DIEGO COSTA is a major doubt for Saturday's title showdown with Manchester City after being charged with violent conduct.
    
Oliver has the final say as the rules are different in the Capital One Cup than the Premier League, where a panel of former referees makes the call.

Amazingly, if Oliver had decided both incidents were red card offences, Costa could have been facing a seven-match ban.
Each one would have carried a three-match punishment, but an additional one-match ban would be added as it would represent two red cards.
An FA statement read: "Diego Costa has been charged for violent conduct following an on-field incident which was not seen by the match officials but caught on video.
"The charge is in relation to an incident involving the Chelsea forward and Liverpool's Emre Can which occurred in the 12th minute of the Capital One Cup semi-final second leg at Stamford Bridge.
"The player has until 6pm on Thursday, January 29 2015 to respond to the charge.
"Following a review of an incident during the game involving Costa and Liverpool's Martin Skrtel, The FA will not be taking any further action."
A three-match ban would rule Costa out of matches against Everton and Aston Villa, as well as City. There is no right of appeal.
Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho, who was fined £25,000 yesterday for claiming there is a campaign against Chelsea, insisted after the game that both stamps were "absolutely accidental".
* City will be without midfield talisman Yaya Toure and new signing Wifried Bony at Stamford Bridge after they helped Ivory Coast qualify for the last eight of the Africa Cup of Nations with a win over Cameroon.

 

West Ham co-owner David Sullivan has reacted angrily to Senegal's complaint to FIFA regarding their decision to field Diafra Sakho in the FA Cup last weekend.




Football chiefs in the West African country are said to be angry enough to demand that the player gets suspended and West Ham are thrown out of the FA Cup following the complaint.

   

The Atletico boss was delighted with the striker's two goals at Santiago Bernabeu and claimed he would not dare suggest his side have an edge over Real Madrid

Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone believes Fernando Torres has gone some way to prove his doubters wrong after his double against Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey.

The striker returned to Atletico this month on loan from AC Milan after a dismal spell with the Rossoneri and Chelsea, and was the hero for his side as his two goals on Thursday ensured a 2-2 draw and 4-2 aggregate win over the European champions.

"The arrival of Fernando Torres is good for us, although some people doubted it," Simeone told reporters after the match. "I'm happy for him and for all the people who came to welcome him at Vicente Calderon.

"We played a good game. We played against the best team in the world. It is normal defending near the box. We played an intelligent game. In the second half we did a very good job."

Madrid have now failed to beat their city rivals since the Champions League final last May, but Simeone claimed he would not dare suggest that Carlo Ancelotti's side have a mental block in the derby.

"We won La Liga last year against two teams that are obliged to win the Champions League and that's very difficult," he added. "I do not think Real Madrid are stuck against Atletico. I wouldn't dare to."

Atletico turn their attentions back to La Liga on Sunday, when they host Granada.

PAUL LAMBERT has pleaded with fed up Aston Villa fans to cancel their protests tomorrow.

Angry supporters are threatening to boycott the first eight minutes against Liverpool - one for every year Randy Lerner has owned the club.
The 82 minutes organisers do plan to watch will also mark 1982, the year Villa won the European Cup.
But under-fire boss Lambert claims their protests will do more harm than good.
He said: “Whoever has planned it, I hope the guy or girl next to them tries to keep them on their seat.
“I understand the fans’ frustrations, but we’ll have a better chance of winning a game of football if they don’t do it and if they stick with the lads, no matter how hard it gets at times.
“I’m hoping they don’t do it. I’m hoping, if the guy in the next seat gets up to go, someone says: ‘Come on, back the team.’

  

“When the stadium is behind the players it’s a great place to play football, and we’ve a better chance of winning if they don’t do it.
“It’s a brilliant support we’ve got, but we need those fans now.”
Fed-up fans have seen their side score just 11 league goals this season in 21 games, the worst record in the top flight.
Supporters turned on Lambert following last Saturday’s 1-0 defeat at bottom side Leicester, while a local newspaper poll claims 67 per cent of fans want him sacked.
Lambert insists he won’t quit though.
“It’s not great,” said Lambert, “I’m human like anybody else, but I’m also big enough and strong enough to handle it.
“I understand the frustration, and nobody is more frustrated than myself.

“Everybody involved with Aston Villa is frustrated at what has happened over the last five or six years since Martin O’Neill left and the team was in the top six.
“Martin had this club buzzing at that time, vying for Europe, going great, and what’s happened has happened.
“But I don’t think you can look at the chairman and say it’s one guy’s fault. It’s unfair. He has the club’s interest at heart.
“The fans have been great with me up until late, and I guess now they are waiting for something to go wrong.
“Anybody that knows me knows I’m not one for downing tools and walking away.
“I’ve never done that in my football career, and I don’t intend to do it now.”

THORGAN HAZARD, brother of Eden Hazard, is set to be a part of Chelsea's first-team plans from next season.

     

The Belgian midfielder is currently out on loan at German outfit Borussia Monchengladbach, and has yet to make an appearance for Jose Mourinho's side.
Hazard joined the Blues in 2012 from Lens shortly after his brother was signed from Lille for £32million, but was immediately loaned out to Zulte Waregem, where he scored 22 goals and assisted another 30 during 90 appearances over two seasons.
The 21-year-old has been in fine form for Gladbach this season, scoring four times and assisting seven in 23 appearances, and Mourinho has reportedly decided to include him in first-team proceedings once the current campaign has come to an end.

Hazard, who has one senior cap for Belgium, is desperate to link up with his brother at Stamford Bridge, and although Gladbach are keen to extend his loan for another year, the winger has no intention of remaining in the Bundesliga.
Hazard's inclusion in the senior squad could spell the end of Mohamed Salah's Chelsea career, with the Egyptian failing to find the form which secured him a big-money move from FC Basel a year ago.
Mourinho is believed to have run out of patience with the attacker, whilst Andre Schurrle's future is also in question after being touted for a swap deal involving Borussia Dortmund's Marco Reus.

 

    

COMMENT: Despite producing one of football’s biggest miracles last season, Diego Simeone's warriors received little acknowledgement in Zurich – unlike their city rivals

Real Madrid dominated the awards at the 2014 Fifa Ballon d’Or ceremony on Monday to cement their status as the best team in club football.

Cristiano Ronaldo roared his way to yet another Ballon d’Or in the main category – becoming only the fourth player in history to win the prize three times. James Rodriguez scooped the Fifa Puskas Award for best goal of 2014, Carlo Ancelotti took silver in the Fifa World Coach of the Year, while four Madrid players were selected in the FIFPro World XI (including Manchester United’s Angel Di Maria). A further three Madridistas made the FIFPro reserve XI.

Despite clinching a stunning Liga title win on a limited budget, Real’s city rivals Atletico - who they welcome to Santiago Bernabeu on Thursday in the Copa del Rey - enjoyed next to no recognition in Zurich.

Only two Atletico-related players, Diego Costa and Thibaut Courtois, were chosen on the Ballon d’Or’s original 23-man shortlist, both of whom went to Chelsea in the summer. The striker received just 1.02 per cent of the vote and finished in 11th position. The goalkeeper earned only 0.51% and was down in 20th place.

Diego Godin, Miranda and Filipe Luis were all ignored when Fifa and France Football drew up their long list, despite forming the best club defence in Europe last season. The omission of Godin, in particular, is inexplicable after he eliminated Italy at the World Cup, scored the goal that won La Liga, and also struck in the Champions League final. Midfield masters Arda Turan and Koke were also overlooked.

All of these above players were also snubbed for the Fifa FIFPro World XI, with only Courtois making the reserve selection. The FIFPro XI is one of the most democratic awards in football - voted for globally by over 23,000 professional footballers. Contrary to public opinion, it is not influenced by Fifa or politics at all and there is no shortlist to steer players. Yet Godin and Miranda were shunned, while David Luiz - part of the Brazil team humiliated by Germany at the World Cup - made the cut.

The Atletico defensive pair's omission for Luiz was a point of ridicule shared both by fans and pundits. Arda and Koke must be raising the same question about the inclusion of an ageing Andres Iniesta. Could it be that Atletico’s cynical style of play wins them few friends in the football fraternity? Or simply that many in football vote on reputation, not achievement?

This certainly seemed to be the case when FIFPro later presented the World XI as voted for in each of the participating 58 countries. Fifty-three nations didn’t select an Atletico player. Spain, Kenya, South Africa and Zimbabwe included Diego Costa in their best XI, Uruguay selected their captain Godin. That equates to five out of 638 players.



In the Fifa World Coach of the Year award, Atletico were also left disappointed. Diego Simeone at least managed to make the podium, but he was well beaten into third place by Germany’s Joachim Low and Ancelotti – taking 19.02% of the ballot.

The lack of acknowledgment for Atletico in Zurich after such an incredible 2013-14 season is hard to digest.

A handful of super-clubs boast such a financial monopoly today over the rest of the competition that it is almost impossible for teams like Atletico to even dream of winning major trophies. Yet they did it anyway, and are in the mix again this season.

"What's the difference between Real Madrid and Atletico? About €400 million," Simeone once correctly noted.

As revealed in the 2014 Deloitte Money League, Real are the richest club in the world with a total revenue of €518.9 million from the 2012-13 season. Barcelona were second when Deloitte released that list with €482.6m. Atletico, meanwhile, just scraped into the top 20 with €120m – less than the likes of Galatasaray, Fenerbahce and Hamburg.

This fact alone should have been enough for Simeone to take the coach’s gong. "Simeone is the best coach in the world and if he’d won the award I’d have been as happy as if they’d given it to me," Arda Turan tweeted, complaining that his vote had been changed in favour of Jose Mourinho.

Before last term, the Clasico duo had shared every Primera Division since 2004 – usually creating a gap of 20-30 points over third place. Low and Ancelotti’s achievements must be applauded, but history aside there was nothing unique about their victories. Atletico winning La Liga ranks as one of the greatest achievements of all time.






Atletico were consistent throughout the calendar year and excelled in the big games. In 2014, they beat Real at the Bernabeu and drew at home. They finished the season having not lost to Barcelona in six games, with Messi failing to score a single goal.

And Simeone so nearly clinched the Champions League, too. Having gone unbeaten throughout the competition and defeated the world’s seventh richest club Chelsea in the semi-finals, his men were heartbreakingly denied at the death in the final by Sergio Ramos.

The total cost of Real’s squad ahead of the showpiece was €521.9 million. Atletico’s was €79.05m – considerably less than the price the Blancos paid for either Ronaldo (€94m) or Bale (€100m).

And to prove last season was no fluke, Atletico immediately began the current campaign in style – despite selling Diego Costa and Filipe Luis to Chelsea, who also brought Courtois home from his extended loan. They overcame Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup and have since defeated their city cousins on two more occasions. They topped their Champions League group and are again proving to be a nuisance in La Liga.

Last week’s 2-0 success over Real in the first leg of their Copa del Rey last 16 tie was just further proof that Atletico deserved to share more of the Ballon d’Or awards with their city rivals.

Simeone and his troops will be keen to avenge this injustice on Thursday when Ronaldo parades his trophy.
 

      

Bayern Munich's Robert Lewandowski has admitted his decision to vote for Cristiano Ronaldo over teammate Manuel Neuer for the FIFA Ballon D'Or was a mistake. 


"Voting for Ronaldo instead of Neuer was a mistake," Lewandowski told Welt, as quoted by ​Goal.

"I would clearly vote for Neuer now if I had the chance. But I already cast my vote back in August or something. I would vote different now."

"I am sorry for Manu. I am really surprised that he did not even come in second and the big gap to Ronaldo also baffles me. Manuel is an amazing goalkeeper and person."

Despite not taking home the award he may have wanted, Neuer did not go home empty handed, as he was one of three Bayern Munich players to make the FIFA World XI along with Arjen Robben and Philipp Lahm.

RYAN GIGGS' brother has blasted the footballer's eight-year affair with his wife as an act that "demolished" his family.

     

Despite Ryan's attempts to cast off the ultimate betrayal as "just sex", Rhodri Giggs has revealed how it led to divorce and a three-year silence between the brothers.
Telling his story in an upcoming documentary to air next week, Rhodri also explained the spineless way in which he learned of the infidelity.
The young sibling of the Manchester United assistant manager said: "Natasha had done a disappearing act one day, I’d been playing football at Old Trafford, came home and fallen asleep early and woke up at 3am and she wasn’t home.
"At 6am her mum knocked on the door with a paper and a letter. That’s how I found out, from reading the News of the World with her mum sitting next to me.
"I phoned him [Ryan] saying, 'Is it true?' but he denied it. I didn’t know what to believe.
"You’ve got two people here you supposedly trust and you want to believe both of them.
"But Natasha showed me texts, pictures Ryan had sent of himself. Messages that I sent on to him.
"He told me, 'It meant nothing, it was just sex.' He’d demolished my family over sex. Well done, cheers bro."

The front-page scandal led to Natasha securing a housemate slot on Celebrity Big Brother 9, during which time she was still trying to make her marriage work.
However, the pair – who wed in 2010 – later split after she filed for divorce in 2013.
The former estate agent, who admitted to terminating Ryan's baby while married, now has a nine-month-old son with new partner Mike Smith. She also has two boys with Rhodri.
On Twitter, she now calls herself simply Miss Natasha, with her picture banner declaring: "You deserve someone that's utterly obsessed with you."
Ryan and Natasha’s affair surfaced in 2011 after Welsh model Imogen Thomas spoke out on her fling with the former footballer.
At the time, Giggs took out a gagging order to prevent his name being published in the press.

It seems the sports star was not only trying to protect his reputation, but also his family, having wed long-term partner (and mother of his two children) Stacey Cooke in 2007.
However, his identity was revealed on social media, prompting a Scottish newspaper to print it as their front page. Controversially, Stacey has remained loyal by his side.
Speaking on the Channel 5 show, Rhodri added: "I wanted to keep my family together because what destroyed me, what made me so angry in my life is when my father left.

"I didn’t want that with my kids. It was difficult, I wanted to stay in that family but it just wasn’t going to work."
He concluded: "I haven’t spoken to him since it happened. I don’t care about an apology, I just want to get on with my life.
"That cloud will be over his head and her head. My conscious is very clear."
Wedding Disaster Specials hits screens next Wednesday on Ch 5 at 8pm.

TALKS between boxing superstars Floyd Mayweather Jr and Manny Pacquiao are progressing after a venue was agreed for a proposed fight on May 2.

Boxing's pound-for-pound top two have decided on the MGM Grand in Las Vegas as both parties try to make the biggest fight the sport has seen in three decades.

For the richest fight in history to still happen, rival American broadcasting channels Showtime and HBO must now reach a deal as to which - perhaps both of them - will screen the fight.

Pacquiao, who has signed to be a judge in the Miss Universe contest, is likely to get the shorter end of a 60-40 purse split after American Mayweather last month declared he wanted to face the Filipino next.

     

Mayweather-Pacquiao could make $300million and if it does happen it will increase the likelihood of British welterweights Amir Khan and Kell Brook meeting, possibly at Wembley on June 13.
Khan, who is promoted by American Oscar De La Hoya, says a fight with Mayweather is his No 1 priority - but will be tempted by a British blockbuster with Brook if 'Money' fights Pac Man next.
Attempts to make a fight between the world's best two boxers, who have won world titles at multiple weights, have been going on for five years.
But stumbling blocks like random drug testing and rival American TV networks have so far stopped it from happening.

Chelsea News: Messi DISCUSSES move, Mourinho lines up SHOCK bid for Ings, Zouma's lessons

STARSPORT brings you the latest news from Stamford Bridge.

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By Bruce Archer / Published 12th January 2015

CHELSEA star Oscar insists Diego Costa MUST improve if the Blues are to be champions.

Costa is the Premier League's top scorer with 15 goals and Chelsea moved two points clear of champions Man City after their 2-0 win over Newcastle on Saturday.
But Oscar, who scored the opener against the Toon, thinks the Spain striker can do even more for the cause.
The Brazil midfielder, though, insisted the whole team could do better after a blip.

      

"Diego is a fantastic player. This season he has helped Chelsea so much and scored so many goals," he said.
"But we need Diego to play better every game because now Manchester City is second, just two points behind. But not just Diego, we need everyone to play their best."

REAL MADRID plan to sell Gareth Bale to Manchester United.

The Spanish giants are clearing the decks to ensure they sign Borussia Dortmund star Marco Reus in the summer.
Reus has a £20m release clause which comes into effect in the next window and is wanted by a host of top European clubs.

    

The German is interested in a move to Madrid but is said to be concerned he will struggle to get a game if he makes the move to the Champions League holders given their array of attacking talent.
The Daily Express claim Madrid have assured Reus he will get a game because Bale is in line to be sold to United.
Bale joined Real in a world-record £80m deal in 2013 but looks set to smash that in a stunning Premier League return.

United have set aside a huge £120m war chest in order to land the Welshman.
And with the Red Devils desperate to land their man Real are prepared to cash in on Bale pay out a bargain price of £20m for Reus and be left with a healthy profit.

 

With Mario Balotelli's Liverpool career still not going to plan, rumours have been awash of a return to Italy for the mercurial striker but Juventus boss Massimiliano Allegri has ruled out such a transfer.


However, Allegri has quickly cooled links to the Reds' striker, "I think this is a made up story. Balotelli has done very well with me but he belongs to Liverpool and he is not a player that can arrive at Juventus."


Many associated with Liverpool think it is time for the club to simply cut its losses with the Italian, leading to multiple stories suggesting that Balotelli's time on Merseyside will soon be up.

 

Inter Milan have announced they have reached an agreement with Bayern Munich over the transfer of Liverpool target Xherdan Shaqiri.

Shaqiri missed training with Bayern on Thursday morning as the two clubs arranged details behind the transfer, with early reports claiming the Swiss international will move to San Siro on loan until the end of the season.

Inter are thought to have paid Bayern €2m for the loan deal, though they will have to stump up a further €12m at the end of the season to make the deal permanent. An additional payment will be made if Roberto Mancini's side qualify for next season's Champions League.



Brendan Rodgers has yet to do any business in the transfer market this winter, but has found out that club captain Steven Gerrard will leave for LA Galaxy after his contract expires in June.