Higuain left out as Blues ‘rumours’ take a toll

CHELSEA target Gonzalo Higuain has been left out of AC Milan’s squad for today’s trip to Genoa.

According to Milan coach Gennaro Gattuso, the reports linking Higuain with a move to Chelsea have affected the Argentinian.

Higuain’s loan spell at Milan began well and he scored six goals in five games for the 18-time Italian league champions. However, he has found the net only once in his past 12 appearances.

In France, Paris St-Germain enacted revenge on Guingamp for their shock cup exit a fortnight ago.

Kylian Mbappe and Edinson Cavani hit hat-tricks on the way to a 9-0 thumping of Ligue 1’s bottom side.

Sprained

Neymar also scored twice and Belgium international Thomas Meunier completed the rout, but there was a sour note as Marco Verratti picked up a sprained ankle that leaves him struggling to be fit for the Champions League match against Manchester United on February 12.

Cesc Fabregas’ home debut for Monaco ended in a 5-1 hammering at the hands of Strasbourg.

Meanwhile, Bundesliga leaders Borussia Dortmund have Axel Witsel to thank for maintaining their six-point lead over Bayern Munich at the summit of the German top division.

The Belgian midfielder scored the only goal of the game in the win over RasenBallsport Leipzig after Bayern had strolled to a 3-1 victory over Hoffenheim on Friday night.

In La Liga, Lionel Messi came off the bench to help an understrength Barcelona beat Leganes 3-1 at the Nou Camp.

Messi was called into action after Martin Braithwaite had cancelled out Ousmane Dembélé 3-1 opener for Barca and he provided the assist for Luis Suarez to make it 2-1 before adding the third himself in injury time with his 25th goal of the season.

Two goals in the last 12 minutes gave Real Madrid a 2-0 win over Sevilla – the Andalusian club’s 14th consecutive defeat at the Bernabeu. Atletico Madrid remain second – five points behind Barca – following their 3-0 win at Huesca, their third goal coming from Koke on his 400th appearance.