This season at Milan has been called Year Zero by coach Massimiliano Allegri. A series of "painful but necessary" cuts were made in the summer. Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Thiago Silva were sold. Alessandro Nesta, Rino Gattuso, Clarence Seedorf and Pippo Inzaghi among others were all told that they'd played their last match for the club.

The reset button was pressed. President Silvio Berlusconi explained to disillusioned fans that Milan were starting over again. They needed to get back to basics and return to their roots. The path chosen [more like compelled to take] was to promote and invest in

The Eiffel Tower is lit in red and yellow on the cover of today's Marca, accompanied by the headline 'It's our night'.

Spain wants its national side to adopt the spirit Barcelona showed against AC Milan two weeks ago for the vital match against France. Given that seven of the players set to start for La Roja tonight play for Barcelona, the link is obvious. And Spain need to win.

[WATCH FRANCE V SPAIN LIVE ON EUROSPORT-YAHOO! FROM 8PM]

Imagine Brazil 2014 without the holders present to defend their crown. Until 2002, winning the World Cup assured a country of automatic qualification for the

When Marseille took on Paris Saint-Germain in the second Classique of the Ligue 1 season last month, they were unlucky to suffer a 2-0 defeat at the Parc des Princes.

For all the expensively-assembled attacking talent in the capital team's ranks, Marseille dominated possession and Mathieu Valbuena was one of the standout players on the field. But for Salvatore Sirigu in the PSG goal, OM would surely have returned south with something to show for their efforts.

Valbuena may be less than 5ft 6in tall, but he has made his presence felt in plenty of big games for his club in the recent past.

Now

On January 14, Nuri Sahin re-signed with Borussia Dortmund.

On March 16, Nuri Sahin returned to Borussia Dortmund.

With two goals and an assist in a man-of-the-match performance during the 5-1 hammering of Freiburg, the Turkey international dealt a considerable blow to the old adage that lightning never strikes twice in the same place.

Having been a part of the Dortmund family since the age of 12 after he was recruited from the academy at RSV Meinerzhagen, Sahin’s rise through the ranks culminated in 2011 with player-of-the-season honours as Die Schwarzgelben collected a first German league

The 10-year-olds on the beach in San Sebastian don’t dream of playing for Barcelona or Real Madrid. The boys wearing blue are from Antiguoko, a junior club named after a beachside barrio where Xabi Alonso and his brother Mickel started out. So did former Spanish international Javier de Pedro, current Arsenal captain Mikel Arteta and several more celebrated names.

The young footballers playing as the Atlantic waves crash 20 metres away on this winter’s morning fantasise about wearing the shirt of local heroes Real Sociedad. Given their current form, who can blame them?

Antiguoko is an

A customer at the counter orders a cappuccino. The barista recognises him. Holding the receipt and waiting for it to be made is a footballer. A big deal could be made out of it by the staff but they choose discretion instead.

When the cappuccino is served, there's something special about it. "My name was written on the froth of the milk," Fiorentina playmaker Borja Valero smiled. Shame the barista couldn't get his name right, though. "He got it wrong: it read 'Borca' with a 'c' rather than a 'j'." An honest mistake.

Borja had only just arrived in Florence following his move there in the

Arsenal surged up three places in this week's European Power Rankings following an encouraging seven days for Arsene Wenger's side.

The Gunners' stunning 2-0 victory at Bayern Munich in the Champions League was followed by another win by the same scoreline at Swansea in the Premier League.

Those two wins have done much to silence the critics - for the time being at least - and Arsenal's ability to counter-punch when on the ropes is reflected in our rankings as they rise to 14^th with a whopping 100-point haul for the week.

As much at that result in Munich did for Arsenal, it went the other way

David Beckham confirmed he still has the appetite for the top level as Paris Saint-Germain began the build-up towards their Champions League quarter-final against Barcelona with a thrilling draw in Saint-Etienne.

After making his PSG debut in the biggest fixture in French football against Marseille at the end of last month, the veteran Englishman was handed a first Ligue 1 start at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard. It was at Saint-Etienne's home ground where Beckham was famously sent off for that kick on Diego Simeone in England's penalties defeat to Argentina in the 1998 World Cup, and here he