Feyenoord manager Arne Slot has been identified by Liverpool as a leading candidate to replace Jurgen Klopp.

Liverpool's interest in Sporting CP coach Ruben Amorim has reportedly cooled. Slot has emerged ahead of Amorim and Brighton's Roberto De Zerbi in the race to replace Klopp.

Xabi Alonso was Liverpool's top choice, but he decided to remain with Bayer Leverkusen. 

Slot, 45, rejected Premier League advances from both Chelsea and Tottenham last season in order to remain at Feyenoord. 

Aston Villa have exercised their one-year option on the contract of Unai Emery to extend his stay at least through 2027.

Bayern Munich and Barcelona had interest in Emery as they look to fill their vacancy.

Emery is on course to lead Villa into the Champions League and, after reaching the Europa Conference League semi-finals, he could deliver the club’s first major trophy since 1996. 

Emery has transformed Villa since succeeding Steven Gerrard 18 months ago .

Villa finished seventh last season and are six points clear of Spurs for fourth place, though Tottenham has two matches in hand.

Xavi hasn't made a final decision on his future as manager of Barcelona as the club makes a push for him to remain in charge next season. 

Xavi announced in January that he planned to step down as manager at the end of the season, but there has been a push to have him reverse his decision.

President Joan Laporta, vice president Rafa Yuste and sporting director Deco have all voiced their desire for Xavi to remain at the helm.

Barcelona are unable to invest significant money in a new manager due to the club's financial issues.

Xavi could reconsider his decision if he receives certain guarantees with regard to squad planning and signings ahead of the 2024-25 season.

Thomas Tuchel has received interest from Barcelona for their managerial job, but he reportedly prefers a return to the Premier League.

Tuchel will leave Bayern Munich this summer.

Tuchel managed Chelsea between January 2021 and September 2022. Erik ten Hag's future with Manchester United is in doubt.

Tuchel, however, has not ruled out the Barcelona job. Rafael Marquez and Hansi Flick are also candidates for Barcelona. 

Real Madrid all but clinched LaLiga with their 3-2 victory over Barcelona in El Clasico on Sunday. Real Madrid is 11 points clear with six matches remaining.

With the match tied at 2-2 as stoppage time began, Jude Bellingham scored on a pass from Lucas Vazquez at the far post. Bellingham has now scored 17 goals in LaLiga as he continues perhaps the best debut season for Real Madrid since Alfredo di Stefano. 

Both Real Madrid and Barcelona entered the match carrying the weight of their Champions League matches midweek. For Barcelona, they had an extra day of rest but had a disappointing result against Paris Saint-Germain. Real Madrid defeated Manchester City in penalties, but they played an extra 30 minutes and had one fewer day of rest.

Manchester City defeated Chelsea 1-0 on Saturday to reach their second consecutive FA Cup final, but Pep Guardiola was critical of the scheduling. City played in the Champions League on Wednesday, losing in penalty kicks to Real Madrid after 120 minutes.

“I’m incredibly happy to play the semi-final of the FA Cup. I love to be in the quarter-final of the Champions League but I don’t understand,” Guardiola said. “It’s for the health of the players [my concern]. I don’t understand how we survived today. What they have done today is one of the greatest things I have seen from a group of players.

“People cannot imagine what a punch in the face to be out of the Champions League in the way we are out. Why not give us one more day to arrive on Sunday because Coventry and United didn’t play in midweek. For broadcasters? OK.”

Zinedine Zidane has not been contacted by Bayern Munich about potentially replacing Thomas Tuchel as manager. Zidane has been heavily linked to Bayern in recent days by Spanish media.

Zidane is on Bayern's shortlist, though he is below Brighton's Roberto De Zerbi, Austria coach Ralf Rangnick and Stuttgart's Sebastian Hoeness.

Zidane speaks neither German nor English fluently, and considers communication and man-management crucial to his success.

Zidane hasn't coached since the end of his second stint at Madrid in the summer of 2021. 

Cole Palmer has scored 23 goals in all competitions this season for Chelsea as he has become one of the best signings of the Premier League. Palmer was sold by Manchester City to Chelsea for $53 million.

Guardiola shrugged when asked whether it was a mistake to let Palmer move but said the 21-year-old wanted to leave the Etihad Stadium long before he joined Chelsea.

"He's an exceptional player," Guardiola told a news conference.

"I said many times, I didn't give the minutes that maybe he deserved and now he has at Chelsea. I understand completely.

"He's a shy guy with a lot of potential. It is what it is. He's playing fantastic so what can I say? The decision has been made for many reasons.

"He was asking for two seasons to leave and I said stay. He said he wanted to leave. What could we do? I said stay because Riyad [Mahrez] is gone, but for two seasons he wanted to leave."

LaLiga is likely to miss out on an extra spot in the Champions League last season and could even lose a spot, meaning they could drop from five spots to three spots.

Barcelona and Atletico Madrid were both eliminated in the quarterfinals of the Champions League, while Real Madrid barely got past Manchester City.

LaLiga teams’ poor performances in Europe have exacerbated the financial gap to the much richer Premier League. Meanwhile, clubs from the Bundesliga, Serie A and Ligue 1 have caught up.

From 2006-2022, either Barca or Madrid won nine of 16 Champions League titles, which was more than clubs from all other countries combined.

Other Spanish teams including Valencia, Sevilla, Villarreal and Malaga all enjoyed deep runs in the Champions League during the 2010s.

At its peak position in 2019, La Liga had four teams in the top seven of UEFA’s club rankings, which are based on teams’ results in the five previous seasons of any of their competitions. Real Madrid were first, Barcelona second, Atletico were fourth and Sevilla were seventh. The top English side were Manchester City in sixth, while Arsenal were ninth and Liverpool were 11th.

The Premier League jumped ahead of LaLiga in 2021 after City defeated Chelsea in the 2021 final.

Madrid making the last four was at least a welcome boost for La Liga’s ranking, along with City and Arsenal’s quarter-final exits. Spain has 15.312 points so far this season. France has 15.250, England 16.875, Germany 17.214 and Italy 18.428.

Pep Guardiola said he had no regrets following Manchester City's exit from the Champions League in the quarterfinals after their penalty shootout loss to Real Madrid. 

“It is what is – sometimes you win on penalties and sometimes not. We should have done it before – for how we played,” the manager said. “I absolutely don’t have any regrets – we did everything offensively and defensively. Football is about scoring goals and they did it a little bit better than us from the penalty spot. They are in the semi-finals and we are not. I have to say from my heart, thank you to my players.”