Real Madrid 2-3 Barcelona: Gerard Pique scores winner

Barcelona got the better of Real Madrid by a final score of 3-2 in the team's International Champions Cup match in Miami on Saturday night.

The hype leading up to the match was matched by the drama in its opening seconds, as Neymar suffered an early injury and was forced off before returning minutes later.

Shortly after the knock to Neymar, Lionel Messi opened the scoring for Barcelona, evading Luka Modric with a deft touch and then seeing his shot take a fortuitous deflection off Raphael Varane.

Neymar made an immediate impact upon his return, dribbling down the left flank and playing the ball across the top of the penalty area where Ivan Rakitic smashed home from 18 yards to make it 2-0 inside of eight minutes.

Madrid looked shaky in the opening 10 minutes, but they quickly cut the deficit in half when Mateo Kovacic beat Gerard Pique in the 13th minute and neatly finished from 18 yards away past Jasper Cillessen.

Karim Benzema nearly had Real back on level terms, using Marco Asensio as a decoy on the counter-attack before blazing his left-footed shot just wide of the post.

Barca needed just four passes to go from their end to the Madrid penalty area in the 28th minute, with Luis Suarez setting Neymar up only for the 25-year-old's shot to roll just wide of the far post after some slick footwork.

And Asensio would level in the 36th minute on the counter-attack, getting a return pass from Kovacic after a long run and firing past Cillessen after beating Jordi Alba in the penalty area and send the teams to the dressing room at 2-2.

Gerard Pique wasted no time putting Barcelona back in front in the second half, getting on the end of an inswinging Neymar free kick and volleying home over Keylor Navas after some woeful defending by Madrid.

Navas would come up big minutes later though, doing just enough to force a Neymar miss after he'd broken free in the Real Madrid penalty area.

At the other end, Cillessen answered his opposite number with a fine save from an Isco strike that looked certain to even the score between the La Liga rivals.

Wholesale changes came after the hour mark, with Messi coming off for Barcelona and the match settling into the type of pace more usual in a friendly.

However, just past the 80-minute mark, it was Cillessen denying Isco again after the attacker cut in from the left and curled a shot toward the back post that would have gone in had it not been for the fingertip save of the Barca keeper.

Barcelona concluded their U.S. tour with the ICC North American trophy for 2017, while Real Madrid will go on to play Major League Soccer's All Stars in Chicago on Wednesday.

Turkish women march against 'unacceptable' dress code

Hundreds of women have taken to the streets of Istanbul to protest against the violence and animosity they face over demands to dress more conservatively.

Turkish women participating in the march on Saturday, dubbed "Don't Mess With My Outfit", chanted slogans and carried denim shorts on hangers as examples of the type of clothing that some men in the country find unacceptable.

"We will not obey, be silenced, be afraid. We will win through resistance," they chanted.

Australia thwarts "Islamic-inspired" plane attack plot

Australian security services have disrupted a plot to blow up an aeroplane, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has announced. 

Police arrested four people in connection with the alleged plan. 

Counter-terrorism raids took place took place in Sydney on Saturday afternoon. 

Mr Turnbull said they were "designed to disrupt and prevent plans to undertake terrorist attacks in Australia".

It is not known what the specifics were or when the attack was scheduled to take place, but is believed an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) was the intended weapon. 

The operation was carried out by the Australian Federal Police, the New South Wales state police and the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, the country's domestic spy agency.

"Four men have been taken into custody and are assisting police with their enquiries," a police statement said.

Seven Network television reported that 40 riot squad officers stormed an inner-Sydney house before an explosives team found a suspicious device.

Mr Turnbull said he was briefed on the progress of the operation by security agency chiefs.

"My number one priority, and that of my government, is the safety and security of all Australians, and the public should be reassured that our security and intelligence agencies are working tirelessly to keep us safe," the prime minister said in a statement.

Security at airports across the country has been increased after the operation, the Sydney Morning Herald reported. Mr Turnbull advised travellers to get to airports earlier than usual. 

GREECE TOURISM - A small piece of heaven on earth

Neymar speculation grows as he storms out of training and cancels China event

SPECULATION over the future of Barcelona striker Neymar shows no sign of dying down after he stormed out of a training session and cancelled a scheduled appearance in China.

The Brazil star has been linked with a world-record move to Paris St Germain.

Footage of Barcelona training in Miami for Saturday’s game against rivals Real Madrid in the International Champions Trophy showed Neymar having to be separated from team-mate Nelson Semedo.

Neymar then removed his bib and stormed away from the session.

Suggestions that he might have weighty matters on his mind increased when Chinese travel agent Ctrip posted on its official Weibo account that it has had to cancel an event with Neymar because he is “busy with transfer business”.

Ctrip said the event was scheduled for Shanghai on Monday and that anyone who had bought tickets would be refunded.

PSG have reportedly held discussions with Barcelona about a transfer for the 25-year-old that would smash the world record US$117 million (£89 million) Manchester United paid for France midfielder Paul Pogba last year.

Neymar’s buyout clause was set at more than US£234 million (200 million Euros) but that does not appear to have deterred Qatari-backed PSG, who lost their French league title to Monaco last season.

Manchester United end US Tour with Barcelona defeat

Manchester United closed their pre-season tour of America on a dissonant note by losing this fifth outing in what was a pedestrian showing from José Mourinho’s outfit.

The manager has serially stressed results do not matter and United’s time here is all about fitness and team gelling. Thus he will return home content with the five matches that have certainly kick-started that process.

Mourinho was however unhappy at his rearguard. “It was an open game, we didn’t defend well,” he said. “I’m not happy. But in the second half lots of changes for them and for us, but both teams play for the result we tried to equalise, they tried to keep the ball, possession and defend well so in second half the match was positive.”

United are due back in Manchester early on Thursday morning and will touch down with four victories under their belt as thoughts turn to the Uefa Super Cup meeting with Real Madrid in FYROM on August 8th. Mourinho’s side face Vålerenga and Sampdoria in their final warm-ups before the trip to Skopje.

As Ernesto Valverde started with Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suárez up top, Ivan Rakitic and Sergio Busquets in midfield, and Javier Mascherano and Marcelo as part of his defence, this was the strongest opposition United faced during their 18 days away.

So after those four previous wins the mission to achieve a clean sweep required what would be United’s most impressive victory of the trip.

The challenge began promisingly. Marcus Rashford, operating on the right of United’s 4-2-3-1, hit Romelu Lukaku with a ball that skidded towards the striker as he raced into the area. Lukaku connected but the ball was skied over Jasper Cillessen’s goal.

From here Barca dominated for most of the half though United had their moments. First up was Neymar who followed a dribble by hitting a shot straight at David De Gea. Next, Neymar fed Messi and he did the same – the No1 spilling this time before recovering.

Suarez now became the latest Barca player to find space between United’s lines. When he broke through the attempt this time tested De Gea and he saved well, conceding a corner. Messi went far closer when given another chance, the No10 beating De Gea but not the goalkeeper’s left post.

United found Barca’s ultra quick pass-and-go difficult to stem. They are not the first and will not be the last to do so. And to their credit when they managed to wrest the ball into their possession and rove forward questions were asked of Valverde’s unit.

Rashford and Paul Pogba, in particular, were keen to take the contest to Barca. The latter made one buccaneering run down the right that stretched the turquoise rearguard and earlier Pogba had turned Carles Alena neatly before blazing at Cillessen, the keeper beating ball away.

Rashford provided United’s best moment of the stanza. From a position on the left he raced toward goal, beat Suárez and Samuel Umtiti, and at close range smacked the ball at Cillessen, who repelled it.

Given Barca’s technical superiority, the last thing United wanted was to cede the ball needlessly. Yet they did so by clumsy passing and deciding, on occasion, to hoof the ball in the air from a goal-kick.

This, as Pep Guardiola argues, often means it comes back at you quickly. So it was that from a De Gea clearance Neymar was almost instantly in on the Spaniard and United were fortunate they did not concede.

Yet this giving away of ball led to Barca’s winner. This time United lost it near the Catalans’ area and defence quickly turned into attack. Daley Blind’s attempted pass went awry, Barca zipped forward, Suárez fed Messi, he threaded the ball into Neymar’s path inside the area, Antonio Valencia hashed a tackle, and the No11 made no mistake.

United came close to allowing a second before half-time via a similar mix-up. Blind – again – was culpable, this time for a foul that gave away a free-kick when he downed Messi. The Argentinian took this and flipped the ball towards Suárez. Victor Lindelof did well to put his head on the pass but the act confused Chris Smalling and United only just escaped.

Barça deserved the advantage and started the second half holding a lead they would not surrender. For United’s final 45 minutes Stateside, Mourinho switched the same three players in defence as during the break of the 2-0 win over Manchester City in Houston.

Out went Lindelof, Blind and Smalling, and in came Eric Bailly, Phil Jones, and Matteo Darmian. Sergio Romero also replaced De Gea and Marouane Fellaini was on for Michael Carrick.

The good news for United was that the Messi-Suárez-Neymar trident was also completely removed. The bad news was proceedings lacked their previous stardust. If this killed the high-quality that had been on display, Barca still managed to pull United around to put Darmian under pressure, the left-back punting the ball into touch.

Andres Iniesta was on for Barça and a genius of a midfielder will have been dismayed at the manner in which one pinpoint pass rebounded off Arda Turan – another substitute – for momentum to be lost.

To try and pull the match around Mourinho made two more changes on 62 minutes. Andreas Pereira took the anonymous Henrik Mkhitaryan’s place and Anthony Martial did the same regarding the similarly ineffective Jesse Lingard.

As De Gea had been, Romero was the busiest of the two keepers. The Argentinian was called into action when Paco Alcacer could shoot from a few yards and he was able to keep his side only a strike behind. At the other end Pereira twice took aim but could nor beat Cillessen.

At the death, Rashford might have nicked an equaliser but this would not have been deserved.

Barcelona (4-3-3): Cillessen; Nelsinho, Umtiti, Mascherano, Alba; Busquets, Rakitic, Alena; Messi, Suarez, Neymar.

Manchester United (4-2-3-1): De Gea (Romero, ht); Valencia (Tuanzebe, 84), Lindelof (Jones, ht), Smalling (Bailly, ht), Blind (Darmian, ht); Pogba (Fellaini, ht), Carrick; Rashford, Mkhitaryan (Pereira, 62), Lingard (Martial, 62); Lukaku.

Yellow: Pogba (39), Fellaini (83)

Attendance: 80,162

Nice draw Ajax in CL qualifying

Ajax stayed on course to reach a Champions League play-off after earning a 1-1 draw at Nice in the first leg of their third qualifying round tie.

Dynamo Kiev were 3-1 home winners against Young Boys Berne and Kazakh champions Astana beat visiting Legia Warsaw by the same score to keep alive their own hopes of reaching the lucrative group stage for the second time in three seasons.

Italy striker Mario Balotelli fired Nice ahead with a close-range finish after a darting run by midfielder Jean Michael Serri in the 32nd minute.

But Ajax, last season's second-tier Europa League runners-up, levelled after poor defending allowed midfielder Donny van de Beek to sweep the ball home from 10 metres. 

Istanbul Basaksehir, making their first Champions League appearance, almost staged the shock of the night after fighting back from a two-goal deficit in a thrilling 3-3 draw at Club Bruges.

The home side looked in cruise control after scoring twice in the opening 16 minutes but were stunned as Marcio Mossoro netted a brace and Eljero Elia added another to turn the match on its head.

Stefano Denswil spared Bruges's blushes but they still face a difficult task in the return leg.

Patrick Twumasi struck in the 90th minute to delight Astana fans after Armando Sadiku had pulled one back for Legia, who trailed 2-0 at halftime.

There was also late drama and two stoppage-time goals in Kiev, where Dynamo's Denis Garmash had the final say after Christian Fassnacht scored what looked like a vital away goal for Young Boys.

Andriy Yarmolenko and Dieumerci Mbokani had given Dynamo a 2-0 first-half lead in the Olimpiyskyi stadium, the venue of next year's Champions League final.

Croatian champions Rijeka, seeking their maiden group stage appearance, held on for a 1-1 draw at Salzburg after the home side's Korean forward Hee-Chan Hwang cancelled out a glancing header by Mario Gavranovic. 

Olympiakos open Champions League campaign with win as AEK fall

Olympiakos opened their Champions League campaign with a 3-1 win away to Partizan Belgrade in the third qualifying round on Tuesday.

El Fardou Ben Nabouhane opened the scoring for the Greek giants in the sixth minute after a one-two with Marko Marin, only for Partizan to equalise four minutes later as a rebound came back off Tawamba's body and into the net.

But 10 minutes after the break Ben Nabouhane struck from distance to restore the lead, and Emmanuel Emenike was played through in stoppage time to seal it.

Fellow Greek side AEK Athens was less fortunate at home, losing 2-0 to CSKA Moscow, who got headers from Alan Dzagoev and Pontus Wernbloom.

Vardar continued their unlikely run by beating Copenhagen 1-0, a week after eliminating another Nordic side in Malmo.

Milan Skoda scored the only goal for Slavia Prague to win their home leg against BATE Borisov.

FCSB, the former Steaua Bucharest, erased a pair of deficits to draw 2-2 with Viktoria Plzen, while Qarabag and Sheriff Tiraspol shared a goalless draw.

Just-married Alvaro Morata wife Alice Campello is Chelsea FC’s newest WAG and probably their hottest too

Alvaro Morata is set to sign a £150,000-a-week deal to become a Chelsea player imminently, but it won’t be the first long-term contact the Spain striker has penned this summer.

Twenty-four-year-old Morata tied the knot with girlfriend, now wife, Alice Campello last month, with the wedding taking place in Venice.

Alice will become Chelsea’s newest WAG as soon as her hubby’s £58m move from Real Madrid is completed.

Judging by the photos below, she may well be Chelsea’s hottest WAG too!

Brazil's 1982 World Cup goalkeeper Peres dies

Waldir Peres, the much-maligned goalkeeper in Brazil's 1982 World Cup side, died of a heart attack on Sunday (July 23), his former club Sao Paulo said. He was 66.

Peres will always be remembered for a calamitous mistake in Brazil's opening match against the Soviet Union when he let a 30-metre strike from Andrei Bal squirm through his hands to give the Soviets the lead.

Brazil recovered to win 2-1 and Peres performed competently in victories over Scotland, New Zealand and Argentina. However, they lost 3-2 to a Paolo Rossi-inspired Italy and were eliminated in the second round.

Peres, who won the Brazilian league with Sao Paulo and was second on the all-time appearances list for the club, collapsed while at a family lunch.

He is the second member of the celebrated 1982 team to pass away, after captain Socrates, who died in 2011.

Manchester United edges Real Madrid on penalty kicks

 Anthony Martial offered Jose Mourinho a timely reminder of his attacking prowess Sunday despite missing from the spot in Manchester United’s penalty shootout victory over Real Madrid.

After a hugely impressive debut campaign at Old Trafford under Louis van Gaal, Martial struggled to consistently produce the goods under Mourinho last season – prompting speculation throughout the summer that the French international could depart.

But a stunning individual run saw Martial lay-on Jesse Lingard’s opening goal in the International Champions Cup tie at Santa Clara before Real Madrid’s young guns produced an energetic second half fightback to earn a 1-1 draw and prompt a penalty shoot-out.

Intensity levels will rise several degrees when these two teams meet in the European Super Cup final in a fortnight, with Real’s big names understandably rusty during the first half, in their first pre-season outing.

After three Stateside games in the previous eight days, United were the sharper outfit, particularly Lingard, who caused Real plenty of problems drifting inside off the right.

The England international went close to opening the deadlock with an early screamer, when he collected Martial’s lay-off and hit a swerving shot from 25 yards that was pushed past the post by Keylor Navas.

In first half stoppage time, Lingard finally got his reward, albeit the goal owed much to the brilliance of Martial.

The Frenchman’s quick feet saw him leave both Daniel Carvajal and Luka Modric for dead as he surged inside from the left, before squaring the ball across the six-yard box. Lingard was ready and waiting at the far post to tap home.

Zinedine Zidane changed his entire 11 at the start of the second half and it prompted a much-improved display from Real, despite the absence of their key figures.

The Spanish giants drew level midway through the half when Victor Lindelof brought down Real summer signing Theo Hernandez in the area and Casemiro smashed the resulting spot-kick down the middle of David De Gea’s goal.

Real came close to going ahead moments later, but De Gea smartly tipped away Luis Miguel Quezaeda’s free kick.

The unmarked Marouane Fellaini should have secured victory for United in the 83rd minute, but produced an appalling finish after being picked out by Scott McTominay’s cross.

In the desperately low quality shootout that followed, only three players converted their penalties – Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Daley Blind notching the successful ones for United

Greece crowned U20 European champions in front of sold-out home crowd

Spurred on by a sold-out home crowd, Greece have defeated Israel 65-56 to be crowned FIBA U20 European Championship 2017 champions.

They were joined on the podium by France, who defeated Spain 72-58 earlier in the evening to wrap up the bronze medals.

Led by tournament MVP Vasileios Charalampopoulos, Greece used the crowd of more than 5,000 to drive them back into the game after Israel took the upper-hand across the opening exchanges. But, with their nerves settled, Greece surged in the second quarter, taking the lead for good on a Charalampopoulos three, just seconds before the half-time buzzer.

It was almost a case of deja-vu for Charalampopoulos, having also earned MVP honors on home soil at U18 level in 2015, again taking Greece all the way to gold.

Joining Charalampopoulos on the All-Star Five was teammate Antonios Koniaris, who led the Greek scoring in the Final with 15 points; tournament assist-leader Tamir Blatt of runners-up Israel; French power forward Amine Noua; and standout Icelandic big man Tryggvi Hlinason, who took his team to an historic Quarter-Final showing.

At the other end of the table, there was relief for Italy and heartbreak for Slovenia, with the Italians holding of their eastern neighbors 69-52 in the Classification Game for 13th Place, to retain their Division A status for 2018. Slovenia will now be demoted along with Latvia and Czech Republic, who already learned of their fate a day earlier.

Next year, they will be replaced by Romania, Croatia and Great Britain, who claimed the top-three spots in Division B, which was being played at the same time in Oradea, Romania, making it a special night for the home fans in both divisions. Romania rode the support of their home fans to defeat Croatia 80-67in the Final, whilst Great Britain saw off Russia 81-65 to take third spot on the podium.

San Antonio: Eight found dead in truck at Walmart car park

Eight people have been found dead inside a trailer truck parked outside a Walmart store in San Antonio, in the US state of Texas, police officials say.

Twenty others were in critical or serious condition, some believed to be suffering heatstroke or dehydration, and taken to hospital.

Police did not say where the vehicle came from, but confirmed that the driver was in custody.

They are investigating a possible people-smuggling offence.

The US immigration department is trying to establish the victims' status.

San Antonio Police Chief William McManus said in a press briefing that the bodies were discovered after a call from a Walmart employee, who had been approached by someone from the truck asking for water.

Video footage from the store showed a number of vehicles arriving to pick up some of the survivors, he added.

Several others may have managed to escape on foot into the woods nearby.

Local fire chief Charles Hood said they had arrived at the scene just after midnight to find eight people dead in the back of the trailer truck, which had no functioning air conditioning and no signs of water inside.

The survivors had heart rates of over 130 beats per minute and were very hot to touch. In addition to 20 in critical condition, eight others of less severity were taken to hospital.

He confirmed at least two of the victims were school-age children.

"We're very fortunate that there weren't 38 of these people who were all locked inside this vehicle dead," he added.

Neymar scores wonder goal as Barcelona beat Juventus

Neymar was at his brilliant best in Barcelona’s opening pre-season fixture as the Brazilian’s double sealed a 2-1 victory over Juventus.

The 25-year-old is at the centre of this week’s biggest transfer saga after reports claimed that he had agreed a deal with Paris Saint-Germain and the French club were willing to pay his €222 million (£197m) release clause

But Neymar showed no sign of the speculation affecting his game as he tormented the Serie A champions with a sublime display.

The Brazil international opened the scoring in the 15th minute by finishing neatly from close range after a quick one-two with Paco Alcacer

But Neymar’s brilliance got even better in the 26th minute as he danced his way through Juve’s defence before firing low into the net.

Barca made 11 changes at the break which interrupted their rhythm and Juve managed to pull one back through Giorgio Chiellini’s powerful header from a corner.

Barca are next in action on Wednesday when they take on Manchester United in Landover, Maryland.

Indonesia: Jokowi orders police to gun down foreign drug traffickers

INDONESIAN President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has issued a shoot-to-kill order against foreign drug dealers and traffickers, as he called for tougher action in Indonesia’s war on drugs.

As reported by The Straits Times, Jokowi announced the order at an event in Jakarta, at which he also warned that the drug situation has put the country in a state of national emergency.

“The police and TNI (military) have been firm, especially when dealing with foreign drug traffickers entering the country,” Jokowi said. “If they resist arrest, just gun them down, show no mercy.”

Indonesia has one of the world’s toughest drugs laws, and remains one of 33 countries that still use capital punishment for drug-related offences.

Since the country lifted a four-year moratorium on the death penalty in 2013, 18 people – all drug traffickers – have been sent to the firing squad.

The statement followed one of the largest ever seizures of crystal methamphetamine last week, weighing in at one tonne and arriving from Taiwan.

According to The Jakarta Post, the police arrested four Taiwanese men who allegedly attempted to distribute the drugs in Greater Jakarta and shot dead one for resisting arrest.

Following the incident, Indonesian National Police chief Tito Karnavian explained his heavy handed approach.

“On this occasion, we want to emphasize that the police would act firmly and toughly, especially against the foreign [drug dealers],” he said. “I even told [officers] to act by ‘custom’, which means if they resist [arrest], shoot. In this case, one Taiwanese was shot dead.”

Jokowi’s strong words and apparent no-nonsense approach have drawn comparisons with his Philippine counterpart, Rodrigo Duterte, who is infamous for his brutal crackdown on narcotics that has left thousands dead.

In reference to Duterte’s shoot-to-kill approach, Tito expressed further support for his methods.

“From the practice in the field, we see that when we shoot at drug dealers they go away, so if such a policy were implemented in Indonesia, we believe that the number of drug traffickers and users in our beloved country would drop drastically.”

His remarks, however, drew strong condemnation from human rights groups, including Human Rights Watch deputy director for Asia, Phelim Kine.

He called for Tito to “denounce the Philippines’ war on drugs for what it truly is – a brutal, unlawful assault on the rule of law, human rights, and basic decency that has targeted some of the country’s poorest, most marginalised citizens”.

He also urged Jokowi to not neglect people’s basic human rights in the pursuit of a solution to the complex problems of drugs and criminality.

FIBA U20 European Championship 2017: Inspired Greece thrash Spain to set up Final with Israel

In front of their beloved fans, an inspired Greece dominated reigning champions Spain in a 77-56 Semi-Final victory. Greece will play Israel in the Final, while Spain meet France for third place.

An energetic Greece played tough defense and were too physical for Spain, who could never get their high-octane game going. Vasileios Charalampopoulos continued his fine tournament with 19 points and 5 rebounds, while Marc Marti scored 12 points for Spain.

In the earlier Semi-Final, a near-perfect Israel thumped a disappointing France 74-52 to reach their first U20 Final since 2004. With a mixture of perfect passing and hardnosed defense, Israel's efficiency overwhelmed France, who were rattled and played recklessly. Point guard Tamir Blatt was the floor general for Israel with 14 assists, while Daniel Koperberg top-scored with 27 points on 13-of-16 shooting. Gauthier Denis tried hard for France with 13 points and 5 steals.

Slovenia's quest to stay in Division A is alive after easily beating Latvia 78-50 in Classification 13-16 action. It means Latvia will be relegated to Division B. Slovenia were in control from the get go and led by Zan Sisko's 19 points, while Marcis Saulitis tried hard for Latvia with 14 points.

Slovenia will face Italy on Day 7 in a battle to avoid regulation after Italy defeated the Czech Republic 55-53 in a thriller. Italy held off a fast finishing Czech Republic and two free throws by Marco Timperi put his team in the lead with 1 second left and they survived a missed Czech Republic three-pointer just before the buzzer. The Czech Republic joins Latvia as teams to be relegated to Division B.

Turkey were in command from the start of their Classification 9-12 game against Montenegro and cruised to a 80-72 victory with Omer Yurtseven leading the way with 16 points and 9 rebounds.

Serbia proved far too strong for Iceland winning 89-71 in Classification 5-8 action. The Serbian side were hot from beyond the arc and led by Milos Glisic, who had 23 points shooting 5-of-6 from beyond the arc. Trygvvi Hlinason was a warrior for Iceland with 18 points, 9 rebounds and 5 steals. 

Lithuania held off a fast finishing Germany to win Classification 5-8 action. Lithuania led in double digits for most of the contest but a dogged Germany fought gamely through to the end.

Morata: Chelsea sign Real Madrid striker for club record £60m

Chelsea have completed the club record £60m signing of striker Alvaro Morata from Real Madrid on a five-year deal.

The Spain international, 24, scored 20 goals last season after rejoining Real from Italian champions Juventus.

Morata won La Liga and the Champions League, but the majority of his appearances were as a substitute.

Premier League champions Chelsea have also signed goalkeeper Willy Caballero, defender Antonio Rudiger and midfielder Tiemoue Bakayoko this summer.

Morata will now join up with the Blues squad on their pre-season tour of Asia.

Chelsea's previous transfer record was the £50m they paid Liverpool for Fernando Torres in January 2011.

"Alvaro has proven class at the highest level and his quality will be a huge asset," said Chelsea technical director Michael Emenalo.

Morata could replace Spain team-mate Diego Costa, who manager Antonio Conte says was told in January that he no longer featured in his plans.

Manchester United had been interested in Morata before they signed Belgium striker Romelu Lukaku from Everton for an initial £75m.

"I'm going to the team managed by the coach who has placed the most faith in me, and that's great for me," Morata told AS on Wednesday.

The 6ft 3in striker joined Real Madrid's youth team in 2008 and made his senior debut aged 18 in 2010.

He moved to Italy in 2014, scoring 27 goals in two years for Juventus, winning both Serie A and the Coppa Italia twice and playing in the 2015 Champions League final.

Real exercised an option in June 2016 to take him back to the Bernabeu.

Morata has 20 caps for Spain and has scored nine goals since his international debut in 2014

Women's Euro 2017: Holders German beat Italy as Sweden overcome Russia

Defending champions Germany secured a 2-1 victory to eliminate Italy in the group stage at the Women's Euro 2017.

Italy came from behind when striker Ilaria Mauro cancelled out Josephine Henning's first-half opener.

Babett Peter scored the winner from the penalty spot, after keeper Laura Giuliani brought down Anja Mittag, and a minute later Italy saw Elisa Bartoli sent off for a second yellow card.

Meanwhile, Sweden beat Russia 2-0 to move top of Group B.

Russia could have secured a quarter-final berth if they had won, following their surprising 2-1 win over Italy in their opener.

But Sweden captain Lotta Schelin gave her side the lead on 22 minutes, heading in Magdalena Ericsson's free-kick.

And Stina Blackstenius doubled their advantage in the second half when she capitalised on a poor goal kick and saw her shot deflect off defender Anna Kozhnikova, before finding the net via the woodwork.

Having drawn 0-0 in their opener, Sweden and six-time champions Germany need a point in their final group games on Tuesday (19:45 BST) to see them both through to the quarter-finals.

Russia will need to beat Sweden in order to progress to the knockouts in the Netherlands.