New Real Madrid coach Bernd Schuster can do no wrong at the moment with the champions starting with a perfect two wins and playing the sort of exhilarating soccer that his predecessor Fabio Capello could not provide.
A maximum six points and seven goals scored represents a dream start for Schuster who had initially come under fire following an indifferent pre-season and a humiliating Super Cup defeat to Sevilla.
But that is all forgotten now and Schuster will hope the international break has not disrupted his team's rhythm as they look to continue their 100 percent start in today's home match against promoted Almeria.
With just two games gone the Spanish league table has a familiar look to it with champions Real leading the 20-strong pack while arch rivals Barcelona lie third two points adrift.
Barcelona travel to Osasuna tomorrow aiming to build on their impressive 3-1 win over Athletic Bilbao last time out.
Barcelona were in fine form that night but their result was eclipsed by Real whose 5-0 rout of Villarreal represented their biggest away win in over a decade and this week club president Ramon Calderon went as far as saying Real are currently the best team in Europe.
"Right now Real Madrid is the best team in Europe. We may not have the best players but we have the best team on the continent," Calderon enthused.
Dutch international Wesley Sneijder, who inherited David Beckham's number 23 shirt, has been the star of the season so far scoring three goals to help power Real to the summit.
Sneijder is already coming to terms with the inevitable comparisons to dead-ball specialist Beckham but says he is his own man.
Taiwan’s top male badminton player, Chou Tien-chen, on Saturday bowed out in the men’s singles semi-finals at the Thailand Open after losing in straight games to Thailand’s Kunlavut Vitidsarn. The world No. 6 Chou, seeded fourth at the Super 500 tournament, lost to the world No. 2 Thai 21-7, 21-19 in 53 minutes. The victory improved Vitidsarn’s head-to-head record against Chou to 3-5. Chou, 36, trailed throughout the opening game after the score was tied 2-2. His relatively passive approach allowed the 25-year-old Thai to capitalize on Chou’s defensive clears with powerful smashes while committing few unforced errors. The Taiwanese
FRUSTRATION: Gauff smacked herself on the head with her racket before storming down the tunnel, emerging afterward to have a heated discussion with her coach Elina Svitolina on Saturday won the Italian Open after beating Coco Gauff 6-4, 6-7 (3/7), 6-2 to claim her third Rome title, while Jannik Sinner set a date with Casper Ruud in the men’s final. Ukraine’s Svitolina had not claimed a WTA 1000 title since her last victory at the Foro Italico eight years ago, but prevailed over the ever-erratic Gauff to claim her 20th tournament triumph. Saturday’s win over Gauff was her third in a row against a player in the top four of the world rankings — including Iga Swiatek and Elena Rybakina — ahead of the French
West Ham United’s 3-1 defeat at Newcastle United on Sunday left Tottenham Hotspur realistically only needing one more point to win the battle for English Premier League survival, while Bruno Fernandes made history in Manchester United’s 3-2 win over Nottingham Forest. Spurs can avoid dropping out of the English top flight for the first time in nearly 50 years with victory at Chelsea today, but a draw would also likely suffice thanks to their much superior goal-difference over West Ham. “Overall bad performance. Too many things [went wrong], I think we gifted them the goals,” West Ham head caoch Nuno Espirito Santo
Jannik Sinner has his eyes on a first Roland Garros title after winning the Italian Open on Sunday to claim a record-extending sixth consecutive Masters 1000 tournament victory. World No. 1 Sinner beat Casper Ruud 6-4, 6-4 to complete the “Golden Masters” by winning all of the ATP’s top-ranked events, in the process becoming the first Italian men’s champion in Rome since Adriano Panatta 50 years ago. Only Novak Djokovic had previously won all nine Masters 1000 events before Sunday, but there was little doubt about Sinner triumphing over the past 10 days. Sinner heads to Roland Garros, which starts at the weekend,
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