Ramos said he suffered the injury while on international duty with Spain

Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos is set to miss both legs of the Champions League quarter-final against Liverpool after suffering a calf muscle injury.

The 35-year-old defender picked up the injury while on international duty.

Real face the Reds on Tuesday, 6 April and Wednesday, 14 April, either side of El Clasico with Barcelona in La Liga.

“If there is something that hurts me, it is not being able to help the team in these highly demanding matches,” said the Spaniard on Instagram.

Real are at home for the first leg against Liverpool.

Former Liverpool defender Daniel Agger will begin his managerial career at Danish second-tier side HB Koge from the start of next season.

Agger, who played at Anfield between 2006 and 2014, will be joined by former Everton defender Lars Jacobsen, who is the new first-team coach.

“HB Koge is the perfect place for me to start,” the 36-year-old said.

“I am very much looking forward to getting started, and I look forward to coming under pressure again.”

Both Agger and Jacobsen have signed contracts that will run until the summer of 2024, and they stated that their ambition is for HB Koge to win promotion to the Danish Super League within that period.

Agger made 175 Premier League appearances during his eight-year spell with the Reds, and helped them win the League Cup in 2012.

Prior to that, the former Denmark international was part of the Brondby squad that won the Danish league and cup double during the 2005-05 season. He eventually finished his career at Brondby.

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola is targeting Erling Braut Haaland as Sergio Aguero’s replacement – but there are other options if he misses out on the Norwegian, and they include England skipper Harry Kane.

On Monday it was announced City’s record goalscorer Aguero will leave the club at the end of the season.

Guardiola has had a plan to bring in a new striker for some time now, which meant Aguero was likely to have even less playing time than he has had recently.

The finality over the Argentine’s future does leave City clear to pursue replacements. And no matter who they eventually sign, it will be one of the biggest deals of the summer.

It is no surprise 20-year-old Haaland is at the top of Guardiola’s wish-list.

The Norway and Borussia Dortmund forward has become the most coveted young number nine in Europe through his sheer weight of goals and he will be looking to add to his tally against City in their Champions League quarter-final.

Only prolific Bayern Munich forward Robert Lewandowski has scored more than Haaland’s 21 goals in the Bundesliga this season, while earlier this month he reached 20 Champions League goals in only 14 appearances.

However, signing Haaland is not straightforward. His controversial agent Mino Raiola seemed to be suggesting the striker would be on the move this summer when in a recent interview with the Athletic, he told a story of an unnamed player who, together with his parents, decided to stay with his club despite interest from elsewhere.

The player then suffered two ligament injuries, which virtually ended his career. “Sometimes football is a train that passes by,” he said. “You can say ‘let’s take the next train’. But sometimes the next train doesn’t come.”

Daniel James’ late header gave Wales a precious win over the Czech Republic in a fiery World Cup qualifier in which both teams had a man sent off.

The visitors dominated a goalless first half with Jakub Jankto missing several chances, while Gareth Bale wasted the best opportunity of all for Wales.

Czech striker Patrik Schick was shown a straight red card early in the second half for raising his hand to the face of Connor Roberts, who was later sent off for a second booking.

As both sides searched desperately for a winning goal, Bale delivered an inviting cross from the left wing, which James met with a brilliantly directed header to secure Wales’ first win of the campaign.

The result moves Wales up to third place in Group E, one point behind the Czech Republic in second and four adrift of leaders Belgium, albeit having played one game fewer than both.

Despite only being Wales’ second game of the campaign, this fixture already had a heightened sense of significance for both sides.

When the draw was made, Belgium were overwhelming favourites to top Group E and qualify automatically as the world’s number one-ranked team.

As a result, Wales and the Czech Republic were expected to battle it out for second place and a play-off spot, though the visitors might have set their sights higher after drawing with Belgium on Saturday.

Wales may also have felt they could chance their arm for a shot at top spot because winning their Nations League group in November had already all-but guaranteed them a play-off place.

If they did have such lofty ambitions, Wales would have parked them during a first half in which they were overrun and outplayed.

The Czech Republic started purposefully, passing the ball confidently and pressing Wales into uncomfortable positions, forcing them to play long balls which came to nothing with their usual target Kieffer Moore on the bench.

With Wales unable to keep the ball in attack, the away side enjoyed as much as 75% possession and created three early chances for Jankto, who fired one shot at Danny Ward and another two narrowly wide.

Wales looked devoid of ideas, playing the kind of direct football Moore would relish – just without the Cardiff City striker on the pitch.

For all their struggles, however, it was the hosts who created the best chance of the first half.

Neco Williams curled in a fine cross from the left and Bale rose well to meet it, but volleyed his shot into the ground, allowing Tomas Vaclik to tip it over the bar.

Apart from that squandered opportunity, the Czech Republic were still well on top and, after Schick and Jankto both went close with another two chances, Wales were glad to go into the break level.

The Republic of Ireland failed to secure a first win under manager Stephen Kenny as they were held to a 1-1 friendly draw with Qatar in Debrecen.

James McClean’s deflected strike gave the Republic an early lead during a vibrant first-half performance.

Mohammed Muntari levelled for the World Cup hosts with a well-struck shot early in the second half.

Muntari and Republic substitutes Callum Robinson and Josh Cullen all spurned chances to score a late winner.

The non-competitive Group A game was originally scheduled to take place as the Republic’s home match in Dublin, but the two teams agreed to reverse the order of their fixtures because of the Irish government’s Covid-19 quarantine rules.

Kenny made eight changes to the side that started Saturday’s shock defeat by Luxembourg with only Gavin Bazunu, captain Seamus Coleman and Dara O’Shea retained.

The Republic boss would have been delighted with their bright start as McClean drove them into a fourth-minute lead with his first goal since the 2018 World Cup qualifying win over Wales in October 2017.

Daryl Horgan exchanged passes with Robbie Brady in a well-worked short corner routine before crossing for McClean, whose shot took a wicked deflection to deceive Qatar keeper Saad Al Sheeb.

The Qatari response was immediate with the World Cup hosts awarded a penalty after Bazunu’s foul on Pedro Miguel, only for Hungarian referee Balazs Berke to change his decision to a free-kick after his assistant pointed out that the challenge took place outside the Irish penalty area.

Miguel was involved down the right flank once more in the 18th minute when he crossed for Almoez Ali, who should have tested Bazunu with his misdirected bullet header.

Shane Long, impressive on his return to the line-up, could have doubled the Republic’s lead just before the half-hour mark when he latched on to a poor backpass, but failed to generate enough power in his shot to trouble Al Sheeb.

Qatar hit back in second half

While there were plenty of positives for the Republic to draw from the opening 45 minutes, the second half began in concerning fashion as Muntari drew Qatar level.

After being slipped in by Ali, Muntari swept his clinical equaliser low and to the right of Bazunu in a fashion not dissimilar to Gerson Rodrigues’ goal for Luxembourg on Saturday.

Qatar could have taken the lead on the hour when Hassan Al Haidos drove through the Irish midfield before curling a shot straight into Bazunu’s grasp.

Muntari then tried to catch the young Republic goalkeeper out at his near post but shot wide during a spell in which Kenny’s side struggled to keep possession.

Having dictated much of the early play, the Republic looked flat in the second half, failed to fashion a clear-cut chance for a winner until the 88th minute when Robinson dragged his shot wide after Muntari had failed to add to his tally when he fired over from the edge of the penalty area.

Cullen came close to scoring a last-gasp winner for the Republic but the Anderlecht midfielder saw his header saved after a fine Cyrus Christie cross.

Brighton’s Leandro Trossard and Leicester’s Dennis Praet scored their first Belgium goals in a crushing World Cup 2022 qualifying win over Belarus.

Michy Batshuayi got the first before Hans Vanaken’s volley made it 2-0 to the number one team in Fifa’s rankings.

Trossard’s exquisite finish from 22 yards extended the lead before Jeremy Doku added the fourth before half-time.

Praet netted the fifth, late goals by Christian Benteke, Trossard and Vanaken completing the rout.

The result lifted Belgium, with seven points from three games, to the top of Group E.

The Czech Republic had started the day at the summit but dropped to second after losing to Wales.

Belgium boss Roberto Martinez could even afford the luxury of leaving star players Kevin de Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku on the bench for his team’s third match of this qualifying campaign.

They were not required as Belgium eased to victory, Martinez’s side 5-0 ahead inside 50 minutes as they opened up a three-point lead at the top of the group.

Before kick-off, the Belgium team came on to the field wearing black T-shirts featuring the words “football supports change”, in reference to the well-publicised plight of migrant workers in Qatar, hosts of the next World Cup.

It followed similar messages to those promoted by the Netherlands, Norway and Germany teams in the past few days.

Diogo Jota and Cristiano Ronaldo scored to help spare Portugal’s blushes and deny Luxembourg another major World Cup 2022 qualifying win.

Luxembourg beat Republic of Ireland on Saturday and led the European champions through Gerson Rodrigues’ header.

But Liverpool forward Jota headed home in the final attack of the first half.

Ronaldo tapped in early in the second half to turn the tide in Portugal’s favour, with Joao Palhinha glancing in a header to seal the win.

Before that Jota had gone close with a header that hit the bar, while Ronaldo could have had a second goal himself, but failed twice to beat home goalkeeper Anthony Moris after running clear of the defence.

What at one stage looked to be a night of such promise for Luxembourg ended with them reduced to 10 men as Maxime Chanot was shown a second yellow for a foul on Renato Sanches.

The win takes Portugal to seven points in qualifying Group A, level with Serbia, with whom they controversially drew 2-2 at the weekend.

Real Madrid midfielder Toni Kroos will stop playing for the German national team after the upcoming 2021 UEFA Euro, according to a report published today on German newspaper Bild.

Kroos will establish Real Madrid as his main focus during the last few years of his career as a professional football player, something which could eventually help him in having a better decline and ultimately maybe even retire later than what he could be planning.

The midfielder has played 101 matches for Germany, scoring 17 goals and winning a FIFA World Cup and a UEFA Eurocup in the process.

It won’t be easy for Germany to replace Kroos, but this is good news for Real Madrid if the report is accurate. Los Blancos will enjoy Kroos’ career for a longer period of time and the midfielder himself will also avoid injuries and fatigue during FIFA breaks.

Kroos’ contract with Real Madrid expires in 2023 and he will be 33 years old then.

Former Arsenal and France striker Thierry Henry said that “enough was enough” and he had to make a stand against racism on social media.

The 43-year-old said last week he was removing himself from social media because of racism and bullying across platforms.

He said the problem was “too toxic to ignore”.

“It was time to make a stand,” said Henry, speaking to the BBC’s Newsnight programme on Monday.

“Things I used to hear in the stadiums and the streets are coming more and more into social media, especially in my community, and the sport I love the most, football.

“I thought it was time to make a stand and time to make people realise it is not OK to get abused online, it’s not OK to be bullied or harassed online.

“The impact it can have on your mental health is second to none, we know people are committing suicides because of it. Enough is enough. We need actions.

“It is too easy to get an account and get away with it at times.”

On Monday, Tottenham and Wales forward Gareth Bale said he would support a boycott of social media over the issue, if a campaign could be organised.

Henry won two Premier League titles with Arsenal, where he played between 1999 and 2007.

Last September, he detailed instances of racism he experienced during his playing career with Arsenal and France.

“It is not a safe place,” Henry added. “[Crystal Palace forward] Wilfried Zaha says when he goes on social media he is scared to look at the comments, it should not be like that. It should not be like you feel you should not do something.

“I think everybody should be concerned about what’s happening. All I’m saying is, ‘can it be a safe place?’ At the end of the day it is a great tool and is vital and a great way to connect with your fans, or to put out a statement to rectify something.

“But it is too easy for the people who are trying to harm people to get away with it and hide behind fake accounts. For me it is about accountability.”

Twitter has said it is “committed to Kick It Out’s initiative to tackle online hate, and look forward to continuing these discussions and developing solutions with our partners in football”.

Instagram, which is owned by Facebook, said it took action on 6.6 million pieces of hate speech between October and December last year and will “take tougher action when we become of aware of people breaking our rules in DMs [direct messages]”.

Record goalscorer Sergio Aguero will leave Manchester City at the end of the season, the club has announced.

The 32-year-old striker’s contract expires at the end of the season and he has been told it will not be renewed.

The Argentine, who signed from Atletico Madrid in 2011, has scored 257 goals in 384 appearances for the club.

“With the guidance of the owners and the contributions of many players, we earned a place among the greatest of the world,” Aguero said.

He will be honoured by a statue at Etihad Stadium, alongside title-winning captain Vincent Kompany and influential playmaker David Silva, who left the club in 2019 and 2020 respectively.

The trio played leading roles in City’s renaissance, with Aguero famously scoring the injury-time winner against QPR in 2012 which clinched the club’s first English title in 44 years.

Since then, the striker has helped City win three more Premier League titles, one FA Cup and five League Cups.

“Sergio’s contribution to Manchester City over the last 10 years cannot be overstated,” City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak said.

“His legend will be indelibly etched into the memories of everyone who loves the club and maybe even in those who simply love football.”

Striker Dani Olmo scored a stoppage-time winner as Spain edged past Georgia in 2022 World Cup qualifying Group B.

Spain, who have not lost a World Cup qualifying game in 28 years, were behind at half-time after Khvicha Kvaratskhelia fired Georgia ahead.

Manchester City’s Ferran Torres slid home Jordi Alba’s cross to equalise.

Alba was also credited with the assist for Olmo’s late long-range effort which gave the visitors a crucial win in front of 15,000 fans.

Georgia’s Levan Shengelia was then sent off moments before the final whistle.

Spain, who host Kosovo on Wednesday, drew their opening qualifier 1-1 at home to Greece.

Georgia visit Greece on Wednesday.

Poland striker Robert Lewandowski will miss Wednesday’s 2022 World Cup qualifier against England at Wembley with a knee injury.

The 32-year-old Bayern Munich player limped off during Sunday’s 3-0 win over Andorra after scoring two goals.

The Polish FA say he faces up to 10 days out with ligament damage.

Lewandowski now has a race to be fit for Bayern’s Champions League quarter-final first leg against Paris St-Germain in nine days time.

He has returned to Germany for further treatment on the injury.

France forward Anthony Martial went off after receiving treatment for an injury during his country’s World Cup qualifying win over Kazakhstan.

Martial’s clever turn and pass set up Ousmane Dembele to make it 1-0 against the team ranked 122 in the world.

Sergiy Maliy produced a fine clearance as Martial looked to make it 2-0 before the defender headed into his own net.

Manchester United player Martial was replaced by Kylian Mbappe, who had a penalty saved after being fouled.

Having been held 1-1 by Ukraine in Paris last Wednesday, reigning World Cup champions France have four points from two games in Group D.

Didier Deschamps’ side are back in qualifying action on Wednesday away to Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Paul Pogba started against Kazakhstan after Deschamps said on the eve of the game that the Manchester United midfielder needed regular game time to rediscover his best form.

Pogba played for an hour before being replaced by Adrien Rabiot.

Kai Havertz and Ilkay Gundogan scored as Germany got their 2022 World Cup qualifying campaign off to a good start with a comfortable win over Iceland.

The home side led 2-0 after just seven minutes, with Chelsea forward Havertz firing in the second after Leon Goretzka’s well-taken opener.

Gundogan continued his fine goalscoring form this season by adding a third.

The Manchester City midfielder has now netted 15 times in his past 24 appearances for club and country.

The closest Iceland came to scoring was a Runar Sigurjonsson shot that deflected just past the far post in the first half.

The home side were vastly superior, though, and should have scored more, with Chelsea defender Antonio Rudiger heading a superb chance wide.

Germany also gave a late run-out to Havertz’s Chelsea team-mate Timo Werner and Bayern Munich’s 18-year-old forward Jamal Musiala, who last month opted to represent the country of his birth as opposed to England.

The home side had suffered a scare before kick-off when midfielder Jonas Hofmann tested positive for Covid-19, but the game was allowed to go ahead after consultation with local authorities.

Germany coach Joachim Low, who is stepping down after this year’s European Championship, was pleased with his team’s start.

“It wasn’t our most incredible performance, but it was very important to make a positive start to the new year and that’s what we’ve done tonight,” he said.

“We knew they’d sit deep and we knew we were going to have to force them to move in order to create space. I think we did that really well for at least 60 minutes.”

Germany visit Romania in their next Group J match on Sunday while Iceland are away to Armenia.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic marked his return to international football after a five-year absence with an assist as Sweden beat Georgia in their World Cup 2022 qualifying opener on Thursday.

The 39-year-old volleyed the ball across the area for Viktor Claesson to bundle home just before the break.

Georgia had few chances although Levan Shengelia was denied late on by a superb Kristoffer Nordfeldt save.

Ibrahimovic’s return meant he became the oldest player to represent Sweden.

The AC Milan striker beat the previous record of 38 years and 59 days previously held by goalkeeper Thomas Ravelli.

Ibrahimovic, who has 62 international goals, was unable to get on the scoresheet himself before he was substituted in the 84th minute.

“It felt good. It felt like it was my first international match. It was a lot of adrenaline,” Ibrahimovic told Sverige Radio.

“I think I could have done a lot more, but we won the match, and that is the most important thing,” he added.

John McGinn’s spectacular overhead kick salvaged a deserved late draw for Scotland against Austria in their World Cup 2022 qualifying campaign opener at Hampden.

The Aston Villa midfielder conjured an acrobatic effort as the Scots were forced to come from behind twice.

Grant Hanley’s first Scotland goal in eight years cancelled out Sasa Kalajdzic’s opener.

Kalajdzic headed in a second to rock Scotland before McGinn’s intervention.

The result ends a run of back-to-back defeats for the Scots with Israel, who went down 2-0 to Denmark earlier, and the Faroe Islands up next.

The last time these two met in competitive action, Scotland beat the eventual group winners Austria 2-0 at Celtic Park as both reached the World Cup for – now at least – the last time.

For all the acclaim Steve Clarke’s Scotland have had for reaching Euro 2020, back-to-back defeats to Israel and Slovakia in November meant a tentative approach to this one.

In comparison, Austria had lost just one of their last eight, winning six, and topped their Nations League section.

That confidence showed early on. Kalajdzic shot wide and Stefan Ilsanker headed over. Then, a neat flick from Kalajdzic sent Christoph Baumgartner charging down the middle and David Marshall had to get down low to deflect his driven shot away.

They were testing Scotland’s makeshift defence. Hanley, earning a first cap in three years, was booked early on and was running the risk of another before half an hour was on the clock.

Scotland though, slowly, began to exert some pressure of their own. Andy Robertson’s looping header landed on the roof of the net. Stuart Armstrong had two shots from distance off target.

And they should have been in the lead after Austrian goalkeeper Alexander Schlager gifted the ball under no pressure to Lyndon Dykes. The Queens Park Rangers striker knocked the ball back to Ryan Christie rather than shoot, and the Celtic midfielder hit his shot off the legs of Schlager.

Scotland had finished the first half the stronger of the two, but when Austria emerged after the break they were back on the front foot, and 10 minutes in were ahead.

Florian Grillitsch was given too much time and space to shoot from distance. Marshall parried his shot, but Kalajdzic reacted quicker than Jack Hendry to knock in the rebound.

Scotland responded well. Christie appeared to be denied a stonewall penalty when Ilsanker wrapped his arms around him then tackled him to the ground. Incredibly, the referee waved away the claims.

Kalajdzic then headed in what he thought was a second for Austria, but the referee had spotted a push on Kieran Tierney.

Southamption forward Che Adams made his debut from the bench, but it was Hanley who drew Scotland level when he got away from Ilsanker at a free-kick and headed home, his second ever goal for Scotland and eight years and three days since his last.

Dykes was inches away from getting to Robertson’s cross as the goal spurred the home side on, but Scotland were behind again when Kalajdzic leapt high in the box and planted a header beyond Marshall.

An agonising defeat was staring Scotland in the face, but McGinn beat the offside trap and with his back to goal acrobatically sent the ball past Schlager to spark wild celebrations

Spain suffered a frustrating start to their 2022 World Cup qualifying campaign as they were held to a draw by Greece in Granada.

Alvaro Morata have the home side the lead from close range, shortly after Dani Olmo’s drive had hit the crossbar.

However, substitute Inigo Martinez conceded a penalty for a rash tackle on Greek midfielder Giorgos Masouras.

Anastasios Bakasetas converted from the spot to stun Luis Enrique’s team and earn his side an impressive point.

Morata, currently on loan at Juventus from Atletico Madrid, had an opportunity to win it for his country but headed straight at the goalkeeper as Spain dominated possession but struggled to create any clear chances.

Spain next travel to Georgia in their second qualifying fixture on Sunday, the same day Greece host Honduras in a friendly.