Rafael Benitez has made it clear that he is open to job offers in the Premier League — including, in the longer term, from Chelsea.

SO what was your first thought when you heard the news that David Villa had broken his leg in Yokahama? Poor chap, what an awful blow and, at first, it all looked so innocuous too?

THE cameras inside the Palace of Arts caught a rueful smile from Giovanni Trapattoni as Ireland’s European Championship destiny was unveiled in Kiev yesterday.

Spain 0 Switzerland 1

WHEN Harry Redknapp arrived at Tottenham last season, there was so much apathy among his substitutes he was not sure whether they were even watching the game from the bench, such was their indifference towards their team-mates.

SPAIN coach Vincente del Bosque has played down reports of a rift with Rafael Benitez — claiming Fernando Torres might return to Liverpool in better shape than he arrived.

“GOODBYE Cruel Football,” reads the massive splash headline on yesterday’s edition of Marca, Spain’s largest-selling sports tabloid.

Manchester United can be optimistic of landing Ronaldinho later this week but their hopes of keeping assistant-boss Carlos Queiroz appear doomed if Real Madrid confirm him as their leading managerial target.

Alex Ferguson is facing a hectic week as he battles to push through the £11m (€15.9m) transfer of Ronaldinho and try to keep assistant Carlos Quieroz at Old Trafford.

FORMER German great Franz Beckenbauer put Real Madrid on an elevated footballing plateau last night declaring: “They are out on their own.”