Italy coach Antonio Conte was named as Chelsea's new manager Monday after the reigning Premier League champion announced he had signed a three-year deal that will start following Euro 2016. The 46-year-old former Juventus boss took over the Italian national team in August 2014 and secured its qualification for the European Championship. "I am happy we have made the announcement now so everything is clear and we can end the speculation," said Conte, first tipped as a successor to interim manager Guus Hiddink at Stamford Bridge last month, in a statement on Chelsea's website. "I will continue to focus on my job with the Italian national team and will reserve speaking about Chelsea again until after the Euros." Chelsea has been without a permanent manager since the London club sacked former boss Jose Mourinho in December after it lost nine out the first 16 games of its Premier League title defense. Under Dutch coach Hiddink, it has mounted something of a recovery and last weekend's 4-0 win away to bottom of the table Aston Villa left Chelsea tenth in the 20-team Premier League. Its 13-year unbroken run in the Champions League will also end, and it is very unlikely it will be in the Europa League next season either. Conte will be the fifth Italian to manage Chelsea, following previous incumbents Gianluca Vialli, Claudio Ranieri, Carlo Ancelotti and Roberto Di Matteo. He played more than 400 games for Juventus and went on to manage the club to three successive Serie A titles from 2012 to 2014. Villarreal beats Eibar In Madrid, Adrian Lopez and Roberto Soldado scored a goal each as Villarreal came from behind to defeat Eibar 2-1 and snap a four-game winless streak in the Spanish league Sunday, securing its grip on fourth place. Ander Capa gave the host the lead in the 22nd minute but Lopez equalized in the 35th and Soldado scored the winner in the 50th. The win gave Villarreal an eight-point advantage over fifth-place Celta Vigo, which was held 1-1 at home to Deportivo La Coruna Saturday. The top three teams automatically qualify for the Champions League next season while the fourth-place club faces an extra qualifying round. The Spanish league has seven rounds left. Villarreal is 12 points behind third-place Real Madrid. Second-place Atletico Madrid routed Real Betis 5-1 earlier Saturday to get to within six points of the Catalan club. Sixth-place Athletic Bilbao missed a chance to remain close to Villarreal after conceding a late equalizer in a 1-1 home draw against struggling Granada earlier Sunday, dropping nine points behind the fourth-place spot. Seventh-place Sevilla missed a chance to move to within six points of Villarreal after losing 2-1 to Real Sociedad at home later Sunday, a result that snapped the team's 13-game winning streak at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan stadium. Also Sunday, mid-table clubs Malaga and Espanyol drew 1-1 in Malaga. Neither team has lost in the last four rounds. Torino edges Inter What a wasted chance for Inter! The Nerazzurri could have overtaken Fiorentina into fourth place as La Viola was held to 1-1 draw by Serie A struggler Sampdoria, but Roberto Mancini's side lost its second successive San Siro game against Torino, despite Mauro Icardi's goal from the spot giving Inter the lead early in the first half. The three points allow Torino to distance itself from direct rivals Carpi, Frosinone and Palermo which faced defeats against Sassuolo, Genoa and Chievo Verona, respectively. — Agencies
