Page 321 - Sports

Boom time - Europe's giants buying into women's football

Back in 2001/02, the semi-finalists in the first ever UEFA Women's Cup were Frankfurt, HJK Helsinki, Toulouse and Swedish side Umea. Fast forward 17 years to this season, and the presence in the last four of the Champions League of Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Chelsea and Lyon is testament to the growing influence of Europe's biggest clubs on the women's game. In those early days in the last decade, Arsenal were the pioneers among the giants of the men's game when it came to launching a successful women's team. They were European champions in 2007, in an ecosystem dominated by clubs dedicated entirely to women's football. However, since the competition was re-launched as the Champions League in 2009, matching the prestigious equivalent in the men's game, all of the top English clubs got on board with the idea of having a women's team. Meanwhile, it is Lyon who are now the giants on the women's scene, with five Champions League crowns this decade -- including the last three -- and a total

Football: Recent Spanish champions

Recent winners of the Spanish title after Barcelona retained their La Liga crown on Saturday: 2018/19: Barcelona 2017/18: Barcelona 2016/17: Real Madrid 2015/16: Barcelona 2014/15: Barcelona 2013/14: Atletico Madrid 2012/13: Barcelona 2011/12: Real Madrid 2010/11: Barcelona 2009/10: Barcelona 2008/09: Barcelona 2007/08: Real Madrid 2006/07: Real Madrid 2005/06: Barcelona 2004/05: Barcelona Most overall titles (most recent win in brackets): 33 - Real Madrid (2017) 26 - Barcelona (2019) 10 - Atletico Madrid (2014) 8 - Athletic Bilbao (1984) 6 - Valencia (2004) 2 - Real Sociedad (1982) 1 - Deportivo La Coruna (2000), Sevilla (1946), Real Betis (1935).

Mbappe sent off as PSG lose French Cup final to Rennes

Kylian Mbappe was sent off for a shocking tackle late in extra time as Paris Saint-Germain were stunned by Rennes in Saturday's French Cup final, losing 6-5 on penalties after a dramatic game finished 2-2 at the end of extra time. PSG substitute Christopher Nkunku blazed his sudden-death spot-kick over the bar in the shootout, sparking scenes of joy among the Rennes fans at the Stade de France as they won a first trophy in almost half a century. "It has been talked about enough at the club in the last few weeks for us to realise that we have achieved something historic," said Rennes coach Julien Stephan. It was a remarkable comeback from the Brittany side, who had seen Dani Alves and Neymar give Ligue 1 champions PSG a 2-0 lead midway through the first half. Thomas Tuchel's side appeared poised to wrap up a domestic double, but Presnel Kimpembe's own goal just before the break gave Rennes hope and Edson Mexer headed them level in the 66th minute to take a gripping final -- attended by

Solskjaer won't be victim of player power at troubled United

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has declared he will not allow himself to be thrown under the bus by Manchester United's stars after a warning from his former captain Roy Keane. Solskjaer's remarkable early form as United manager, which brought 14 wins from 17 matches, has dropped off alarmingly, with seven defeats in nine games going into Sunday's Premier League home match against Chelsea. The latest defeat was at home to neighbours Manchester City on Wednesday, when United legend Keane, working as a television pundit, suggested Solskjaer's players were letting down their manager in exactly the same way they had his predecessor Jose Mourinho. In Keane's words: "these are the players who threw Jose Mourinho under the bus and they'll do it to Ole", but Solskjaer is adamant that will not happen. "That was Roy Keane who said that, wasn't it? Of course that is not going to happen," Solskjaer said. "I speak to the players all the time; they know my expectations and standards. I have got three years ..

'Job done' for Guardiola despite title uncertainty

Pep Guardiola has insisted his Manchester City players have already done their jobs this season -- regardless of whether they succeed in becoming the first team in a decade to retain the Premier League title. The closest race for an English top-flight crown in recent memory is heading into its closing stages with City or Liverpool doomed to be disappointed at its outcome. But Guardiola firmly believes his City team is playing better now than it did 12 months ago, when it was on the brink of compiling a record 100 Premier League points. And given the impressive nature of their title defence, Guardiola has already told his players that the job "is done", even though the outcome of their bid to win the league and FA Cup, in addition to the League Cup they lifted in February, hangs in the balance. - 'Why should I judge?' - ========================= Victory at Burnley on Sunday would see City restore their one-point lead over Liverpool at the top of the table with two games to play. "Why ..

Messi fires Barca to eighth La Liga title in 11 years

Lionel Messi clinched an eighth La Liga title for Barcelona in 11 seasons on Saturday as he scored the only goal in a 1-0 win at home to Levante. The Argentine star struck his league-leading 34th goal of the campaign after coming off the bench for the second half to help Barca wrap up the title with three games remaining. Barca hold a nine-point lead over second-placed Atletico Madrid, but the Catalans cannot be overtaken thanks to their superior head-to-head record. It is Barca's 26th league title and nudges them closer to Real Madrid's record of 33 in Spain. "To win the title with a distance and gap is difficult with the rivals we have. We've done it two years in a row," Barca coach Ernesto Valverde told Movistar. "We're happy and to see people enjoying it makes us proud. But we still have challenges ahead." Valverde initially left Messi on the bench with Wednesday's Champions League semi-final first leg against Liverpool in mind, but he replaced Philippe Coutinho at the break at ...

Ranieri wants Conte to replace him at Roma as European battle heats up

Claudio Ranieri admitted he would be "super happy" if Antonio Conte succeeded him as Roma coach after he took the club into the Serie A top four with a thumping win over Cagliari on Saturday. Asked by Sky Sport following his side's 3-0 win at Rome's Stadio Olimpico whether he would like Conte to take over from him at the end of the season, Ranieri replied: "Yes, I'd want him." Speculation has intensified that Roma are making a serious bid to bring in former Juventus, Chelsea and Italy manager Conte as successor to Ranieri, who came in as interim manager following the sacking of Eusebio Di Francesco in March. Italian media reports that Roma have lined up a three-year contract worth 9.5 million euros (USD 10.6 million) a season to tempt him to the capital. But when pressed on whether he knew anything of Roma's approach, fellow former Chelsea boss Ranieri said: "I'm the last one to know these things... if Antonio comes I'll be super happy." Before the match club legend Francesco Totti, ..

'Young, hungry' Norwich back in Premier League after three-year absence

Norwich City secured promotion to the English Premier League after a three-year absence with a 2-1 win at home to Blackburn Rovers on Saturday. Victory left Championship leaders Norwich nine points clear of third-placed Leeds, who have just six left to play for in their final two regular-season games and only the top two assured of a place in English football's lucrative top-flight. The Canaries kicked-off at Carrow Road knowing just a point would be enough to secure promotion. Norwich went ahead in the 13th minute through Marco Stiepermann thanks to the German midfielder's low shot from 20 yards. The East Anglian club moved closer to a place among the elite through an even more spectacular goal, Mario Vranic's strike from 25 yards flying into the top corner in the 21st minute. But two minutes later Blackburn threatened to spoil the party thanks to Lewis Travis's goal. That, however, was as good as it got for the visitors with Norwich seeing out the game to return to the Premier ...

Junior Girls National Football C'ship: Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat enter semi-finals

Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat recorded victories against Odisha and Mizoram respectively to enter the semi-finals of the Junior Girls National Football Championship 2019-20 at the Polo Ground in Kolhapur.Himachal on Saturday became the third team to enter the semi-finals after a comfortable 4-0 win over Odisha, who started off well but fizzled away after the first 10 minutes. Himachal skipper Anju should have put her team into the lead in the 11th minute as she missed from close range but just eight minutes later, Kiran gave them the lead after coolly slotting home a spot kick.The side from north India continued to enjoy the better of the chances and doubled their lead in the 38th minute through Anju, who showed great skill to control a cross from the left, beating her marker and finishing into the bottom corner.Himachal continued their dominance in the second half as Manisha tripled her team's advantage with an expertly-taken goal. In the 63rd minute, she received a through-pass with .

Smith wants to draw curtains on his IPL 2019 campaign on winning note

Rajasthan Royals skipper Steve Smith wants to end his IPL 2019 campaign on a winning note against Royal Challengers Bangalore on April 30 before leaving for home ahead of the upcoming ODI World Cup. Rajasthan Saturday defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad by seven wickets to end their home campaign on a winning note and theoretically keep alive their play-off chances in the ongoing IPL. To stay in contention for a play-off berth, Rajasthan first must win their remaining two away games against Royal Challengers Bangalore and Delhi Capitals on May 4 and then hope for favourable results from other matches. "For us it's just about going on winning and then we'll see what happens. I've got one more match in Bangalore, so it'll be nice to finish off on a winning note, and hopefully the boys can win in Delhi too," Smith said at the post-match presentation ceremony. "But it was a good end to our home season. The boys pulled it back nicely in the middle overs. We used the change of pace well. We were ..

All-round effort guides Rajasthan to 7-wicket win

A good bowling effort followed by some valuable top-order contribution with the bat helped Rajasthan Royals seal a comfortable seven-wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad in an Indian Premier League (IPL) tie at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium, here on Saturday.

Rajasthan beat Sunrisers by 7 wickets to keep play-off hopes alive

Rajasthan Royals defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad by seven wickets to end their home campaign on a winning note and theoretically keep alive their play-off chances in the ongoing Indian Premier League here Saturday. Opting to bowl in a must-win match, Rajasthan first restricted Sunrisers to 160 for eight and then chased down the target in 19.1 overs. By virtue of this win, Rajasthan have now moved to the sixth position in the eight-team standings with 10 points from 12 games. But to stay in contention for a play-off berth, Rajasthan first must win their remaining two away games against Royal Challengers Bangalore on April 30 and Delhi Capitals on May 4 and then hope for favourable results from other matches. Despite the loss, Sunrisers have just managed to hold to their fourth place in the table with 10 points from 11 games. Chasing 161, Liam Livingstone (44 off 26) and Ajinkya Rahane (39 off 34) got Rajasthan off to a flying start with the former taking the attack to the opposition. The .

Karim Benzema suffers muscular injury, likely to miss remainder Real Madrid's season

Real Madrid forward Karim Benzema is likely to miss the remainder of the club's season as the player has been diagnosed with a muscular injury."Following the tests carried out today on our player Karim Benzema by the Real Madrid medical department, he has been diagnosed with a muscular injury to his left biceps femoris," Real Madrid said in a statement."His recovery will continue to be assessed," it added.Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane has expressed that he has 'many options' and will try to win the game despite Karim's absence."We know Karim will not be there, but we will put out a team to try and win the game. I won't say how we will play, or the system. We have many options," Goal.com quoted Zidane as saying.Real Madrid will now face Rayo Vallecano on April 29.

Rajasthan restricts Hyderabad at 160/8

Some disciplined bowling by Rajasthan Royals helped them restrict Sunrisers Hyderabad at 160/8 in an Indian Premier League (IPL) tie at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium, here on Saturday.

Pandey's fifty, Rashid's late cameo lifts Sunrisers to 160/8 against Rajasthan

Manish Pandey hit a quick half-century before Sunrisers Hyderebad witnessed a middle-order collapse to be restricted to 160 for eight against Rajasthan Royals here Saturday. Sent into bat, Sunrisers got off too a good start even after the early dismissal of skipper Kane Williamson (13) with David Warner and Manish Pandey sharing 75 runs off just 50 balls for the second wicket before losing the plot after the halfway stage. Nicely placed 103 for one after 12 overs, Sunrisers lost their next seven wickets for just 44 runs before Rashid Khan (17 not out off 8) played a short cameo towards the end to take the visitors to the 160-run mark. Sunrisers lost Williamson early, cleaned up by Shreyas Gopal (2/30) with a googly in the fourth over. Warner and Pandey then joined hands and played aggressively to stabilise the Sunrisers innings. While Pandey was the aggressor of the two, Warner played the second fiddle. Pandey reached his fifty in 27 balls with the help of eight fours but just when ...

Asian Wrestling Championship 2019: Sunil and Gurpreet secure silver medal

Sunil Kumar (87kg) and Gurpreet Singh (77kg), India's Greco-Roman wrestlers, have clinched the silver medal in the ongoing Asian Wrestling Championship 2019.Kumar, who was just one step away from the gold medal, lost to Iran's mighty Hossein Ahmad Nouri. However, Kumar managed to get hold of Tokhirdzhon Okhonov of Tajikistan in the quarterfinals and then followed it up with a win over Kazakhstan's Azamat Kustubayev 6-6 in a Victory by Fall verdict."I wish I were a little bit more aggressive. That could have changed the colour of the medal. I will strive to train harder and do better in the upcoming tournaments. It is because I had a chance for training in Kazakhstan and training with foreign partners also improved my standard," said Kumar after winning the silver medal.Singh brought India's second silver medal of the day but Korea's Hyeonwoo Kim vanquished Singh 0-8 to win the gold medal. Patently, Singh was impeccable against Qatar's Bakhit Sharif K Badr of Qatar as he won the match .

Sunil, Gurpreet win silver at Asian Wrestling

Indias Greco-Roman style wrestlers began their campaign on a successful note as Gurpreet Singh (77kg) and Sunil Kumar (87kg) delivered silver medals on Saturday, the penultimate day of the Asian Wrestling Championships.

Portuguese league, clubs bat for beer at stadium

Portugual's top-tier football league, with the backing of 18 clubs, is pushing for a reform -- to allow sale and consumption of beer in stadium. It, they feel, will improve security at the venue.

Benzema hurt, doubtful for Madrid's remaining season

Real Madrid has sidelined French forward Karim Benzema due to a left leg muscle injury, according to a statement by the club on Saturday.

Pacers outshine spinners in IPL 2019, rule chart

The spinners have generally dominated the Indian Premier League (IPL) in the past and fetched success for their respective teams. But in the ongoing 12th edition of the tournament, the story is slightly different.