Football

Italy coach Antonio Conte believes that players of Italian descent should be free to decide whether they want to play for the "azzurri".

Andre Gomes scored one goal and assisted on another to lead Valencia to a 4-0 win at Elche and strengthen their hold on third place in the Spanish league.

Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal will retire from football when he leaves his job at Old Trafford.

Ibrahimovic was sent off in the first half after he went into a tackle with Chelsea midfielder Oscar provoking an orchestrated display of fury by the Chelsea team.

The hearing in Parma was uncontested and lasted only 10 minutes in front of judge Pietro Rogato.

City were knocked out of the Champions League on Wednesday to leave the EPL without a representative in the last eight of Europe's elite club competition for the second time in three years.

Monaco won 3-1 in London three weeks ago but were overwhelmed by a dominant Arsenal side in the return game, although Wenger was left to rue missed chances.

Monaco withstood Arsenal's onslaught to reach the quarters despite a 2-0 home defeat, advancing on the away goals rule after drawing 3-3 on aggregate.

Luca Toni scored twice to hand modest Verona a 2-0 win over Napoli which increased the pressure on coach Rafael Benitez in Serie A.

Blanc's side visit Stamford Bridge for the second leg of their last-16 clash with the tie in the balance after the two teams drew 1-1 in Paris three weeks ago.

"I know what will happen if we do not make it to the next round of the Champions League. Bayern is a big club," Guardiola said.

Manchester United's home defeat by Arsenal, eliminated the team from the FA Cup on Monday.

Ancelotti told previewing the Schalke game he was not about to drop any of his three forwards or switch tactics and insisted he had full faith in them.

"Both players were charged in relation to an alleged breach of FA Rule E1[a] in that in or around the 38th minute of the fixture they spat at each other," the FA said in a statement.

The France striker was attended to by medical staff for about four minutes and was wearing an oxygen mask as he was carried off the pitch on a stretcher.

Van Gaal claimed that Di Maria is still struggling to adapt to English football.