The most depressing words of this young sporting year were spoken by Jimmy Anderson. One of the more discordant sounds of an English summer is the distant drone of him sledging.

PATRICK COLLINS: Sport at its cleanest and brightest generates a sense of wonder, a feeling that peaks are being scaled and limits are being breached.

PATRICK COLLINS: Charlton are owned by a chap who is apparently the 18th richest man in Belgium, however the Championship outfit are just his bit on the side.

PATRICK COLLINS: Bolt, Ali, Woods, Pele, Bradman and a precious few others — Jack Nicklaus, certainly, and, in time, Lionel Messi — constitute an elite on whom the term ‘genius’ sits lightly.

PATRICK COLLINS: When his massive contribution has been adequately assessed, Jimmy Hill will be seen as one of the most significant figures in the modern history of British football.

PATRICK COLLINS: Fifty-two years have passed since that February dawn, yet still the cry comes ringing down the decades: ‘Ah shook up the world! Ah shook up the world!’

PATRICK COLLINS: It should be remembered that the FA's initial instinct was to approach Arsene Wenger, a worthy if futile attempt to hire the very best. But then, absurdly, they changed tack.

PATRICK COLLINS: When youngsters wanted to know just what made Glenn Hoddle so very special, their fathers would search out a 20-second film clip. Tottenham versus Watford.

JAMIE REDKNAPP: This has been Leicester's first real wobble. But their manager Brendan Rodgers will have been looking forward to this one - Liverpool at the King Power Stadium.

I say get rid of this shoulder and armpit nonsense and judge offside by the players' feet. Draw the line and see whether the attacker's foot is closer to the goal then that of the last defender.

JAMIE REDKNAPP: It seems as if Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is trying to keep hold of his job by being everyone's friend, and you cannot do that as manager of this Manchester United side.

JAMIE REDKNAPP: If Mourinho needs a striker, then he could do worse than look at Troy Parrott. He's been training with the first team, learning from the master Kane and has been capped by Ireland.

JAMIE REDKNAPP: We look at VAR as if it's the oracle but in reality it's one man, sat behind a bank of screens at Stockley Park, offering his opinion. It's not matter of fact - it's subjective.

JAMIE REDKNAPP: There is something about away games that Gabriel Jesus loves. Since arriving in the Premier League, he has scored more goals and racked up more assists on the road than at home.

JAMIE REDKNAPP: This was not a day to analyse Liverpool's downfalls to death but rather to celebrate Watford for what was a complete team performance.

COMMENT: Perhaps, the one plus side to this summer's European Championship being moved to 2021 is that it offers Kane time. The team figurehead will not have to rush to get back.

JAMIE REDKNAPP: Harry Kane is at home, in self-isolation, with a series of Tottenham Hotspur shirts on the wall behind him and Sportsmail's Jamie Redknapp on the screen in front.

EXCLUSIVE: The defender who earns his living by not giving opponents an inch is contemplating the fact he now has to steer two metres clear for the foreseeable future.

The award-winning footballer, 34, enjoyed some quality time with his kids Cristiano Jr, nine, twins Eva and Mateo, two, and Alana - his daughter with girlfriend Georgina - also two, in the bathtub.

Cristiano Ronaldo Jr, nine, amassed almost 800,000 Instagram followers on Tuesday, less than 24 hours after joining the photo-sharing platform.

The evergreen pair of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo may continue to defy the laws of time but a changing of the guard has started to emerge at football's elite level.

Lyon secured an impressive Champions League last-16 first-leg victory at home to Juventus thanks to Lucas Tousart's first-half goal, with the visitors failing to have a shot on target.

Maurizio Sarri launched into a bizarre outburst at the expense of his Juventus side, following their abject 1-0 defeat to Lyon in the Champions League last 16 first-leg. No punches were pulled.

ALVISE CAGNAZZO IN ITALY: Juventus produced their worst performance of the season as they lost 1-0 to Lyon. But their struggles in France are indicative of deeper problems with Sarri and the squad.

Juventus host Inter Milan in the standout fixture of this weekend's Serie A schedule but, as things stand, the top of the table clash will be played out in front of empty stands.

The Turin giants' duo were caught on camera at half-time, and could be overheard bemoaning a lack of support during another underwhelming display.

ALVISE CAGNAZZO IN ITALY: It hasn't been easy for Aaron Ramsey since he swapped Arsenal for Juventus but the midfielder finally appears to have understood the mechanisms of Serie A.

Tottenham were dumped out of the Champions League by Leipzig and qualification through the league is looking unlikely. The Italian giants hope that will be a factor in luring Kane to Turin.

Cristiano Ronaldo has NOT been infected with the coronavirus despite being held in quarantine in his native Madeira, the president of the Portuguese islands has confirmed.

Writing in Spanish, she said of the Portuguese star: 'By your strength and courage you will always be our HERO. By protecting us at night and by day you will be our GUARDIAN ANGEL.'

Cristiano Ronaldo obtained permission from Juventus to go to Madeira, the Portuguese island where he was born, to assist his mother and complete the quarantine from coronavirus at home.

Cristiano Ronaldo might be locked down in Madeira but he is clearly not letting himself go amid the coronavirus crisis. He posted a photo of himself after working out with his family.

Former Manchester United winger Nani jokingly revealed global superstar Cristiano Ronaldo everything he knows in an interview this week. 

Cristiano Ronaldo has been slammed for breaking the Juventus quarantine and heading home to 'take pictures in the pool' during the coronavirus outbreak.

Brazil legend Pele has added his opinion about who is the current world's best between Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi - with the three-time World Cup winner plumping for the former.

Serie B goalkeeper Alberto Paleari says footballers cannot be expected to give up their wages like Cristiano Ronaldo because he will not struggle financially.

Gary Neville has revealed he angered Cristiano Ronaldo by leaving the pitch at the Mestalla long and unwatered when his Valencia side hosted Real Madrid back in January 2016.

While many of us may use retail therapy during these stressful and uncertain times, Cristiano Ronaldo is no different as he has reportedly splashed out £8.5million on a limited edition Bugatti.

Football is poised for an extraordinary week of wage cuts across the board as the game attempts to forge a way out of the coronavirus crisis at Friday's Premier League shareholders' meeting.

The current nationwide lockdown is due to expire on Friday but Italian health experts have said the need to try to contain COVID-19 will likely last weeks beyond that.

Cristiano Ronaldo chose to join Manchester United in 2003 because every other club that was interested in signing the winger wanted to loan him back to Sporting Lisbon, Jorge Mendes has revealed.

The Frenchman has been heavily linked with the exit door at Old Trafford, with his agent fuelling the fire of his impending move away, and it is thought he could be eyeing up a return to the Serie A giants.

Cristiano Ronaldo had initially agreed to swap shirts with former Chievo goalkeeper Stefano Sorrentino before his penalty was saved during a 3-0 win in Turin last year.

Ferguson won an unprecedented 38 major honours during his reign at United, managing to maintain the club's dominance over two decades before retiring in 2013.

Paulo Dybala has told Juventus team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo he is hated in Argentina because of his figure and how he walks. But Dybala also said that he has been left surprised by Ronaldo.

Cristiano Ronaldo is doing his bit to help Juventus cut costs in the coronavirus outbreak but due to the astronomical success of his business away from the pitch, he's unlikely to notice the financial hit.

Xavivplayed with both during his career at Barcelona, with Messi essentially replacing Ronaldinho as the star player upon Pep Guardiola's arrival as manager in 2008.

Italian Football Federation are hoping to restart the Serie A season in mid May, and with that in mind Juventus have allowed Adrien Rabiot to return to France for the remainder of the lockdown period.

Caster Semenya smashed Cristiano Ronaldo's 'core crusher challenge' record in the Nike Living Room Cup challenge, an initiative aiming to promote exercising indoors during the coronavirus pandemic

Rio Ferdinand believed Manchester United had lost the 2008 Champions League final to Chelsea when John Terry walked up to take the match-winning penalty.