Frank Lampard is looking forward to renewing rivalries with Steven Gerrard when the pair head to the United States to kick off their MLS careers. Lampard will join New York City at the end of his loan spell with Manchester City while Gerrard ends his career-long association with Liverpool to join the LA Galaxy. Gerrard plays his final game at Anfield on Saturday against Crystal Palace and Lampard had nothing but praise for the midfielder, who he has battled in the Premier League for over a decade and played alongside for England. “We were in the England squad, as captain and vice-captain, at the last World Cup and I certainly respect him hugely – I always have,” Lampard said. “But when you are going up against each other, you can kind of get caught up in that. I was a Chelsea man and he is Mr Liverpool. “I had John (Terry) next to me, he had Jamie Carragher – it was one of those things. It was all healthy stuff but as you get older, you mellow slightly and you just respect him for what he’s done in his career. “What a fantastic player he has been for Liverpool and England, and he’s a fantastic bloke. He’s a family man, I’ve always known him as a good lad and a great player. “I think it’s great for us that we have both made the decision to go there. We’re at the back end of our careers – we know that – but we’re still very driven and we’ll want to do well. “I’m pleased he is there. It’s great for the league, it’s great for us at this time in our lives to go and play there and I look forward to playing against him there.”

Chelsea have confirmed the signing of 19-year-old attacking midfielder Nathan from Brazilian club Atletico Paranaense. The teenager has passed a medical and the Premier League champions have concluded the formalities surrounding the deal. The Blues have long been linked with Nathan, who earlier this week revealed he was set to join Chelsea after confirming the move on his Instagram page. Nathan made his first-team debut for Atletico Paranaense in May 2014 and has represented Brazil at Under-17 and Under-20 level. A statement on the club’s website said: “Chelsea Football Club is delighted to announce we have agreed terms with Atletico Paranaense for the transfer of Nathan. “The 19-year-old Brazilian will join us on 1 July. Nathan, who has passed a medical and agreed personal terms, has earned a reputation as an attacking midfielder with an eye for goal and impressive pace. “Nathan, full name Nathan Allan de Souza, has represented Brazil at Under-17 and Under-20 level. He scored five goals in five games at the Under-17 World Cup in 2013.” Nathan added: “I am very happy to be joining Chelsea, the champions of England, and I hope I will be able to learn a lot and develop my game.” Nathan is the latest in a long line of Brazilian-born players to have been signed by Chelsea, with Filipe Luis, Ramires, Willian, Diego Costa, Oscar, Lucas Piazon and Wallace also on the books at Stamford Bridge.

Goalkeeper Petr Cech could be set to end his 11-year career at Chelsea after his agent said that he has been given permission to talk to other clubs. The 32-year-old, who has been at the club since 2004, has only made 16 appearances this season, with Belgian Thibaut Courtois now first choice. “Petr still has a contract that ends in a year,” said agent Viktor Kolar. “I can confirm, however, that we have been permitted by Chelsea to negotiate with interested parties.” Kolar added: “Petr has confirmed his interest to play regularly at a top club. That’s the task that we are now working on, but other than that there has not been any other change in terms of Petr Cech’s employment and the transfer period only begins on 1 July.” When asked about the agent’s comments, Chelsea stated that they do not comment on transfer speculation. Blues manager Jose Mourinho said last week  that he wanted the keeper to remain at Stamford Bridge. “Without Petr this season, I don’t think the club would be champions because he played six important matches in the Premier League and without these points we probably wouldn’t be champions,” said the Portuguese. “So for me, decision number one: Petr will stay. After that, second point to go but not in England. The option I don’t want is for him to go to an English club.” The Czech Republic international has won four Premier League titles, four FA Cups, three League Cups, one Champions League and one Europa League title during his 11 years with the Blues.

Dnipro will play holders Sevilla in the final of the Europa League after defeating Serie A side Napoli. The Ukrainians’ striker Yevhen Seleznyov headed the only goal of the night to end Rafael Benitez’s side’s 10-game unbeaten run in the competition and seal a 2-1 aggregate win. Sevilla of La Liga completed the job against Fiorentina, winning 2-0 in Italy and 5-0 on aggregate with goals from Carlos Bacca and Daniel Carrico. The final is in Warsaw on 27 May. The winners of the final will qualify for next season’s Champions League. Sevilla are likely to start as favourites to defend their crown, having recorded the competition’s record aggregate margin of victory in a semi-final. Bacca netted his 26th goal of the season to end any faint hopes of a Viola comeback – the Colombia forward hammering the ball into the back of the net after the hosts failed to deal with Ever Banega’s free-kick from the right. Just five minutes later, the victory was sealed when Carrico tapped home. Fiorentina’s Josip Ilicic missed a penalty to complete a miserable night. It was no better for their Serie A rivals Napoli in Ukraine as goalkeeper Denys Boyko produced an inspired performance to keep the tournament’s top scorers out. Seleznyov headed home a cross from deep – his second of the tie – to earn Dnipro their first appearance in a major European final.

Mandy Islacker scored in stoppage time as FFC Frankfurt beat Paris St-Germain 2-1 and win the women’s UEFA Champions League for a record fourth time. Celia Sasic nodded Frankfurt ahead with a record-equalling 14th goal of the tournament, but Marie-Laure Delie levelled for PSG, playing in their first European final, before the break. The game looked set for extra time but Islacker curled in the late winner. It was Frankfurt’s first Champions League title since 2008. German clubs have now won nine of the 14 editions of the European competition. Frankfurt, who are managed by Englishman Colin Bell, also needed to win to qualify for next season’s tournament, having finished third in the women’s Bundesliga behind champions Bayern Munich and Wolfsburg.

Four River Plate players have been taken to hospital after being sprayed with an irritant by Boca Juniors fans in an abandoned Copa Libertadores tie. The last-16 second leg in Buenos Aires, Argentina, was called off at 0-0 after the players were attacked as they came out of the tunnel after half-time. River manager Marcelo Gallardo described the scenes at Boca’s La Bombonera stadium as “deplorable”. Boca president Daniel Angelici said: “We will do all we can to help police.” Fans managed to get through high wire fencing and on to the pitch. Television pictures showed River players Leonardo Ponzio and Leonel Vangioni rubbing their eyes, with other players pouring water over their faces after apparently being sprayed with a pepper spray-like substance. “I can’t see, I can’t see. I am burning. This is not a war,” said River Plate defender Ramiro Funes Mori during chaotic scenes as the match was halted. All three players, along with team-mate Matias Kranevitter, were taken to hospital for treatment for what Argentine radio described as burns. Angelici said his club would “accept responsibility” for the incident but added Boca’s players should not be punished for what he said was “society’s problem, not football’s problem”. “These people are sick,” he added. “An aerosol is small, it is very powerful. It can fit in your pocket and when there are almost 50,000 people it can get by security.” South American football’s governing body Conmebol said its disciplinary committee would meet on Friday and decide whether to replay the match, complete it at a neutral venue, or award the tie to River, who were 1-0 up from the first leg on 7 May.

Former Central African Republic coach, Raoul Savoy, was unveiled to local media in Banjul on Thursday as The Gambia’s new national team coach. The 41 year old’s immediate task will be to take charge of the Scorpions’ matches in their forthcoming 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign. The Swiss coach has extensive experience of working in Africa. He previously managed both Ethiopia and Swaziland. He also had stints in club football in Morocco, Cameroon and Algeria. He also coached in his native Switzerland. Savoy takes up The Gambia’s senior national team’s coaching role which was left vacant after Peter Bonu Johnson’s appointment was terminated. Speaking to the country’s media, Savoy said it was an honour to take up his new role as The Gambia’s new coach. “It’s a big duty for me, and I can assure you I will do my best for the Gambian people who love their football so much.” The Gambia are back participating in the Nations Cup qualifiers having served a ban, after the Confederation of African Football found them guilty of age-cheating at junior national team level. Savoy said he was impressed with the strides the Gambian Football Federation have taken to move forward, and said he hopes to build on their work. “They’ve already done a very good job, so now I’m coming in to continue this job and reach their objectives.” The Gambia have been drawn in Group M of the 2017 Nations Cup qualifiers along with South Africa, Cameroon and Mauritania. Savoy’s first competitive game in charge will be a trip away to South Africa in June in their first Nations Cup qualifier, with Middlesbrough’s Mustapha Carayol and Swansea City’s Modou Barrow expected to lead a new look Scorpions side. Both have been named in a 21-man-squad which includes veteran goalkeeper Pa Dembo Touray of Santo FC in South Africa. The scorpions will start assembling in Banjul on 1 June, and will then travel to Uganda for a training camp. During their time in Kampala they are scheduled to play the Cranes in a friendly international.

Aston Villa have been fined £200,000 after admitting spectator misconduct in relation to their FA Cup sixth round tie against West Bromwich Albion on 7 March. The charges related to a pitch invasion at Villa Park following the home side’s 2-0 win. The Premier League club have also received a severe warning from the Football Association. Villa have since progressed to the FA Cup final at Wembley and play Arsenal on 30 May.

The Champions League final between Barcelona and Juventus on June 6 in Berlin will see the controversial Luis Suarez come up against two old enemies. The Barcelona and Uruguay striker will be in direct opposition to Giorgio Chiellini and Patrice Evra in the Juve defence as the clubs battle it out to win the greatest prize in European club football. Suarez was banned from football for four months after biting Italy’s Chiellini during the World Cup in Brazil last year, meaning he was unable to make his debut for Barcelona until the end of October following his summer move from Liverpool. His controversial spell with Liverpool included being found guilty by an FA panel of racially abusing Evra during a match at Anfield in 2011 when the French defender was at Manchester United. Suarez was later handed an eight-match ban and fined £40,000 ($63,000) but then refused to shake hands with Evra when they met again at Old Trafford later that season.

Tottenham have confirmed goalkeeper Brad Friedel will retire from the game at the end of the season. The USA international turns 44 on Monday. “There really is nothing like it but my 44th birthday is here so I think it is a good time to call it a day,” he said on Twitter. Such a glorious career Brad has had.

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The Spanish football season will be allowed to finish after the week-long Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) suspension and players’ strike were lifted by Spain’s national court. The RFEF had suspended the end of the season and the players’ union decided to strike over a TV rights dispute. Barcelona can win La Liga on Sunday, with a game to spare, if they beat current champions Atletico Madrid. The Spanish Cup final will also go ahead as planned on 30 May. Barca, who have also reached the Champions League final where they will take on Juventus, play Athletic Bilbao at the Nou Camp in the domestic Copa del Rey final. The RFEF and the players’ union (AFE) are not satisfied with a new law introducing collective bargaining for domestic television rights, which was supported by the National Professional Football League (LFP) which runs Spain’s top two professional divisions. The players who backed a proposed strike believe the split of money in a new deal proposed by the LFP and the Spanish government does not do enough for those at lower-ranked clubs. On Friday, LFP president Javier Tebas announced plans to take legal action against the suspension, warning that it could cost 50 million euros (£36m) per match day in lost revenues.

The Juventus team landed back in Turin in the early hours of the morning and were given a hero’s welcome from their fans for their feat of eliminating Real Madrid from the European Champions League.

Spanish officials and members of the players union are holding crisis talks to try and prevent a proposed strike from May 16 that threatens the final two rounds of La Liga fixtures as well as the Copa Del Rey final. Barcelona face Atletic Bilbao in the Cup final and are currently only one game from regaining the league title and the Catalan side could win the title on Sunday if the game is given the go-ahead and they beat Atletico Madrid. The strike was initially called by both the Spanish federation and the players union as they disagreed with the government’s proposed new law regarding the collective bargaining for TV rights, with major clubs Real Madrid and Barcelona receiving most of the money. According to reports in the Spanish media discussions between legal representations from the federation, the league, and the union were taking place in the capital on Wedenesday evening putting to discuss the legality of the proposed strike. The league, which controls the top two divisions including the superstar Primera division, says a stoppage could cost it 50 million euros per match day in lost revenues. However, the union insisted they wouldn’t change their mind believing potential losses could be reversed. Ultimately the court will make a final decision and if it declares it has legal jurisdiction to rule in this case, it could abandon the strike declaring it as illegal allowing the parties to negotiate their differences.

Former FIFA executive committee member Reynald Temarii has been banned from football for eight years for accepting money from former Asian Football Confederation chief Mohamed bin Hammam. Temarii was found to have violated FIFA ethics codes relating to “conduct, loyalty, confidentiality, conflicts of interest and offering and accepting gifts”, a FIFA statement read.  The head of the Tahiti FA accepted 305,000 euros (£220,000) from Bin Hammam in 2011 to cover costs arising from an appeal against an earlier ban. That suspension, handed down in 2010, came after Temarii, along with fellow executive committee member Amos Adamu, offered to sell his vote in the bidding process for the 2018 World Cup to reporters from the Sunday Times. Both men were stripped of the right to vote in the 2018 and 2022 hosting contests as a result. Tahitian Temarii, who was also president of the Oceania Football Confederation at the time, lost his subsequent appeal and served a one-year ban, while Nigerian Adamu was suspended for three years. Qatari Bin Hammam, another former FIFA executive committee member, was initially banned by world football’s governing body for bribery before the 2011 presidential election, in which he was standing against incumbent Sepp Blatter. Bin Hammam overturned that verdict only to be suspended following a review of AFC accounts by FIFA, which accused him of repeated violations of the ethics code during 2008-2011.

A Spanish judge has ordered Barcelona Football Club to stand trial over claims it tried to mislead tax authorities. The club bought the Brazilian player Neymar in 2013 for what they said was €57m euros ($41m; $65m). But a judge in Madrid said he believes the club knew the fee was far higher – and so more tax should have been paid. The club’s current and former presidents have 10 days to respond to the court. Barcelona and its former president, Sandro Rosell, have previously denied wrongdoing. The current president, Josep Maria Bartomeu, previously said that the findings were “open to interpretation” and that he would challenge them. The club said it paid €57m for Neymar, 23, with his parents receiving €45m of the fee. But investigators allege that the fee for Neymar’s transfer from Brazilian team Santos was closer to €83m. As a result, Barcelona has not paid about €13m in tax, say prosecutors. The Spanish news agency, Efe, said the club could face a fine of more than €22m if found guilty. All parties have 10 days to file papers in their defence before the court. No trial date has yet been fixed.

The entire United States 4x100m relay team have been stripped of their London 2012 Olympic silver medals as a consequence of Tyson Gay’s drugs ban. Former 100m and 200m world champion Gay was suspended for a year after testing positive for a banned anabolic steroid. The 32-year-old returned his London 2012 medal when his suspension was announced in May 2014. Now the International Olympic Committee has told US Olympic bosses that the whole team must return their medals. The IOC wrote to the US Olympic Committee on Wednesday, telling them to collect the medals from Trell Kimmons, Justin Gatlin, Ryan Bailey, Jeffery Demps and Darvis Patton. “We will begin efforts to have the medals returned and support all measures to protect clean athletes,” said a US Olympic Committee statement. Kimmons and Bailey ran with Gay in the final, as did Gatlin, who has served two doping bans, including a four-year suspension between 2006-2010. Gay’s results from 15 July 2012 – the date he first used a product containing a banned substance – were annulled. His one-year suspension was backdated to 23 June 2013, the date he tested positive at the US World Championship trials. The American team finished second in London’s Olympic Stadium behind Jamaica, who were anchored by Usain Bolt on their way to a new world record.  Gay and his team-mates set a new US record with their time of 37.04 seconds. If the medals are reallocated, Trinidad and Tobago – who finished third in 38.12 seconds – would be awarded silver. Fourth-placed France would take the bronze instead.

Outgoing Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard says he regrets never winning the Premier League title. Gerrard, 34, plays his last game at Anfield on Saturday, against Crystal Palace, before joining Major League Soccer side LA Galaxy in June. “It is not the only regret, I think it is the biggest,” former England skipper Gerrard told Football Focus. “I would love to say that I have got the full collection, it would be the icing on the cake.” Having made more than 700 appearances over 17 seasons, Gerrard ends his association with the Reds this summer, admitting his exit has “happened maybe slightly quicker” than he thought.

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Juventus will meet Barcelona in the Champions League final after Alvaro Morata scored against his former club to knock holders Real Madrid out. Real trailed 2-1 from the first leg but levelled on aggregate through Cristiano Ronaldo’s penalty after James Rodriguez was caught by Giorgio Chiellini. A first ‘El Clasico’ final looked on the cards until Morata fired into the ground and past Iker Casillas. Gareth Bale and Rodriguez went close but Juventus held on. While Juve boss Massimiliano Allegri will deservedly win praise for leading the Italians to their first Champions League final since 2003 in his first season in charge, questions are likely to be raised about the future of Real manager Carlo Ancelotti. Trailing Barcelona by four points in the Spanish title race, Real face ending the season with only the FIFA Club World Cup.  and UEFA Super Cup. And it was a player Ancelotti – who managed Juve from 1999-2001 – allowed to leave who ended his hopes of retaining the title they won in Lisbon last season. Morata, who also scored in the first leg, again refused to celebrate after his 57th-minute goal proved decisive.

It came after a half clearance by Casillas, Paul Pogba using his height and strength to help tee up a chance which Morata buried into the far corner. Bale missed two chances to send the tie into extra time, one from close range which he headed over, while Rodriguez went close from distance. Yet the Italian champions missed a huge chance of their own to win on the night when Claudio Marchisio was thwarted by Casillas when he only had the keeper to beat. It had started so well for Real, Ronaldo netting from the penalty spot after Chiellini had caught the back of Colombia forward Rodriguez’s leg in the 22nd minute – a strike which drew him level with Barcelona’s Lionel Messi on 77 goals in the all-time Champions League top scorers’ list. The hosts were on top as Ronaldo’s first-time shot flew into the side netting five minutes before the interval after he was set up by Bale, while Gianluigi Buffon kept out Karim Benzema with a one-handed save. But Real’s season fell apart in the second half, Juventus’s character shining through. It means Barcelona forward Luis Suarez is likely to face Chiellini in the final, their first meeting since the Uruguay international was banned for biting the Italy defender at the World Cup in Brazil last summer.

Manny Pacquiao says he is close to making a decision on whether to retire from boxing. The Filipino, 36, returned to his home country on Wednesday following defeat by Floyd Mayweather in their world welterweight super-fight on 2 May. “I will focus on healing my shoulder. After that, I will announce continuing my career or retirement,” he said. “I’m not saying I am going to retire, but it’s near. I’m already 36, turning 37 this December.” Despite a unanimous points defeat in Las Vegas, Pacquiao, a six-weight world champion, was welcomed back to the Philippines by fans as he paraded through the streets of capital city Manila on the back of a truck.

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Bayern Munich coach Pep Guardiola has compared Lionel Messi to Brazil legend Pele as he backed former club Barcelona to win the Champions League. Messi inspired Barca to a 3-0 first-leg victory that Bayern could not overturn, despite a 3-2 win in the return game. “He is the best player of all time, I compare him with Pele,” said Guardiola, 44. “I hope Barca win their fifth Champions League final.” Barca will play Real Madrid or Juventus in the final in Berlin on 6 June. Brazil forward Neymar scored twice in the Allianz Arena to give the Spanish league leaders a 5-1 aggregate lead before Bayern fought back to win on the night. But Guardiola reserved his praise for Argentina skipper Messi, who turned the semi-final in Barca’s favour with a late brace at the Nou Camp last week. Messi has scored 53 goals so far this season after admitting his previous campaign, where he netted 44 times despite injuries and allegations of tax fraud, was “difficult”. “He is back, he is there where I had the privilege to train him,” said Guardiola, who – along with Messi – won 14 trophies in his four seasons in charge at Barcelona between 2008 and 2012. “He is definitely back at his best.”