Luciano Spalletti bemoaned Frank Anguissa's "unfair" dismissal as Napoli were dealt another absentee blow in Wednesday's Champions League quarter-final defeat at Milan.

The Napoli midfielder was dismissed for two bookable offences in the space of four second-half minutes as Ismael Bennacer's 40th-minute strike proved the difference in a 1-0 win for Milan at San Siro.

Spalletti was already without injured striker Victor Osimhen, and his replacement Giovanni Simeone, with Anguissa's suspension adding another name to Napoli's growing list of absentees.

The Napoli coach was left unimpressed by referee Istvan Kovacs' decisions but insisted the Serie A leaders have capable replacements heading into next week's return leg in Naples.

"I have nothing to say, commenting after the matches is wasted time, there's no turning back," Spalletti told Sky Sport.

"At this point, every absence is a blow for us, but we have someone who replace him. It's been like this for the whole season, otherwise we wouldn't have the results we have managed.

"We trust the group, but it's a pity we won't have Anguissa because I think it's unfair... It was planned to replace him, I was looking at who to bring on in the three substitutions, I was missing the third.

"The regret is that he played two more minutes while I decided. I'll think about what I did, the referee won't comment, [UEFA Referees' Committee chairman Roberto] Rosetti will do it.

"From what I've seen, Anguissa gets a lot of ball... Let's look at the yellow card for [Piotr] Zielinski and the one not given to [Rade] Krunic."

Milan have caused Napoli issues twice in the space of 10 days, hammering the Partenopei 4-0 in Serie A before overcoming Spalletti's side in Europe.

Stefano Pioli's men are the only team to beat Napoli more than once this season, with two of the Partenopei's five defeats coming against Milan.

The Rossoneri are also the only side to have stopped Napoli scoring in more than one match this term, while Milan have scored six goals this season against Spalletti's side – twice as many as any other team.

Spalletti was still pleased with what his side offered, though, and hailed the efforts of Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan, who made an impressive five saves.

He added: "We had a great attitude, I congratulate the team on how they tried to play the game, even outnumbered. And congratulations to Maignan."

Milan have progressed from seven of their previous nine two-legged ties in the Champions League knockout stages after winning the first clash, while they have lost just one of 10 all-Italian match-ups in Europe.

Yet Napoli captain Di Lorenzo remains confident when Pioli's men visit the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium for Tuesday's second leg.

The Italy international told Amazon Prime Video: "We are a quality squad, to go through you have to win at home, we hope there will be a good atmosphere, as always this year."

Carlo Ancelotti was pleased with Real Madrid's commanding 2-0 win against Chelsea but stressed they must be ready to "fight and sacrifice" in the second leg at Stamford Bridge.

Madrid look set to advance to the Champions League semi-finals for the third consecutive season after they breezed past Frank Lampard's out-of-form side at the Santiago Bernabeu. 

Goals from Karim Benzema and Marco Asensio either side of a red card for Ben Chilwell rounded out a dominant performance from the reigning champions, who will travel to London for the return match next week.

The defeat leaves Chelsea without a goal in four games in all competitions, but Ancelotti remained steadfast that Los Blancos would need to work hard to finish the job in the second leg.

"I know football really well and my players understand that we have another 90 minutes to play, and it will be difficult, and we have to be ready," he told BT Sport.

"We won 2-0, we took advantage of this game, but it's not done yet. Chelsea is a good team with good players, and we have to fight and sacrifice at Stamford Bridge. This is absolutely normal – it's a quarter-final of the Champions League.

"We are satisfied with the game, it was a good game, and now we focus on the next."

Luka Modric's close miss and a squandered late chance from Benzema kept the score down after Chelsea were reduced to 10 men, but the Madrid boss did not feel his side had failed in not finding another goal before the final whistle.

He said: "When we were against 10 men, they put a low block, and it was not easy to find solutions.

"I think we spent a lot of energy in the game trying to press high, and so at the end, we were not so fresh to try to find another goal, but the result and the performance was good."

Wednesday's encounter saw Ancelotti go head-to-head with Lampard in the dugout, with the Madrid boss having coached his opposite number while himself Chelsea manager between 2009 and 2011.

"I have a good memory of him – a fantastic player," Ancelotti said when asked about Lampard. "I hope he will be a fantastic manager but not necessarily next Tuesday."

Vinicius Junior lauded Real Madrid's display against Chelsea on Wednesday as one of their best of the season as the Champions League holders earned a 2-0 first-leg advantage in the quarter-finals.

Madrid had eliminated Chelsea at this stage a year ago, albeit only by the finest of margins.

But this time they were heavy favourites against a side struggling in the bottom half of the Premier League, and the contrast between the two sides was illustrated on the pitch.

Chelsea did have their chances, with Thibaut Courtois making three saves, but opposite number Kepa Arrizabalaga was called into action on eight occasions as well as picking the ball out of his net twice.

Karim Benzema netted the opener when the Chelsea goalkeeper could only parry from Vinicius, whose pass teed up Marco Asensio for a 74th-minute second.

Vinicius was perhaps the star of the show, dominating his match-ups with Reece James and Wesley Fofana as he completed four of seven attempted dribbles and won eight of 13 contested duels.

But the Brazil winger was happy to reflect on a strong performance across the team, even if the tie is not quite yet over.

"We played very well indeed, pressing all the time just like we did at this stage last season," Vinicius said, as reported by UEFA.com. "This was one of our best performances of the season.

"But this is only half-time. There’s a lot left in this tie. We just need to keep calm heads."

Madrid, who played more than half an hour against 10 men after Ben Chilwell was sent off, could only have been frustrated the scoreline was not more one-sided.

"There were lots of spaces for us to push into, and obviously being Real Madrid, we always want to score more goals," Vinicius added.

"We know that an away game against Chelsea can be difficult. Now we just rest a bit and keep a clear head."

Madrid went three years without a Champions League triumph after Vinicius signed, but he is now eyeing up a second straight title as the competition's most successful club aim for their 15th.

"Any player who wears this shirt for Madrid knows how special the Champions League is," he said.

"Especially in the Bernabeu with this fanbase behind us, they light up for this competition.

"If you play for Madrid, you have to be driven by the hunger to play in and win the Champions League."

Chelsea boss Frank Lampard believes they can turn around their Champions League first-leg deficit to Real Madrid, vowing "special things can happen at Stamford Bridge".

The Blues suffered a 2-0 loss at Santiago Bernabeu in the first leg of their quarter-final, and were reduced to 10 men after Ben Chilwell was sent off.

Goals from Karim Benzema and Marco Asensio means it is Carlo Ancelotti's side who head to London for next week's return clash in the driving seat of the tie.

But Lampard is confident his team have what it takes to turn matters around, suggesting they need to rediscover their self-belief in their own quality.

"I'm proud of the 10 men," he told BT Sport. "I think with 10 men, they carved us open. There are some good things, but the result is the reality.

"I just said to the players [in the dressing room], special things can happen at Stamford Bridge. They're a very good team, but we have to believe."

"It's been a difficult period for them. There is a little bit of a lack of belief. I think they players have got to understand how good they are and what they can do.

"Maybe we're a little bit short on that [self-belief], Next week is going to be a fight. There are some mindsets [where] we have to be much more positive.

"I've been involved in those nights at Stamford Bridge. That's next week now, and I'm disappointed with the result, [but] we keep going."

Lampard famously scored in Chelsea's 4-1 second-leg victory against Napoli in the last-16 2012, en-route to lifting the Champions League trophy for the first time.

Stefano Pioli was left wishing Milan capitalised further against 10-man Napoli but insisted no first-leg result would ensure progression to the Champions League semi-final.

Ismael Bennacer's first goal in UEFA's top club competition proved the difference on Wednesday at San Siro as Milan secured a 1-0 lead to defend in Naples in eight days' time.

The Rossoneri perhaps could have compounded Napoli's misery, though, as Milan played the last 15 minutes with a one-man advantage following Frank Anguissa's dismissal for two quickfire bookable offences.

Milan have progressed from seven of their previous nine two-legged ties in the Champions League knockout stages after winning the first clash, though Pioli suggested Napoli could overturn any given deficit.

The Milan coach told Amazon Prime Video: "Napoli got off to a better start than us, we started badly at the beginning, they were more aggressive.

"Then we had a good game, we regret not taking advantage of the numerical superiority in the final [stages].

"It's a result that gives us a chance to go through. No result would have guaranteed qualification.

"Now we will go to Naples with confidence and concentration, we know the difficulties we will encounter."

Milan will head to the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium for Tuesday's quarter-final second leg buoyed with confidence from an impressive record against Napoli this season.

Pioli's side have inflicted two of Napoli's five defeats this term, with Milan the only team to beat the Serie A leaders more than once in the 2022-23 campaign.

The Rossoneri are also the only side to stop Napoli scoring in two separate games this term, keeping Luciano Spalletti's men at bay in Europe and a 4-0 thrashing of the Partenopei in Naples just 10 days ago.

Spalletti will hope for key striker Victor Osimhen to return from injury in time for the return leg, where Bennacer vowed Milan will "work even harder".

"We played well, we tried to do what the coach asked us and it worked," the Algeria international told Amazon Prime Video. 

"There's still one game left, we'll play [Bologna] in-between, we have to recover as best we can.

"Today we had a good attitude. We suffered, then we settled well, we were good man-for-man."

Safe to say Frank Lampard was the only Champions League coach required to give an earnest answer on the eve of this week's matches about the role a late-night US TV host might have had in his appointment.

But then Lampard was also the only Champions League coach expecting to watch along from home with James Corden and the rest as recently as a week ago.

If Thomas Tuchel's appointment at Bayern Munich between the last 16 and the quarter-finals came out of left field, he at least had history in this competition, replacing Lampard as Chelsea boss in 2020-21 and leading them to European glory.

Lampard won the Champions League as a player, of course, in another example of a successful mid-season Chelsea coaching change.

The parallels with that other season of struggle in 2011-12 have not been lost on Lampard. "He mentioned he was in his worst moment at Chelsea," said Enzo Fernandez. "It is a great example for us."

But that likely makes Lampard the only coach to look at Roberto Di Matteo's improbable title run 11 years ago as a blueprint for success moving forward.

In fact, Di Matteo led Chelsea to a top-six Premier League finish and an FA Cup triumph before winning the Champions League. Lampard's side are 11th and out of the domestic cups.

Hopes of a repeat of that greatest win of all are all but gone, too, after Real Madrid's 2-0 victory in the first leg of their last-eight tie.

Lampard's will surely be the only shock Chelsea comeback this season.

The Blues, still under Tuchel, did very nearly overturn a two-goal deficit against Madrid at this stage last season, leading 3-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu before late goals from Rodrygo and Karim Benzema took the eventual champions through.

That was the theme of Madrid's campaign, rarely playing well but having enough in the big moments. The concern for Chelsea is their hosts were again a little below par on Wednesday and this time did not need any of those big moments, deservedly defeating their toothless side.

Madrid scraped past Liverpool and Chelsea last season and are on course to knock out both again this year – with the minimum of fuss. Again getting the better of Manchester City in the next stage may well prove tougher.

Lampard appeared to look back to those famous nights under Di Matteo as he turned to experience for this first leg, making only two changes from the last-16 second leg against Borussia Dortmund but increasing the average age of the XI by two years in introducing Thiago Silva and N'Golo Kante.

"We always want to develop players, we want young players, all these things," he explained to BT Sport. "But at a game of this high level, players like Thiago, N'Golo in the team are a huge lift for us."

That know-how still paled next to Madrid's, however. There were 821 Champions League appearances in the home XI – the second-most in competition history behind another Madrid line-up in the 2018 final.

It was fitting then that Benzema should net the opener in his 149th Champions League game, fifth on the all-time list and in the right place at the right time when Kepa Arrizabalaga could only parry an awkward effort from Vinicius Junior.

Lampard might well have taken a 1-0 defeat at that point. He certainly would have when half-time was reached with Madrid having aimed eight shots on target and then again when Ben Chilwell was sent off with over half an hour remaining.

The game briefly became reminiscent of the 2012 semi-final in Barcelona, where John Terry saw red but Chelsea somehow recovered a 2-2 draw through a combination of brave defending and clinical counter-attacking.

Yet Marco Asensio's second with 74 minutes played, steered through Wesley Fofana's legs, broke their resolve and might well have taken the tie away from Lampard.

This Chelsea team are anything but clinical. They have 41 goals in 41 games this season, going four without scoring – including in two matches under Lampard – for the first time since 1993. The Blues have only netted more than once, as they now must, in 14 of those games.

Failure to buck that trend against Champions League specialists Madrid will mean the end of Chelsea's season.

At that point, as Madrid move on and Lampard attempts to rescue a top-10 position in the Premier League, focus turns to where Todd Boehly goes next, perhaps to who Jimmy Kimmel fancies for the Stamford Bridge hotseat.

It has been another season to remember at Chelsea – for all the wrong reasons.

Ismael Bennacer scored the only goal of the game as Milan secured a slender Champions League quarter-final advantage over 10-man Napoli with a 1-0 win in Wednesday's first leg.

Just over a week after being thrashed 4-0 by Milan in Serie A, Napoli were the dominant force for large parts at San Siro – only for Bennacer to deal a sucker punch after 40 minutes.

The Algeria international's first Champions League goal proved the difference as Napoli, who had Frank Anguissa dismissed in the second half, were unable to respond without injured star striker Victor Osimhen.

Luciano Spalletti will hope to have Osimhen, and his replacement Giovanni Simeone, back fit for the return leg as Napoli bid to overturn a narrow deficit at home next Tuesday.

Rade Krunic's goal-line block denied Khvicha Kvaratskhelia with the goal gaping after his own errant pass teed up the Georgia winger with less than a minute on the clock.

Anguissa and Piotr Zielinksi both forced smart Mike Maignan saves soon after, before Rafael Leao wasted a glorious chance by dragging Milan's first opportunity wide.

Napoli did not heed that warning, though, as Brahim Diaz exchanged passes with Leao and flicked towards Bennacer, who smashed a left-footed strike past the helpless Alex Meret.

Milan should have doubled their lead on the stroke of half-time but Simon Kjaer headed against the crossbar from Theo Hernandez's corner.

Maignan tipped an Eljif Elmas header onto the crossbar after the interval, though Napoli's comeback hopes were halted with 16 minutes remaining when Anguissa was dismissed for two quickfire yellow cards.

Yet Milan still needed late heroics from Maignan, who parried wide from a late Giovanni Di Lorenzo header.

What does it mean? Advantage Milan after profligate Napoli showing

Earlier in the month, Milan handed Napoli their heaviest league defeat since December 2007 and their biggest margin of defeat in a home Serie A game since October 2000.

The Rossoneri's showing here was far less rampant and much more industrious, scoring with their first shot on target after Napoli had nine attempts – three of those testing Maignan – inside the opening 23 minutes.

Milan may not be able to rely on such fortune in the return leg, albeit they will head to Naples with a remarkable record – having lost just one of 10 all-Italian match-ups in Europe (W5 D4).

Brilliant Brahim

Brahim's genius was the key to unlocking the Napoli defence in the first half, spinning to take two players out the game before teeing up Bennacer from Leao's return pass.

That continued Brahim's strong form against Napoli with his third goal involvement when facing the Partenopei – his joint-most against an opponent in all competitions (along with Torino).

Rossoneri rumble Napoli defence again

Napoli have been the dominant force in Italy, and tipped as a European favourite by many, but the Partenopei have been unable to get to grips with Milan's attack this term.

Spalletti's side have conceded six times against Milan in all competitions this campaign, twice as many as they have against any other side (Cremonese, Ajax and Liverpool – all three).

What's next?

Before the return meeting at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium, Napoli host Verona in Serie A on Saturday – three hours after Milan kick off at Bologna.

Real Madrid put one foot into the final four of the Champions League after a 2-0 win over 10-man Chelsea in the first leg of their quarter-final.

Karim Benzema's first-half tap-in put the holders in front at Santiago Bernabeu before Marco Asensio doubled their advantage with just over a quarter-hour to go.

A straight red card for Ben Chilwell after he tugged down Rodrygo in-between compounded a tough trip to Spain for Frank Lampard's men.

Former Blues boss Carlo Ancelotti and his Los Blancos side will wish they had more to show, but will nevertheless head to Stamford Bridge with a healthy advantage for next week's return leg.

Thibaut Courtois denied Joao Felix on the break and Benzema forced a close-range stop from Kepa at the other end inside the first 15 minutes.

Benzema was in the place after 21 minutes, though, capitalising when Kepa parried Vinicius Junior's shot into his path.

Madrid had chances to extend the lead before the break with David Alaba's header almost squirming in five minutes before half-time.

Chelsea's hopes of a comeback after the break felt slim even before Kalidou Koulibaly was forced to hobble off, and Chilwell's dismissal only worsened matters.

Asensio then was on-point to cap another fine European performance from Madrid when he swept home a cut-back delivery in the 74th minute.

Benzema could and perhaps should have made it three in the final stages of injury time, only to push his looping header over the crossbar from nine yards out.

But the hosts are now well on course to extend their superb continental record, though Ancelotti will know more than most the battle is not over yet for his side.

Jamaica’s U20 Reggae Girls are scheduled to depart the island on Thursday, April 13 for Nicaragua where they will play in the CONCACAF Women’s U20 Championship qualifiers. The team will have to hit the ground running as they play their first match on Friday.

The Jamaicans who are in Group E, will open their campaign against Anguilla on April 14 before they take on Bermuda on Sunday, April 16. Their final match in the group will be against Honduras on Tuesday, April 18.

Elaine Walker Brown is head of delegation that is comprised of Technical Director Wendell Downswell, Head Coach Hugh Bradford, Team Manager Julett Cobourne, Physical Trainer Iris Saemundsdottir, Goalkeeper Coach Clive Wedderburn, Team Doctor LoriAnn Miller, Masseur Devin Lawson, Equipment Manager Tyrese Palmer and Physiotherapist Nicole Reid.

The squad: Dreanna Thaw, Shaneil Shellicia Buckley, Dannique Lishon Wilson, Davia Brittanie Richards, Liha Williams, Lillian Maxine Clarke, Tiny Tihana Seaton, Kieba Janice Cowan, Natoya Britana Atkinson, Destiny Abigaile Powell, Akeila Avagaye Johnson, Janiel Mignott, Kayesha Jada Sibbles, Liya NjeriNday Brooks, Avery Fay Johnson, Maya Kiera Raghunandanan, Sundai Mary Amele, Tyesha Mchalia Nelson, Katie Nicole Oakley.

Frank Lampard was able to recall Thiago Silva as the veteran defender returned from injury for Chelsea's Champions League quarter-final first leg at Real Madrid.

Chelsea are facing Madrid at this stage of the competition for the second consecutive season, having been agonisingly eliminated in extra time at the Santiago Bernabeu last year.

The Blues are at least boosted by the presence of Silva in the line-up for this latest trip to Madrid, however.

The 38-year-old has been out with a knee ligament injury since late February, missing the European win against Borussia Dortmund and a host of domestic matches that led to Graham Potter's dismissal.

Silva is back working under former boss Lampard, who also brought back N'Golo Kante after he was rested at Wolves on Saturday.

Kante's inclusion saw a change of shape as 2021 final hero Kai Havertz missed out as a difficult season continues, while Ben Chilwell was preferred to Marc Cucurella.

Madrid, like Chelsea, had shuffled their pack at the weekend with little left to play for in the league. They similarly lost to Villarreal.

But Carlo Ancelotti restored his XI from the prior 4-0 win at Barcelona in the Copa del Rey.

Karim Benzema, selected up front, has scored his past 10 Champions League goals in knockout games against English sides, with four of those coming against Chelsea last season.

He netted a hat-trick at Stamford Bridge before his extra-time goal took Madrid through.

Players at the Women's World Cup should be allowed to show support for social causes, believes Football Australia chief executive James Johnson.

Australia and New Zealand are set to host this year's finals following the men's tournament in Qatar in 2022.

The build-up to that event was dominated by discussion of human rights issues relating to the host nation, and players were banned from wearing a OneLove armband supporting LGBTQ+ rights.

Football Australia is in talks with FIFA to avoid similar problems this time around, Johnson revealed, and expects players to be vocal in support of various causes.

"What you'll see from the Matildas is not just great performances on the pitch, but they're going to make some points off it as well," he told Sky Sports.

"We are working with FIFA [and] we'll make sure we bake into the competition regulations some exceptions to the rules, so the players can express themselves in a free way.

"Once that's agreed, the players can express themselves on certain issues, especially LGBTQI issues, which are on the tip of the Matildas' tongue.

"Then they can get back to football and do their work on the pitch.

"It could be an armband, it could be an indigenous flag. We haven't got into the specifics. We're optimistic we'll land in a place we're happy with and the players are happy with as well."

Johnson's comments come after talks between FIFA and Visit Saudi regarding sponsorship of the finals prompted criticism from high-profile players.

"We weren't happy with how it played out," Johnson added. "We weren't happy with what we thought the outcome was going to be either.

"That's not just us [Football Australia], it's the government, and we also spoke to the players. In our view, it didn't align with the vision of the tournament.

"We took a principled stand. It wasn't popular with everyone, but that's what leaders have to do sometimes. We've spent a lot of time listening to our players to try to understand what's important to them.

"The Matildas support a lot of social issues, and we need to back our players. When we have to push issues with FIFA, we do that for our players."

Sevilla president Jose Castro rallied his side ahead of their Europa League tie against Manchester United after the Spanish outfit landed in England for the first leg.

Castro reflected on Sevilla's rich history in the competition as reason for optimism despite the backdrop of a poor LaLiga campaign that sees them in 12th.

This Europa League track record includes six titles, with the most recent coming in 2020 after a semi-final 2-1 win over United.

Castro said: "We have the opportunity after a bad league season that we are doing. In Europe, we are in remarkable shape, and if we advance, it would be outstanding.

"We are the king of the competition, we are going to make it difficult, and the squad is aware, because for Sevilla, the Europa League is something else.

"[United] have the environment, the stadium, the squad, the budget, the clubs they have eliminated... but we are in our competition, and we are going to try to make it difficult, with the memories of going through as we have done on other occasions against this team."

In 2019-20, goals from Suso and Luuk de Jong saw Julen Lopetegui's side through, while Sevilla also eliminated United from the Champions League last 16 in 2017-18.

They are big underdogs this time, however, with Sevilla's domestic form contrasting with a top-four push in Manchester as Erik ten Hag continues to impose his vision on his United squad.

"We know the difficulty of the tie, which is complicated because they are a great team with a huge squad," Castro added.

"Sevilla never give up. We have this opportunity, and we are going to try to take advantage of it against a great team who are showing a lot.

"I see more options now because I see the team more compact and better in everything, but above all because we have players recovering.

"So many injuries in the same positions have affected us a lot, and now the coach has more options, something that could be decisive."

Indeed, this could be a key factor in at least the first leg. As Sevilla players return, Marcus Rashford and Luke Shaw are out for United.

Massimiliano Allegri has warned his Juventus side about the strength of Sporting CP ahead of the two teams clashing in the Europa League quarter-final. 

Juventus host the Primeira Liga side in the first leg on Thursday night, after the Bianconeri eliminated Freiburg in the last 16, while Sporting beat Arsenal. 

Allegri's side sit seventh in Serie A after a 15-point deduction for alleged transfer irregularities, while Sporting are fourth in Portugal's top-flight and are unbeaten in their last 11 games in all competitions.

"Tomorrow is a difficult match," Allegri said at a press conference on Wednesday. "It is an important quarter-final against a team that has been on a positive run for 11 games now.

"Sporting's coach [Ruben Amorim] is young and very good. He brought the league title back to the club [in 2020-21] after 19 years.

"We have to do things the right way tomorrow to have an advantage for when we go to Lisbon."

Juventus will be boosted by the return of key players on Thursday, including Paul Pogba, whose injury-hit season has seen him play just 35 minutes since re-signing from Manchester United last summer.

"Pogba is on his feet, which we are happy about," added Allegri. "Now we are working on improving his condition.

"Tomorrow he will be available and will be on the bench. Alex Sandro and [Dusan] Vlahovic are both available, but [Mattia] De Sciglio is not."

Juventus are second-favourites to win the Europa League behind United, but Allegri is not look beyond the quarter-final.

"Clearly it would be fantastic to get to play the final," he said. "But before then, there are still four games to face, starting with home and away against Sporting.

"So, it's too early to talk about playing in a final. We're only thinking about this next game, and we'll continue step by step."

Eintracht Frankfurt attacking midfielder Daichi Kamada will leave as a free agent at the end of the season, the Bundesliga club have confirmed.

Kamada has spent four years at Eintracht after moving from Belgian side Sint-Truiden, scoring 37 goals and providing 31 assists in 170 appearances so far.

The Japan international was part of the team that won the Europa League last season, and has been linked with Barcelona, Manchester United and Chelsea among others.

Kamada's contract at Deutsche Bank Park expires at the end of the campaign, and the 26-year-old has decided not to sign an extension, meaning he will be available on a free transfer.

 The club confirmed on Wednesday: "Eintracht Frankfurt and Daichi Kamada are going their separate ways after the 2022-23 season."

The club's sporting director, Markus Krosche, said: "Daichi Kamada has developed into a very good Bundesliga player at Eintracht Frankfurt in recent years and has played his part in the sporting development of the club, with the highlight of the Europa League victory last year. 

"We would have liked to see Daichi at Eintracht in the future, but the player's interests did not go hand in hand. We thank him for his commitment to Eintracht and wish him all the best for the future."

Ronald Koeman has welcomed the idea of Lionel Messi making a return to Barcelona and believes the Argentina star is still the best player in the world.

The former Barcelona boss was in charge during Messi's last season with the Catalan club before he made an emotional exit on a free transfer to French giants Paris Saint-Germain.

Barca sacked the Dutchman in October 2021 after a poor run of form with the 60-year-old now returning to manage the Netherlands national team following the retirement of Louis van Gaal after the World Cup in Qatar. 

Koeman himself will not be returning to Barcelona any time soon, but he still holds out hopes that Messi will make a romantic return to the club, amid speculation such a move is in the works.

"Messi is the best player in the world and when he left it was difficult," he said at the Koeman Cup, a charity golf and paddle event. 

"The team that has him is going to be stronger. His departure from Barca was a very bad day.

"If I see Leo with another shirt it hurts me. It's his home, where he needs to be. It was not good that the board did not give him the possibility to stay, but I am in favour of Messi being a Barca player."

Since his sacking, Koeman's successor Xavi has led Barcelona on an inspired league run this season with the side 13 points clear at the top of LaLiga with just 10 games remaining.

"With Xavi they have improved and will surely win the league," Koeman said of the head coach. 

"It's a much-improved squad. A coach is good or bad depending on his players. For me, we have to celebrate this league in a big way because we are talking about several previous seasons that Barca has not won anything. 

"Barca are there for their own quality and for their defence. It should be noted that they have only conceded nine goals. It is deserved and if the others have not been at this level, it is their problem."