The 34-year-old wild card sends Real Madrid to their 18th Champions League final. On June 1 at Wembley, the Spaniards will face Borussia Dortmund with the ambition of celebrating their 15th title. Of course, they will succeed with the favor of prognosis, driven also by the intimate conviction that nothing, nothing, will be able to shake them.
Real Madrid, however, had the help of the unfortunate Manuel Neuer to get back into the game. Extraordinary for 88 minutes, the Bayern goalkeeper unleashed a safe shot from Vinicus at Joselu’s feet. A mistake of the kind that had long been their desperation, Real forced the resolution 3 minutes later with a better cross from Antonio Rüdiger for Joselu. That goal was first disallowed for offside before VAR awarded it.
Despite Vinicus being unstoppable down the left flank and in almost total control of the game, Real Madrid found themselves at the breaking point of the aviass. Bayern had taken the lead in the 68th minute thanks to Alphonso Davies. Playing thanks to Harry Kane on the left side, the Canadian set up Rüdiger before firing in with an unstoppable right-footed shot. With Neuer making several saves, the Bavarians thought they had their bones. To achieve the feat in Madrid to salvage a lackluster domestic season and, above all, not leave Borussia Dortmund alone in the highlights of June 1 at Wembley.
Fate has no mercy for Manuel Neuer. For 88 minutes, the captain had rediscovered the flame of his wonderful days. I’ve probably never played at a time like that for months, even years. Until the ball was released in the 88th minute. This mistake probably reignites the debate about the relevance of starting with him at the next European Championship.
Fiorentina will play again in the final of the Conference League. The Italians qualified thanks to a 1-1 draw in Brugge after losing the first leg 3-2.
The “tormentors” of FC Basel last year had to wait until the 84th minute and a penalty converted by Argentina’s Lucas Beltran forced the decision. The Belgians had opened the scoring in the 20th minute thanks to their captain Hans Vanaken.
The Florentines deserved to qualify because their catch was very marked after the break. But they can also thank their goalkeeper Pietro Terracciano, who made a decisive save in stoppage time from Vanaken’s header.
In the final, on May 29 at the AEK Stadium in Athens, Fiorentina will face the winner of the clash between Olympiakos and Aston Villa. The Greeks won 4-2 in the first leg. The Italians will be keen to erase their defeat to West Ham in the 2023 final.
Switzerland will be able to count on their best player for the World Cup in the Czech Republic. Roman Josi, the thousand-time NHL defenseman, will be available for Patrick Fischer.
Roman Josi was eliminated last Friday from the NHL playoffs with Nashville. The 33-year-old Bernese got permission from the Predators to participate in the world championship. He will be able to play in Switzerland’s opening match against Norway on Friday. .
Roman Josi will play his ninth world championship with Switzerland, his first since 2019. He was part of the team that won the silver medal in 2013 in Stockholm and in 2018 in Copenhagen.
Failure of the sprinters in Lucca, the city of the greatest of them, Mario Cipollini, in the 5th stage of the Giro!Benjamin Thomas won to conclude a four-man breakaway.
The Frenchman finished ahead of Sweden’s Michael Valgren and Italy’s Andrea Pietrobon, who had attacked with a red flame before failing to reach the finish. The peloton never managed to control a hole of less than a minute in the last twenty kilometers.
A five-time world champion in omnium and bronze medallist for the American at the Tokyo 2021 Games, Benjamin Thomas gave his Cofidis team their first good fortune of the year. The boy who shines on the court showed a wonderful tactical sense in Lucca to be fooled through Pietrobon’s attack.
Tadej Pogacar retains the leader’s maglia rosa. The Slovenian spent a very quiet day between Genoa and Lucca on a route too neutral to explain. The Slovenian was lucky not to be involved in the crashes that marked this transitional stage.
Rafael Nadal is positive ahead of his debut at the Rome Masters 1,000 on Thursday. “It’s getting bigger and bigger,” the former world number one said on Wednesday.
“It’s getting bigger and bigger, both physically and tennis. I’m here to give my best,” said the 37-year-old Spanish left-hander in a press conference.
“All the matches are now more complicated and unpredictable for me than in the past, especially on clay (. . . ) But the outlook is smart if I continue running in the right way and if I fit myself for it,” he continued.
Plagued by injuries for the past two seasons, Rafael Nadal returns to Rome for the first time since 2022, a tournament he has won a record ten times, most recently in 2021. Now, ranked 305th in the world, he will face Belgium’s Zizou. Bergs, ranked 108th globally and ranked.
Returning to the excursion in Barcelona last month after a forced break of three months, Nadal, eliminated in the second circular of the Catalan Excursionismo and in the circular of the 16th in Madrid, is very happy to “play for the first time in a long time”. Third excursion in a row.
“Of course there are ups and downs, and he adapts day by day. I’ve had difficult moments in Madrid, here as well since I arrived, but my curve (of form) goes up in general, that’s obvious. “He insisted.
“I’m satisfied with the point I’m at now, a month ago I was almost thinking about playing in Barcelona,” said the king of clay, who refused to look beyond Rome and think about Roland-Garros (May 26 to June 9).
“I’m in Rome, I don’t need to think about the future,” he insisted, repeating as he did in Madrid that he will only play Roland-Garros “if I feel ready”.
Switzerland will box with 4 marathon runners at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Swiss Olympic have opted for Helen Bekele, Fabienne Schlumpf, Tadesse Abraham and Matthias Kyburz at the request of Swiss Athletics.
For Fabienne Schlumpf and Tadesse Abraham, who has just broken his Swiss record, this will be the third participation in the Games. Matthias Kyburz, an eight-time world champion in orienteering, will enjoy his first Olympic Games, as will Helen Bekele, who has recently been eligible to represent Switzerland at the foreign championships.
It should be noted that Matthias Kyburz had to “recuse” himself for the occasion, Swiss Olympic explains in its press release. A member of the executive committee and athletes’ representative, he logically withdrew from the deliberations of the variety commission involving him this week, just over a month after reaching the Olympic limit in his debut in the mythical distance.
Six players are competing for the 4 places available in the Swiss 3×3 team that will play the Olympic Qualification Tournament in Debrecen (May 16-19).
Natan Jurkovitz and Jonathan Kazadi will compete against the four players who competed at the Hong Kong TCO last month, Swiss Basketball said.
Crowned on Tuesday night at the SBL with the Freiburg Olympian in “classical” basketball, Natan Jurkovitz and Jonathan Kazadi sign up for the three Swiss members of the Lausanne 3×3 team (Marco Lehmann, Gilles Martin and Westher Molteni), as well as the Jonathan Dubas tournament. “short list” of applicants for selection.
The final resolution will be on Sunday, stated the general secretary of the federation, Erik Lehmann, in a message to Keystone-ATS. The designated quartet will face Lithuania, Germany and Madagascar in Group A of a festival that will bring together 16 teams per gender and the best three will win their ticket to the Paris Games.
Marco Lehmann, Gilles Martin, Westher Molteni and Jonathan Dubas, who had been released in the play-offs via Vevey Riviera, failed at the organisational level of the first organised TCO in Hong Kong and dominated through Latvia. All four missed the semifinals by one basket.
After 12 days crossing the Mediterranean from Greece, the Olympic flame arrived Wednesday morning off the coast of Marseille. On board the three-masted boat Belem.
With 79 days to go until the official start of the Paris Olympics (26 July-11 August), one hundred years after the last Olympic Games in Paris, the second city in France to host the flame and the rite of lighting the first Olympic cauldron, around 19:45, and another 150,000 people are expected in the Old Port.
Shortly after eight o’clock in the morning, the mythical three-masted ship, once the glory of the merchant navy, was still in front of the port of Marseilles, beyond the Frioul Islands and the Planier lighthouse, in a calm sea and under a radiant sun.
The rite of arrival of the Olympic flame will begin with a gigantic maritime parade, with 1,024 ships registered to escort the Belem through the northern and southern ports of the Phocaean city, from 11:00 a. m. to 5:00 p. m. It will make its majestic entrance to the Old Port at 7:00 p. m. , before docking in front of the Canebière, an emblematic street of Marseille.
That’s when the Olympic torch will descend from the boat, with 2012 Olympic champion in the 50m freestyle, Florent Manaudou, as the first torchbearer on French soil, whose sister Laure, Olympic champion and triple medallist at Athens 2004, was the first. French torchbearer in Greece, rite of lighting of the flame in Olympia.
Andy Murray will play the Geneva Open, which will be held on May 18 at the Parc des Eaux-Vives.
The Scot, a former World No. 1 and two-time Olympic champion, received the first of three wild cards awarded through ATP 250 organisers.
Andy Murray (ATP 77) will compete for the first time at the Geneva Open, a tournament that his brother Jamie won last year in doubles with Michael Venus. A finalist at Roland-Garros in 2016 in a fantastic year in which he finished ranked number one in the world, Murray has shown that he is also capable of shining on clay. The Masters 1,000 in Rome is, therefore, one of the. . . 46 tournaments he won in his fabulous career.
Murray, who turns 37 on May 15, will be the second member of the “Big Four” to contest the Geneva Open after Roger Federer in 2021, and also the sixth Grand Slam winner. In the absence of two wild cards, the organisers have the opportunity to enrich extra a draw whose No. 1 is lately Casper Ruud (ATP 7).
The Rangers are undefeated in those NHL playoffs. The New York franchise leads Carolina 2-0 in the Eastern Conference semifinals, after sweeping Washington 4-0 in the first round.
But things are getting confusing for the Rangers, who needed two overtimes to beat the Hurricanes on Monday. They won 4-3, after trailing 1-2 in the 20th minute and 2-3 in the 39th, thanks to a goal by Vincent. Trochek 7:24 in the second extra period.
Alexis Lafreniere scored two goals for the Rangers, while goalkeeper Igor Shesterkin made 54 saves in a game in which New York had 39 shots on goal. Control of the special conditions was decisive on Monday: the Rangers scored twice in the forced game, while the Hurricanes are 0/5 in this exercise.
In the West, Colorado won the first game against Dallas by winning 4-3 on All-Star ice. The Avalanche, trailing 3-0 in the 17th minute but tied the game 3-3 in the 41st, forced the resolution on a goal through Miles Wood after 11:03 inArray
Dallas, the No. 1 seed in the West, is no stranger to this fact. The Texan franchise had even lost the first two games of their first round against the Vegas Golden Knights at home, before winning 3 in a row regardless. Win 4-3 against the name holder.
Rudy Gobert has been named “Defensive Player of the Year,” the NBA announced Tuesday. The Frenchman from Minnesota matched the league record by winning the trophy for the fourth time.
Rudy Gobert, 31, had already won the award three times in 2018, 2019 and 2021. This is his first time with the Minnesota jersey, which he joined in 2022 from the Utah Jazz.
Gobert tied the all-time record of four Defensive Player of the Year awards won by Detroit’s Ben Wallace (2002, 2003, 2005, 2006) and Dikembe Mutombo (1995, 1997, 1998 and 2001) with Denver, Atlanta and Philadelphia.
Averaging 14 points, 12. 9 rebounds and 2. 1 blocks this season, the 2m16 giant got 72 votes from a panel of media outlets. He finished ahead of compatriot Victor Wembanyama, the 20-year-old San Antonio prodigy who was named Rookie of the Year on Monday, second with 19 votes, and Miami’s Bam Adebayo, 3rd with 3 votes.
Oklahoma City, the No. 1 seed in the West, got its fifth good luck in five games in the NHL playoffs. The Thunder ruled Dallas 117-95 in Act I of their conference semifinal.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had a stellar performance for OKC, which eliminated the New Orleans Pelicans in four games in the first round. The Canadian guard came close to achieving a triple-double, racking up nine points, nine rebounds and nine assists for a total of 21/. Less differential.
By contrast, Dallas star Luka Doncic posted a terrible -21, having to settle for 19 points (on 1/8 three-pointers). The Slovenian point guard also had nine assists and 6 rebounds in a game in which OKC forced the resolution with a 17-2 run that allowed them to go from nine 6-87 to 113-89.
In the East, Boston also imposed its law at home against Cleveland. The Celtics, the most productive team in the league in the normal season, beat the Cavaliers 120-95 thanks in particular to Jaylen Brown’s 33 plays and Derrick’s 7 baskets. White (25 numbers in total).
With less than three weeks to go before his likely final at Roland-Garros, Rafael Nadal has to Rome to get his bearings. Novak Djokovic is hoping to turn the page on his disappointing start to the year.
This would possibly be the last time that “Rafa” and “Djoko” will be the two attractions of a Masters 1000. It would possibly be the first time such a lineup with two players who have won 46 Grand Slam tournaments between them. It leaves some regrets for the organizers and spectators.
As a sign that tennis is a new era, the 87th Italian Open is first and foremost the edition of a missed opportunity. Eagerly awaited since his Australian Open title, his first primary title, Jannik Sinner, the new star of Italian tennis at 22 years old. At an age, he had to withdraw from the Roman occasion because of pain in his right hip.
In addition to the Italian’s retirement, new clay-court phenom Carlos Alcaraz unsettled his right forearm.
They will have to settle for veterans Nadal and Djokovic. And nothing says that they will remain in the Italian capital until the final scheduled for May 19. Nadal, who will soon turn 38, came to Rome to “consolidate the progress” shown between Barcelona, his comeback tournament after a forced three-month break, and Madrid where he fell in the 16-minute round.
The Roman tournament he has won ten times, most recently in 2021, deserves to allow him to decide whether or not he will show up on his turf at Roland-Garros (May 26-June 9), where he will only play if he is sent. “sufficiently prepared. “
“I’m not sure about anything, I don’t know what can happen,” he summed up after his dismissal in Madrid, burned by the physical problems he has suffered for two years. If he starts against a qualifier, “Rafa” will be cut out of the second round by Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz, 9th in the ATP rankings.
Djokovic finds himself in one position. The Serbian is still number one in the world, but he has yet to win any names at this level of the season, something that has only happened to him once since his explosion at the top level, in 2022.
After capitulating in the semi-finals in Monte Carlo to Norwegian Casper Ruud, the 36-year-old “Djoko” jumped from Madrid to train in Belgrade. In Rome he will play his fifth tournament of the season, but his goal is to take the victory. he performed well at Roland-Garros, before moving on to Wimbledon, the 2024 Olympics and returning to hard courts in the United States.
“This year has been a little bit different for me, I haven’t figured out my tennis point yet and I hope to do that at Roland-Garros,” the six-time Masters 1000 winner said last week.
Real Madrid have history in the second leg of the Champions League semi-finals against Bayern Munich on Wednesday (21:00 CET).
Crowned champions of Spain this weekend, they have been unbeaten for more than a year at their Santiago Bernabéu stadium.
If Real Madrid with its 14 continental crowns is indeed the King of Europe, its Santiago Bernabéu stadium, in its steel box despite everything finished, is its fortress. A mythical stadium, the scene of the “magical nights” that forged his legend and the irrational “comebacks” of 2022, on the way to his last title, against PSG, Chelsea and Manchester City.
This season, all of them, including starting City and reigning Spanish champions FC Barcelona, have damaged their teeth there, even after leading the scoreboard, adding to the Madrid giants’ long list of losers.
A fact that also reflects the magnitude of the Bavarian challenge, which, however, helps to maintain all their chances after the draw (2-2) in Munich in the first leg. Unbeaten since April 2023 on their home turf, the Whites have qualified at home. 23 times in their last 24 C1 knockout matches (since 1991) after drawing the first leg.
“90 minutes at the Bernabeu is a long time, for many reasons. In fact, we expect to play several games in one,” Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola said ahead of the 3-3 quarter-final first leg, in which La Real came back from 3-2 down in the second half.
“Every time we write off Real Madrid, we look for a way to come back,” Brazil striker Vinicius summed up after Real Madrid’s late afternoon qualification and penalty shootout in Manchester.
Always serene, like their coach Carlo Ancelotti, even when things are not going in their favour, the Madrid club has recovered a formidable device to win and, above all, not to lose. A real “headache”, a back that “gives its best”. a productive edition is not enough,” writes the sports daily Marca.
“The Whites resist defeat in any circumstance that makes them extraordinarily difficult to face,” the paper adds.
Their European record is a clever representation of this insolent solidity: Ancelotti’s men are now one game away from Wembley and in with a chance of a treble, having won just one of their five games in the knockout stage so far, against Leipzig in the first. Leg (1-0).
To triumph in the final and win a 15th Cup with big ears, the Merengues will have to do it more than in Munich, the Italian coach warned last week, praising a “dangerous German team at its best”, made up of its two internationals Leroy Sané and Jamal Musiala and England striker Harry Kane.
Spanish full-back Dani Carvajal’s comeback from suspension helps Musiala’s breakthroughs with the ball a little, while Jude Bellingham’s defensive paints will be key to allowing Ferland Mendy to stop the excesses of Sané, scorer at the Allianz-Arena.
Offensively, the England midfielder, who has become the providential man of the White House at just 20 years of age (22 goals, 10 assists, in key moments), will come under scrutiny, as he was reduced in the first leg and was unable to influence the match.
Bayern, on the other hand, only have the Champions League to save their season, after ceding the league title, for the first time since 2013, to Bayer Leverkusen. Thomas Tuchel, forced out of control by Munich at the end of the season, will be hoping to count on the comeback of his defence boss Matthijs de Ligt from the defensive errors that led to Madrid’s two goals at the Allianz-Arena.
For the first time, a Swiss goalkeeper will play in a Champions League final. It will be a happiness for Gregor Kobel on June 1 at Wembley.
Zurich and Borussia Dortmund qualified thanks to their 1-0 win over PSG at the Parc des Princes. The Germans, who had already won by the same score six days earlier in the first leg, will face the winner of Wednesday’s match between Real Madrid and Bayern Munich. in the final.
Although they only defended in the last hour, the Germans did not give up anything. Aware of their limitations, they found their salvation in a perfectly oiled bus around Captain Emre Can.
This failure will be very heavy to digest for PSG and Kylian Mbappe. The Parisian team failed to take advantage of a dream draw to advance to the final. As for Mbappé, he did not weigh in this double confrontation as a candidate for the ball. d’Or have weighed. His dream of winning the Champions League before leaving for Madrid has suddenly vanished.
PSG’s first half was not what Luis Enrique expected. Despite repositioning Mbappe on the left wing to allow Goncalo Ramos to come out through the middle, the Parisians did not threaten Kobel. The Zurich goalkeeper went through the first forty-five minutes without a scare, except for a deflected shot from Ousmane Dembele in the 34th minute.
Gianluigi Donnarumma, on the other hand, had to do everything possible in the 35th minute, on a counterattack starring Karim Adeyemi. His left-footed save prevented Borussia from opening the scoring early. A merit for the Germans at that time would not be enough. They have been usurped to the extent that they had demonstrated genuine control in this first part when they were promised hell.
When the attack resumed, the attack, however, came spontaneously. In the 50th minute, Mats Hummels heated the Parc des Princes with the 1-0 for Borussia. The defender took advantage of the unforgivable generosity of the opposing defence to head past Donnarumma, who was once frozen back on his line. But just before and just after this stab, the Parisians had discovered Kobel’s left post through Warren Zaire-Emery (47′) and Nuno Mendes (60′). The goalkeeper was stopped twice more by his posts in the last ten minutes. After the two posts in the first leg, Gregor Kobel was accompanied in this semi-final by an almost insolent opportunity.