Milan

UEFA chiefs want to block clubs from playing domestic games abroad.

But they are powerless to prevent La Liga and Serie A chiefs heading out of Europe this season.

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In a measure that could stymy any long-term Prem plans to play matches out of the UK, Uefa President Aleksander Ceferin confirmed his deep personal opposition to the concept.

That is despite giving the green light for Barcelona to play Girona in Miami in December and Milan to face Como in Perth in February.

Uefa explained its ruling executive committee had “reluctantly taken the decision to approve, on an exceptional basis” the requests from Spain and Italy, citing a lack of rules to prevent the games being switched.

But Euro chiefs pledged to work with Fifa to “uphold the integrity of domestic competitions and the close bond between clubs, their supporters and local communities”. 

Ceferin said: “League matches should be played on home soil.

“While it is regrettable to have to let these two games go ahead, this decision is exceptional and shall not be seen as setting a precedent. 

“Our commitment is clear – to protect the integrity of national leagues and ensure that football remains anchored in its home environment.”

Prem chief Richard Masters has emphasised his total opposition to the prospect of English games being played overseas.

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However, that policy could change if 14 of the 20 top flight clubs voted to explore the option.

Fan group Football Supporters Europe said: “We regret the decision to allow the requests but all 55 national associations have committed not to make further requests for domestic matches abroad without first consulting UEFA. 

“The onus is now on FIFA to plug this regulatory gap. We welcome UEFA’s commitment to work with FIFA to ensure that future rules uphold the integrity of domestic competitions.”

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ITALY has been battered by brutal floods after a wave of torrential rainfall swamped vast parts of the north.

Streets and railways erupted into rivers, trapping people in cars and houses, and hundreds of school children had to be rescued from flood waters.

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North-western Italy swallowed the worst of the weather, with orange alerts issued for parts of Lombardy and Liguria on Sunday, but the capital Milan has also suffered with severe rainfall on Monday night.

In Meda, Lombardy, cars were picked up by the surging water and taken away down the streets.

One clip shows the powerful river depositing a car on top of another – while a railway track can be seen full to the brim with gushing brown water.

The Seveso river which runs through Milan burst its banks and completely submerged several neighbourhoods, and the Lambro is also threatening to overflow in the city.

Specialised flood vehicles had to rescue around 300 children stranded in schools in the Niguarda district of Milan.

In Cabiate, Como province, fire crews plucked residents from swamped neighbourhoods by winching them up to helicopters after the Tarò River overflowed.

They also combed the streets checking submerged vehicles for anyone trapped inside.

Landslides and flooding have brought chaos to the Bormida Valley in Lugaria, and most of the region’s schools have been forced to shut.

Water spurted up through manhole covers along the busy Via Vittorini road – where flood defences have been erected to protect homes.

Milan’s Palace of Justice has been forced to shut down after water pooled inside and the power had to be turned off.

Milan’s Civil Protection Councilor, Marco Granelli, urged all residents to exercise “maximum caution”.

More than 70 emergency calls have been put into the fire service amid the watery mayhem.

The flooding was caused by heavy storms which swept across the north of the country.

A German tourist is currently reported to be missing in Piedmont after flash flooding, with a search operation underway.

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Officials said more than 650 emergency interventions were carried out across Lombardy, with over 200 firefighters mobilized.

A mother and her 10-month-old baby were rescued from the roof of their car in Monza and Brianza province after being trapped by floodwaters.

In Florence, a pine tree collapsed onto a parked van, though no injuries were reported.

Weather forecasters said unstable conditions would continue in the coming days, with thunderstorms forecast for central and northern Italy and temperatures expected to fall.

Heavy rainfall could also extend to southern regions over the weekend.

Italy‘s flood trouble follows similar scenes in Spain.

One child died as torrential floods continue to wreak havoc across a Spanish holiday hotspot.

Horror weather sparked travel chaos with flights cancelled and trains abandoned due to fallen trees on the tracks – as officials warn of more rain to come.

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AC Milan have agreed a £36m deal – including add-ons – to sign Chelsea forward Christopher Nkunku as the Blues close on a deal for Manchester United winger Alejandro Garnacho.

Nkunku, 27, is expected to accept a pay cut in order to join the Italian side on a five-year contract and has been given permission to travel for a medical.

The Blues have also included a sell-on clause as part of the deal, which will end Nkunku’s two-year stay at Stamford Bridge.

The move will have wider implications for Chelsea, with negotiations advancing to sign Garnacho.

The Argentina international, 21, has not played for United this season and is one of several players at the club who has been training away from the main group.

No fee has yet been agreed between the two clubs but BBC Sport has been told by sources that a deal is close.

CHELSEA outcast Christopher Nkunku is set to fly to Italy tonight to tie up a £38m move to AC Milan.

Nkunku seemed poised to join Bayern Munich on loan as the Blues struggled to find clubs willing to pay the asking price for the France international.

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But things moved fast when Milan turned their previous interest into a concrete bid.

And Nkunku’s impending move should accelerate Chelsea’s pursuit of Alejandro Garnacho and Xavi Simons.

It is understood that Milan will pay a guaranteed sum of between £33m and £34m for Nkunku, with the rest of the total fee relying on performance.

That would represent a break even for the Blues on the Frenchman, who was signed for £56m two years ago and so is currently worth about £35m on the club’s books.

Nevertheless the Nkunku transfer would be another coup for Chelsea’s recruitment team, perhaps the biggest in a summer that has already seen them agree incoming and outgoing deals worth HALF A BILLION pounds.

In fact, the £38m for Nkunku would put the Blues into profit – albeit temporarily before they decide whether to meet RB Leipzig’s £60m asking price for Simons and the £50m Manchester United say they want for Garnacho.

The Frenchman arrived from Leipzig with a big reputation but was seriously injured in pre-season.

His Chelsea career never got going, although he did contribute five goals in the Conference League campaign that ended with the Blues lifting the trophy last season.

Nkunku, unlike other players who were out of Enzo Maresca’s first-team plans, did also travel to the USA for the Club World Cup and scored once in six appearances.

But he and Nicolas Jackson were left out of the Chelsea squad for the first two Premier League matches of the season as the club tried to offload them.

As SunSport revealed, the Blues’ activity in this transfer window will enable them to meet both Premier League financial rules and the terms of their Uefa punishment.

By balancing the big-money arrivals of players like Joao Pedro and Jamie Gittens with successful sales of Noni Madueke and now Nkunku, they have revamped Maresca’s squad without putting themselves in danger of further penalties.

Bringing in a new centre-back was a priority for Newcastle this summer as manager Howe looks to increase competition and lower the average age of an experienced squad.

But getting deals over the line has been a tall order, with the Magpies missing out on several targets across all positions, including Benjamin Sesko, Hugo Ekitike, Joao Pedro and James Trafford.

There has also been speculation over the future of striker Alexander Isak, who is determined to leave the club and join Liverpool.

Howe said: “We’re really pleased to have Malick on board. He’s a player I’ve admired for a long time and somebody who will add real quality to our defensive options.

“Malick is still young but brings valuable experience of Champions League football, as well as playing in the Bundesliga and Serie A, which is a major positive for us as we return to Europe this season.”

Thiaw, who has three caps for Germany, joined AC Milan from Schalke in 2022.

He made 31 appearances in all competitions for the Serie A giants last season, scoring his only goal of the campaign against Real Madrid in the Champions League in November.

Newcastle open their Premier League campaign at Aston Villa on Saturday.

CHELSEA showed that pre-season might be merely a formality as they rolled over AC Milan by four goals to one, lifting the coveted VisitMalta Weekender trophy for the second time in three days.

The Blues have made two supposedly decent teams look like amateurs, in what were hardly tough tests for Enzo Maresca’s young team before playing Crystal Palace in the opening game of their season.

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New signing Jamie Gittens announced himself to the world against AC Milan for Borussia Dortmund two seasons ago, who may well be his favourite opponents as he gave their defence, Yunus Musah in particular, a torrid time today.

The electric Englishman was perhaps overshadowed by Estevao against Bayer Leverkusen, but put in a performance today that showed he could nutmeg a mermaid in a telephone box if ever put to the test.

It was his direct running and trickery that won the free-kick for Chelsea to open the scoring through an Andrei Coubis own goal on the stroke of the 5th minute, after a calamitous mix-up between the Italian and Mike Maignan in the Milan goal.

Moments later and Joao Pedro and Pedro Neto combined for the Brazilian to head home his fifth goal in five games.

A driving run from Neto down the right was followed by an inch perfect cross, met by a header that could’ve ripped a hole in the net to add Chelsea’s second in as many minutes.

He’s proving exceptional value for his £60m fee.

The Blues continued to dominate until the half-time whistle, helped out on the way by Milan defender Andrei Coubis’ afternoon going from bad to worse with a straight red card for bringing down Joao Pedro who was through on goal.

The Italian booted a water bottle as he stormed down the tunnel, and rightly so, you may not see a worse 17 minutes at Stamford Bridge this season than that.

Cole Palmer went close twice from first-half free-kicks, one that left the post rattling and another which left former Chelsea target Mike Maignan being ridiculed as a ‘s*** Robert Sanchez’.

The Blues’ number ten almost went on to recreate Gus Poyet’s famous 1999 ‘scissor volley’ minutes later, but his effort just sailed over the bar.

Unsurprisingly, it was Rafael Leao who lead the AC Milan charge.

He was denied by Robert Sanchez, Tosin and Reece James before finally beating the Spanish stopper, only to see the offside flag raised on the near side.

Half-time brought the introduction of six-time Champions League winner, Ballon D’or winner and Swansea part-owner Luka Modric into the middle for Milan.

The Croatian was left chasing the shadows of Chelsea’s young and energetic midfield throughout the second half, his only highlight being a tame shot claimed by Robert Sanchez. 

After the disastrous news that future captain Levi Colwill required surgery on an ACL injury, Enzo Maresca will have winced as Trevoh Chalobah was forced off with a knock in the 56th minute and replaced by Josh Acheampong,

Milan grew into the game in the second half, and simply had to score when Yunus Musah rolled the ball past Robert Sanchez before Reece James arrived on the scene to put that fire out.

Expectedly, a flurry of Chelsea changes came with 30 minutes to go, and unsurprisingly it was teenage prodigy Estevao replacing Cole Palmer that drew the biggest cheer at Stamford Bridge.

It took the 18-year-old exactly five minutes to be involved in another Chelsea goal, as he was brought down inside the box, allowing Delap to rifle a penalty into the bottom left corner.

The rest of his touches brought an expectant gasp out of everyone in the stadium, as he danced and dazzled with fancy footwork in front of the Matthew Harding stand.

AC Milan got a consolation goal, courtesy of Youssaf Fofana who smashed the ball past Robert Sanchez at the near post with 20 minutes to go, assisted by Alexis Saelemaekers.

Just when fans thought that would be game, set, and match, Chelsea added a fourth and final goal.

Andrey Santos’ perfectly weighted ball into the path of Liam Delap allowed the English striker to make it a brace with a fine finish into the bottom left corner. 

Brighton defender Pervis Estupinan is close to completing a move to Italian giants AC Milan.

The Serie A side have been pushing to sign the Ecuador full-back for most of the summer and have already had one bid turned down.

However, an agreement is close to being concluded that would allow Estupinan to move to the former European champions.

Brighton were hoping to get around £17m for the 27-year-old, whose current contract expires in 2027.

Estupinan came to England in 2016 when he joined Watford but never played a senior game for the club.

Instead, he made his name in La Liga with Villarreal and was part of the squad that beat Manchester United in the 2021 Europa League final.

He has made more than 100 appearances across three seasons at Brighton but he suffered a significant ankle injury in 2024 that caused him to miss Copa America.

The 35-year-old builder, named locally as Andrea Russo, somehow managed to bypass multiple layers of security before reaching a moving plane at Milan Bergamo Airport

The man who died after reportedly getting sucked into an aeroplane’s engine was neither a passenger or an employee at the airport, its boss said.

The 35-year-old man, named locally as Andrea Russo, ran onto the tarmac at Milan Bergamo Airport, the third-busiest international airport in Italy on Tuesday. He then got sucked into a plane’s engine, it is said, as the aircraft attempted to take off.

Giovanni Sanga, CEO of the group which operates Milan Bergamo Airport, has today expressed his “personal condolences” to the man’s family and offered fresh detail about what happened at the hub, a base for Ryanair and other airlines. He said the man, thought to have been a builder, actively “approached the aircraft of a scheduled flight” in the harrowing moments that led to his death.

Flights had been suspended and cancelled but the airport’s website now says all operations are scheduled, including flights from Edinburgh and London Stansted, to leave and arrive on time this morning.

Mr Sanga said: “The dramatic event has shocked the entire airport community. First of all, I would like to express my personal condolences and those of the company to the victim’s family, to whom we are close in this terrible moment.”

READ MORE: Milan Bergamo Airport: Man ‘sucked into plane engine’ and killed identified

Mr Sanga added: “From the very beginning, in addition to ensuring the immediate management of the emergency and assistance to passengers and crew, we turned our attention to the colleagues who witnessed the episode and were deeply affected by it.

“At 10:35am on July 8, at Milan Bergamo airport, a person, neither a passenger nor an employee of companies operating at the airport, despite the prompt counteraction of the police forces present, managed to enter the aircraft apron, then reaching the taxiway. Here he approached the aircraft of a scheduled flight, stationary and with its engines running, losing his life.

“The exact dynamics of the incident are being examined by the judicial authorities to whom SACBO (The Bergamo Milan airport authority) continues to provide all the necessary collaboration. The company, in coordination with the relevant bodies, immediately activated emergency procedures and assistance to the flight passengers, crew and ground personnel involved, also making psychological support services available.”

When all flights were halted at around 10.20am on Tuesday local time, SACBO said “a problem occurred on the taxiway”. Mr Sanga’s statement is the first time the group has given more detail about what happened.

The plane, an Airbus A319 of the Volotea airline, was flying to Asturias, Spain. It, and all other departures, were stopped as emergency services descended on the tarmac.

Milan Bergamo Airport in Orio al Serio, northern Italy, catered for more than 15 million passengers in 2023. Some 500,000 of those headed to and from Stansted Airport, typically on Ryanair flights.

The Brazilian side advance to face either Manchester City or Al Hilal in a quarterfinal on Friday.

Fluminense have reached the Club World Cup quarterfinals with a stunning 2–0 win over Inter Milan as German Cano’s early goal and Hercules’s stoppage-time strike toppled the Champions League runners-up.

Fluminense struck after three minutes when Cano pounced on a deflected cross and headed in from close range, putting the ball through goalkeeper Yann Sommer’s legs for a dream start in the sweltering heat in Charlotte, North Carolina, the US on Monday.

The Brazilian side nearly doubled the lead in the 30th minute, when Sommer spilled Jhon Arias’s initial effort and Samuel Xavier fired the rebound attempt narrowly wide of the far-left post.

And in the 39th minute, Ignacio thought he had doubled Flu’s advantage, only to be ruled fractionally offside by the automated review system.

The pattern of more Inter Milan possession but more dangerous Fluminense chances continued early in the second half, and Sommer reacted superbly in the 62nd minute to dive and push Arias’s effort from beyond the penalty area just around his left post.

Lautaro Martinez came closest to pulling Inter Milan level, forcing the 44-year-old Fabio into a pair of saves in the 80th and 82nd minute, then striking the post with another low effort only seconds later.

Eleven minutes later, Inter Milan’s at times shaky defence was exposed for a second time. Hercules found himself free at the edge of the 18-yard box following a throw-in, and he drove a composed, low finish into the bottom right corner and sent the Fluminense fans into delirium.

Fluminense captain Thiago Silva said he was “very proud of my team and teammates” for beating such a top side and in extremely hot conditions.

“I’m very happy for myself and the team,” he told DAZN. “Ten days ago, I had an injury, and it wasn’t easy to play today. But I am very happy with the medical team … it was very very important for me to play today.”

The result ensured that there will be two Brazilian quarterfinalists in the first edition of this expanded tournament format, after Palmeiras also reached the last eight.

Fluminense will play the winner of Monday’s later game between Manchester City and Al Hilal in the quarterfinals.

If heavily favoured Manchester City progress, it would present a rematch of the 2023 Club World Cup final, which Manchester City won 4-0.

Inter Milan were eliminated in the second round 30 days after they suffered a 5-0 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in the UEFA Champions League final. They also narrowly finished second in the Italian Serie A.

Cristian Chivu, Inter Milan’s coach, hailed his team for their attitude as they battled to come back from conceding such an early goal.

“We didn’t give up; we tried until the end. We tried to make some changes even in the formation. It wasn’t our day,” he told DAZN.

“We didn’t expect them to play five at the back, but they were well organised with the low block on defence. It was tough for us to find solutions, especially in the first half when we tried a lot … in the second half, maybe we tried to switch a little bit more, to play outside and with some more crosses.

“We also tried to build something with two strikers in a 4-4-2. Until the end, we tried, but it wasn’t our day.”

ROME — Arnaldo Pomodoro, one of Italy’s most prominent contemporary artists whose bronze spheres decorate iconic public spaces from the Vatican to the United Nations, has died at age 98, his foundation said Monday.

Pomodoro died at home in Milan on Sunday, the eve of his 99th birthday, according to a statement from Carlotta Montebello, director general of the Arnaldo Pomodoro Foundation.

Pomodoro’s massive spheres are instantly recognizable: shiny, smooth bronze globes with clawed-out interiors that Pomodoro has said referred to the superficial perfection of exteriors and the troubled complexity of interiors.

In a note of condolences, Italian Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli said Pomodoro’s “wounded” spheres “speak to us today of the fragility and complexity of the human and the world.”

The Vatican’s sphere, which occupies a central place in the Pigna Courtyard of the Vatican Museums, features an internal mechanism that rotates with the wind. “In my work I see the cracks, the eroded parts, the destructive potential that emerges from our time of disillusionment,” the Vatican quoted Pomodoro as saying about its sphere.

The United Nations in New York received a 3.3-meter (10 foot, eight inch) diameter “Sphere Within Sphere” sculpture as a gift from Italy in 1996. The U.N. sphere has refers to the coming of the new millennium, the U.N. said: “a smooth exterior womb erupted by complex interior forms,” and “a promise for the rebirth of a less troubled and destructive world,” Pomodoro said of it.

Other spheres are located at museums around the world and outside the Italian foreign ministry, which has the original work that Pomodoro created in 1966 for the Montreal Expo that began his monumental sculpture project.

In the 1960s, he taught at Stanford University, UC Berkeley and Mills College. “Rotante dal Foro Centrale,” part of Pomodoro’s “Sfera con Sfera” series, can be found at the west entrance of the Berkeley campus. In 1988, Italian Prime Minister Ciriaco De Mita presented the sculptor’s “Colpa d’ala (Wing Beat)” as a gift to Los Angeles to mark the 40th anniversary of the Marshall Plan. It is installed downtown at the Department of Water and Power (now the John F. Ferraro Building).

Pomodoro was born in Montefeltro, Italy, on June 23, 1926. In addition to his spheres, he designed theatrical sets, land projects and machines.

Winfield writes for the Associated Press.

It’s been just 18 days since Inter Milan played its last game, losing to Paris Saint-Germain in the UEFA Champions League final. But a lot has happened since then.

The team parted ways with manager Simone Inzaghi, who led it to two European finals in three seasons, and replaced him with Cristian Chivu. It temporarily lost the services of forward Mehdi Taremi, who had returned to his native Iran earlier this month and became stranded there when Israeli attacks closed the airspace over much of the Mideast.

Then the rest of the second-best club in Europe traveled 6,000 miles from Milan to Los Angeles, where it opened the FIFA Club World Cup on Tuesday in a 1-1 draw with Mexican club Monterrey before an announced crowd of 40,311 at the Rose Bowl.

“We’re trying to focus. And it’s not easy every day, I’m not going to lie,” said forward Marcus Thuram, whose 18 goals in all competition was second on the team this season. “But it’s part of what we do, we love what we do and we’ll continue doing what we do.”

Only doing what they do has become far more complicated and exhausting in recent years as the competition schedule for both club and country has expanded.

Thuram’s father, Lilian, was widely regarded as one of the best defenders of his era during an 18-year career that saw him win two Serie A titles, a European championship and play in two World Cup finals, winning one. But he appeared in 46 or more club matches in a season just four times before retiring in 2008.

His 27-year-old son has done that in each of the past two seasons. And if Inter makes it to the final of the Club World Cup, he’ll wind up playing 55 games in 11 months. That doesn’t count his 10 appearances for the French national team since last June.

Inter Milan’s Marcus Thuram stands on the field during a loss to Paris Saint-Germain in the UEFA Champions League final on May 31.

(Luca Bruno / Associated Press)

“We were prepared for that at the beginning of the season. It’s not like they announced that at the end of the season,” Thuram, who came off the bench early in the second half Tuesday, said of the Club World Cup. “We knew it was going to be a long season.”

But how long is too long? In their ravenous quest for revenue, soccer clubs, leagues and governing bodies have crowded the calendar with invented competitions that have drained both fans’ bank accounts and players’ energy levels.

The Club World Cup is a perfect example. Although the tournament has been around since 2000, before this summer it never had more than eight teams and was held at one site during a 10-day break in the European season. This year it’s expanded into a 32-team, monthlong competition that will be played in 11 cities spread across a continent.

If Inter Milan makes it to next month’s final, its players will have just a couple of weeks off before reporting to training camp for the next Serie A season, which opens Aug. 23. With the World Cup also expanding next summer, national team players such as Thuram could play more than 70 games in 44 weeks and more than 120 games over two seasons.

That’s clearly unsustainable.

“A serious dialogue is needed between FIFA, UEFA, leagues, clubs and players to redesign an international calendar that protects the health of players and maintains the quality of games,” said Giuseppe Marotta, chairman and chief executive officer of Inter Milan. “With the introduction of the new Champions League format and the new Club World Cup, the workload on teams and players has clearly increased significantly.”

Yet clubs such as Inter Milan, Paris Saint-Germain (which played 58 games this season) and Manchester City (57 games) are drawn to the extra competitions for the same reason as the organizers who put them on: the money. The Club World Cup, now the largest and most ambitious global club tournament in history, is also the most lucrative, with a prize-money purse of $1 billion. The winner could take home $125 million, more than PSG got for winning the Champions League.

But it was forced into a gap in the schedule that really didn’t exist before.

“It’s undeniable that this event, positioned between two different seasons, is forcing us to do extra work and rethink what the traditional summer periods looks like for a football club,” Marotta said. “However these competitions also represent a huge opportunity in terms of visibility and revenue, often exceeding that of traditional competitions.”

The Club World Cup allows teams to face rivals from other continents, expanding their international following and generating additional revenue streams by planting the team’s flag in new markets and introducing its players to new fans.

“The goal is to tell the American public who we are and what values have always guided us,” Marotta said.

“It’s not about proving how good we are,” he added of the tournament. “It’s about contributing to the development of global football.”

To accommodate it, Marotta said, changes will have to be made. For example Italy’s Serie A could compact from 20 to 18 teams, the same as in the German Bundesliga and France’s Ligue 1. That would mean four fewer league games per year; not a dramatic reduction, but a start.

Inter Milan’s Lautaro Martinez, left, and Monterrey’s Victor Guzman battle for control of the ball during Tuesday’s FIFA Club World Cup match at the Rose Bowl.

(Gregory Bull / Associated Press)

Until that happens, Thuram said the players will continue doing what they do for as long as they can do it.

“It’s about doing everything every day to prepare your body for these extreme games and extreme competition. Because soccer at the highest level is extreme for the body. It’s tough,” he said. “But we have a lot of coaches, we have chefs, we have everything that is set up for us perfectly.”

As for the game, Milan dominated statistically, controlling the ball for more than 55 of the 90 minutes and outshooting Monterrey 15-9. But it couldn’t make that advantage count.

All the scoring came in a 20-minute span of the first half with the ageless Sergio Ramos putting Monterrey in front with a header in the 25th minute and Lautaro Martinez pulling that back for Milan three minutes before the intermission.

A stunning header from the veteran Spanish defender delights the pro-Mexican fans as the European giants are held.

Sergio Ramos rolled back the years to score a brilliant header as Monterrey held Inter Milan to a 1-1 draw in their FIFA Club World Cup clash at the Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena, United States.

The former Spain and Real Madrid defender towered above the Inter defenders to find the back of the net and give his Mexican club a lead in the 25th minute of their Group E fixture, much to the delight of the thousands of Monterrey fans gathered at the famous venue in Southern California on Tuesday.

European giants Inter levelled the scoreline in the 42nd minute, as Lautaro Martinez tapped in from close range from a Carlos Augusto pass in a superbly crafted team goal.

However, it was Ramos’s goal and ensuing celebrations – both by the player and the Monterrey fans – that stole the limelight on the fourth day of the club competition.

“There is always joy to contribute to the team by scoring, but if we can get points, that’s even better,” the Monterrey captain said after the match.

“We played very well as a team. Of course, football showcases the goal, but we’re here to share this experience.”

Both sides had plenty of opportunities to take the lead in the second half but missed their chances, with a Martinez strike being called offside in the 68th minute.

It was a hard-fought draw for Inter, who lost the UEFA Champions League final against Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) on May 31 and welcomed new manager Cristian Chivu.

According to the 39-year-old Ramos, his team lacked the energy in the final moments of the game.

“For most of this match, we created quite a few chances, but at this moment, we don’t have much energy,” he said.

Monterrey and Inter have one point apiece in the group led by River Plate, who beat Urawa Red Diamonds 3-1 in the earlier game in Seattle.

Goals from Facundo Colidio (12 minutes), Sebastian Driussi (48 minutes) and Maximiliano Meza (73 minutes) helped the Argentinian club beat their Japanese opponents with ease, but they lost their forward to an ankle injury while scoring the second goal.

A successfully converted 58th-minute penalty from Yusuke Matsuo brought Urawa back into the game momentarily, but Meza’s goal 15 minutes later consolidated River Plate’s lead again.

On the second match day for the group on Saturday, Inter take on Urawa, and Monterrey face River Plate.

In the Group F fixtures on Tuesday, Brazilian Serie A side Fluminense held German club Borussia Dortmund to a goalless draw at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, while Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa beat South Korean side Ulsan HD 1-0 in Orlando, Florida.

Iqraam Rayners scored in the 36th minute for Mamelodi, who now lead Group F with three points. Dortmund and Fluminense have one point each.

Manchester City have confirmed the signing of AC Milan midfielder Tijjani Reijnders for an initial fee of £46.5m on a five-year contract.

The Netherlands international is Pep Guardiola’s fourth summer signing with Rayan Ait-Nouri, Marcus Bettinelli and Rayan Cherki having also joined.

Reijnders, 26, was signed in time to be eligible for this month’s Club World Cup in America and could make his debut on 18 June against Wydad FC.

City decided not to pursue a deal for Bayer Leverkusen’s Florian Wirtz owing to the cost of the deal.

Instead, they have signed Reijnders, Cherki, Bettinelli and Ait-Nouri for a total of around £108m, less than the reported 150m Euros (£127m) asking price for Germany international Wirtz.

The midfielder has been capped 22 times by the Netherlands but was left on the bench during Tuesday night’s 8-0 thrashing of Malta.

He scored 15 goals in 54 matches across all competitions for Milan last term and was named Serie A’s midfielder of the season.

With Kevin de Bruyne departing the club, Reijnders will strengthen the centre of the pitch for Guardiola as they look to improve on their third-placed Premier League finish last season.

Chelsea are in talks with AC Milan over signing France goalkeeper Mike Maignan.

The Italian club value Maignan at about £25m but the Blues do not want to meet that price and are in talks about a lower fee.

The 29-year-old has been a regular for Milan since joining on a five-year contract from Lille in 2021.

He has also been first choice for France since Hugo Lloris retired from international football in January 2023, and has won 30 caps since his debut in 2020.

Sources have told BBC Sport that Maignan would be interested in a move to Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea have struggled to find a long-term option in goal since buying Kepa Arrizabalaga in 2018 for £71m, which remains the world-record fee for a goalkeeper.

Two years later they signed Edouard Mendy, who left for Al-Ahli in 2023, while Kepa has spent the past two seasons on loan at Real Madrid and then Bournemouth.

In the past two years Chelsea have also signed Robert Sanchez, Djordje Petrovic and Filip Jorgensen but the club appear unconvinced by all three.

Petrovic spent last season on loan at Strasbourg while Sanchez and Jorgensen had spells in the Chelsea first team.

Two Belgian men have claimed they hid in a toilet at Munich’s Allianz Arena for 27 hours in order to watch last weekend’s Champions League final for free.

Neal Remmerie and Senne Haverbeke told Belgian broadcaster VRT News they managed to get into the ground the day before the match then emerged to watch Paris St-Germain’s 5-0 win over Inter Milan.

The pair uploaded a video, external on the social media platform TikTok which showed them sticking a homemade ‘out of order’ sign on two toilet cubicle doors before they waited in silence for more than a day as stadium staff used the facility.

“We had a backpack with snacks and we played around on our phones to kill time,” Remmerie said.

“The lights were on all the time and the sitting position was uncomfortable, so sleeping was almost impossible. That made it physically and mentally difficult.”

As soon as the duo heard fans using the toilets on matchday they emerged from the hiding place and made it past another ticket check before taking a seat in a stand.

“We looked carefully at which security guard was paying the least attention. While on the phone and with food in our hands, we just walked on, and suddenly we were inside,” Remmerie added.

“PSG won 5-0 and we were also in the supporters’ section of the winning team. It was the most beautiful football match we have ever seen.”

BBC Sport has approached the Allianz Arena and Uefa for comment.

Manchester City have agreed a 55m euros (£46.3m) deal with AC Milan for Netherlands midfielder Tijjani Reijnders.

The 26-year-old will sign a five-year contract at Etihad Stadium after agreeing personal terms with City.

The deal, which is subject to a medical, includes additional payments if certain clauses are met.

City hope to complete a deal for Reijnders in time for this month’s Club World Cup, which kicks off on 14 June.

His arrival will strengthen an area of the pitch that has been weakened by injury to Mateo Kovacic, who has been ruled out of the 32-team tournament in the United States after undergoing Achilles surgery.

Midfielder Kevin de Bruyne is also expected not to be involved in the tournament, with a move to Serie A champions Napoli looking increasingly likely.

Inter Milan and Simone Inzaghi part ways after the Italian football club’s defeat by Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League final.

Simone Inzaghi has announced that he will leave Inter Milan following the Italian club’s defeat in the Champions League final, and amid heavy interest in his services from the Saudi Pro League.

The 5-0 rout by Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) in the final of European football’s premier club competition on Saturday was Inzaghi’s final game in charge of the Serie A runners-up.

“The time has come for me to say goodbye to this club after a run of four years during which I gave everything,” Inzaghi wrote in a letter to Inter fans on the club’s website on Tuesday.

The loss to PSG on Saturday marked the most lopsided defeat in the 70-year history of major European finals.

Saudi Arabian club Al-Hilal is reportedly trying to lure Inzaghi with an offer of more than 20 million euros ($23m) per season.

Inzaghi coached Inter to the Serie A title last year, and was also in charge when the Nerazzurri lost the 2023 Champions League title to Manchester City.

He was at Inter for exactly four years and had one more season remaining on his contract.

It’s unclear now who will coach Inter at the FIFA Club World Cup in the United States starting June 14.

Inter opens against Monterrey on June 17 — a day before Al-Hilal opens against Real Madrid.

There has been speculation that Inter would go after Cesc Fabregas, who coached Como to a 10th-place finish in Serie A.

Inter finished second in the Italian league last month, one point behind champion Napoli.

The Milan-based football club was in the running for a treble until it lost to city rival AC Milan in the Italian Cup semifinals in April. Having also been beaten by Milan in the Italian Super Cup final in Saudi Arabia in January, the Nerazzurri didn’t win a trophy this season.

The coaching change at Inter is just one of many managerial moves among the top Italian teams this off season, with Milan, Roma, Atalanta and others making changes.

MARCUS RASHFORD has emerged as a target for Inter Milan – as they look to bounce back from their Champions League final horror show. 

The Manchester United forward, 27, spent the second half of the season on loan at Aston Villa, with his red-hot form securing him a place back in the England squad.

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But Villa, who narrowly missed out on a Champions League spot for 2025-26, are unlikely to make a permanent move for Rashford due to the player’s sky-high wages.

Unai Emery and Co are now firmly focused on other targets and hope to keep hold of Ollie Watkins, who has been linked with an exit from Villa Park. 

Sources close to Rashford told SunSport he doesn’t see a future at Old Trafford under Ruben Amorim. 

The pair reportedly fell out last season with the Portuguese manager unhappy with Rashford’s attitude during training and off the field.

And that means Rashford is frantically searching for a new club, which has put Inter Milan on red-alert.

The Italian giants are looking to rebuild their side in the wake of the Champions League final demolition at the hands of Paris Saint-Germain.

Inter were thrashed 5-0 in a defeat which came on the back of them throwing away the Serie A title late in the season, opening the door for Napoli.

Club chiefs believe that Rashford could be a key acquisition and would excite supporters.

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And although Man Utd would prefer a permanent deal, Inter are also exploring the option of a long-term loan move. 

A source said: “Marcus is open-minded to a move abroad, and a fresh start.

“Lots of players have made the move from the Premier League to Serie A in recent years and performed very well. That’s why the idea of such a switch excites both the player and Inter.”

Rashford is one of a number of players in limbo at United.

Team-mates Jadon Sancho and Antony both ended the campaign on loan at other clubs and are deemed surplus to requirements.

But United face a challenge in offloading all of them due to their massive wages.

Luis Enrique wept tears of joy and emotion as Paris St-Germain delivered the performance of a lifetime to win the Champions League for the first time on a remarkable night in Munich.

And, as PSG outclassed Inter Milan for a historic 5-0 victory, brilliant teenager Desire Doue confirmed his status as one half of a new duo of young superstars – alongside Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal – who have the genius to dominate the game for years to come.

The poignant human story was PSG coach Luis Enrique, who became only the sixth coach to win this tournament with two different clubs after his triumph with Barcelona in 2015.

The sporting story was one of the finest team displays in the history of this tournament, in this and its previous guise of the European Cup, with generational teenage talent Doue as its centrepiece.

On the most important night of a career, Doue made the biggest stage in European club football his playground.

This was also a win heavy with significance and meaning for 55-year-old Asturian Luis Enrique, beyond the glory of the brutal beauty of this PSG triumph that finally brought the giant Champions League trophy to The City Of Light.

The man who has transformed PSG has spoken about how he helped his daughter Xana plant a Barcelona flag in the centre circle after that 2015 triumph over Juventus in Berlin.

He said he hoped he might make the same gesture here in her memory after she died from a rare form of bone cancer aged nine in 2019.

In the afterglow of victory, he pulled on a t-shirt bearing an image of himself and his daughter planting a PSG flag.

And then, in a moment of raw emotion, PSG’s “Ultras” unfurled their own tribute – a giant flag emblazoned with an image of father and daughter, in the French club’s shirt, planting a flag.

It was a wonderful gesture on a joyful night for PSG in Munich, when all their agonies as they chased the Champions League were washed away in one of the greatest displays any team has produced in a European final.

“I’m very happy. It was very emotional at the end with the banner from the fans for my family. But I always think about my daughter,” said Luis Enrique.

“Since day one, I said I wanted to win important trophies, and Paris had never won the Champions League. We did it for the first time. It’s a great feeling to make many people happy.”