As Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo take football into a new stratosphere, the Champions League goal record is their latest battleground.

Having once again launched their quest for success this season on Europe s grandest stage, the game s two biggest stars are close to writing another entry into the history books.

It has long been a case of when and not if the 71 Champions League goal landmark of former Real Madrid and Schalke striker Raul will be surpassed.

Ronaldo has 69 in the Champions League proper; Messi is on 68.

Goalscoring immortality is imminent for one of them. Yet Ronaldo v Messi is a race that will run and run.

Football rarely produces such compelling rivalries between individual players but Messi and Ronaldo s exploits for sworn e…

Mikey Johnston has warned the Netherlands not to underestimate the Republic of Ireland as the Dutch attempt to book their place at the finals of Euro 2024.

Barring an unlikely sequence of events which would hand Ireland a play-off place, they will not be in Germany next summer, but the Netherlands will be if they can take maximum points from their remaining Group B fixtures against Stephen Kenny’s men and Gibraltar next month.

Monday night’s last-gasp 1-0 win in Greece as the Republic beat Gibraltar 4-0 in Faro left the Netherlands in pole position to claim second place behind France, but Celtic winger Johnston, who was on the scoresheet along with Evan Ferguson, Matt Doherty and Callum Robinson, is determined to end a disappointing campaign on a high.

Big wi…

Juventus captain Gianluigi Buffon has tipped AC Milan to threaten his side s six-year Serie A dominance this season following the Rossoneri s spending spree.
 
Milan s transformation has been headlined by the shock capture of Italy defender Leonardo Bonucci, a key ingredient of Juve s recent success and widely regarded as one of the world s best in his position.
 
Having also lured the likes of Andre Silva, Lucas Biglia and Franck Kessie to San Siro, Vincenzo Montella s men appear primed to challenge for their first Scudetto since 2010-11.
 
And Buffon expects Bonucci s defection to spark a competitive title race.
 
Leo felt he needed a new challenge and Milan intrigued him, Buffon told Gazzetta dello Sport.
 
Are Milan contenders? I think so… I look forward to a mor…

Kevin Doyle will join Colorado Rapids as their third designated player after the MLS outfit announced his signing from Championship side Wolves on Friday.

Doyle s deal is pending his visa, international transfer certificate and medical, while terms of the contract were not disclosed as he joins Gabriel Torres and Juan Ramirez as designated players in Colorado.

The 31-year-old s move to the United States ends his five-year association with Wolves, where he scored 30 league goals in 160 appearances since 2009.

I am delighted and very excited to be moving to the Colorado Rapids, Doyle told the Rapids official website.

With so many great players moving to MLS to join up with the great American talent already there, it s a great time to play in this league…

Barcelona have been handed a tricky last-16 tie with Catalan rivals Espanyol in the Copa del Rey, while Cadiz who progressed due to Real Madrid s expulsion will face Celta Vigo.

Holders Barca last met Espanyol in the Copa in the 2008-09 season, when  under the stewardship of Pep Guardiola they secured a 3-2 aggregate victory en route to winning the trophy.

Cadiz lost the first leg of their round-of-32 tie against Real 3-1, but Rafael Benitez s side were expelled from the competition after fielding the ineligible Denis Cheryshev who had yet to serve a ban from his time playing for Villarreal last season.

In Celta, Cadiz face a side that have lost just three times in La Liga this campaign and sit fourth having taken 28 points from 15 matches.

Other notab…

Talksport understands that Christian Eriksen is ready to re-open transfer talks with Tottenham Hotspur.

The Denmark international’s current deal runs to the end of next season though Spurs are keen to secure his services after the midfielder reiterated his fondness to the North London club.

The news comes days after Dele Alli penned a new deal, which will keep him at Tottenham until the end of the 2023/24 campaign.

Eriksen has been with Spurs since signing from Ajax in the summer of 2013 and he has since racked up two-hundred and thirty-two appearances in all competitions, scoring fifty-seven goals.

He was named Tottenham’s Player of the Season in both 2014 and 2017 and was part of the squad that reached the EFL Cup final in 2015.

Inte…

The Mirror understands that Manchester United will not stand in the way if Ashley Young wishes to secure a move away from Old Trafford next summer.

A number of clubs looked at Young during the recently closed transfer window with the player having just twelve months remaining on his current deal though he remains part of Jose Mourinho’s squad.

There is an option for the club to extend that deal by a further year next summer though they will allow him to seek a new challenge if he so chooses.

Young moved to the Red Devils from Aston Villa in the summer of 2011 and has since racked up one hundred and sixty-four appearances in all competitions, scoring fourteen goals.

He has won the Premier League, League Cup, FA Cup and the Europa League in that tim…

River Plate goalkeeper Marcelo Barovero was thrilled to see the club defy the doubters once more by claiming Copa Libertadores glory on Wednesday.

River earned their first Libertadores title in 19 years with a 3-0 second-leg victory over Tigres UANL on home soil at El Monumental, which secured an aggregate victory by the same margin. 

In the process, Barovero became the first keeper to keep a clean sheet throughout the Libertadores final since Boca Juniors Mauricio Caranta did so in the 2007 decider against Gremio.

Barovero, 31, said he was pleased to help contribute to the history of River, a club he joined from Velez Sarsfield in 2012.

[The win] is what all dreamed and wished for, Barovero said after helping secure River s third Libertadores crown…

Santiago Solari insists he is not suddenly worrying about his future as Real Madrid coach after Jose Mourinho was sacked by Manchester United having been linked with a return to the Santiago Bernabeu.

United ended Mourinho s tenure on Tuesday following a dire start to the season, which has left them trailing Premier League leaders Liverpool by 19 points.

Mourinho s final game in charge was Sunday s 3-1 defeat by United s bitter rivals, but his position had long since been the subject of speculation, the coach s relationship with various players coming under scrutiny.

The Portuguese coach has been linked with a potential return to Madrid – whom he coached for three years until 2013 – at the end of the season, despite Solari only taking over permanently last m…

Turin-based newspaper that Juventus are preparing an assault on Sampdoria midfielder Roberto Soriano.

The Bianconeri are still trying to recover from the disappointing start to the season and they are widely expected to make few more quality signings in January.

And with both Sami Khedira and Claudio Marchisio struggling through injury, adding a central midfielder to his ranks is one of the priorities for coach Max Allegri.

Tuttosport has suggested that Juventus are hot on the trail of Sampdoria hotshot Roberto Soriano, who has been linked with a big club move for over a year now.

The Serie A rivals hold very good relations having done plenty of business of late and it is believed they shouldn t have a problem finding an agreement eventually.

Ro…