Europe

BELGRADE — Manchester United midfielder Nemanja Matic has offered a message of support to the players of a Serbian third-tier club who have gone on hunger strike over unpaid wages.

The strike involves around 25 players, according to Serbian media, from the club FC Borac, which was disbanded owing unpaid wages before its owners bought another local club and renamed it FC Borac 1926.

Serbian Matic, one of the country’s most popular internationals, rallied behind the striking players in a message on the Facebook page of global players' union FIFPRO.

Chelsea midfielder N'Golo Kante has made a return to full-contact training on Tuesday ahead of the Premier League restart next week.

Kante had been training individually at Chelsea's Cobham training ground after he expressed concerns over his safety due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and was initially granted compassionate leave to miss the squad's return to training.

Manchester City will attempt to overturn their two-year UEFA ban from European football when a three-day hearing at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland begins on Monday.

European soccer's governing body UEFA ruled in February that City had committed serious breaches of Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations and failed to cooperate with its investigation, handing them a ban and a $34 million fine.

The LaLiga season resumes on June 11 and then — with 11 match weeks still to be played — goes off on a tear with games every day until July 17. This means that clubs will be playing matches every three to four days until the season’s over, and with players lacking match fitness, squad depth will be tested over the coming weeks with young players given a chance to shine. 

Ada Hegerberg's season had been cut short by the time the new coronavirus wiped out the football calendar, but the break has given her time to rehabilitate her injured knee and the Ballon d'Or-winning striker is relishing her return to training.

Lyon’s Hegerberg ruptured her anterior cruciate ligament in training in January, a cruel blow that immediately ended the prolific forward's campaign.

LaLiga will use virtual images of stands in television broadcasts with added “fan audio,” produced by the makers of the FIFA video game, when it returns to action on Thursday.

Domestic broadcasters in Spain will offer their viewers the choice of a “natural” broadcast of games played behind closed doors with no fans but the international audience will receive only the enhanced broadcasts with added audio and graphics.

Runaway Premier League leaders Liverpool should play Everton at Goodison Park in the Merseyside derby instead of the game being switched to a neutral venue as local authorities can now provide a safe environment, Liverpool mayor Joe Anderson said on Sunday.

Liverpool will resume their quest for a first top-flight title in 30 years against Everton on June 21 but the venue for the behind-closed-doors fixture was not confirmed when the league released its revised fixtures for the season's restart.

VfL Wolfsburg striker Wout Weghorst scored with only eight minutes remaining to hand the visiting team a 1-0 win at Werder Bremen on Sunday and push their hosts closer towards relegation from the Bundesliga.

A return to form for the Dutch international ensured Wolfsburg moved up to sixth place, jumping above Hoffenheim, and putting themselves back in place to qualify for next season’s Europa League.

LONDON — Arsenal returned to action for the first time since the Premier League was stopped because of the COVID-19 pandemic as they beat Charlton Athletic 6-0 in a friendly at an empty Emirates Stadium on Saturday.

Premier League clubs were this week given the all-clear to play friendlies ahead of the scheduled restart on June 17, following a three-month stoppage.

 MATCH HIGHLIGHTS 

 Watch the main moments from today's 6-0 win over Charlton Athletic at Emirates Stadium