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SERIE A: LUKAKU, MARTINEZ LEADS INTER TO 10TH STRAIGHT WIN

Internazionale moved 11 points clear at the top of Serie A as Romelu Lukaku and Lautaro Martinez struck in a 2-1 win over Sassuolo on Wednesday, the runaway leaders’ 10th consecutive league victory.

Belgium striker Lukaku guided a header into the top corner in the first half before his Argentine partner finished off a counter-attack to continue the Nerazzurri’s charge towards the title

Sassuolo dominated possession at San Siro but were frustrated by a stubborn home defence until Hamed Traore curled home a superb finish five minutes from time.

“It was very important for us, to climb up the table and increase the gap,” Martinez said after the match. “At the start of the second half of the season we had a talk, and now we’re doing everything that the coach wants.”

With nine matches left, Inter are firmly on course to win their first Serie A title since 2010 with 71 points, 11 ahead of second-placed AC Milan. Sassuolo remained ninth with 40 points.

The fixture was postponed on March 20 after a COVID-19 outbreak in the Inter squad.

The rescheduled date gave Antonio Conte’s side a chance to stretch their lead, and they wasted little time as Lukaku’s glancing header found the top corner from Ashley Young’s cross after 10 minutes.

Jeremie Boga was denied by a last-ditch Milan Skriniar block and Pedro Obiang’s shot was held at the second time of asking by Samir Handanovic, but the visitors could not make their 68% possession count.

The hosts hit on the counter for their second after 67 minutes, as Lukaku found Martinez with a pass and the striker arrowed a shot home.

Sassuolo found a way back into the match in style when Traore struck a half volley into the top corner.

Inter went close to a late third as Sassuolo pushed for an equaliser, substitute Alexis Sanchez’s lob landing on the roof of the net and Lukaku having an effort disallowed for offside.

Conte led the Juventus to the first three titles of their nine-year run, before taking over the Inter job in 2019 with the aim of shifting the balance of power back to Milan.

“To think that in two years we have made up so many points on the dominant force of the league for the last nine years, I could not have imagined it in my wildest dreams,” Conte said.

“It does not mean we are better than Juve, who have a very strong team. We rolled up our sleeves and started to work in an important way towards an objective, to be credible.

“The league was always dominated by one team and we have managed to change that. That has motivated us a lot, it was a boost for everyone, especially for the many guys who are fighting for this goal for the first time.

“Last year we played in a Europa League final, now we are aiming to achieve the maximum objective.”
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CHELSEA PUNISH WASTEFUL PORTO TO PUT ONE FOOT IN UCL SEMIS

A classy goal from Mason Mount on Wednesday helped Chelsea to a 2-0 first-leg win over Porto, whose wasteful finishing could have scuppered their hopes of springing another Champions League upset in the quarter-finals.

Mount’s slick turn and shot in the first half would have been painful enough for Porto, who were the better side for large spells of this first leg in Seville but repeatedly lacked the precision to take advantage.

Instead, their misery was compounded by Ben Chilwell capitalising on a mistake at the back to score a late second that gave Chelsea another away goal and leaves them on the brink of the semi-finals.

They were away goals only in name given both these teams were playing in the unfamiliar Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, where they will meet again next week, just with the home and away roles reversed.

Porto were in the home dug-out, wore their home kit, had a large club banner in the empty stand behind one goal and their anthem was the one that played out before kick-off.

And Chelsea played the part too, delivering a classic away performance of soaking up the pressure and hitting their opponents on the counter-attack, their quality in the final third proving decisive.

Real Madrid could lie in wait for the victors, after they beat Liverpool 3-1 on Tuesday.

Chelsea’s win also goes some way to easing the shock of Saturday’s 5-2 loss at home to West Brom in the Premier League, which ended Thomas Tuchel’s 14-match unbeaten start as coach.

Tuchel decided Thiago Silva’s 29 minutes before being sent off in that game were not enough to hone his sharpness, meaning Andreas Christensen was picked in the back three.

And Antonio Rudiger also returned, despite his training ground scuffle with Kepa Arrizabalaga on Sunday, which Tuchel described as a “serious situation”.

Porto were regarded as the plum draw in the last eight, despite seeing off Cristiano Ronaldo and Juventus in the last 16, their task made harder this time by the suspensions of Mehdi Taremi and top scorer Sergio Oliveira.

But they were the aggressors from the outset, with Chelsea surrendering the ball and the chances.

Porto had six shots to Chelsea’s one before half-time, with Mateus Uribe grazing the top of the net with an early volley and the excellent Otavio almost catching Edouard Mendy out with a corner before Zaidu Sanusi smashed over the rebound.

Chelsea, though, showed them what ruthlessness looked like when Jorginho fired a pass into Mount on the edge of the area inside the right channel. Mount took it on his back foot and twisted away from the sliding Zaidu, before firing a cool finish into the far corner.

Porto kept coming in the second half and kept missing too. Moussa Marega snuck in but his shot was saved by the feet of Mendy before Jesus Corona feathered Luis Diaz through but he took too long. Diaz curled wide after a good run by Wilson Manafa.

Chelsea absorbed them and then hit them with a sucker-punch, Mateo Kovacic’s ball over the top miscontrolled by Corona, allowing Chilwell to steam clear, round the goalkeeper and finish.

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UCL: MBAPPE ON THE DOUBLE AS PSG BEAT BAYERN 3-2 IN QUARTER FINAL FIRST LEG

Kylian Mbappe scored twice as Paris Saint-Germain beat Bayern Munich 3-2 in a thrilling first leg of their Champions League quarterfinal tie in Munich on Wednesday.

Mbappe’s goals bracketed strikes from Marquinhos, Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting and Thomas Muller to give the defending champions — who were without star striker Robert Lewandowski — a steep hill to climb for the return leg in Paris next week.

PSG went ahead just three minutes after the opening whistle with a quick counter-attack that the excellent Mbappe finished off after Neymar rolled the ball into his path on the right.

The visitors had the goal in the net in the 12th minute through Julian Draxler, but the side judge rightly ruled Mbappe offside in the build up.

PSG went two goals in front after 28 minutes when Marquinhos settled and stroked home from a smart Neymar pass that caught the Bayern back line out of position.

Bayern, who’d peppered PSG with shots all night, got a deserved goal through Choupo-Moting in the 37th minute, and tied the game in the 60th minute with a characteristic Muller header in the box.

Mbappe, though, put the Parisians ahead for good eight minutes later with a fine individual effort from another counter-attack — the World Cup winner cutting in from the left and beating Manuel Neuer at the near post.

The goals marked the young France international’s seventh in the Champions League knockout stages, passing Zlatan Ibrahimovic for the most in PSG history. The brace — his third in the UCL knockouts — also tied Borussia Dortmund’s Erling Haaland for the second most by a player before turning 23 in the competition’s history. Lionel Messi had four such games.

“It was a difficult game against the best team in Europe right now,” Mbappe said after the match. “But it is just the first game. [Next week] we have to play with confidence and play again like a team.”

“It was a superb team performance above all, and I benefited from that. We suffered, but we suffered as a team.”

Bayern’s Muller rued the number of missed chances after the game.

“We should have scored far more goals,” Mueller said. “Of course, we can talk about conceding goals, but if you win 6-3 or 5-3 then no one can complain.

“If we had shown the killer instinct that characterises us then it would have been a different game.”
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KELVIN DE BRUYNE SIGNS MAN CITY CONTRACT EXTENSION TILL 2025

Manchester City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne has signed a two-year contract extension that will keep him at the club until 2025.

The Belgium international, whose existing deal was due to expire in 2023, is 30 in June and now looks set to see out most of the remainder of his career at the Etihad Stadium.

De Bruyne has had a glittering spell since joining the club from Wolfsburg in 2015, winning seven major trophies, which could become 11 by the end of the season if City are successful in their hunt for the quadruple.

But, ominously for the rest of Europe, he reckons the best is yet to come for himself and Pep Guardiola’s team.

“I could not be happier. Since joining City in 2015, I have felt at home,” he said. “I love the fans, my family are settled here in Manchester and my own game has developed really well.

“This football club is geared for success. It offers me everything I need to maximise my performance, so signing this contract was a straightforward decision.

“I am playing the best football of my career and I honestly feel there is more to come.

“Pep and I see football in the same way. Having that relationship with a manager is so important to me because our objectives are totally aligned, and we want the same things.

“My focus now is on ensuring we have a successful end to the current campaign. Our results and performances so far have been excellent, but we need to make sure we end the season with the silverware we deserve.”

De Bruyne, who was named as the Professional Footballers’ Association’s player of the year in 2020, is having another impressive campaign, with seven goals and 16 assists, and director of football Txiki Begiristain knows they have one of the best footballers in the world.

Begiristain said: “This is a very significant moment for this football club. Kevin is, without question, one of the best players in world football.

“His performance level has been remarkably consistent since coming to City, and in the last few years he has developed into one of the game’s elite players.

“His talent is unquestionable – but he is also a consummate professional whose dedication to Manchester City during his time here has been nothing short of remarkable. He constantly seeks to improve, and his approach is the perfect blueprint for any young player looking to carve out a career.

“We are delighted he is our player and I look forward to watching him during his peak years here at Manchester City.”

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CHAMPIONS LEAGUE COME BACK DIFFICULT IN AN EMPTY ANFIELD – KLOPP

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp insists his side are not ‘comeback kings’ and turning around their Champions League fortunes will not be easy – especially at an empty Anfield.

A 3-1 defeat to Real Madrid in the quarter-final first leg immediately led to parallels with what they did to Barcelona in the 2019 semi-final second leg when they won 4-0 to turn around a 3-0 deficit from the Nou Camp.

That paved the way for them to win a sixth European Cup but it was achieved in an electric atmosphere at a packed Anfield which will go down as one of the greatest nights in the club’s history.

Next Wednesday they must do something similar, with the away goal helping slightly, but behind closed doors.

“Of course, it is completely different. Completely different,” said Klopp.

“If you want to have some emotional memories, then you watch the Barcelona game back and 80 per cent of this game was the atmosphere in the stadium, so yes, we have to do it without that.

“But it is not that I sit here and think, ‘Comebacks are our thing, we do it all the time’. We did from time to time but we always had supporters in the stadium.

“We don’t have that this time so I don’t know if we can do it, but I can promise you we will give it a proper try.

“It must be a really tricky task for Real Madrid at Anfield with or without supporters.

“This here (at the Alfredo Di Stefano Stadium inside Madrid’s club’s training ground) was really strange.

“It was really difficult, a different situation with the stadium, but Anfield is at least a proper stadium and that will be good for us.”

In a season of ups and downs, a week ago the most likely route back into the Champions League next season for Liverpool looked like coming from winning the competition itself.

However, a win over Arsenal and other results going their way has put the top four back within reach as they sit just three points adrift of West Ham, who occupy fourth place, with only one of their remaining eight games against a team (Manchester United) higher than ninth.

But Klopp said it was not realistic to just flip-flop between prioritising competitions.

“We cannot be picky with that, we have to go for everything,” he added.

“It’s not like we can now make the decision after that game there is no chance for us in the Champions League any more.

“In the Premier League, we cannot change it every week – we have to fight until the end and we will.

“This was a really good result for Real Madrid and it’s not that we have any kind of advantage, but with each day and each minute that will go until the next game the 3-1 will not be that good any more for Real Madrid and not that bad any more for us because there is, of course, a chance.

“But we have to play much better football (and) we cannot get it like tonight. For example, when we played against Barcelona and lost (the first leg) 3-0 we played a super game. That’s a massive difference.

“We can play much better (than against Madrid) and we can be much more uncomfortable to play against than we were and that’s what we have to make sure next week.

“Now we have to recover first and then concentrate on Aston Villa, which is for us a very important game, not only because of the results we had recently or in this season against them.”

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ARSENAL AND SCOTLAND’S KIERAN TIERNEY’S OUT FOR SIX WEEKS

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has refused to say whether Kieran Tierney will play again this season after he suffered knee ligament damage during Saturday’s Premier League defeat to Liverpool.

The Scotland full-back limped off before half-time and the club announced on Wednesday that he may be sidelined for up to six weeks.

But speaking ahead of Thursday’s Europa League quarter-final first-leg tie at home to Slavia Prague, Arteta would not be drawn on when he believes Tierney will return.

“We have to make sure first that he doesn’t need any surgery, which it doesn’t look like,” he said.

“The timeframe will be that (up to six weeks). It could have been worse because the action looks quite scary, but he looks a bit better and the damage was not that bad, so at the end of the day it is not the bad news we could have been waiting for.

“We are going to have to go day by day and see how Kieran is feeling, then when he gets close to playing time and how he is feeling we will make that decision.”

Asked if he thinks Tierney will be fit for Scotland at the rearranged European Championship finals, Arteta added: “It will depend how things evolve again in the next few weeks.”

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LOANEE CRAIG DAWSON TO JOIN WESTHAM ON A PERMANENT DEAL

West Ham have announced that their on-loan defender Craig Dawson will join the club on a permanent deal from Watford at the end of the season.

The 30-year-old moved to the Hammers on loan in October and has scored three goals in 15 Premier League appearances this term.

He will remain at London Stadium until the summer of 2023.

“Coming to West Ham has been a great move for myself, and it is a privilege to play for a club with such rooted traditions,” Dawson told West Ham’s website.

“The squad has a real togetherness, team spirit and great quality. I’m excited for what my future at the club may hold and the potential for what we as a club can go on to achieve.”

West Ham are in contention for Champions League qualification and sit fourth in the table following Monday’s 3-2 win at Wolves.

Dawson, who played for Rochdale, West Brom and Bolton earlier in his career, had to wait until late December for his Hammers debut but has since been ever-present in the top flight.

Manager David Moyes said: “Craig’s performances, attitude and the impact he’s had demonstrate why he deserves a permanent deal.

“He had to be patient but he’s come in and grabbed his opportunity with both hands. We are always looking to improve the squad and Craig joining us permanently certainly does that.”

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JURGEN KLOPP ACCEPTS DEFEAT BUT CRITICISES REFEREE OVER SADIO MANE CALL

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp admits his side got what they deserved in a 3-1 quarter-final first leg defeat to Real Madrid which leaves their Champions League hopes hanging by a thread.

However, he took a bizarre swipe at referee Felix Brych for having what he claimed was a personal issue with Sadio Mane after the German official ruled the Senegal international had not been fouled by Lucas Vazquez on the edge of the penalty area as he ran through on goal.

Mohamed Salah’s 26th goal in 44 Champions League matches had given the Reds a vital away goal and brought the score back to 2-1 early in the second half after a dreadful first 45 minutes saw them concede to Vinicius Junior and Marco Asensio.

But they conceded another to Vinicius to leave them with a tough task at a fan-less Anfield next week.

“First and foremost I don’t think we deserved to win tonight, we didn’t play good enough and that is my first concern,” said Klopp.

“Especially in the first half we didn’t play good enough football. We conceded the first goal, served the second on a plate (after Trent Alexander-Arnold’s mistake), but that was not the real problem of the game.

“Of course conceding goals is a problem but it is not the problem. The second half we did better, we scored our goal which is the positive of the night and that’s how it is.

“Did we deserve more than the 3-1? I’m not sure.”

Klopp was baffled as to why Mane did not receive a free-kick and Vazquez a red card for the challenge late in the first half.

“The situation with Sadio, what the ref did tonight I have to say I don’t understand,” he added.

“For me that was something personal because he dealt with the situation with Sadio, which was a clear foul, like he was a diver or whatever.

“From that moment on whenever Sadio went down he didn’t get anything. That is not right. That is what I told him after the game, that I thought he was unfair with Sadio.
“That doesn’t change anything at all. He (Brych) didn’t lose the game. We were not good enough to get a better result, but in these moments you need just an ‘OK’ ref. That would have been enough.”

The pace of Vinicius was a problem for Liverpool all night and the Brazilian’s first double in a game was well deserved, according to coach Zinedine Zidane.

“I am happy for him because what he is doing and what all the guys are doing is a great job, especially from a defensive point of view,” said the Real boss.

“Maybe he was missing some goalscoring with the work he is contributing to the team so to score two goals is big to provide a lot of confidence and he deserves that.

“I don’t know if that was his best match but two goals in the quarter-finals is important for him and the team.

“I am happy because of the football. At the beginning of the second half we had a bit of difficulty but at the end of the day we are happy with 3-1 as it was a huge effort.

“We have to enjoy what we did today.”

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Defiant Borussia Dortmund warn Man City tie not over yet

Borussia Dortmund interim coach Edin Terzic has warned Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola that their Champions League quarter-final tie is far from over despite a 2-1 win for the hosts at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday.

Guardiola was complimentary about Dortmund’s performance after the game but Terzic, whose side had levelled the contest at 1-1 six minutes from the end before Phil Foden’s last-gasp winner, said his side were ready for another bite at the cherry.

“Pep had some nice words for me at full-time, but we’re not done yet. We’ll see each other again in eight days’ time,” said Terzic. “It’s halftime and the tie is still open.

“We’ll be ready to give it our all to overturn the result and reach the next round. We kept their chances to a minimum and posed a threat ourselves going forward. It was evenly matched so we’re disappointed with the result in the end,” he added.

Dortmund skipper Marco Reus was upset with the way his side had allowed City to take an advantage to Germany.

“We’re annoyed. Conceding a second right before the end was unnecessary. Two seconds of us switching off and they showed their quality. We have to stop the cross coming in. On the whole though, I think we produced a great performance,” he said.

Guardiola was clear his City side would not be trying to defend their one goal advantage next Wednesday.

“We are going to Dortmund to win the game. In the first half tonight, we were not clever with the ball. The second half was much better and we had two or three clear chances to score a second or third when it was 1-0,” he said.

“To play in the positions we want to, we have to have good build-up play. We have another chance next week.”

“Borussia Dortmund are a typical club from the Champions League. They have played in this competition for many years and know what to do. We are going there to score,” he added.

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Vinícius Junior leads Real Madrid past Liverpool in 1st leg of CL quarterfinals

The game was a rematch of the 2018 Champions League final won by the same score by Madrid, which since then was eliminated in the tournament’s round of 16 two years in a row. Liverpool won the title following the loss to Madrid but was also eliminated in the round of 16 last season.

Vinícius Júnior finally came up with the type of performance Real Madrid fans have been expecting from him.

The Brazilian forward netted his first double for the club on Tuesday, leading it to a 3-1 over Liverpool in the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals.

The youngster tormented the Liverpool defense all night and was precise with his finishes, moving the Spanish powerhouse closer to the semifinals after a two-year absence.

People outside of the club criticize me, but I keep working hard,” the 20-year-old Vinícius Júnior said. “That gives me the strength to arrive at an important moment like this and score the goals that the team needed.”

Marco Asensio also scored for Madrid, which took full advantage of Liverpool’s defensive blunders in the first half to take a commanding lead ahead of next week’s second leg in England.

Mohamed Salah netted the lone goal for Liverpool early in the second half before Vinícius Júnior sealed the victory for the hosts.

“If you want to go to the semifinals, you have to earn the right to do so,” Liverpool coach Jürgen Klopp said. “We didn’t do that tonight, especially in the first half, so the only good thing really that I can say about the game apart from the fact we scored the goal, is that it’s only the first leg.”

The game was a rematch of the 2018 Champions League final won by the same score by Madrid, which since then was eliminated in the tournament’s round of 16 two years in a row. Liverpool won the title following the loss to Madrid but was also eliminated in the round of 16 last season.

Manchester City defeated Borussia Dortmund 2-1 at home in the other quarterfinal on Tuesday.

Liverpool recently endured a run of poor results and sits only seventh in the Premier League, so it may have to win the Champions League to return to the European competition next season.

It looked lost at the start of the match at the Alfredo Di Stéfano Stadium in Madrid, unable to get a shot on goal in the first half.

Vinícius Júnior opened the scoring on a breakaway in the 27th after a superb long pass over the top by Toni Kroos. The Brazilian forward made a nice run between Liverpool defenders Trent Alexander-Arnold and Nathaniel Phillips then chested the ball down before firing a low right-footed shot from inside the area past goalkeeper Alisson Becker.

Vinícius Júnior, who had scored only one goal since October and four in total this season, arrived to Madrid amid high expectations as a teenager but had been criticized for his poor finishes and bad decisions in front of goal. He pointed to the team’s shield both times after scoring.

“I’m happy for him, he needed to score,” Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane said. “He has been playing well and helping the team. When you score it gives you more energy, that’s for sure.”

Another long pass by Kroos — and a defensive blunder by Liverpool — led to Asensio’s second goal in the 36th. Alexander-Arnold tried to clear the ball from Kroos but headed it across the area directly to Asensio, who flipped the ball over the charging Becker and finished the move on the other side to push it into the open net.

Liverpool complained of a foul by Lucas Vázquez on Sadio Mané just moments before Madrid’s second goal.

The English side improved after the break and was able to pull one back early in the second half with Salah finding the net from close range after a shot by Diogo Jota was partially blocked by Luka Modric in the 51st. The goal had to be confirmed by video review because of a possible offside by Salah.

With the goal, Salah became the fifth Liverpool player to score in four consecutive European appearances.

Asensio, who scored in each of Madrid’s last four games in all competitions, squandered the chance to increase Madrid’s lead on a breakaway in the 64th. But a minute later, Vinícius Júnior didn’t miss his opportunity after a pass by Modric amid more soft defending by the English team, finding the net with a shot from near the penalty spot.

Liverpool had kept four consecutive clean sheets away from home going into the game in Madrid. It has not had five in a row in away games this century.

Madrid got the win even though its defensive problems compounded just before the game as Raphael Varane tested positive for the coronavirus. Captain Sergio Ramos had already been ruled out because of an injury.