Football news

Antonio Cassano's career at Real Madrid took another negative twist after he reportedly clashed yet again with boss Fabio Capello. The former Roma player was left out of the 3-3 draw at Barcelona on Saturday night, a decision he seemingly didn't accept in silence.

According to the Spanish newspaper AS, Cassano confronted Capello after he was left on the bench for the entire game. The Bari-born striker was quoted as saying to Capello: "Are you crazy? Why didn't you make the third substitution?"

Real have yet to react to the story, but it is possible that Cassano may be punished again just weeks after being re-integrated into the first team squad.

Gill says Ronaldo won't go

David Gill, the Manchester United chief executive, is confident winger Cristiano Ronaldo will sign a new deal until 2012. Ronaldo, 22, is under contract until 2010.

"I think he came out and said discussions are ongoing so we're not going to put a timeline against them," Gill said. "The player wants to stay, we want him to stay and I'm sure we'll reach a satisfactory conclusion."

Ronaldo has been linked with a move to Spain and the Portuguese international admitted he would like to play in La Liga before the end of his career.

Inter players facing long ban

The Inter players involved in the Valencia brawl could be banned from all competition for up to four months.

Nicolas Burdisso, Ivan Cordoba and Douglas Maicon were all charged by UEFA in the aftermath of the bust-up which followed their Champions League tie, along with opponents Carlos Marchena and David Navarro.

Navarro punched Burdisso just seconds after the final whistle which broke his nose and sparked a huge scuffle, on and off the pitch.

UEFA's disciplinary board will look into the events at a specially arranged hearing today and reports suggest that the punishment requested for the players involved will be tough.

Barton bailed in assault probe

Manchester City footballer Joey Barton has been arrested and bailed on suspicion of assault and criminal damage.

Barton, 24, who won his first cap for England as a substitute in last month's friendly international against Spain, was arrested over an incident involving a taxi driver in Liverpool in the early hours of March 4, the reports said.

No surgery for Maldini

Paolo Maldini may still be out of action for up to six weeks despite being told he requires no surgery to heal his knee.

Maldini has been suffering with knee problems for some time and ended Sunday's 2-1 derby defeat in visible pain after damaging his meniscus yet again.

The defender underwent a series of scans on Monday and Milan's medical staff confirmed that an operation is currently not needed.

Maldini has admitted that this latest setback does worry him in such a crucial stage of the season for his beloved club. He is likely to miss the Champions League last eight ties against Bayern Munich on April 3 and 11.

Oliveira's kidnapped sister found

The five-month kidnap ordeal of the sister of Milan's Brazilian striker Ricardo Oliveira has ended, the Italian club said on yesterday. Maria de Lourdes Silva de Oliveira was taken from her home in Sao Paolo on October 4 last year.

Milan's statement said she had been found "alive and well", but did not say whether a ransom had been demanded or paid, or whether her recovery was the result of work by the Brazilian police.

At the time of the kidnap, police sources said at least two armed men broke into the victim's home in the early hours. She was taken while her husband and eight-year-old son were tied up.

Wembley U-21 friendly sold out

The first game at the new Wembley Stadium, England's U-21 friendly with Italy on March 24, will be played in front of a maximum crowd of 60,000 after the tickets sold out in less than six hours.

The Football Association's website crashed under the weight of demand as fans scrambled for tickets for the first game at the new £800 million venue.

Tickets went on sale at 3 p.m. but were snapped up quickly as fans made a bid to see the first game at the new venue.

The crowd will be a record for an England U-21 game, easily beating the 34,000 who turned up at White Hart Lane for the France game in November 2005.

Coventry takeover still on

US-based businessman Gary Hopkins believes it is too early to put a figure on the cost of the proposed takeover of Coventry City.

Hopkins is heading talks for American consortium Manhattan Sports Capital Partners, who have a non-binding agreement to buy the Championship club.

"We are in the early stages of looking at a financial package. It is therefore too early to say how much we are talking," Hopkins said.

Coventry have debts of around £28m and are looking for investment to provide transfer funds for new boss Iain Dowie.