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MADRID: Luis Suarez, despite his Champions League goal drought, and Joao Felix, whose future is in question, will start together as Atletico Madrid try to fight back in their second leg at Chelsea, coach Diego Simeone said on Tuesday (Mar 16). "Only one objective: Victory," said Simeone, whose team face a 1-0 deficit in the last-16 tie after losing their 'home' game in Bucharest. "I must find the necessary tools to achieve this." Despite COVID-19 restrictions, Wednesday's game will be played at Chelsea's

MADRID: Real Madrid easily overcame Atalanta 3-1 at home in their Champions League last-16 second leg on Wednesday (Mar 16) to stroll into the quarter-finals 4-1 on aggregate. Karim Benzema scored a sixth goal in five games to put the 13-times European champions in charge after 34 minutes following a poor kick out by Atalanta goalkeeper Marco Sportiello which was intercepted by Luka Modric. Captain Sergio Ramos put Real further at ease when he converted a penalty on the hour, although the Italian

BUDAPEST: Manchester City marched into the quarter-finals of the Champions League for the fourth straight season after a 2-0 win over Borussia Moenchengladbach on Tuesday (Mar 16) to complete a 4-0 aggregate victory. First-half goals from Kevin De Bruyne and Ilkay Gundogan secured a comfortable victory in another impressive display from Pep Guardiola's side in the home leg, played in the Hungarian capital due to COVID-19 travel restrictions. De Bruyne blasted City ahead in the 13th minute with an unstoppable left-footed drive into

LOS ANGELES: Tiger Woods said on Tuesday (Mar 16) he has left hospital and is recovering at home after being seriously injured in a car crash in Los Angeles last month. In a statement released on social media, the golf superstar thanked hospital staff who cared for him following his single vehicle car accident on Feb 23. "Happy to report that I am back home and continuing my recovery," Woods said. "I am so grateful for the outpouring of support and encouragement that

Al Shaqab's Racing's homebred MURJAN (Dahor De Brugere x Nevadour Al Maury) won his first race, the Prix Djouras Tu - Wathba Stallion Cup, at Toulouse. Trained by Thomas Fourcy, he raced two times in 2020 without success. MURJAN had not been seen on a racecourse since last June, being gelded in July. This time, he was brave to win a race in which the first four finished nearly in the same stride. MURJAN won that battle, keeping a victorious nose on the

Buttler carried his bat through the innings to guide England to 158 for two with 10 balls to spare Jos Buttler hit a brilliant 83 as England beat India by eight wickets on Tuesday to take a 2-1 lead in their five-match Twenty20 series. Virat Kohli’s 77-run blitz saw India to 156-6 at the Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad which was kept empty because of the rising number of coronavirus cases in India. Buttler carried his bat through the innings, smashing four sixes

After a long hiatus caused by the coronavirus pandemic, organised sports action resumed with golfers teeing off at Prestige Golfshire here on Thursday. Around 45 golfers savoured the picturesque Nandi Hills backdrop while hitting their drives and putts, marking among the first scenes of sports in the country since the lockdown came into effect. Adequate precautionary measures were followed to ensure safety. Golfers — comprising mostly of club members — wore masks and maintained social distancing. Every golfer was given a cart for

Zlatan Ibrahimovic is back in international soccer after nearly five years away — and he announced it to the world in his own inimitable way on Tuesday. “The return of the God,” the charismatic striker said to his tens of millions of followers across social media after being picked by Sweden at the age of 39 for the team’s upcoming World Cup qualifiers. Ibrahimovic, Sweden’s record scorer with 62 goals in 112 games, retired from international duty after the 2016 European Championship but

For his 767th match, Messi was honored by Barcelona with a large image behind one of the goals showing him embracing Xavi as the players looked forward and pointed upward. The banner included the words "767 matches" and “touching the sky. Lionel Messi scored twice as he tied Xavi Hernández's record of most appearances for Barcelona on Monday, putting them within four points of the Spanish league lead after beating last-placed Huesca 4-1. For his 767th match, Messi was honored by Barcelona with

Paris St Germain will once again be without Neymar when they face Lille in the French Cup last-16 on Wednesday but manager Mauricio Pochettino hopes to have Angel Di Maria and Marquinhos available after their homes were robbed last weekend. Brazilian forward Neymar has not yet fully recovered from an adductor muscle injury he picked up in the previous round against Caen on Feb 10. The French champions initially said he would be out for action for "up to four weeks" but Pochettino

Justin Thomas climbed to No. 2 in the official world golf rankings following his victory at The Players Championship on Sunday.The win vaulted Thomas past Jon Rahm despite the Spaniard's tie for ninth place at TPC Sawgrass. Thomas also moved up three spots in the United States Ryder Cup team standings and he is now behind only Dustin Johnson and Bryson DeChambeau, who finished two shots behind Thomas on Sunday.Johnson retained a healthy cushion at No. 1 in the world rankings despite settling

South African qualifier Lloyd Harris stunned US Open champion Dominic Thiem 6-3, 6-4 in the Austrian’s opening match at the Dubai Championships on Tuesday. Harris hit nine aces and didn’t allow fourth-ranked Thiem a single break point as he booked a third-round match against Filip Krajinovic. The 81st-ranked Harris needed just 72 minutes to dispatch the top-seeded Thiem. “Obviously, I’m super happy with that win, by far the highest-ranked player I’ve beaten. I look up to Domi a lot, so for me it’s a special

STOCKHOLM: Zlatan Ibrahimovic may be about to thrill Swedish soccer fans again if Janne Andersson names him in his squad for this month's World Cup qualifiers after the pair settled their differences to pave the way for the talismanic striker's return. Ibrahimovic, 39, walked away from the national team after Sweden exited Euro 2016 at the group stage and his relationship with Andersson, who took over after that tournament, was limited to sniping form the sidelines while hinting at a comeback. Throughout that

DUBLIN: World Rugby on Tuesday (Mar 16) announced the launch of a new global women's 15s competition to "supercharge" the sport. The annual WXV competition, starting in 2023, will have three tiers and is aimed at raising competitiveness in the build-up to an expanded 16-team World Cup in 2025. It is being supported by an initial £6.4 million (US$9 million) from the global governing body. Sixteen teams will be involved and the competition will take place within a new September-October global window, except

South Africa Legends entered the semifinals of the Road Safety World Series T20 by beating Bangladesh Legends by 10 wickets here. Openers Andrew Puttick (84 not out off 54 balls; 9×4, 1×6) and Morne van Wyk (69 not out off 62 balls; 9×4) slammed unbeaten half centuries as South Africa Legends chased down the 161-run target in 19.2 overs late on Monday. The win helped the South Africans finish third with 16 points after India (20 points) and Sri Lanka (20 points). Earlier,

The 121-day torch relay is set to begin on Mar 25 at the J-Village training centre in Fukushima, launching the build-up towards the Jul 23 start of the Games, postponed from 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. "People are fine to watch from the side of the road, but when they do so we would like them to practise distancing and avoid crowds," Tokyo 2020 CEO Toshiro Muto told a news conference. "We want to ensure a safe torch relay not only for

The upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) will begin on April 9, and the final is scheduled for May 30. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced online brokerage firm Upstox as its official partner for Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021. This will be a multi-year partnership, according to a statement released on the IPL official website. The upcoming season of the tournament is slated to begin on April 9, and the final is scheduled for May 30. Upstox, backed

Luis Suarez will be key for Atletico Madrid if they are to turn around a 1-0 deficit against Chelsea at the Stamford Bridge. Atletico Madrid's hopes of coming back against Chelsea in the Champions League on Wednesday may depend on Luis Suarez returning to form on his return to the country where he became one of the best in the world. Atletico trail 1-0 after Olivier Giroud's bicycle kick lit up an uneventful first game at the Wanda Metropolitano last month and handed

A regular feature of Kohli's batting in his career has been the number of times he has remained unbeaten. In fact, in 81 T20I innings, the India captain has remained not out 22 times, which proves just how good he is. After a long time, Virat Kohli, the master of the chase was on display, batting in full throttle and guiding India home in the second T20I against England on Sunday. Kohli did what he does best – shepherd a chase in a

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola played down Oleksandr Zinchenko's comment that the team could win all four trophies this season. Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola moved quickly to quash talk of a historic quadruple on Monday -- after one of his own players said they were capable of a clean sweep of trophies. City face Borussia Moenchengladbach in the second leg of their Champions League last-16 tie in Budapest on Tuesday, well placed to progress after winning the first leg 2-0. The match was switched