DUBAI: In Europe, the Champions League is the ultimate prize. Merely participating in it, or even just qualifying for its playoff stages, has come to be seen as an achievement in itself.
Ever since the competition replaced the old European Cup at the start of the 1992-93 season, it has changed Europe’s football landscape.
Finishing in “Champions League places” has replaced winning trophies as the target for all but the most elite of clubs. In South America, winning the Copa Libertadores has always been, and remains, the be-all-and-end-all for all top clubs.
And even in Africa, the CAF Champions League gets the blood going like no other competition.
And then there is Asia. While there is no doubting that the AFC Champions League remains the premier continental competition, one in which top regional teams such as Al-Hilal and Al-Ain continue to perform credibly, there exists an underlying, inexplicable apathy from West Asian clubs toward the tournament.
Perhaps it is born out of an inferiority complex to East Asia teams.
The first three seasons of AFC Champions League were claimed by Al Ain (2002-03) and Saudi Arabia’s Al Ittihad (2004, 2005). Since then, however, no team from West Asia has lifted the trophy in 12 attempts.
Early indications are that this will not change in 2018.
The performances of Middle Eastern and Gulf teams in the competition so far have been poor to say the least.
Emirati clubs in particular have fared adequately at best, and dismally at worst. Al-Wahda and Al-Wasl are respectively bottom of their groups, having failed to collect a single point between them. Al-Ain are third in Group D after three draws. Domestic champions Al-Jazira, having faced Real Madrid in the Club World Cup semifinal, are in the best position of the Arabian Gulf League (AGL) teams, in second place — and a qualification spot — in Group A.
Of the two Saudi teams, Al-Ahli lead Al-Jazira by three points after two wins and a draw. Al-Hilal, a team that prides itself as the most decorated in Asian football, have struggled and are currently bottom of Group D, a point behind Al-Ain, the team they eliminated in last year’s quarterfinals.
Indeed, Al-Hilal’s loss to Al-Esteghlal last month cost Ramon Diaz his job at the club that still leads the Saudi league table. That the two Saudi teams that finished third and fourth in the 2016-17 league table, Al-Nassr and two-time winners Al-Ittihad, were barred from this year’s competition for logistical reasons, has hardly helped.
Only Qatari clubs have exceeded expectations, with Al-Duhail leading their group, while traditional rivals Al-Sadd and Al-Rayyan sit second in their respective groups.
While the prestige of being champions of Asia is craved, the financial rewards ($4 million for the winners) and television money pale into insignificance when compared with the pots of gold on offer on other continents, and even compared to the salaries the Gulf clubs pay to their highest earning foreign players.
For that reason, among many others, the guarantee of domestic glory takes priority for some clubs over the remote possibility of continental glory against the powerhouses of the East.
And for some, other carrots are often dangled.
Last year, Al-Jazira all but abandoned the pursuit of Champions League progress in favor of securing the AGL title and the certainty of taking part in the 2017 FIFA Club World Cup.
Al-Ain, seemingly running away with the Emirati league title, might not have a similarly modest outlook, but will surely already be eyeing potential once-in-a-lifetime clashes against Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich or Manchester City next November in Abu Dhabi.
Rightly or wrongly, but somewhat understandably, the prospect of sharing a stage with Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi is a far more mouthwatering one than another quarterfinal or semifinal against familiar regional opposition.
And that raises perhaps the most existential issue with the current AFC Champions League format. Familiarity has bred, if not contempt, then certainly boredom.
Every new edition of the AFC Champions League increasingly throws up groups consisting of teams from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Iran and Uzbekistan. More often than not, those teams are the same as previous years, and the match-ups are repeats of recent seasons.
Lack of participation from countries like Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Kuwait and Iraq, owing to licensing issues, no doubt adds to the sense of ennui and lack of eclecticism around the competition’s West Asia half.
It might be too early to write off the Arab teams halfway through the group stage of this year’s AFC Champions League. But the trend of recent seasons does not offer too much encouragement either.
The continent’s most coveted prize is in danger of losing its shine in western Asia.
Middle East clubs have fallen out of love with the AFC Champions League
Middle East clubs have fallen out of love with the AFC Champions League
An ‘embarrassing’ night for Stephen Curry and the Warriors, who fall by 51 at Memphis
- Stephen Curry did not make a shot from the field in his 24 minutes against the Memphis Grizzlies
- It was the first time he has played that many minutes without a basket in his 16-year career
Curry didn’t make a shot from the field in his 24 minutes — the first time he’s played that many minutes without a basket in his 16-year career — and the Warriors fell behind by 57 points in what became a 144-93 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies on Thursday night.
“We ran into a buzz saw,” Curry said. “We obviously know we are better than that. I’ve got to be better than that.”
The 51-point final margin and 57-point deficit were both the largest in the NBA this season.
“You lose by 51, that’s humbling,” coach Steve Kerr said after his team, which started the season 12-3, lost for the ninth time in its last 11 games.
Curry was 0 for 7, missing all six of his tries from 3-point range. It was only the fifth time in Curry’s career that he’d taken a shot in a game and not registered a field goal — he was 0 for 1 once, 0 for 2 once, 0 for 3 once and 0 for 4 once.
“He’s one of the toughest covers in the history of the NBA,” Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins said.
Not on Thursday, however.
“That was embarrassing,” Curry said.
It was only the fifth time in Warriors history that they lost a regular-season game by more than 50 points. Of those, three have come in the last five years — by 53 to Toronto at Tampa, Florida in 2021, by 52 at Boston on March 3 and Thursday’s 51-point loss.
The franchise regular-season record is a 63-point loss to the Los Angeles Lakers in 1972. The Philadelphia Warriors lost by 51 at Boston in 1962.
“It wasn’t any of our nights,” Kerr said. “Including mine.”
Curry and Draymond Green had never combined for zero field goals in a game in which both played, until Thursday.
“There’s a first time for everything, right?” Curry said.
Brandin Podziemski and Andrew Wiggins combined to make 15 of their 24 shots for Golden State. The rest of the Warriors shot 17 of 66 — 25.8 percent — with Dennis Schroder going 2 for 12 in his Golden State debut. Jonathan Kuminga also shot 2 of 12.
The Warriors have now trailed at least one game by 45 points in each of the last six seasons.
“Once we’re all locked in defensively, you see what type of team we can be,” Grizzlies guard Ja Morant said.
The Grizzlies now have the two biggest victory margins in the NBA this season. They beat Portland by 45 on Nov. 10.
Memphis also led Golden State by 55 in Game 5 of the 2022 Western Conference semifinals, ultimately winning that game by 39 points. The Warriors went on to win that series in six games and eventually won that season’s NBA title.
“I know who we are. I know what our team is about,” Kerr said. “I know we’ve got competitors, and I know we’re going to bounce back and we’re going to regroup. So, I’m not concerned about that. But we’ve got a lot of work to do to execute and learn how to execute under pressure and take care of the ball and get good shots.”
Pakistan in good shape for Champions Trophy after winning ODI series in South Africa
- Rizwan and Azam’s half-centuries along with Afridi’s 4-wicket haul sealed Pakistan’s 81-run victory
- Pakistan will play their last match of the ODI series against South Africa on Sunday in Johannesburg
CAPE TOWN: Pakistan won a second straight major one-day international series away from home when it beat South Africa by 81 runs at Newlands on Thursday.
After beating Australia 2-1 last month, Pakistan has taken the Proteas 2-0 with a game to spare. Half-centuries by Babar Azam, captain Mohammad Rizwan and allrounder Kamran Ghulam staked Pakistan to 329 all out.
Heinrich Klaasen hit 97 but South Africa’s chase was strangled by Pakistan, and fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi ended the last meaningful resistance with three wickets in three overs. Klaasen was the last man out on 248 in the 44th over.
Pakistan’s fifth successive bilateral ODI series win puts it in good stead for the Champions Trophy it will host in February.
It was unchanged from the three-wicket win on Tuesday in Paarl, made to bat first, and minus both openers in the first 10 overs.
Rizwan was smashed on the back of his helmet by debutant pacer Kwena Maphaka but gathered his senses with Azam in a steady but safe stand of 115.
The partnership was broken when Azam was caught at midwicket for 73 off 95 balls, his first half-century in any format for Pakistan since May, and his first in ODIs in 13 months.
When Rizwan followed three overs later for 80 off 82, caught and bowled by Maphaka when he was accelerating, Pakistan was forced to reset at 192-4 with 14 overs to go.
Amid four dropped catches by South Africa, Ghulam piled more misery on the host by smashing a 25-ball half-century on his fifth six. Ghulam was the last batter out for 63 off 32, the main plunderer as Pakistan scored 105 runs off the last 10 overs.
“Kamran Ghulam’s innings was absolutely fantastic,” Rizwan said. “We were looking for 300 but we got 300-plus, must give credit to him. I had trust in him but not like that ... that was something different.”
Set 330 to win, openers Temba Bavuma and Tony de Zorzi gave South Africa a promising start in the first 12 overs.
But spinners Abrar Ahmed and part-timer Salman Agha chipped out three top-order wickets and slowed the scoring so the run rate required gradually climbed.
Klaasen and the fit-again David Miller were reviving the chase and starting to charge when Miller was caught behind off Shaheen for 29, ending a stand of 72 runs in 12 overs with Klaasen.
Klaasen soldiered on, out three runs short of a fifth ODI century, as Shaheen grabbed 4-47 and fellow pacer Naseem Shah took 3-37.
The last ODI is on Sunday in Johannesburg.
Inter Milan reach Italian Cup quarterfinals after Asllani scores direct from corner kick
- Marko Arnautovic and Kristjan Asllani netted in the first half to help Inter set up a quarterfinal match against Lazio
- Teenage defender Mike Aidoo came on two minutes from time for Inter for his professional debut
MILAN: A much-changed Inter Milan side eased to a 2-0 victory over Udinese in the Italian Cup on Thursday.
Marko Arnautovic and Kristjan Asllani netted in the first half to help Inter set up a quarterfinal match against Lazio — the team they routed 6-0 in the league on Monday. Inter coach Simone Inzaghi made eight changes to that side.
The match was briefly halted shortly before halftime when a spectator collapsed in the stands. The fan was immediately treated as the stadium fell into silence and the players looked on, clearly concerned.
A defibrillator had to be used before the fan was carried out on a stretcher to the applause of the San Siro crowd. The fan was reportedly stable in the hospital.
When play resumed after a delay of more than five minutes, the Udinese players still seemed distracted as Asllani’s corner from the left evaded everyone and went in off the far post.
That put Inter 2-0 up as it had broken the deadlock in the 30th minute following an Udinese error. A hideous pass from visiting midfielder Jurgen Ekkelenkamp was straight at Mehdi Taremi and he fed in Arnautovic, who slotted into the bottom right corner.
Taremi hit the post in the second half, while Inter also had an early penalty revoked on review.
Teenage defender Mike Aidoo came on two minutes from time for Inter for his professional debut.
Guiu hat trick helps Chelsea rout Rovers 5-1 to extend Conference League dominance
- Guiu, who joined Chelsea from Barcelona this summer, has scored six goals in six games in the third-tier competition
- Rolando Mandragora netted for Fiorentina three minutes from time to salvage a 1-1 draw at Vitoria
LONDON: Marc Guiu’s first-half hat trick helped Chelsea ease past Shamrock Rovers 5-1 on Thursday to complete the league phase of the UEFA Conference League with a 100 percent record.
The 18-year-old forward, who netted twice in a 3-1 win over Astana in the previous round, opened the scoring in the 22nd minute with a header from close range at Stamford Bridge.
Markus Poom equalized for the Irish visitors, but Guiu restored Chelsea’s lead with an angled shot from the left in the 34th.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall made it 3-1 six minutes later before Guiu completed his first hat trick for the Blues with a header in stoppage time.
“I’ve never seen anyone press like him,” Dewsbury-Hall told TNTSports about Guiu. “He doesn’t slow down, he’ll keep working hard. You forget how young he is. He’s only 18. I’m happy that he got his hat trick, he deserves it.”
Guiu, who joined Chelsea from Barcelona this summer, has scored six goals in six games in the third-tier competition.
Marc Cucurella finished off the rout in the second half.
It’s now eight straight wins in all competitions for Enzo Maresca’s team, which equals the club’s record set in December 2016.
Of the 36 clubs involved in the revamped competition, the top eight in the standings go directly to the round of 16 in March. Teams ranked ninth to 24th go into the knockout playoffs in February. The bottom 12 teams are eliminated.
Unlike the new-look Champions League and Europa League, teams in the Conference League face six opponents, not eight, in the league phase that replaced the traditional group stage.
Chelsea was the only team that stayed perfect, the only team that qualified to the round of 16 with a game to spare, and it scored 26 in six games, by far the most goals.
Despite its first defeat in the competition, Rovers finished 10th and became the first Irish club to advance to the knockout stage of a European competition.
Top eight
Rolando Mandragora netted for Fiorentina three minutes from time to salvage a 1-1 draw at Vitoria, a result that gave the Portuguese team second place with 14 points. Fiorentina, runner-up in the previous two editions, was a point back in third.
Rapid Vienna beat Copenhagen 3-0 to advance from fourth place on 13 points. Djurgarden was fifth with 13 points after a 3-1 win over Legia Warsaw, which was seventh place.
Lugano finished sixth after being held 2-2 at home by Pafos from Cyprus.
Cercle Brugge’s 1-1 draw against Basaksehir was enough to finish eighth.
‘And the winner is’: World’s first AI boxing judge unveiled in experiment for Fury-Usyk fight
RIYADH: Organizers of the rematch between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk have released a video of how an Artificial Intelligence powered 4th judge will score the fight between the heavyweights this Saturday.
The much anticipated rematch between Britain’s Fury and Ukraine’s Usyk will take place in Riyadh, as part of the cultural and sporting spectacle known as Riyadh Season.
The video, posted early on Friday by the Saudi entertainment authority chief, Turki Alalshikh, features an AI judge explaining how it will score the bout.
“I am the first ever AI boxing judge,” the humanoid figure announces in the 38-second clip, “and I am here to bring fairness to the ring.”
The AI judge, powered by The Ring, a boxing magazine dedicated to the sport, is just an experiment and will not decide the fight, according to Alalshikh.
Boxing fights are usually scored by three judges, who use the 10-point system each round to choose a winner in case there is no knockout.
“I analyze every round, every move, and every decisive moment during the fight,” it said.
Like human judges, the bot will try to track landed punches, effective aggression and defense, collecting real-time metrics to calculate a score and decide who has won.
In the past, human judges have been accused of not scoring correctly, being biased, or more seriously, being corrupt, leading to controversy within the sport.
It is unclear what the long term impact of the experiment will be, but other sports such as football and cricket use similar technologies to support referees and umpires to make accurate decisions more quickly, which have led to fairer results.
Excitement continues to build for the Saturday night fight, which is expected to start some time after midnight in the Saudi capital. Fury, who exercised a clause in his contract for a rematch after his May defeat to the Ukrainian, who has an unblemished 21-0 record, is out for revenge, exciting boxing fans across the globe.
The fighters, who attended an event hosted by The Ring, faced-off for media photos on Thursday night ahead of the official Weigh-In on Friday.
