The Guardian

Barcelona stormed into the Champions League quarter-finals with a thumping 7-2 victory over Newcastle at Camp Nou on Wednesday, sealing an emphatic 8-3 aggregate triumph in a compelling last-16 tie. Raphinha opened the scoring in the sixth minute after Fermín López led a swift counterattack, but Anthony Elanga levelled nine minutes later from Lewis Hall’s cross. Marc Bernal restored Barca’s lead …

Updates from 8pm (GMT) kickoffs in UCL last-16 Get in touch: email Taha and follow us on BlueSky The suspended Richarlison is missing for Spurs, with Kolo Muani to lead the line. Dominic Solanke was a doubt for this one and he’s not included in the squad. Jan Oblak is not in Atlético’s XI. Bayern Munich: Urbig, Stanisic, Kim, Tah, Bischof, Goretzka, Pavlovic, Karl, Guerreiro, Díaz, Kane Continue …

Five years on and little progress made, says judge Litigants have until October to choose 28 lead claimants The judge overseeing the pretrial phase of the two landmark litigation cases about brain injuries in rugby has issued another rebuke to the legal teams on both sides over their lack of progress. Senior Master Jeremy Cook started the latest round of case management hearings by reminding both…

Chelsea huddled once and, as if in an act of resistance, huddled again. They gathered on either side of the centre-circle before kick-off, apparently impervious to the kerfuffle that had followed their weekend antics, and it was the biggest fight they put up on a night that laid bare their distance from Europe’s elite. The resounding Club World Cup win against Paris Saint-Germain was nothing more…

Reigning champion reveals elk helped fuel Masters win Choosing wines from Augusta stock ‘was a lot of fun’ Elk as the key to Masters success: who had any i-deer? Rory McIlroy will serve starters made from the meat of the North American animal at Augusta National next month in tribute to his food of choice before winning the Masters last year . The wine McIlroy drank to toast victory, food which c…

Elimination in last 16 not a club failure, Guardiola insists ‘I would love the club to have the feeling Madrid has’ Pep Guardiola said Manchester City are still not at a level where failing to win the Champions League can be seen as a disaster after being knocked out of the competition by Real Madrid for a third consecutive year. City were in a difficult position after losing 3-0 in the first leg…

The 23-year-old who went viral last year has plenty of targets for 2026, starting with the World Indoor Championships in Poland Amy Hunt’s mind is flashing back to the moment she unwittingly went viral last September. As untrammelled joy charged through her body, the BBC asked about her unusual journey from an English degree at Cambridge to a shock 200m world championship silver medal . Hunt’s re…

Venezuela played with heart, Italy sipped espresso and the Dominicans showed off their verve at the tournament. America wanted to concentrate on war On the morning of the World Baseball Classic final between the United States and Venezuela, the headline of the New York Times daily briefing read, “America, alone,” in reference to the unwillingness of the country’s traditional allies to join the wa…

The ruling of the Caf appeals committee is against the laws of the game and casts another shadow over Motsepe’s stewardship as president In more than three decades of reporting on African football, I have gone through the entire gamut of emotions: exhilaration – over some of the continent’s great moments at the Africa Cups of Nations and World Cups; frustration – over the errors its governors mak…

City winger says beating Arsenal would be ‘a good cure’ Real Madrid won last-16 tie 5-1 on aggregate Jérémy Doku has said that beating Arsenal in Sunday’s Carabao Cup final would be a “good cure” for Manchester City’s elimination from the Champions League by Real Madrid. Tuesday’s 2-1 loss at the Etihad Stadium knocked City out 5-1 on aggregate and Doku is focusing on defeating Arsenal at Wembley…

Graham Napier’s IPL career amounted to a solitary game but the all-rounder has no regrets about how things turned out “Some people do recognise me occasionally and it’s always nice to have a chat about cricket.” Graham Napier has a few minutes between appointments. As a fire safety officer in Suffolk the 46-year-old former Essex all-rounder “goes everywhere, schools, cafes, barbershops, churches …

Union and league reach verbal agreement on new deal Salaries expected to match rocketing revenue The WNBA and its players’ union reached an agreement in principle on a transformational new collective bargaining agreement early Wednesday morning. Specifics still need to be finalized over the next few weeks as lawyers on both sides work on the new CBA. A term sheet should be completed in the next d…

Dowman’s father and brother pass Fifa agent exams 16-year-old has been inundated with agent approaches Max Dowman’s father and brother have obtained Fifa agent licences with the family intent on managing his career for the foreseeable future. The family has been inundated with approaches from agents since Dowman made his Arsenal debut as a 15-year-old last August but there are no plans to sign wi…

Fans love watching an underdog cause an upset. The problem is that unbeaten teams are unbeaten for a reason A classic narrative, dating back to the classic matchup of David v Goliath, is the underdog v the favorite. The only problem is that the underdog is an underdog for the reason. Sure, everyone loves it when a David wins, but Goliath usually swats him away with predictable ease and then pound…

Who are the players to watch? Which Cinderella team could break your bracket? Our contributors pick the winners, sleepers and upsets for this year’s men’s NCAA Tournament The annual bevy of trivia that accompanies an NCAA Tournament. Have you heard there are two Miamis? Did you know Nebraska have never won a men’s tournament game? Are you aware that the Queens Royals have a “spirit animal” called…