Sevilla boss Jose Luis Mendilibar wants his team "to remove the ropes that bind us" and rise to the occasion of the Europa League rematch with Manchester United on Thursday.

A 2-0 win at Valencia in LaLiga on Sunday came despite Mendilibar feeling something was missing from the performance.

He considers it a huge boon that his team can still win while not at their best, and hopes they hit their peak at the right moment.

A fightback in Manchester by Sevilla means the quarter-final tie is locked at 2-2 heading into the second leg.

Speaking after his team's victory at Mestalla, Mendilibar said: "We have to gain confidence. Sometimes you don't play well and the result is with you. That makes you think that when you play well, you're going to do even better.

"It's going to give us peace of mind to be able to compete against Manchester on Thursday."

Messy defending from a corner allowed Loic Bade to sneak in to poach Sevilla's opener against Valencia in the 55th minute, before Suso's clean hit into the left corner in the 75th minute sealed the win.

Valencia had Ilaix Moriba sent off late on as the game ran away from them.

"We're having success in front of goal," said Mendilibar. "We've scored two goals in each game, It's what's giving us life."

It is true that Sevilla have scored twice in each of their last four matches, winning twice and being held to draws in the other two games.

These games have all followed Mendilibar's appointment on March 21 as successor to Jorge Sampaoli, with Sevilla improving step by step.

"We hope to be able to remove the ropes that bind us," Mendilibar said.

United also won 2-0 on their travels on Sunday, beating Nottingham Forest in the Premier League.

Mendilibar knows the threat Erik ten Hag's team will pose, but likes Sevilla's future prospects and said: "We hope to be able to bring quality into play from now on, not just with goals."

Massimiliano Allegri rued Juventus only sparking into life after suffering a "slap in the face" during their 1-0 loss at Sassuolo.

Juve went down to Gregoire Defrel's fine finish on Sunday, suffering a second straight Serie A defeat and their third loss in four away games in the league.

The defeat leaves Juve – who will defend a 1-0 lead against Sporting CP in the second leg of their Europa League quarter-final on Thursday – sitting in seventh place and nine points behind Milan in the final Champions League spot.

Having hardly threatened prior to going behind, Juve did spark into life in the closing stages. Andrea Consigli saved from Adrien Rabiot's excellent header, while Angel Di Maria blazed over from a great chance.

But it was not enough to ease Allegri's frustration, with the Juventus coach telling DAZN: "We did not play well for an hour, then reacted after the slap in the face of the goal.

"It was an important game for the table, but it was a second consecutive defeat in the league.

"We've got to get back to our feet, work on what we got wrong and take a different approach to the matches. All we can do is stay quiet, work hard and drag out the last drops of energy to get past Sporting.

"I told the players this was an important step. Instead, we dropped points."

Paul Pogba came on for just his fourth appearance of the season, all of which have come from the bench since his return from a calf injury that kept him out for over six months.

Allegri, though, said the France midfielder is still well behind where Juve hoped he would be.

"There are players like Federico Chiesa and Paul Pogba who are getting back into shape, while others have played a lot more and are tired," Allegri added.

"I saw improvements from Pogba, but he's still a long way behind schedule and not in condition to play 90 minutes.

"We'll try to slowly get him up to 30 minutes and see how he responds."

Nottingham Forest head coach Steve Cooper described the decision not to award his team a penalty against Manchester United as a "really poor error".

United went on to win 2-0 at the City Ground on Sunday thanks to goals from Antony and Diogo Dalot, but not before they had escaped a handball shout with the game still goalless.

A Forest corner in the 19th minute struck the outstretched arm of Harry Maguire – who had already been booked – at the far post, with the hosts immediately appealing to referee Simon Hooper for a penalty.

After consultation with the VAR, Hooper waved away the claims.

"I personally think it's a penalty," Cooper told Sky Sports after the game. "It's a really, really poor error.

"The referee should see it, but I understand why he hasn't because of the angle and the amount of players. But why the VAR hasn't is not right, in my opinion.

"It's another moment that will put big scrutiny on VAR. There's been a lot of negative decisions over the last few weeks, and that's another one.

"I'm not going to stand here and say it's the reason we didn't win the game, although it could be a second yellow and a red for Maguire, and we could have scored the penalty and gone 1-0 up.

"It has a big impact, I'm really biting my tongue because I don't want to use it as an excuse for why we lost the game or why we're in the league position we are in; it's not.

"But it's a bad error. How [VAR] Andy Madley hasn't seen it needs looking at."

The incident came just a week after a number of questionable decisions from officials in Tottenham's 2-1 win over Brighton and Hove Albion, after which refereeing body PGMOL issued an apology to the Seagulls.

Forest remain in the Premier League relegation zone on goal difference behind 17th-placed Everton and have now gone 10 games without a win.

Nantes head coach Antoine Kombouare labelled his players "a sh***y team" on Sunday as he took a dramatic swipe at the group two weeks ahead of the Coupe de France final.

There will be glory in their sights at the Stade de France on April 29 when Nantes tackle Toulouse for cup honours.

However, former Paris Saint-Germain boss Kombouare tore into his side in a television interview after the 2-1 loss at Auxerre on Ligue 1 duty that left Nantes 15th in the table.

The 59-year-old told Prime Video: "Today the players aren't concerned by survival because, up to now... imagine, you got to the 16th finals of the Europa League, you're going to the Stade de France in two weeks.

"But apparently they would prefer for us to be up the creek and find ourselves 17th to be able to wake up.

"They like to play with the pressure so we're going to laugh. In any case today, I hear those from Auxerre say that we are a good team but no, we are a sh****y team!"

Nantes saw their Europa League campaign ended by Juventus in February when they lost 4-1 on aggregate to the Italian giants.

They have not won a domestic league match since February 12 when they scored a 1-0 home victory over Lorient, taking three points from a possible 24 since.

It is a run that has left relegation a distinct possibility, with Nantes just two points clear of the drop zone, which contains the bottom four sides for this season as Ligue 1 makes the change to an 18-team league from the 2023-24 season.

They will be seeking back-to-back Coupe de France titles, having beaten Nice 1-0 in last season's final.

Erik ten Hag had hoped his Manchester United team would kill off Nottingham Forest earlier than they did as they ran out 2-0 victors at the City Ground on Sunday.

Antony put the Red Devils ahead in the first-half, but United struggled to find a way past Keylor Navas again until Diogo Dalot grabbed a second in the 76th minute.

United ended the game with an expected goals rate (xG) of 3.49, and ultimately secured three points to leapfrog Newcastle United into third place in the Premier League.

"A solid performance. A well deserved win. The only criticism I could say, it had to be higher, the score. It had to be 3-0 or 4-0. We missed a lot of chances there," Ten Hag told Sky Sports after the game.

"You want to score and finish and kill the game in the early moments. That's always important. In big games you don't create so many chances, so you have to score them.

"We need more goalscorers and I'm happy with Antony. He scored a goal, gave an assist. His start in the game wasn't that good... But after he came into the game and he was continually a threat for the opponent."

United were without top scorer Marcus Rashford through injury, as well as defensive pair Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez after both suffered knocks in Thursday's 2-2 Europa League quarter-final first leg draw with Sevilla.

To add to Ten Hag's issues, Marcel Sabitzer was forced to pull out of the game after being injured in the warm-up on Sunday, and was replaced by Christian Eriksen.

It may have even been a benefit for Ten Hag, with the midfield trio of Casemiro, Eriksen and Bruno Fernandes winning 15 of their 17 matches started together at the club, drawing the other two.

"Sabitzer came off in the warm-up, he felt something. We decided not to take the risk, we will find out tomorrow what it is," the Red Devils' manager explained to BBC Sport. "But when you have Eriksen on the bench, it is definitely not a disadvantage.

"Last week I had nine fit top defenders, now I have four. We need all our players, we are still in three competitions, we need all the players to form a top team."

Dalot celebrated with notable enthusiasm when he made it 2-0 after running onto a pass from Antony and finishing calmly, and he explained to the BBC: "It was a release of emotions, more than the goal it was the moment of the goal, we needed it to be more comfortable.

"One-nil up with 10 minutes to go, it's going to be a war, so it came at the right moment."

Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago got their Women U20 Championship qualifiers off to winning starts on Saturday.

Six games were played in Groups C, D and F. In Group C action at the Estadio Felix Sanchez Stadium in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Guyana drubbed Suriname 6-0.

Se-Hanna Mars opened the scoring in the 24^th minute before Sandra Johnson scored the first of her two goals in the 44^th as Guyana took a 2-0 lead into half-time. Johnson added her second shortly after the resumption in the 47^th minute.

 Glendy Lewis added Guyana’s fourth in minute 55 and Samantha Banfield made it 5-0 five minutes later. Jalade Trim completed the rout in the 90^th minute.

In the second match on the night the Dominican Republic clobbered Dominica 15-0 as  Angelina Vargas scoring a double hat-trick, her goals coming in the sixth, 11^th, 33^rd 44^th, 73^rd and 78^th minutes.

Jaylen Valecillo (7’, 21’, 63’) also had a hat trick, Ariana Diaz had a brace (14’, 37’) while Jazmyn Jackson (9’), Renata Mercedes (11’), Stella Tapia (86’) and Isabella Ventura (90’) all chipped in with scores.

The Rignaal Jean Francisca Stadium in Willemstad is serving as the site for Group D, and Trinidad and Tobago got off to a winning start in a 3-0 final against Cayman Islands. Talia Martin scored goals in the 22’ and 68’, while Nikita Jackson found the back of the net in the 66’ to give Trinidad and Tobago the three points.

Puerto Rico enjoyed a winning start in Willemstad as they topped Guadeloupe 5-0. Kenedy Garcia (12’), Enasia Colon (40’), Estefania Gonzalez (52’), Jocelyn Chinea (73’) and Fabiola Martinez (88’) supplied the goals for the Boricuas.

The Estadio Nacional in Managua was the location of the day’s games in Group F, beginning with Costa Rica’s 13-0 win over Belize.

Alexa Herrera had four goals (7’, 14’, 20’, 33’), Sheika Scott notched a hat trick (4’, 45+2’, 56’), Tanisha Fonseca contributed a brace (12’, 29’) and Jocelyn Briceno (33’), Dayra Dinarte (56’), Veronica Matarrita (71’) and Luciana Gonzalez (89’) all added scores for the Ticas.

Host nation Nicaragua took on Guatemala in the second game of the day in Managua and it ended with a 3-1 win to Nicaragua.

Aryeri Mejia (56’) and Daniela Manzanares (64’) scored for the Pinoleras in addition to an own goal (69’), while Guatemala got their score from Karen Gonzalez (19’).

All of the teams will be back in action on Monday.

In Group C in Santo Domingo, Guyana will look to make it two wins in a row versus Dominica, while the Dominican Republic will try to continue their scoring ways against Suriname.

Group D in Willemstad will see Trinidad and Tobago seek a second win against Guadeloupe, while Puerto Rico take on Cayman Islands.

Xavi bemoaned the state of the Coliseum Alfonso Perez pitch after Sergi Roberto was injured in Barcelona's goalless LaLiga draw at Getafe on Sunday.

The misfiring Blaugrana were held at relegation-threatened Getafe after failing to score for a third consecutive game.

Barcelona remain well on course to win the title, leading Real Madrid by 11 points with nine games to play, but were left to rue their lack of a cutting edge once again.

Sergi Roberto was replaced by Eric Garcia early on due to a hamstring injury and Xavi put that down to the playing surface.

The head coach said, according to Marca: "The state of the grass has affected us. Yesterday we trained with a dry field. I have been criticised a lot for the issue of the surface. Today the whole world has seen it.

"It is very difficult to play like this, it is bad for the show. The ball gets stuck, it's bad even for Getafe. It's essential that it be in good condition."

Xavi added: "It's no excuse and we have to recover our sensations.

"We take a point that makes it not bad at all because of how uncomfortable we have been."

Regarding the injury, Xavi said: "Sergi noticed something in the hamstring. Let's see tomorrow. Let it be for a short time, whether or not there is an injury."

The leaders face third-placed Atletico Madrid next Sunday and Xavi warned they must not let their standards slip.

"I think we're having a good season in the league, but we mustn't fall asleep. Very important games are coming up," Xavi said.

"We tried to get the full-backs to go inside. We tried, we didn't have the best game, it's clear. We gave everything and we got a point that isn't entirely bad, but we're not satisfied.

"I hope that next week we can get two or three players back. It's not an excuse, we have a good squad, I'm satisfied. From there, minimise injuries and get people back. We'll plan for next season and see what happens."

Juventus suffered a second successive Serie A defeat as Gregoire Defrel's fine finish saw Sassuolo win 1-0 on Sunday.

Three days on from beating Sporting CP 1-0 in the Europa League, Juve turned in a tired display at Mapei Stadium, as Sassuolo dented the Bianconeri's Champions League qualification hopes.

Defrel's 64th-minute goal had been coming, with Massimiliano Allegri's team having lived a charmed life at the back while offering little going forward.

Juve found some spark late on, with Adrien Rabiot denied by Andrea Consigli and Angel Di Maria squandering a golden chance, but Sassuolo held firm to beat Juve at home in the league for the first time since October 2015.

Sassuolo carved out the only chance of a muted first half, but Nedim Bajrami failed to keep his shot down from a tight angle.

Danilo should have done better with a near-post header shortly after the restart, though Juve needed stand-in goalkeeper Mattia Perin to thwart Sassuolo soon after.

Having tipped a curling Maxime Lopez shot wide, Perin pulled off a fantastic save from Defrel's close-range header.

Perin could only stand and watch as Federico Gatti headed against the woodwork just after the hour, Juve coming away unscathed after the defender's awful attempt at a clearance.

Yet the pressure eventually told – Defrel arrowing in a brilliant finish on the spin after Nicolo Fagioli's dreadful clearance fell his way.

Juve finally sparked into life, with Rabiot's header forcing Consigli into a superb save before substitute Di Maria blazed over as the visitors' comeback attempts proved fruitless, with Paul Pogba's late cameo from the bench unable to inspire an equaliser.

Manchester United beat Nottingham Forest 2-0 on Sunday at the City Ground to strengthen their hold on a Champions League qualification spot.

Goals in either half from Antony and Diogo Dalot were enough to take Erik ten Hag's men up to third in the Premier League table, overtaking Newcastle United after their defeat at Aston Villa on Saturday.

Forest – without a win in 10 – remain in the relegation zone, behind Everton on goal difference.

United's injury issues lengthened further after Marcel Sabitzer pulled up with a groin problem in the warm-up, with Christian Eriksen replacing him in the starting line-up, but that did not appear to weaken the Red Devils.

Jadon Sancho had a glorious chance to give the visitors the lead inside the first minute after Keylor Navas palmed a Bruno Fernandes cross straight to him, but the former Borussia Dortmund man could only hit Felipe with his effort.

Harry Maguire was lucky not to concede a penalty when a Forest corner struck the England defender's outstretched arm at the far post, and United took full advantage of that moment of fortune.

Fernandes had been pulling the strings in midfield, and in the 32nd minute, found Anthony Martial with a throughball. The Frenchman's shot was saved by Navas, but Antony followed in for a simple tap in at the back post.

Navas tipped a Fernandes effort from an angle onto the bar early in the second half, while Martial missed a good headed chance with 20 minutes remaining as United looked for a second.

That arrived in the 76th minute as Antony played a neat ball into the path of Dalot, who raced into the penalty area and finished well past Navas as United secured just their second away league win of 2023.

Mikel Arteta rued Arsenal's loss of purpose after they went 2-0 up against West Ham and then blew the chance of victory.

The Hammers hit back to draw 2-2 at London Stadium on Sunday, in a damaging result to Arsenal's title hopes, with Manchester City now just four points behind with a game in hand.

Bukayo Saka's penalty miss early in the second half was compounded by Jarrod Bowen's equaliser two minutes later, as Arsenal surrendered a two-goal lead for the second game running, having previously done so at Liverpool.

Gabriel Jesus and Martin Odegaard put the Gunners 2-0 up inside 10 minutes at West Ham, but Arteta thinks his team grew complacent.

"Very disappointing. The way we started was superb again, we were in total control, then we lost purpose," he told Sky Sports.

"We gave them hope, conceded a terrible penalty, then credit to them. We got on the roller coaster where everything is going, corners and throw-ins, and we never got away from that.

"The purpose we needed for a third and fourth goal, I didn't see it."

Arsenal's lack of focus was exemplified by Thomas Partey's mistake in the build-up to West Ham's first goal, with Declan Rice robbing the midfielder of possession before Lucas Paqueta drew a clumsy challenge from Gabriel Magalhaes.

Saka ultimately missed the chance to restore Arsenal's two-goal advantage when he skewed well wide from the penalty spot following Michail Antonio's handball, but Arteta was philosophical about the youngster's profligacy.

"A player who takes penalties misses penalties, I don't know anyone who hasn't," Arteta said of Saka, before adding Arsenal "can't control" the pressure in the title race.

Captain Odegaard echoed his manager's thoughts, saying: "A lot of the same things to last week – started well, but then we stopped, allowed them to play on their qualities.

"We gave them the game they wanted, we gave them hope, and that's on us. We have to look forward now.

"We started to do a lot of stupid things on the ball, we allowed them to play on the long balls.

 "We have to remember we are still top of the league with everything in our own hands. The same mindset, same mentality to make sure we win the next one."

Arsenal will look to bounce back against Southampton on Friday, before they face City in a potential title decider on April 26.

West Ham, meanwhile, are now four points clear of the bottom three.

"It would have been a good result getting a point anyway, but going 2-0 down and coming back shows great character," Hammers boss David Moyes told BBC Sport.

"The games are coming thick and fast and the players are doing a really good job."

Barcelona misfired once again as the LaLiga leaders were held to a goalless draw at Getafe on Sunday.

The Blaugrana failed to score in a third consecutive game in all competitions, although they remain well on course for the title with an 11-point advantage over second-placed Real Madrid.

Raphinha and Alejandro Balde hit the woodwork in the first half of a frustrating game for toothless Barca at Coliseum Alfonso Perez.

Battling Getafe were good value for a hard-earned point in their battle to avoid relegation.

Getafe posed questions of the Barca defence early on, and former Camp Nou forward Munir El Haddadi headed just wide before Sergi Roberto was replaced by Eric Garcia due to a hamstring injury.

The Blaugrana had another let-off when Enes Unal rose to meet a corner but headed over the crossbar from close range, and Getafe were almost behind moments later, having been caught out by a long ball down the middle.

Raphinha raced clear after the ball bounced over the top of the Getafe defence, and after the winger's effort struck the post, Balde followed up to hit the same upright.

Barca raised the tempo after the break, and Robert Lewandowski was narrowly off target when he met Jordi Alba's whipped cross with a glancing header.

Raphinha bent a free-kick from long range over the crossbar, and with Getafe doing a good job of containing the leaders, Xavi sent on Ansu Fati and Ferran Torres midway through the second half.

David Soria produced a brilliant save diving to his left to keep out a rasping drive from Raphinha, and Gavi fired wide, yet Borja Mayoral should have snatched all three points at the other end when he drilled wide late on.

Victor Osimhen says he "could not ask for more" at Napoli amid increased speculation over his future.

The Nigeria international has been instrumental to the Partenopei's success this season, as they close in on a third Scudetto title and first since 1990.

With 25 goals in 30 games across all competitions this term, Osimhen's rich form has seen him touted for a potential big-money exit from Naples this year.

Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain and a host of Premier League teams have been touted with a move in the next transfer window.

Osimhen hinted that he is not immediately looking to depart Naples, though.

"It was tough for me to make my dream come true, [to become] a professional football player," he told TG5. "Now we are about to win.

"I'm at a great club and my career is growing. I am already at one of the biggest clubs [in Europe] and I could not ask for more. Forza Napoli, always!"

Osimhen made his return from injury in a goalless draw with Verona on Saturday, a result that nevertheless maintains a 14-point gap over second-place Lazio in Serie A.

With the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final to come against Milan, the forward is already preparing to celebrate Scudetto success with the club.

"We are close to the objective and cannot wait to make our dream come true, to make it a reality," he added.

"The players always believed. We always thought we could do something exceptional, even when nobody else believed we could.

"The affection from the city is extraordinary. I have never received so much love. I can't wait to celebrate with them at the stadium."

Lazio captain Ciro Immobile walked away without suffering any serious injuries after his car collided with a tram on Sunday morning.

The Italy striker was reportedly taken to the Agostino Gemelli IRCCS University Hospital following the crash in Rome.

It was reported Immobile's two daughters were also in his vehicle when the accident occurred in the Italian captain.

Lazio revealed in a statement that the 33-year-old sustained a distortion trauma of the spine and a compound fracture of his rib.

Immobile, who remains under observation in hospital in the Eternal City, said at the scene: "The tram ran a red light. Luckily I'm fine, my arm just hurts a little."

Video footage showed substantial damage to the front of Immobile's car.

Immobile scored his 12th goal of the season from the penalty spot in second-placed Lazio's 3-0 win over Spezia on Friday.

Hugo Lloris has described the boos Davinson Sanchez was subjected to by Tottenham fans during a stunning 3-2 defeat to Bournemouth as "sad for the club".

Sanchez replaced the injured Clement Lenglet 10 minutes before half-time when Spurs were 1-0 up in the Premier League clash at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, but his appearance was only brief.

The Colombia international inadvertently provided Dominic Solanke with the opportunity to put the relegation-threatened Cherries 2-1 up after the break, prodding the ball into the striker's path before he beat Lloris.

Centre-back Sanchez was soon back on the bench in the 58th minute after making way for Arnaut Danjuma, who equalised before Dango Ouattara scored a last-gasp winner for Bournemouth.

Sanchez was booed by Tottenham supporters when he was hauled off and captain Lloris was not impressed with the way he was targeted.

The France goalkeeper beIN Sports: "It started earlier. It's when he came on the pitch. I've never seen this in my career.

"I feel really bad for Davinson. He's a team-mate, he's a friend and he's been fighting for the club for many, many years now.

"It's just sad. The story is sad for the club, for the fans, for the player. It's something you don't want to see in football."

Spurs interim boss Cristian Stellini stressed the importance of the club must rallying around Sanchez.

"I understand it's a tough moment for everyone and we have to analyse this moment," he said. "Everyone needs to analyse how important it is to support a player.

"I take the responsibility for the decisions I make. I thought it was too early in the game to use another striker because we were 1-0 up in the first half.

"When we were 2-1 down I thought it was the moment Davinson has to [come off]. It was only a tactical decision. We need to support him because it's a tough moment for him and also for all the team."

Real Madrid are reportedly eager to bolster their full-back options, to upgrade from Dani Carvajal and Ferland Mendy.

Los Blancos were linked with Manchester City's Joao Cancelo - currently on loan at Bayern Munich - earlier this week by Fichajes.

The Spanish giants are set to miss out on this season's LaLiga title, with Barcelona leading by 10 points.

TOP STORY – MADRID KEEN ON LIVERPOOL'S TAA

Real Madrid will turn to Liverpool's Trent Alexander-Arnold should they fail to land Reece James from Chelsea, claims Ekrem Konur.

Los Blancos are in the market for a new full-back and Konur claims Madrid could also turn to Bayer Leverkusen's Jeremie Frimpong.

Alexander-Arnold has had a mixed campaign for Liverpool, who appear set for a squad revamp in the off-season. The 24-year-old England full-back is contracted with the Reds until 2025.

ROUND-UP

– Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti is an admirer of Torino's 21-year-old midfielder Samuele Ricci with Los Blancos keeping tabs on his situation, according to Tuttosport.

– The Sunday Mirror claims Manchester City are leading the race to sign Borussia Dortmund midfielder Jude Bellingham from Real Madrid , with Liverpool having pulled out.

– Chelsea are looking to offer Romelu Lukaku as part of a deal with Atletico Madrid to sign Portuguese forward Joao Felix permanently, reports Fichajes. Chelsea are unwilling to pay Atletico's €100m asking fee, but may part with €70m along with the Belgian forward.

– Tottenham are tracking Barcelona winger Ansu Fati, reports Mundo Deportivo. The report suggests Spurs are willing to make him their most expensive transfer in club history.

– RB Leipzig are considering a move to sign Arsenal forward Folarin Balogun in the close season, claims Todofichajes. Balogun has impressed this season on loan with Reims .

– Chelsea have interviewed Sporting boss Ruben Amorim about taking over as manager next season, reports talkSPORT.