The Guardian

⚽ Barça will win La Liga with a point from 8pm BST kick-off ⚽ Live scores | Follow us over on Bluesky | And email John Sid Lowe has previewed a crucial Clasico. This is a crisis that is cultural. When Vinícius Júnior stormed off having been substituted towards the end of the clásico in the autumn, threatening to walk straight out of the team, it brought the disconnect between him and Xabi Alonso …

Khadija Shaw showed Manchester City what they are giving up and Chelsea what they are potentially getting in emphatic style at Stamford Bridge, scoring the injury-time equaliser and then the winner as City came from two goals behind to earn a place in the FA Cup final against Brighton. Shaw has dominated headlines this week: the Women’s Super League top scorer is set to leave Manchester City and …

Boreham Wood 2-2 Rochdale (Rochdale win 3-1 on pens) Rush 22, Abdulmalik 69; Smith 78, Dieseruvwe 90+6 Supporting Rochdale should come with a health warning. For all that football has a wonderful propensity for drama, few clubs have ever packed in the heart-stopping tribulations of their past fortnight. But, after it all, they are a Football League club again. And that is all that matters. Hopes …

Exeter 35-12 Bath Fourth-placed Chiefs secure bonus-point victory The road to the Prem playoffs continues to be full of compelling twists and turns. For a while it seemed Exeter might be about to be reeled in by a Bath side renowned for their finishing strength, only for second-half tries from Paul Brown-Bampoe, Len Ikitau and Campbell Ridl and a resilient defensive effort to steer the Chiefs to …

Italian could win record sixth straight Masters 1000 title Naomi Osaka beats Diana Shnaider to reach fourth round Casper Ruud believes Jannik Sinner is not unbeatable but the rest of the field will have to catch the world No 1 on a favourable day as they try to stop him winning a record-extending sixth consecutive Masters 1000 title on home soil at the Italian Open. “His results this year kind of…

For Nottingham Forest, just how precious might Elliot Anderson’s late equaliser at home to Newcastle prove? Vítor Pereira’s side knew they had to match or better West Ham’s result later against the Premier League leaders, Arsenal, and if West Ham fail to win at the London Stadium, then Forest’s mood will improve again and relegation fears will substitute. In a game devoid of quality, the Newcastl…

David Moyes’s European dream is now hanging by a slender thread. Against a Crystal Palace side who have been otherwise distracted by their Conference League exploits, Everton were unable to take their opportunity to close the gap on their rivals as Jean-Philippe Mateta came off the bench to deny them victory. It could have been even worse for Moyes had the referee, Tom Bramall, awarded a penalty …

⚽ Premier League updates from the 4.30pm BST kick-off ⚽ Live scores | Latest table | And follow us on Bluesky When David Sullivan was pressed on why West Ham bothered to move to the London Stadium , the lack of substance to his argument offered a window into the club’s dysfunction. “I just think we feel like a big club,” Sullivan said in an interview with the Guardian in December 2017. “Not a tin…

Middlesbrough apprehended alleged spy last week Saints may claim that the offender was an intern Middlesbrough have been approached by fellow Championship clubs who harbour suspicions that their pre-match training sessions may also have been spied on by Southampton. The English Football League has charged the south-coast club with misconduct after a member of Tonda Eckert’s backroom was allegedly…

Leicester 41-17 Northampton Freddie Steward caps six-try victory for hosts You can play all the classy rugby you want, you can be leading the table with a few matches to play, but certain elemental truths still apply. One of them is that if you find yourself overpowered up front away from home in a sold-out East Midlands derby, you will be blown away. Northampton could have secured themselves a p…

Italy 33-61 England Packer scores four to set up possible France showdown Marlie Packer made her England debut 18 years ago, but she is playing some of her best rugby, with the openside flanker once again key as the Red Roses set up a Championship decider against France next Sunday. The former England captain has won back the starting shirt because of the unavailability of other players after fal…

Global game celebrates centenary event in London as players of all ages showcase their skill, style and speed “Table tennis is very good for the mind as well as the body, whatever age you are,” says 73-year-old Wang Qi, the oldest competitor at the Table Tennis Team World Championships in London. Incredibly the Fiji player, who hails from China, is 61 years older than the youngest player, Enya Hu…

The world No 1 lost to Jorden van Foreest, but squeezed into a tie for first and won the blitz playoff The world No 1, Magnus Carlsen, made a rare return to classical chess this week at the annual TePe Sigeman tournament in Malmö, Sweden, squeezing through to a blitz playoff in Thursday’s final round after Turkey’s 14-year-old talent Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus blundered fatally in the late stages after …

This felt a hugely significant victory in the Scottish title race. Celtic require only two more of them to successfully defend the league. For the Rangers manager, Danny Röhl, yet another second-half capitulation will only increase murmurings about his capability of delivering success at Ibrox. Rangers will end this season trophyless and third in a two-horse race – remarkably, given the tens of m…

Yates found to have concussion in addition to ear injury Jay Vine and Marc Soler still under medical observation The British rider Adam Yates has been pulled out of the Giro d’Italia after sustaining a concussion as a result of a crash on stage two . The 33-year-old sustained abrasions and a laceration to his left ear during an incident involving almost 30 riders on Saturday’s rain-soaked 221km r…