World championship soccer

The Argentine hoisted the trophy for a seventh time while Dutch coach Ronald Koeman earned his first piece of silverware as Barca coach to add to the glut of honours he won as a player with the the club, including a Copa triumph in 1990.

* Mexico’s Patricio O’Ward put Arrow McLaren on pole on Saturday for the IndyCar season opening Alabama Grand Prix while Frenchman Romain Grosjean made a strong impression in his series debut, qualifying seventh.

* Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo clinched pole position at the Portuguese Grand Prix on Saturday, while six-times MotoGP champion Marc Marquez will start sixth on his return to the grid after a season-ending crash last year. Quartararo was promoted to the top of the grid for Sunday’s race after Ducati rider Francesco Bagnaia had his record-breaking lap cancelled over a yellow flag infringement in the closing moments of the qualifying session.

* Ronnie O’Sullivan started his World Championship defence with a 10-4 win over Mark Joyce on Saturday as fans were allowed back into sporting events in England for the first time this year. More than 600 tickets were sold for the three sessions at the Crucible as part of the government’s pilot scheme to help sport out of lockdown after an easing of COVID-19 restrictions.

* Sheffield United’s relegation from the Premier League was sealed when they lost 1-0 at Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday. The defeat left the Yorkshire club 19 points behind fourth-bottom Burnley with a maximum of 18 remaining.

* Chelsea coach Thomas Tuchel said his side were closing the gap with Manchester City and their “benchmark” coach Pep Guardiola after the Londoners’ 1-0 FA Cup semi-final win on Saturday. The victory for the Blues – Tuchel’s first over Guardiola – contrasted with a 3-1 drubbing at home by City in early January, which hastened the departure of former Chelsea boss Frank Lampard and his replacement by Tuchel.

* Norwich City clinched promotion to the Premier League with five games to spare on Saturday after rivals Brentford and Swansea City failed to win their Championship matches, guaranteeing Daniel Farke’s leaders one of the automatic promotion places. The Canaries sealed an immediate return to the top flight having finished bottom of the Premier League in the 2019-20 campaign.

* Lewis Hamilton celebrated his 99th Formula One pole position after seeing off Red Bull’s Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen in qualifying for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola on Saturday. Hamilton did enough with his first flying lap of one minute 14.411 seconds, but Perez came close at the end with an effort only 0.035 slower.

* Teenager Jamal Musiala scored twice in the first half to steer Bayern Munich to a nervous 3-2 victory at third-placed VfL Wolfsburg on Saturday to move seven points clear at the top of the Bundesliga with five matches left to play. Bayern, on track for a record-extending ninth straight league crown, are on 68 points, with RB Leipzig in second place on 61 after their goalless draw against Hoffenheim on Friday.

* Juventus forward Cristiano Ronaldo will miss his side’s crucial trip to Atalanta on Sunday with a thigh injury, with his coach Andrea Pirlo insisting the setback comes from playing too many matches. Juve are 12 points behind leaders Inter Milan with eight games left, and with a 10th successive Scudetto seemingly out of reach they will be aiming to hold on to a top-four spot in the race for the Champions League qualification places.

* The Spanish Grand Prix will go ahead without spectators on May 9 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya said on Saturday. The race is scheduled to be the fourth of the season, following on from Portugal on May 2, and a home one for two times world champion Fernando Alonso and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz.

* Major League Soccer (MLS) has said that Inter Miami’s signing of French World Cup-winning midfielder Blaise Matuidi last year was not in compliance with their roster and budget rules and that the club could face sanctions. The side co-owned by David Beckham recruited Matuidi on a free transfer after he left Italian champions Juventus in August. The league said last month it would launch a formal review of the deal.

* Qatar’s foreign affairs minister said on Saturday his country is ready to host the World Cup next year and has been in talks with vaccine providers to ensure all attendees are vaccinated, Qatar’s state news agency QNA reported.

The visitors joined Southampton in the semi-finals after the south-coast side earlier beat local rivals Bournemouth 3-0 away. Manchester United visit Leicester City on Sunday with Chelsea hosting Sheffield United.

* France bathed in pride and joy on Saturday after beating Wales 32-30 to stay on course for a first Six Nations title in 11 years at the end of an exhilarating test that coach Fabien Galthie compared to a boxing match. France’s win also denied Wales a second Grand Slam in three years with Les Bleus now hoping to beat Scotland by at least 21 points with a bonus point to secure the title in Paris on Friday in their rescheduled game.

* Goalkeeper Bono was Sevilla’s unlikely hero as they snatched a 1-1 draw at struggling Real Valladolid in La Liga on Saturday thanks to his strike deep in stoppage time. Sevilla stay fourth and move to 55 points, 10 ahead of fifth-placed Real Sociedad who host Barcelona, in third on 59 points, on Sunday.

* Newcastle United remain outside the Premier League’s bottom three but the abject nature of Saturday’s 3-0 defeat by fellow strugglers Brighton & Hove Albion did not bode well for their hopes of avoiding the drop. The visitors failed to register a shot on target and are now six games without a league win, leaving them in 17th place, two points above third-from-bottom Fulham.

* Robert Lewandowski’s hat-trick helped 10-man Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich stay in the driving seat to retain the title with a 4-0 drubbing of Vfb Stuttgart, while Borussia Dortmund lost ground in the top-four race with a draw at Cologne on Saturday. The result left Bayern on 61 points from 26 games, four ahead of closest rivals RB Leipzig.

* Prolific striker Erling Haaland continued his rich vein of form as he netted twice including a late equaliser to salvage a 2-2 draw for Borussia Dortmund at Cologne in the Bundesliga on Saturday. The result left fifth-placed Dortmund losing ground in the hunt for a top-four finish as they have 43 points from 26 games, four less than Eintracht Frankfurt in fourth who celebrated a 5-2 home win over Union Berlin.

* Third-placed Vfl Wolfsburg, who are 10 points behind Bayern and four ahead of Frankfurt, stayed firmly on course to secure a Champions League berth with a 2-1 win at Werder Bremen. Schalke suffered yet another setback to their slim hopes of avoiding relegation as a 3-0 home defeat by Borussia Moenchengladbach left them rooted to the bottom 12 points adrift of the safety zone.

* Championship leaders Norwich City were held to a 1-1 draw at home by Blackburn Rovers on Saturday as second-placed Watford closed the gap at the top to eight points with a convincing 3-0 victory over relegation-threatened Birmingham City. Wayne Rooney’s Derby County lost 1-0 at Stoke City, as Jacob Brown bagged the winner with 15 minutes left.

* Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane sung the praises of Karim Benzema after the French forward’s two goals helped his side to a 3-1 win over Celta Vigo on Saturday and continued a prolific goalscoring run stretching to six consecutive games. Benzema has scored eight goals in his last six matches in all competitions and is the third top scorer in La Liga, with 17 strikes.

* Russian Aslan Karatsev continued his breakthrough year as he claimed his first ATP Tour title by beating Lloyd Harris 6-3 6-2 in the Dubai Championships final on Saturday. The 27-year-old wildcard overpowered his South African opponent with a barrage of winners to take his record to 12-2 for the season, having only won three Tour-level matches prior to this year.

* Spezia secured a huge win for their Serie A survival hopes by beating relegation rivals Cagliari 2-1 on Saturday, but the visitors were left devastated when a last-minute equaliser was ruled out by VAR. Earlier, bottom side Crotone squandered a golden chance to move closer to safety when they threw away a 2-0 halftime lead to lose 3-2 at home to Bologna.

* An unstoppable Barcelona won their 20th game out of 20 on Saturday, thrashing Rayo Vallecano 4-0 away from home to continue their record-breaking run in Spanish women’s soccer’s top flight. Barca broke the previous record of 14 straight wins in the Spanish women’s league last month and their 20th consecutive victory meant they increased their lead at the top over nearest challengers Levante to 12 points, with two games in hand.

* Belgian Jasper Stuyven won the Milan-Sanremo one-day race, the first ‘Monument’ classic of the season, with a late, unexpected attack at the bottom of the final hill on Saturday. Australian Caleb Ewan took second place, with Belgian Wout van Aert finishing third.

* The French sports ministry on Saturday opened the door for foreign players in Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 to join their national teams for World Cup qualifiers outside the European Union, allowing them to forgo a quarantine upon their return.

* China’s Wang Kaihua produced the third-fastest 20 km race walk in history at the national championships in Huangshan on Saturday, romping to victory in one hour, 16 minutes and 54 seconds to book his spot at the Tokyo Olympics. The Asian Games champion paced himself perfectly from start to finish at the event, which also served as an Olympic qualifier, taking 42 seconds off the national record previously held by 2016 Rio Games champion Wang Zhen.

* Leeds United’s record goalscorer Peter Lorimer died aged 74 following a long-term illness, the Premier League club said on Saturday. The attacking midfielder, who earned the nicknames “HotShot Lorimer” for his powerful strikes, scored 238 goals for Leeds across two spells at the club.

* Six women’s soccer clubs in England will receive 680,000 pounds (US$943,432) in support grants from the British government’s winter survival package, amid the COVID-19 crisis, the Sports Ministry said. The grants will help cover essential costs due to the lack of spectators in stadiums and allow the clubs to complete their respective seasons.

* Leicester City defender Ricardo Pereira will miss Sunday’s FA Cup quarter-final at home to Manchester United due to a minor hamstring strain, manager Brendan Rodgers said. The Portugal international sustained the injury during last week’s 5-0 Premier League win over Sheffield United.

The 20-year-old Brazilian fired the 13-times European champions into the lead in the 27th minute at the Alfredo di Stefano stadium after controlling a long diagonal pass from Toni Kroos from his own half which flummoxed the Liverpool defence.

* Manchester City’s Phil Foden grabbed a last-minute winner as they beat Borussia Dortmund 2-1 in their Champions League quarter-final first leg on Tuesday after Marco Reus netted a late equaliser for the Germans at The Etihad.

* Norwich City moved within striking distance of promotion back to the Premier League after one season when they thrashed woeful Huddersfield Town 7-0 helped by a Teemu Pukki hat-trick to move eight points clear at the top of the Championship on Tuesday.

* Scotland will play international friendlies against Luxembourg and the Netherlands in the build-up to this year’s European Championship, the country’s soccer federation said on Tuesday. Steve Clarke’s side will face Netherlands on June 2 in Algarve, Portugal, before meeting Luxembourg on June 6.

* Manchester City posted net losses of £126 million (US$175 million) for the 2019-20 season after their finances took a huge hit from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Premier League club said on Tuesday (Apr 6). Revenue dropped 11 per cent to 478.4 million pounds during the 2019-20 campaign, which was halted in March and resumed behind closed doors three months later.

* Struggling La Liga side Alaves said on Tuesday they have appointed Javi Calleja as their new coach, and will be hoping the veteran of relegation battles can lift their club out of the drop-zone. The Basque side sacked coach Abelardo Fernandez on Monday, a day after losing 3-1 at home to Celta Vigo to slip to the bottom of the standings.

* Barcelona midfielder Philippe Coutinho has had surgery on his left knee for an injury sustained during their 1-1 La Liga draw with Eibar in December, the Spanish club said. The Brazilian has played only 14 games this season in all competitions scoring three goals and is likely to miss the rest of the campaign.

* The UK will be without their top-ranked player, Johanna Konta, for their Billie Jean King Cup play-off tie against Mexico as she continues to manage a knee problem, with Jodie Burrage selected in the squad for the first time. World number 18 Konta, who retired from this year’s Australian Open due to an abdominal injury, said last week that she would not be part of the as she gives her problematic knee time to adjust ahead of the clay-court season.

* RB Leipzig squandered the chance to put the pressure on Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga title race as they were held to a 0-0 draw at home by struggling Hoffenheim on Friday (Apr 16).

* Leaders Lille dropped two precious points in a tight Ligue 1 title race when they drew 1-1 at home against Montpellier on Friday. Luiz Araujo’s late goal cancelled out Andy Delort’s first-half opener for Montpellier as Lille were left on 70 points from 33 games, four ahead of second-placed Paris St Germain who host St Etienne on Sunday.

* The Spanish soccer federation (RFEF) will offer Seville’s La Cartuja stadium as an alternative venue for Euro 2020 matches should Bilbao be stripped of its games, the body’s president Luis Rubiales said. Bilbao’s San Mames stadium is due to host three group games and a round-of-16 tie in June in the European Championship but has been unable to guarantee to UEFA that fans will be allowed to attend games.

* Stefanos Tsitsipas advanced to the semi-finals of the Monte Carlo Masters on Friday (Apr 16) when his quarter-final opponent Alejandro Davidovich withdrew after losing the first set 7-5. Tsitsipas, the world number five, will play his sixth Masters 1000 semi-final on Saturday, and his first in the principality, against Englishman Dan Evans, who battled past Belgian David Goffin 5-7 6-3 6-4 on Friday.

* Rafael Nadal’s bid for a 12th Monte Carlo Masters title was shattered by Russia’s Andrey Rublev, who swept to a 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 quarter-final win on Friday (Apr 16). Nadal, bidding to reach the semi-finals of a Masters event for the 75th time, followed world number one Novak Djokovic, who was beaten in the third round, out of the tournament.

* Croatian striker Mario Mandzukic has forfeited a month’s salary at AC Milan after he picked up an injury, with the club then offering the sum to a charity. The 34-year-old arrived at Milan in January on a six-month deal worth 300,000 euros a month.

* Katie Boulter and Heather Watson won with near-identical scorelines to give Britain a 2-0 lead in their Billie Jean King Cup playoff against Mexico on Friday while Ukraine and Italy also chalked up victories. With Britain’s top-ranked player Johanna Konta sidelined with a knee problem, it was up to Boulter and Watson to take control of the tie in Roehampton.

The result left Liverpool sixth on 53 points from 32 games, one behind fifth-placed Chelsea who have a game in hand and two adrift of West Ham United in fourth. Leeds stayed 10th on 46 points.

* European soccer’s governing body UEFA led a backlash against plans for a breakaway Super League on Monday, saying associated players and clubs could be banned from its competitions – including three of this season’s Champions League semi-finalists.

* UEFA will take a final call on the status of Munich, Bilbao and Dublin as host cities for the 2020 European Championship on Friday after the venues could not guarantee spectator attendance, European soccer’s governing body said on Monday. Each of the 12 host cities were asked to submit their plans for allowing fans inside stadiums by early April and the nine other venues had promised filling stadiums to capacities ranging from 25% to full capacity.

* Manchester City said on Monday they are unsure about the extent of Kevin de Bruyne’s foot and ankle injury, with the playmaker ruled out of Wednesday’s Premier League clash with Aston Villa and facing a race to be fit for Sunday’s League Cup final. De Bruyne sustained the injury in last Saturday’s 1-0 FA Cup semi-final defeat at Chelsea.

* The Republic of Korea will skip all three stages of the Archery World Cup as COVID-19 travel restrictions would impact their preparations ahead of the Tokyo Olympics, World Archery has confirmed. The qualification for the first stage of the 2021 Archery World Cup starts on Tuesday in Guatemala City while the second and third stages will be held in Lausanne next month and Paris in June.

* Melbourne Victory appointed former Blackburn Rovers manager Steve Kean as their interim head coach until the end of the season on Monday following the departure of fellow Scot Grant Brebner from the A-League side. Bottom club Victory parted ways with Brebner after Saturday’s 7-0 thrashing by Melbourne City. Kean, 53, had joined as Brebner’s assistant in the off-season.

* Andrey Rublev said he had accepted a wild card for Barcelona this week in the belief that his participation in the Monte Carlo Masters would come to a halt against Rafa Nadal in the quarter-finals on Friday. But the exhausted Russian has now been left with a very quick turnaround after he beat the Spaniard and then went on to reach Sunday’s final of the ATP Masters 1000 event, where he lost to Stefanos Tsitsipas.

* Jose Mourinho was sacked as manager of Tottenham Hotspur on Monday after 17 months in charge of the London club and six days before they will appear in the EFL Cup final. Tottenham confirmed in a statement that the Portuguese had left along with his coaching staff.

* The world’s top chess players are set to resume a tournament in Russia on Monday after it was halted more than a year ago because of the COVID-19 pandemic, with organisers banking on safety measures to ensure its completion this time around. The International Chess Federation (FIDE) suspended the Candidates Tournament at its halfway point in March last year as Russia announced it was grounding international flights.