CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
Celtic and Arsenal will battle for a place in the lucrative Champions League group stages today in a mouthwatering playoff clash.
Both teams are among the 20 who will be hoping to emerge victorious from a two-leg tie that will allow them to join the 22 automatic qualifiers in the group stage, the draw for which will be held in just over two weeks.
Scottish Premier League runners-up Celtic warmed up for the match with Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal at Parkhead by beating Aberdeen away 3-1 on Saturday, while Wenger’s men hammered Everton 6-1 in their English Premier League opener in Liverpool.
Arsenal go into today’s clash as the overriding favorites and, having experienced their ruthless efficiency at close hand, Everton manager David Moyes suggested Celtic would have to perform formidably at the back as well as up front if they were to limit the damage.
“Arsenal have got a real capability of scoring on the counterattack,” the Scot said. “Every time we had a shot at goal and we let it go from the goalkeeper’s arms, they nearly scored at the other end. I was nearly hoping that more shots were going to fly past the post.”
Celtic’s new manager Tony Mowbray has seen his side show their character at this early stage of the season.
The Hoops fought back from a 1-0 first-leg defeat at home in the third round of qualifying to beat Dynamo Moscow 2-0 in Russia, a result which secured their place in the playoff.
Celtic striker Aiden McGeady, who grabbed a brace on Saturday, admitted it would be a tough 90 minutes, but he believed the hosts should face Spanish ace Cesc Fabregas and company with plenty of faith in their abilities.
“We know we are the underdogs and they are obviously the favorites, but they are definitely beatable,” the Republic of Ireland midfielder said. “A lot of teams in the Premier League beat them last season by getting in and around them, and not letting them play, and that’s something we have to do on Tuesday night.”
Sporting, who finished runners-up in Portugal last season, will be looking to be more prolific at home if they are to achieve their aim of appearing in the group stages for a sixth time against Fiorentina of Italy.
In the first leg of their qualifying round, Paulo Bento’s side advanced on the away goals rule after a 1-1 draw with Dutch side FC Twente, who had held the Portuguese to a scoreless draw in Lisbon.
VfB Stuttgart are aiming for their third appearance in the group stage, but will do so against Champions League newcomers Timisoara of Romania without midfielder Martin Lanig.
He suffered cruciate ligament damage to his right knee in the 4-2 victory against Freiburg on Saturday, joining Christian Trasch on the injury sidelines after he broke a wrist last week.
Greek side Olympiakos will travel to Sheriff in Moldova in determined mood having failed to reach the group stages last season after being ousted by Cypriot side Anorthosis Famagusta.
Olympiakos are now coached by Anorthosis’ former coach Temuri Ketsbaia.
Having taken Anorthosis to the Champions League group stages last year where they finished bottom of Group B, Ketsbaia may look on with a little interest when another Cypriot team, Apoel FC, travel to Denmark to face FC Copenhagen.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but