Inaki Williams broke the record for most consecutive games in LaLiga history by featuring in Athletic Bilbao's win over Deportivo Alaves on Friday.

The forward made his 203rd successive appearance in the Spanish top flight, and it was marked with a victory as Athletic prevailed 1-0 thanks to Raul Garcia's 44th-minute strike.

One of only two players to feature in over 200 consecutive LaLiga matches, Williams surpassed the long-standing record previously held by former Real Sociedad defender Juan Antonio Larranaga, who played for Los Txuri-Urdin between 1980 and 1994.

The one-time Spain international, who joined the club from Pamplona in 2012, began his sequence when appearing as a substitute during Bilbao's 1-0 defeat by Atletico Madrid in April 2016.

He has subsequently featured in every domestic match since, helping the club achieve four top-10 finishes along the way.

Williams, who made his senior debut in December 2014, led Bilbao in scoring in the 2018-19 season, including finding the net on 13 occasions in LaLiga.

He recently played his 300th game for the club on September 11, celebrating the personal milestone with a goal in a 2-0 victory over Real Mallorca.

Marcelo Gallardo has made clear he plans to see out his contract with River Plate amid links to Barcelona.

Ronald Koeman is the head coach at Camp Nou but his time in charge could be coming to an end, despite Barca being unbeaten in LaLiga so far this season.

Wednesday's 3-0 defeat away to Benfica in the Champions League means the Spanish club have lost back-to-back group games in the competition in the same campaign for the first time in 21 years.

Koeman also has a fractured relationship with Barca president Joan Laporta, leading to speculation the Dutchman is on his way out. Gallardo is one of those seen as a potential candidate to take over, though the former Argentina international responded to the rumour on Friday.

Speaking to the media ahead of the huge game against Boca Juniors on Sunday, Gallardo said: "I am focused on the Superclasico and also everyone knows that my thought and my decision is to fulfill the contract with River.

"I have no reason to be distracted by other things and thoughts of others. I have a contract and a commitment to River.

“I want to continue connected with what it means to be River's coach and it never crossed my mind to leave the club."

Gallardo's deal with his current employers expires at the end of the year. Reports in Spain suggested he had already been contacted by Barcelona, though he refused to confirm or deny such speculation.

"If they contacted me or not, what's the point of revealing it," he added.

"The only thing I can say is that my goal is to end the contract with the club. Then we will see, but my focus is on the game against Boca."

Koeman is set to take charge as Barca visit reigning LaLiga champions Atletico Madrid on Saturday, though the Catalan club do not then play again until October 17 due to the upcoming international window.

As well as Gallardo, Belgium national team boss Roberto Martinez and Barcelona legend Xavi have been rumoured as potential options to become the new head coach, along with Italian duo Antonio Conte and Andrea Pirlo.

Jannik Sinner recovered from a slow start to reach the semi-finals of the Sofia Open with a straight-sets victory over James Duckworth.

The top seed won just two points across the first three games but took a first set that featured four breaks and lasted over an hour.

Duckworth broke in the first game of the second but eventually ceded that advantage and the frustrated Australian could not prevent Sinner from breaking again to claim a 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 win to set up a last-four clash with Filip Krajinovic, who prevailed in three sets against Kamil Majchrzak.

Gael Monfils will feature in the other semi-final after brushing aside Gianluca Mager 6-2 6-2, booking a meeting with American Marcos Giron.

It is a second semi-final in as many weeks for Monfils, who also reached the last four in Metz.

Giron will contest his first Tour-level semi-final following a 6-4 6-2 defeat of John Millman.

"Nothing is easy," Monfils said. "We have been putting in work for nearly four days here. Working on my serve and my forehand and it worked perfectly today. I will be ready for Marcos. He has been playing very well, so I think it will be a tough semi-final."

Diego Simeone is full of respect for Ronald Koeman and sympathises with his opposite number's current situation as Atletico Madrid prepare to host Barcelona in LaLiga.

Atletico lost their previous league match against Deportivo Alaves and are aiming to avoid suffering consecutive defeats in the competition for the first time since 2019.

Simeone's side sit in fourth and have won just one of their last 11 top-flight home games against Barca, who are unbeaten in their first LaLiga six matches this term, though there is mounting pressure on head coach Ronald Koeman.

Reports suggest the under-fire Koeman is soon to be relieved of his duties at Camp Nou, but Simeone spoke highly of the Dutchman ahead of Saturday's meeting in the Spanish capital.

"He will surely be in an uncomfortable situation and, on our side, I imagine that all of his colleagues respect him as a coach and he will surely always do well," Simeone told reporters at Friday's pre-match news conference.

"I am not the one to value anything. I respect Koeman very much, he has shown personality and I wish him the best. As for the transition, we are very busy with ourselves and we do not worry about what happens on another team.

"We think about the value of the rival players, Barcelona has great footballers, a very good coach with a lot of personality and we focus on doing well ourselves, improving ourselves."

The fixture may well signify the end for Koeman, who will be absent from the touchline after his dismissal against Cadiz, but it also sees Luis Suarez go up against his former club once again.

The forward has scored against 30 of the 31 opponents he has faced in LaLiga, with Barca the only side Suarez has failed to find the net against so far.

However, Simeone insisted there was no change in motivation for Suarez, while he also praised the versatility of Antoine Griezmann following his return to the club from Barcelona.

"I see him [Suarez] as always, since he arrived here, with the same hunger, enthusiasm and we try to empower him that the best thing he has is the goal," Simeone said.

"We always put him [Griezmann] where he normally plays. Footballers always have a privileged place, I like to play here.

"The important thing is where the team needs it and Antoine I have no doubt that where we put him, the other day as a midfielder, I am sure he can help us wherever we put him."

Alejandro Del Rey made history as he carded a sensational record-breaking 14-under par round of 58 at the Swiss Challenge on Friday.

The Spaniard was in danger of missing the cut before signing for the lowest score to par on a major golf tour.

Del Rey made three eagles and eight birdies at Golf Saint Apollinaire, surging up the leaderboard to put himself in contention for the title a day after he went round in 74.

The 23-year-old joins Jim Furyk, Stephan Jager, Ryo Ishikawa and Kim Seong-hyeon as the only golfers to have carded a 58 on major tours, with that quartet having achieved the feat with 12-under rounds on par-70 courses.

Del Rey said: "I really enjoyed it, it (the course) suits my game pretty well. I think the key for me is trying to stay patient out there, I am going to have a lot of putts for birdie, I let myself go a little bit yesterday and missed a lot of them.

"I just did pretty well today when I dropped the first couple and I stayed pretty patient when I missed a couple again, then I just went back at it.

"It was just great golf all round and for a round like that you need a couple of good bounces, which I got today. I definitely managed to drop some putts out there, but I think the key was that my driving was just great today. I hit every fairway super deep and every hole I managed to hit wedges in and managed to hit some chips, it was just a great all-round golf performance."

After his stunning score, Del Rey accepts that he will have to start afresh in round three, albeit he has catapulted himself into contention.

"I should take a nap because I need it, but I don’t know if I am going to be able to take a nap right now because I'm pretty pumped," he added.

"Tomorrow is a whole new day, and that's golf, I shot a 74 yesterday which is kind of crazy, so it's just another round. I'm just going to go out there and shoot as low as possible."

Lando Norris believes he can benefit from the heartbreak of dramatically missing out on victory at the Russian Grand Prix.

Norris was three laps away from claiming his maiden Formula One victory but was denied by rain in Sochi last Sunday.

He spun off the track after the decision was made that he would stay out on slicks, eventually finishing seventh as Lewis Hamilton claimed a 100th F1 win.

The McLaren driver was left devastated having come so close to his first win but says he will learn from the painful experience.

"It's not just something people say, it definitely is true [that tough experiences make you stronger],” Norris told F1.com.

"You do learn probably more from the hard moments. You always learn things. Even if you win a race, you can learn things.

"Definitely when you have to make these split-second decisions, when it's not an easy decision, and you need so many different factors involved, there is a lot of things you can learn.

"I feel like I have a long career in F1, it's nice in a way to get it out early, so that when these things arise in the future, or in my future years in F1, I’ll be able to react better."

The 21-year-old expressed his gratitude for the support he has received since the race in Russia.

"I got quite a few messages and not necessarily from drivers. Obviously everyone within McLaren and a lot of people even from different sports," he added.

"It was more of a time when people see it as an emotion-attached sport, rather than cars driving round in circles, as lot of people like to say.

"So I guess they saw the feelings we have as drivers, the passion we have for the sport, the desire to win. You want to do the best job you can for the team.

"I got a lot of messages from a lot of people which in some ways help. There were a lot of 'Your time will come!' But no matter what, they definitely helped."

Barcelona club legend Andres Iniesta says it is his 'wish' to return to Camp Nou at some point after he hangs his boots up.

The central midfielder made 674 appearances in Blaugrana colours across all competitions over 16 years in the senior squad, scoring 57 times.

At 37 years old, the Spain great is still playing for Vissel Kobe in Japan, having joined from Barcelona in 2018, and has won an Emperor's Cup and a Japanese Super Cup since.

His contract with the J1 League club runs until January 2024, after which the veteran may decide to retire from playing and potentially return to Catalonia.

"Yes, [returning to Barcelona] is something I wish," Iniesta told the BBC. "I would like it to happen because more than anything it is the club I spent so many years in.

"You don't know what will happen in the future, you don't know in what way I could return or who will be the people in charge at a certain moment.

"So there are many factors which make it hard to see what will really happen, but if you ask me if I would like to, the answer is yes."

However, the scorer of the Spain's World Cup-winning goal in 2010 has not yet decided what role he would like to pursue when he ends his playing career.

"Sometimes I would like to coach, sometimes I think my interests go into other directions," Iniesta continued. "I know I want to stay in football and when I finish as a professional I would like to get a coaching licence, but I don't know if I will use it in the future.

"There's nothing where I wake up in the morning and think 'I want to do this', so for now I will enjoy playing, training and will see what happens in the future."

Barcelona find themselves in a difficult position, with head coach Ronald Koeman under pressure after successive 3-0 Champions League defeats to Bayern Munich and Benfica.

Iniesta reflected on the differences between the side he played in and the current team, reaffirming his affection for the club regardless of their circumstances.

"Barca has always been characterised by being a team that wants the ball and wants to keep the ball," said Iniesta. "In the time of Guardiola, the football itself didn't change but it was a time where teams were really looking at us and trying to learn."

"I will always see Barcelona in a good way because I still see a different team. Many things have changed since then. Naturally the players are different but there is still an idea, a concept.

"Sometimes there will be good times and sometimes there will be worse times, like it has always been, but personally I don't like comparing too much."

Massimiliano Allegri warned Torino will be preparing for the "match of their lifetime" against Juventus in Saturday's Serie A clash.

After opening their campaign without a win in four league games, Juve finally picked up a victory against Spezia before defeating Sampdoria to string together back-to-back 3-2 triumphs.

Federico Chiesa then inspired Juve against Chelsea as he fired in the fastest second-half goal in Champions League history, claiming a 1-0 win as Allegri's resurgent players continue to turn around their season around.

However, the Bianconeri have conceded in each of their last 20 top-flight games – only conceding more consecutively in 1955 (21) – and Allegri warned that local rivals Torino could prove tougher opponents than Chelsea.

"For Torino this will be like the match of a lifetime," Allegri told Friday's pre-match news conference ahead of the key away match.

"It's the derby and they're preparing for it to the maximum. It will be even more difficult than Wednesday.

"On paper, we have five fewer points than expected. We have to recover them at every step.

"On Saturday we have to improve our position in the table a bit more. The Derby della Mole is the perfect opportunity, also with the fans returning to the stadium."

Juventus have lost only one of their last 30 Serie A meetings with Torino, but the pair meet on the same number of points (eight) for the first time since October 2015.

Despite earning a well-deserved three points against Chelsea on Wednesday, Allegri is expecting Torino to provide a different challenge.

"On Wednesday night we felt the closeness of the stadium that had great enthusiasm and passion," he continued. "It filled me with joy, both for the team and for the atmosphere.

"Against Chelsea, the game went well in a certain way. We have another one on Saturday. We will have to be good at finding spaces.

"[Ivan] Juric has given great quality to Torino. They're a team that gives away very little. We will have to be switched on and give as good as we get.

"Let's try to bring home a win in order to go into the international break in the best possible way. Let's make the most of the positive energy of the moment."

Ronald Koeman seemingly accepted that his time as Barcelona head coach is up but has questioned whether his replacement will do a better job with the players available.

Wednesday's 3-0 loss to Benfica – making it back-to-back defeats to begin a Champions League campaign for the first time in Barca's history – has upped the pressure on Koeman.

Amid a run of one win in five matches in all competitions, reports from Spain on Friday suggest this weekend's trip to Atletico will be the Dutchman's last in charge.

Barca president Joan Laporta is said to have made the decision in the wake of the heavy loss in Lisbon and a replacement will reportedly be brought in during the international break.

While Koeman has yet to discuss his future with Laporta, the ex-Netherlands boss admits the reports in the Spanish and Catalan press are telling.

"The club hasn't told me anything, really," he said at a news conference on Friday previewing his side's clash with Atletico. 

"I found out that the president was here this morning but I didn't see him. We were training but I'm still the same. 

"I have ears and eyes and I already know that a lot of things leak. Surely it's true but to me, once again, he has not said anything to me.

"I am not the most important thing, but the team. I am here for the love of the club. I came here during a complicated situation – more complicated than the first day.

"Everyone has their opinion but I am only interested in the players and the Atletico game."

Luis Enrique and Roberto Martinez, in charge of Spain and Belgium respectively, ruled themselves out of the running to replace Koeman this week.

A number of other high-profile names have been linked, but Koeman – who saw Lionel Messi depart for Paris Saint-Germain in August – feels the situation will remain the same.

"I don't know if another coach would be able to get more out of this side," he said. "There are a lot of young players here.

"There's been talk about the system, but that's because players are unavailable. There are no wingers. The job of the coach is to work with the players available.

"If I had a bag of money, I would still have Messi here and other players alongside him. If we recover attacking players, we can have a strong and young squad."

Jordi Cruyff, who was appointed as a sporting advisor by Barca in June, is another who has been tipped to succeed Koeman in the coming days or weeks.

"I talk to Jordi every day," Koeman said. "But what we talk about stays between us. From the first day he told me he was not going to take over as the club's coach."

Koeman has been under pressure since the end of last season and the 58-year-old has regularly had to defend his position.

"I'm tired of doing that," he said when asked to highlight the work he has done in his 14 months at the helm.

"We have done important things during a period of change. One day I will speak and say what I think."

Asked for his best and worst moments in charge, Koeman said: "It seems I'm out but the best was signing for the club, the worst was Messi's departure."

Koeman's immediate focus is on the match with Atletico, who have beaten Barca just once in their last 11 league meetings in the Spanish capital.

A victory for the Catalan giants would move them above the champions in the table, though Koeman is expecting another tough test.

"We are sides with different styles, but they both lead to winning many things," he said. "They were deservedly champions last season.

"It's difficult to create chances against them. They are great at defending their area and you have to be very good with the last pass. Only by scoring can you beat them."

Young midfielder Pedri and full-back Jordi Alba have both been ruled out of the match through injury.

Borussia Dortmund boss Marco Rose has welcomed Gareth Southgate's decision to leave Jude Bellingham out of England's latest squad.

Teenage midfielder Bellingham was a surprise omission from Southgate's 23-man group on Thursday after impressing for Dortmund in his second campaign at the club.

Southgate explained he left out the 18-year-old due to fears of burnout, with Manchester United's Mason Greenwood overlooked for the same reason.

Bellingham's 802 minutes of playing time this term is the most of any England-qualified player in Europe's top five leagues when taking all competitions into account.

Since making his Dortmund debut on September 14 last year, the Birmingham City academy product has played 56 matches, 43 of those coming from the start.

Rose is therefore grateful that the youngster will be given a chance to rest up.

"I think it's a good decision," Rose said at a news conference on Friday previewing his side's Bundesliga clash with Augsburg. "The reason is obvious to me.

"In spite of his capabilities, he is an 18-year-old and has very little rest. We have to take care of the boys and not burn them out. That's why I welcome the decision."

Bellingham's team-mate Erling Haaland will play no part in Saturday's visit of Augsburg as he continues to recover from a thigh injury that has ruled him out of the last two games.

Haaland has been named in Norway's squad for this month's World Cup qualifiers against Turkey and Montenegro, but Rose revealed the striker will not link up with his national side.

"We're going to keep him here for the time being and make the best possible use of the time," Rose said.

"He's asked every day when he can return, so the rest will do him good. He's going to stay here for the time being."

The loss of Haaland for another game will be a major blow for Dortmund, as he has scored 68 goals in 67 games since making his debut in January 2020.

Only Bayern Munich's Robert Lewandowski, with 86 goals in 71 games in all competitions, has scored more times during that period among players from Europe's top five leagues.

Dortmund have won their past three Bundesliga home matches against Augsburg, with their only defeat in the last 10 meetings coming in February 2015. 

Juventus' players are working to ensure that Cristiano Ronaldo's absence is not felt following the forward's recent move to Manchester United, according to Juan Cuadrado.

Ronaldo scored 101 goals in 134 appearances during a three-year stay at the Allianz Stadium, which surprisingly came to an end in August when he returned to United.

Only Kylian Mbappe (111), Lionel Messi (120) and Robert Lewandowski (143) scored more goals than Ronaldo in all competitions across that period from Europe's top five leagues.

The Portugal captain has made a great start to his second spell at Old Trafford with five goals in as many matches, including a late winner against Villarreal in the Champions League on Wednesday.

Juventus, meanwhile, have made a slow start to their Serie A campaign and sit 10th after six matches, albeit having won their last two games in the competition.

While acknowledging Ronaldo's importance to the side over the past few years, Cuadrado insists no player can be considered bigger than Juventus. 

"We know his class and what he represented for us," Cuadrado told La Stampa. "But the most important thing is Juventus. We are working to avoid his absence being felt."

Juve beat Chelsea 1-0 in the Champions League in midweek to make it three victories on the spin in all competitions ahead of Saturday's Derby della Mole showdown with Torino.

Cuadrado has been involved in four goals in his past three Serie A games against Torino – scoring one and providing three assists – for a tally that is more than any other Juve player since 2020.

Juve have lost only one of their past 30 league meetings with their city rivals – a 2-1 defeat in April 2015 – but Cuadrado is expecting a tough contest this weekend.

"I see them as a more solid team than in the past," Cuadrado said. "It will be a special challenge for us and the fans. A battle.

"But in this moment, any match for us would be important. We are behind where we want to be in terms of points, but there are many more matches to play.

"We believe in ourselves. It is in our DNA to fight until the end."

Roberto Martinez says he has had no contact with Barcelona amid reports he is a contender to replace Ronald Koeman.

Barca boss Koeman is reportedly on the brink of being sacked following a 3-0 Champions League defeat at Benfica on Wednesday.

Martinez is a close friend of Barcelona sporting advisor Jordi Cruyff's and president Joan Laporta is said to be an admirer of the Belgium head coach's work.

However, Spaniard Martinez has played down talk that he could be set to return to his homeland.

"There is absolutely nothing. There are no contacts," Martinez told Belgian newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws 

"The basis of my friendship with Jordi is that we separate the private from the professional.

"At no time did I ask Jordi what my situation was in Barcelona. I don't think he has the function of appointing a possible new coach."

Martinez is under contract with the Red Devils until after the World Cup in Qatar next year and says he is focused on the job in hand, with a Nations League semi-final against Italy to come next Thursday.

"I would love for us to be the first European country to qualify for the World Cup in Qatar. That is the challenge after the Nations League final," he added.

"But in football you never know what will be done tomorrow. I wake up every morning as Belgium coach until the last day of my contract, but I realise that many circumstances can arise along the way."