Paul Pogba says he’s ready to give up money to play for Juventus again. The Serie A club may not want him, though, or need him. Pogba recently had his four-year ban for doping reduced to 18 months after appealing to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, meaning the France World Cup winner will be free to resume his career in March 2025. Juventus has not been overly enthusiastic about welcoming him back but Pogba says that is the only club he is thinking about playing for. “I am ready to even give up money so that I can still play for Juve,” he said in an interview with Italian sports daily Gazzetta dello Sport. “I want to return.” Juventus sporting director Cristiano Giuntoli and new coach Thiago Motta are dubious about whether Pogba can return to the top level after being out for so long since testing positive for testosterone in August last year. But the 31-year-old Pogba, who said he “felt like a caged lion” for the past year, has been training hard on his own and is ready to prove them wrong. Injured Pogba might have played last game for Man United “I am a Juve player now. That is all I have in my mind today,” he said. “I don’t have to talk. What I do on the pitch will do my talking and then Thiago Motta will judge with his own eyes, based on what he sees. “Talk is nice, but I want to play and I want to be the best one at Juve and in the France team.” But not only has Juventus changed coach since Pogba was banned, it has also changed strategy. It has brought in fresh new faces, including bright talents who progressed through its youth team, and got rid of the — costly — old guard with the offseason departures of Federico Chiesa, Wojciech Szczęsny, Alex Sandro and Adrien Rabiot. Pogba, who was the most expensive soccer player in history when he joined Manchester United from Juventus for 105 million euros ($113 million) in 2016, returned to the Bianconeri as a free agent in 2022. He signed a contract worth eight million euros ($8.7 million) a year — plus two million ($2.2 million) in bonuses — but injuries limited him to just eight Serie A appearances in his second spell at the club before his ban. The judges who cut Pogba’s ban acknowledged the lack of intent but suggested the 2018 World Cup winner should have taken more care about his treatment in Florida. “What I did wrong was not looking at what a professional gave me. I repeat, a professional,” Pogba said. "Like a lot of soccer players, I have a cook, a trainer and a personal physiotherapist. “It's not a matter of reading the leaflet better, a professional outside the club had given it to me. But I won't do the same thing again, that's certain.” Without Pogba, Juventus hasn’t fared too badly. The Bianconeri managed to finish third last season despite going through what the club called a rebuilding year following turmoil off the field. This season, Juventus is the only team still unbeaten in Serie A, after seven matches, and it sits three points behind early leader Napoli going into this weekend’s match at home to Lazio. Pogba leaving United for free after joining for record fee “Not everything depends on me, but also on Juve’s plans and how I train,” said Pogba, who also issued a warning to his doubters. “I will be a new Pogba: Hungrier, wiser and stronger.”

Italy's most storied soccer club, Juventus, was hit with a massive 15-point penalty for false accounting Friday following an appeal hearing at the Italian soccer federation. The punishment could eliminate the club’s chances of playing in Europe next season. A record 36-time Italian champion, Juventus was third in Serie A and the penalty drops the Bianconeri to a midtable position — 25 points behind leader Napoli and 12 points from the Champions League places. Juventus said it will appeal the decision to Italy’s highest sports court within the Italian Olympic Committee. Also, former Juventus president Andrea Agnelli and former club CEO Maurizio Arrivabene were each banned for two years from soccer activities and more bans were handed out for nine other members of Juve’s staff or former board, which resigned en masse in November following an investigation by Turin public prosecutors into alleged false bookkeeping. The longest ban of 2 ½ years was handed out to former Juventus sporting director and current Tottenham managing director Fabio Paratici, while current Juventus sporting director Federico Cherubini was given 16 months and former Juventus player turned board member Pavel Nedved was given eight months. The bans prohibit those individuals from engaging in soccer activities in Italy, “with the request that the ban be extended to UEFA and FIFA activities.” Juventus has denied wrongdoing and was initially cleared by the sports court in April. But an appeal was made after the federation collected papers from the Turin prosecutors. Federation prosecutor Giuseppe Chiné had requested a nine-point penalty for Juventus earlier Friday. Gianluca Ferrero was appointed Juventus’ new president on Wednesday, presiding over a smaller five-person board of directors. Also Wednesday, Agnelli announced that he was stepping down from all of his positions within the family businesses, including carmaker Stellantis, which controls FIAT, as well as the Exor holding company. Agnelli was also one of the architects of the failed European Super League project. The penalty comes 17 years after the “Calciopoli” refereeing scandal that saw Juventus demoted to Serie B and stripped of two Serie A titles. Fines were requested for eight other clubs: Sampdoria, Pro Vercelli, Genoa, Parma, Pisa, Empoli, Pescara and Novara. But all eight other clubs were cleared. Juventus was already eliminated from the Champions League in a horrible start to this season, which also saw it win only two of its opening nine Serie A matches. The club had since bounced back to climb into the top four. Juventus could face further penalties from UEFA, which also opened an inquiry into the club’s finances after the Turin prosecutor’s office requested indictments for Agnelli and 10 other former board members as well as the club itself. Juventus is listed on the Milan stock exchange, which also opens it to regulatory scrutiny by the CONSOB watchdog. At the start of the pandemic, Juventus said 23 players agreed to reduce their salary for four months to help the club through the crisis. But prosecutors claim the players gave up only one month’s salary. Turin prosecutors have also apparently discovered more alleged secret payments to former player Cristiano Ronaldo that were not reported by Juventus. In September, Juventus reported a record loss of 254.3 million euros ($276 million) for the 2021-22 financial year. It was the fifth consecutive year that Juventus reported a loss, and it was 44.4 million euros ($48 million) more than in 2020-21. A preliminary hearing for the investigation by Turin prosecturs is scheduled for March. Juventus hosts Atalanta in the league on Sunday.

Villarreal pulled off another surprising Champions League result, this time against sixth-time champion Bayern Munich to boost its hopes of returning to the semifinals for the first time in 16 years. After making it past the group stage and eliminating Juventus in the round of 16, the modest Spanish club took a big step toward reaching the last four by holding on to a 1-0 victory against favorite Bayern in the first leg of the quarterfinals on Wednesday. Also read:Another Benzema hat trick gives Madrid 3-1 edge over Chelsea Arnaut Danjuma’s goal early in the first half was enough for Villarreal at the La Cerámica Stadium, with Bayern unable to get past the solid defense of Unai Emery’s squad and losing only for the second time in 30 Champions League matches. Bayern was unbeaten in its last 22 away games in the Champions League, with 17 wins and five draws in a record run that had started after a loss in 2017 to a Paris Saint-Germain team coached by Emery. The Germans struggled throughout the match on Wednesday and were glad to leave only one goal down. “We’ll take the 1-0 result," veteran Thomas Müller said. “We know that things could have been a lot worse. We have to pay a lot of respects to our opponents. Now we need to pick ourselves back up for the return leg and hit back.” The second leg is next week in Munich, where Villarreal will need a draw to get to the semifinals for the first time since its first last-four appearance in the Champions League in 2006. Villarreal stunned Juventus 3-0 in Italy after a 1-1 draw at home in the last 16. In the other quarterfinal Wednesday, defending champion Chelsea lost 3-1 to Real Madrid in the first leg in London. “We deserved to lose. We weren’t good today,” Bayern coach Julian Nagelsmann said. “In the first half, we lacked power in defense and had too few chances. The second half was a completely wild game. We gave up control because we were desperate to score, but we could have conceded two more.” Villarreal looked in control from the start and Bayern struggled to create significant scoring chances. The hosts threatened the most and had some good chances to add to its lead. “There was talk about them being favorites and wanting to seal their place in the semifinals tonight, but we came out very hungry, very humble,” Villarreal midfielder Giovani Lo Celso said. “There’s no doubt they are one of the best teams in the world, but we managed the game well and could have scored even more goals.” Danjuma opened the scoring in the eighth minute by redirecting a close-range shot by Dani Parejo as the Bayern defense was caught off guard. It was Danjuma’s sixth goal in nine Champions League appearances this season, and seventh in 11 career games in the competition. Villarreal thought it had doubled the lead in the 41st but Francis Coquelin’s goal from a tough angle was disallowed for offside. Also read:Mbappe runs the show in PSG’s 5-1 win over Lorient Striker Gerard Moreno twice had opportunities to add to Villarreal's lead after that. First with a low shot from outside the area that hit the post in the 53rd, and 10 minutes later after intercepting a bad pass by Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer near midfield and missing his long-range shot into the open net. The ball ended up curling too much as Neuer desperately tried to run back into position. Bayern increased the pressure near the end but again it was Villarreal that nearly added to the lead when substitute Alfonso Pedraza missed from close range on a counterattack in the 87th. Villarreal did a good job containing Robert Lewandowski throughout the match and he had few opportunities inside the area. He entered the match as the Champions League’s leading scorer with 12 goals from eight matches and had scored seven goals in his last five games in all competitions. The Poland striker is ranked third on the all-time list of Champions League scorers, behind Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. Bayern's Canadian player Alphonso Davies made his first appearance since Dec. 17 after a long injury layoff because of cardiac issues. Villarreal, based in a city of about 50,000 people, is playing in the quarterfinals for the first time in 13 years. It qualified for the Champions League by winning last season’s Europa League. Bayern was eliminated by PSG at this stage last season. The German club made it to the last eight 10 times in the last 11 seasons. The team is playing in the quarterfinals for a record 20th time. The winner will play either Benfica or Liverpool in the semifinals. Liverpool won the first leg in Lisbon 3-1.

As if having their offices raided by police investigating financial crimes wasn't serious enough for Juventus, Italy's most successful football team is enduring damaging turmoil on the field too. For nine consecutive seasons, Juventus won the Italian title being before toppled as champions by Inter Milan in May. Now the team is being booed by its fans as it slides down the standings. The jeering followed a 1-0 loss to Atalanta on Saturday that left the 36-time Italian champions in eighth place after more than a third of the season. It's not about trying to regain the title now, just a scramble to avoid missing out on lucrative UEFA income with Atalanta seven points ahead in the fourth and last Champions League qualification place. Although it followed a dispiriting 4-0 collapse at Chelsea on Tuesday, at least a place in the round of 16 of this season's Champions League has already been secured for February. Much uncertainty, though, hangs over its leadership in the coming weeks after financial police searched the club's offices in Turin and Milan on Friday to gather information relating to player transfers and agent dealings between 2019 and this year. Prosecutors are investigating whether Juventus, which is listed on the Milan stock exchange, misled investors — particularly whether invoices for non-existent transactions were issued to demonstrate income that in turn could be deemed false accounting. The complexity of the case could center on challenges around determining how much above the expected value of a transfer a player is worth. Juventus confirmed that its president, Andrea Agnelli, was under investigation along with vice president Pavel Nedved, a decorated former player, chief financial officer Stefano Cerrato and other former staff. Italian market regulator CONSOB is investigating Juventus over revenue from player trading that was 43.2 million in 2020-21 and 172 million in the previous financial year. "The company is cooperating with the investigators," Juventus said in a statement, "and with CONSOB and trusts that it will clarify any aspect of interest to it as it believes to have acted in compliance with the laws and regulations governing the preparation of financial reports, in accordance with accounting principles and in line with the international practice in the football industry and market conditions." The investigation is a further setback for Agenlli, who had brought back title-winning coach Massimiliano Allegri after Andrea Pirlo's struggles in his single season in charge. The end of the team's Serie A supremacy coincided with the fall from grace in football politics for Agnelli, whose reign as head of the European Club Association ended in April with his ill-fated attempt to split from UEFA and form a largely-closed Super League. Agenlli, along with Barcelona and Real Madrid, is still clinging to the hope of launching a breakaway competition that locks in places for the elite like Juve. The reason why the two-time European champions would be so desperate for such a competition has been reinforced by its domestic struggles and defeats to teams like Atalanta, which only made its Champions League debut in 2019.

Cristiano Ronaldo is headed back to Manchester United. The English club said Friday it has reached an agreement with Juventus for the transfer of the 36-year-old Portugal forward, subject to agreement of personal terms, visa and a medical examination. Ronaldo, a five-time world player of the year, told Juventus on Thursday that he no longer wanted to play for the Italian club, coach Massimiliano Allegri said. United did not disclose a transfer fee for Ronaldo, but it is reported to be 25 million euros ($29.5 million). He had one year left on his contract at Juventus. Ronaldo played for United from 2003-09 and turned into a superstar under the guidance of then-manager Alex Ferguson. “Everyone at the club looks forward to welcoming Cristiano back to Manchester,” United said in a brief statement, ending a day of fast-moving developments. It is the latest blockbuster move of the transfer window, with Lionel Messi — Ronaldo’s long-time rival — having joined Paris Saint-Germain after his contract at Barcelona expired. PSG forward Kylian Mbappe is also the subject of a bid of about 160 million euros ($188 million) from Real Madrid. Read: Summer Football Transfer 2021: Latest Rumours Hours before United confirmed Ronaldo’s return to the club where he scored 118 goals in 292 games, current manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said Ronaldo “knows that we’re here” if he wanted to join. “He is the greatest player of all time, if you ask me,” said Solskjaer, a former United striker who played alongside Ronaldo. “Such a tremendous human being as well ... Everyone who’s played with him, I think, has a soft spot for him.” Ronaldo will leave Juventus after three years. He joined the club from Real Madrid. “Yesterday, Cristiano told me that he no longer plans to play for Juventus,” Allegri said in a news conference. “Cristiano gave his contribution. He made himself available, now he leaves and life goes on.” Manchester City had been considering an option to buy Ronaldo after its top target, Harry Kane, said Wednesday he was staying at Tottenham for now. But City manager Pep Guardiola sounded pessimistic about that possibility when speaking at a news conference at about the same time as Solskjaer. It is not the first time United has beaten City to a player that both clubs wanted. Alexis Sanchez joined United in 2018 after appearing to be close to moving to City, while United was prepared to pay 80 million pounds (then $97 million) to sign Harry Maguire from Leicester in 2019 — a sum City didn’t try to match. United, which hasn’t won the Premier League since 2013, has also signed England winger Jadon Sancho and France center back Raphael Varane for a combined cost of about $150 million.

Juventus chairman Andrea Agnelli says the European Super League (ESL) project cannot proceed as Inter Milan and Atletico Madrid joined the six Premier League clubs in withdrawing,reports BBC. Agnelli was one of the chief architects of the breakaway plans, which involved 12 clubs from England, Spain and Italy. Also Read:Super League collapses after the 6 English clubs withdraw But with eight of the 12 teams pulling out, he accepts it cannot now go ahead. "To be frank and honest no, evidently that is not the case," said Agnelli, on whether the ESL could still happen. "I remain convinced of the beauty of that project, of the value that it would have developed to the pyramid, of the creation of the best competition in the world, but evidently no. I don't think that project is now still up and running." Atletico Madrid and Inter Milan announced their withdrawal on Wednesday morning. Also Read: Atlético Madrid, Inter Milan drop out of Super League The Juventus chairman was described as a "snake and a liar" by Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin on Monday after the announcement of the breakaway plans on Sunday evening. Agnelli resigned his position as chairman of the European Clubs' Association on Sunday and refused to take calls from Ceferin. The six Premier League clubs involved all withdrew within hours of each other on Tuesday following a furious backlash against the plans. Manchester City were the first club to pull out after Chelsea had signalled their intent to do so by preparing documentation to withdraw. The other four sides - Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United and Tottenham - then followed suit late on Tuesday evening. In announcing their withdrawal on Wednesday, Atletico Madrid said "harmony is essential" between the club and the fans, and added that the first-team squad and coach Diego Simeone had backed their decision because "sporting merits must prevail over any other criteria". In their statement, Serie A side Inter Milan said they were "committed to giving fans the best football experience", adding: "Our engagement with all stakeholders to improve the football industry will never change." The 12-team Super League, which also included Spanish sides Barcelona and Real Madrid and Italy's AC Milan and Juventus was announced on Sunday to widespread condemnation. "Despite the announced departure of the English clubs, forced to take such decisions due to the pressure put on them, we are convinced our proposal is fully aligned with European law and regulations," the ESL said earlier on Wednesday, adding it was "convinced that the current status quo of European football needs to change". "Real Madrid president Florentino Perez is insisting on the idea of keeping the group together to push for change," says Spanish football expert Guillem Balague. "Barcelona say they agreed to the ESL, but only if the season ticket holders' assembly approve it, which could be their way out."

Cristiano Ronaldo could be in trouble after apparently breaking coronavirus restrictions on a two-day trip to the mountains.

Italian soccer club Juventus announced Wednesday that one of its players, defender Daniele Rugani, has tested positive for COVID-19.

The Italian Cup semifinal between Juventus and AC Milan scheduled for Wednesday in Turin has been postponed indefinitely as part of measures to stop the spread of the virus outbreak in Italy.

Paulo Dybala scored twice as Juventus beat Udinese 4-0 on Wednesday to reach the Italian Cup quarterfinals.