Sports
ESL fiasco unravels as Man City withdraw, Chelsea set to follow; Juve, Man Utd bosses resign
Manchester City have withdrawn from the European Super League (ESL) and Chelsea are also preparing to do so, according to reports in the British media.
Efforts to leave come just two days after both were announced as two of six English clubs to sign up to the controversial new competition.
The ESL has been widely criticised since being announced on Sunday, reports BBC.
Around 1,000 fans gathered outside Chelsea's Stamford Bridge home ground before their game against Brighton on Tuesday to protest their involvement.
Chelsea and City were part of English football's 'big six' clubs - alongside Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United and Tottenham - to have agreed to join the new league.
In total, 12 European clubs announced their intentions to form the breakaway league, which they hoped to establish as a new midweek competition.
It was condemned by football authorities and government ministers in the UK and across Europe by Uefa and leagues associations.
Chelsea were the first club to indicate they will not press ahead by preparing documentation to withdrawn. City withdrew soon after.
Chelsea and City were not drivers of this plan, they were the last to sign and feared being left behind.
It is not clear how easy it is or how binding the contracts are.
The decision to try and have Chelsea leave was taken by owner Roman Abramovich and the club's board after witnessing negative global reaction to the Super League.
There was a fear that it could do reputational damage to the club.
Questions were raised internally as to whether fans would respond to the club if it continued with a proposal which has gone down so badly.
The decision was made earlier on Tuesday before protests started outside Stamford Bridge.
Earlier in the day, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson met with the Football Association, Premier League officials and fans' representatives, after which the government said it will take "whatever action necessary", including legislative options, to ensure the proposals were stopped.
Johnson's stance is supported by Labour and the Liberal Democrats.
A statement released after a meeting between the Premier League and the 14 clubs not involved said they "unanimously and vigorously" rejected plans for the competition.
It added that it is considering "all actions available" to stop the competition and asked the six teams to end their involvement immediately.
Meanwhile late breaking reports suggest Ed Woodward, executive vice chairman of Manchester United, has handed in his resignation in the backlash of the ESL's announcement, putting in doubt whether the club will now go ahead with the breakaway league.
In a parallel development TALKSport is reporting that Andrea Agnelli has resigned from his post as president of Juventus, one of 3 Italian clubs involved in the fiasco.
Kolkata suffers second defeat as Shakib disappoints
Kolkata Knight Riders suffered their second consecutive defeat in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) on Sunday against Royal Challengers Bengaluru by 38 runs.
Bangladesh allrounder Shakib Al Hasan had a bad day as well as he failed both while bowling and batting. He bowled two overs and ended up giving away 24 runs. While batting, he faced 25 balls and posted 26 runs with a four and a six.
Bengaluru won the toss and opted to bat first. They posted a big total of 204 for four wickets in 20 overs, with Glenn Maxwell scoring 78 off 49 balls with nine fours and three sixes while AB de Villiers posted an unbeaten 76 off 34 balls with nine fours and three sixes.
Also read: Shakib's KKR fail to close the deal against Mumbai
Virat Kohli, the captain of Bengaluru, was the first batsman to get dismissed scoring only five. With only nine runs on the board, Bengaluru lost their second wicket when Rajat Patidar fell prey to Varun Chakravarthy who bagged the first wicket as well.
In the third wicket stand, Devdutt Padikkal and Maxwell added 86 runs. Coming to bat at number five, de Villiers smashed a fierce innings of 76.
For Kolkata, Chakravarthy took two wickets while Pat Cummins and Prasidh Krishna took one wicket each.
Also read: Kolkata kicks off IPL with 10-run win despite Shakib’s lean show
In reply, Kolkata ended up on 166 for eight in 20 overs with Andre Russell scoring the highest runs of 31 for the team. Four of Kolkata's batsmen surpassed the 20-run mark including Shakib but failed to come up with a big innings to change the game.
For Bengaluru, Kyle Jamieson took three wickets conceding 41 runs while Yuzvendra Chahal and Harshal Patel bagged two wickets each.
Tour match: Tamim's Red team beat Mominul's Green by 89 runs
Tamim Iqbal led Red team earned a comfortable 89 runs victory over Test captain Mominul Haque's Green team in an intra-squad two -day practice match that concluded at the Katunayeke CMC ground in Colombo on Sunday.
Earlier on Saturday, Red team batted first and scored 314 for 6 in 79.2 overs with top four order batsmen self retired making 50 plus runs.
Skipper cum opener Tamim Iqbal scored 63 runs off 69 deliveries hitting nine fours and two sixes,another opener Saif Hasan made 52 runs off 94 balls with six four and one six, one down Nazmul Hossain Shanta contributed 116-ball 53 runs featuring three fours and two sixes while reliable Mushfiqur Rahim hammered 66 runs off 82 balls hitting nine fours and one six.
Also read: Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka: Recap of the Key Test Records
Besides, Nurul Hasan Shohan added 62-ball 48 runs making three four and three sixes, Mehidy Hasan Miraz scored 44-ball 24 runs with three boundaries while Taijul Islam made three -ball two runs for the Tamim Iqbal's Red team.
Shuvagata Hom claimed one wicket for 46 runs.
In reply, Test captain Mominul Haque 's Green team opened the innings and were all out for 225 runs in 71 overs with Mominul back to pavilion with duck in the first attempt.
Read: BAN vs SL Cricket Test series 2021: Expected personal milestones to achieve
However, Mominul batted for the 2nd time and scored 47 runs, Litton Das contributed highest 64, Mithun made 28, Shariful not out 20 for the Green team.
Mehidy Hasan Miraz grabbed three wickets for 41 runs, Abu Jayed Rahi and Taijul Islam took one wicket each for 28 and 30 runs respectively.
Also read: Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka 2021: Analysis of Bangladesh’s Test Squad for Sri Lanka Series
Touring Bangladesh team will play the first Test against Sri Lanka on April 21-25 at the Pallekela International Stadium in Kandy and will play the 2nd test at the same venne from April 29 to May 3.
Batsmen shine in intra-squad practice game of Bangladesh
On the first day of the two-day intra-squad practice game in Sri Lanka, four Bangladeshi batsmen scored a half-century each. At the end of the day, Tamim Iqbal-led Team Red scored 314 for six in 79.2 overs.
For Team Red, Tamim, Saif Hassan, Najmul Hossain Shanto and Mushfiqur Rahim scored a fifty each while Nurul Hasan Shohan posted 48.
Shuvagata Hom was the only bowler for Team Green to take a wicket while the other five batsmen decided to retired.
Also read: Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka 2021: Analysis of Bangladesh’s Test Squad for Sri Lanka Series
“It was tough to bat on this condition, especially, in the first hour of the day. But our openers— Tamim and Saif— batted tremendously. Najmul, Mushfiqur also did well,” Minhajul Abedin, Bangladesh’s chief selector who is touring Sri Lanka with the team, told the media over a video message.
“Bowlers have tried to get adapted to the condition. I believe this practice match gave us some good (opportunity to prepare well). We will get another day of play which will surely help us to prepare properly,” he added.
Also read: ‘We are capable of doing well in Sri Lanka’, says Khaled Mahmud
Left-handed top-order batsman Najmul said he batted the way he wanted to.
“I think it’s a great opportunity for preparation for us ahead of the main series,” Najmul said. “It’ll be great if I can bat this way in the Tests. We have to adapt to this condition. Bowlers did well in the first 20-25 overs, but after that, it became easy to bat on.”
Also read: ‘We can win in Sri Lanka even without Shakib, Mustafizur,’ says Mominul
The two-match series will begin on April 21 at Kandy. Due to the Covid-19 restriction in the island nation, both the Tests will take place at the same venue.
This series is a part of the World Test Championship. Bangladesh played five matches of this event so far but failed to win any of them. Sri Lanka, on the other hand, played 10 Tests of this event and won only one with six defeats and three draws.
Only 8 games but plenty at stake in La Liga this weekend
Eight of the games in a slightly truncated Matchday 31 of La Liga will be played on Sunday due to the final of the Copa del Rey between FC Barcelona and Athletic Club Bilbao on Saturday night.
Barca will play their league game corresponding to Matchday 31 at home to Granada on April 28 while Athletic Club takes on Valladolid in a very relevant match to the visitors' struggle against relegation on the same day.
The round of matches kicks off on Sunday lunchtime with Real Sociedad at home to Sevilla in a game with a lot to say in the race for the title and the battle to qualify for Europe.
Sevilla's thrilling 4-3 win away to Celta Vigo on Monday means they are just six points behind league leaders Atletico Madrid. A run of 13 points from a possible 15 means they have to be seen as outsiders in the race for this season's La Liga title.
Real Sociedad, meanwhile, are fifth and locked in a battle with Villarreal and Betis for a place in next season's Europa League (a battle that will become harder if Athletic Club qualifies by winning the Cup on Saturday).
Atletico Madrid has been dropping points at a worrying rate and now holds just a one-point lead over Real Madrid, with Barca another point behind, but they have to favor their home game against the bottom of the table Eibar.
Eibar visits the Wanda Metropolitano bottom of the table with just 23 points and after 13 league games without a win after their home defeat to Levante last weekend. Even though Luis Suarez and Joao Felix are out for Atletico, Diego Simeone's men are still clear favorites.
Real Madrid makes the short visit to play Getafe, who are not safe from relegation yet after a home defeat to Cadiz last weekend. Madrid goes to the south of the capital after assuring their place in the Champions League's semi-finals on Wednesday. Although they will still be without Lucas Vazquez, Sergio Ramos and probably Raphael Varane, they have every reason to be confident.
The last time Getafe beat Real Madrid was in 2012, and the last time Pepe Bordalas' side scored against them was in March 2018, and it looks as if tiredness with being the main rival for Zinedine Zidane's men.
Elsewhere the battle against relegation takes center stage, with Javier Calleja making his home debut as coach at second from bottom Alaves when they face Huesca. Calleja's side held on for a 0-0 draw in Bilbao last weekend, and with Lucas Perez back after the ostracism he suffered under Abelardo Fernandez, they have more threat in attack.
Rafa Mir will be the main threat for Huesca, who have improved hugely with Pacheta in the dugout, and their 3-1 win at home to Elche last weekend saw them leapfrog Elche to escape the bottom three for the first time in 22 weeks.
That defeat ended Elche's positive trajectory under Fran Escriba. They need to recover from that defeat when they visit Osasuna, who are probably one win from assuring their survival for another year.
Elsewhere Betis takes on Valencia, looking to keep their efforts to qualify for Europe on track after a 1-1 draw at home to Atletico Madrid last week. Valencia striker Maxi Gomez is suspended after his sending off against Real Sociedad a week ago.
An always entertaining Celta Vigo will test Cadiz's solid defense. There is also an east-coast derby as Levante entertains Villarreal, three days after Villarreal qualified for the Europa League's semi-finals.
Tension growing around Haaland
The future of Dortmund's goal-machine Erling Haaland remains uncertain.
While the Black and Yellows are hoping to move up the league table and bag a Champions League spot, the Norwegian's entourage is working on a transfer this summer.
The club's aim to keep Haaland until at least 2022 seems to be on collision course with the plans of the 20-year-old and his advisors as they are increasing efforts to join a new club after Borussia's quarterfinal exit from the Champions League against Manchester City.
Reports speak of agent Mino Raiola and father Alf-Inge having lost confidence in Dortmund, saying it is no longer the right choice for the highly-valued striker.
Dortmund officials such as CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke and sporting director Michael Zorc claim to be in charge of any developments as the striker's exit clause in his contract until 2024 is only valid for 2022.
"Without our approval, nothing will change. We intend to keep him no matter whether we qualify for the Champions League or not," Zorc and Watzke commented.
Watzke and Zorc have indicated that they have delivered their message to Haaland's management.
But things don't appear to be working that smoothly.
"The team around Haaland is always looking for the best club for him in which to develop. If a Champions League place and a realistic chance of winning the league title are vital, then Dortmund isn't the best choice at present," Norwegian football legend Jan Aage Fjortoft said.
Several top European giants like as Real Madrid, Barcelona, Man United and City are said to be interested in signing the forward.
Due to the financial losses caused by the COVID-pandemic, a suitable transfer fee seems one of the crucial points. Reports speak of up to 150 million in summer 2021 while the 2022 exit-clause is worth 80 million.
Considering the long list of interested clubs, it seems an option to take a financial risk to outpace competitors and sign Haaland one year in advance.
Dortmund officials spoke about a financial shortage of up to 100 million due to games behind closed doors.
Next to Paris attacker Kylian Mbappe, the Norwegian has developed into football's hottest property having scored 33 goals in 34 games this season.
Recently Raiola and father Haaland went on a promotion tour in Spain, visiting Real and Barca officials for brief talks.
"We accept the club's announcement telling us they want to keep him, but that doesn't mean we have the same opinion," Raiola said.
In Dortmund, they hope their spearhead can quickly get over the Champions League's disappointment and continue to deliver goals to enable the club to qualify for Europe's top club competition. It won't be easy as they need to make up a 7-point deficit in the remaining six games of the season.
His uncertain future seems to be affecting Haaland's performance. The striker hasn't managed to score for the last 7 games, including 3 internationals for Norway.
Tensions seem to be growing as Watzke said he is annoyed by false reports and rumors.
"Last summer, everybody was speaking about Jadon Sancho leaving and joining United. He is still around. Now they speak of Haaland as a done deal. I know where he will be playing next season," the 61-year-old said.
‘The benchmark’: Tuchel’s admiration for Guardiola remains
Thomas Tuchel has long admired Pep Guardiola, from his early coaching days watching the great Barcelona team from afar to the night in 2014 when the pair — then rival Bundesliga managers — talked tactics for hours in a Munich restaurant using salt-and-pepper mills as props.
With Tuchel now a world-class manager in his own right, Guardiola might no longer be on that same pedestal.
The admiration hasn’t disappeared, though, ahead of their first meeting in English soccer. It’s a big game, too: Guardiola’s Manchester City vs. Tuchel’s Chelsea in the FA Cup semifinals at Wembley Stadium on Saturday.
“The benchmark,” Tuchel said in reference to Guardiola and the City team he has rebuilt this season and that is still on course for an unprecedented quadruple of major trophies.
The two teams reached the Champions League semifinals this week — Chelsea after getting past Porto and City by outlasting Borussia Dortmund — but Tuchel said there remains a gap between them.
After all, City, the Premier League leader, is 20 points ahead of fifth-place Chelsea and Tuchel still sees his team as a work in progress after joining in January as the replacement for Frank Lampard.
That does not mean, he said, that Chelsea should have an inferiority complex going into the cup semifinal. The teams will also meet in the league before the end of the season, and maybe in the Champions League final, too.
“It’s important that we accept this without making ourselves too small,” Tuchel said. “From next year on, from day one of next season, we will hunt them, we will try to close the gap between us.
“We have to admit there is a gap but, for 90 minutes, we are very self-aware and very self-confident that we believe we can close the gap tomorrow for one game. And this is the target for tomorrow. I arrive happy to compete against the benchmark in England and Europe.”
In that well-documented meeting of minds in Munich seven years ago — when Guardiola was with Bayern Munich and Tuchel was between jobs at Mainz and Dortmund — waiters reportedly were too afraid to interrupt the two animated coaches, who were using objects from neighboring tables to demonstrate their tactical ideas.
Tuchel has established a reputation as something of a thinker, just like Guardiola, but he doesn’t see their meeting on Saturday turning into a chess match.
More a physical battle.
“We need to be on them every minute,” Tuchel said, “not allow easy chances and exploitation of spaces between our lines. We need to be very brave, play with courage, be adventurous and do what’s needed.
“It’s a big challenge and it’s the right moment for us to face a challenge like this.”
Indeed, Chelsea has lost only two of 18 games in all competitions under Tuchel, the latest — 1-0 at Porto, courtesy of a last-minute goal — not being enough to stop the London club advancing to the Champions League semifinals for the first time since 2014.
Tuchel has rotated his squad heavily amid the fixture pile-up but appears to have landed on a preferred forward line in recent weeks — of Christian Pulisic, Kai Havertz and Mason Mount — that leaves high-profile and expensively purchased attackers like Hakim Ziyech and Timo Werner looking on from the bench.
“We have no promises to make, no gifts to give,” Tuchel said. “Everybody has to fight hard for their place.
“Once you get any minutes, you fight hard to make the coach make a change. This is the life for a player at Chelsea. It’s big fun and you have to embrace the situation even if it’s a bit harder for some players.”
Pulisic, the U.S. international, is finally getting a run of games near the end of another injury-affected season and has three goals in his last two league matches.
“He made huge progress, he was fantastic in the last games,” Tuchel said.
“He has a huge impact physically and in terms of quality, dribbling runs, arriving in the box in crucial moments. He stepped up and this is what I know from him.”
Leicester plays Southampton in the second semifinal match on Sunday, when there will be 4,000 spectators inside Wembley, drawn from local residents as opposed to fans from each club. There will be no spectators for Chelsea-Man City.
Mehidy optimistic about good performance in Sri Lanka
Bangladesh allrounder Mehidy Hasan Miraz has said that they hope to deliver a good performance in the Sri Lanka series and are optimistic about a positive result this time for the Tigers.
Bangladesh national team are currently touring Sri Lanka for a two-match Test series which is part of the World Test Championship. It is the first overseas Test series for the Tigers in the pandemic.
After reaching Sri Lanka on April 12, the Bangladesh team maintained a three-day quarantine in the team hotel. They started training on Thursday.
Also read: Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka 2021: Analysis of Bangladesh’s Test Squad for Sri Lanka Series
“Whenever we came to Sri Lanka, we played well. We narrowly failed to lift the Nidahas Trophy. We ended the ODI series 1-1, and in the Test series, we also ended up winning a match,” Mehidy told the media in a video message from Sri Lanka on Friday.
“According to our performance in Sri Lanka during the last three-four years, I think we're not behind them. If we can stay firm and fight hard, I believe we’ll be able to bring a positive result this time,” he added.
Rajasthan taste first win with much-improved bowling performance
Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur Rahman took 2/29 as his team Rajasthan Royals bounced back with a much-improved bowling performance to score their first points in the Indian Premier League (IPL) Thursday.
Chris Morris hit an 18-ball 36 with four sixes to lead the team to a three-wicket win over Delhi Capitals.
In their first outing, Mustafiz returned unflattering figures of 0/45 off 4 overs, as Rajasthan's bowlers were flayed around the park as KL Rahul's Punjab Kings piled on 221/6 off their allotted overs. Rajasthan ended up losing a high-scoring thriller by just 4 runs.
In Thursday's game, Rajasthan won the toss and opted to bowl first again.
As part of a new gameplan that clearly seemed to work better, Mustafiz didn't take the new ball, instead coming on to bowl right after the Powerplay. By then, Delhi were already rattled, having fallen to 3/36 as Jaydev Unadkat, introduced into the team today as a third left-arm seamer, ran through the Delhi top order with the new ball. He finished with immaculate figures of 3/15 off 4 overs.
Mustafiz too had an immediate impact, taking a wicket in his first over - Australian Andrew Stoinis all at sea against an old special, the off cutter, looping an easy catch to mid-off. His second scalp would come at the death, with Englishman Tom Curran playing all over another delivery that seemed to take forever to arrive, beating everything but the stumps.
Delhi were restricted to a sub-par 147/8 off their 20 overs. In a remarkable turnaround from the game against Punjab, no Rajasthan bowler conceded a single 6.
In reply however, Rajasthan lost four wickets for just 36 runs, and looked set to make a meal of the relatively small chase. Chris Woakes removed the openers – Jos Buttler and Manan Vohra – in three balls of the third over. Number five batsman David Miller smashed a 43-ball 62 with seven fours and two sixes to keep the dream alive for Rajasthan.
In the last three overs, Rajasthan needed to score 34 runs to seal the game. Tom Curran conceded only seven runs off the 18th over, and Rajasthan needed 27 off the last two overs. That was the cue for Chris Morris to now step up to the plate, which he did with aplomb, facing the next 10 balls and hitting 4 of them for 6.
Kagiso Rabada gave away 15 runs in the 19th over as Morris hit two big sixes.
In the last over, Curran failed to defend 12 runs as Morris hit two more sixes to seal the game with two balls to play.
It was a win set up by the bowlers however, and Unakat deservingly got the man of the match award.
Shakib's KKR fail to close the deal against Mumbai
Bangladesh allrounder Shakib Al Hasan bowled well for Kolkata Knight Riders on Tuesday when they took on Mumbai Indians in their second game of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021. KKR, however, lost the game due to careless batting during the last five overs of the game- and there Shakib must share in the blame. Some might say he even started it.
KKR won the toss and opted to bowl first against Mumbai who lost the first game of the season to Royal Challengers Bengaluru. KKR, on the other hand, came to his game with a win in their first game to Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Andre Russell bagged five wickets for KKR conceding only 15 runs in two overs, and thus, he was the best bowler of his team while Shakib bagged one wicket conceding only 23 runs in four overs. Shakib’s economy was 5.75, the lowest for KKR’s bowlers who have bowled all four overs in this game.
For Mumbai, Suryakumar Yadav hit 56 off 36 before Shakib sent him back while Rohit Sharma posted 43 off 32 balls. Mumbai scored 152 for all wickets in 20 overs.
Also read: Kolkata kicks off IPL with 10-run win despite Shakib’s lean show
In reply, Nitish Rana and Shubham Gill posted 72 runs in the first wicket stand, and it looked like KKR will have an easy win. But the failure of the other batsmen made it tough for them.
Rahul Chahar bagged the first four wickets of Kolkata conceding 27 runs in four overs. Shakib got a promotion in the batting order, coming to bat at number five. But the left-hander failed to exploit the chance as he fell for 9 off 9 deliveries.
In the last five overs, KKR needed 30 runs with six wickets, including Shakib, Russell and Dinesh Karthik, in hand, but they failed to do it.
They lost Shakib during the 16th over while in the last over when KKR needed to score 15 to seal the game, Trent Boult removed Andre Russell, 9 off 15 balls, and Pat Cummins off two consecutive deliveries. Karthik remained unbeaten at 8 off 11 balls.
And eventually, KKR tumbled for 142 for seven in 20 overs and lost the game by 10 runs.