Goal-line technology will be used during this season’s Champions League and Europa League finals. UEFA’s executive committee met on Friday at the governing body’s headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland where it was decided the technology should be used for the showpiece matches, which will be played in Milan on May 28 and in Basle on May 18 respectively. A decision had already been announced in January that the technology would be in place for Euro 2016 this summer and in next season’s Champions League from the play-off round onwards. At that time UEFA also said it would look at the feasibility of introducing goal-line technology from the group stage of the Europa League starting in 2017-18.

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West Ham’s Dimitri Payet has been named Premier League Player of the Year at the London Football Awards. France midfielder Payet, signed in the summer from Marseille, beat off competition from Tottenham’s Harry Kane, Arsenal’s Mesut Ozil, Chelsea’s Willian and Watford’s Odion Ighalo to land the award at a ceremony in London on Thursday night. Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino was named Manager of the Year, ahead of Arsenal’s Arsene Wenger, Slaven Bilic of West Ham and Watford’s Quique Sanchez Flores. Spurs’ 19-year-old midfielder Dele Alli, who has established himself as an England international in his first season in the top flight, was named Young Player of the Year, with Arsenal’s Petr Cech Goalkeeper of the Year and Fulham striker Moussa Dembele Football League Player of the Year. Chelsea captain John Terry was honoured with the Outstanding Contribution to London Football award, while Chelsea’s Eni Aluko was named the Women’s Player of the Year. The awards were judged by a panel of former players, journalists and representatives of sporting bodies.

Ex-Arsenal defender Emmanuel Eboue is expected to finalise a short-term deal at Sunderland in the next 24 hours after the ex-Arsenal man’s experience proved sufficiently tempting for Sam Allardyce. Free agent Eboue has spent more than three weeks training with Sunderland and successfully completed 90 minutes for the Black Cats Under-21s earlier this week. The right-back has been without a club since leaving Galatasary at the end of last season, with that inevitably prompting reservations about the trialist’s fitness levels. But Allardyce believes Eboue has sufficiently improved his conditioning during his time at the Academy of Light and has offered the 32-year-old a contract until the end of the season, which is on the verge of being rubber-stamped. Allardyce said: “We will give him a deal until the end of the season, if we can sort it out. “He has got a lot of experience and has played football at the highest level, particularly in this country. “We think we can get him fit enough, he has already got 50-60% fitter since he has been with us. “He is a bit short on game practice, so he has to be careful there, but from an experience point of view he could be a key element.”

Barcelona broke a 27-year-old Spanish record by going 35 games unbeaten in all competitions with a 5-1 thrashing of nine-man Rayo Vallecano. Lionel Messi scored a hat-trick – his 35th – as the hosts fell apart after Ivan Rakitic’s opener. Diego Llorente and Manuel Iturra were both dismissed for Rayo, whose only goal was scored by Manucho. Luis Suarez also had a penalty saved before Arda Turan completed the rout to move Barcelona eight points clear. Suarez’s miss from the spot means Barcelona have failed to convert half of their 18 penalties this season. Messi has scored 33 goals this season and now has as many hat-tricks as Real Madrid rival Cristiano Ronaldo. “I’m pleased with how the season has progressed,” said Enrique. “There is attitude, intensity and finishing. When Barca manages to be like that, you create danger from the first minute and it’s hard to stop them.”

Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech will be out for three to four weeks with a calf injury, says manager Arsene Wenger. The 33-year-old is likely to miss at least four league games, plus the Champions League trip to Barcelona and FA Cup replay against Hull. He was injured when he ran back to his area after going up for a corner in Wednesday’s 2-1 home defeat by Swansea. The Gunners are third in the table, six points adrift of leaders Leicester, and three behind second-placed Tottenham.

The Super Eagles of Nigeria interim coach, Samson Siasia, has invited 42 players for camping towards the double header AFCON qualifier against the Pharaohs of Egypt coming up later this month. The first leg of the encounter will take place on the 25th of March in Kaduna, and the return leg in Egypt 4 days later. 22 home-based players and 20 foreign-based players have been invited by the coach for the matches.

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