Mythbuster: Manchester United didn't need to sign Di Mariahttp

Angel Di Maria is overpriced, detractors of his move to Old Trafford say. His signing just papers over the cracks, when what Manchester United really need is defenders and midfielders.

With Juan Mata, Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie all in attack, do United really need to spend £59.7m on Di Maria at all? 

The answer is yes, they do.

United certainly do need defenders and midfielders as well, and Ed Woodward must surely be on his mobile phone speaking to agents and various other middlemen across Europe.

But the attack isn't all it's cracked up to be, either. Nobody is quite sure exactly where Di Maria will play in Louis van Gaal's flexible systems, but he is sure to make an improvement wherever he is deployed.

"I have bought him because he can play inside and on the wing, and that is handy for a coach," Van Gaal said on Tuesday. "When I was at Bayern Munich, on August 28 I also bought Arjen Robben, who could also play on the wing and inside."

That is handy, because so far the club's makeshift wing-backs have combined to conjure up the Premier League's worst cross completion rate at 5 per cent this season - 13% lower than their average across the whole 2013-14 campaign.

West Ham led the way last term with 22.64%. Di Maria himself managed 26.28% for Real Madrid, having put in 156 crosses - the fourth highest in Spain.

When he's not putting in crosses he's running at opponents, and last season in La Liga he attempted 110 dribbles, with a success rate of 43.63%. Only one Manchester United player tried more than 70: Adnan Januzaj went at opponents 122 times with a success rate of 41.8%. 

Champions League Review: Mixed results for Europe's big guns

Arsenal and Bayer Leverkusen both progressed to the group stages of the competition but Napoli were dumped into the Europa League by Spanish side Athletic Bilbao

There were mixed fortunes for Europe's big guns in the Champions League play-offs on Wednesday evening.

Ten-man Arsenal reached the competition proper for the 17th successive season as the Premier League side defeated Besiktas 1-0 at the Emirates Stadium to progress by the same score on aggregate.

Alexis Sanchez struck for the Gunners to send them through, despite Mathieu Debuchy's second half sending off.

At the Stadion Vasil Levski, defender Cosmin Moti was the name on the lips of Ludogorets supporters as they defeated Steaua Bucharest 6-5 in a penalty shootout.

The Bulgarians forced spot-kicks by winning 1-0 on the night, but were up against it when goalkeeper Vladislav Stoyanov was sent off in the 119th minute for a second bookable offence.

Moti took the gloves and, after scoring Ludogorets' first penalty, saved two spot-kicks to send his side through.

Joining them in the group-stage draw are Bundesliga outfit Bayer Leverkusen, who coasted past Copenhagen 4-0 at the Bay Arena to secure a 7-2 aggregate victory.

Leverkusen had effectively the put the tie to bed within the opening seven minutes as first Son Heung-min applied a cool finish from close range before Hakan Calhanoglu's free-kick deflected home via the arm of Danny Amankwaa.

Amankwaa's evening went from bad to worse when he conceded a penalty for a foul on Tin Jedvaj on the half-hour mark and Stefan Kiessling confidently dispatched the spot-kick. The in-form forward then scored his second of the game in the 66th minute.

However, Napoli's participation in the competition came to an abrupt end as they were beaten 4-2 over two legs by Athletic Bilbao after losing 3-1 to the Liga outfit on the night.

Napoli were aiming for a third straight appearance in the group stages and appeared well on course when Marek Hamsik opened the scoring just after half-time by drilling home a left-foot shot that hit the upright before nestling in the goal.

Athletic roared back, though, and Aritz Aduriz scored twice in seven second-half minutes to swing the tie in the Liga side's favour.

Ibai Gomez then capitalised on confusion in the Napoli box to make it 3-1 in the 74th minute and sent Athletic to the group stages for the first time since the 1998-99 campaign.

Elsewhere, Malmo overturned a 2-1 deficit from the first leg by beating Salzburg 3-0 at the Swedbank Stadion.

Sunderland in Ricky Alvarez talks

Sunderland are in talks with Inter over a move for Argentina international Ricky Alvarez.

The 26-year-old attacking midfielder has been made available by Inter, and Sunderland are now hopeful of completing the signing.

Sources have confirmed to Goal that a deal is close to being concluded in what would be a major coup for the north east outfit.

It is understood Sunderland would sign Alvarez on a season-long loan deal with a view to a permanent transfer worth around £12 millon.

Inter paid over £10m for Alvarez when they snapped him up from Velez Sarsfield in 2011.

Sunderland boss Gus Poyet is desperate to bolster his squad in the coming days before the transfer window shuts and landing a player of Alvarez' calibre would be a huge boost.

French giants Monaco could rival Sunderland for Alvarez, but a move to the Premier League is known to appeal to the Argentina international, who has eight full caps to his name, including an appearance as a second half substitute against Nigeria at the 2014 World Cup.

Napoli Champions League exit another humiliation for Italian football

Rafael Benitez argued before Napoli's Champions League playoff round second-leg encounter with Athletic Bilbao that "going out would not be a tragedy" for his club. Napoli's elimination, however, is a further calamity for Italian football; yet another blow for the game which has been dying a slow, painful death for the past five years.

The broader importance of the game at San Mames was underlined on the eve of the first leg at the San Paolo. As was so shamefully highlighted by numerous incidents of territorialism last season, Napoli do not get much love from the rest of Italy, so it was hugely significant that the Gazzetta dello Sport urged the country's football fans to get behind Benitez's side: "Napoli for everyone!" 

As the popular daily pointed out, the Italian game was in dire need of a boost. Juventus - the very best of a very bad bunch in Serie A - were dumped out of the group stage of last season's Champions League by Galatasaray before failing to set up a 'home' Europa League final after elimination by a nine-man Benfica team in the semi-finals.

The national team failed dismally to restore any pride during this summer's World Cup in Brazil, with the Azzurri suffering a second successive first-round exit, while the subsequent election of Claudio Tavecchio as the new president of the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) not only added to the collective sense of embarrassment but also reinforced the opinion that calcio is not moving forwards, but backwards.

Add in the fact that this week Serie A waved goodbye to two of its best players in Mario Balotelli and Mehdi Benatia and you get the sense that things are dire and worsening. 

That's certainly what the numbers suggest. Including this season, only one team has progressed through the Champions league qualifiers in the past five seasons - Milan in 2012-13. A look at Uefa's club rankings reveals that there is not a single Serie A side currently in the top 10. That Milan are Italy's sole representative in the top 20 is farcical, given that the Rossoneri embody everything that is wrong with the Italian game. 

HANG YOUR HEADS | Roma and Juventus are now Italy's sole representatives in the Champions League

This is a club with a proud history but one that now has to rely on free transfers and offloading what few valuable assets it has left in order to acquire new players. Given Milan can no longer hold onto their best players, it is hardly surprising that they cannot hold onto their fan base either. According to the latest reports, the seven-time champions of Europe are set to post their worst-ever season-ticket sales figures, with just 16,000 having been sold thus far.

And this is a widespread problem. The Corriere della Sera revealed earlier this week that Serie A sides have sold 50,000 fewer season tickets than last season. It's often said that Italian grounds look half-empty. That's because they literally are, with the 2013-14 Serie A campaign recording an overall 56 per cent attendance rate. Poorly attended games between low-quality teams in crumbling stadiums - the problem is clearly a lack of investment on every level. 

Yet there is an understandable reluctance to pump money into a domestic game that appears on its last legs. Hence, Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis' reluctance to gamble his side's financial security on qualification for the group stage of the Champions League.

The failure to strengthen Benitez's squad undeniably contributed to Wednesday's collapse at San Mames, though. The Spaniard requested top-class reinforcements in midfield and defence. He did not get them and the consequences were there for all to see against Athletic. 

Napoli were effectively punished for exhibiting a prudence that was crucially conspicuous by its absence during Serie A's heyday. That is no tragedy but it is sad nonetheless. This is another hammer blow for everyone involved in Italian football.

Benitez: I don't blame players for Champions League debacle

The Italians conceded three goals in 13 minutes thanks to a handful of errors which saw them lose out on a group-stage place to Spanish outfit Athletic Bilbao

Rafael Benitez admits his Napoli side were made to pay for their mistakes against Athletic Bilbao, but insists he does not blame his players.

Marek Hamsik handed the Italians the lead just after half-time at the San Mames, but three goals in 13 minutes turned the Champions League playoff on its head.

Aritz Aduriz scored when unmarked from a corner before slotting into an empty net after a calamitous mix-up between Rafael and Raul Albiol, while Ibai Gomez then sprung the offside trap to seal the win.

"Athletic deserved to score in the first half and didn't," Benitez told Sport Mediaset after the match. "We took the lead, but in a few minutes we made some important mistakes and lost control of the game. We made mistakes on all three goals.

"Those goals allowed Athletic to gain confidence and we lost ours. Do I blame anyone? No, mistakes happen - they are not normal, but they happened anyway. We had worked over the week on specifics like corners, but we still made mistakes and clearly we still have work to do.

"We said from the start Athletic were a tough team. We knew it could end up like this, we are all disappointed, but we have to look forward."

Gonzalo Higuain was visibly angered after the draw in the first leg but Benitez would not be drawn on speculation that the striker could now become unsettled after Napoli's failure to reach the group stage.

"I think at this stage we need to concentrate on the game with Genoa on Sunday. We are all disappointed, but cannot think about whether one player is more or less unhappy than the others," he added.

'We never stop attacking' - Aduriz hails Athletic's desire after Champions League progression

The striker scored twice to send his side into the group stage of Europe's elite club competition and both he and coach Ernesto Valverde believe their mental strength was key

Athletic Bilbao striker Aritz Aduriz says his team's desire to stay on the front foot for 90 minutes was the reason they beat Napoli to reach the Champions League group stage.

Athletic spurned a handful of clear chances before Marek Hamsik put the Serie A side in front at the San Mames in the second leg of their playoff clash on Wednesday.

However, Aduriz scored twice in 10 minutes to turn the tie on its head before Ibai Gomez sealed the win and a return to Europe's elite tournament after a 16-year absence.

And Aduriz feels their determination to attack throughout the 90 minutes was the decisive factor, telling Sport Mediaset: "I think the team worked very hard and we did not lose our heads after going a goal down at home. It is one of our characteristics, that we never give up and never stop attacking.

"I think Napoli are a great team and they made life difficult for us, but we trusted in our own strengths and came through in the end."

Head coach Ernesto Valverde, meanwhile, paid tribute to the raucous San Mames crowd for helping to roar the home side into the group stage.

"Of course we kept calm, as we had prepared for a difficult game against a great team like Napoli," he said.

"The difference was made by the crowd at the San Mames, as they helped push the players on and we kept faith in ourselves.

"It's true no Italian team has ever won at the San Mames. This is an historic day for us - 16 years on we are going into the Champions League."

Real Madrid make Negredo enquiry

Real Madrid have contacted Manchester City enquiring about the availability of striker Alvaro Negredo.

The Spanish giants are in the market for a centre forward to provide competition to Karim Benzema and are considering alternative options should Radamel Falcao's proposed switch to the Bernabeu fail to materialise.Negredo, who City value at £20 million, began last season in devastating fashion although lost his scoring touch in the second half of the campaign and failed to find the back of the net during the final four months of the campaign.The Spaniard subsequently missed out on a place on Spain's World Cup squad and a broken metatarsal suffered in pre-season against Dundee is likely to see him ruled out until September.Negredo, who faces competition from the likes of Sergio Aguero, Edin Dzeko and Stevan Jovetic for a starting spot at City, has also been attracting strong interest from Madrid's Liga rivals Valencia.

he would be open to a move to the Mestalla although a late intervention from Madrid, who are being asked to be kept abreast of developments, could be decisive.

The 29-year-old, who had a spell with the Real Madrid B team earlier in his career before being offloaded to Almeria, would be open to a return to Spain and Carlo Ancelotti's side will likely be unperturbed by City's £20m asking price.

Madrid are also set to free up funds from the sale of Manchester United target Angel Di Maria in the coming days, with Ancelotti revealing on Thursday that the Argentina international has asked to leave the club.

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