Tottenham eye Isco swoop

Zinedine Zidane is not expecting any more signings this summer, but some players may still exit the club before the end of the transfer window on August 31, and Isco is one of the players considering leaving, with a Tottenham bid expected within the next few days. The midfielder has not seen a lot of playing time ever since Zidane took over, and with James Rodriguez and Marco Asensio the ones getting the share of the minutes against Celta Vigo on Saturday, all eyes have now turned to the ex-Malaga man. According to the Daily Mirror, Tottenham are preparing an offer for the sidelined player, though Isco has continously insisted that he wants to fight for a place in the Real Madrid starting XI. Tottenham coach Mauricio Pochettino considers the player a good fit and wants to incorporate him into the squad on a loan deal, though Chelsea are also said to be interested in the Spaniard's services.

Paco Alcacer passes Barcelona medical

Barcelona are one step closer to finalising the transfer of Paco Alcacer from Valencia after the player passed his medical on Monday morning. Having completed the tests at the club's Ciudad Deportiva, the forward's move is expected to be made official in the coming hours. The price tag for the 22-year-old is believed to be around 30 million euros, although it remains to be seen if Munir El Haddadi - who has also been considering a move to Celta Vigo - will move in the opposite direction as part of the transfer. Having been included in Julen Lopetegui's Spain squad, Alcacer is due to link up with his international teammates at their Las Rozas training centre in Madrid at 13:00 local time, but he will have asked permission to delay his arrival and should instead join them at a training session at 18:30.

Lewandowski grabs treble as six-goal Bayern rout Werder Bremen

Robert Lewandowski's hat-trick helped give coach Carlo Ancelotti a flying start to his first Bundesliga campaign as Bayern Munich cruised to an easy 6-0 win over a lacklustre Werder Bremen at the Allianz Arena on Friday. The champions went ahead with a stunning ninth-minute volley from Xabi Alonso before Poland striker Lewandowski opened his account four minutes later from a Franck Ribery through ball. Xabi Alonso scores the first goal of the season for Bayern Munich. Lewandowski then effectively put the game beyond Werder's reach one minute into the second half. Captain Philipp Lahm and Ribery made it 5-0 before Lewandowski completed his treble with a 77th-minute penalty, his second hat-trick of the season after he also notched one in the German Cup last week. Italian Ancelotti, who replaced new Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola at Bayern in the close season, said before the game that the Bavarians were aiming to win every competition this term. Alonso opened the scoring against an outclassed Werder team when the Spanish midfielder was given time to control the ball before smashing it into the top corner of the net from 20 metres. Ribery then cut the Werder defence wide open to set up Lewandowski's first goal of the night. Better finishing could have given the Pole his hat-trick before halftime. He failed to convert on the rebound after a 25-metre shot by Thomas Mueller hit the post and in the 38th minute his close-range effort struck the crossbar. Bayern have won the Bundesliga for the past four seasons and they showed no signs of easing up in the second half. Lewandowski made it 3-0 when he met Mueller's cross to prod the ball in from waist height. Lahm struck after a one-two with Mueller before Ribery, who was excellent throughout, also found the net. Lewandowski rounded off the scoring after Thiago was fouled from behind in the box.

Cillessen: "I'm not Ter Stegen's enemy"

New Barcelona goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen has pledged to fight fellow goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen for his place in the team after joining the La Liga champions from Ajax. The Netherlands international was presented at the Nou Camp on Friday after sealing his move on a five-year deal for 13 million euros ($14 million). Claudio Bravo, who moved to Manchester City on Thursday, played the club's league fixtures and Ter Stegen featured in the King's Cup and Champions League games after the pair joined Barca in 2014. Ter Stegen is expected to be Luis Enrique's first choice in La Liga and the Champions League. "The coach will decide but I'm going to make things tough for him," Cillessen told a news conference on Friday. "Together me and Marc have to try and keep the coach guessing. It will be different to at Ajax but I'm sure that Barcelona will gain a lot. "Marc is a great goalkeeper with marvellous qualities and I would like to be at the same level as him," added Cillessen on his new team mate and rival for the number one spot. "I've come here to make things difficult for the coach but I'm not Ter Stegen's enemy, we're friends. I know that it's going to be difficult to play here because there's a lot of competition." Cillessen is the fifth player to join Barcelona this summer, following Denis Suarez, Andre Gomes, Samuel Umtiti and Lucas Digne to the Nou Camp. Barca sporting director Robert Fernandez revealed the club have one target remaining before the transfer window closes on Aug. 31, Valencia forward Paco Alcacer. "It's Alcacer or no-one," Fernandez said on Friday. "He's a player that interests us a lot and we are working towards it." Barcelona confirmed that Brazilian full back Douglas had joined Sporting Gijon on loan for the season and midfielder and academy graduate Sergi Samper has moved to Granada on loan.

Cavani off target but PSG still ease past Metz

Paris St Germain eased to a 3-0 win over Metz in Ligue 1 on Sunday despite a miserable evening for Uruguay striker Edinson Cavani who missed a host of chances. Cavani, now PSG's main striker after Zlatan Ibrahimovic's departure to Manchester United, wasted half a dozen clear cut chances and the crowd lost patience with him and jeered him off the pitch at the end. Instead, it was left to Brazilian Lucas Moura to open the scoring for the title holders with a thumping finish seven minutes into the second half. The hosts then endured some nervous moments with goalkeeper Kevin Trapp making good saves from Renaud Cohade and Mevlut Erding before Lavyin Kurzawa headed in from a corner to extend their lead in the 67th minute. An own goal in added time by Jonathan Rivierez, who deflected Marco Verratti's shot into the net, completed the win for Unai Emery's side, who have six points from their opening two games alongside Olympique Lyonnais and Nice.

Bravo misses training ahead of Manchester City switch

After thrashing Real Betis 6-2 in their opening LaLiga fixture, Barcelona's players trained on Sunday morning with one notable exception, Claudio Bravo. Sporting director, Robert Fernandez, had already confirmed on Saturday that the club has reached "an agreement in principle" with Manchester City for Bravo's transfer, and with an announcement expected by Sunday evening it was decided not to risk any injury to the keeper which would scupper the deal. Bravo did attend the Ciudad Deportiva centre to say goodbye to his teammates before traveling to his new club, and the regard in which he is held by his contemporaries was clear. Luis Enrique led the session with the players that were available which included Suarez, Marlon, Kaptoum, Camera, Mujica and Carbonell from the B team. The team now enjoys two days off and will return to training on Wednesday, in a session that will begin at 9.30 am and will be closed to the media and general public.

Bale and Asensio, a Real pleasure

Real Madrid kicked off their 2016-17 La Liga season with an impressive 3-0 triumph over Real Sociedad on Sunday night at Anoeta. Gareth Bale got things going early for Los Blancos with a goal in the second minute, while Marco Asensio doubled the lead in the 40th minute, an advantage Real would maintain the rest of the way. Bale would then tally his second of the contest in the waning seconds to cap an excellent display to start the season. The performances of 20-year-old Asensio and the 23-year-old Álvaro Morata in attack offered a glimpse into Real's future. The duo played superbly; the two years in Turin at Juventus have made Morata a far more composed and skillful player, while Asensio also proved a threat and took his goal extremely well. If the Asensio/Morata/Bale trio is the future of Real, then things are surely looking bright at the Bernabéu. Manager Zinedine Zidane was without a slew of starters to start the domestic season, with Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, Luka Modric, Pepe and Keylor Navas all missing either through injury or suspension. But Real still had a healthy and ready Bale and the scorching form he produced at the end of the 2015-16 La Liga campaign was on full display in the opening seconds. Sergio Ramos played a nice cross-field pass to Dani Carvajal, who picked out the Welshman with a cross and Bale rose up to smack in a header past home goalkeeper Gerónimo Rulli. Soon thereafter Rulli was called into action to block a shot from Toni Kroos, and then nearly saw his teammates draw level on the half-hour mark, but inexplicably Asier Illarramendi failed to pull the trigger when bearing down on Kiko Casilla's goal. Two exquisite then plays helped Real double the lead before the break, as Casemiro expertly lofted a long ball into Asensio and the young pup from Mallorca left Rulli flat-footed with a beautifully struck chip that softly dropped into the back of the net to make it 2-0. It was a frenzied start to the second half, with both teams having chances, including a Kroos volley that rang off the crossbar. The Basques looked to get back into the game, but Real kept the home side from pressing to far forward and the fresh legs of Lucas Vázquez, Isco and James off the bench made things tougher still for Eusebio Sacristán's men. But there was still plenty of work for the Real defence to do in the game's latter stages, and Casilla and Marcelo had to be alert to deny Mikel Oyarzabal late on. Things also turned chippy between the two, with Ramos, Marcelo and Vázquez engagimng in some pushing and shoving with Oyarzabal and Yuri, all the while Bale was sprawled out on the turf grimacing in pain with an apparent ankle injury. Fortunately for Zidane, the Welshman was eventually able to continue and he sealed the three points for the visitors with a goal in the final seconds to close out the 3-0 scoreline. Next for Real is their home opener on Saturday against Celta.