Wednesday, 18 December 2013
Ashes 2013-14: Michael Clarke wants 5-0 Australia whitewash
Australia won the Ashes for the first time since 2007 with a 150-run victory in the third Test in Perth that put them 3-0 up with two matches to play.
Managing director Ian Ayre has held the first meeting with the Uruguayan's agent in Barcelona and hopes to ward off interest from Europe's top clubs with a new big-money deal
Managing director Ian Ayre flew to Barcelona to hold talks with Suarez's agent, Pere Guardiola, on Tuesday and, although he did not offer a new deal, the meeting signals the Reds' intent to avoid another protracted summer saga.
It is understood that the club are prepared to pay their star forward more than £130,000 (€154,000) per week to stay at Anfield for the long-term.
Liverpool, under the stewardship of Fenway Sports Group, have traditionally been reluctant to open contract negotiations during the season but are desperate to fend off interest in the Uruguay international, whose current deal expires in 2016.
The 26-year-old has been in blistering form since returning from suspension for biting Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic, scoring 17 Premier League goals in 11 games and keeping his side just two points behind Arsenal at the top of the table.
Goal understands that Real Madrid are preparing to lay the groundwork on a £60 million (€70m) move in January, though the Spanish giants expect a deal to be more likely next summer.
Suarez spent the summer angling for a move away from Anfield in pursuit of Champions League football, which strained relations between the player, his agent and the club.
But he has put that behind with a string of exceptional displays and is now settled on Merseyside once more. Liverpool, for their part, believe that the striker's efforts were driven by Champions League ambition rather than financial reward and hope to offer him both next season.
After being named the Football Supporters' Federation's player of the year for 2013 on Monday, Suarez said: "After so many difficult moments for me I was able to win the supporters back, and that was unbelievable when I came back to play."
Leicester City 1-3 Manchester City
After Aleksandar Kolarov's early free kick opened the scoring, the
Bosnian striker took the game away from their Championship opponents to
reach the Capital One Cup semi-finals
Aleksandar Kolarov opened the scoring early in
the first half with a stunning 30-yard free kick and Edin Dzeko doubled
the visitors' lead just before the break with a close-range header.
The Bosnian striker piled more misery on Leicester eight minutes into the second half with his seventh goal in eight Capital One Cup appearances and City's 19th in six matches across all competitions.
The Foxes - the last Championship representatives in the competition - struggled to stretch Joe Hart but were able to grab a late consolation as Lloyd Dyer netted his seventh goal of the season.
The Bosnian striker piled more misery on Leicester eight minutes into the second half with his seventh goal in eight Capital One Cup appearances and City's 19th in six matches across all competitions.
The Foxes - the last Championship representatives in the competition - struggled to stretch Joe Hart but were able to grab a late consolation as Lloyd Dyer netted his seventh goal of the season.
Barcelona 3-0 Cartagena
Leading 4-1 from the first leg, the Catalans put the outcome beyond all doubt when Pedro struck just after the half-hour mark.
Cristian Tello doubled the Blaugrana's advantage with his 68th-minute strike before Neymar maintained his impressive scoring streak with a goal right at the death.
Cartagena faced an unenviable task in trying to turn around a three-goal deficit and their cause was hardly aided by the injury-enforced withdrawal of Eric Lopez after just six minutes of play at Camp Nou, with Fernando coming on in his place.
Barcelona, though, initially struggled to break the visitors down but they finally made the breakthrough in the 31st minute when Pedro swept home a fine cross from the right from Martin Montoya.
The Blaugrana only added a second midway through the second half, in fortuitous circumstances when Tello found the back of the net with a deflected attempted cross.
However, the Catalans sealed victory in fine style, with Neymar heading home his sixth goal in his last three games in all competitions after a terrific run from Andres Iniesta.
Up next for Barcelona is a Liga clash with Getafe on Sunday.
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