BARCELONA: Barcelona coach Hansi Flick said Saturday he is focussed on winning games despite the threat of a potential punishment for an ineligible line-up rumbling on in the background.
Flick selected Inigo Martinez in the 3-0 win over Osasuna in La Liga on Thursday, after the Spanish defender had withdrawn injured from the national team squad for their recent Nations League matches.
Osasuna appealed to the Spanish football federation on Friday over Martinez being ineligible, citing FIFA rules regarding players which have not joined up with their national teams when called on.
“We won three points and this is my focus, so I’m focussing on the next match against Girona,” Flick told a news conference Saturday, a day before leaders Barcelona host Girona in La Liga.
“The other thing is not in my hands, it’s not about me.”
FIFA rules state that players cannot appear for their clubs within five days of the last national team match, if they did not join the squad when called upon without the federation’s permission.
Martinez played 90 minutes against Osasuna after pulling out of international duty with knee discomfort, as Barcelona took a three-point lead at the top of the table.
The match was played on Thursday after being initially postponed from March 8, when a Barca club doctor died, with neither side wanting to play it this week but both having appeals against it rejected.
Flick lined up against Osasuna with star striker Robert Lewandowski on the bench, although he later scored when appearing as a substitute.
The Polish veteran has 23 goals in La Liga, leading the scoring charts, known as the Pichichi, ahead of Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappe on 20.
“Lewandowski is focussed on the success of the team, not just winning the Pichichi,” said Flick.
“Of course he wants to score goals, he wants to play, but he also sees what the team needs.
“This makes me really proud, about the behavior of Lewy, and it was a really great situation, a great moment and everything went the right way against Osasuna, so it’s something I really appreciate.”
Martinez punishment ‘out of Flick’s hands’ as Barca focus on title
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Martinez punishment ‘out of Flick’s hands’ as Barca focus on title
- Osasuna appealed to the Spanish football federation on Friday over Martinez being ineligible
- “We won three points and this is my focus, so I’m focussing on the next match against Girona,” Flick told a news conference
Celtics, Thunder power toward NBA playoffs, Lakers shoot down Rockets
- The Lakers beat the second-placed Houston Rockets 104-98 in a tense duel at Crypto.com Arena
- The Oklahoma City Thunder, already assured of the Western Conference top seed, racked up their 10th straight victory with a 145-117 pounding of the Chicago Bulls
LOS ANGELES: Veteran Al Horford turned back the clock to help the NBA champion Boston Celtics notch a ninth straight victory and nab a franchise first with a 117-103 win over the Grizzlies in Memphis on Monday.
Horford, 38, led the Celtics scoring with 26 points off the bench.
Jayson Tatum added 25 points and 14 rebounds and the Celtics defense stymied the Grizzlies in the second half to complete a perfect 6-0 road trip — the longest unbeaten road swing in the club’s history.
Boston, second in the Eastern Conference behind the Cleveland Cavaliers, won all six games by double digits.
Horford scored his season-high, draining six of Boston’s 21 three-pointers.
“It’s a lot of fun,” Horford said. “It’s pretty amazing for me to be in this position and I’m just trying to have fun with it and enjoy with my team.”
Ja Morant scored 26 points for the Grizzlies, who led by as many as 11 in the first half and regained the lead early in the third.
Ultimately, however, they couldn’t keep pace and lost ground in their fight with the Los Angeles Lakers for fourth place in the West.
The Lakers beat the second-placed Houston Rockets 104-98 in a tense duel at Crypto.com Arena.
Luka Doncic, Dorian Finney-Smith and Gabe Vincent scored 20 points apiece for the Lakers and LeBron James added 16.
James drilled a pair of free throws to push the Lakers lead to 102-98 with 11.1 seconds left then came up with a massive block as Los Angeles held on for the victory.
The Oklahoma City Thunder, already assured of the Western Conference top seed, racked up their 10th straight victory with a 145-117 pounding of the Chicago Bulls.
Isaiah Joe came off the bench to score 31 points — leading seven Thunder players to score in double figures.
“We all have the same goal in mind,” said Joe, who made eight of the Thunder’s 23 three-pointers.
“We know what we want to do at the end of the day and we know how to get there. We’ve just got to keep stacking days, stacking games.”
The Indiana Pacers rallied from 16 points down in the third quarter to beat the Sacramento Kings 111-109 and maintain their grip on fourth place in the East.
Tyrese Haliburton scored 18 points and handed out 11 assists, drilling a three-pointer with 1:17 remaining that gave Indiana the lead for good.
The Los Angeles Clippers, eighth in the West but locked in a battle with Golden State and Minnesota for sixth place and direct entry to the playoffs, clawed out a gritty 96-87 victory over the Magic in Orlando.
Kawhi Leonard and Norman Powell scored 21 points each and Ivica Zubac added 18 points and 20 rebounds — including nine on the offensive end — to help the Clippers finally seize control in a game that featured 15 lead changes in the first three quarters.
Paolo Banchero scored 26 points and Franz Wagner added 21 for the Magic, who remained in eighth place in the East.
The top six teams in each conference advance to the playoffs while teams ranked from seventh to 10th play a mini-tournament to determine the final two playoff slots.
The Miami Heat climbed to ninth — ahead of the Bulls — with a fifth straight victory, beating the Wizards 120-94 in Washington.
Bam Adebayo scored 28 points and grabbed 12 rebounds and Tyler Herro added 27 points for the Heat, whose current winning streak comes on the heels of a 10-game skid.
Torpedo bat designer says it’s more about the players than the bat model
- The torpedo model — a striking design in which wood is moved lower down the barrel after the label and shapes the end a little like a bowling pin — became the talk of major league baseball over the weekend
MIAMI: For the MIT-educated physicist behind the torpedo bat, it’s more about the talent of the players than their lumber at the plate.
The torpedo model — a striking design in which wood is moved lower down the barrel after the label and shapes the end a little like a bowling pin — became the talk of major league baseball over the weekend.
The New York Yankees hit a team-record nine homers that traveled a combined 3,695 feet on Saturday. Paul Goldschmidt, Cody Bellinger, Austin Wells, Anthony Volpe and Jazz Chisholm Jr. all went deep using a torpedo bat. New York’s 15 homers through the first three games matched the 2006 Detroit Tigers for the most in major league history.
“At the end of the day it’s about the batter not the bat,” said Aaron Leanhardt, a former physics professor at the University of Michigan who is being credited with the design. “It’s about the hitter and their hitting coaches. I’m happy to always help those guys get a little bit better but ultimately it’s up to them to put good swings and grind it out every day. So, credit to those guys.”
Leanhardt, 48, a field coordinator for the Miami Marlins, said the origin of the bat dates to 2023, when he worked for the Yankees. He said several versions were tested that didn’t create the desired effect.
Leanhardt was approached by major league and minor league players early in the design stage, seeking information on the bats.
“I’ll let the players always talk about their own experiences. I’m not going to drag anyone into this,” Leanhardt said Monday. “But there were definitely guys on the major league side and on the minor league side in 2023 that were definitely asking me questions and offering design advice and demoing them.”
Leanhardt said the past couple of days had been “surreal.” Some of Miami’s players joked around with him as he answered questions from the media before their game against the New York Mets.
“The industry as a whole was probably a little bit more aware of this maybe than you guys were,” Leanhardt said. “Guys have been asking me about it. Guys have been wanting to swing them.”
Bat manufacturer Victus Sports dropped off a batch of torpedo bats for the Phillies just before first pitch of their home opener on Monday. Alec Bohm grabbed one, took about five swings and decided to use one.
His logic seemed sound: Look how it might have aided the Yankees.
“You see a team hit 20 homers and you’re gonna try it,” Bohm said. “It didn’t work.”
Bohm managed just one single with his new lumber. He noted it “felt just like a normal bat” and wasn’t sure if he would swing with a torpedo again any time soon.The torpedo model — a striking design in which wood is moved lower down the barrel after the label and shapes the end a little like a bowling pin — became the talk of major league baseball over the weekend.
“It’s a bat. It’s different,” he said. “It’ll probably run its course.”
Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Christian Yelich said he didn’t feel like the bats had any effect on their opening series against the Yankees.
“I think they have a lot of really good players. That’s probably the biggest factor in how that went,” he said.
Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said shortstop Francisco Lindor used a similar bat in their series at Houston. He got the models late in spring training.
“Nothing new for us,” Mendoza said. “This is something that every team, every player continues to look for an edge and find ways to improve within the margins. And this is a perfect example.”
Three talking points ahead of clay-court season
- Djokovic will be bidding to finally clinch his 100th title before the French Open starts on May 25
PARIS: Czech teenager Jakub Mensik and Aryna Sabalenka emerged victorious at the Miami Open last weekend, but their attentions will now turn to the European clay-court swing with all eyes on Roland Garros.
Novak Djokovic will be bidding to finally clinch his 100th title before the French Open starts on May 25, after a narrow miss in Miami.
Iga Swiatek is hoping a return to her favorite surface can bring an up-tick in form, while several youngsters are looking to back up impressive starts to the year.
Here, AFP Sport takes a look at three talking points ahead of the European clay-court season:
The men’s buildup to the French Open starts this weekend at the Monte Carlo Masters, where Djokovic is aiming to lift the title for the first time since 2015.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion has not won a tournament since the Paris Olympics and questions about his future were raised after successive shock defeats by Matteo Berrettini and Botic van de Zandschulp, following an injury-enforced retirement from his Australian Open semifinal against Alexander Zverev.
But Djokovic, who turns 38 in May, returned to form in Miami by cruising into the final without dropping a set, before being edged out by Mensik.
“Miami really brought me a lot of joy and really good sensations on and off the court,” said the former world No. 1.
Djokovic, who has won three French Opens, could set an outright record of 25 Grand Slam titles in Paris this year.
Swiatek has endured a difficult spell, punctuated by a doping ban, and has not reached a final since sealing her fourth Roland Garros crown last year.
The Pole has still been consistently reaching the latter stages of events, but has lost the aura she had when world number one.
Sabalenka has established herself at the top of the rankings, but Swiatek remains the “Queen of Clay.”
The 23-year-old won a history-making hat trick of Italian, Madrid and French Open titles last season so will have plenty of ranking points to defend in the coming months.
“I don’t want to think about this too long,” she said after a surprise quarterfinal loss to Filipino wildcard Alexandra Eala in Miami.
“It’s nice to learn from losses but there are other things ahead and I am happy we are going to play on clay.”
Mensik, Eala, Mirra Andreeva and Joao Fonseca have all shown why they are among the most highly rated young players in the sport this year and will be expecting to continue to challenge the best.
Mensik rose into the world’s top 25 with his victory over Djokovic, while 17-year-old Andreeva has established herself in the women’s top 10 off the back of WTA 1,000 triumphs in Dubai and Indian Wells.
Eala, a former US Open junior champion, defied her status as a wildcard by reaching the Miami semifinals, while 18-year-old Brazilian Fonseca has already won an ATP title and is closing on the top 50.
Fonseca, Mensik and Eala are set for their debuts at Roland Garros, while Andreeva has already made her mark on the Paris clay, having reached the semifinals in 2024.
American Learner Tien and Australia’s Maya Joint, 19 and 18 respectively, have also broken into the top 100 this year.
Duke’s great D sends Blue Devils to their 18th Final Four with an 85-65 win over Alabama
NEWARK, NJ: Duke’s stream of long, tall NBA-ready standouts smothered Alabama and papered over Cooper Flagg’s rough shooting night to lift the Blue Devils to the program’s 18th Final Four with an 85-65 victory Saturday night in the NCAA Tournament’s East Region final.
Flagg made only 6 of 16 shots, including a brick that got stuck in the flange of the rim, but still finished with 16 points. Kon Knueppel, another potential lottery pick, led the Blue Devils with 21 points.
But the most important stat: Alabama’s nation-leading offense, one coming off a record-setting night from 3 in the Sweet 16, failed to crack 70 points for only the second time this season.
The Crimson Tide’s 35.4 percent shooting from the floor was their worst all season and their 25 percent from behind the arc (8 for 32) matched their fourth-worst showing of 2024-25.
Mark Sears, who came one short of a tournament record with 10 3s two nights earlier, finished with one and only six points against the Blue Devils (35-3), who won their 15th straight.
At the Final Four in San Antonio, top-seeded Duke will play the winner of Sunday’s game between Houston and Tennessee. Its win erased any chance of an all-Southeastern Conference show at the Final Four, but with No. 1 Florida winning earlier, it kept alive the prospect of all four top seeds playing on the sport’s biggest stage for only the second time. Khaman Maluach scored 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting and Duke shot 53.6 percent despite its best player’s rough night.
Flagg was hardly bad in this one. He had nine rebounds, three assists and one mega-block that sent Mouhammed Dioubate’s floater flying over press row.
But in a game in which both teams were focused on taking away the other’s best player, it was Duke that did it more effectively, switching off on Sears, locking down the perimeter and never letting him find breathing room.
The fifth-year senior’s first bucket of any kind came nearly 18 minutes into the game and the shot was a 16-footer from the elbow — the exact kind of midrange shot Nate Oats’ team of dunkers and 3-point specialists avoids.
Sears’ first 3 came with 16:19 left in the game. His final line: 2 for 12 from the floor, 1 for 5 from 3. He also had six assists. Labaron Philon led the second-seeded Crimson Tide (28-9) with 16 points. Not a single Alabama player made more shots than he missed.
Duke coach Jon Scheyer, leading the program to the Final Four for the first time since his predecessor Mike Krzyzewski’s last season in 2022, has up to six NBA prospects on his roster.
They all chipped in on offense — Tyrese Proctor had 17 points — and even moreso on defense, where Alabama looked nothing like the team that set tournament records for makes and attempts by going 25 for 51 from 3 against BYU.
Final Four firsts
The only other Final Four to feature all No. 1 seeds was in 2008 when Kansas, Memphis, UCLA and North Carolina made it. The site: San Antonio.
Another title for Tide wheelchair team
It wasn’t a totally lost night for Tide fans. Shortly before tipoff, the Alabama women’s wheelchair hoops team beat Texas-Arlington 67-52 for its fifth straight national championship.
San Francisco 49ers expand global reach with entry into UAE market
- The team is the third American football franchise to secure marketing, fan-engagement and commercial rights in the UAE, after the LA Rams and Washington Commanders
- The 49ers say the move follows more than 3 years of significant growth in the UK and Mexico, during which their fanbase in those countries grew by more than 50%
LONDON: American football team the San Francisco 49ers have secured marketing, fan-engagement and commercial rights in the UAE.
They join two other NFL teams with activation rights in the UAE: the Los Angeles Rams and Washington Commanders.
It is the 49ers’s third international expansion under the NFL’s Global Markets Program. The franchise said on Monday that the move follows more than three years of significant growth in the UK and Mexico, during which their fanbase grew by more than 50 percent in both markets, and a combined total of more than 34,000 fans, known as the “Faithful,” attended events in the two countries.
Globally, the team has more than 50 fan chapters and ranks as a top-five NFL club in eight countries in terms of numbers of supporters.
The expansion was said to align with broader international efforts by the NFL, particularly in the run-up to the debut of flag football at the Olympics in 2028.
“Expanding into the UAE is a major milestone for the NFL and we look forward to growing the Faithful fanbase in this market, following our recent success in Mexico and the UK,” said Brent Schoeb, the 49ers chief revenue and marketing officer.
“We’re excited to team up with our world-class commercial partners, local community leaders and the NFL in this next international expansion.”
The 49ers plan to invest in Arabic-language digital and social media platforms, fan events and youth-focused initiatives as part of the expansion. They said they will introduce in-person and virtual experiences, including watch parties, e-sports competitions and flag football clinics, to give fans a chance to engage with the team in new ways. Collaborations with local influencers, community leaders, and 49ers players and alumni will also help to strengthen connections with the audience in the UAE, they added.
The 49ers Foundation, the team’s philanthropic arm, which uses football to educate and empower young people and is the largest organization of its kind in the NFL, will play a key role in the expansion, the team said, mirroring similar efforts in the UK and Mexico.
Since 2021, the 49ers said they have hosted more than 50 community events outside of the US that have helped to provide young people with valuable educational benefits, career opportunities and sports training.
Through its youth programs in the UAE, the foundation intends to promote STEAM subjects (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics), and encourage the development of leadership skills and healthy lifestyles on and off the field.
