Luka Modric has targeted the Champions League final for making his Real Madrid comeback after he was ruled out of action with a knee injury three days ago.

Modric, who only came back from a four-month injury lay-off in March, told Croatian newspaper Sportske Novosti: “I won’t hide the faith I have in my team-mates; that they can get to the Champions League final, which is on the 6th of June.

“There’s no other choice. I’m not giving up on this season yet.

“I had some fantastic times from August to November.

“Then there was a break, then another long injury and now another. There’s no reason not to believe I can have a good end to the season.”

Fans’ pitch invasion sees Villa charged

Aston Villa have been charged for failing to control their fans following a pitch invasion after the FA Cup quarter-final against West Bromwich Albion.

Villa beat West Brom 2-0 last month and have now reached the final against Arsenal at Wembley on May 30.

Reading have also been charged with failing to control their supporters during the FA Cup quarter-final against Bradford City at the Madejski Stadium.

Dutch connection could Depay off

Manchester United could have the edge over Liverpool in a battle for rising Dutch talent Memphis Depay, according to Ronald de Boer.

Both Premier League giants have been linked with the £25million-rated PSV Eindhoven and Holland striker.

But De Boer believes the presence of Louis van Gaal as United manager could give the Old Trafford club an advantage.

Depay, 21, played under Van Gaal during the latter’s spell as national team boss.

De Boer said: “I don’t want to say which club is more suitable for him, but if he goes to United he knows there is a Dutch coach there who knows him from the World Cup. That is an advantage.”

Spitting ban reduced

Saudi Arabia’s Nasser Al Shamrani has had his ban for spitting at and head-butting Western Sydney Wanderers defender Matthew Spiranovic after the Asian Champions League final reduced on appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

The prolific Al-Hilal striker was handed an eight-match ban by the Asian Football Confederation for the incident, which happened in November after his club were beaten by the Australian side 1-0 over the two legs of the final.

CAS reduced the ban to two matches for the head-butt and four matches for the spitting offence with a further two-match ban suspended for a probationary period of two years.

Silva returns to Man. City training

Manchester City playmaker David Silva has returned to training, the club have reported.

Silva looked to have been seriously injured on Sunday when he was caught in the face by an elbow from West Ham’s Cheikhou Kouyate.

The Spain international received around eight minutes of treatment on the field at the Etihad Stadium before being carried off on a stretcher and taken to hospital for examination. But tests revealed the 29-year-old had suffered no fractures and the club were hopeful he could make a swift return to action.

That could now be possible with Silva pictured giving cameras a thumbs-up gesture as he returned to training yesterday, although he will continue to be monitored this week.

Zeman steps down as Cagliari coach

Cagliari head coach Zdenek Zeman has stepped down from his position at the struggling Serie A club.

The 67-year-old became the club’s manager for the second time this season last month, succeeding Gianfranco Zola, who spent less than three months in charge following a miserable run of results.

Zola replaced Zeman at the helm of the Sardinian outfit during the winter break.

The club’s plight continued with Zeman at the helm and the relegation-threatened side suffered a 3-0 home defeat to Napoli on Sunday, before Zeman made the decision to resign.

Pasqual confident of Viola recovery

Fiorentina defender Manuel Pasqual is confident the club can swiftly move on from their Serie A defeat to Verona as they prepare for tomorrow’s Europa League quarter-final clash with Dynamo Kiev.

The Viola’s faint Champions League hopes were all but extinguished as Mounir Obbadi secured a late 1-0 win for Verona on Monday.

Pasqual told www.fiorentina.it: “Sorry for the goal conceded, for the defeat.

“Too bad, we had closed Verona out, but in the end we left them space to mount a counter-attack where they played to their strengths.

“We will need everyone to be here at the end. We want to move forward in the Europa League.

“Everyone would like to see us win the game.”

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