DAVID ALABA

Real Madrid defender David Alaba has been racially abused on social media after voting for Lionel Messi and Croatia coach Zlatko Dalić has accused FIFA of disrespect in fallout from the soccer body’s annual awards ceremony.

Real Madrid starts the Spanish league season overflowing with confidence that it can retain the domestic title despite Barcelona spending big to add top talent to its team.

Real Madrid wants to quickly forget about Kylian Mbappé and turn its focus back on the Champions League final against Liverpool.

The group stage of the European Championship is compete.

(AP Photo/Martin Meissner, Pool)BERLIN Bayern Munich effectively won the Bundesliga title in November when it appointed Hansi Flick as coach. Bayerns defensive record was its worst since Jrgen Klinsmann was coach in 2008. Kovac had led Bayern to a league and cup double the season before but never had the full backing of the clubs leadership. Bayern is currently on a 14-game winning run including the 3-0 win over Chelsea in London in the Champions League. There are also other reasons Bayern has won an unprecedented eight consecutive title, mostly tied to the clubs financial might.