Paolo Maldini has urged Milan to make the most of their Champions League run after conjuring memories of the great Rossoneri sides he represented.

After last month s 1-0 win at home to Tottenham, Wednesday s goalless draw on the road was enough to help Milan into the competition s quarter-finals for the first time since the 2011-12 season.

Milan endured a run of seven campaigns without Champions League football prior to returning to the competition last season – a far cry from the success of Maldini s playing days.

The technical director, who helped Milan win five European crowns as a player, was delighted to see the Rossoneri s current crop record a notable continental win of their own.

You suffer more as a director, but your focus is different. When …

Al Nassr showed Rudi Garcia the door on Thursday and handed little-known Croatian Dinko Jelicic the chance to boss Cristiano Ronaldo in the Saudi Pro League.

Roma head coach Jose Mourinho had been linked with a possible Ronaldo reunion, having coached the Portuguese at Real Madrid.

Spanish newspaper AS this week claimed Mourinho had been offered a two-year contract worth €100million.

For now at least, Al Nassr have put Jelicic in charge, promoting him from his position in charge of their under-19 team.

The Riyadh-based club said: Al Nassr can announce that head coach Rudi Garcia has left the club by mutual agreement.

The board and everyone at Al Nassr would like to thank Rudi and his staff for their dedicated work during the past 8 months.

…

Scotland fans have suffered more frustration in the process of buying Euro 2024 tickets after a blunder delayed the much-awaited start of the sale.

The Tartan Army were still reeling from the sobering impact of the ticket prices for the opening match with Germany following the high of Saturday’s draw, when the sale was called off less than an hour before it was due to start at noon on Wednesday.

Scotland Supporters Club members with 12 or more loyalty points were due to be sent codes to use on UEFA’s ticket portal on the morning of the sale but too many received it.

An email to fans read: “Due to a technical error, UEFA EURO 2024 codes have been sent out to Scotland Supporters Club members who are not eligible to buy tickets at this stage.

STATEMENT…

Billy Dodds was more than pleased to confirm that striker Billy Mckay has signed a new two-year deal with Inverness Caledonian Thistle.

Across his three spells with the Championship club, Mckay has played 246 games and has scored 100 goals and is just one goal away from equalling Dennis Wyness’ club goalscoring record.

The 34-year-old had been linked with fellow Championship side Ayr United but has decided to stay in the Highlands.

Head coach Dodds told the club’s official website: “We’re delighted that Billy has extended his stay with the club.

“Billy is a key player for us, he was our top scorer last season and is an ultimate professional.”

“While he had offers from a number of clubs, some of whom were competitors in the Championsh…

Competition: Euro 2016
Market: Spain to win against Turkey
Odds:

Defending champions Spain square off with Turkey at the Allianz Riviera for their second Euro 2016 Group D clash tonight, and are expected to come out on top to seal their place in the knockouts with a game to spare. Spain have started well in the tournament, while Turkey could find their hopes of progression very slim if they lose again.

Spain are top of Group D with three points from their opening game of the Euros, beating the Czech Republic by a single goal, and they’re expected to dominate their clash against Turkey. Vicente Del Bosque’s men were coming into the tournament off the back of wins against Bosnia Herzegovina and South Korea, and their last-gasp win over Czech sees them in g…

Philippe Clement stated that he is “not Harry Potter” as he warned Rangers fans not to expect too much too soon against Hibernian on Saturday.

The 49-year-old Belgian took over as boss at Ibrox on Sunday following the departure of Michael Beale and inherited a seven-point gap between the Light Blues and cinch Premiership leaders Celtic.

Jose Cifuentes returned from international duty with Ecuador with a knock and Tom Lawrence and Rabbi Matondo remain out.

Midfielders Ryan Jack and Todd Cantwell are back in the squad although the latter, along with attacker Kemar Roofe, is not fit for 90 minutes. Brazilian striker Danilo, who is recovering from a severe facial injury, is available again.

The former Genk, Club Brugge and Monaco boss referenced Potter, t…

Jordi Alba filled in for his absent Inter Miami stars Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez as the Herons made it three MLS wins on the spin with a 2-1 victory over Nashville SC.

With his former Barcelona team-mates Messi and Suarez away at the Copa America, Alba provided the stardust as he volleyed home in the 44th minute on Saturday to put the away team 2-0 up.

The Spaniard s sensational strike, which came with an expected goals (xG) value of just 0.01, arrived four minutes after Ian Fray had headed home from Julian Gressel s corner to nose Miami ahead.

Yannick Bright s clumsy challenge on Tyler Boyd provided Hany Mukhtar the chance to drag Nashville back into the contest in the second half an opportunity the German duly took from the penalty spot.

Forster Ajago…

Matthijs De Ligt believes the Netherlands have every chance of claiming their first international trophy since 1988 at Euro 2024.

De Ligt, who will be featuring in his third major tournament for the Oranje in Germany, did not feature in the final four games of their qualifying campaign through injury.

The 24-year-old endured another stop-start season with Bayern Munich, making 22 appearances in the Bundesliga and was left on the bench as the Netherlands concluded their preparations for the competition against Iceland earlier this week.

De Ligt has made 45 appearances for his country and is one of the more experienced players within Ronald Koeman s ranks heading into the tournament despite his age.

However, De Ligt is confident that the selected 26-man gr…

Spain captain Sergio Busquets has tested positive for COVID-19 just eight days before the team are due to begin their Euro 2020 campaign.

The news was announced on Sunday by the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), which said Tuesday s planned friendly against Lithuania would now see Spain represented by the Under-21 team.

That is one of a number of measures being taken to avoid any further risks before Spain begin the upcoming tournament, with the entire squad isolating.

Spain, coached by Luis Enrique, start Euro 2020 against Sweden on June 14 in Seville.

The RFEF s statement read: The RFEF regrets to announce that its captain Sergio Busquets has given a positive result in the last PCR test that was carried out this morning at the national team tra…

Liam Gordon remains steadfast in his belief that St Johnstone can recover from their disastrous start to the season and preserve their cinch Premiership status.

The Perth club are five points adrift at the foot of the table and without a manager after Steven MacLean was sacked in the wake of Saturday’s 4-0 defeat at St Mirren – a ninth successive league match without a win.

Alex Cleland is in interim charge for Wednesday’s match at home to Kilmarnock, and captain Gordon is confident Saints – who have been in the top flight since 2009 – can get themselves out of their grim predicament in the months ahead.

“I 100 per cent believe we can turn it round quickly,” he said. “We’ve got a good squad here. We just need to start putting together performanc…