The Guardian

Strap yourself in for a Wembley showdown between Manchester City and Arsenal that should be as fascinating on the grass as the sideline where Pep Guardiola and Mikel Arteta bid to outsmart each other. City’s manager was the Arsenal No 1’s tutor from 2016-19 when Arteta was his coach. This forged a friendship but there may be fireworks between them after Guardiola was incensed by the Spaniard’s cl…

Organisers are hoping for a celebration of winter sport at Milano Cortina 2026 but tensions will not be far from the surface A short stroll from where the grandees of the International Olympic Committee are staying in Milan sits the Museum of Illusions – a place devoted to magic and misdirection. Mirrors distort. Perspectives shift. And nothing is quite what it seems. It is an apposite metaphor f…

Davis played sporadically after arriving in Luka Doncic trade Eight-player swap comes ahead of Thursday’s trade deadline The Dallas Mavericks are sending 10-time All-Star forward Anthony Davis to the Washington Wizards in an eight-player trade, ESPN reported Wednesday. The Mavericks will receive Khris Middleton, AJ Johnson, Malaki Branham and Marvin Bagley III plus two first-round draft picks and…

If Les Bleus click, the results could be spectacular against a much-altered Ireland with umpteen questions to answer The Six Nations is kicking off on a Thursday this year to avoid a direct clash with the Winter Olympics opening ceremony. In at least one key respect, even so, the two events are perfectly aligned: one early stumble for France or Ireland and a potentially painful descent awaits. De…

The American has earned the trust of Luciano Spalletti in Italy, but his role with the USMNT remains an open question Juventus have tried to get rid of Weston McKennie. They even succeeded once, sending him on loan to Leeds United only for the American to return six months later. When he got back to Turin, as US coach Gregg Berhalter told the story at the time, Juve had emptied his locker and giv…

JRC unhappy with City manager’s ‘controversial views’ Guardiola referred to ‘genocide in Palestine’ on Tuesday The Manchester City manager, Pep Guardiola, has been urged to be “more careful with his future language” by representatives of the city’s Jewish community after he spoke out about Israel’s attacks on Gaza. Guardiola gave a speech in support of Palestinian children at a charity event in h…

As the Six Nations Championship kicks off, a nation that bestrode the game in the 1960s and 70s is struggling to compete Welsh rugby fans usually look forward to the start of the men’s Six Nations Championship, which kicks off on Thursday, with excitement, but this time the feeling will be one of trepidation. The Welsh men’s recent record has been abysmal. They have won twice in their past 22 mat…

US skiing icon must wait to test injured knee Coach confident skier will be competitive at Games Lindsey Vonn has been forced to wait for her chance to test her injured knee after heavy snowfall forced the cancellation of the first women’s downhill training at the Winter Olympics . The American skiing icon was due to take part in Thursday morning’s training session in Cortina d’Ampezzo as she att…

Will Arsenal regret Nwaneri move? Have Sunderland traded brilliantly again? We run the rule over every team’s business The foot injury sustained by Mikel Merino made the last few days of the window a bit more interesting for Arsenal supporters, although in the end there was no big signing. Deadline-day links to Sandro Tonali of Newcastle and Leon Goretzka came to nothing, and Arsenal missed out t…

Spectators will not know finalists but can ‘swap’ tickets Cheapest standard tickets for day of the final are £125 Top-end tickets for the inaugural Nations Championship final at Twickenham will cost £280 as part of a weekend billed as the “Glastonbury of Rugby”, the Guardian can reveal. The climax of the new 12-team competition , which will be held every two years and replaces traditional tours, …

Carroll allegedly repeatedly called Billi Mucklow last March Former England striker to next appear in court in March The former England footballer Andy Carroll has denied breaching a non-molestation order by allegedly repeatedly calling his former wife. Carroll, a former striker at Premier League sides Newcastle and Liverpool, indicated a not guilty plea to the charge at Chelmsford magistrates co…

Sign up now! Sign up now! Sign up now? Sign up now! Given their near misses in recent seasons, it is entirely understandable that most sentient Arsenal fans are not prepared to publicly entertain the notion that their team will almost certainly win the Premier League this season. While they’re all lying in bed at night secretly fantasising about Martin Ødegaard’s trophy lift, most remain too scar…

Head coach speaks for first time since nightclub incident ‘I find it annoying that we keep going on and on about it’ Brendon McCullum insists he is not running a “loose ship” as England’s head coach and, while praising Harry Brook’s on-field leadership, believes the white-ball captain has “work to do off the field”. McCullum was speaking to the media for the first time since the news emerged of B…

Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Lucy Ward and Jordan Jarrett-Bryan as Arsenal beat Chelsea 4-2 over two legs to reach the Carabao Cup final, their first final since 2020. On the podcast today: a goal down going into the second leg, Liam Rosenior had a plan – keep it tight for 60, bring on some attacking flair and wait for the moment to come. Unfortunately for them the moment didn’t co…

The Games’ newest sport combines the seemingly impossible task of ascending a mountain on skis with hiking and then a rapid descent No one could suggest that the Winter Olympics are lacking in challenge. Skiers zipping down the slopes and flying through the air. Skeletons hurtling around at more than 100km/h. Ice skaters, metal-bladed, spinning, leaping and twisting. Slopestyle athletes pulling o…