Mauricio Pochettino has called for "unity" at Paris Saint-Germain following fan protests during their 1-0 win over Rennes on Friday.

PSG were made to work hard for their three points against the only team to have beaten them in Ligue 1 so far this season.

Kylian Mbappe eventually scored in the 93rd minute, but that strike did little to appease frustrated supporters.

The Collectif Ultras Paris group sent a powerful message as one end of the Parc des Princes was left empty for half an hour at the start of the match, while various banners were later unveiled.

The supporters took issue with a range of issues relating to their club, with PSG's indifferent displays this term – despite a 16-point lead in the league – not helping matters.

This comes as PSG prepare for their biggest match of the season at home to Real Madrid on Tuesday in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie.

"We need unity," Pochettino said, speaking after the Rennes game. "The fans are very important for a club and they have the right to express themselves, but we need unity.

"We are entering an important moment of the season and we need to be together.

"As I always say, we can sit down at the end of the season to try to correct things, because there are probably things to improve so that our club continues to be one of the biggest in the world."

On the pitch, there remains a clear contrast between PSG's brilliant back-line and a blunt, expensively assembled attack.

The leaders have kept five consecutive home Ligue 1 clean sheets under the same coach for the first time since Unai Emery's side had six in a row in 2016.

And PSG's unbeaten run in the league has now stretched to 15 in the longest active sequence across Europe's top five leagues.

But Pochettino's men had just one shot on target across the entire match, which saw only two including one for Rennes – the lowest total in a Ligue 1 game this season.

A little too accustomed to leaving it late, that sole effort on target was Mbappe's goal and meant PSG have now earned eight points thanks to strikes from the 90th minute onwards.

Porto and Sporting CP played out a 2-2 draw at the Estadio do Dragao on Friday, but wild scenes at the end saw four players shown red cards.

Sergio Conceicao's Porto had come from 2-0 down to level the match and then went close to a 96th-minute winner when a corner almost fell to Pepe to score.

An overhead kick clearance saved the visitors, however, and Pepe went down holding his face.

Sporting's players felt the former Real Madrid man was trying to buy a penalty, despite the final whistle having been blown, and soon numerous players and staff from both teams were squaring up on the pitch, with stewards and the officials attempting to restore calm.

Amid the melee, referee Joao Pinheiro sent off Pepe and Porto team-mate Agustin Marchesín, as well as Sporting duo Joao Palhinha and Bruno Tabata.

Sporting had already seen Sebastian Coates sent off early in the second half for two yellow cards.

After an early Paulinho header, a lovely team move ended with Nuno Santos making it 2-0 after 34 minutes as Sporting played from back to front, Pablo Sarabia eventually squaring for Santos to double Sporting's lead.

Ruben Amorim's side were eager for a win to close the gap in the Primeira Liga title race, but Fabio Vieira pulled a goal back just four minutes after Santos's strike, before a Mehdi Taremi header with 12 minutes remaining levelled things.

Following the late drama, Porto stay six points clear of Sporting at the top of the table and moved 13 ahead of third-placed Benfica, who have played a game fewer than their two rivals.

A late goal from Kylian Mbappe saw Paris Saint-Germain extend their lead at the top of Ligue 1 to 16 points with a 1-0 win against Rennes on Friday.

The PSG number seven had been his team's brightest spark but had to wait until the 93rd minute for a trademark goal from Lionel Messi's pass to spark relief at the Parc des Princes.

To that point, this had hardly been a performance from Mauricio Pochettino's men to leave their upcoming Champions League opponents Real Madrid quaking in their boots.

But Mbappe made the difference against the only side to have beaten PSG in the league so far this season.

Keylor Navas was forced to tip the ball behind in the seventh minute when Benjamin Bourigeaud's volley into the ground threatened to loop in before the goalkeeper intervened.

Mbappe was predictably a thorn in the side of the away team and came close to giving PSG the lead late in the first half when he bent a shot just wide of the far post from the left corner of the penalty area and then hit the post shortly afterwards.

The dynamic Mbappe had the ball in the net on 64 minutes when he raced onto a Messi throughball and rounded Dogan Alemdar before slotting in, but the flag went up and the goal was chalked off.

It looked like the hosts would have to settle for a point only for Messi to find Mbappe just inside the penalty area, and he made no mistake as he placed a low shot past Alemdar and into the net past Alemdar's.

Wayne Rooney said his "judgement was affected" when explaining comments he made about wanting to injure an opponent while playing for Manchester United against Chelsea in 2006.

The Reds Devils' all-time leading goalscorer, now manager at financially stricken Championship side Derby County, recounted how he changed his studs to the "long metal ones" as he wanted to "hurt someone" when recalling his mindset ahead of the game at Stamford Bridge.

Former Blues captain John Terry, an ex-England team-mate of Rooney's, later tweeted to say: "@WayneRooney is this when you left your stud in my foot?", although the addition of laughing face emojis suggested there were no hard feelings.

Rooney has provided an explanation of his comments to the Football Association and said how he believes his mental health was behind his feelings to want to hurt an opponent.

The Derby boss actually suffered a broken metatarsal in that match following a challenge with Paulo Ferreira.

"I think, as I said, I've been very open about my state of mind. And as I've said, a couple of nights ago, that was a feeling," he told a news conference ahead of Derby's Championship clash with Middlesbrough.

"I didn't go onto the pitch and say, 'right, I'm going to hurt and injure someone'. That was a feeling I had. 

"And obviously, I had a tackle with John Terry, which was a good, honest, 50-50 tackle between two players, no issues, and obviously the FA have asked for my response to that. And I've given them my response. So, there's not really much to say on that.

"I gave them my response yesterday, so they haven't responded.

"It's obviously private what I've said to the FA, but I'm sure if you look at how I've said things on that, I'm sure you'll have an idea of what I've said.

"There's not really much more to say. I've given my response to the FA, as asked, and I'll wait for what comes back from them.

"I spoke to people to try and help me get through that [period], which was the toughest part really at the start.

"In doing this documentary ['Rooney' – the Amazon Prime Video film], I had to be open and honest and some very hard subjects personally for me to talk about.

"I've been getting media exposure since I was 16 and I've been judged on many things.

"Sometimes it was my own fault, but I wanted to give my point of view of feelings I had, when you're down and you're struggling inside. Your judgement is affected.

"Seeing some of the young players' decisions they're making over the last couple of years, and seeing them get judged and not knowing what the causes of that is, whether they're struggling as well."

Matt Turner will join Arsenal from the New England Revolution in June after the long-expected deal was confirmed on Friday.

The United States goalkeeper will formally complete his move to the Gunners when he takes a medical, but that is all that stands between the 27-year-old and a switch to the Premier League.

It marks a major step in Turner's career, with a fee of £7.5million reportedly agreed as Mikel Arteta brings in a player who was goalkeeper of the year in Major League Soccer last season, and one who will provide competition for Aaron Ramsdale.

Previous winners of the MLS award include Brad Friedel, Tim Howard and Zack Steffen, who all moved on to the Premier League.

Turner's club said in a statement: "The New England Revolution have agreed to terms for goalkeeper Matt Turner to join Arsenal of the English Premier League in a summer transfer for an undisclosed fee pending completion of a medical."

He will remain at Gillette Stadium for now and is free to play for New England in the CONCACAF Champions League as well as the early stages of the 2022 MLS season, which begins later this month.

New Jersey-born Turner was not picked by any MLS side in the 2016 SuperDraft, but New England signed him up after a successful trial, since when he has established himself in MLS and gone on to international honours.

He has 16 caps to date for the US national team, keeping 11 clean sheets across those games.

Theo Hernandez has signed a new long-term deal with Milan that will run through to the end of the 2025-26 season.

The France international has been a key figure for Milan since joining from Real Madrid in July 2019, earning a reputation as one of the finest attacking full-backs in European football.

Hernandez has been linked with Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain, but the defender – who had been due to be out of contract in July 2024 – has now put pen to paper on fresh terms with Milan.

The Serie A club said: "AC Milan is pleased to announce that Theo Bernard Francois Hernandez has renewed his contract with the club until 30 June 2026.

"Theo joined the Rossoneri in the summer of 2019 and immediately showed his qualities on the pitch, earning the admiration and affection of AC Milan fans all over the world."

Hernandez has featured 105 times for Milan across Serie A, the Coppa Italia, Champions League and Europa League since making his debut in September 2019, putting him level with Franck Kessie for the most appearances over that period with the Rossoneri.

He has had 37 goal involvements in all competitions (19 goals, 18 assists), a tally bettered only by Zlatan Ibrahimovic (45) among Milan players since Hernandez's first outing.

Indeed, only three defenders in Europe's top five leagues have been directly involved in more goals across the same stretch – Achraf Hakimi, Robin Gosens (both 39) and Trent Alexander-Arnold (45).

Hernandez's new contract is reported to be worth €4.5million a year, a big increase on his previous salary.

Pep Guardiola has braced Manchester City for an assault by Liverpool on their Premier League supremacy.

City's lead stands at nine points after 24 matches, although second-placed Liverpool have a game in hand, and the manner of the Reds' 2-0 win over Leicester City on Thursday spoke of their continuing belief.

A dip over the Christmas and New Year period cost Liverpool substantial ground in the title race, but they are looking sharp again for Jurgen Klopp, setting up the prospect of a tantalising final few months of the season.

City and Liverpool are due to meet on April 9 at the Etihad Stadium, and that could yet be a pivotal moment in the title race.

"If we want to fight to win the Premier League, we will have to win an incredible amount of points against these opponents that we've faced in the last seasons many, many times," City manager Guardiola told a news conference on Friday.

"The margin against Liverpool is nothing. We have to win a lot, a lot, a lot of games. We have to get more than 90 [points] - 95, 96 to be champions.

"I'm pretty sure of that right now."

Reigning champions City have reached 60 points through 24 games, and if they carry on at that rate they are on course to hit 95 points for the season, while winning every game would take them to 102 for the campaign.

Liverpool can post a maximum of 96 points if they win their 15 remaining fixtures, and Guardiola does not expect the Reds to drop many.

Guardiola, whose team face Norwich City at Carrow Road on Saturday, spoke about Liverpool's threat amid a broader point on how he expects his City players to perform week-in, week-out.

He says he was raised in a culture at Barcelona, since he was a youth player, to take nothing for granted, no matter how sunny the outlook might seem. 

"I was born in Barcelona and I grew up in the academy. They taught me everything and the best way, even there, is [to think] that everything can go wrong," Guardiola said.

"We've made an incredible run so far in the Premier League, and now Liverpool is there behind the corner. That shows how difficult our opponent is, how good it is.

"It's not about the mentality, because these players have showed in the last years they're not scared. [The aim is] to face every single game with optimism and being positive, but knowing that of course we can lose by being bad and drop points.

"This is not the issue, it is how you behave in the moment when you are losing games."

He recalled a moment in City's midweek win over Brentford when Kevin De Bruyne rushed back to help out John Stones in defence, pointing to that as an example of how to give everything.

"You can lose. Of course you're going to lose, nobody wins always," Guardiola said.

"But it's the way you lose. You can lose in different ways. Many times when we lose, we lose as a great team, and you become a great team with the way you lose, not the way you win, and we have to continue this way."

Guardiola spoke once more about Riyad Mahrez, who has scored in each of his last seven appearances for City across all competitions. The last player to score in more consecutively for the club was Sergio Aguero in the 2013-14 season (eight games).

Asked whether Mahrez was in the prime of his City career, Guardiola said: "No, last season was his best moment. He can still do better this season to reach the level he reached in the last four, five, six months of last season. Last season was outstanding, the way he played and produced."

Guardiola has a win rate of 88 per cent against English managers in the Premier League (P66 W58), the highest of any manager to take charge of five or more such games.

His four games against Englishman Dean Smith, Norwich's former Aston Villa boss, have all been won by an aggregate score of 13-2.

However, Norwich have won seven points from their most recent three Premier League games this season, just one fewer than they had taken from their previous 12 fixtures (W2 D2 L8).

Smith is looking to become the first Norwich manager to go unbeaten for four Premier League matches since Chris Hughton in February 2013.

The visitors have other ideas, with Guardiola's City having won nine and drawn two of their 11 away games in the league since an opening defeat to Tottenham.

It is close to perfection, but Guardiola pointed out that is an unattainable goal in football.

"A team will never be perfect," said the former Bayern Munich and Barcelona head coach.

"As a human being, we are imperfect. Perfection doesn't exist in sports, especially in football."

Aston Villa winger and Jamaica international, Leon Bailey, is in contention to return to the team’s line-up ahead of its match-up with a resurgent Newcastle on Sunday.

The 24-year-old, who moved to the club from Bundesliga outfit Bayer Leverkusen last summer, has not featured for the team since December when he was forced to leave the field after sustaining a thigh injury against league leaders Manchester City.

Aston Villa manager Stephen Gerrard had insisted that the player would not be rushed back into action but confirmed earlier this week that Bailey was back in full training and likely to feature soon.

“He’s back in the group and back in full training. He’ll continue to be pushed in the coming days. He has an outside chance of being involved at the weekend, but we’ll assess that in the coming days,” Gerrard said.

Bailey has had a stop-start season to life with the Villans after sitting out the early weeks of the club’s campaign with injury issues and then picking up a thigh injury, during a high-octane cameo against Everton in September.

He has a goal and two assists in nine Premier League games this term and has started on four occasions.

Bayern Munich head coach Julian Nagelsmann has no favourite for Super Bowl LVI and may well not be awake to take it in regardless.

The Los Angeles Rams take on the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday in California, though it will be beyond midnight in Germany by the time the game starts.

This week, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell announced Germany would stage four NFL games over the next four seasons, starting from the 2022 campaign.

Indeed, it will be Bayern's Allianz Arena that hosts the first NFL regular-season game to be played in mainland Europe, with Frankfurt the other venue.

With the Super Bowl dominating headlines in the lead-up to this weekend, Nagelsmann was quizzed on his preference ahead of the Rams-Bengals clash.

"I don't have a favourite. My favourites have all been eliminated," Nagelsmann explained in a news conference on Friday.

"I don't have one favourite team. I have a connection to the Kansas City Chiefs, but I also find the Green Bay Packers interesting."

He then quipped: "Most of the time, when I watch the Super Bowl I fall asleep at halftime because I have a [lot of] work to do."

Asked if he is excited by the prospect of the NFL coming to Germany, following its success of staging games in London over recent years, Nagelsmann joked: "The anticipation in Germany is very great... when I get tickets!"

In total, five NFL regular-season games will be played outside the United States next season.

Three will take place in London, one in Munich and one in Mexico.

Julian Nagelsmann will be "sad" to see Niklas Sule leave Bayern Munich but reiterated that the centre-back remains a crucial player for the remainder of the season.

It was confirmed last month that Sule would not be signing a new contract with Bayern. His current deal expires at the end of 2021-22.

And despite links to several Premier League and LaLiga clubs, it was revealed on Monday that Sule had agreed to join Bayern's Bundesliga rivals Borussia Dortmund at the end of the campaign.

That decision was questioned by Bayern chairman Herbert Hainer earlier this week, as he queried why Sule would take what he views as a step down rather than go for a potentially more lucrative move to England or Spain.

Nagelsmann, however, has maintained his balanced view of the situation, having recently defended Sule following criticism from Bayern great Karl-Heinz Rummenigge.

"I don't judge it at all because it's not my decision, it's not my life," he told a news conference ahead of Bayern's game with Bochum. 

"Of course I'm sad because I've been with him for a long time. These are normal processes in football, that players leave us on a free transfer.

"But we still have to get along and make it clear that Niklas is still our player until June 30, and we want the title with greed.

"I can understand that fans are frustrated. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose."

Sule joined Bayern from Hoffenheim in 2017 and has made 159 appearances for the club, winning four Bundesliga titles and two DFB-Pokal crowns, as well as the 2019-20 Champions League.

This season, he has played in 19 Bundesliga games, making 21 interceptions and winning 31 aerial duels.

Asked if Tanguy Nianzou, a 19-year-old who joined Bayern from Paris Saint-Germain in 2020, may step up to replace Sule next season, Nagelsmann replied: "Tanguy is a talent, but he's getting to an age when he has to play consistently. 

"There are moments when he plays outstandingly, then there are moments when he plays hair-raising bad passes. That's certainly due to the lack of rhythm.

"The coach has to take responsibility for that, but that creates a vicious cycle, you don't get any game practice and therefore no consistency.

"He has a very great asset and that is his aggression and his unconditional will to defend. Now he has to work on his consistency."

Nianzou has made just 21 appearances for Bayern so far, with just four of those being starts.

Chelsea are eager to fly out Thomas Tuchel to the Club World Cup final, as Jorginho said the head coach could make all the difference.

Tuchel tested positive for COVID-19 in the lead-up to the trip to the United Arab Emirates, with Chelsea announcing that blow to their preparations last Saturday.

The Champions League winners beat Al-Hilal 1-0 in the semi-finals without Tuchel on the touchline, thanks to a Romelu Lukaku goal, and now they are preparing to face Palmeiras in the final.

Brazilian giants Palmeiras, holders of the Copa Libertadores, were 2-0 winners against Al Ahly and will present tough opposition for Chelsea.

Saturday's trophy match is one that Tuchel would want to attend, and Chelsea reportedly have a private jet on standby, but he needs negative test results before he can be cleared to travel to Abu Dhabi.

Asked about preparing for the game without Tuchel, Jorginho said: "Of course it's different. His energy helps a lot, but he's not here now and the staff is trying to do their best. We can feel that.

"We feel sorry Thomas is not here with us, but he's involved all the time, in touch with the staff and team. We can feel the staff, all of them, are doing their best."

It would help, however, if Tuchel can be present in person, rather than making plans from afar.

"Of course it gives you more," Jorginho said. "There's more energy in the changing room. It'll be really important for us if he could be here. That's what we hope but at the moment we just don't know. We can hope."

Chelsea assistant boss Zsolt Low, set to lead the team if Tuchel cannot make the trip, added: "We still hope he can come and enjoy the group and the final as soon as possible.

"He is following the rules and getting tested. There is a lot of time. Any test he does could be negative. We hope this happens in the next hours. Thomas absolutely thinks he can be there, and the team and the whole staff want him to come for the final.

"We hope he can come, but if he cannot, we are still well prepared. We have had a lot of meetings. We had a video conference after the first game analysing it, and seeing what we can do better and what problems we had. We are absolutely clear what happened in the first game and what we have to do better in the second game."

Chelsea have yet to decide whether goalkeeper Edouard Mendy, back from helping Senegal win the Africa Cup of Nations, should come back into the team in place of Kepa Arrizabalaga.

"We have to take this decision tonight or latest tomorrow," said Low. "We talk to Thomas about it, we talk with the goalkeeper coaches, and we will make the final decision tomorrow, some hours before the game.

"Whoever sits on the bench has nothing to be worried or sad about. Both goalkeepers have had big performances in the last weeks, and that's why it's just a decision for this game."

Jorginho will be targeting another major trophy, after his Champions League win with Chelsea and Euro 2020 triumph with Italy last year.

"It's an important trophy. It's February. It's so much. We really want it. We're not thinking about the Premier League right now, we're thinking about tomorrow," Jorginho said. "That's the important thing right now."

This will be the fourth Club World Cup final between an English and a Brazilian side, making it the most commonly contested final by teams from two specific nations.

Brazilian sides have won three of their four games against English opposition at the tournament, the exception being a 1-0 defeat for Flamengo against Liverpool in the 2019 final.

Chelsea lost to Corinthians in the 2012 final, and Palmeiras are bidding to become the fifth Brazilian winners of the competition.

Palmeiras certainly head into the final in strong form, having achieved a 10-game unbeaten run across all competitions (W7 D3), with their last defeat coming back in November against Fortaleza in the league.

Things have not quite gone to plan for Cristiano Ronaldo in his second coming at Manchester United.

The Red Devils are out of both domestic cup competitions and sit well off the pace of Premier League leaders Manchester City, making an unlikely Champions League triumph their remaining hope for silverware this season.

Ronaldo is enduring a five-game goal drought and, according to a report, he could choose to end his second United spell after only one season.

TOP STORY – RONALDO WANTS MENDES TALKS OVER FUTURE

Cristiano Ronaldo will speak with his agent after growing disillusioned with life at Manchester United, according to the Daily Star.

The forward is hoping to speak with Jorge Mendes when he is back in Portugal for March's World Cup play-off against Turkey about his options after the end of the season.

Ronaldo, whose contract runs until the end of 2022-23, wants to see who will be appointed as United's next permanent manager – but he is not in favour of giving the job to interim boss Ralf Rangnick.

ROUND-UP

- Paul Pogba is also looking to leave Manchester United this year when his contract expires, but he will have to accept a pay cut to get a move abroad that he wants, the Mirror says.

- A possible replacement for Pogba could be Youri Tielemans. Het Nieuwsblad reports Leicester City have dropped their asking price for the midfielder, who is wanted by United and Arsenal.

- Real Madrid rejected the idea of signing Dusan Vlahovic, now at Juventus, because they are putting everything into getting Paris Saint-Germain star Kylian Mbappe, says Cadena Ser.

- However, AS reports Madrid are still seriously interested in Borussia Dortmund's Erling Haaland, which could scupper Robert Lewandowski's hopes of moving to the Spanish capital.

- Juve defender Matthijs de Ligt is flattered by interest from Chelsea and Barcelona, Sport Mediaset claims.

- Barca are also desperate to sign Haaland and will therefore prioritise cut-price deals for defenders, says ESPN. Chelsea trio Cesar Azpilicueta, Andreas Christensen and Marcos Alonso are on their shortlist.

It took a 74th-minute goal from Marco Asensio for Real Madrid to see off Granada on Sunday, as Carlo Ancelotti's side capitalised on Sevilla's slip-up against Osasuna.

A 0-0 draw in Pamplona meant Madrid's victory saw them move six points clear of their nearest rivals in the title race. Both Los Blancos and Sevilla have played 23 games.

Ancelotti's team remain favourites to clinch the crown, though last week's defeat to Athletic Bilbao in the Copa del Rey, and a previous 2-2 draw at home to Elche, showed they are far from infallible.

The former Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain boss made six changes for the Granada match (the most for Madrid from one game to another this season), which came hot on the heels of the defeat to Athletic, but by and large he has chosen to rely on a core group of players so far this term. 

However, with the return of the Champions League this month and LaLiga matches set to come thick and fast between now and May, might fatigue catch up with Madrid as the run-in approaches? 

The key performers

In total, 13 players have started 10 or more of Madrid's league matches. Of the teams placed second to fifth in LaLiga, Atletico Madrid (15) and Real Betis (14) have had more players start at least 10 games, while Barcelona and Sevilla have both used fewer (11) from the off.

Thibaut Courtois, unsurprisingly, has played in every top-flight game. He has kept eight clean sheets (five goalkeepers in LaLiga have kept more) and recorded a save percentage of 74.4 – among goalkeepers with at least 16 saves, only two have a better record than the Belgian.

He has played 2,070 minutes, conceding 20 times from 78 shots on target faced, while his expected goals on target (xGOT) conceded figure of 20.9 suggests he has not overly exceeded expectations when it comes to shot-stopping. Essentially, Courtois has conceded as many goals as would be expected given the quality of efforts he has faced.

Eder Militao has played (and started) 22 times, with David Alaba featuring on 21 occasions (also all starts). The defenders have accumulated 3,863 minutes between them in the league, and have contributed to the attack too, with seven direct goal involvements combined.

Karim Benzema has scored 17 goals from his 21 LaLiga appearances, while Vinicius Junior has been a real success story of Ancelotti's second spell so far. The Brazil winger has directly contributed to 17 goals in 1,694 minutes, averaging a goal or an assist every 99 minutes.

Fringe players to step up?

Luka Modric, Toni Kroos, Ferland Mendy, Asensio, Lucas Vazquez, Federico Valverde and Dani Carvajal have also reached double figures for league starts, while back-up options Rodrygo, Nacho Fernandez, Eden Hazard, Eduardo Camavinga, Isco and Luka Jovic have at least featured in a minimum of 10 games.

Hazard's time at Madrid has been plagued by injuries, but when called upon he has proved useful, creating 3.3 chances per 90 minutes played, which ranks highest out of the players to have played at least 25 minutes.

Isco's troubles from last season have continued but the playmaker still has guile and craft, with 2.4 chances created per 90 minutes suggesting he too can make an impact in the run-in. Gareth Bale, though, has made only three appearances in LaLiga, scoring just once, and it does not seem like he will be a man Ancelotti calls on too often even when fit.

With Vinicius suspended on Sunday, Ancelotti handed Rodrygo a chance to shine on the left flank. The youngster had three shots – second only to Asensio (eight) – but crafted just one goalscoring opportunity. Indeed, across his 18 LaLiga games this season, he is yet to score and has provided a solitary assist.

Jovic, meanwhile, has never hit the heights he previously did at Eintracht Frankfurt, though the Serbia forward does of course play second-fiddle to the evergreen Benzema. He has scored just one league goal from 12 substitute appearances this term.

Only Benzema and Vinicius have reached double figures for LaLiga goals so far in 2021-22, while the same pair are also the only Madrid players with five or more assists. Given the lack of end-product from his back-up brigade, it is no surprise Ancelotti wants to stick with the tried and tested.

But, has there been any drop-off?

Let's take a look at Madrid's most-used attackers in LaLiga this term, starting with Benzema.

The 34-year-old has kept scoring consistently through the season. However, despite being Madrid's top assister (seven), all of those came before the end of September.

There's an argument that his game time should have been managed better as well. Prior to the start of November, he completed the full 90 minutes of eight of Madrid's 10 league games – he clocked up 80 and 88 minutes in the other two.

Since that period, although he has technically only played a full league game four times, on two other occasions he played 89 minutes – it's worth noting that he was apparently suffering with his current muscular injury as far back as December and now appears a doubt for their upcoming Champions League clash with Paris Saint-Germain.

Vinicius, on the other hand, has been a consistent creator of chances, if not always providing assists. His last appearance, against Elche, saw him have 97 touches (his highest tally this season), craft four opportunities (his second-best effort of 2021-22) and engage in 25 duels, another season-high. He has registered over 1.0 xG twice in his last six games and against Elche attempted 13 dribbles, one shy of his season-best from August, showing his attacking output is not suffering as the season goes on.

As a team, Madrid have made seven, 12 and eight high turnovers across their last three league games respectively, up from a slight drop-off (five and three) in their previous two outings. Indeed, that figure of 12, achieved against Elche, is their highest of the campaign, suggesting any fatigue is not impacting Madrid's ability to press just yet.

If anything, Madrid are pressing more efficiently as the season has gone on. Their passes allowed per defensive action (PPDA – a metric that can quantify the extent and aggression of high presses) has dropped from an average of 19.6 in a six-game span between November 6 and December 12, to a median of 11.6 across the six fixtures since.

This is reflected by their high turnover total improving from 31 to 46. Madrid rank joint-10th in LaLiga for high turnovers (147), but no team has had more shots from such situations (37) and only two teams (Getafe and Celta Vigo, both on six) have scored more goals than Los Blancos (four) from these scenarios.

Ancelotti is not renowned for employing a high press, but when his team do hunt the ball in their opponent's territory, they continue to be highly efficient, a scary thought for their rivals.

Even if Madrid have relied on a select group of players more than others, they are not showing many signs of dropping off the pace.

Juventus head coach Massimiliano Allegri hailed new signings Dusan Vlahovic and Denis Zakaria but acknowledged his side were lucky to edge past Sassuolo in the Coppa Italia. 

Paulo Dybala fired in the opener at the Allianz Stadium after just three minutes in Thursday's quarter-final, but Hamed Traore soon restored parity 

Allegri's side twice struck the woodwork in the second half, with Matthijis de Ligt missing a gilt-edged opportunity, but a late winner arrived when Vlahovic's effort deflected past Gianluca Pegolo after an attempted Ruan block. 

Victory meant Juve have qualified for the Coppa Italia semi-finals in seven of the last eight seasons, while no side has made it past the quarter-final stage on more occasions than the Bianconeri (10) since the 2006-07 season. 

Much of the credit Allegri gave to his players after the game was aimed at new additions Zakaria and Vlahovic, the latter of whom made a January move from Fiorentina in a transfer that could be worth up to €80million. 

"We are happy with the signings of Vlahovic and Zakaria, who have integrated well," Allegri told Mediaset. 

"We are happy to have Vlahovic, who still needs to improve as much at attacking the depth better, but this is part of the improvement of each player.  

"We also had luck after a good second half, their goal made us leave the game but then we woke up." 

Juve's fortunes have slowly been changing. They have won nine of their 13 games since the start of December and have moved up to fourth in Serie A – eight points behind leaders Inter, who have a game in hand. 

But when asked if Juve could make a late charge for the Scudetto, Allegri swiftly dismissed the suggestions: "We are potentially 11 points behind Inter.  

"We have to make the race against Atalanta and we will have to be ready: it will be head-to-head until the end. The others are out of reach." 

Vlahovic may take the plaudits, including from Allegri, for his role in the winning goal, but he failed to replicate the form he showed when scoring on his debut against Hellas Verona last Sunday. 

The striker missed the target with three of his five shots, while also squandering a glorious first-half chance, but the Serbia international expressed his satisfaction with how he is settling in as he heaped praise on his attacking colleagues Dybala and Alvaro Morata. 

"We are only at the beginning, but as I said last time, I owe a lot to my team-mates, to the coach, to the whole club, who have welcomed me very well, they are helping me a lot," Vlahovic said. 

"It would not have been possible without the team. For me it is an honour to play here, to help my team-mates and to be available to the team. 

"They [Dybala and Morata] are two very good guys, after great champions, great players, they have won a lot. I'm the youngest, I'm here to listen to them and try to reach their levels." 

The Bianconeri will look to continue their fine run of form when they return to Serie A action against fellow top-four contenders Atalanta on Sunday. 

Atalanta director general Umberto Marino was unhappy with what he believed was a "serious error" to allow Nikola Milenkovic's 93rd-minute winner to stand as Fiorentina triumphed 3-2 at Gewiss Stadium in the Coppa Italia quarter-finals. 

A ninth-minute Krzysztof Piatek penalty was overturned by goals from Davide Zappacosta and Jeremie Boga to give Atalanta the lead. 

Piatek equalised with 20 minutes remaining after having a penalty saved by Juan Musso, before Milenkovic hit a superb volleyed winner in the last few seconds of stoppage time. 

La Viola – who also had Lucas Martinez Quarta sent off with 10 minutes remaining for a second yellow card – celebrated wildly, but the hosts were unhappy the VAR chose not to overturn it, believing Giacomo Bonaventura was offside in the build-up. 

Speaking after the game, Marino told Sport Mediaset: "I can only congratulate Fiorentina and accept what happened. There are games when you get the feeling it is an uphill struggle for you and nothing is going to go your way. 

"Fiorentina always seem to have penalties against us, I don't know if they were the right decisions or not, but it's the third goal where we have serious problems. 

"Merih Demiral told me there was no foul for the free-kick that led to the goal, but I also have to ask if that Marten de Roon touch was sufficient to put Bonaventura back onside, then I have evidently understood nothing about football over all these years. 

"Mistakes can happen even with VAR, unfortunately they are happening a bit too often, including in Serie A. Not seeing an offside like that is in my view a serious error. 

"It is disappointing to miss out on a semi-final because of an incident like that in the 93rd minute. It is a serious error, I repeat, but errors are part of sport. 

"We simply have to accept them and move on." 

Fiorentina boss Vincenzo Italiano admitted he took a risk on the set-piece that led to the winner, sending several players forward in an attempt to avoid extra time with a man fewer. 

"It was a game where I think before their equaliser, we were controlling the situation and had chances to go 2-0 up, but they equalised at the first opportunity," he said. 

"At the end, I called everyone forward on the free-kick because there was genuine fear of playing extra time down to 10 men. We were aggressive, brave and lucky too to believe right to the very end."