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      I played alongside Cristiano Ronaldo at Juventus… I told him I HATED him during long plane journey

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      A FORMER team-mate of Cristiano Ronaldo has revealed that he told the superstar “he hated” him.Roma forward Paulo Dybala, 29, spent three years alongside the Portugal legend at Juventus between 2018 and 2021.
      A former team-mate of Cristiano Ronaldo has revealed how he told him he ‘hated him’Credit: AFP
      The pair helped the Old Lady to win two Serie A titles, two Italian Super Cups and the Italian Cup during that period.
      Various reports claimed during that time that the duo did not get on despite the success on the pitch.
      But the Argentine international has now denied those rumours – even though he admitted that he did tell the now Al-Nassr ace he “hated” him.
      Speaking to DAZN, Dybala said: “I spent three nice years with Cristiano, the team was very strong and he added something more.
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      “There’s a big rivalry between [Lionel] Messi and Ronaldo in Argentina.
      “Once, we were flying out for a game, I was sitting at the back of the plane and he was slightly ahead. 
      “At some point, he came to me, we spoke about life in general for a while, and I told him: ‘As a kid, I practically hated you.’
      “We laughed about it and we’ve always been on good terms.”
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      Ronaldo left Juventus in 2021 to make his return to Manchester United.
      He was at Old Trafford for just one-and-a-half seasons before his explosive interview with Piers Morgan led to his contract being terminated and leading to his move to Saudi Arabia.
      Dybala departed Juventus last summer as a free agent to sign for Roma.
      He has scored 16 goals in 34 appearances for Jose Mourinho’s side, who are battling to secure a top four finish to secure Champions League football next season. More

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      Italian FA trialling major change to offside rule…and it’s proven to lead to more goals

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      THE Italian FA are trialling a major change to the offside rule which is proven to lead to more goals. The changes, developed by former Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger, would only see an offside given if there is a clear space between the attacker and the defender.
      The Italian FA is set to trial a major change to the offside ruleCredit: Rex
      There have been a lot of contentious VAR decisions this seasonCredit: Getty
      Wenger has previously spoken of his desire to make changes to the offside rule and has been a long time advocate of this but was aware of the difficulties in implementing any changes.
      Back in 2020 he said: “My objective, as well as Fifa’s, is to continuously think about ways to improve our game.
      “We shouldn’t be afraid to debate them in public.
      “But I am well aware any rule changes are subject to a standard approval process.
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      “That includes discussions with stakeholders and potential test phases, within the scope of the established IFAB framework.”
      The proposal was explained back in February before its first trial in the Italian u18’s championship by Christos Kanellas, Fifa’s high performance manager.
      He said: “The idea was born to favour a more offensive game, increase the chances of scoring goals and make the game more exciting.”
      The Italian Football Federation president Gabriele Gravina said: The Italian Football Federation is at the forefront of the development of the game.
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      “We have made ourselves available to continue testing in the Under 18 championship because innovation is in our DNA.
      “We are not afraid of change both on and off the pitch and, in close synergy with Fifa, we will continue to study the effects of a change to the offside rule.”

      Matteo Trefoloni, head of the technical sector, explained the way the law will change.
      He said: “The experiment states that a player is no longer considered punishable if any part of the body with which he can score a goal is in line with the penultimate defender. 
      “Therefore, in order for an offside to be sanctioned between the attacker in the most advanced position and the defender, there must be the so-called light, i.e. they must be visually separated.”
      The rule change was first trialled back in April 2022 in 35 matches.
      The players, coaches and referees who participated in the survey gave a positive overall opinion.
      They indicated a reduced impact of the proposed change on the game and an overall increase in scoring opportunities.
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      Italian Football has been at the forefront of trialling new technology with the first VAR test having taken place in the friendly between Italy and France in September 2016 in Bari.
      Last December the use of semi-automatic offside was approved and was then bought into use from 27 January in Serie A. More

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      Newcastle ‘set to meet Inter Milan’s £31m fee for Marcelo Brozovic transfer but Toon face competition from Barcelona’

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      NEWCASTLE are reportedly preparing to pay £31million for Inter Milan and Croatia midfielder Marcelo Brozovic.Eddie Howe is keen to add reinforcements to his squad in the summer as they prepare for European football.
      Marcelo Brozovic is being linked with a move away from Inter Milan this summerCredit: Getty
      A stunning 6-1 victory over Tottenham on Sunday moved the Magpies up to third place in the Premier League table.
      And failing a late collapse, they will be in the Champions League next season.
      According to Croatian outlet Sportske Novosti, Newcastle are eyeing up Brozovic as a potential transfer at the end of the season.
      It is understood his arrival would free up Bruno Guimaraes to move into a more attacking role.
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      Barcelona are also interested in the Croatian international – who has 85 caps for his country.
      And Liverpool are known to be monitoring his situation.
      But Saudi-backed Newcastle have the financial power to facilitate a deal for Brozovic – who has started just 13 league games this season.
      And they are expected to offer him a substantial salary package to sweeten the deal.
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      Brozovic, who joined Inter Milan from Dinamo Zagreb in 2015, has a contract until 2026.
      He has played more than 300 games for the Serie A giants, contributing 30 goals and 38 assists.
      He has claimed a Serie A title and Coppa Italia during his eight-year spell at the club.
      The midfield engine also reached the World Cup final with Croatia in 2018 and the semi-finals last year. More

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      Watch Man Utd and Chelsea transfer target Victor Osimhen celebrate on top of BUS after Napoli’s stunning win at Juventus

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      MANCHESTER UNITED and Chelsea transfer target Victor Osimhen led the party on the bus after Napoli’s win at Juventus.Luciano Spalletti’s side are 17 points clear at the top of the Serie A table with only seven matches remaining.
      Victor Osimhen danced on top of the team bus after Napoli’s win at JuventusCredit: Reddit
      The star and his teammates were greeted by thousands of fans back in NaplesCredit: Reddit
      The party has already started in Naples as they close in on the titleCredit: Instgram: @victorosimhen9
      The star’s colleagues joined in with the celebrationsCredit: Instgram: @victorosimhen9
      They took a huge step towards ending their 33-year wait for the title with a 1-0 win at rivals Juventus on Sunday.
      And it seems that top scorer Osimhen is loving every single second of their title charge after footage emerged of him celebrating their latest triumph.
      Thousands of Napoli fans were waiting for the team upon their return from Turin, and the Nigerian striker joined them by singing along with them and waving flags as they threw shirts and scarves towards him.
      And he was not the only one getting involved, as Hirving Lozano joined him while  Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa donned a blue wig.
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      The Cameroon midfielder’s Instagram story showed the magnitude of the celebrations as they were followed by a huge cohort of motorbikes.
      Osimhen has scored 26 goals so far this season. 
      The Nigerian, 24, now has a host of Europe’s top clubs chasing his services this summer with Napoli likely to demand a transfer fee of over £100m.
      German giants Bayern Munich and big-spending French powerhouse Paris Saint-Germain both want Osimhen.
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      And, as well as Chelsea, there is plenty of interest from the Premier League with Manchester United and Arsenal circling.
      However, we reported how Chelsea “believe they can outbid their rivals”.
      An army of fans on motorbikes continued to follow the teamCredit: Instgram: @victorosimhen9 More

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      Footage emerges of what Mourinho shouted after ‘chasing rival manager down tunnel’ following criticism of Roma tactics

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      FOOTAGE has emerged of Jose Mourinho chasing Feyenoord’s Arne Slot and berating him in the tunnel after Roma’s midweek Europa League win.He led Roma to the continent’s third-tier crown, the Europa Conference League, in its inaugural season a year ago by beating Feyenoord 1-0 in the final.
      Footage has emerged of Jose Mourinho chasing Feyenoord’s boss down the tunnelCredit: KIJK via Twitter
      The Special One berated his rival following Arne Slot’s pre-match remarksCredit: KIJK via Twitter
      Mourinho continued with the verbals up the stairs and back into the changing-roomCredit: KIJK via Twitter
      “Their style of football achieves results, but prefer to watch Manchester City and Napoli. I’m very honest on that,” Arne Slot said of Roma last week.Mourinho chased Slot into the tunnel, shouting: “Respect” and “Go to watch Napoli, watch Napoli now.”pic.twitter.com/FkyqXrwHHM— Football Report (@FootballReprt) April 21, 2023

      The Dutch side thought they had got their own back by winning the first leg or their Europa quarter-final clash last week.
      But Mourinho warned a journalist they had won nothing yet before the second leg, and, after Roma turned the tie around with a 4-1 win at the Stadio Olimpico last night, the Special One made sure to celebrate in emphatic fashion.
      He high-fived his players and hugged staff before the final whistle and began to pump his fists, calling on the crowd to be vocal.
      He then, in his post-match press conference, he cheekily gifted the same journalist a key chain with the Europa Conference League trophy insignia on it before answering questions.
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      It was a fiery night in total, which was ignited by Slot’s pre-match comments about Mourinho and Roma’s style of play.
      He said: “Their style of football achieves results, but I prefer to watch Manchester City and Napoli. I’m very honest on that.”
      And those remarks appeared to have enraged Mourinho, who it has now been revealed chased after Slot shouting: “You watch Napoli but you should watch us. You should watch us, not Napoli, not Napoli.”
      One of Mourinho’s assistants is then heard adding: “If this is how you play, you should go home quickly.”
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      Mourinho then shouts: “Respect, respect.”
      The Special One commented on the incident afterwards, saying: “I was just telling him that instead of watching Napoli and Man City he should watch Roma because he didn’t study Roma well enough.”
      Roma assistant manager Salvatore Foti was sent off earlier in the night for HITTING Feyenoord player Santiago Gimenez in their Europa League quarter-final tie.
      Foti ended up striking the Mexican forward as he tried to stop him from getting the ball after it went out of play.
      The 34-year-old accidentally hit Gimenez with his left hand as he tried to pull him away from the ball.
      Gimenez went down in a heap and referee Anthony Taylor didn’t hesitate to give Foti his marching orders. More

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      Criminally under-rated Olivier Giroud is proving that it’s madness to pension off footballers as soon as they hit 30

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      WATCHING Olivier Giroud score the goal which sent AC Milan into the Champions League semi-final this week, got me thinking a couple of things.Why are we so desperate to pension off footballers when they get into  their 30s?
      Olivier Giroud celebrates the goal that put AC Milan in the Champions League last four after a 2-1 aggregate triumph over Serie A leaders NapoliCredit: Rex
      At 36, Giroud still has the mobility as well as technical ability to shineCredit: Rex
      And was there ever a more under-rated Premier League footballer than Giroud, who is now 36 and playing as well as ever?
      With the age thing, I’m finding it myself. At 34, it feels like the young people want to retire me but despite some injuries this year — which I don’t really put down to age — I feel I can keep on playing for some time to come.
      Everyone looks after themselves  better these days. You can’t be a professional player without being in peak physical condition.
      We see so many players excelling in their mid to late 30s, from Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo to James Milner and Giroud — and yet players get disrespected more than ever as they get older.
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      The best way to describe recovering from a game of professional football when you’re in your 30s is by likening it to having a hangover.
      When you’re in your 20s, the hangovers aren’t as bad and you’re ready to go again the next night.
      But as you get older, you might think ‘I’ll have a few light beers on Friday, a session on Saturday and then sleep it off on Sunday’.
      “I’m not saying I drink like this, by the way, I’m just giving you an analogy!
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      Older pros train differently — like a boxer, you are trying to peak at the weekend. You can’t go full pelt on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
      Recovery sessions are more likely to be on the bike or in the pool rather than running out on the grass because you have to protect your joints, your knees especially.
      But the older you get, the more know-how you have. And if you have the right individually-tailored training programme, there’s no doubt you can go on playing late into your 30s,  perhaps even longer.
      Giroud is certainly looking after  himself — and what a couple of seasons he is having.
      After winning Serie A with Milan last year, he reached his second World Cup final in Qatar and he’s now got  a great chance of playing in the  Champions League final, with a semi-final derby against Inter to come.
      I mentioned before England played France in the World Cup quarter-final that I feared Giroud’s physicality — and he ended up heading their winner.
      We underestimate him badly in this country. Five years ago now, people were trying to pension him off when he was at Arsenal.We underestimated his pace, technical ability, strength and his finishing.
      His reputation seemed to suffer when Arsenal went through some difficult years — the same happened with Danny Welbeck, who is still tearing it up at Brighton, aged 32.
      But Giroud ended up playing a big part in Chelsea’s run to the Champions League in 2021 and now he’s having more success at Milan.
      Just look at his roll of honour — two World Cup finals and one win, a Champions League, a Europa League, four FA Cups, league titles in France and Italy and a Puskas Award for the best goal in world football in 2017.
      He’s good looking but not just a pretty face! His team-mates rated him very highly, as a player and a man. And his opponents too.
      You watch that goal for Arsenal against Crystal Palace and tell  me he isn’t supremely technically gifted and deceptively quick.
      As Arsenal break, he plays a brilliant back-heeled pass in his own half, out-sprints the Palace defence and scores with a flying back-heeled ‘scorpion kick’ at the near post.
      He’s a good looking lad, Olivier, but he’s not just a pretty face!
      Giroud often seemed to be derided in England and I never understood it.
      His team-mates certainly rated him very highly, as a player and a man.
      And his opponents, too. I still have his shirts he swapped with me after I played for Watford against both Arsenal and Chelsea.
      He is just a lovely geezer. He is into arts and culture, has done Hugo Boss adverts and he’s one of life’s good guys.
      A lot of people thought Olivier was on his way out when he left Arsenal in 2018 — that’s five years ago now.
      It seems to me that kids who play Fifa want to bin off any player over 30 who can’t do every trick on their video games.
      Of course we all love to see exciting young players emerging.

      But there is a lot to be said for experience, on the pitch and in the dressing room.
      There’s still life in the old dogs yet — and Giroud is an  inspiration to all of us. More

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      Barcelona line up huge midfield swap transfer with Inter Milan as both clubs look to resolve financial woes

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      BARCELONA and Inter Milan are linked with an exchange deal involving midfielders Franck Kessie and Marcelo Brozovic, according to reports.The move was previously on the cards in January, but did not materialise, as Kessie did not want to leave the Nou Camp.
      Franck Kessie has played an instrumental role in Barcelona’s success this seasonCredit: Getty
      However, the club may have no option but to sell himCredit: Getty
      Brozovic is the Inter player linked with a move to BarcelonaCredit: Getty
      However, according to SPORT, the like-for-like swap in midfield still has substance, with specific factors making it an enticing possibility for both parties.
      Reports suggest that Inter Milan’s technical director met with Barcelona officials last week to discuss the possibility of a swap deal.
      The Milan-based newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport claims that both midfielders are valued at around £28million, a factor which would make a potential exchange relatively easy.
      Brozovic, 30, joined Inter from Dinamo Zagreb in 2015 and has made 253 appearances for the club.
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      Despite some good performances this season, Brozovic has still looked likely to leave Inter in the summer amid growing tensions.
      This comes as the defensive midfielder had to be separated from team-mate Andre Onana in training this week.
      The Croatian star is considered a potential successor to Sergio Busquets in Barcelona’s midfield.
      Additionally, Kessie has been on Inter’s wish list since he moved to Barcelona from AC Milan on a free transfer last summer.
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      And ex-Inter boss Antonio Conte wanted to bring him to Tottenham in January.
      Despite Kessie’s impressive form in the second half of this campaign, the club have refused to rule out his sale, due to the ongoing economic situation.
      The Catalans finances are in huge jeopardy, with sky-rocketing debts expected to reach £1.3billion.
      Cash-strapped Barca will need to shuffle their finances again this summer in order to refine Xavi’s squad and remain competitive next season. More

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      Juventus have 15-point penalty REVERSED and the Serie A table looks very different

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      JUVENTUS have seen their 15 point Serie A penalty revoked pending a new trial.The added points will see the Serie A giants jump from 7th place to 3rd ahead of Jose Mourinho’s Roma.
      Juventus’s 15 point deduction has been revokedCredit: Getty
      Juventus have jumped up to third place in Serie A
      Juventus received the news just hours ahead of their Europa League quarter-final against Sporting Lisbon.
      The Italian outfit’s penalty was revoked pending a new trial to gain further clarity to the club’s capital gains controversy.
      This means that the FIGC Federal Court of Appeal will re-evaluate.
      The investigation will more than likely continue until after the current season ends.
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      This would mean that any punishment that Juventus does receive could come into effect during the 2023/24 campaign.
      However, the College of Guarantee of Sport have rejected the appeal of Tottenham director Fabio Paratici
      The Spurs chief was included in the punishment to Juventus after it was previously found guilty of orchestrating a transfer scam over three seasons.
      Juventus were accused of inflating transfer fees in dealings with other Italian clubs over three seasons to create millions of pounds in “capital gains” for tax purposes.
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      It was stated that Juve had manipulated the system to free up their spending powers in the market.
      Juve and eight clubs, including Sampdoria, Genoa and Parma, were initially acquitted in May.

      But that verdict was appealed to the Federal Appeals Court and Italian FA prosecutors asked the case to be reheard and for serious sanctions at a hearing in January.
      With the added 15 points, Juventus now boasts a total of 59 points, and have dropped AC Milan out of the Champions League places.
      However, the Turin-based side is still two points behind second-placed Lazio and 16 points behind runaway leaders Napoli. More