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Barcelona hit Newcastle United for seven to reach the Champions League quarter-finals on Wednesday, while Liverpool overturned a first-leg deficit to beat Galatasaray in their last-16 tie and both Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid advanced
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Argentine superstar Lionel Messi bagged the 900th goal of his glittering career on Wednesday, scoring for Inter Miami in their CONCACAF Champions Cup clash with Nashville.Messi, 38, needed just seven minutes to reach his milestone,
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World No 8 India will meet arch-rivals Pakistan in a Pool D match at 6.30 pm IST on August 19 in the Men’s FIH Hockey World Cup 2026 at the Wagener Hockey Stadium, Amstelveen.India are
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Formula One's smallest team Haas are ready to go on the rampage with Godzilla as they take the fight to bigger rivals this season.The US-owned team, who have Toyota's motorsport division as title sponsors and
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Jos Buttler is refusing to accept his England career is over despite admitting he had a “poor tournament” at the recent T20 World Cup.Widely regarded as one of the outstanding white-ball batsmen of his generation,
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Formula One’s smallest team Haas are ready to go on the rampage with Godzilla as they take the fight to bigger rivals this season. The US-owned team, who have Toyota’s motorsport division as title sponsors and are led by Japanese principal Ayao Komatsu, announced Wednesday a season-long collaboration with Japan’s Toho Co. The studio’s reptilian anti-hero, the ‘King of the Monsters’ who has been causing havoc across cinema screens since 1954, is the star of a new ‘Godzilla Minus Zero’ movie scheduled for North American release in November. Haas said the collaboration will debut at the March 27-29 Japanese Grand Prix, with a special livery to be unveiled in Tokyo on March 24, and feature prominently at the team’s home US Grand Prix in Austin in October. “Through this collaboration, get ready for Godzilla to rampage on the world’s fastest stage,” said Keiji Ota, Toho’s ‘Chief Godzilla Officer’. The team are currently punching above their weight in fourth place in the constructors’ standings after two Grands Prix and a sprint race, with Britain’s Oliver Bearman fifth in the drivers’ championship after scoring in all three. Eighth last season, Ferrari-powered Haas are now ahead of former champions Red Bull and only one point behind current champions McLaren. Bearman is two points clear of McLaren’s world champion Lando Norris. Both McLaren drivers failed to start the Chinese Grand Prix last weekend while Bearman lined up 10th and finished fifth. Red Bull had four-times world champion Max Verstappen retire from the race on Sunday while teammate Isack Hadjar was eighth. “We beat Red Bull on merit today, so we were the fourth fastest team... which is incredible,” said Komatsu after the race in Shanghai ended in a Mercedes one-two with Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc third and fourth. “The unfortunate thing for McLaren was that they couldn’t take the race. “We were there to take the benefit, so we just maximised everything. “Coming out of the Bahrain test, I didn’t think we could fight Red Bull at all, and also Alpine looked really quick,” added the Japanese. “(Pierre) Gasly proved that they are quick, but we’ve beaten them on merit.” Alpine’s Gasly finished sixth, more than two seconds behind Bearman. Formula One has 11 teams now but General Motors-backed newcomers Cadillac already boast a bigger headcount than Haas.
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UAE Team Emirate - XRG team's Slovenian rider Tadej Pogacar gives a press conference after a training in Benidorm, eastern Spain, on December 13, 2025. (AFP) Tadej Pogacar and Mathieu van der Poel are set to face off for the first time this season Saturday as cycling's pre-eminent one-day riders vie for glory at the 298km long Milan-San Remo.The first "Monument" race of the year homes into view with both world champion Pogacar and last year's winner Van der Poel already showing hot form in Italy.Pogacar claimed his fourth victory, and third in as many years, at Strade Bianche earlier this month, while Van der Poel won two stages in the Tirreno-Adriatico last week.The 27-year-old sat out both Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico in preparation for Milan-San Remo, a rare race in which he can't just blow away the competition with long-range attacks.Milan-San Remo and Paris-Roubaix are the two Monuments still missing from Pogacar's stellar list of career achievements which includes winning the Tour De France and the world championship the last two years."It's no secret that Milan-San Remo is a race I would love to win," said Pogacar after his UAE team named the seven-man line up for Saturday."I think it suits me well but also suits a lot of the other top guys. I see that as a good challenge."And Pogacar is in the mood, recently clocking a time on Strava of eight minutes and 51 seconds up the Cipressa climb, six seconds faster than his own official record for the key ascent.The Cipressa is the penultimate climb 22 kilometres from the finish, which will come after hours of largely flat riding from Pavia and just before the final push up Poggio di San Remo.'Matter of time'Pogacar is almost certain to attack on the Cipressa as he did last year when he tried to shake off Van der Poel and home hope Filippo Ganna, only to finish third behind both in the final charge for the line on Via Roma."You need to be there for the Cipressa. Not at 100 percent but at 110 percent. It's all about positioning. Then you need to do it all again for a second time on the Poggio and be even better," Pogacar said."The climbs are super fast. We go up the climbs at like 40kph... One important thing for Milan-San Remo is that it's not just about going uphill on the Poggio, there's the descent too. After it there's not far to go to the finish line."It's a really particular race. In a way it's a really beautiful race, very interesting to race."Van der Poel is probably the man to beat."I feel good and have had good preparation. I am satisfied with my legs and the feeling this week; that is all I needed," Van der Poel told Sporza on Saturday.The Flying Dutchman, an eight-time Monument winner and cross-discipline world champion, is convinced that Pogacar will eventually crack the race which hasn't been decided by a bunch sprint since Arnaud Demare's victory in 2016."Last year he was already very close. If I'm one percent off, Tadej will be gone on the Cipressa," added Van der Poel."It's only a matter of time before he wins it." Related Story
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Great Britain's Keely Hodgkinson reacts after competing in the women's 800m heats during the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo Thursday. (AFP) Olympic champion Keely Hodgkinson will take to the track in Torun, Poland, this weekend aiming to nab an elusive world indoor 800m title off the back of a new world record. Untimely injuries have prevented the 24-year-old from taking part in the past three editions of the world indoors.But the Briton, who earned Tokyo Olympic silver and Paris Olympic gold and who has two world outdoor silver medals and a bronze, now appears to be in perfect shape. Hodgkinson smashed the indoor 800m world record by almost a second last month and said Thursday she would have been "quite happy" had the outdoor season already kicked off. That would raise the mouth-watering possibility of her going after the oldest world record in athletics - the 1min 53.28sec for the outdoor 800m set by Jarmila Kratochvilova of the then-Czechoslovakia in 1983. There was no such talk of that in Torun, but Hodgkinson seemed in confident mood."I did think it was very much possible," she said of her indoor world record. "When I started my preparations for this indoor season, I didn't really actually set any goals or anything. I just wanted to enjoy the process of getting fit and seeing how far we could go in training. And the closer we got to the day, I was like, 'Yeah, this is on, I can do this'."'Chill time'Months on the sidelines in rehab for knee and hamstring injuries had allowed Hodgkinson to learn a lot about herself, she said."I had time off the track to just enjoy my life and just have some chill time, and I think it's made me a better athlete."It made competing for me that much more fun and exciting. So yeah, frustrating at the time, but I wouldn't change anything."Turning to the world indoor title, Hodgkinson said: "It's the one medal I don't have. So that would be really great to box that one off."Until I've crossed the finish line, I'm not going to jinx anything. But yeah, I'm excited to be here, excited to compete."Fast times are obviously really great, but championships are just completely different, and having three rounds in three days is another thing. That's really tough. I've done it before, but I'd quite like to have a day off!"Competition looks great, and we'll see what happens."Hodgkinson added that she was "very happy with where I am"."I'm looking forward to it, and this last month, it's been great. I couldn't ask to be in a better position, to be honest."
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Senegal and Morocco players clash during the Africa Cup of Nations final in Rabat on January 18, 2026. (AFP) The Senegalese Football Federation announced Thursday it has instructed its lawyers to lodge an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) after the national team were stripped of its Africa Cup of Nations title.The Confederation of African Football (CAF) reversed Senegal's win Tuesday, awarding the title to Morocco two months after the final. "Senegal will remain standing and will legitimately defend this victory on the field which we acquired on the field with the talent of our players", the federation's president Abdoulaye Fall told a press conference. "We have given our lawyers a mandate to pursue this procedure at the level of the Court of Arbitration for Sport", he added.The contintent's showpiece football final, in Rabat on January 18, descended into chaos when several Senegalese players walked off the pitch in protest after the hosts were awarded a penalty late in second-half stoppage time. Senegal's players were coaxed back onto the pitch by captain Sadio Mane, but Morocco missed the penalty. Pape Gueye went on to score the goal in extra time that gave Senegal a 1-0 victory.CAF said that having studied an appeal by Morocco, "the Senegal national team is declared to have forfeited the match" and the result was "officially recorded as 3-0" in favour of Morocco. Asked what would happen to the trophy in the meantime, Fall told reporters the team would "comply with the statutory and regulatory provisions of CAF".The revocation of the win elicited a strong response from fans in Senegal, where authorities called for an "independent international investigation" into corruption. In a resolution issued by the federation's executive committee and read at the press conference, the federation said it would "use all possible legal, institutional and jurisdictional means to assert its rights and restore sporting fairness".Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye appeared in his office in front of the Africa Cup of Nations trophy in a social media post Wednesday, expressing his "outrage" at CAF's decision. The Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF), meanwhile has said the decision "upholds the rules and ensures the stability necessary for the smooth running of international competitions."New Morocco coach praises 'well-deserved' Cup of Nations decisionMeanwhile, Morocco's new head coach Mohamed Ouahbi congratulated his country on CAF's "well-deserved" decision to strip Senegal of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations title in favour of his new side."First of all, I would like to congratulate all Moroccans, the staff, the players and the federation on the good news we got two days ago, which is well-deserved," said Ouahbi during the presentation of his first squad list for Morocco's next two friendly matches against Ecuador and Paraguay.This decision "pleases everyone", added the 49-year-old who replaced Walid Regragui earlier this month, partly because of the former manager's failure to win the Africa Cup of Nations. "But it's important to focus on the present and the future. My goal is to make the team competitive for the World Cup."Morocco, under Regragui, reached the semi-finals of the 2022 World Cup and will line up in Group C at this year's edition alongside Brazil, Scotland and Haiti. Related Story
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Barcelona players celebrate after a 7-2 thrashing of Newcastle in the UEFA Champions League round of 16 second leg at Camp Nou in Barcelona. (Reuters) Four teams out of six eliminated, with a total of 28 goals conceded over the two legs – it has been a chastening week for most of England’s representatives in the Champions League knockout phase. Only Arsenal, the Premier League leaders, and Liverpool – the English team with the richest history in Europe – reached the quarter-finals. Manchester City, Chelsea, Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur were sent packing. But does this really merit calling into question the standard of the Premier League? England’s top flight is easily the richest in Europe, with domestic and international broadcasting rights revenues dwarfing the rest. A report last month by UEFA showed television revenue for English top-flight clubs increased by 1.5bn euros ($1.77bn) from 2014-2024 – the combined figure for the rest of Europe was almost the same. Fifteen of the 30 richest clubs in analysts Deloitte’s latest Football Money League are English. However, three of the four English teams eliminated in the last 16 this week lost to clubs with larger revenues. The exception was Tottenham, but they are having a dreadful season and so losing 7-5 on aggregate to Atletico Madrid was no surprise. City, champions in 2023, lost 5-1 on aggregate to Real Madrid, the record 15-time European Cup winners and the only club with revenue over one billion euros in Deloitte’s latest table. Chelsea were crushed 8-2 on aggregate by reigning champions Paris Saint-Germain, while Newcastle lost 8-3 overall against Barcelona. There have only been three occasions since 1955 in which an English team has conceded at least eight goals on aggregate in a European tie, two of them this week. England’s strength in depth is unrivalled, and shown by the presence of an unprecedented six sides in the last 16. But this level is also the territory of a small band of giant continental clubs perhaps not subject to the same levels of competitiveness in their domestic leagues. The four clubs with the highest revenue in Europe last year were Real, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and PSG – they generate more money than anyone in England, and enjoy huge financial advantages over domestic rivals. Nineteen of the last 21 Spanish titles have been won by Madrid or Barcelona. Over the same period the duo have won a combined 10 Champions Leagues. Qatar-owned PSG have won 11 of the last 13 French championships and won their first Champions League last year after one final appearance and two semi-finals in the preceding five seasons. Bayern, who hammered Atalanta 10-2 on aggregate this week, are set for a 13th Bundesliga title in 14 years. They are also now almost always in the Champions League quarter-finals, and next face Real in a mouthwatering tie. For all the Premier League’s pulling power, few match-ups have the same appeal as that impending confrontation. “Both clubs are giant,” said Bayern coach Vincent Kompany. Bayern have been helped by a strategy of signing a big Premier League name in each of the last three seasons: Harry Kane, Michael Olise and Luis Diaz. Kane’s status as England’s leading player is maybe threatened only by Jude Bellingham, who was joined last year at Real by Trent Alexander-Arnold, lured from Liverpool. PSG boast Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembele, and in Khvicha Kvaratskhelia they have a player who has terrorised English defences over the last year. “In the Premier League, we don’t have Dembele, (Desire) Doue, (Bradley) Barcola and Kvaratskhelia,” said Chelsea boss Liam Rosenior. “They’re an outstanding team.” They are also youthful like Barcelona, who are once more leaning heavily on their academy, La Masia – their average age against Newcastle was barely 25, and in 18-year-old Lamine Yamal they have the emerging global footballing superstar. “La Masia did a fantastic job there,” purred Barca coach Hansi Flick. Those clubs may be best equipped to dominate in Europe, while Liverpool and Arsenal fly the flag for England which has provided only three of the last 13 continental champions. But the Premier League will be there en masse again next year – i t is on course to have five qualifying spots via the league and may again have a sixth if Aston Villa or Nottingham Forest win the Europa League. Related Story
