Related items

• Putellas signs two-year deal with Barcelona

  Barcelona midfielder Alexia Putellas has signed a two-year deal until 2026, the club announced on Thursday.

  Putellas was due to be out of contract next month, but extends her 12-year relationship with Barcelona, with the new deal also including an option for an additional season.

  The 30-year-old is a two-time Ballon d’Or winner in 2021 and 2022, though she has struggled with injuries that have kept her sidelined since winning the second.

  Overall, she has made 424 appearances, scoring a record 189 goals for the club, playing a pivotal role in Barcelona’s recent domination in women’s football.

  Putellas has won 29 major trophies with Barcelona and is looking for another on Saturday when they face Lyon in the Champions League final.

  Having already clinched Liga F, the Copa de la Reina and the Spanish Supercopa this season, Putellas can help Barcelona to complete an unprecedented quadruple with a win over the French champions.

• Alonso wants to write more history with Leverkusen in Europa League final

  Xabi Alonso is hopeful that his Bayer Leverkusen side can make more history in their Europa League final against Atalanta on Wednesday.

  Leverkusen became the first side in Bundesliga history to go unbeaten in a single season on their way to the top-flight title, and across all competitions, they have not lost any of their last 51 matches.

  Now, they have the opportunity to complete an unbeaten treble if they can get past Atalanta before taking on Kaiserslautern in the DFB-Pokal on Saturday.

  Only three sides have previously won the competition without losing a game – Chelsea in 2018-19, Villarreal in 2020-21 and Eintracht Frankfurt in 2021-22, with Leverkusen looking to be added to that list.

  Alonso is taking charge of his first European final as a manager and highlights the ambition the club have to do something significant.

  "It would mean a lot, a lot to me [to win a European trophy]," he told UEFA. "To be able to share it with the people from the club, with the fans.

  "You see what it meant when we won the Bundesliga. To be able to win a European title after so many years since we won [the UEFA Cup in 1988] would be historic, and we want to do that, to have a historic season.

  "It would be something written in golden letters, not only in the history of our club but probably all European football. I hope we can."

  Like his counterpart, Atalanta manager Gian Piero Gasperini is also taking charge of a European final for the first time in his career.

  The Italian side clinched a top-five finish in Serie A with their win over Lecce on Saturday and are looking to win their first major trophy in 61 years.

  Looking back on the season, Gasperini says he is proud of the work his side have done to make it through to the club's first European final.

  "It feels good," Gasperini said. "It's a great achievement and source of satisfaction, achieved with a really good season from this whole team.

  "Is it the highest point of my career? Yes, in terms of accomplishment and prestige, absolutely. In terms of gratification, fortunately, I've had quite a few, although perhaps not on the same level.

  "This team always wanted it. Sometimes, you get teams who are good technically but lacking in determination and hunger.

  "From the start, from the group stage, since we played in Lisbon, in a group where we were not the favourites – Sporting [CP] were the favourites – we played great matches against strong opponents. Of course, winning at Anfield boosted our confidence even more."

• Man City 'head and shoulders' above all teams in Premier League era, says James

  Manchester City's current crop stand "head and shoulders" above all other teams in the Premier League era after winning four straight titles, says the club's former goalkeeper David James.

  City became the first team in English top-flight history to win four successive titles on Sunday, a 3-1 win over West Ham ensuring they pipped Arsenal by two points.

  Huddersfield Town (1923-1926), Arsenal (1932-1935) and Liverpool (1981-1984) all won the old First Division three times in a row, while Manchester United achieved the feat twice in the Premier League era (1998-2001 and 2006-2009).

  Pep Guardiola's men ended the campaign with a nine-match winning streak, while they are now unbeaten in their last 35 matches across all competitions (29 wins, six draws), the longest such run ever recorded by a Premier League team.

  They have the chance to make more history on Saturday, as they can clinch unprecedented back-to-back league and FA Cup doubles against Manchester United.

  For James, who spent two years with City between 2004 and 2006, Guardiola's champions have cemented their legacy as the Premier League's finest.

  "They're up there. The fact they've broken the record means that no one's done better than them over that period," he told Stats Perform.

  "From the moment they first won that Premier League title to now, they have been head and shoulders better than anyone else. 

  "It's thoroughly deserved and one of the funny things that I love is the way they celebrate. You would think after four in a row that it would be, ‘okay, lads, let's get back in and worry about the FA Cup on the weekend'. They celebrate like they haven't got another match! 

  "This is a group of players and staff who are all with each other, all behind each other, all enjoying all these moments. 

  "I can't think of a team who's had that much dominance over that period of time. They just keep breaking records, don't they?"

  Over the last four seasons, City's total of 359 Premier League points are 49 more than anyone else, while they have averaged 2.4 points per game and won 73.7 per cent of their league matches.

  While James does not feel City's class of 2023-24 have been quite as relentless as 2022-23's treble winners, he says they always seemed to be in control in the run-in.

  "I think it's interesting when we look at the whole season, because I don't think there's been a spell where City have absolutely smashed teams," James said. 

  "I've followed a lot of the games this season where they've won but haven't been overly impressive, especially compared to last season. 

  "But in a way, I could detect from the beginning of the season there was something different about the way Pep was approaching it. I don't think it was all the guts and thunder of last season. 

  "They always had it under control and it was just like a Mo Farah finish, they put the afterburners on at the end."