Football

The week that began with the former president in prison will end with a new president in power as Barcelona hope Sunday's elections can be a turning point for a club seemingly locked in crisis. Joan Laporta, Victor Font and Toni Freixa were all at Camp Nou on Wednesday to see Barca stage a dramatic comeback against Sevilla, overturning a 2-0 deficit in extra-time to reach the final of the Copa del Rey. But whoever is voted in by Barcelona's 110,000 members has

LONDON: Tottenham Hotspur captain Hugo Lloris has lauded Dele Alli for the way he has responded after being prevented from leaving the club. It appeared the England international would move from the north London side during the January transfer window having beeb sidelined by manager Jose Mourinho, with former Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino reportedly keen to take Alli to Paris Saint-Germain on loan. Spurs, however, decided to keep Alli in their squad and the midfielder made his first Premier League start since the

LONDON: Ole Gunnar Solskjaer says he does not agree with the "narrative" that Manchester United's form has dipped alarmingly as he prepares his team to face runaway Premier League leaders Manchester City. United are second in the table but 14 points adrift of City, who are on a record run of 21 straight victories in all competitions. Solskjaer's men head into Sunday's clash after drawing a blank for three consecutive matches, with concerns that attacking talisman Bruno Fernandes is beginning to show signs

Manchester City have history in their sights as the runaway leaders bid to take a huge step towards the Premier League title in Sunday's showdown with fading challengers Manchester United. City are 14 points clear of United with 11 games left and victory in the derby would effectively end their second-placed rivals' faint hopes of catching them. Pep Guardiola's side have been so dominant since the end of last year that it is the landmarks they can shatter on the way to a

Manchester derby day used to be an occasion to relish for Sergio Aguero. He scored on his debut, turning home Micah Richards' low cross for City's third in that never-to-be-forgotten 6-1 win at Old Trafford in 2011. It was one of eight goals in his first eight outings in matches between the blues and the reds as City went from being Sir Alex Ferguson's noisy neighbours to the top side, not just in Manchester but also in England across the eight seasons that

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp does not believe a failure to finish in the Champions League places this season would lead to the exit of leading players from Anfield in the summer. The Premier League champions suffered a fifth home defeat in a row on Thursday when they were beaten 1-0 by Chelsea. Mohamed Salah looked frustrated when he was substituted in the loss, as the Reds fell four points off the top four. "I know we have loyalty from the players," said Klopp.

Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs fell short to Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Super Bowl LV, but one Pro Football Hall of Famer believes Kansas City has what it takes to be the NFL’s next dynasty. Legendary quarterback Joe Montana, who led San Francisco 49ers to four Super Bowl championships in the ‘80s, knows a thing or two about being a part of a dynasty, especially after he was the ringleader for one of the most successful teams in the history of the league. The Western Pennsylvania native was the first

Al Sadd, the reigning champions, thrashed Al Gharafa 5-0 in the Amir Cup semi-finals at Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium yesterday, thanks to a brilliant double by Algerian goal machine Baghdad Bounedjah. The Wolves will face Al Arabi in the semi-final after Al Arabi came back from a goal down to beat Al Sailiya 4-1 in the other quarter-final yesterday.  For Xavi Hernandez's Al Sadd, Nam Tae-hee, Akram Afif, and Yousuf Abdurisag were all on track in their search for a record-extending 18th Amir

LONDON: Manchester United said its total revenue rose 2.6 per cent in the last three months of 2020, helped by strength in broadcasting. "The rapid rollout of vaccines in the UK and beyond gives us confidence that we are now on a path towards normality, including the return of fans to stadia" Executive Vice Chairman Ed Woodward said on Thursday. Broadcasting revenue, the English Premier League soccer club's largest segment, rose 68% to 108.7 million pounds. The jump was helped by United's participation

MADRID: Barcelona confirmed on Thursday (Mar 4) Gerard Pique has suffered a knee injury, with the defender facing a struggle to be fit to face Paris Saint-Germain in next week's Champions League last 16, second leg. Pique has just returned from three months out due to a partial cruciate ligament injury in the same right knee. But the Spaniard's latest problem, sustained in the Copa del Rey win over Sevilla on Wednesday night, is not thought to be as serious. According to Catalan

LIVERPOOL: Chelsea reclaimed their place in the Premier League's top four as Mason Mount's superb first-half goal earned them an impressive 1-0 victory at champions Liverpool on Thursday. Mount cut in to curl a low shot past Liverpool keeper Alisson in the 42nd minute, after Timo Werner had had a goal disallowed, to give Chelsea a deserved halftime lead. Thomas Tuchel's side then showed great defensive discipline to stand firm in the second period as Liverpool improved. Liverpool, who substituted a disgruntled Mohamed

Rangers boss Steven Gerrard was shown two yellow cards after approaching referee John Beaton on the pitch at half-time; Gerrard appeared to be angered by Beaton's decision to book Alfredo Morelos after the Rangers striker went down in the Livingston penalty area Furious Rangers boss Steven Gerrard told John Beaton he was "out of order" after being sent off following a sensational half-time bust-up with the official at Livingston. The Light Blues boss reacted with outrage when Beaton booked Alfredo Morelos for a

Report and free highlights as Andros Townsend and Patrick Van Aanholt go closest to providing Crystal Palace's first ever league double over Manchester United in bore draw at Selhurst Park; United missed chance to pull clear of third-placed Leicester Nemanja Matic's 12th-minute effort proved to be Manchester United's only shot on target as a limp 0-0 draw at Crystal Palace left them 14 points off leaders Manchester City. United dropped points for the seventh time in their last 10 Premier League games and

Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon has revealed that he plans to retire by June 2023 at the latest but won't rule out hanging up his boots sooner. Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon has revealed that he plans to retire by June 2023 at the latest but won't rule out hanging up his boots sooner. The 43-year-old's contract with the Turin club expires at the end of the season and a renewal is yet to be agreed with the Italian champions. "Look, in my head, there

The Portuguese forward guided a composed finish past Spezia goalkeeper Ivan Provedel in a 3-0 Serie A win for the Italian champions to mark the 600th league appearance of his career in typical fashion. Cristiano Ronaldo became the first player to score at least 20 goals in the last 12 seasons in a top five European league on Tuesday to continue his charge towards sealing one of the few individual awards left for him to win: Serie A top scorer. The Portuguese forward

SHEFFIELD: A poacher's goal from David McGoldrick gave bottom side Sheffield United a 1-0 home win over Aston Villa on Wednesday (Mar 3), as they overcame Phil Jagielka's sending off to grab their fourth Premier League victory of the season. The home side took the lead on the half-hour mark when McGoldrick started an attack with a sweeping pass out to George Baldock and then timed his run perfectly, stealing in at the far post to bundle home the wing back's cross-shot. The

Al Sadd defeated Al Gharafa 5-0 in HH the Amir Cup 2021 quarterfinal clash that was played Wednesday at Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium. Nam Tae-hee put Al Sadd in the lead with the first goal in the 25th minute, before Baghdad Bounedjah added the second a minute later. Akram Afif then made it 3-0 at the stroke of halftime. Bounedjah scored his second goal and Al Sadds fourth in the 72nd minute, and then substitute Yousuf Abdurisag netted the fifth in the 80th

Few people will envy the man elected to be the new president of FC Barcelona. The upcoming election -- to be held on Sunday, just days after four senior officials were arrested -- is arguably the most important in the club's history and comes at a time of crisis that appears to be deepening by the day. Historic debts, reported by Spanish newspaper El Mundo to be more than one billion dollars, forced Barcelona into a fire sale of some of the most

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer says his Manchester United side need to find their "spark" again after they were held at Crystal Palace - a third goalless draw in a row for the visitors. The Red Devils never really looked like scoring in a drab encounter at Selhurst Park, with their failure to win a blow to their already slim Premier League title hopes. The result means Manchester United are 14 points behind leaders Manchester City, with the two sides meeting on Sunday. Asked about

Barcelona overturned a two-goal first-leg deficit as they beat 10-man Sevilla 3-0 after extra time in a Copa del Rey semi-final full of drama and incident. Martin Braithwaite got the decisive goal, a diving header early on in the additional 30 minutes. Ousmane Dembele had opened the scoring for Barca, who lost the first leg 2-0. Lucas Ocampos missed a penalty for Sevilla, who then had Fernando sent off just before Gerard Pique dramatically levelled the tie at 2-2 in added time. Barca,