Croatia suffered the biggest defeat in their history as Spain thrashed them 6-0 in Tuesday s Nations League match at Estadio Manuel Martinez Valero.

Marco Asensio scored once and set up four more in Luis Enrique s second match in charge, as the World Cup finalists were run ragged in Elche.

Saul Niguez headed Spain in front before Asensio fired in two spectacular strikes, although the second was credited as an own goal from Lovre Kalinic.

Croatia, for whom Ivan Rakitic was making his 100th appearance, rarely got to grips with their opponents and conceded three times more in the second half through Rodrigo Moreno, Sergio Ramos and Isco.

The result is their heaviest ever defeat, the first time they have conceded six goals and the first game in which they hav…

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers was delighted to see an “emotional” Reo Hatate back on the pitch before the Japan midfielder departs for the Asian Cup.

Hatate made his first appearance in 10 weeks when he came off the bench during Celtic’s 3-0 win over St Mirren.

The 26-year-old’s latest lay-off because of a hamstring injury was his third leg muscle injury of 2023 and he appeared to be in tears as Rodgers embraced him after the final whistle in Paisley.

Hatate will head off to Qatar with Japan and might not be back until February but Rodgers is excited to see the midfielder perform when he returns.

“You could see afterwards he was actually quite emotional to be back out on the pitch again,” the Celtic boss said. “He’s put in so much hard wo…

Manchester United are interested in signing Kerem Akturkoglu from Galatasaray, according to . The report has claimed that the former Premier League and UEFA Champions League winners are looking for a new winger in the middle of the season to enhance their chances of being successful this campaign.

Akturkoglu has been on the books of Galatasaray since 2020 and has been brilliant for the Turkish club in recent years. The winger helped Galatasaray win the Turkish Super Lig last season. The 24-year-old has scored three goals and given four assists in seven Turkish Super Lig starts so far this season. The winger scored nine goals and gave 11 assists in 31 league starts last season.

Galatasaray are second in the Turkish Super Lig table at the moment with 22 points from eight …

Lionel Messi deserves to win the Ballon d Or this year, according to Barcelona and Brazil great Rivaldo.

Messi enjoyed another stellar season for Barca, scoring 51 goals in all competitions as the Spanish giants claimed the LaLiga title.

However, they fell short in the Champions League and lost the Copa del Rey final, while Argentina could only clinch third place at the Copa America.

Despite that, Rivaldo believes Messi should be awarded an outright record sixth Ballon d Or.

In my opinion, the Ballon D Or of this season is Messi for what he has done, the 1999 winner said, courtesy of Betfair.

He didn t win the Champions League, but because it is an individual prize he scored a lot of goals, important goals.

 Birthday GOAT

— …

Hibernian boss Lee Johnson is looking forward to working with Jojo Wollacott again after signing the Ghana international goalkeeper from Charlton on a three-year deal.

The 26-year-old has joined the Easter Road club for an undisclosed fee and will compete with veteran David Marshall following the departure of Kevin Dabrowski, who was released at the end of last season.

Johnson was manager of Bristol City while Wollacott was trying to break into the first team at Ashton Gate after coming through the academy.

After being unable to establish himself at City, the keeper joined Swindon, where he was number one throughout the 2021-22 season before moving on to Charlton last summer.

Wollacott, who has earned 11 caps for Ghana since his debut in October 2021, mad…

Erik ten Hag is demanding Manchester United raise the bar once again having overseen “necessary” and “immense” improvements during his first year in charge.

Last summer the Dutchman took the reins at a club in disarray, with a lack of coherency, quality and joined-up thinking resulting in a wretched 2021-22 campaign.

Ten Hag brought in a new style, implemented demanding standards and handled star Cristiano Ronaldo’s exit as well he could before masterminding the end of United’s six-year wait for silverware.

The Carabao Cup triumph was followed by a third-placed Premier League finish and FA Cup final loss to eventual treble winners Manchester City, who are the target as they push for further improvements.

“I think the levels all across increa…

Kyle Walker revealed his training-ground mocking of the Manchester City goalkeepers contributed to his unorthodox role at Atalanta, where he found life a little tougher than anticipated.

Right-back Walker ended the match at San Siro in goal after Ederson was injured and substitute Claudio Bravo was sent off in the 1-1 draw.

The England defender was introduced in place of Riyad Mahrez and donned the gloves, remarkably making the only save of all three City keepers from Ruslan Malinovskiy s free-kick following the foul that saw Bravo dismissed.

Walker saw out the remaining nine minutes and stoppage time without conceding, before reflecting on a bizarre outing.

Asked if he had made the decision to go in goal himself or been instructed to do so, Walker told B…

Bayern Munich returned to winning ways in the Bundesliga as Robert Lewandowski and Serge Gnabry both scored twice in a convincing 5-1 win over Cologne.

After returning to domestic duties following their Club World Cup success in Qatar with a home draw against Arminia Bielefeld, the reigning champions slipped to a 2-1 loss away at Eintracht Frankfurt last weekend.

However, a 4-1 thrashing of Lazio in Champions League action in midweek proved the catalyst for a first league triumph at their Allianz Arena home since January 30.

Lewandowski s first goal helped Bayern ease into a 2-0 half-time lead and while Cologne briefly threatened a comeback, the returning Thomas Muller made an immediate impression off the bench, providing the assist that allowed the c…

Peter Crouch has announced his retirement from football at the age of 38 having represented England, Liverpool, Tottenham and many other clubs across a distinguished career.

Most known for his height – measuring at 6ft 7in tall – Crouch spent much of his playing days in the Premier League and featured for his country at two World Cups, in 2006 and 2010.

A gangly centre-forward, Crouch was rarely celebrated for his technical abilities but still managed to have a strong impact for several big clubs in England s top flight.

But having long balls hopefully pumped up to him has ultimately taken its toll, as he revealed that scenario to be a contributing factor in his final decision to draw things to a close.

In his Daily Mail column, Crouch wrote: I have h…

With the announcement that the 2020 Ballon d Or will not be awarded this year due to the coronavirus-enforced break in play, Robert Lewandowski will feel pretty hard done by.

By the end of June, Lewandowski s goals had propelled Bayern Munich to a Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal double. His goals in the league (34 in total) made him the highest single-season foreign goalscorer in history. With another six goals in the Pokal – including two in the final to seal the deal in a 4-2 win against Bayer Leverkusen – and 11 more in the Champions League, Lewandowski has scored more goals in all competitions than any other player across Europe s top five leagues this season. 

For Lewandowski, it has been undoubtedly the best season of his career. Remarkably, the 31-year-old is av…