BARCELONA: Robert Lewandowski hit a brace to help a devastating Barcelona rout Borussia Dortmund 4-0 in a one-sided Champions League quarter-final first leg on Wednesday.
Hansi Flick’s Barca are a step away from reaching the semifinals for the first time since 2019 and extended their unbeaten run to 23 matches.
The five-time winners took the lead against last year’s runners-up through red-hot winger Raphinha before Lewandowski reached 40 goals for the season with his double
Teenager Lamine Yamal was an unstoppable force throughout and deftly prodded home Barcelona’s fourth as Dortmund collapsed.
Barca, who last lifted the trophy in 2015 are aiming to seal a final four clash against Inter Milan or Bayern Munich when they visit Germany next Tuesday.
“I think we played very well but we have one more game to go... we always want to play our football and we want to play it there and we will win,” Lewandowski told Movistar.
Flick warned his team that the job was not done yet.
“You never know what will happen, football is a crazy sport, we have to play like today,” he said.
The coach selected his typical side, with only one decision to make — he opted for Fermin Lopez over Gavi in attacking midfield to support the dynamic forward trio.
La Liga leaders Barcelona seized control from the start, opening the scoring after 25 minutes.
Lopez whipped a free-kick to the back post, with Inigo Martinez nodding the ball toward Pau Cubarsi, who turned it toward goal.
The young defender’s effort beat Gregor Kobel and was heading over the line before the tournament’s top scorer Raphinha slid in to make sure, claiming his 12th goal.
The Brazilian winger faced a nervous wait while VAR worked to confirm his strike was onside.
“I was worried on the first goal if I was offside, it’s good that it was valid,” said Raphinha.
“I touched the ball before the line and I apologized to Cubarsi, he told me not to worry, he would count it as an assist.”
Serhou Guirassy spurned a couple of big chances for the visitors to level before the break.
With Dortmund’s first slick attacking move of the game, the forward, who has 10 goals in the competition, was played in but snatched badly at a bouncing ball with just Wojciech Szczesny to beat.
Unsurprisingly Niko Kovac’s Dortmund came to regret Guirassy’s misses, with Lewandowski netting his 10th of the tournament early in the second half.
Yamal clipped a cross to Raphinha, who looped a header over to Lewandowski at the far post to nod home from virtually under the crossbar three minutes after the interval.
Lopez struck the post and lashed inches over as Barcelona searched for a third to kill the tie off. It arrived after 66 minutes, with Lopez teeing up Lewandowski to drill home at the near post.
This was the former Dortmund striker’s 29th goal in 28 matches against his old club, and his 99th in a Barcelona shirt since joining in 2022.
“I am very happy, 99 goals for the club,” added Lewandowski.
“In my head I always have not just winning, but helping the team with my qualities, goals.
“I think strikers always have to think about goals.”
Yamal, who had toyed with Dortmund’s defense all night, deservedly got on the scoresheet as the visitors left themselves wide open and Raphinha sent the youngster through on goal.
The only worry for Barca was Yamal asking to be replaced in the final stages, although he was smiling as he was afforded an ovation.
“He’s fine, he had played too many minutes (lately),” explained Flick.
Barca are aiming for a potential quadruple this season and on this evidence, they will take some stopping.
Dortmund were left licking their wounds.
“We weren’t cohesive enough, and what’s more, we made simple mistakes — at this level they are punished harshly,” Dortmund’s Emre Can told DAZN.
“I think we can do better, even if (the Barca attackers) are so good, I know that.”
Sensational Barca destroy Dortmund in Champions League mismatch
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Sensational Barca destroy Dortmund in Champions League mismatch
- The five-time winners took the lead against last year’s runners-up through red-hot winger Raphinha before Lewandowski reached 40 goals for the season with his double
Partying, celebrations not an excuse, Flick warns as champions Barca eye strong finish
“It’s the last time we play at home and we want to win”
BARCELONA: Barcelona players celebrated the club’s 28th LaLiga title with thousands of fans in an open-bus victory parade on Friday, but coach Hansi Flick was quick to remind them that the season was not over.
Flick, who has led Barcelona to the league title, Copa del Rey and the Spanish Super Cup in his debut season, said he needed his players to focus on finishing the campaign on a high.
“Yesterday was a day of celebration and rest. A lot of players went out partying, but whoever can party can work, it’s not an excuse. I want to finish the season as we started it,” Flick told reporters on Saturday, a day before hosting Villarreal.
“It’s the last time we play at home and we want to win. We want to end the season as champions. We haven’t lost in 2025 (in the league) and we want to keep it that way.”
Flick said he was overwhelmed by the passion of the supporters during the celebrations.
“It was incredible to see the faces, the passion of the people, how they celebrated. It was fantastic to see,” said the coach.
“To celebrate year after year would be amazing. Maybe we can do it again next year. We will work for it. It’s everyone’s title.”
Flick said his team would face a difficult task against fifth-placed Villarreal, with the visitors looking to ensure Champions League qualification with a top-five finish going into the last two matches of the campaign.
“We’re playing against great teams and Villarreal have done a fantastic job, they have won their last four games. You can see the hand of their coach and they have key players,” he added.
Asked if he could start with 11 home-grown players on Sunday, Flick said the idea had been discussed at the club.
“To be honest, we’ve talked about it internally, but we haven’t decided. It could be. We’ll wait until tomorrow to see how the team is,” he said.
Norris turns tables on Piastri in final Imola practice
- The Briton’s best time of one minute and 14.897 seconds completed a McLaren sweep
- Australian championship leader Piastri was 0.100 slower this time on a sunny afternoon at Imola
IMOLA, Italy: Lando Norris turned the tables on pace-setting teammate Oscar Piastri by leading a McLaren one-two in final practice for the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix at Imola on Saturday.
The Briton’s best time of one minute and 14.897 seconds completed a McLaren sweep of practice in Ferrari’s backyard, with the champions filling the top two positions in all three sessions.
Australian championship leader Piastri, who was fastest in both Friday sessions and is 16 points clear of Norris after six races, was 0.100 slower this time on a sunny afternoon at Imola.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, the four-times world champion who has won the last three races at Imola, was third fastest and only 0.181 off the pace on the medium tire with the battle looking closer.
Mercedes’ 18-year-old rookie Kimi Antonelli was fourth ahead of his home debut but the Bologna-born driver was half a second slower than Norris.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was fifth on the timesheets, with seven-times world champion teammate Lewis Hamilton only 10th on the quicker soft tire as he limbers up for what will be a first race in Italy in the team’s red overalls.
Carlos Sainz, Hamilton’s predecessor at Ferrari, was sixth for Williams ahead of Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar and Mercedes’ George Russell with Alex Albon ninth for Williams.
Argentine rookie Franco Colapinto, debuting for Alpine after replacing ousted Australian Jack Doohan, was 18th.
Qualifying for Sunday’s race follows later on Saturday.
Real Madrid signs Spain defender Dean Huijsen from Bournemouth
MADRID: Real Madrid has signed highly rated Spain defender Dean Huijsen from Bournemouth in its first reinforcement of the offseason.
The Spanish powerhouse said Saturday that the 20-year-old Huijsen had signed a five-year deal through June 2030. Madrid reportedly agreed to pay the player’s 50-million pound ($66.4 million) clause to sign him from Bournemouth.
Huijsen is a Dutch-born, ball-playing center back who joined the Premier League team from Juventus for a reported 12.5 million pounds (now $16.6 million) in the offseason last year. He was a regular for Bournemouth since breaking into the team in November.
He impressed so much that he earned a call-up by Spain for the Nations League playoffs in March, coming on a substitute in the first leg against the Netherlands and then starting the second leg.
Assured on the ball and a good reader of the game, Huijsen had been linked with some of the biggest teams in the Premier League in recent months, including Liverpool and Arsenal, so it was increasingly inevitable Bournemouth would be losing the tall defender over the summer — but making a big profit in the process.
Madrid needs to rebuild a defense after multiple injuries to its backline during a trophyless 2024-25 campaign.
Olaroiu targets AFC Champions League Two with Sharjah as Singapore’s Lion City Sailors stand in the way
- The Romanian coach has claimed domestic trophies everywhere he has managed but not yet tasted glory on the continent
AUSTRALIA: Cosmin Olaroiu has just about won it all during his time as a manager, with success following the Romanian in stints in China, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and, of course, the UAE.
It is in the Emirates that he has spent the bulk of his coaching career, and had most of his success, working at Shabab Al-Ahli, Al-Ain and, most recently, at Sharjah; winning four league titles, two President’s Cups, three League Cups and five Super Cups along the way.
Add those to league titles in Saudi Arabia with Al-Hilal, and China with Jiangsu Suning, and a Qatar Stars Cup with Al-Sadd, and the 55-year-old Bucharest native is one of the most decorated coaches in the history of club football in Asia.
But one thing has eluded the burly Romanian across his almost two decades coaching in Asia — continental silverware. That could finally change against Singapore’s Lion City Sailors on Sunday night.
Olaroiu took Al-Ahli, as Shabab Al-Ahli were then known, to the final of the AFC Champions League in 2015, but came up just short against the now defunct Chinese heavyweights Guangzhou Evergrande, losing 1-0 across the two-legged affair.
Having exacted a modicum of revenge by dethroning Guangzhou when he was coach of Jiangsu Suning, winning the club their first ever league title in 2020, he never got the chance to compete for continental honours after the club went bust just weeks after their title success, as the bubble burst in the Chinese football boom.
But on Sunday night in Singapore, as he prepares to bring his time in club football to a close, having taken on the role of national team coach for the UAE, he has the chance to finally complete the set and add a continental title to his decorated CV.
While it may “only” be the AFC Champions League Two, the second-tier club competition in Asia behind the AFC Champions League Elite, it will still mean the same to a coach that has an insatiable thirst for success.
It has been a season of near misses for Sharjah, who were, until recently, in the running for an unprecedented quadruple. That was when they were still in the hunt for the UAE Pro League title, were in the semifinals of the League Cup, had made the final of the President’s Cup and, of course, the AFC Champions League Two.
But one by one, those titles fell through their grasp. They fell behind Shabab Al-Ahli in the league, with the Dubai-based club ultimately clinching the league title earlier the month.
Shabab Al-Ahli again proved their nemesis in the semifinal of the League Cup, winning 5-3 on aggregate across two legs, while last weekend they let slip a 1-0 lead in the President’s Cup Final to lose 2-1 to, you guessed it, Shabab Al-Ahli.
While the Dubai club has been a thorn in their side for much of the season, Olaroiu and Sharjah exacted some form of revenge in Asia, winning their ACL Two quarterfinal in March in a dramatic penalty shootout, before edging Al-Taawoun in equally dramatic fashion in the semifinal to set up a clash with Singapore’s Lion City Sailors.
With the Saudi side leading 1-0 from the first leg, Sharjah left it late to turn things around in the second leg at home, scoring twice in stoppage-time, in the 94th and 99th minutes, to steal a famous victory.
“This was a special night,” Olaroiu said afterwards with the adrenaline and emotion still coursing through his body.
“I thank the players, the fans, and all the members of the Sharjah club. We deserve to reach this stage.”
Having been confirmed as the next UAE boss, as the nation tries to qualify for its first FIFA World Cup since 1990 — qualification for which, ironically, was sealed in Singapore — a continental title would be a fitting way to bow out, but the announcement of his appointment last month may have proved something of a distraction.
In seven games, across the UAE Pro League and President’s Cup, since his announcement, Sharjah have won just once; a 4-0 win over Ajman. They come into Sunday’s game on the back of four straight defeats, their most recent loss coming at home to Al-Ain earlier this week.
It is far from ideal preparation, but if there is one man that can help turn their fortunes around, it is the veteran Romanian who has proved a master at motivating his players and leading them to success.
Signing off with a continental title would be just reward for someone who has given so much to club football across Asia.
Mahuchikh hopes to show Ukraine’s resilience in Tokyo
TOKYO: Olympic high jump champion Yaroslava Mahuchikh said Saturday she wants to “show people that Ukraine continues fighting” as she seeks to lay down a marker in Tokyo ahead of September’s world championships.
The 23-year-old is competing in Sunday’s Golden Grand Prix in the Japanese capital at the same stadium where she will attempt to defend her world title later this year.
Mahuchikh has emerged as one of Ukraine’s top athletes since Russia invaded the country in 2022.
She set a world record of 2.10m last year before winning gold at the Paris Games.
She said: “every competition is important for me because I represent my country.”
“I do my best to show people that Ukraine continues fighting for independence,” she said.
“I’m really proud to represent my country so I’m looking forward to coming back in September to protect my title of world champion.”
Mahuchikh has been outspoken in her support of Ukraine, dedicating her Olympic gold to the hundreds of athletes and coaches who have been killed since the invasion began.
Her country was again in her thoughts as she set her sights on defending her world title.
“Of course, I have a target to win the gold medal,” she said.
“I want to just give my people a happy time because, unfortunately, now is a difficult time — only sport and art can give these memories.”
Mahuchikh is competing in Tokyo for the first time since the pandemic-postponed Olympics in 2021, where she won bronze.
She has since gone from strength to strength, capturing the world title in Budapest in 2023 and Olympic gold a year later.
She said she wanted to savour the atmosphere in Tokyo after fans were locked out four years ago because of pandemic restrictions.
“I want to give the energy to the people, to my fans because I didn’t have time in Covid time to enjoy this atmosphere,” she said.
“Tomorrow it will be an incredible atmosphere for sure. It will be a great preparation before the world championships in September.”
American sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson, who won Olympic silver in Paris, will race for the first time this season in the women’s 100m in Tokyo.
American Christian Coleman headlines the men’s 100m race.
