Zlatan Ibrahimovic was sent off for dissent as AC Milan beat Parma to maintain their slim Serie A title hopes.

The 39-year-old Sweden striker was shown a straight red card after an hour for saying something to the referee, with his side 2-0 up.

He had set up Ante Rebic for the first and was involved in Franck Kessie’s goal just before the break.

Riccardo Gagliolo gave Parma hope but Rafael Leao clinched it in injury time.

“Zlatan told me that he argued with the referee and it lasted some time,” Milan coach Stefano Pioli told Sky Sport Italia. “He assured me that he did not disrespect him and above all he did not offend.”

Milan are eight points behind leaders Inter Milan, who face Cagliari on Sunday.

Before the game, Milan technical director Paolo Maldini said Ibrahimovic was close to signing a new deal with the club.

Real Madrid moved top of La Liga with victory over Barcelona in an El Clasico played in torrential rain at the Alfredo Di Stefano Stadium.

Karim Benzema broke the deadlock with a sublime near-post flick – his ninth goal in his past seven La Liga games.

Real doubled their lead before half-time through Toni Kroos’ deflected free-kick.

Oscar Mingueza pulled one back for Barca before Madrid’s Casemiro was shown a late red card.

Barca midfielder Ilaix Moriba’s well-struck shot came back off the crossbar in stoppage time as the hosts held on.

The result takes Real above city rivals Atletico Madrid because of their superior head-to-head record.

Atletico, who led La Liga by 10 points as recently as 31 January, can reclaim top spot with victory at Real Betis on Sunday.

Manager Zinedine Zidane’s “every game is a final” mantra has served Real well in recent weeks – they had dropped only four points in their previous nine La Liga outings going into Saturday’s crucial game.

Benzema’s goals have been key in helping them cut the gap to rivals Atletico at the top of the table, and the Frenchman produced another exquisite finish to give Zidane’s side an early lead.

The 33-year-old was first to Lucas Vazquez’s low cross towards the near post, squeezing a backheeled flick past Marc-Andre ter Stegen for his 25th goal in 35 appearances this season.

Barcelona, who had revived their own title aspirations with 16 wins and three draws from their previous 19 La Liga fixtures, dominated possession but fell further behind when Kroos’ free-kick took a deflection off Sergino Dest on its way past Ter Stegen.

Federico Valverde could have made it 3-0 before half-time, but his fierce drive across goal came back off the inside of the far post.

Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman switched from a 3-5-2 to a 4-3-3 formation in the second half and the move paid off 15 minutes after the restart, Mingueza turning Jordi Alba’s cross past Thibaut Courtois to set up a tense finish.

Vinicius Junior was denied by the post as Real threatened to restore their two-goal advantage, before Lionel Messi – who had rattled the woodwork in the first half with an inswinging corner – struck the wall from a free-kick on the edge of the box.

Barcelona had a penalty appeal turned down when Martin Braithwaite went to ground under Ferland Mendy’s challenge, before a late tackle on Mingueza earned Casemiro a second yellow card.

The visitors almost snatched a draw in second-half stoppage time when Moriba thumped a loose ball against Courtois’ crossbar, but Real held on to record three consecutive El Clasico wins for the first time since 1978.

Manchester United took a big step towards the Europa League semi-finals with an away win over Granada in the first leg of their last-eight tie.

Marcus Rashford put United ahead when he superbly collected Victor Lindelof’s long pass and slid a finish past home goalkeeper Rui Silva.

Yangel Herrera, on loan from Manchester City, hit the outside of the post for the Spanish side and ex-Tottenham striker Roberto Soldado also fired wide.

United doubled their lead late on when Bruno Fernandes squeezed a penalty past Silva after Yan Brice fouled the Portuguese midfielder.

The second leg is at Old Trafford in a week’s time with the aggregate winners advancing to a semi-final against either Ajax or Roma, with the Italian side leading that tie 2-1 after the first leg in the Netherlands.

United have now only lost one of their past 17 matches in all competitions, but will be without midfielder Scott McTominay, left-back Luke Shaw and central defender Harry Maguire for the second leg as they will all be suspended after picking up bookings in Spain.

Slavia Prague scored a dramatic stoppage time equaliser to leave Arsenal’s Europa League ambitions hanging in the balance.

Substitute Nicolas Pepe thought he had earned the Gunners a slender quarter-final first-leg advantage when he broke the deadlock in the 86th minute.

But Tomas Holes headed home in the dying moments of the game from close range to give Slavia Prague a precious away goal.

The second leg in Prague takes place next Thursday (20:00 BST) and Gunners boss Mikel Arteta, despite his side conceding so late, still believes they will progress to the semi-finals.

“The mindset has to be to go there and score goals and win the game because we have to score if we want to go through,” said the Spaniard.

“I totally believe that we can go there and win the match, if not I wouldn’t be sitting here.”

Arteta stated he was in “shock” after his side’s tame 3-0 surrender to Liverpool last weekend, a performance which brought stinging criticism from both fans and pundits.

He reacted by making six changes – three of which were forced because of injuries – to his starting line-up, with captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang the most high-profile casualty.

“Well, I cannot talk with everybody individually every week,” Arteta replied when asked how Aubameyang reacted to being dropped.

“We try to be transparent and communicate with the players as transparent as possible, for them to understand the role of the game that they have. When he came on he showed the right attitude.”

Aubameyang, who has 13 league and cup goals for his club this season but none since 6 March, cut a frustrated figure as he watched Willian, from a free-kick, clip the outside of the post before Alexandre Lacazette raced through, only to hit the bar.

Aubameyang was finally sent on after 78 minutes and made an impact as his pass allowed club-record £72m signing Pepe to race into the box and produce a composed finish past keeper Ondrej Kolar.

But Arsenal failed to see the game out and Holes’ back-post header means Arteta’s side have it all to do against the 2019-20 Czech champions in a week’s time.

The Spanish Football Federation have appointed referee Mateu Lahoz as the man in charge of Saturday’s meeting between Real Madrid and Barcelona in what will be the last El Clasico of the 2020-2021 season.

This will be a decisive game, given that both sides are fighting to cut Atletico de Madrid’s current lead in the table. Mateu Lahoz’s style is unusual, as he tends to allow teams to play with intensity and physicality, contrary to what some of his other colleagues do in La Liga.

Real Madrid beat FC Barcelona 1-3 at the Camp Nou last October. This time, Los Blancos will have to play the game just four days after beating Liverpool 3-1 and barely three days before the return leg at Anfield, so coach Zinedine Zidane and his staff will need to make sure that every player is fresh and ready to go, given that Barcelona will be rested.

The deadline for the 12 host cities of Euro 2020 to announce their plans for fan attendance has passed – so what is each country’s position?

The tournament, delayed a year because of the coronavirus pandemic, will take place between 11 June and 11 July.

Host associations had been asked to submit plans to accept fans by 7 April.

London, Glasgow, Dublin, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, St Petersburg, Bilbao, Munich, Budapest, Baku, Rome and Bucharest are all due to host matches.

With Uefa expected to make a final decision on host cities at an executive committee meeting on 19 April, and all host cities required to guarantee fan presence, BBC Sport takes a look at the proposals of each.

London, England

Wembley, with a capacity of 90,000, is set to host the final on 11 July among its seven games – along with both semi-finals, one last-16 game, and all three of England’s group games .

The British government has said up to 10,000 spectators will be permitted inside English grounds from mid-May, and unlimited numbers from 21 June. However, BBC Sport understands the English FA has told Uefa it hopes Wembley will be able to host around 20,000 fans for the group games (the number allowed for the FA Cup final in May), and many more for the knock-out matches.

The FA has said it is prepared to host any additional games that cannot take place elsewhere, having already picked up extra matches originally allocated to Brussels.

Glasgow, Scotland

There were concerns that a failure to confirm fan numbers may result in Glasgow being removed as a host city, though First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said last month she remained hopeful Hampden Park would stage Euro 2020 matches this summer.

On Wednesday, the Scottish government gave approval for 12,000 supporters to attend games at Hampden in June.

That is 25% of Glasgow’s 51,000-capacity stadium, where three group games – including Scotland’s Group D fixtures against the Czech Republic and Croatia – and one last-16 game will be played.

Dublin, Republic of Ireland

There are growing fears that Dublin may not be able to host Euro 2020 games, after the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) told Uefa it cannot provide assurances on minimum spectator numbers.

The FAI, acting on Covid-19 guidance from the Irish government, said “the matter will be kept under review”, though it previously admitted it would only remain a host venue if it could guarantee fans would be permitted at games.

Dublin’s Aviva Stadium is due to stage four games – three group games and one last-16 tie.

Amsterdam, Netherlands

At least 12,000 spectators will be able to attend matches in Amsterdam, The Royal Netherlands Football Association (KNVB) has confirmed.

The Johan Cruyff Arena, which can hold 54,000 fans, will stage three group games and one last-16 game.

“Depending on developments surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic in June, there is a chance that more fans will be allowed inside the stadium,” the KNVB said.

Copenhagen, Denmark

Denmark will allow “at least 11,000 to 12,000” fans to attend Euro 2020 matches at Copenhagen’s 38,000-capacity Parken Stadium, which is set to stage three group games and one last-16 game.

The Danish culture ministry said: “We will look at whether there can be even more spectators in the Parken if health conditions allow.

“It may be necessary to close to spectators if there is a spread of infection, so it will be unjustifiable from a health point of view to allow spectators to the matches.”

St Petersburg, Russia

Russia expects to allow fans to attend the four games it is hosting at the 68,000-capacity Krestovsky Stadium in St Petersburg, which will host a quarter-final in addition to three group games.

The Russian committee’s director Alexei Sorokin said he believed matches could be played “with the minimum of possible restrictions”.

“We already have an agreement to fill the stands to 50% capacity,” Sorokin said. “We are working to welcome foreign supporters and this has not been rejected by the authorities.”

Bilbao, Spain

Bilbao had initially said it was ready to stage Euro 2020 games at the San Mames stadium at 25% capacity (about 13,000 supporters), as long as coronavirus rates dropped to levels accepted by the regional health authorities.

However, the Spanish football federation said in a statement on Wednesday that the Basque government’s conditions were “impossible to meet” in time for the start of tournament on 11 June and it would therefore be unable to hold matches with spectators.

Munich, Germany

Germany are yet to give an indication of the number of fans that could be permitted, following a rise in coronavirus case numbers in the country.

The Allianz Arena, home to German champions Bayern Munich, has a capacity of 70,000 and is due to host three group games and a quarter-final.

Budapest, Hungary

Budapest’s 68,000-seat Puskas Arena welcomed 15,180 fans for Bayern Munich’s Uefa Super Cup victory over Sevilla in September.

However, Hungary are yet to make their plans to welcome supporters for three group games and one last-16 game public.

Baku, Azerbaijan

Wales will play two of their Group A matches of Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku.

The country’s Olympic Stadium, which can hold 69,000 fans, is scheduled to oversee three group games in all, along with a quarter-final.

While the Azerbaijan Grand Prix from 4-6 June will be held behind closed doors, there is yet to be a decision on Euro 2020 matches.

Rome, Italy

The tournament is due to begin in Rome on 11 June, as Italy face Turkey at Rome’s Olympic Stadium.

According to the Italian federation (FIGC), the government “will identify the best solutions” to allow fans to attend its three group games and one quarter-final.

The FIGC say Rome will welcome spectators, though the number of fans who will be permitted has not yet been specified.

Bucharest, Romania

The Romanian Government plans to welcome 13,000 spectators at the National Arena in Bucharest.

Set to stage a senior men’s major international tournament for the first time, Romania’s 54,000-capacity stadium is to host three group games and one last-16 game.

Minister for sport Eduard Novak said: “We have the historical chance to be part of a large sporting event and to demonstrate that we can honour our obligations to the highest standards of organization and health safety.”

Chelsea bounced back from a testing few days to earn a commanding first-leg quarter-final away win over Porto in the Champions League.

Mason Mount’s clever turn and finish in the first half helped bring some welcome relief to Blues manager Thomas Tuchel after his side’s heavy defeat to West Brom on Saturday, which was followed by a training ground incident between team-mates Kepa Arrizabalaga and Antonio Rudiger.

Ben Chilwell added a late second after a mistake by Corona, moments after substitute Christian Pulisic had hit the bar.

Having conceded five goals against West Brom, Chelsea produced a dogged defensive performance to earn a seventh clean sheet in nine European games this season.

Skipper Cesar Azpilicueta’s vital block denied Corona before Edouard Mendy kept out Pepe’s header.

With both legs of this tie in Spain at Sevilla’s Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium because of coronavirus travel restrictions between Portugal and the UK, this was Porto’s ‘home’ game, meaning Chelsea’s two away goals put them in pole position before next Tuesday’s second leg.

This was the perfect response by Chelsea after last weekend’s embarrassment – a resilient, determined and professional performance against a team that had eliminated Juventus in the previous round.

Tuchel reacted to the West Brom shambles by making five changes, with Rudiger among those recalled despite his ‘heated’ row with Arrizabalaga.

Rudiger played his part in an impressive Chelsea rearguard display, Porto carving out several chances without managing to find a way through.

Mendy used his legs to keep out Moussa Marega while Luis Diaz, who scored against Manchester City in the group stage, went close from outside the penalty area.

At the other end, Timo Werner and Azpilicueta missed headed chances to extend the lead after Mount scored before Chilwell’s crucial second – a composed finish after bursting into the penalty area and taking it past the keeper – gave his side a handsome win.

Mount continues to flourish, his goal the highlight in what was for long spells a closely-fought contest.

Having received a pass from Jorginho following a patient build-up, the midfielder turned sharply and beat Agustin Marchesin with an instinctive low finish from an angle.

Mount has scored more goals in all competitions than any other Chelsea player since Tuchel was appointed in January.

In 2020-21, he has found the net for club and country in the Premier League, Nations League, FA Cup, World Cup qualifying and now Champions League.

Having dropped out of the top four, Chelsea will hope this result can propel them to a strong finish to the season.

The winners of this tie face Real Madrid or Liverpool in the semi-finals – Real lead 3-1 after the first leg – and the Blues also have an FA Cup semi-final against Manchester City on 17 April.

Kylian Mbappe scored twice as Paris St-Germain produced a superb away performance to beat title holders Bayern Munich in a thrilling Champions League quarter-final first leg.

This was a meeting between last year’s finalists and they both contributed in a hugely entertaining game that in itself would have been worthy of being the final of the competition.

Mbappe took just three minutes to make his mark as he was fed by Neymar and the striker thumped a drive through Manuel Neuer’s legs.

Marquinhos doubled the lead for the French champions midway through the first half with a neat finish from a great ball by Neymar before ex-PSG striker Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting headed home to halve the deficit.

Neuer made amends for his earlier mistake by denying Neymar from point-blank range early in the second half, before Keylor Navas kept out strikes from David Alaba and Benjamin Pavard at the other end.

But Bayern Munich kept up the pressure and deservedly levelled on the hour mark when Thomas Muller guided a header into the back of the net from Joshua Kimmich’s free-kick.

However, Mbappe had the final say as he swept a low strike through Jerome Boateng’s legs late on to give PSG a third crucial away goal heading into the second leg.

This was another eye-catching result in Europe for Mauricio Pochettino’s side after they thrashed Barcelona 4-1 in the first leg of their last-16 tie.

That win was all the more impressive as it happened at the Nou Camp and PSG once again went to the home of a European giant to pull off a shock result.

Against a side that had not lost any of its previous 19 games in the Champions League – with 18 of those victories – the visitors produced a tactically brilliant display as they stood up to Bayern’s relentless attacks before utilising the pace of Neymar and Mbappe to pick them off on the break.

PSG were undoubtedly helped by the absence of Robert Lewandowski in the Bayern side as the hosts had 31 chances on goal but that should take nothing away from an excellent performance by Pochettino’s side that sets things up nicely for when the two sides meet in Paris on Tuesday, 13 April (20:00 BST).

Mbappe has now scored eight Champions League goals this season, the joint-most in a single season in the competition by a Frenchman, along with Wissam Ben Yedder in 2017-18 and David Trezeguet in 2001-02.

His double follows his hat-trick in the 4-1 win against Barcelona in the previous round and he said: “Like I said in Barcelona, I love this type of game.

“They haven’t always gone my way and maybe they won’t in the future, but I’m not here to hide. I love this kind of game and being decisive.”

For Bayern coach Hansi Flick, this was his first taste of defeat in the Champions League and he rued the number of missed chances.

“With the chances we had, we could have got a good result despite conceding three goals,” Flick said.

“We don’t like to lose, but the way the team played was top.”

Phil Foden’s last-gasp strike gave Manchester City a crucial slender advantage in their Champions League quarter-final first leg against Borussia Dortmund at Etihad Stadium.

City’s hopes of reaching the semi-final looked to be in the balance when Marco Reus gave Dortmund what looked like a priceless away goal with a cool finish from Erling Haaland’s pass six minutes from time.

Kevin De Bruyne, who had given City the lead with a crisp finish after 19 minutes, played his part once more in the final minute of normal time when his fine cross was touched back by Ilkay Gundogan for Foden to stroke a finish past Marwin Hitz.

It was a bitter blow for an enterprising Dortmund side, who will leave Manchester nursing a burning sense of injustice directed towards Romanian official Ovidiu Hategan after he controversially ruled out Jude Bellingham’s second-half goal with City leading 1-0.

Bellingham beat Ederson to a throughball but after it appeared City’s keeper kicked the teenager, the referee blew for a foul against Borussia with the England star racing towards an empty net – not even allowing the intervention of VAR which would have surely awarded a goal.

City, who had a first-half penalty award overturned by VAR, showed commendable strength of character and great determination to react to the blow of Reus’ goal to score the winner and are now in pole position before the return leg in Germany.

Jurgen Klopp says Liverpool made it “too easy” for Real Madrid to win the quarter-final first leg between the sides, but feels Mohamed Salah’s goal offers his side a lifeline in the return game at Anfield.

The Reds were largely second best throughout an entertaining game against a Real team missing their first-choice centre-back pairing, but packed with impressive attacking talent.

Much of the damage was done in the first half through Vinicius Junior’s low drive after he had chested down a superb long pass from Toni Kroos and a Marco Asensio’s close-range finish following a defensive mistake from Trent Alexander-Arnold.

Liverpool came out fighting after the break, pulling a goal back through Salah’s finish off the crossbar to spark their best 20-minute spell of the contest.

But they were stung when Vinicius found the net via a first-time shot following a fine attacking move with 25 minutes to go, leaving them with a mountain to climb in the return leg at an empty Anfield on 14 April.

“If you want to go to the semi-final, you have to earn the right to do so,” Klopp told BT Sport. “We didn’t do that tonight, especially in the first half.

“We just didn’t play good enough football to cause Real Madrid more problems. We made it too easy for them.

“The only good thing I can say, apart from the goal, is it’s only the first half of the tie. We didn’t deserve a lot more but that one goal and the second half was OK. It gives us a lifeline.”

Premier League leaders Manchester City have reported a loss of £126m for the 2019-20 season which was disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic.

The club posted an 11% reduction in revenue to £478.4m but the figure does not include delayed income from player sales – including proceeds from Leroy Sane’s move to Bayern Munich.

City expect an immediate return to profit for the current season.

A total loss of less than £60m per year is forecast over the two campaigns.

For Financial Fair Play purposes, the financial results of football clubs for 2019-20 and 2020-21 are to be combined into one year.

Chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak said the club is “fundamentally strong, with committed shareholders and with significant assets, built carefully over a decade and upon more than a century of history”.

“Our long-term approach has meant that we are now not wholly dependent on income streams that have been most vulnerable to the ongoing impact of Covid-19,” he added.

The Premier League season was postponed between March and June 2020 due to the pandemic, which has since prevented fans from attending games.

Chief executive Ferran Soriano said: “Clearly, the 2019-20 accounts in isolation are not the best representation of the reality of the season with delayed player trading and numerous games being played after 30 June 2020, the revenues from which will be accounted in the 2020-21 period.

“A better financial picture of the Covid years will be provided at the end of the 2020-21 season, when the two seasons are combined and normalised.”

City, who are 14 points clear of closest Premier League challengers Manchester United, are competing for four trophies in the latter stages of the 2020-21 campaign.

West Ham midfielder Declan Rice is expected to be out for four weeks with a knee injury.

The 22-year-old picked up the injury while on international duty with England, having played every minute of the wins against Albania and Poland.

The injury is a blow to seventh-placed West Ham’s quest for European football.

Rice has featured in all of the Hammers’ Premier League matches this season, with David Moyes’ side having won 14 of their 29 games.

West Ham face Wolves at Molineux on Monday at 20:15 BST.

Valencia walked off the pitch during Sunday’s 2-1 La Liga defeat at Cadiz after an alleged racist comment, before later returning to complete the match.

Mouctar Diakhaby reacted furiously after a first-half clash with Cadiz’s Juan Cala and spoke with the referee.

Valencia’s players left the pitch in protest and the club said Diakhaby, 24, “received a racial insult”.

He later asked his team-mates to return and they resumed the game but without Diakhaby, who was substituted.

Valencia defender Jose Gaya said after the game that the team either had to resume playing or risk a points deduction.

“Diakhaby told us he heard a racist insult so we all went off the pitch,” Gaya told Spanish network Movistar.

“We were told that we had to play because if we didn’t, they would take the three points off us and maybe we’d be docked more points.

“Diakhaby asked us to play on. We wouldn’t have done so if he hadn’t done so. He said he wasn’t in the right state of mind to keep playing. He is devastated.”

The game was 1-1 at the time, with Kevin Gameiro having equalised after Spanish defender Cala opened the scoring for Cadiz.

Cala, 31, was also substituted at half-time, before Marcos Mauro’s 88th-minute goal gave Cadiz a 2-1 victory.

“We offer our complete backing to Mouctar Diakhaby,” Valencia said of the decision to return to the pitch.

“The team have held a meeting and decided to continue the game, in order to fight for the honour of the club, but denounce racism of any kind.”

Gaya said he had heard the comment Cala made to Diakhaby.

He added: “It was a very ugly insult which I won’t repeat. We haven’t been able to speak with Cala because he was the last player to leave the pitch. I’m certain that he said something. It was a very strange game.”

Mason Greenwood should not be judged purely on his goal scoring, Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said after the teenager’s effort completed a comeback victory over Brighton.

The 19-year-old headed in his first Premier League goal at Old Trafford this season after Paul Pogba’s volley had bounced into the ground.

It was his first in the league since May 2020 and his sixth goal in 40 appearances in all competitions this season, a campaign which started with him being sent home from an England camp after breaching Covid guidelines.

“When he gets those goals, we know he’s going to add another dimension to his game,” said Solskjaer, who could be without forward Anthony Martial for the rest of the season through injury.

“The world nowadays is so on to stats and this and that.

“The boy has played fantastically [during] the last two or three months and has really come on. If he keeps learning and improving he will score more – he’s a lethal finisher.”

Brighton took an early lead when former United striker Danny Welbeck reacted quickest after his initial header had been saved, nodding in from close range.

However, not for the first time this season, United improved from a lethargic opening period to sweep to victory in the second.

Marcus Rashford levelled when he opened up his body and rolled an excellent shot into the corner from Bruno Fernandes’ lay-off, before Greenwood’s winner eight minutes from the end.

The result gives United an 11-point cushion in the battle for a top-four place, although West Ham and Everton could reduce that to eight if they both win their matches in hand.

Tottenham said they are “disgusted” after defender Davinson Sanchez was subjected to racist abuse on social media following Sunday’s 2-2 draw at Newcastle.

The Colombian, 24, posted a picture of the abusive messages on his Instagram Stories after the match, with the words “Nothing changes”.

Spurs said they want “social media platforms to take action”.

Sanchez is the latest footballer to be racially abused on social media.

West Brom striker Callum Robinson was abused after Saturday’s win at Chelsea.

His club have contacted West Midlands Police over the abuse, which was sent to Robinson on social media following the 5-2 victory.

Leaders Atletico Madrid suffered a rare La Liga defeat as Marcos Acuna’s header earned Sevilla victory.

Argentina defender Acuna was unmarked when he nodded a cross by former Manchester City player Jesus Navas past Jan Oblak.

Oblak had earlier saved Lucas Ocampos’ penalty after Saul Niguez brought down Ivan Rakitic.

Atletico, chasing a first league title since 2014, are three points clear at the top with nine games left.

Third-placed Barcelona will move one point behind Atletico if they beat 16th-placed Real Valladolid on Monday (20:00 BST).

On a frustrating night for Atletico, Mario Hermoso wasted a chance to equalise against fourth-placed Sevilla when he blazed over from 15 yards.

Atletico pressed forward to try to avoid their third league defeat of the season, but substitute Angel Correa was denied by Yassine Bounou’s save in stoppage time.

Tottenham leading and then dropping points has become a bit of a habit this season but, according to manager Jose Mourinho, it is not his fault.

The 58-year-old has earned a reputation as a master tactician and defensive-minded coach, but his Spurs side have now lost 15 points from winning positions this campaign after Sunday’s 2-2 draw at Newcastle.

Tottenham fell behind at St James’ Park through Joelinton’s precise finish, but Harry Kane’s double put them ahead, before on-loan Arsenal midfielder Joe Willock pounced on a loose ball to earn Newcastle a point with an 85th-minute strike.

So, who is to blame for letting leads slip?

“Same coach, different players,” was Mourinho’s response when BBC Radio 5 Live reporter Juliette Ferrington pointed out his teams are usually good at defending leads.

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The latest setback saw them miss out on climbing back into the top four – and a Champions League qualification spot – for the first time since 2 January, after Chelsea’s defeat by West Brom.

Eleven of those 15 dropped points have been lost in the final 10 minutes of games – the most of any side in the Premier League – while the north London side have also failed to win six games in which they led at half-time, again the most in the league.

So how does that compare with Mourinho’s time at other Premier League clubs?

His side only need to drop one more point from a winning position for it to be the worst season in that regard – with his 2014-15 Chelsea side also dropping 15 points.

During his initial three-year spell at Stamford Bridge, which covered 120 games, he only dropped 14 points from winning positions. His Manchester United side dropped 18 in just over two seasons.

Asked if he has more work to do with Spurs’ players, Mourinho said: “I don’t think so. We work well, we work hard.

“But there are mistakes which I probably shouldn’t even call mistakes because they are related to qualities that players have.

“Looking at the second goal, it’s easy to understand because there’s three different moments – the cross, the ball at the far post where they won it, and then the ball in the face of the goal where our two centre-backs were in position. You can analyse it easily.”

And speaking to Match of the Day, Mourinho added: “It’s not just about the defensive mistakes that lead to goals. We have situations where we have the ball and I know already the ball is going to end with [keeper] Hugo Lloris.

“That’s the way we sometimes create instability to ourselves.”

Real Madrid are currently completing the last training session ahead of Saturday’s match against Eibar in La Liga and both Toni Kroos and Eden Hazard were able to rejoin the squad, meaning that even if they take a cautious approach and miss the game, they should be ready to face Liverpool next Tuesday.

Kroos’ chances of featuring in the starting lineup then are much higher than Hazard’s though. The Belgian attacker could come off the bench but his recent issues with injuries suggests that coach Zinedine Zidane should keep Hazard on the bench until he’s able to improve his conditioning and be fully recovered.

Zidane will likely use the match against Eibar to make sure that everyone is in good form to face Liverpool, given that Madrid’s chances of competing for the Liga title are very slim at the moment.

Valverde, Ramos and Carvajal are still out and while some reports suggested that the Spanish right-back could make it in time for the first leg, it seems unlikely right now.

Police were called to the Stadium of Light following claims Oxford United goalkeeper Jack Stevens was headbutted at half-time in the U’s 3-1 League One defeat at Sunderland.

Oxford boss Karl Robinson admitted he did not see the incident which happened in the tunnel during the break.

“We are waiting for the police to come, one of my goalkeepers was headbutted at half-time,” he told BBC Radio Oxford.

“I don’t want to use names, it’s not right to do that

It proved a bad-tempered game, with Robinson sent to the stands after Aidan McGeady scored Sunderland’s second, while Oxford midfielder Mark Sykes was also sent off for a second yellow card just after the hour.

Robinson added: “There was a melee, something got said, which tends to happen generally in football, Jack walked behind somebody, no malice, they just turned round grabbed him and headbutted him. Everyone has seen it, their players have seen it as well.

“This club has had more TV cameras than any other club in world football following them for the last two years and for some unknown reason they all seem to be off at half-time.

“It’s something we will deal with internally. We will be waiting for some sort of conversation to see where we go from here with this legally.”

Sunderland manager Lee Johnson suggested there was more trouble at the end of the game, but played down the severity of the half-time incident.

“Genuinely, I didn’t see what happened at half-time, I was in the toilet, waiting for the boys in the dressing room wondering where everybody was,” he told BBC Newcastle.

“Look, it happens all the time, especially in a condensed area. It was handbags a lot of it.

“It happened at the end as well, which is not ideal, and I think that one was provoked, to be honest with you.

“As a football club, I want us to act with class, but I also want us to look after each other when there’s moments.

“It was an incident that wasn’t great to see, but at the same time is probably not worth being blown out of proportion because not a lot happened.”

Juventus coach Andrea Pirlo has left Weston McKennie, Paulo Dybala and Arthur out of the squad for Saturday’s Serie A game against Torino after they breached Covid protocols.

The trio were fined by the club after USA midfielder McKennie hosted a dinner party on Wednesday.

Argentina striker Dybala and Brazil midfielder Arthur were among 10 guests at the gathering.

Italy currently has a nationwide curfew from 2200 to 0500 daily.

“The three players involved are not called up for tomorrow’s game and will return to work over time, we’ll see when,” said Pirlo on Friday.

“I made the decision and the club did the rest. For the selection part, I decided. It was not the right time to do it [have a party], we are examples, and it is right that we behave like this.”

Juventus, who are looking to win a 10th successive Serie A title, are third in the table, 10 points behind leaders Inter Milan.

Pirlo is in his first season in charge and Italian newspaper reports suggested he could face the sack with poor results in their next two games.