As the new head coach of Barcelona, Ernesto Valverde becomes the latest man to tackle a challenge like no other in world football.

Luis Enrique s reign was gloriously laden with trophies but Barca s weekend triumph over Alaves in the final of the Copa del Rey was the only silverware to emerge from 2016-17.

Real Madrid are top dogs in Spain once more and restoring the Catalans recent dominance of LaLiga will be the minimum expected of Valverde, who will find the respected coaching talents he honed at Athletic Bilbao, Espanyol, Olympiacos, Villarreal and Valencia put under the harshest scrutiny.

A keen photographer away from football, the 53-year-old must work with sharp focus and avoid too many negatives when taking his shot at greatness.

Mana…

Brighton and Hove Albion edged closer to securing promotion as they leapfrogged Newcastle United to move top of the Championship with a 3-1 win over Birmingham City.

Yann Kermorgant followed up his stunning strike against Leeds United with a brace against relegation-threatened Blackburn Rovers as Reading moved clear of fellow promotion hopefuls Leeds and Huddersfield Town.

David Nugent enjoyed a mixed outing at Pride Park as Fulham slumped to a 4-2 defeat to a resurgent Derby County, while Preston North End recorded a 5-0 victory over lowly Bristol City.

Sheffield Wednesday moved into the top six thanks to a 2-0 win at already-relegated Rotherham United.

TABLE: ! go third; sixth.

At the other end, no change the bottom five all lost.

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Chelsea defender Fikayo Tomori has completed his loan move to Milan, the Premier League club have confirmed.

Tomori will spend the rest of this season with the Serie A leaders after finding first-team opportunities limited under Frank Lampard at Stamford Bridge.

Milan have an option to make the deal permanent, with the transfer fee in question  although not disclosed by either club reported to be in the region of £25million.

The 23-year-old made his first-team breakthrough at Chelsea last season, having impressed on loan at Derby County throughout 2018-19, when Lampard was in charge of the Championship club.

An England debut against Kosovo in November 2019 followed and, although his rapid rise has since been checked, the Chelsea head coach believes Tom…

Chapecoense plane crash survivor Neto has announced his retirement from football.

Neto decided to hang up his boots due to the injuries sustained when the aircraft carrying the Chapecoense squad, management and a number of journalists to Medellin for the first leg of the 2016 Copa Sudamericana final crashed, killing 71 people on board.

The 34-year-old defender had been hoping to follow in the footsteps of Alan Ruschel – who along with goalkeeper Jakson Follman were the only other players to survive – by returning to the professional game.

However, after spending two years trying to work his way back, Neto agreed with Chapecoense doctors to call time on his career.

I m stopping. It is aligned with the doctors and the club, Neto told Globo Esporte.

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Frank de Boer claimed a much-needed victory as his Netherlands team defeated Latvia 2-0 in World Cup qualifying.

Requiring a strong response following a 4-2 defeat to Turkey in their Group G opener, Netherlands turned in a much-improved display on Saturday.

With Steven Berghuis first international strike, a brilliant shot from 20 yards out, having put them ahead, the Netherlands ensured victory thanks to Luuk de Jong s 69th-minute header.

The win relieves some of the mounting pressure on De Boer – taking charge of a Netherlands match in front of fans for the first time – lifting his side up to third.

Buoyed by a vociferous socially distanced crowd at Johan Cruijff ArenA, the Netherlands would have taken a sixth-minute lead through Davy Klaassen if …

Edinson Cavani has urged Manchester United fans to have faith in their team  after a poor start to the season for the Red Devils.

United are sixth in the Premier League table, nine points behind leaders Chelsea, and have won just one of their past six league games.

That run included a 5-0 home defeat to Liverpool, only ever losing by a larger margin to their bitter rivals in 1895 when they lost 7-1 at Anfield.

It was United s heaviest home defeat to the Reds and the first time losing by five or more goals without scoring themselves at Old Trafford since a 5-0 defeat to Manchester City in February 1955.

While they eased the pressure on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer slightly with a 3-0 win at Tottenham in their following Premier League game, United were again playe…

Barcelona moved to within two points of LaLiga leaders Real Madrid with a 2-1 victory at Osasuna on Sunday.

The reigning champions were on course for a third consecutive league success when Jules Kounde gave them the lead in first-half added time at Estadio El Sadar.

Chimy Avila levelled for the hosts in the 76th minute, only for Robert Lewandowski to convert a penalty he had won which earned Osasuna defender Alejandro Catena a red card with five minutes remaining.

— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona)

The three points means Xavi’s side join second-placed Girona on 10 points from four matches in Spain’s top flight.

Barcelona almost took an early lead when Frenkie De Jong hit the bar and Lewandowski was unable to convert the rebound.

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Former Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard has hailed England midfielder Jordan Henderson for his immaculate World Cup performances.

Henderson was not named in the starting line-up for the Three Lions opening two group games, but has made a big impression after featuring from the outset in the Group B closer against Wales and the last-16 triumph over Senegal.

The Liverpool midfielder scored the opener against Senegal, becoming his country s second-oldest scorer in the finals aged 32 years and 170 days, after Tom Finney against USSR in 1958 at 36 years and 64 days.

Gerrard has been impressed with his former Reds team-mate s leadership qualities and believes his contribution can sometimes be undervalued.

Obviously being an England fan I m following England an…

Zambia have been crowned COSAFA Cup champions after a 2-0 win over defending champions Zimbabwe on Saturday.

The host nation were beaten by Zimbabwe in the 2009 final but got their revenge thanks to goals from Alex N gonga and Kabaso Chongo.

N gonga gave Zambia the perfect start with a well struck free-kick after just four minutes, much to the joy of the home crowd.

Zambia were then forced to withstand heavy Zimbabwe pressure but went in one up at the break before an impressive Danny Munyau save to keep out Ronald Chitiyo s header after 66 minutes frustrated Klaus Dieter Pagels side further.

The game was all but over when, a minute into injury time, substitute Chongo scored Zambia s second to ensure Herve Renard s side were victiorious.

Prior to the final,…

Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Blaise Matuidi believes Edinson Cavani is on a par with star in-form striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Cavani was the main man on Wednesday as PSG avoided a slip up against Saint-Etienne with a 2-1 win in the Coupe de la Ligue round-of-16.

PSG were without the suspended Ibrahimovic but Cavani opened the scoring and got the winner in extra time as the hosts progressed to the quarter-finals.

Cavani is someone who knows where the goal is, Matuidi said.

He is also someone who defends, who attacks of course, but defends, and works hard.

This is a great striker, world class, like Zlatan and we are fortunate to have both players.

I think all the French clubs would be pleased to have strikers like that.

PSG last lifted the Coup…