Flamengo striker Gabriel Barbosa said Saturday he "followed his heart" by agreeing to join the reigning Brazilian and Copa Libertadores champions on a permanent deal from Inter Milan.

Barbosa, who spent 2019 on loan at Flamengo, signed a five-year contract with the Rio de Janeiro giants on Jan. 28 after Inter Milan reportedly agreed to a 17 million-euro (18 million U.S. dollars) transfer fee.

"I missed wearing this shirt. It's a moment of happiness, everyone knows that Flamengo is my home," Barbosa said during his official unveiling on Saturday. "I'm very happy to be here because I know I followed my heart."

According to Brazilian media reports, Barbosa turned down offers from clubs in Europe and Asia to remain in Rio.

He said he felt motivated by the club's quest for more titles in 2020, including another tilt at the FIFA Club World Cup after losing to Liverpool in the 2019 final.

"For a player to feel fulfilled, he doesn't need to play in Europe and leave his country," Barbosa said. "We have a good league. Flamengo play at a very high level and has a coach [Jorge Jesus] who is one of the best in the world. I have a five-year contract with Flamengo, and I intend to respect it and stay here much longer."

Barbosa scored 43 goals in 59 matches across all competitions for Flamengo last year, helping them to their first Brazilian Serie A title since 2009 and just their second Libertadores crown.

Real Madrid opened up a six-point lead over FC Barcelona, who play on Sunday, in the Liga Santander as they beat neighbors Atletico Madrid 1-0 night in the Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday.

It was Real Madrid's first home win in the league against their neighbors since 2012 and came thanks to Karim Benzema's 55th minute goal after a pass from Vinicius Jr.

Real Madrid were able to take advantage of a series of injuries in an Atletico side who arrived at the Bernabeu with injuries, but Atletico were the better side in the first half and should have had a penalty after a foul by Casemiro on Alvaro Morata wasn't given.

Morata joined Atletico's injury list just after the break and Benzema netted the only goal of the game in the 55th minute as Atletico once again paid for their failures in front of goal, while their neighbors showed they need just one chance to win.

Valencia moved into the top-four ahead of Sunday's games thanks to a Carlos Soler goal 13 minutes from time that gave them a 1-0 win in an entertaining game at home to Celta Vigo.

Celta paid for a lack of confidence in front of goal and the result leaves them in the bottom three for another week.

Espanyol remain bottom of the table after losing 2-1 away to Granada. Raul de Tomas put Espanyol ahead from the penalty spot, but Granada turned the result around with a goal from Darwin Machis in the 38th minute and Carlos Fernandez's winner in the first minute of the second half.

Meanwhile Mallorca's troubles increased while Valladolid took a big step towards safety after Enes Unal's 58th minute goal separated the two teams in Mallorca's Son Moix Stadium.

A 32-member Maziya Sports and Recreation Club of the Maldives will arrive in the capital on Sunday afternoon to compete in the play-off match of the AFC Cup Football against Dhaka Abahani Limited.

The Maldives Club will play their away match against hosts Dhaka Abahani Limited on February 5 at the Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka while they will play their home against the same team on February 12 in the Maldives.    

The winners of two-leg basis play-off matches will earn the right to play in the main round of the AFC Cup.

Bangladesh Premier League champions Bashundhara Kings directly put in the group “E” of the AFC Cup alongwith Chennai City FC/ FC Goa of India and TC Sports of the Maldives.

Last year, Federation Cup Champions Dhaka Abahni had a tremendous performance in AFC Cup as they played in the semi-final of the AFC Cup.

However, in the recent past Bangladesh national team or club team did not get success against any the Maldives team.

In 2018, Saif SC lost both of their home and away matches of the AFC Cup play-off against TC Sports of the Maldives.

Lindsey Horan scored three goals and the US national team downed Panama 8-0 on Friday night in the the group stage of the CONCACAF Women's Olympic Qualifying tournament.

Panama goalkeeper Yenith Bailey got tangled up with one of her own players and Horan took advantage, scoring in the third minute to give the World Cup-winning Americans the early lead.

Moments later, Bailey knocked heads with Jessica McDonald and spent several moments on the ground. But ultimately Panama's captain stayed in the game.

Some two minutes after Lynn Williams' goal in the 16th minute, Horan scored her second of the game. Rose Lavelle got her first goal since the World Cup final to make it 4-0 in the 21st.

Bailey was stretchered off in the 32nd minute. It was unclear if it was because of the earlier collision.

Christen Press scored her third goal in as many games in the 70th minute before McDonald's goal in the 72nd to make it 6-0. Tobin Heath, who came in as a substitute, added a no-look goal and Horan capped the scoring by completing her hat trick in the 81st.

The crowd at Houston's BBVA Compass Stadium was announced at 14,121.

The top-ranked U.S. team also defeated Haiti 4-0 in the group stage opener on Tuesday night. The Americans face Costa Rica in their group final on Monday.

Costa Rica down Haiti 2-0 earlier Friday at for its second win in the group.

Eight teams are playing in the tournament, with the top two teams from each group advancing to the semifinals in Carson, California, on Feb. 7.

The top two finishers in the tournament will earn the region's berths in the Tokyo Games this summer.

The U.S. has qualified for every Olympics since women's soccer was introduced in 1996. The team has five consecutive titles in the qualifying tournament.

Six teams have already made the field for Tokyo: Japan, Brazil, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Sweden and New Zealand.

The finals of three zones of the ongoing Bangabandhu National Football Championship’2020 will be held across the country on Saturday.

A total of 12 teams from three zones will lock-horn in the double-leg basis cup and plate finals.

In Chitra zone, Satkhira will face Barishal in the first-leg of the cup final at Satkhira District Stadium while Barguna will play Bagerhat in the first-leg of plate final at Barguna District Stadium.

In Buriganga zone, Khulna will take on Jhenaidah in the first-leg of the cup final at Khulna District Stadium while Narail to play Magura in the first-leg of plate final at Bir Shreshtha Nur Mohammad Stadium in Narail.

In Brahmaputra zone, Rangpur to play Nilphamari in the first-leg of cup final at Rangpur District Stadium while Dinajpur will face Gaibandha in the first-leg of plate final at Dinajpur District Stadium.

On Friday, Cumilla beat Narayanganj by 1-0 goal in the first-leg of Padma zone cup final at Shaheed Dhirendranath Stadium of Cumilla.

In the day’s other cup finals, Chattogram beat Cox's Bazar by 1-0 in the first-leg of Jamuna zone at MA Aziz Stadium in Chattogram, Pabna beat Kushtia by 1-0 in the first-leg of Shitalakshya zone at Kushtia District Stadium and Netrakona beat Sherpur by 1-0 goal in the first-leg of Meghna zone at Netrokona District Stadium.

 In the plate finals, Rajbari crushed hosts Shariatpur by 3-1 goals in the first-leg of Padma zone at the Bir Shreshtha Munshi Abdur Rouf Stadium, Naogaon beat Joypurhat by 3-0 goals in the first-leg of Shitalakshya zone at the Naogaon District Stadium, Mymensingh beat Tangail by 3-2 goals in the first-leg of Meghna zone at the Rafiq Uddin Bhuiyan Stadium in Mymensingh while Rangamati played goalless draw with Noakhali in the first-leg of Jamuna zone at Rangamati District Stadium.