Ruben Loftus-Cheek scored twice as AC Milan took control of their Europa League play-off against Rennes with a 3-0 victory in the first leg at San Siro.

Stefano Pioli’s men finished third in their Champions League group, but continue to build momentum on the back of just one defeat in 13 games now through all competitions.

Former Chelsea midfielder Loftus-Cheek put Milan in front in the 32nd minute with a glancing header and nodded home another at the start of the second half before Rafael Leao swiftly fired in a third, leaving the Italian giants within touching distance of a place in the last 16.

The Rossoneri almost took an early lead when Leao’s close-range effort struck the crossbar before Theo Hernandez blazed over from the edge of the penalty area follo…

What the papers say

Leicester have reportedly been approached over a potential transfer for Youri Tielemans. According to the Leicester Mercury, citing a report from La Gazetta dello Sport, Roma have made enquiries about the 26-year-old midfielder’s potential availability come the end of the season. Several other clubs, including Paris St Germain and Arsenal, have also shown interest in the out-of-contract Belgian.

Wolves midfielder Ruben Neves is off to the Camp Nou, according to The Sun. Via Spanish outlet Sport, the paper says the 26-year-old has agreed to a four-year deal with Barcelona, with Wolves’ sign off on the deal contingent on getting forward Ansu Fati in return. The 20-year-old is reportedly yet to agree to the move.

The Telegraph reports Nottingham For…

Crystal Palace midfielder Jason Puncheon has been fined £15,000 by the FA for comments on Twitter concerning former manager Neil Warnock.

Puncheon, who played for Warnock during a loan spell at QPR in 2011, made a number of allegations against the 65-year-old on the social media platform in January.

Warnock had questioned Puncheon s ability to handle pressure while speaking as a pundit on talkSPORT after the winger had missed a penalty in Palace s 2-0 defeat at Tottenham.

Puncheon responded with a string of tweets, which were subsequently deleted, questioning Warnock s integrity.

The 27-year-old was charged with failing to act in the best interests of the game and/or acting in a manner which was improper and/or using abusive and/or insulting words , which contra…

Aston Villa manager Tim Sherwood denies ever telling former striker Christian Benteke not to join Liverpool.

Benteke, 24, hit out at Sherwood on Thursday, saying his former boss had told him not to join Liverpool because they do not cross the ball .

Sherwood said he had never made such a suggestion to Benteke, who joined Brendan Rodgers team in a deal believed to be worth £32.5million.

I can t remember ever saying that, he must have dreamt that one, Sherwood was quoted as saying by The Mirror.

I would try anything to make him stay but I don t remember ever saying he shouldn’t go and play for Liverpool. I wouldn t be that disrespectful to that football club.

Benteke scored 42 Premier League goals in 88 appearances for Villa after joining the …

Boca Juniors midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur is undergoing a medical with Juventus ahead of his proposed move to the Serie A champions.

Juventus had an option to sign the 19-year-old for a set fee of €9.4 million to be exercised before April 20, 2017, as part of the deal that saw Carlos Tevez move in the opposite direction in July 2015.

Chief executive Giuseppe Marotta recently stated they planned to use their option to buy Bentancur and they are now set to act on that promise.

Bentancur came through the ranks of the Boca youth academy and made his first-team debut in April 2015, going on to establish himself as an important squad member.

Rodrigo checks in at ahead of a proposed move to from .

— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen)

Boca coa…

Hugo Lloris believes France team-mate and Manchester United star Paul Pogba is judged unfairly because of his transfer fee.

Pogba has come in for criticism due to the inconsistency of his performances since returning to United from Juventus for £89million in 2016 – a world-record fee at the time.

The World Cup-winning midfielder has also been the subject of reports of a falling out with United manager Jose Mourinho this season.

France and Tottenham goalkeeper Lloris, however, leapt to the defence of his 25-year-old international team-mate.

I don t watch all Manchester United games, Lloris said. But he [Pogba] has a status in the UK, maybe because of his huge transfer fee.

Sometimes people judge him not very fairly. Now he has more maturity, h…

Market: Konyaspor double chance

Odds: 7/10 @

Looking to spring an upset on their travels on Tuesday evening, Konyaspor will travel to the Sivas Stadium when they meet a downbeat Sivasspor.

Starting with the hosts, while Sivasspor might have easily dragged themselves away from a looming relegation scrap in 2023, Riza Calimbay’s squad are in the midst of a rather public Super Lig nightmare. Last seen putting in another downbeat display as they slumped to a routine 3-0 drumming away at Turkish heavyweights Fenerbahce, the Sivas-based outfit are destined to settle for a lacklustre bottom-half finish this month. Only showing a string of issues since opening May, the former Trabzonspor boss has seen his side muster just a single point from any of their last six appe…

Real Madrid have announced Toni Kroos – who was already in isolation – has tested positive for COVID-19, ruling him out of action for LaLiga s finale.

Midfielder Kroos missed Sunday s 1-0 win over Athletic Bilbao due to health and safety protocols having come into direct contact with a confirmed coronavirus case.

The Germany international had remained away from the club since Friday, when Madrid issued a statement revealing he had returned negative test results at that stage.

However, he will now miss the final game of the season for Los Blancos, who remain in the running to retain their league title in Spain.

Real Madrid announces that our player, Toni Kroos, tested positive in the COVID-19 test he underwent today,  a statement from the club read…

(GSM) Real Madrid boss Jose Mourinho finds himself dealing with an injury crisis with midfielder Mahamadou Diarra being the latest victim to a thigh injury.

The news is a blow to Mourinho as Diarra would be unavailable to play the La Liga opener, and has already lost defender Ezequiel Garay for up to four months with a dislocated kneecap.

The Bernabeu boss has two weeks to prepare his depleted squad for Madrid s opening game of the season away to Mallorca in two weeks time.

The 29-year-old has been struggling with his fitness after sustaining a serious knee injury in 2008, when he was sidelined for nearly a whole year and now the former Olympique Lyon stalwart faces a race against time to be fit for the trip to the Son Moix.

Meanwhile, Argentine Garay ma…

(GSM) Schalke 04 boss Felix Magath has revealed that he will not meet PSG s £16.5million price tag for Guillaume Hoarau.

The France international striker, who joined the Ligue 1 outfit in 2008 from Le Havre, scored six goals in 22 games for the capital giants last season.

After adding Raul from Real Madrid in their striking department this summer, the Royal Blues are still on the look-out for another striker.

However, the Bundesliga coach says that he is unwilling to pay PSG what they want for the 26-year-old.

Paris wanted 20million euros (£16.5million). That is not do-able for us, Magath told Bild.

Magath, who has recently been linked with a move for Roma s Julio Baptista, has revealed that he will not be following up his interest in Hoarau.<…