thanks to an extra-time goal from Uruguay striker Diego Forlan, face an awkward Group B as not only must they take on Germany captain Michael Ballack s new team but they also come up against Norwegian side Rosenborg as well as Aris of Greece.

Liverpool are the most successful European side among the 48 teams contesting the group stages, having won the Champions League five times and the UEFA Cup precursor to the Europa League three times, most recently in 2001.

Now coached by Roy Hodgson, who guided Fulham to last year s final, Liverpool will also hav…

Jose Mourinho s behaviour and the subsequent abuse of Anthony Taylor by Roma fans has led to former Premier League referee Mark Halsey calling for stricter punishments.

Taylor and his family were verbally and physically targeted at Budapest airport in the wake of Roma s Europa League final defeat to Sevilla.

Both teams felt aggrieved by some of Taylor s decisions in the game, but Mourinho was particularly vehement, and was filmed shouting abuse at the official long after the final whistle had blown.

Halsey was infuriated by what he saw.

Everybody that s seen the footage or watched the game, I thought both teams conduct with their players and the coaching staff was appalling, Halsey told Stats Perform.

On the night I thought Anthony [Taylor] and …

Man City to bid for Alex Sandro

La Gazzetta dello Sport has learned that Manchester City are hot on the trail of Juventus full-back Alex Sandro.

It is no secret that the Citizens are on the lookout for left-sided defenders, with both Aleksandar Kolarov and Gael Clichy having failed to impress.

Manchester City have been keeping close tabs on Alex Sandro for a couple of years now, and the Brazilian s impressive performance in the recent Champions League clash between the two sides appears to have persuaded the Premier League giants to make their move.

The Citizens officials wasted no time as they immediately informed Juventus general manager Beppe Marotta of their interest in the defender, hinting they could offer up to €40 million.

Alex Sandro, …

that Liverpool will move to sign Barcelona winger Cristian Tello next month.

The twenty-four year old is currently on loan at Porto, who he moved to in the summer of 2014 and has so far racked up over fifty appearances for them in all competitions, scoring nine goals.

He also has twenty goals for Barcelona, and was part of their La Liga winning 2012/13 squad while he also has a winner’s medal in the Copa Del Rey.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp is drawing up a list of potential transfer targets as the looks to strengthen his squad for the second half of the season and has also been linked with a move for Bayer Leverkusen’s Stefan Kiessling.

The Merseyside club scored a late equaliser to salvage a point from their trip to West Bromwich Albion on S…

Tottenham striker Harry Kane insists his side s ambitions go far beyond wanting to finish above Arsenal in the Premier League.

Mauricio Pochettino s side are four points behind leaders Chelsea at the top of the table, having amassed a club record of 74 points this season.

A victory over Arsenal in Sunday s north London derby will guarantee that Spurs will finish above the Gunners in the top flight for the first time since the 1994-95 season and inflict a damaging blow on their rivals hopes of a top-four finish.

Kane, however, says their priority is on closing the gap to Chelsea and keeping their title hopes intact.

For the fans, it would be great to finish above Arsenal and actually do it by winning against them but, from our point of view, we ve got big…

Bayern Munich have confirmed they will not appeal against UEFA’s decision to ban their fans from the away leg of their Champions League quarter-final.

The German champions were handed a suspended two-year punishment after supporters let-off fireworks during their group game in Copenhagen in October and that was triggered after similar offences during their recent last-16 tie in Rome against Lazio.

Bayern said in a statement on the club’s official website: “After a thorough examination of the situation, FC Bayern has decided not to lodge an appeal with UEFA against the verdict, according to which the German record champions will have to play the away leg of the upcoming Champions League quarter-finals without their fans.

FC Bayern accept UEFA punishment – …

Brentford B have announced the signing of Romeo Beckham from Inter Miami on a one-year deal following an impressive loan spell.

The 20-year-old son of David Beckham – who is co-owner of Inter Miami – spent the second half of last season on loan with Brentford’s B side but has now put pen to paper on a permanent contract, with the option of a further year.

Beckham helped the Bees lift the Premier League Cup last season and featured 15 times, scoring a late goal against National League side Wealdstone in the Middlesex Senior Cup.

Romeo Beckham has joined on a permanent contract from Inter Miami

— Brentford FC (@BrentfordFC)

Brentford B head coach Neil MacFarlane will be hoping the youngster can continue where he left off in west London.<…

Eric Abidal has followed former France team-mates Samir Nasri and Franck Ribery in announcing his retirement from international football.

The defender, who left Ligue 1 side Monaco to join Greek outfit Olympiacos last month, was left out of France s World Cup squad and has brought his 10-year international career to an end at the age of 34.

Abidal, who underwent a liver transplant in 2012 following the discovery of a tumour in 2011, featured in three major tournaments for his country and played in the 2006 World Cup final defeat against Italy.

However, following his omission from the squad for the 2014 tournament, Abidal feels the time is right to call time on his Les Bleus career.

It is time to close this door, Abidal told Catalan radio station RAC1.