“This kind of motivation can make miracles,” says Paulo Fonseca as he describes the glint in his Lyon players’ eyes before the visit of Manchester United. It is a clash of two giants who have lost their way – although something, at least, is stirring in France’s second city. They have won eight of their … Read more
Luka Dončić always knew it was going to be an emotional return to Dallas when wearing his No 77 Los Angeles Lakers jersey in the place he called home the first five and a half seasons of his NBA career. Then the Mavericks showed a more than two-minute video tribute before he had even been … Read more
Football appears to be a small world but moving from the Gambia to Estonia still seems a little unconventional. It was a route the Notts County striker Alassana Jatta took when he left his homeland as a 20-year-old, desperate to make it in Europe as a professional. The journey from Sukuta to the banks of … Read more
Ben Stokes remains under consideration for an England white-ball return with Harry Brook, the new limited‑overs captain, saying it would “be stupid to turn a blind eye to him”. Stokes, the England Test captain, was in the running for the one-day international captaincy but concerns over his workload prompted a double promotion for Brook. The … Read more
Sprinter Gout Gout has broken the 10-second barrier in the 100m for the first time, but his 9.99s won’t be officially recorded in the record books due to an illegal tailwind of 3.5m/s. The 17-year-old set the time in the heats of the under-20 100m at the national athletics titles in Perth on Thursday afternoon, … Read more
The Welsh Rugby Union has taken control of Cardiff after the club’s legal entity Cardiff Rugby Limited was placed temporarily into administration by its directors. The WRU said the decision was made “once it became clear that the club’s owner, Helford Capital, was unable to meet its obligations to fund the club as it was … Read more
Lyon v Manchester United Paulo Fonseca’s touchline ban is not holding Lyon back in their pursuit to finish the season as the best of the rest in Ligue 1. PSG wrapped up the title at the weekend but the other Champions League spots are very much up for grabs. Lyon returned to winning ways by … Read more
Unai Emery insisted Aston Villa can overturn a two-goal deficit in their Champions League second leg with Paris Saint-Germain next Tuesday and reach the semi-finals. Emery said defeat “was not the best but not the worst” and acknowledged his former club showed their class after magnificent goals by Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Désiré Doué and Nuno Mendes … Read more
Rory McIlroy’s four-year-old daughter, Poppy, sank a monster putt in the Par Three Tournament to delight the Augusta crowd on the eve of the 89th Masters. The Northern Irishman helped his daughter make the long birdie putt on the final hole in the family-friendly pre-Masters event, describing the moment as “very cool”. “It’s just such … Read more
It took three minutes of the second half for Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, perhaps the most watchable footballer in Europe right now, to confirm the way this game was going. Unai Emery had sent on Axel Disasi for Matty Cash at the break, with the score 1-1 and PSG hugely dominant on every metric. Cash was effectively … Read more