COPPA ITALIA
Motta stars in shoot-out
SS Lazio’s 21-year-old goalkeeper Edoardo Motta on Wednesday saved four consecutive spot-kicks as the Roman club beat Atalanta BC in a penalty shoot-out to reach the Coppa Italia final. The score was 1-1 after extra-time. The first leg ended 2-2. Motta — who joined Lazio in January — stopped shots from Gianluca Scamacca, Davide Zappacosta, Mario Pasalic and Charles de Ketelaere as Lazio won the shoot-out 2-1, with Gustav Isaksen and Kenneth Taylor converting for the visitors. Lazio face Serie A leaders Inter in the May 13 final.
Photo: EPA
LA LIGA
Barcelona beat Celta
Barcelona on Wednesday restored their nine-point lead over Real Madrid in the Spanish league with a 1-0 win over RC Celta de Vigo during which Lamine Yamal and Joao Cancelo were injured before halftime. Yamal was hurt while converting a penalty that secured Barcelona’s eighth straight league victory. Spain forward Yamal, 18, and Portugal defender Cancelo, 27, had to be replaced with apparent muscle ailments. There were no immediate details about the severity of their injuries. Elsewhere, Atletico Madrid’s league struggles continued with a 3-2 loss against Elche, their fourth consecutive match without a victory in the competition, while Getafe moved into sixth place with their seventh win in 10 matches, beating Real Sociedad 1-0 and keeping them in eighth.
FRANCE
Kvaratskhelia leads PSG
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia on Wednesday scored twice as Paris Saint-Germain won 3-0 in Ligue 1 over relegation-threatened Nantes. PSG’s home win kept them four points above Lens with four rounds of the French league remaining. Kvaratskhelia opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the 13th minute. It was awarded after a video check penalized Nantes defender Frederic Guilbert for handball because Marquinhos’ header brushed against his arm. Desire Doue made it 2-0 in the 37th minute after Achraf Hakimi played him through before he left fly with a fierce strike from a difficult angle inside the far corner. Kvaratskhelia grabbed his second after the break, shimmying past two defenders and poking the ball past Anthony Lopes. In the Coupe de France, Strasbourg advanced to the final with a 2-0 win over visiting Nice. Strasbourg are to play Lens in the May 22 decider at the Stade de France after Lens defeated Toulouse 4-1 in the first semi-final on Tuesday.
DFB-POKAL
Bayern make final
Harry Kane and Luis Diaz on Wednesday fired Bayern Munich into the final with a 2-0 win against Bayer 04 Leverkusen. Kane’s first-half strike — his 52nd goal of the season across all competitions for his club — and a goal from Diaz in stoppage-time were enough for Bayern to advance to the final against VfB Stuttgart or SC Freiburg at the Olympiastadion in Berlin on May 23. Defending champions Stuttgart were to play Freiburg after press time last night.
After letting another big lead slip with an error-strewn performance at the French Open on Wednesday, top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka felt like getting as far away from the courts as possible. “Just want to quit tennis right now,” Sabalenka said after wasting a lead of a set and two breaks in a 3-6, 7-5, 6-0 loss to Diana Shnaider in the women’s singles quarter-finals. “We’ll see in few days. Hopefully I’ll get back on track mentally.” Sabalenka’s wait for a first French Open title continues despite the four-time major winner leading 4-1 in the second set and being two points from victory while
BIG NAMES GONE: Zverev is the clear favorite for a maiden Grand Slam title, reaching semi-finals for the fifth time in six years and finishing second on three occasions Alexander Zverev on Tuesday breezed past Rafael Jodar to stay on course for an elusive Grand Slam title at the French Open, while Jakub Mensik halted Joao Fonseca’s scintillating run in the quarter-finals. Zverev, the highest-ranked player left in the men’s draw, put an end to Spanish teenager Jodar’s impressive Roland Garros debut, easing into the semi-finals with a 7-6, (7/3), 6-1, 6-3 win. The 29-year-old Zverev is the clear favorite for a maiden Grand Slam title. He has finished runner-up on three occasions, including at the 2024 French Open. “I want to win the matches that are ahead of
For some, Cristiano Ronaldo remains the essential spearhead for Portugal’s FIFA World Cup bid, while others believe his presence would prevent Roberto Martinez’s strong side from flourishing. The debate around the five-time Ballon d’Or winner rages on, as it did at UEFA Euro 2024 and four years ago in Qatar — yet Ronaldo endures, ready to play in a record sixth World Cup. The 41-year-old remains a global superstar despite swapping the European elite for Saudi Arabia’s Al-Nassr, and is the leading men’s international goalscorer with 143 strikes. With 25 of those coming in 30 games under Martinez, the coach
Taiwanese sprinter Chen Yi-cen on Friday won the silver medal in the women’s 400m final at the Asian U20 Athletics Championships in Hong Kong, with a time of 53.16 seconds. Chen, 15, was the youngest among the eight finalists, and her performance also met the qualifying standard of 53.50 seconds for the Nagoya Asian Games in Japan in September and October. Chen first made her mark at the National Games in Tainan in 2023, at the age of 13, winning the women’s 400m final in 55.55 seconds to become the youngest gold medalist in the history of the event. Meanwhile,
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