Weekend football build-up
Runners prepare for London Marathon
Get involved: after Samuels' salute, your best #sportingbanter
Barcelona draw Bayern Munich, Juventus v Real Madrid in Champions League semis
Johnson free to play for Sunderland
Image source, SportOr perhaps not everyone wants Juventus...
Spanish newspaper Sport, external claims Barcelona actually want to play Bayern Munich.
It's like deciding between a Ferrari or a Lamborghini isn't it.
Image source, El Mundo DeportivoPoor old Juventus...
According to Spanish newspaper El Mundo Deportivo,, external "Everybody wants Juventus" in today's Champions League draw.
Don't forget we will be bring you the draw as it happens in Sportsday from 11:00 BST. Juventus are joined by Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Real Madrid. The dream quartet?
Image source, ASIt appears as though Real Madrid loanee Javier Hernandez does not see a future for himself at Manchester United.
Chicharito, who scored Real's Champions League quarter-final winner in midweek, is waiting for the call from Madrid to tell him they want to make his loan switch permanent.
Spanish newspaper AS, external reports the European champions have an option to buy the Mexican for €10m.
Fiorentina's Micah Richards on Twitter:, external Happy birthday to Stuart Pearce!!! The manager who believed in me at such a young age and gave me the opportunity.
Pearce is 53 today...
Image source, Getty ImagesChelsea want Gareth Bale and Raphael Varane from Real Madrid. Manchester United and PSG in a battle to sign Wesley Sneijder. West Ham have told David Moyes he is their preferred candidate to take over from manager Sam Allardyce. This and more in today's gossip. Read it. Read it now.
Image source, Getty ImagesThis weekend's Premier League fixtures serve up Arsenal v Chelsea, as if you didn't know. It is second v first in the table, which is probably how it will end, but at least a win for the former will keep a bit of interest in the race. Arsenal may not catch Chelsea this season but a win can strike an important blow for the Gunners, as our pundit Robbie Savage explains...
"A win, no matter how they get it against the champions elect, would show they will really mean business next year."
Image source, Getty ImagesThere are still a few Premier League managers set to face the media today for their pre-match press conferences, including Hull's Steve Bruce and Everton's Roberto Martinez at 09:00 BST. Jose Mourinho and Louis van Gaal to come later. We'll bring you all the best of what the bosses have to say ahead of this weekend's top-flight shenanigans.
We want to know which player will excel for his side in the Champions League semi-finals...
José Bellamy: It's the time for James Rodríguez, he's poised to become a superstar in his own right.
Callum Mankl: I think Gareth Bale will silence the critics and shut Real fans up.
Ollie James: Messi will one again prove himself (not that he needs to!) to be the greatest player ever.
Send your responses to us either via Twitter, using the hashtag #championsleaguehero, or text, on 81111, including your name and location.
Image source, Getty ImagesA bit of breaking football news now and Championship club Brighton have offered new deals to goalkeeper Casper Ankergren and full-back Inigo Calderon, but club-record signing Craig Mackail-Smith will be released in the summer.
Striker Mackail-Smith, 31, joined for a reported £2.5m in 2011 and has scored three goals in 35 outings this season. Kemy Agustien, Aaron Hughes, Vitalijs Maksimenko and Paddy McCourt will also leave when the campaign finishes.
So, the Champions League draw; what's the plan? Well, I'll tell you. It's taking place today at Uefa headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland and gets under way at 11:00 BST. The four teams involved are Spanish pair Real Madrid and Barcelona, German side Bayern Munich and Juventus of Italy.
The draw for the semi-finals of the Europa League also takes place on Friday. Holders Sevilla are through along with Ukraine's Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk and Italian duo Fiorentina and Napoli.
Before all that, though, you can expect a pre-show of what Europe's governing body deems to be "entertainment". Basically, Uefa's got talent.
For today's debate, we are asking who will be the star man for their respective side in the Champions League semi-finals? Is Cristiano Ronaldo going to run rings around everyone (again)? Will Luis Suarez pay off that whopping great price tag by restoring Barca to the top of Europe? Will Carlos Tevez do the business for the underdogs? Or will Robert Lewandowski become a hero for Bayern?
Send your responses to us either via Twitter, using the hashtag #championsleaguehero, or text, on 81111, including your name and location.
Image source, Daily TelegraphThe Daily Telegraph go with the cricket (no surprise there) and pay tribute to Joe Root, who scored a century to help England take control of the second Test against the West Indies. Root is rapidly establishing himself as the star man for England. Speaking of which...
Image source, Daily MirrorThe Daily Mirror go bigger on the break-down in the relationship between Arsene Wenger and Cesc Fabregas by going all Cliff Richard on us with their headline., external I wonder if Arsene is losing sleep? Or counting sheep (sheeeeep)?
Image source, Daily StarFresh from signing his new long-term deal at Liverpool, Jordan Henderson has urged team-mate Raheem Sterling, external to follow suit by committing his future to the club. The Star also go with Jack Grealish's apology for inhaling nitrous oxide and Arsene Wenger's claims that Cesc Fabregas snubbed a return to Arsenal in favour of Chelsea.
Image source, Getty ImagesIt's Champions League (and Europa League) draw time! The four finest teams in Europe (and the ones in the Europa League) are primed and ready to see who they will be pitted against in the semi-finals of Europe's top club competition (and the Europa League). And, after some talking, some more talking, probably a musical number, some dancing and then some more talking, a footballing great will pluck four plastic balls out of a dish.
That gets under way at 11:00 BST, so we've got a bit of time to fill. Let's start that process with some of this morning's back pages...
It is that time of year again, when thousands of runners ranging from the elite to the amateur check their trainers, tape up their nipples, and get the big Womble outfit out of the attic. Yes folks, it is London Marathon time.
On Sunday, the streets of the capital will be awash with a sweating, panting mass of the brilliant, the brave, the bold and the foolish. Over the next 11 hours (roughly the amount of time it will take that Womble to complete the course) we'll bring you all the build-up to the world's premier 26.2 mile event.
But first...