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LONDON: Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola passed on some simple advice to his players from his late mentor Johan Cruyff ahead of the first leg of their Champions League semi-final, away at Paris St Germain on Wednesday night: Enjoy yourselves. "Enjoy the travel, the coffee in the terminal, the night and the dinner, watching the other semi-final, enjoy the press conference, the walk, the training," Guardiola told reporters on Tuesday while describing Cruyff's philosophy. "We are privileged to be one of the best

Chelsea held their own away to Real Madrid but had to settle for a 1-1 draw in Tuesday's Champions League semi-final first leg after Karim Benzema scored an acrobatic goal to cancel out an early strike from Christian Pulisic. Chelsea made a bright start in heavy rain at the Alfredo di Stefano Stadium and deservedly went ahead when U.S. forward Pulisic rounded Thibaut Courtois to score in the 14th minute. Thirteen times European Cup winners Real looked ragged and short on ideas but

MADRID: Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane said on Monday (Apr 26) that he was not thinking about any sanctions against the club from UEFA in the wake of the European Super League announcement last week. The breakaway league involving 12 of Europe's major clubs collapsed within three days of its announcement amid a fierce backlash from fans, governing bodies and politicians. Real president Florentino Perez was named as chairman of the project and appears to have been the driving force behind the league,

LONDON: AC Milan striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Inter Milan's Romelu Lukaku have been fined for unsportsmanlike conduct following an investigation into a verbal clash between the pair during a Coppa Italia match in January. The Italian Football Federation (FIGC) said on Monday that Ibrahimovic had been fined €4,000 (US$4,834), Lukaku €3,000, AC Milan €2,000 and Inter €1,250. The two former Manchester United team mates exchanged insults during the cup quarter-final on Jan 26 and Lukaku had to be restrained at the end of

TOKYO: Hundreds of Japanese towns and cities have been forced to rethink plans to host Olympic teams because the coronavirus will prevent public appearances and require costly safety measures. The western town of Okuizumo spent more than US$5 million preparing to welcome India's hockey team for a pre-Games training camp, only to scrap the visit because of COVID-19. After sinking money into upgrading sports facilities, Okuizomo balked when it became clear it would have to provide bubble-like biosecurity measures with regular virus tests

LEICESTER, England: In-form Kelechi Iheanacho's late stunner earned Leicester City a crucial 2-1 home victory over Crystal Palace which tightened their grip on third place in the Premier League on Monday (Apr 26). Nigerian Iheanacho set up Leicester's equaliser for Timothy Castagne just after halftime, then smashed home an 80th-minute winner to complete the turnaround at the King Power Stadium. He has now scored 12 goals in his last nine games in all competitions for Leicester who are closing in on a place

Jamaica's Danusia Francis said the decision by German athletes to compete in full-body suits at the European Artistic Gymnastics Championships last week was empowering for women. Sarah Voss donned a full-body suit at the Basel event and was followed by team mates Kim Bui and Elisabeth Seitz. The German Gymnastics Association (DTB) said that the move was a stand against sexualisation in the sport. "I think it's amazing," Francis, who previously represented Britain but will compete for Jamaica at this year's Tokyo Games,

Eoin Morgan guided Kolkata Knight Riders to a much-needed victory over Punjab Kings in a low-scoring Indian Premier League contest in Ahmedabad. The KKR skipper came in with his side 17-3 early on in their chase of 124 but was typically calm under pressure, putting on 66 with Rahul Tripathi (41 from 32 balls) as he batted through to the end, finishing unbeaten on 47 from 40 balls. Kolkata's bowlers, led by Prasidh Krishna (3-30), had restricted Punjab to 123-9 and it took

Shorter 'sprint' races will be introduced to Formula 1 this year to set the grid positions at three grands prix, series bosses have agreed. Points will be awarded to the top three finishers - three for first, two for second and one for third. Grid positions for the shorter race - to be called 'sprint qualifying' - will be set by moving qualifying to Friday. Avoiding calling the event a 'race' is to ensure that the grand prix remains the main focus of

An "ultra-rare" signed rookie card for four-time National Basketball Association (NBA) champion LeBron James sold for $5.2 million on Monday, breaking the record for the most expensive basketball card ever sold. It also equalled the record for any sports trading card, matching the amount paid in January for a 1952 rookie card for baseball great Mickey Mantle. "At the heart of every collector in 2003 was the hope of pulling the ultra-rare LeBron James Rookie Patch Auto Parallel numbered to 23 copies," PWCC

Roger Federer's decision to make his long-awaited Grand Slam return on his least favourite surface at next month's French Open is part of a grand plan to peak in time for his beloved Wimbledon, according to ESPN commentator Patrick McEnroe. Federer, who due to injury or schedule preference has not competed on the clay courts at Roland Garros in four of the last five years, returned to competition last month after sitting out more than a year following two knee operations. "He wouldn't

World number one Ash Barty said her tennis had reached a new level during a "phenomenal" week in Stuttgart where she pulled off three successive comeback wins to claim her second title on clay. The Australian, who turned 25 on Saturday, defeated fifth seed Aryna Sabalenka 3-6 6-0 6-3 in the final to hoist her third WTA trophy this season and cement her place at the top of the rankings. The Sabalenka win followed victories over fourth seed Elina Svitolina and sixth seed

The Japanese Grand Prix will remain at Suzuka until at least the end of the 2024 season after Formula One and circuit owners announced a three-year contract extension on Saturday. The figure of eight track south-west of Nagoya first hosted a Formula One race in 1987 and has provided the decider for 11 drivers' championships. "This extension is part of our long-term commitment to growing the sport in Asia, and we are pleased to be able to continue our successful relationship with Mobilityland,"

England paceman Jofra Archer will miss the entire Indian Premier League as he recovers from a long-standing elbow injury. Rajasthan Royals had hoped that Archer, who was named Most Valuable Player in the 2020 campaign, would play some part in the tournament after sitting out the early rounds. However, although the 26-year-old returned to bowling this week with higher intensity, the ECB has confirmed that the Sussex fast bowler is not match-ready. Archer is the third England player to be ruled out for

Rohit Sharma said that Mumbai Indians have failed to put up big totals in the ongoing season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) and that is an area they will have to address. Mumbai Indians (MI) slumped to their third defeat of the season against Punjab Kings (PBKS) on Friday. "Not enough runs, exactly. I still feel it's not a bad wicket to bat on. You can see how Kings won with nine wickets in hand," Rohit Sharma said in the post-match press

STUTTGART: World number one Ashleigh Barty fought back to reach the semi-finals of the WTA Stuttgart clay-court tournament with a 2-6, 6-1, 7-5 win over Karolina Pliskova on Friday (Apr 23). "It was an incredible match, with two very different opening sets, and the third was extraordinary," said Barty after her 18th win this year. "I felt like I created a lot of opportunities and Karolina was able to come up with some quality stuff on some massive points. "It was a really

LONDON: Tottenham striker Harry Kane is in a race against time to be fit for the League Cup final against Manchester City after he missed training on Friday (Apr 23). Kane suffered another ankle injury in the 2-2 draw at Everton last week and missed the midweek win over Southampton. Interim boss Ryan Mason does not know whether the England captain will be available for Sunday's showpiece game against City at Wembley as Spurs hunt their first trophy since 2008. "We're not sure

SYDNEY: Australia's diving team said it was "not safe" to travel to Japan as they withdrew from a Tokyo Olympics test event on Friday (Apr 23) just three months before the pandemic-postponed Games begin. The Diving World Cup was set to take place from May 1 to 6 in the Japanese capital. But with the Japanese government due to impose new virus states of emergency in Tokyo and three other regions on Friday, Diving Australia said they had concluded it would "not be

An own goal by Arsenal keeper Bernd Leno gave Everton a 1-0 win in their Premier League clash at The Emirates on Friday (Apr 23), gifting the Toffees three valuable points in their quest for European football next season and damaging their own hopes. Leno bundled Richarlison's low cross into the net in the 76th minute for the only goal to move eighth-placed Everton to 52 points, one behind Liverpool and three behind fourth-placed Chelsea, while the Gunners stay ninth on 46. As

LONDON: Football Association chief executive Mark Bullingham has warned "nothing is off the table" as the governing body seeks to prevent a repeat of the European Super League threat. English football is set for a fan-led review, under the direction of former sports minister Tracey Crouch, following the fall-out from the widely criticised breakaway plans. Twelve of Europe's leading clubs - including the Premier League's "big six" - announced late last Sunday (Apr 18) that they had signed up to compete in the