Meike Wittke

31/05/2024

Great Britain's Matthew Hudson-Smith beat his own 400m European record with a convincing victory in his season opener at the Diamond League in Oslo.

The 29-year-old ran 44.07 at the Bislett Games, beating his 44.26 from last year's World Athletics Championships in Budapest.

"Preparation has been going well," he told BBC Sport. "I knew anything was possible. The time was a bonus.

21/05/2024

Cristiano Ronaldo is set to play in his 11th major international tournament, having been named in the Portugal squad for Euro 2024.

The 39-year-old Al-Nassr forward is the most capped player in international football history, with 206 appearances for Portugal and 128 goals.

Portugal boss Roberto Martinez included Ronaldo as one of seven forward players in his 26-man squad for next month's tournament in Germany.

Martinez said at a news conference that Ronaldo continued to offer "a quality in front of goal which we greatly appreciate and which we need".

Ronaldo made his tournament debut at Euro 2004 when Portugal reached the final on home soil, but lost to Greece.

The five-time Ballon d'Or winner helped Portugal win Euro 2016 - his only major silverware at international level - and the Nations League in 2018–19.

There are nine players from Premier League clubs in Martinez's squad, with Wolves trio Jose Sa, Nelson Semedo and Pedro Neto all making the cut.

Also in the squad from the English top flight are Manchester United duo Bruno Fernandes and Diogo Dalot, Manchester City pair Bernardo Silva and Ruben Dias, Fulham's Joao Palhinha and Liverpool's Diogo Jota.

Martinez also selected veteran defender Pepe, 41, along with his 21-year-old Porto team-mate Francisco Conceicao.

Winger Conceicao, the son of ex-Portugal international Sergio, won his first senior international cap against Slovenia in March.

Portugal play Czech Republic in their Group F opener on 18 June before fixtures against Turkey and Georgia.

25/04/2024

Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes led from the front to ensure another chaotic performance eventually ended in victory against relegation-threatened Sheffield United at Old Trafford.

With the visitors taking the lead twice, Erik ten Hag's side were staring at a humiliating loss to a side who have won just three times this season.

But Fernandes levelled from the penalty spot before driving Manchester United in front from 25 yards nine minutes from time.

The Portuguese created a first goal since February for striker Rasmus Hojlund four minutes later to move his side up to sixth spot and earn praise from his manager.

"He showed his leadership," said Ten Hag.

"He tried to encourage the team and he is also in good form. We put him in the right position and when he is there, he makes the right decisions.

"He can create a lot, score, assist and make key actions. We are very happy with his performance and his attitude."

Fernandes has now scored seven goals and collected two assists in Manchester United's past five games.

In total, there have been 27 goals in that period. Manchester United have conceded and scored at least two in all of those games.

In entertainment terms, it is sensational. However, there is zero sense of structure and it can only be wondered what new technical director Jason Wilcox made of it as he watched from the Old Trafford directors' box for the first time since his appointment was confirmed last week.

Ten Hag had railed against the media the day before the game, labelling critical coverage of his side's FA Cup semi-final victory on penalties over Coventry "embarrassing" and "a disgrace" - but his team failed to follow up by convincing on the pitch.

Without a win since February, Sheffield United led twice, through Jayden Bogle in the first-half and Ben Brereton Diaz in the second.

Harry Maguire's deft header pulled the home side level on the first occasion, before Fernandes took control.

25/04/2024

08/04/2024

he Champions League returns this week with Manchester City once again having to find a way past La Liga leaders Real Madrid.

These two sides have met in the knockout stages in three of the past four seasons, including at the semi-final stage in 2022 and 2023.

The first leg of their quarter-final takes place at the Santiago Bernabeu on Tuesday, 9 April before the second at Etihad Stadium on 17 April.

City won 4-2 on aggregate in the last 16 in 2020, Real triumphed 6-5 on aggregate after extra time in a thrilling semi-final in 2022, but Pep Guardiola got his revenge last year with a crushing 5-1 aggregate success, including a 4-0 second-leg thrashing, before City beat Inter Milan 1-0 in the final.

Can anyone stop City retaining the Champions League this year?

For our experts on BBC Radio 5 Live's Euro Leagues podcast, the answer is a resounding 'no'.

21/03/2024

Joe Gomez says linking back up with England has closed a chapter on the "psychological toll" he suffered when he last reported for Three Lions duty.

The Liverpool defender, 26, suffered a season-ending knee injury during England training in November 2020.

Gomez could feature for Gareth Southgate's team for the first time since October 2020 when Brazil visit Wembley for a friendly on Saturday.

"Getting out in the warm-up, it was nice to close that chapter," he said.

Gomez underwent surgery on his left knee tendon, external after the injury which ruled him out for the rest of the 2020-21 campaign.

Speaking on Wednesday about the events back then, he added: "I'd be lying if it didn't have a psychological toll.

"I left the training pitch in an ambulance. Leaving and not getting a chance to come back was tough to deal with. It's nice to get back in the mix and close that chapter.

"At the time I was 22, being away for so long, naturally everyone gets older. You get a different outlook and perspective. You've got to be grateful to be here."

15/03/2024

Real Madrid have filed a complaint with the Spanish legal authorities after their striker Vinicius Jr suffered "racist and hateful insults" this week.

A video on social media appears to show Atletico Madrid fans chanting a racist slur before their Champions League game with Inter Milan.

Real allege there were similar chants from Barcelona fans before their encounter against Napoli on Tuesday.

Spain's La Liga said they will also report the incident.

A statement from Real Madrid said: "Real Madrid has filed a complaint with the Attorney General's Office against hate crimes and discrimination, for the racist and hateful insults directed towards our player Vinicius Jr in the vicinity of the Olympic Stadium of Montjuic and the Metropolitan Stadium of Madrid.

"Real Madrid condemns these violent attacks of racism, discrimination and hatred that have been taking place, unfortunately repeatedly, against our player Vinicius Jr.

"Our club will continue to work in defence of the values of football and sport, and will remain firm in its fight for zero tolerance in the face of such disgusting episodes as those that continue to occur in recent times."

Los Blancos say they have also requested security footage to be assessed to identify the perpetrators.

Vinicius had responded to the video on X, saying: "I hope you have already thought about their punishment Uefa.

"It's a sad reality that [it] even happens in games where I'm not present!"

Vinicius, 23, has suffered racial abuse on several occasions across Spain in the last three years.

After Real's derby win away over Atletico in September 2022, Atletico condemned "unacceptable" chants by a "minority" of fans towards Vinicius outside their stadium before the game.

Last June, four men were fined 60,001 euros (£51,700) and given a two-year stadium ban for hanging an effigy of Vinicius near Real's training ground in January 2023.

On the same day, three other people were fined 5,000 euros (£4,300) and banned for one year for making racist gestures during Real's game at Valencia last May.

This season there were reports of more racist abuse towards Vinicius as Real played at Sevilla in October, at Barcelona the following week and at Valencia earlier this month.

29/02/2024

Al-Nassr forward Cristiano Ronaldo has been banned for one match for "provoking fans" following the Saudi Pro League win over Al-Shabab.

Al Shabab supporters chanted "Messi" - Ronaldo's long-term rival Lionel Messi - after Sunday's 3-2 defeat in Riyadh.

Portugal captain Ronaldo, 39, cupped his hand to his ear and made a gesture to the fans.

He has also been fined 30,000 Saudi Riyals (£6,300) by the Saudi Arabian Football Federation (SAFF).

The SAFF disciplinary and ethics committee said Ronaldo cannot appeal against the decision.

Ronaldo opened the scoring from the penalty spot, but Al-Shabab twice came from behind before Talisca scored an 87th-minute winner.

Ronaldo joined Al-Nassr on a free transfer from Manchester United in December 2022 for reportedly the biggest football salary in history.

He has scored 20 goals in 22 league games this season for Al-Nassr, who are second in the table behind Al-Hilal.

22/02/2024

The stats may make nervy reading after defeat at Porto in the Champions League last 16, but Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta insists his side will "learn" before the second leg in north London.

The Gunners lost in stoppage time thanks to Galeno's superb strike but Arteta remains confident Arsenal will prevail in the tie.

Arsenal have not reached the quarter-final stage since 2009-10 and have won the first leg in just one of their last 12 two-legged knockout ties in the competition (drawing two and losing nine).

They are also competing in the Champions League for the first time since 2017 and looked far short of their free-flowing best at the Estadio do Dragao.

13/02/2024

Almeria set a record for the longest winless start to a La Liga season with a 0-0 draw against Athletic Bilbao.

The draw means Almeria remain bottom of the table with seven points after 24 games and are 13 points from safety.

Monday's result also saw them equal Levante's 27-match record winless run in La Liga. Almeria's barren streak includes games at the end of last term.

Almeria held on for their point despite playing the final 37 minutes with 10 men after Largie Ramazani's red card.

Derby County hold the record for the worst season in the history of Europe's big five leagues with 11 points in the 2007-08 Premier League campaign.

Bilbao remain fifth in La Liga after picking up a point on Monday and are two points adrift of Atletico Madrid in fourth.

06/02/2024

A man has been jailed after raking in tens of thousands of pounds selling unlawful subscriptions to watch football matches online.

As well as his 12-month sentence, Paul Merrell, 42, must pay back £91,243 after a confiscation order was secured against him at Birmingham Crown Court.

A hearing on Friday was told he had derived substantial income from illegal Premier League streams under the banner of "Media Maverick".

His operation made use of Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) technology which allows programmes and movies to be distributed via broadband. But illicit pre-loaded boxes have come on to the black market, prompting a major crackdown by authorities.

Merrell, from Sutton Coldfield in Birmingham, was convicted of copyright crimes committed between 2017 and 2021.

It followed a joint investigation by the Federation Against Copyright Theft (Fact) and Birmingham City Council’s trading standards department.

For a fee, Merrell's customers were provided with online access to stream premium television content including Premier League matches.

The court heard Merrell also acted as a reseller for infamous TV fraud gang "Flawless".

Five of its ringleaders were jailed in May last year for running an operation that received more than £7m from 50,000 subscribers.

24/01/2024

Angola beat Burkina Faso 2-0 to clinch top spot in Group D at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast.

Mabululu headed in Fredy's free-kick nine minutes before the break to put the Palancas Negras ahead.

Burkina Faso winger Dango Ouattara forced a save from Neblu but Zine made sure of the points with a close-range finish in stoppage time.

Both sides had been certain of progress before kick-off because of other results in the final round of games.

Burkina Faso ended their group campaign in second place after Mauritania eliminated Algeria by beating the 2019 champions 1-0.

Angola will face a third-placed side from Group E or F in the last 16 on Saturday, while Burkina Faso will take on the Group E winners next Tuesday.