Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos said his team's lack of intensity cost them in Friday's 7-3 defeat to rivals Atletico Madrid in their International Champions Cup friendly.

Real were 2-0 down inside eight minutes at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, and had conceded five at the break without reply. They pulled one back but were 7-1 down with five minutes remaining before two late goals reduced the deficit.

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"We took it as a friendly, and they played like it was a final," Ramos said. "They beat us in intensity and took their chances very well.

"The result is too big. We feel screwed, as they are our direct rival in our city. You can lose many ways, but not like that. After a horrible first half the objective was to forget it, and try and win the second. We did that at least."

Ramos said he accepted losing to Atletico like this was painful, but that the performance was not linked to the team's disappointing 2018-19 campaign, where they ended the season trophyless.

"Madridismo is hurting, just like after every defeat," he said. "But we should not be worried.

"Hunger is not a problem. This is just the beginning; we are still getting ready. We are beginning from zero, we must forget last season. It is still too early for judgements. I believe in this team a lot."

There was huge fallout in the Madrid press with AS labelling the 13-time European champions a "team in ruin" while Marca called the result "scandalous and hurtful."

Gareth Bale was again a substitute, even with reports in the Spanish press that a move to Chinese club Jiangsu Suning could be completed as soon as Saturday.

"Bale is our teammate, we are happy with him," Ramos said. "Each player decides their own future."

Bale's agent Jonathan Barnett has twice in recent weeks dismissed the idea of his client moving to China, even after club sources said the Bernabeu hierarchy would be prepared to let the Wales international leave for a Chinese Super League club on a free transfer.

Juventus are ready to make a bid for Manchester United forward Romelu Lukaku which would include Paulo Dybala as part of the deal, according to ESPN FC sources.

Lukaku is a target for Juve's Serie A rivals Inter Milan and sources have told ESPN FC he is keen to join the Nerazzurri and work under manager Antonio Conte, who he recently labelled the "best manager in the world."

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Injuries have prevented Lukaku from making any appearances during United's preaseason tour of the Far East and, so far, the Old Trafford club's £80 million valuation of the Belgium international has not been met.

Despite spending €75m to sign Matthijs de Ligt from Ajax, Juve are looking for one more big signing and sources have told ESPN FC they are preparing to offer Dybala to United as part of a bid for Lukaku. Though, it remains unclear whether Dybala would be interested in moving to Old Trafford.

Tottenham have also been linked with an £80m move for Dybala in the English media.

Sources told ESPN FC that United have already rejected a £54m from Inter for Lukaku. One way the San Siro club could raise funds to meet United's valuation of the the ex-Chelsea forward is to offload Mauro Icardi, who has been told he has no future at the club.

Icardi has been heavily linked with a move to Juventus -- while Napoli are also monitoring the situation -- but so far there has been no official bid for the Argentine.

Lukaku joined United from Everton in 2017 and was the first-choice forward under Jose Mourinho.

However, the Portuguese manager's replacement Ole Gunnar Solskjaer appears to prefer Marcus Rashford in attack.

Carles Perez scored twice as Barcelona beat a Vissel Kobe side including Andres Iniesta 2-0 in the Rakuten Cup on Saturday in Japan.

Perez, a winger for Barca's B team, slotted through goalkeeper Daiya Maekawa's legs on the hour mark after a neat one-two with Malcom to open the scoring. Malcom came close to adding a second, thumping the bar from close range, before Perez netted his second late on as Barca picked up their first win of preseason following Tuesday's defeat to Chelsea.

Ernesto Valverde's side now return to Spain, where they will link up with the South American players that were absent from the tour of Japan due to the Copa America, including Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez.

They face Arsenal next weekend at Camp Nou in the Joan Gamper Trophy, before heading to the United States for two matches against Napoli.

Valverde named new signing Antoine Griezmann as Barca's central striker for the second time in a week at The Noevir Stadium in Kobe, while former Blaugrana players Iniesta, David Villa and Sergi Samper all started for Vissel.

Iniesta, 35, impressed in the first half. He came close to breaking the deadlock early on with a curled effort from the edge of the box which bent just wide.

Barca had the majority of the chances, though. Riqui Puig, Rafinha, Griezmann and Ivan Rakitic all came close, before Marc-Andre ter Stegen saved well from Iniesta at the other end.

The Spanish champions made 11 changes at the break, with Frenkie de Jong and Ousmane Dembele introduced, but it was an academy graduate who made the difference.

Perez found the breakthrough after a neat exchange with Malcom and then closed the scoring with a drilled finish across Maekaw from just inside the area in the 86th minute.

In between the two goals, Carles Alena twice came close, failing once with an audacious chip, and Malcom smashed the woodwork in an impressive cameo.

Arsenal are the frontrunners in the race to sign Lille winger Nicolas Pepe after becoming the fifth club to agree a fee of €80 million to be paid over five years with the Ligue 1 side, according to ESPN FC sources.

Sources have told ESPN FC that, as well as Arsenal, Napoli, Inter Milan, Paris Saint-Germain and Atletico Madrid have an agreement on the fee with Lille for Pepe.

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While the 24-year-old has not agreed personal terms with any of those clubs, sources have told ESPN FC Arsenal are the player's preferred option.

Arsenal have also been linked with a move for Pepe's Ivory Coast teammate Wilfried Zaha but were unable to agree a deal with Crystal Palace, who were holding out for a deal worth £70m.

Unai Emery has so far welcomed two new additions for next season in Brazilian teenager Gabriel Martinelli and Dani Ceballos, who joined on loan from Real Madrid.

Arsenal have also signed William Saliba from Saint Etienne, but have sent the defender back to the Ligue 1 on loan.

Pepe joined Lille from Angers in 2017 and enjoyed an impressive first campaign with the Ligue 1 side as he hit 13 goals, despite battling relegation for much of the season.

However, he exploded into life in the his second term as his 22 goals in Ligue 1 helped Lille finish runners-up to PSG.

Meg Lanning channeled the annoyance of not converting starts in the Ashes into a record-breaking innings at Chelmsford, as Australia secured the multi-points series in overwhelming style. Yet, she was still targeting further improvement from her impressive team.

Lanning plundered 133 not out off 63 balls, beating her own record of 126 - which had been jointly held with Sterre Kalis of Netherlands for a month - for the highest individual innings in women's T20Is. It is a mark of the standards set by Lanning that her previous scores in the Ashes (16, 18, 69, 57 and 21) had been below expectation and she showed no mercy on the England bowlers, taking them for 17 fours and seven sixes.

She added a second-wicket stand of 134 in 12 overs with Beth Mooney (55 off 33 balls) and 66 in five overs with Ash Gardner as Australia piled up 226 for 3 which England got nowhere near threatening. This gave them a 10-2 lead in the series with two T20Is remaining.

"I hit the ball today as well as I have for a long time, that's what T20 does, you are out there and swing the bat a little bit and hope for the best at times," Lanning said. "To be honest myself and Beth, we just wanted to play good cricket shots and we got good reward for that. It was a really good batting deck.

"I feel like I've been hitting the ball reasonably well without being able to play really freely and felt if I was able to stick at it long enough it would happen. Was nice to be able to cash in, some days you are on and you have to make the most of it."

"[I have been] a bit frustrated, I have big expectations and want to contribute all the time. I felt like I was getting starts but kept getting out and that was annoying me a fair bit. So when I got going today I was keen to keep putting the foot down and take the opportunity because it doesn't come along very often."

Australia retained the Ashes with the drawn Test in Taunton and, unlike the previous series in Australia, have ensured against England fighting back to level the points in the T20s. Following their 3-0 success in the ODIs, and a performance in the Test where they never looked like losing, going unbeaten through the series is now very much on the cards.

"It's massive, it's what we came here to do - win the Ashes outright. To do it early on is a nice bonus," Lanning said. "We've played some good cricket throughout, it has been closer than the scoreboard suggests but we've been able to win the big moments in game. We are keen to keep going, we don't want to give them any sniff

"We strive for perfection, we don't get there, but we want to get as close as we can. We can probably improve a little in the field which is a good thing for our group because we want to keep getting better. I think that's why we've been able to have some success over the last 18 months, that drive, and everyone in the group has that."

Jofra Archer has revealed he was in "excruciating" pain as he battled a side injury during the second half of the World Cup. The tournament finished with him bowling the dramatic tied Super Over that enabled England to win the title on boundary countback.

Archer sustained the injury against Afghanistan, England's fifth match of the tournament, and needed constant painkillers to make it through the rest of the competition. The management may have had an eye on resting him at some stage during the group matches, but England's mid-tournament wobble, where they lost consecutive matches against Sri Lanka and Australia, left them in virtually a must-win scenario against India and New Zealand.

Archer then managed to produce one of his most impressive performances in the semi-final against Australia, trapping Aaron Finch lbw with his first ball to set the tone for a dominant victory, before his scarcely believable role in the final. He finished with 20 wickets in the tournament, a record for an England bowler in World Cups.

"It was pretty excruciating," he told BBC Sussex about the side injury. "I'm fortunate it's settled quickly. It was pretty bad. I couldn't do it without painkillers, which was from the Afghanistan game onwards. I couldn't get a week's rest in during the tournament because of how close the games were. I only ever needed a week to 10 days."

Archer was given time off after the World Cup to recover physically and mentally from a dramatic start to his international career which only began in May. He didn't take part in England's pre-Test training camp and was allowed to head back home to Barbados for a holiday. He returned to action for Sussex in the T20 Blast on Friday evening and took 2 for 21 in another tied match ahead of England naming their squad on Saturday for the first Test against Australia.

After the World Cup there had been a suggestion he may be held back until the second Ashes Test at Lord's and given the strength of England's pace-bowling resources that could remain an option but Archer, who has 131 first-class wickets at 23.44, is desperate to get his hands on the red ball.

"I'm just ready to go out there and show the guys what I can do with a red ball," he said. "I think my red-ball record is better than my white-ball record, so I just can't wait to get the opportunity."

Stuart Broad and Chris Woakes combined to bowl England to victory against Ireland at Lord's, demolishing the visitors' second innings for 38, while Sam Curran and debutant Olly Stone took three wickets apiece in the first innings. James Anderson missed the match as he recovers from a calf strain but there is confidence he will be available for Edgbaston.

Seventeen months ago, Cameron Bancroft sat in a room at the WACA Ground, flanked by the state's chief executive Christina Matthews, and conveyed his greatest disappointment about the Newlands ball tampering scandal in which he had been a pivotal figure.

"Through the last few days, sitting in my own company, the thing that breaks my heart the most is that I have given up my spot in the team for somebody else for free," he said. "People know that I've worked so hard to be able to get to this stage in my career, and to know that I have just given somebody an opportunity for free is devastating for me."

In the many recriminations and deliberations that followed the scandal, there was little doubt that Bancroft had the hardest road back to regaining a place in the Australian team. For while Steven Smith and David Warner were acknowledged as world class talents, Bancroft was a batsman still making his way, struggling as much as thriving in his first eight matches against England and South Africa. Countless others had the chance to bar Bancroft from returning through their own performance.

Yet Bancroft never lost sight of his goal - keeping his baggy green cap in full view at home in Perth, then carrying it with him to a county stint with Durham. Through runs there, and then by wearing numerous blows to the body in making the unbeaten 93 on a fiendish Southampton pitch, Bancroft convinced the selectors he was worthy of a return, foiling the likes of Joe Burns, Kurtis Patterson, Peter Handscomb and Will Pucovski in the process. He's got his spot back, and has no intention of giving it away "for free" again.

"It's good motivation isn't it, to look at it and go 'yeah i'm playing cricket but there's something bigger I eventually want to be able to get back to'," Bancroft said of his cap. "I guess it was good motivation to keep working hard, keep training. yeah. whenever that happened, it was out of my control. it was just a bit of inspiration and motivation to keep my goals and keep focused.

"At home it's got its little spot that it sits in outside my bedroom. yeah I kept it there . It's something you're obviously very proud of it. it's a very prestigious item to have and you take good care of it because it means something to you. So that's kind of how I dealt with that and being able to see that is obviously really good to focus your goals and where you want to be going.

"Definitely times when I was challenged a lot. but like anything, you go through those moments the best you can. You learn a bit about what you need to do to keep moving forward, and just take it day by day really. If you ask me 18 months ago if I'd be sitting here, it was probably the last thing from my mind."

Ask Bancroft about Australian cricket culture since Newlands, and the response is instructive. He focuses not on fitting in around others, but on doing the right things in his own mind. Through the tribulations of the past year or so, including the loss of his contract with Durham for 2018, reinstated this year, Bancroft also learned to be somewhat less obsessive about the game. "One of the big lessons that I learnt last year was about being true to yourself," Bancroft said.

"There is no doubt that I wasn't as true to myself as I could have been at times. You learn from those mistakes that you make and you try and be better moving forward. At the end of the day, what you do and your actions is completely up to you. I made a mistake and I'll learn from it and move forward and get better.

"I think being serious about cricket is important but I think it's also about being able to realise the game is just a game of cricket. There's certainly other parts of your life that you can value, that are important too. I definitely connected with more of that last year and certainly opened up new avenues that I hadn't done before. They've brought a lot of enjoyment and happiness to my life, so for that it was a good experience and i'd like to think it's helped me enjoy cricket in a different way."

Those avenues included meditation and yoga, accompanied by running plenty of kilometres (about 35 a week) to maintain the fitness and strength that helped make Bancroft one of the most durable batsmen in the Australian system. All these things helped build resilience, not only to the ball hurled down at him, but the volleys of abuse he faced with Durham that will doubtless be multiplied during the heat of an Ashes series in England.

"Sure, there were times when people booed or what not, or ask you to sign pieces of sandpaper, stuff like that. But it doesn't faze me. I just get on with it," Bancroft said.

"It doesn't bother me too much. It is what it is. People will react how they want to react. Hopefully I can use it if people want to be like that, to give you energy to perform well. I can't control that. I guess the journey that I've been through over the last 18 months, you get exposed to things like that. I'll just deal with it and keep moving forward.

"I think how people want to feel about that and react, I guess, is really how they want to deal with that. For me it's just about playing good cricket. That's kind of where I'm at right now. That's definitely the thing that I can change and impact on moving forward, so that's certainly where my focus will be right now."

Dealing with a moving ball was something central to Bancroft's desire to return to Durham, and the lessons of the stint were writ large across his Southampton innings. Playing the ball late, judging the whereabouts of his off stump, leaning gently, head over the ball, into his drives, Bancroft combined physical toughness with the light touch required to avoid edges, pads and stumps being exposed to quality bowlers.

"I've worked on a lot of parts to my game, where my bat comes down, my back-foot play, how I move my feet, everything," Bancroft said. "You're just fine-tuning all those details to be a better cricketer. I've had a lot of time to be off the park and in the nets to do that and I guess each time you play is an opportunity to make that a part of your batting. That learning process is never ending and I'll keep working hard.

"Certainly up in Durham, dealing with sideways movement is part of batting up there. You don't always feel like you're 100% on top of the bowling or the game but you just do the best you can while feeling a little bit uncomfortable out there, not feeling in complete control. I think they were the conditions in Southampton and it was nice to be able to do that and I'm sure I learned a lot at Durham. There were times out there when i felt like 'I've seen this before, this is like batting at the Riverside a little bit. That's learning i guess.

"I'd certainly much rather get hit than get out at times, so yeah. It was just - there's certainly a bit of luck involved. No doubt about it on a pitch like that - and I had my fair share of luck, no doubt about it. You just stick to a game plan you think's going to be successful out there and as much as the ball was going up and down - frighteningly at times - the ball just nipping back and being able to attack your stumps, for me was far more dangerous than worrying about the ball was that bouncing a bit. But they're potentially conditions we could face at some point in the series and I guess you learn from the past and that helps you in the future."

As for his reunion with Smith and Warner, Bancroft agreed that all had taken paths that were lonely at times, on their way back to the national team, its pressures and rewards. "For all three of us, really, our journeys were all different," Bancroft said.

"We all fought battles that were very personal and very different. But I think understanding each other and what each other was going through was certainly something that happened. It's nice to be back in the side, it's nice to see Dave, it's nice to see all the boys, not just him. I guess as you connect closer together as a team, you build that good culture the Australian cricket team has been looking to improve."

Jofra Archer is in line to make his Test debut against Australia during the Ashes after being named in England's 14-man squad on the strength of his star turn for World Cup champion team.

Ben Stokes has been re-appointed England vice-captain, while Olly Stone was named in the squad as a fast-bowling option and Joe Denly was also included.

Archer, who revealed he had bowled in "excruciating" pain with a side strain throughout the second half of the World Cup, is in line to make his Test debut as part of a whirlwind summer which saw him play his first international match in May. He went on to take 20 World Cup wickets, a record for an England bowler in the tournament, which also saw him bowling the dramatic tied Super Over that enabled the hosts to win the title on boundary countback.

National Selector Ed Smith said while it was unusual to select a squad of 14 for a home Test, there were "compelling reasons" to do so in this case, given the demands of the recent World Cup campaign.

"Several bowlers are recovering from injuries or niggles," Smith said. "In addition, some bowlers who played in the World Cup are being closely monitored to assess their preparation for Test match cricket.

"The wider circumstances - a successful home World Cup campaign followed so quickly by a home Ashes series - are unprecedented. It feels sensible to select an expanded squad and leave a number of bowling options open for the final team selection."

Archer was involved in another tied match on the eve of England's Ashes squad announcement, taking 2 for 21 for Sussex against Surrey in the Vitality Blast on Friday night, his return to action after taking a short post-World Cup break.

Also returning to the squad after resting from England's one-off Test against Ireland are Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes. Jack Leach, who made 92 as nightwatchman against Ireland, missed out on an Ashes place but will train with the Test squad in the lead-up to the opening match, starting at Edgbaston on August 1.

James Anderson, who missed the Ireland Test as he continues his recovery from a calf injury was expected to be fit to face the Australians in the Ashes opener. As expected, Chris Woakes and Stuart Broad, who claimed six and four wickets respectively as England skittled Ireland for just 38 in their second innings to win by 143 runs at Lord's on Friday, were included in the Ashes squad, as was Sam Curran.

ECB Chairman Colin Graves approved Stokes' reappointment as England vice-captain, the role he lost during investigations into the fight outside a Bristol night club in 2017, over which Stokes was ultimately found not guilty of affray. He will resume the vice-captaincy from Buttler.

Denly was called up after making his Test debut on England's tour of West Indies in January but missing out on a World Cup place. Stone earned his place in the squad after taking three wickets on his Test debut against Ireland, having returned early from the tour of the Caribbean with a stress fracture in his back.

The squad will report for duty in Birmingham on Monday.

England squad: Joe Root (capt), Moeen Ali, Jimmy Anderson, Jofra Archer, Jonny Bairstow, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler, Sam Curran, Joe Denly, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, Olly Stone, Chris Woakes.