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Atalanta Boss Gasperini Blasts Lookman After Penalty Miss in Brugge Loss 

Football - Champions League - Knockout Phase Playoff - Second Leg - Atalanta v Club Brugge - Gewiss Stadium, Bergamo, Italy - February 18, 2025 Atalanta coach Gian Piero Gasperini before the match. (Reuters)
Football - Champions League - Knockout Phase Playoff - Second Leg - Atalanta v Club Brugge - Gewiss Stadium, Bergamo, Italy - February 18, 2025 Atalanta coach Gian Piero Gasperini before the match. (Reuters)
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Atalanta Boss Gasperini Blasts Lookman After Penalty Miss in Brugge Loss 

Football - Champions League - Knockout Phase Playoff - Second Leg - Atalanta v Club Brugge - Gewiss Stadium, Bergamo, Italy - February 18, 2025 Atalanta coach Gian Piero Gasperini before the match. (Reuters)
Football - Champions League - Knockout Phase Playoff - Second Leg - Atalanta v Club Brugge - Gewiss Stadium, Bergamo, Italy - February 18, 2025 Atalanta coach Gian Piero Gasperini before the match. (Reuters)

Atalanta coach Gian Piero Gasperini said his striker Ademola Lookman is "one of the worst penalty takers he has ever seen" after his miss from the spot hindered a comeback in their home 3-1 defeat to Club Brugge in the Champions League on Tuesday.

Lookman pulled back one goal early in the second half after Brugge took a 3-0 halftime lead, but then had a penalty saved by goalkeeper Simon Mignolet, as the Serie A side were knocked out with a 5-2 aggregate defeat.

Gasperini singled out the Nigeria international for criticism, adding offensive midfielder Charles De Ketelaere or striker Mateo Retegui should have taken the penalty instead.

"Lookman was not supposed to take that penalty, he is one of the worst penalty takers I've ever seen," the Italian manager told a post-match press conference.

"He has a frankly terrible record even in training, he converts very few of them. Retegui and De Ketelaere were there, but Lookman in a moment of enthusiasm after scoring decided to take the ball and that was a gesture I did not appreciate at all."

Gasperini also criticized Atalanta captain Rafael Toloi, who was shown a straight red card for a shove on Maxim De Cuyper after an argument over a throw-in.

"That was an ugly incident and we must never lose our heads," he said.

"Atalanta must leave the Champions League with dignity, having played great games against the likes of Real Madrid, Arsenal and Barcelona."

Atalanta, third in Serie A, became the second Italian side to exit the Champions League, following AC Milan, who drew 1-1 with Feyenoord, losing 2-1 on aggregate.

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Sports

De la Fuente: Spain's Carvajal in Race to Make World Cup Squad

FILE - Real Madrid's Dani Carvajal plays the ball during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Osasuna and Real Madrid in Pamplona, Spain, Feb. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Miguel Oses, File)
FILE - Real Madrid's Dani Carvajal plays the ball during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Osasuna and Real Madrid in Pamplona, Spain, Feb. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Miguel Oses, File)
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De la Fuente: Spain's Carvajal in Race to Make World Cup Squad

FILE - Real Madrid's Dani Carvajal plays the ball during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Osasuna and Real Madrid in Pamplona, Spain, Feb. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Miguel Oses, File)
FILE - Real Madrid's Dani Carvajal plays the ball during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Osasuna and Real Madrid in Pamplona, Spain, Feb. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Miguel Oses, File)

Spain manager Luis de la Fuente has not ruled Dani Carvajal out of his World Cup squad but said the right back must prove his fitness and form after the Real Madrid captain suffered a right foot injury in training last week.

"Carvajal is a very important figure in our dressing room," De la Fuente told reporters on ⁠Wednesday.

"I actually spoke ⁠with him yesterday, so I’m aware of what’s going on. He doesn’t have a specific injury, nothing serious, but he needs time to get back to his usual level.

"We’ll ⁠see in the remaining matches whether he truly gets the opportunity and delivers the performances."

According to Reuters, De la Fuente added that Carvajal, who made just one appearance for Spain in 2025, would understand if he was left out of the squad for the World Cup, which is being held in the United ⁠States, ⁠Canada and Mexico from June 11 to July 19.

Carvajal, 34, is approaching the final weeks of his contract with Real and has struggled for game-time this season amid competition from Trent Alexander-Arnold.

Spain begin their World Cup campaign against Cape Verde on June 15 and also face Saudi Arabia and Uruguay in Group H.

Sports

Dortmund Defender Suele to Retire at End of Season

FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - FIFA Club World Cup - Quarter Final - Real Madrid v Borussia Dortmund - MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey, US - July 5, 2025 Borussia Dortmund's Niklas Sule during the warm up before the match REUTERS/Jeenah Moon/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - FIFA Club World Cup - Quarter Final - Real Madrid v Borussia Dortmund - MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey, US - July 5, 2025 Borussia Dortmund's Niklas Sule during the warm up before the match REUTERS/Jeenah Moon/File Photo
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Dortmund Defender Suele to Retire at End of Season

FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - FIFA Club World Cup - Quarter Final - Real Madrid v Borussia Dortmund - MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey, US - July 5, 2025 Borussia Dortmund's Niklas Sule during the warm up before the match REUTERS/Jeenah Moon/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - FIFA Club World Cup - Quarter Final - Real Madrid v Borussia Dortmund - MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey, US - July 5, 2025 Borussia Dortmund's Niklas Sule during the warm up before the match REUTERS/Jeenah Moon/File Photo

Borussia Dortmund defender Niklas Suele will retire at the end of the season, the 30-year-old said on Thursday.

Suele, capped 49 times by Germany, began his career at TSG Hoffenheim before joining Bayern Munich in 2017, where he won five league titles as well as the Champions League in 2020. He moved ⁠to Dortmund in 2022.

In ⁠an appearance on the Spielmacher podcast on Thursday, Suele said he made the decision to hang up his boots after injuring his knee during a ⁠match against Hoffenheim last month.

“When I went for an MRI the next day and received the good news (that it wasn’t a cruciate ligament tear after all), it was 1,000% clear to me that it was over," Reuters quoted Suele as saying.

"I couldn’t imagine anything worse than looking forward to ⁠life – ⁠being independent, going on holiday, spending time with my children – only to then have to come to terms with my third cruciate ligament tear."

Dortmund, second in the standings, host Eintracht Frankfurt on Friday before finishing their league campaign with a trip to Werder Bremen on May 16.

Sports

Roma's Champions League Return Back on as Milan, Juve Wobble

Donyell Malen has scored 12 times for Roma since signing from Aston Villa. Filippo MONTEFORTE / AFP/File
Donyell Malen has scored 12 times for Roma since signing from Aston Villa. Filippo MONTEFORTE / AFP/File
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Roma's Champions League Return Back on as Milan, Juve Wobble

Donyell Malen has scored 12 times for Roma since signing from Aston Villa. Filippo MONTEFORTE / AFP/File
Donyell Malen has scored 12 times for Roma since signing from Aston Villa. Filippo MONTEFORTE / AFP/File

Roma have a return to the Champions League firmly within their sights ahead of Sunday's trip to Parma as both Juventus and AC Milan's hope's of finishing in Serie A's top four are threatened by the resurgent capital club.

A hammering by new champions Inter Milan a month ago seemed to signal the end of Roma's hopes of ending a long absence from Europe's top club competition.

But 10 points from their subsequent four matches have taken Roma to within one point of fourth-placed Juventus, with Milan only two further points ahead in third, said AFP.

"We're going well, but we know that we cannot make any mistakes if we're going to have any chance of making the Champions League," coach Gian Piero Gasperini said after last weekend's thumping of Fiorentina.

"We've got three matches that we have to get right and hope that others don't."

Roma have found form at just the right time, and Gasperini has solidified his position at the helm after a battle with Claudio Ranieri seemed to have put his job at risk.

Ranieri was dismissed from his role as senior advisor to Roma's billionaire American owners a fortnight ago, after a spat between him and Gasperini boiled over in public just before the 3-0 thumping of Pisa which began this recent hot run of form.

The Friedkin family has decided to put their faith in Gasperini, who is liked by fans even after his row with local boy and lifelong Roma fan Ranieri, in the hope he can break the club back into the Champions League.

Roma haven't played in Europe's top club competition since being knocked out by Porto in the last 16 seven years ago but their prospects of doing so are looking up with three matches remaining this season.

Also playing into Roma's hands is how Milan's form has fallen off a cliff, Massimiliano Allegri's team picking up just seven points since beating Inter two months ago.

That derby win looked to have reopened the league title race but Milan have scored just once in five matches and are now looking over their shoulders at Roma, with Como also only three points off the top four.

Making things worse for Milan, who have Atalanta at the San Siro on Sunday night, is midfield lynchpin Luka Modric missing the rest of the season with a cheekbone fracture, and his absence was keenly felt at Sassuolo last weekend.

Parma have nothing to play for and Roma's final opponents Verona are already relegated, but sandwiched between those two fixtures is the Rome derby, with Lazio always keen to give their neighbors a bloody nose.

Player to watch: Donyell Malen

With 12 goals since arriving on loan from Aston Villa in January, Malen has been the star of Gasperini's Roma team in the second half of the season.

The Netherlands striker has become a key player and has provided cut and thrust to Roma's attacking in a similar way to some of the best players of Gasperini's nine hugely successful years at Atalanta, like Ademola Lookman or Alejandro Gomez.