Atletico Madrid move into pole position to sign Torres

The Spanish club have expressed an interest in re-signing their former star striker, but face competition for the Chelsea man from Tottenham, Galatasaray and Inter

By Wayne Veysey | UK Correspondent

Atletico Madrid are keen on re-uniting with Fernando Torres this summer as they step up plans to end hisChelsea misery, Goal understands.

The Spanish club have expressed an interest in re-signing their former striker, either on loan or a permanent deal in the summer.

VIEW FROM SPAIN

Adrian Boullosa | Goal Spain 'El Nino' is something of a legend at Vicente Calderon having led the team when 'Colchoneros' were promoted to La Liga - and his return is by no means within the realms of impossibility. Atletico are keen to sort out their financial situation first, but a top striker is high on their list of priorities this summer in the knowledge that current frontman Diego Costa will be the subject of much interest from elsewhere. However, Diego Simeone's side would insist on a realistic transfer fee and wages - and with Torres no longer the star of Europe he once was thanks to his speed, dribbling and finishing, Atletico will not be stung on the price if negotiations proceed in the summer.

As reported by Goal, Chelsea will listen to offers for all three of their senior strikers – Torres, Samuel Eto’o and Demba Ba – and doubts also surround the future of on-loan forward Romelu Lukaku.

Torres, 29, is believed to have been offered, via third parties, to a number of clubs around Europe but he has two years remaining on a contract worth around £150,000-a-week and his salary demands represent a significant hurdle for many of his admirers.

Former club Atletico are closely monitoring Torres’ situation and are believed to be in pole position to take him back to the Vicente Calderon Stadium. There is also interest from Tottenham, Inter and Galatasaray.

Diego Simeone’s team face a battle to hang on to prolific spearhead Diego Costa, who has been targeted by a number of leading clubs including Chelsea, while fellow forward David Villa will have only a year remaining on his Atletico agreement at the end of the season.

Torres has had another mixed season at Chelsea, scoring only nine goals - just four of which have come in the Premier League - and Jose Mourinho has recently preferred to start with Samuel Eto’o in the marquee matches.

The player is believed to be keen to bring an end to what has been a troubled three-and-a-half year spell at Stamford Bridge and has frequently spoken of his desire to return to Atletico.

Torres established himself as one of the most sought-after strikers in the world during his six years at his hometown club after emerging from Atletico’s academy.

Atletico would not be able to afford Torres’ Chelsea salary but are said to be willing to explore a deal in which a portion of his wages are paid by the west Londoners, in either a loan or permanent deal.

Inter are also in the market for a new frontman and are monitoring Torres’ situation but, according to Italian sources, the Serie A club have baulked at his wages.

Tottenham made a loan move for the Spain international on deadline day last August but Chelsea refused to sell to their London rivals. Spurs remain keen on Torres and have asked to be kept informed about his situation.

Robben signs Bayern extension until 2017

The Dutchman has signed a new deal with the Bundesliga champions that will keep him at the club for two additional seasons

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Bayern Munich have announced on their official website that Arjen Robben has signed a new contract with the Bavarians until June 2017.

The Netherlands international's previous deal was due to expire in the summer of 2015 and a number of clubs were closely monitoring Robben's situation at the Allianz Arena.

However, Robben recently already revealed that it was a matter of time before he would sign a new contract and he has now put ink to paper.

"I am very happy that the contract has been signed now and I will continue to fight for trophies with Bayern," the 30-year-old commented on his renewal.

"I am currently in my fifth year at Bayern and there are three more to come. This is the perfect signal to show that my family and I are very happy in Munich and at Bayern. 

"I am looking forward to the next few years and many more titles."

Robben joined Bayern from Real Madrid in the summer of 2009 and has since won two Bundesliga title, two DFB Pokals and the Champions League.

He previously wore the jerseys of Groningen, PSV and Chelsea.

No one can stop Ronaldo and five things to expect from the Champions League quarter finals

After Dortmund and Man Utd became the final two teams to book their places in the next round, Goal takes a look at what we should be looking out for in the last eight of the UCL

COMMENTBy Peter Staunton

He's got this knack, Cristiano Ronaldo, of making every opponent he faces look mediocre. It doesn't matter who they are, which team they play for our what the game plan is, if Ronaldo gets the ball one-on-one and takes a defender and then a goalkeeper on, Real Madrid are scoring a goal. He proved it time and again so far this season in this competition, especially over those two legs against Schalke. 

A player in the Champions League as relentless and as powerful against top-level opposition has never before existed. Some flicker. Some have a season or two. None measure up to what Ronaldo can do. He has scored 13 goals in this season's Champions League and weighed in with four assists for good measure. He has just matched Ferenc Puskas' Real Madrid goalscoring record, taking 25 matches fewer than the great Hungarian in the process. He is singlehandedly re-writing what it means to be a Real Madrid goalscoring legend. Fans will look back on the likes of Raul and Santillana and wonder were they ever any good at all.

This is not intended to demean the rest of the Real Madrid squad - they are probably the strongest - but it is intended to set Ronaldo apart as the best individual player in the competition. Real Madrid could be having a bad game, struggling, and all it would take is five seconds of possession for Ronaldo to get them a goal. 

So no matter who they draw, if the collective can't beat them, the great Ronaldo will. 

PSG will show Manchester City how it's done

The plan is simple. Assemble a squad of talent - the best that money can buy - sit back and watch, firstly, the trophies roll in and, secondly, progress every season in the Champions League. Manchester City had a a three-year head start on Paris St-Germain as they were bought by the Abu Dhabi United Group in 2008. The Qatar Investment Authority did not get their foot in the door at PSG until 2011. Nonetheless, the progress made by the Parisians has been rapid domestically and, compared to City, light years ahead in Europe too. 

City may have come up against Barcelona in the last 16 while PSG were given the relatively straightforward task of despatching with Bayer Leverkusen but that is because the French side topped their group. City's inability to avoid defeat against Bayern at home eventually cost them. City, simply, haven't appeared a team of European stature like Paris St-Germain have since their return to the top table. 

Leonardo, the now departed sporting director, barely got one wrong in the recruitment process with string of high-profile, effective signings from Serie A. The recruitment process since the departure of the Brazilian and Carlo Ancelotti has been similarly sound. City, instead, seem to change tack every season. 

Paris St-Germain have the capacity to finish top of the pile in this competition this very season. That is an awesome achievement for the side from Parc des Princes so soon after coming into money. It's easy to talk about buying your way to domination. Doing it, as the contrasting fortunes of City and PSG would attest to, is a different thing altogether. 

Bayern frailties will be seized upon

The big danger for Bayern Munich is they now start to believe their status as favourites for the competition outright. It was underachievement and heartache that provided the inspiration for their 2013 triumph and while leading from the front in the Bundesliga has come naturally to them it can be a different story in European competition. 

Pep Guardiola has continued the Jupp Heynckes project in effective fashion and his Bayern side can bully the opposition as well as pass them to death. Bayern's strengths are amplified when they are on the ball and they are also sharp in winning the ball back quickly or killing the play with tactical fouls once teams take possession. But any sustained pressure in the Bayern half can make them look human. 

The first 10 minutes of their last 16 tie against Arsenal were illustrative of the broad, yet relatively obscured, weaknesses in the Bayern ranks. Their central defenders are no better than at any other club. Defensively, on the flanks, Rafinha and David Alaba can become flustered. 

When teams manage to take the game to Bayern they can look a little disorientated. There is a slopiness about their defensive play at this stage of the season as their recent goals against column in the Bundesliga would confirm. They were heavily reliant on the Mesut Ozil penalty miss and the Wojciech Szczesny red card to safeguard their passage to the quarter-finals. 

The pool of teams is now better and any frailties will be seized upon more ruthlessly - should the opposition take possession often enough of course.

Chelsea will carry the English flag even further

The demise of the challenge of England's Premier League teams in the Champions League has been well documented but with Chelsea to the forefront, there will be a significant threat presented by at least one Premier League club in the quarter-finals. 

Do Jose Mourinho's men play football to set the pulse racing? No. It is, however, effective and well-suited to the contours of European football. Entertainment has rarely been the hallmark of Mourinho's football but this Chelsea can pick teams off on the break and pounce upon opponents on set-pieces. Those are two key facets of any successful European push. 

As a strategist preparing for a one-off game, Mourinho is as good as they come, which he proved in the recent Premier League win at a previously unbeaten Manchester City. It took a while for Mourinho's team to take shape this time around but they seem to have got the concession of sloppy goals out of their systems, the loss at Aston Villa notwithstanding.

This team is scarcely recognisable to the one that lost to Basel at home and really picked up a head of steam over the winter period. Mourinho and his loyal lieutenants Petr Cech, Branislav Ivanovic, John Terry, Frank Lampard and Samuel Eto'o know just what it takes to win the trophy from this stage on. Add in the magic of Eden Hazard and you have yourself a genuine threat. 

United fillip will change nothing

There was nothing starkly different in Manchester United's approach when they overturned Olympiakos in the last 16 - their progress owes a lot to the deficiencies at the front and back on the part of the Greeks. 

This is a Band-Aid win for United and it is not an abrupt vindication for Moyes's methods or selections. Had Olympiakos one of their first-choice forwards available to them, they would have certainly converted one of their away-goal chances. The Greeks had some big opportunities and were only a little bit of composure away from the last eight. 

That Ryan Giggs was United's best performer on the night is telling. The 40-year-old is not good enough for a place in the Premier League squad at present but pulled the string against what was, ultimately, second-rate opposition. 

The win no doubt provides a massive short-term boost for David Moyes and his squad as they head into the draw for the quarter-finals but the reality remains that every other team in the draw will be hoping for a trip to Old Trafford.

The backline which can be flat-footed, the deep midfield and an attack which still struggles to carve out clear cut chances - it's all too much for a quick fix. 

nvincible in Italy, abysmal abroad - why can't Conte crack continental football?

The Bianconeri boss is on the verge of a third successive Scudetto, but continues to struggle in continental club competition. So what is the problem?

COMMENT
By Carlo Garganese

When Antonio Conte was appointed as the new coach of Juventus in May 2011, the Bianconeri were at rock-bottom. Italy’s most successful domestic club had just limped to a second successive seventh placed finish with a squad featuring Armand Traore, Leandro Rinaudo and Jorge Martinez.

Having been crippled by the Calciopoli-enforced relegation to Serie B in 2006, there were serious concerns whether the Old Lady would ever be restored to her former beauty. But the instant transformation brought about by Conte was extraordinary. In his competitive debut on the bench, the Bianconeri thrashed Parma 4-1 at the new Juventus Stadium – overwhelming their opponents with relentless pressing and a modern, high-tempo style that would become the coach’s trademark. 

It was immediately clear that the Old Lady had indeed been reborn - and it was all thanks to one man. The coach had mentally transformed Juve into a team of warriors, built in the image of Conte the player but supplemented by the extra quality of an Andrea Pirlo or Alessandro Del Piero.

Juve’s subsequent results in Serie A have been statistically comparable to almost any Italian side in history. They strolled to the 2011-12 Scudetto without losing a game, becoming the first to do so in a 38-game season. The unbeaten run eventually lasted for 49 matches, allowing them to comfortably retain their title the following term. This campaign, Juventus continue to obliterate the rest of the field. In 28 Serie A matches, they have won 24 and lost just once. Only Bayern boast superior statistics from Europe’s major leagues in 2013-14. With a 14 point lead over Roma, a hat-trick of Scudetti is inevitable.

	IN NUMBERS Antonio Conte's European woes
0	Cups won by Conte as a coach. All of his titles have been leagues
1	Number of victories in Conte’s last eight Champions League games
13	Goals conceded by Juve in these eight games, failing to keep a clean sheet
35	Conte’s win percentage in the Champions League as a coach
86	Conte’s win percentage in Serie A this season, with 24 wins from 28 games
352	The coach’s favourite formation that has failed to convince in Europe

But for all his domestic dominance, Conte has so far failed to crack the European scene. In two seasons of Champions League football, Juventus’ win/draw/loss record reads: 6/6/5. This term they were humiliatingly, if somewhat unfortunately, eliminated in the group stage despite being drawn in a negotiable pool with Copenhagen and a crisis-hit Galatasaray. Under Conte, they have won just one of their last eight Champions League games. The 1-1 home draw with Fiorentina in their Europa League last 16 tie a week ago only further underlined Conte’s struggles in Europe.

So what is the problem?

First of all, it is important to recognise that the dynamic of cup football is very different to league football. Over a long, gruelling league season, in a survival of the fittest-type environment, the strongest and deepest squad is usually the best placed to win the championship.

That is not to say that there aren’t many other important factors, but in continental and international play - where there are contrasting styles, knockout matches and tournament variables such as away goals - tactics and strategy take on an added importance. Some coaches are just far more suited to league football – the single-minded Fabio Capello being one such man. Others, who snub tactics, like Arsene Wenger have also underperformed. This is an area where Conte has undoubtedly failed over the past 18 months.

Leading 1-0 at home against Fiorentina with 15 minutes to ago - and in total control - Conte inexplicably removed an attacker, Pablo Osvaldo, for a midfielder, Paul Pogba. Had Juventus been suffering, this substitution would have been understandable. Instead, Fiorentina were handed the initiative and equalised through Mario Gomez. Tactically, Conte got it all wrong and his reaction to conceding this vital away goal was even more bizarre – using up his final substitution by introducing defensive midfielder Simone Padoin for attacking wingback Mauricio Isla.

Conte is well known for his meticulous preparation before matches, but making proactive and reactive changes during games is equally important in tournaments. During the 4-0 aggregate defeat to Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarter-finals last year, Conte was far too slow with his substitutions. In the first-leg he waited until the second goal in the 64th minute before replacing the completely ineffective strike-duo of Fabio Quagliarella and Alessandro Matri. In the return match in Turin, Conte again failed to make a change until Mario Mandzukic had killed off the tie midway through the second half.

These Bayern and Fiorentina clashes, like so many others in Europe, illustrate that Conte has either been too tardy in altering his tactics and personnel or he has made the wrong changes.

Or, as is the case with his regular formation, Conte has failed to make a change altogether. Over the last two seasons, Conte has stuck religiously to his 3-5-2 system. But, as this piece explains in detail, the formation is not suitable to succeeding in Europe. It is predictable and susceptible to width and pressing. 

Maurizio Pistocchi, one of Italy's most controversial footballing personalities, blasted on Mediaset Premium TV after the fatal 1-0 loss to Galatasaray: "Conte must abandon the three-man defence. It's not acceptable to concede a goal with five minutes to go like the one in Istanbul - a 40-metre pass, with three men marking Didier Drogba and no one taking care of Wesley Sneijder. The 3-5-2 only wins in Italy."


European turkeys | Conte and Juve were eliminated from Champions League in Istanbul snow
On just two European occasions has Conte strayed from the 3-5-2 – in the double-header versus Real Madrid. With a four-man backline, Juve played their best two Champions League matches of the last year and deserved far more than the one point they obtained. In Conte’s defence, it seems he has finally recognised the need to switch to a 4-3-3 and will use the summer transfer market in order to do so. 

But the 4-3-3 will only help if Conte learns to rotate his squad better. Heavily criticised for leaving out key players versus Fiorentina, the Italian responded by stressing that “a third Scudetto is my priority”. That excuse doesn’t wash when it comes to the Champions League, a competition where Conte has regularly fielded almost identical XIs just days after Serie A matches.

In time, Conte’s management of resources will surely improve. When it comes to tactics, though, this is something that generally cannot be taught in football. All the coaching courses and experience in the world will not create a master tactician. It has to come from within.

It is still too early to write Conte off in this regard. Gianluigi Buffon has described Conte as "the best coach I've worked with" - and he has worked with Marcello Lippi, Carlo Ancelotti and Giovanni Trapattoni - while Pirlo has labelled his boss as a "genius" and compared him to Arrigo Sacchi. These words certainly count for something and one must remember that this is only Conte's second season in European competition and - as he recently reminded Pep Guardiola - his financial budget pales in comparison to the likes of Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Barcelona and PSG.

Nevertheless, there is no doubt that the jury is out on Conte’s European credentials. Juventus are far too talented a squad to have performed this poorly outside Italy. A victory against Fiorentina on Thursday will go a long way to convincing the doubters

Real Madrid should be more afraid of Messi than we are of Ronaldo, claims Jordi Alba

The Spain international has acknowledged that the Blancos ace can "decide games" on his own, but still feels that his Blaugrana team-mate is the more dangerous attacking talent

Jordi Alba has described Cristiano Ronaldo as "a beast" but says that Real Madrid should be more afraid ofLionel Messi than Barcelona are of the Portuguese.

Speaking ahead of this weekend's crucial Clasico at the Santiago Bernabeu, the Spain international acknowledged that los Blancos' No.7 is capable of winning matches all on his own.

However, the left-back still believes that Blaugrana team-mate Messi will be the most dangerous attacking player on the pitch on Sunday night.

Indeed, when asked to pick the superior player during a press conference on Wednesday, Jordi Alba replied: "I would say Leo - and not just because I play on his team. I've thought that since I was at Valencia.

"Cristiano is a beast. He is very important for Real Madrid. When they are not having a good day, he always appears.

"But we have Leo and Madrid should be more afraid of him."

The inclusion of star summer signing Neymar in the Barca starting line-up is far from assured, with the Brazilian having struggled to reproduce his early-season form after a spell out injured.

The Spain defender is in no doubt, though, that the attacker will shine if selected.

"Neymar has had a good season, even though he had his injury," the defender argued. "Who plays in the Clasico depends on the coach, but I think Neymar's done well.

"But with Pedro, Neymar or Alexis, my position is the same as always. Nothing changes in terms of how I play."

The game in the Spanish capital is of the utmost importance to Barca, given they currently sit third in La Liga, four points behind leaders Madrid.

Carlo Ancelotti's men have been in scintillating form in 2014 but Jordi Alba does not think the Blaugranashould be viewed as underdogs, even though he is well aware of the challenge facing Tata Martino's men.

"There are no favourites in a Clasico like this," he declared. "And it will be a beautiful match to play in. 

"Madrid are a great team. They have demonstrated this throughout their history and they are a team that, following the arrival of Ancelotti, I personally like a lot.

"They are very difficult [to deal with] on the counterattack. We must be disciplined in defence. 

"We have to win at the Bernabeu. We have to forget about what happens with the referee or the fans. We just have to play a great game

12 years a slave’ author’s death still a mystery

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.-

Historians know where Solomon Northup was born, where he lived and where he worked. They know whom he married and how many children he had. They know he played the fiddle and spent 12 years enslaved in the South before being freed.

What historians don’t know about the author of “12 Years A Slave” is when and how he died and where he is buried. It’s a lingering mystery in the final chapter of the life of the 19th-century free-born African-American whose compelling account of enforced slavery in pre-Civil War Louisiana was made into the Oscar-winning film of the same title.

“That’s sort of a big blank spot in the story, for sure,” said Rachel Seligman, co-author of “Solomon Northup: The Complete Story of the Author of Twelve Years a Slave,” published last year.

This month, “12 Years A Slave” took home the Academy Awards for best picture, best adapted screenplay and best supporting actress.

The accolades have sparked new interest in Northup’s story, which was little known until recent years even in the upstate New York communities where he spent most of his life.

Northup was born July 10, 1807, in what is now the Essex County town of Minerva, in the Adirondack Mountains. His father, a former slave, moved the family to neighboring Washington County, eventually settling in the village of Fort Edward, on the Hudson River 40 miles north of Albany. Northup married Anne Hampton in the late 1820s, and the couple lived in an 18th-century house in Fort Edward that is now a museum.

Northup worked on his father’s farm and rafted timber on the Champlain Canal between Fort Edward and the southern end of Lake Champlain. The couple and their children moved to nearby Saratoga Springs when Anne got a job in one of the growing spa resort town’s big hotels. Northup found work as a musician, and in 1841, two white men lured him to Washington, D.C., with the promise of more work. Instead, they kidnapped him and took him to New Orleans, where he was sold into slavery.

Northup endured the next 12 years enslaved on a Louisiana cotton plantation before friends in Saratoga finally won his freedom. In 1853, he published a memoir of his ordeal that led to a speaking tour supported by abolitionists. He got involved in the Underground Railroad, helping escaped slaves find freedom in the Northeast and Canada. But around 1863, the height of the Civil War, he dropped out of sight and was never heard from again. Even the movie notes at the end that “the date, location and circumstances” of Northrup’s death remain unknown.

Theories abound about what may have happened to him. One scenario has him being captured and killed while serving as a spy for the Union Army. The man who helped rescue him said he believed Northup had taken to drink and was kidnapped yet again. Or Northup could have died in a place where no one knew him or cared to properly bury an African-American at a time when a war over slavery was tearing the nation apart.

“He may have just wandered around from place to place and died somewhere nobody knew who he was, and he was buried in a potter’s field,” said David Fiske, co-author the 2013 Northup book along with Union College professor Clifford Brown.

“There’s no paper trail for him,” Brown added.

Fiske said Northup’s descendants also couldn’t provide any documents or hard facts, so he has followed numerous threads while trying to track down where Northup may have been buried. He checked cemeteries in communities outside Saratoga and other upstate communities where Northup’s wife and their children later lived, but came up empty. No death records have ever been found for him.

Fiske, a former state librarian, points out that death records weren’t kept in a systematic form in New York until the 1880s.
For Seligman, a museum curator at Skidmore College, host of this July’s annual Solomon Northup Day, the mystery surrounding Northup’s demise and resting place is part of the allure of being a historian.

Tynker is the latest iPad app aiming to teach kids to code

The Tynker iPad app uses puzzles to introduce kids to coding skills.

US firm Tynker has released an iPad app that aims to introduce children to computer programming, building on the success of its existing website.

The app is based on collections of puzzles, solved by stringing together commands in sequences using a drag’n’drop interface inspired by MIT’s popular Scratch coding language.

Tynker’s website, which launched in April 2013, has already attracted more than 6m children, and has been used in more than 8,000 schools across the US.

The company is hoping that the iPad app will complement its web and school courses, while also opening up its service to new users around the world.

The app is free to download, with 20 puzzles included in that initial download. Parents can then choose to pay for further packs of puzzles – Lost In Space and Sketch Racer – which cost £1.49 each or £1.99 for both. “The puzzles are structured to gradually increase in complexity,”explained Tynker on its blog as the app launched.

“By solving them, children learn to recognise patterns; break down a problem into smaller steps; engage in programming concepts like sequencing, loops and conditional logic; develop computer drawing and algorithmic thinking skills; and debug programs.

Tynker is backed by $3.25m (£1.9m) of venture capital funding raised in 2013, and is just one of a number of technology startups hoping to capitalise on the growing interest from parents and schools alike in coding for children.

Tynker's puzzles come in various forms, aiming to teach different skills.

iPad has been the early focus for many of these companies. Hopscotch Technologies has released its Hopscotch: Coding for Kids and Daisy the Dinosaur for Apple’s tablet, while SurfScore’s Kodable and Kodable Proapps are also iPad-only for now.

Other firms have spread their net wider, recognising that a growing number of children are using Android tablets rather than iPads. Hakitzu Elite: Robot Hackers – where kids build and battle giant robot characters while learning JavaScript – and Light-bot are available for both iPad and Android devices.

British parents may be particularly keen to explore these apps, as well as web-based tools like Scratch, ahead of programming’s introduction across the national curriculum later this year, including for pupils as young as five years old.

Efforts are underway to train teachers ahead of the changes, withGoogle investing £120,000 into an initiative run by coding clubs network Code Club to support teachers, and the British government backing the separate £500,000 “Year of Code” scheme.

Apps like Tynker, Hopscotch and Kodable stand to benefit in two ways from this upsurge in interest in early coding skills: first, because tablet-equipped schools may become customers for their products; and second, because parents looking to give their children a head start may use their apps at home.