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SAM ALLARDYCE HAS NO REGRETS ABOUT TAKING LEEDS JOB AFTER DAMAGING LOSS TO WESTHAM

Sam Allardyce insisted he had no regrets about taking the Leeds job despite the Whites looking destined for relegation from the Premier League.

Allardyce’s rescue mission has not gone to plan and goals from Declan Rice, Jarrod Bowen and Manuel Lanzini saw West Ham come from behind to inflict a damaging 3-1 defeat.

Allardyce arrived at Elland Road as a last-ditch appointment with four games to go, but his first three matches have provided just one point.

Now they need to beat Tottenham next weekend and hope a Bournemouth side with nothing to play for can do them a favour at Everton.

Moreover, should Leicester beat Newcastle on Monday night, the Whites will start the final day second from bottom.

Yet Allardyce, 68, insists he knows where the problems lie and, were he to be given the chance, how to fix them.

The former West Ham boss said: “The challenge is to try to beat Tottenham and deliver a performance. We’ll give ourselves a chance if we win and then see what happens. Our only hope is to win that game.

“If we don’t make it in the end it’s a case of trying to do your best for the club. I can only try my best and give the players the right instructions to show them how win a game of football. Unfortunately for me and for them it hasn’t worked yet.

“It was always going to be a difficult task. Lots of people said I’m mad for taking it. I’m not mad. I just love football and Leeds United was too big a job to turn down for me, however short it was.

“The evidence is all there to know what’s wrong and what to put right. It doesn’t take long to work it out, does it, after 1,100 games as a manager. I sorted this club out, didn’t I? Still here, isn’t it? I’ve sorted a few others out.

“At the end of the season we’ll have that discussion. Hopefully in the Premier League, fingers crossed.”

Leeds need more than crossed fingers to save themselves, even though they took the lead through Rodrigo’s volley.

They lost Patrick Bamford to injury and Rodrigo was also struggling by the end, leaving Allardyce with even more of a headache next weekend.

“The impact of the substitutes wasn’t what I expected, none of them made a difference when we needed them,” he added.

West Ham, safe from relegation and with a Europa Conference League final to look forward to, should have been easy pickings.

But Leeds’ afternoon unravelled when Rice – named Hammer of the year before kick-off, six years to the day since he made his debut against Burnley – marked what is likely to be his last home game for the club with the equaliser.

Boss David Moyes again straight-batted questions about the England midfielder’s likely move away this summer.

“Declan played very well today, but he’s been playing well all season. He scored a really good goal, he’s a very good footballer,” said the Scot.

Bowen was played in by Danny Ings to hit the second and substitute Lanzini was given a tap-in in stoppage time thanks to Lucas Paqueta’s audacious assist.

“It’s a terrific win after the week we’ve had,” added Moyes. “You’re never quite sure after a Thursday game to Sunday, and from the opening 15 minutes I wasn’t sure.

“But they showed great character, and great mentality. It was a really good victory in the end.”

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JULIAN ALVAREZ GOAL SEALS CHAMPIONS FINISH FOR CITY AT THE ETIHAD

Manchester City celebrated their latest Premier League title triumph with a straightforward 1-0 win over Chelsea on Sunday.

Pep Guardiola’s treble-chasing side had already been confirmed as champions for a fifth time in six seasons after Arsenal’s loss to Nottingham Forest on Saturday.

That meant the Etihad Stadium was in celebratory mood for the visit of the Blues and a much-changed side gave the fans another success to cheer courtesy of an early Julian Alvarez goal.

Chelsea had a few bright moments but City, without getting anywhere near the intensity with which they crushed Real Madrid in midweek, always seemed in control.

Fans had arrived to party in the sunshine and the ‘Poznan’ was seen on more than one occasion.

City were given a guard of honour by their opponents as they entered the field and they went on to knock the ball around with a such a swagger that – perhaps embarrassingly for a Chelsea side that aspires to the heights City have reached – it appeared the Londoners faced a long afternoon.

It seemed only a matter of time before the opening goal came and it arrived after 12 minutes as City seized possession in midfield and Cole Palmer picked out Alvarez in front of goal.

The Argentina World Cup winner took a touch and then emphatically drilled a shot across Kepa Arrizabalaga. It was City’s 100th home goal in all competitions this season.

Chelsea looked well off the pace, much as they have done throughout what has been a dispiriting end to the season under temporary boss Frank Lampard.

Former City forward Raheem Sterling attempted to rouse them. The England international twice got behind the City defence but was unable to pick out a team-mate the first time and then had a shot saved by Stefan Ortega.

Conor Gallagher then went closer when he headed against the post from a Lewis Hall cross.

Yet City always seemed in command and Phil Foden was only narrowly off-target with an attempted chip and Kalvin Phillips, finally making his first league start for the champions, blasted wide.

Phillips was inches away from getting on the scoresheet after the break when he met a Riyad Mahrez free-kick with a firm header but it rebounded off the foot of the post.

At the other end, Hall and Sterling both shot at Ortega. Sterling had another effort cleared off the line by City substitute John Stones, although an offside flag was raised anyway.

Alvarez thought he had claimed a second with just under 20 minutes remaining but Mahrez controlled the ball with his arm before teeing up the Argentinian.

With it being City’s last home match of the season, star pair Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne were given a run-out in the latter stages. Rodri also came off the bench as City closed out their 12th successive Premier League win.

Thousands of fans invaded the pitch after the final whistle, delaying the trophy presentation.

After the celebrations subside, City have further league games at Brighton and Brentford before they play the FA Cup and Champions League finals next month.

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NEWCASTLE STRIKER CALLUM WILSON SET FOR ENGLAND RECALL

Callum Wilson is in line for an England recall as boss Gareth Southgate waits on Jude Bellingham’s fitness.

Newcastle striker Wilson has scored 11 goals since he was overlooked for the European Championship qualifying wins against Italy and Ukraine in March.

On Wednesday Southgate names his squad for the Euro 2024 qualifiers in Malta on June 16th and at home to North Macedonia in Manchester on June 19th with England top of Group C.

Wilson has helped spearhead the Magpies’ top-four charge, and they confirmed their return to the Champions League after 20 years with Monday’s 0-0 draw against Leicester.

The 31-year-old went to the World Cup in Qatar but scored just once in 13 games after the season resumed, prompting Southgate to leave him out.

Newcastle boss Eddie Howe has previously backed his striker for a recall.

He said: “It’s one for Gareth, but he is certainly doing the right things, scoring goals. That is always going to get you the headlines. He is certainly in great form. I don’t know if it is his best.

“But I think he is very focused at the moment and he knows he has to be. I think the biggest compliment I can pay him is that, whatever situation he’s been in, he’s still been himself, laughing, smiling, joking.

“He is a really positive character. He’s somebody that the squad needs to be positive because he’s such a big personality within it.”

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SPANISH POLICE ARREST FOUR PEOPLE AFTER VINICUS EFIGY WAS HUNG FROM A BRIDGE

Four people have been arrested in Spain under suspicion of hanging an effigy of Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior off a bridge in January.

An inflatable doll dressed in a Vinicius shirt was hung from the railings with a banner that read “Madrid hates Real Madrid” ahead of Real’s Copa Del Rey game with city rivals Atletico at the start of the year.

And Spanish police confirmed on Tuesday that four suspects had been apprehended.

They tweeted: “Arrested in #Madrid 4 people who allegedly hung a mannequin with the #Vinicius shirt on a bridge near the Ciudad Deportiva del @realmadrid.”

The arrests follow the latest racism scandal that has engulfed Spanish football, with Vinicius targeted by racist chants during Sunday’s LaLiga game with Valencia.

The Brazil international threatened to leave the pitch in the second half after being subjected to alleged monkey chants at the Mestalla.

His club Real Madrid said the abuse constitutes a “hate crime” and filed a complaint with the Spanish State Attorney General’s Office and Vinicius himself has highlighted what he describes as “continuous episodes spread across several cities in Spain”.

Valencia confirmed police had identified a fan who made racist gestures at Vinicius and that individual faces a lifetime stadium ban from the Mestalla.

Vinicius tweeted on Monday night: “Every round away from home is an unpleasant surprise. And there were many this season. Death wishes, hanged doll, many criminal screams… All registered.

“But the speech always falls on ‘isolated cases’, ‘a fan’. No, these are not isolated cases. They are continuous episodes spread across several cities in Spain (and even in a television programme).

“The evidence is there in the video. Now I ask: how many of these racists had names and photos exposed on websites? I answer to make it easier: zero. None to tell a sad story or make those fake public apologies.

“What is missing to criminalise these people? And punish clubs sportingly? Why don’t sponsors charge La Liga? Don’t televisions bother to broadcast this barbarity every weekend?

“The problem is very serious and communications no longer work. Not blaming me to justify criminal acts either. You are not football, you are inhuman.”

LaLiga president Javier Tebas responded to an earlier Vinicius post, in which the Brazil international said racism was “normal”, by accusing the forward of “criticising and insulting” the league.

In another tweet on Monday, Tebas said: “Neither Spain nor @LaLiga are racist. It is very unfair to say this.

“How @LaLiga we denounce and fight racism with all rigidity within our competences. This season there were 9 cases of racist insults (8 of them for insults against @vinijr)

“We always identify the violators and take the complaint to the legislating bodies. It doesn’t matter that they are few, they are relentless.

“We cannot allow the image of a competition that is about the symbol of peoples union to be tarnished, where more than 200 players are of black origin in 42 clubs that receive in each round the respect and affection of the fans, being the racism an extremely specific case (9 complaints) that we are going to eliminate.”

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JUVENTUS DOCKED 10 POINTS WITH IMMEDIATE EFFECT OVER TRANSFER IRREGULARITIES

Juventus have been docked 10 points by the Italian football federation for irregularities in the club’s accounting.

The Serie A side were initially hit with a 15-point sanction in January, but the penalty was rescinded after an appeal.

The federation has now moved to issue a new punishment after the federal court of appeal intervened, meaning the club could miss out on European football next season.

The sanctions relate to the club having artificially inflated the value of players in their accounts using capital gains.

The appeal court, whilst upholding the charges against the club, acquitted officials Pavel Nedved, Paolo Garimberti, Assia Grazioli Venier, Caitlin Mary Hughes, Daniela Marilungo, Francesco Roncaglio and Enrico Vellano of wrongdoing.

Former Tottenham sporting director Fabio Paratici, who performed the same role at Juventus from 2018-21, received a two-year global ban from football from FIFA in April over his part in the matter, forcing him to resign from his position at Spurs.

The club said in a statement that they had taken note of the ruling and reserved “the right to read the reasons to evaluate a possible appeal”.

They added that the decision “arouses great bitterness in the club and in its millions of supporters” who have found themselves “penalised by the application of sanctions that do not seem to take into account the principle of proportionality”.

The points deduction sees the club drop to seventh in the Serie A table, a point outside the European qualification places.

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NEWCASTLE CLINCH CHAMPIONS LEAGUE QUALIFICATION WITH LEICESTER DRAW

Nick Pope ensured Newcastle booked their Champions League place with a game to spare as he denied Leicester a priceless victory in their bid for Premier League survival.

The Magpies’ summer signing kept out Timothy Castagne’s volley in the second minute of stoppage time with his first save of the game to secure a 0-0 draw on a night when the home side battered at the door but were unable to find a way through.

Callum Wilson and Miguel Almiron were both denied by the woodwork, but a point was all their team needed to ensure their place among the continent’s big boys for the first time in 20 years.

By contrast, Leicester, who are still two points adrift of safety, will head into their final-day clash with West Ham knowing their fate is not in their own hands.

Eddie Howe’s men were lauded by a crowd of 52,152 on the final whistle, having secured Champions League football for just the third time in the club’s history and way ahead of the schedule drawn up by the club’s Saudi-backed owners when they took control in October 2021.

In some senses it proved to be a frustrating 90 minutes – it might have been more so had key midfielder Bruno Guimaraes seen red rather than yellow for a poor early challenge of Boubakary Soumare – but it was ultimately the bigger picture which mattered.

Howe was forced to make a last-minute change when, after he had taken part in the warm-up, midfielder Joelinton was unable to start and was replaced by Elliot Anderson.

Any fears the reshuffle might unsettle his team proved unfounded as they took the game by the scruff of the neck amid a party atmosphere at St James’ Park, although Guimaraes was perhaps fortunate to escape with only a booking for his studs-up ninth-minute clash with Soumare.

The Magpies dominated possession but in the early stages were unable to find a telling final ball.

Almiron, who had made another high-octane start, fired over after cutting inside from the right and Anderson tested goalkeeper Daniel Iversen for the first time with a curling attempt.

Alexander Isak was seeing plenty of the ball down the left but sliced a long-range effort well wide as the Magpies piled forward repeatedly without ever really being able to summon up the required precision to make the pressure tell.

For their part, City attempted to hit Jamie Vardy and Kelechi Iheanacho long and early and, although they achieved a measure of success, they met with stubborn resistance from Fabian Schar and Sven Botman.

Wilson twice went close to his 19th goal of the season four minutes before the break when he stabbed a shot against a post and then saw Wilfred Ndidi clear his follow-up header off the line, while Almiron was similarly denied by the woodwork before Isak steered the rebound wide seconds later.

Wilson headed over from a Kieran Trippier corner in stoppage time after Iversen had misjudged the flight and the half ended goalless.

James Maddison entered the fray at the break as a replacement for Iheanacho, but the traffic continued to head very much in the direction of his team’s goal, with Isak and Almiron menacing out wide, although the massed ranks of blue held impressively firm.

Iversen had to turn a 59th-minute Isak snapshot over his crossbar and block Sean Longstaff’s 76th-minute drive with a foot, but it was the Foxes who almost snatched victory at the death when Pope was forced into his first save of the game to keep out Castagne’s stoppage-time volley.

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Bayern win eighth straight League Title

Bayern Munich win an 8th successive Bundesliga title, continuing a run that has been uninterrupted since 2013. This their 30th German title overall

Bayern Munich secured the 2019/20 Bundesliga title with two games to spare, beating Werder Bremen 1-0 with a goal from Robert Lewandowski on Tuesday night. This is the eighth successive title for the German giants, continuing their run which started from 2013.

Bayern’s 1-0 win put them 10 points clear of second-place Borussia Dortmund, who can earn a maximum nine points from their three remaining games.

Hansi Flick made four changes to his starting line-up after Saturday’s 2-1 win over Borussia Mönchengladbach. Thomas Müller and Lewandowski returned to spearhead the attack, while Davies and Kingsley Coman were reinstated on the left side. Javi Martínez and Ivan Perišić both missed out due to illness.

Werder kept Bremen at bay for most of the first half but the champions still found a breakthrough.

Jerome Boateng played a perfectly weighted ball over the defence in the 43rd minute for Robert Lewandowski to control on his chest and hit past the goalkeeper for his 31st Bundesliga goal this season.

Bayern finished with 10 men after a second yellow card for Alphonso Davies in the 79th minute.

Goalkeeper Manuel Neuer made a crucial late save to stop Yuya Osako’s header.

Bayern powered to their 30th German title with a perfect record of seven wins in the Bundesliga since it resumed last month in empty stadiums amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Hansi Flick has coached Bayern to 26 wins from 29 games in all competitions since he took over in November. Bayern are chasing a possible triple. They can add the German Cup if they beat Bayer Leverkusen in the July 4 final and are also in contention in the Champions League.

In the other half of the points table, last-placed Paderborn were relegated after losing 1-0 to Union Berlin.

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FORMER LEEDS BOSS MARCELO BIELSA NAMED HEAD COACH OF URUGUAY

Marcelo Bielsa has been appointed as Uruguay head coach.

The 67-year-old had been out of football management since leaving Leeds almost 15 months ago.

The Uruguayan Football Association confirmed Bielsa’s appointment on a deal running until the 2026 World Cup.

He succeeds Diego Alonso as national team boss.

Alonso’s contract expired after the World Cup in Qatar earlier this season, where Uruguay suffered a shock group-stage exit.

Bielsa served as manager of Argentina from 1998 to 2004 and he also had a four-year stint in charge of Chile.

Bielsa guided Leeds back to the Premier League from the Championship in 2020 and was one of the most popular managers in the club’s history.

But he left in February last year following a run of four successive league defeats.

His lengthy managerial career has also included spells with Athletic Bilbao, Marseille and Lille.

Uruguay are currently 16th in FIFA’s world rankings, with Bielsa’s first major campaign at the helm set to be next year’s Copa America in the United States.

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MANCITY PRODUCE MASTERCLASS TO BEAT REAL ANS REACH CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL

Bernardo Silva struck twice in the first half as Manchester City produced a sensational performance to dethrone holders Real Madrid and reach the Champions League final.

Eder Militao also turned into his own net and Julian Alvarez added another late on as City claimed a comprehensive 4-0 win at the Etihad Stadium to power into next month’s Istanbul showpiece 5-1 on aggregate.

City’s victory was every bit as comprehensive as the scoreline suggests with the 14-time European champions struggling to live with the pace and movement of Pep Guardiola’s mesmeric side.

Toni Kroos did hit the woodwork at 1-0 but it was a rare bright moment from a Real team that was simply overwhelmed.

It was sweet revenge for City after defeat at the same stage last season and the upcoming final against Inter Milan could now be the crowning glory of a magnificent treble.

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JAMES MILNER, ROBERTO FIRMINO AMONG FOUR LEAVING LIVERPOOL THIS SUMMER

James Milner, Roberto Firmino, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Naby Keita will all leave Liverpool when their contracts expire at the end of the season.

Milner and Firmino joined the Reds in June 2015 and both played in the 2019 Champions League final victory over Tottenham.

Oxlade-Chamberlain arrived in June 2017 and Keita the following summer, with the quartet all playing their part in the Reds’ Premier League title win in the 2019-2020 campaign.

A Liverpool statement said: “We can confirm Roberto Firmino, Naby Keita, James Milner and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain will leave the club upon the expiry of their contracts this summer.

“Special acknowledgements will be paid to the quartet at Anfield, with further tributes to follow at the end of the season.”

Milner (37) has been linked with moves to Brighton and hometown club Leeds after spending eight years at Anfield.

He made his Premier League debut for Leeds aged 16 in 2002 and also had spells at Newcastle, Aston Villa and Manchester City before joining Liverpool in 2015.

He has made 617 Premier League appearances in total, behind only Gareth Barry (652) and Ryan Giggs (632) on the all-time list.

The midfielder overtook Frank Lampard when making his 610th top-flight appearance early last month in a 0-0 draw at Chelsea.

Liverpool signed Milner on a free transfer from City, with whom he won two Premier League titles, an FA Cup and the League Cup during his five years at the Etihad Stadium.

In his eight seasons with Liverpool, he won the Champions League, Premier League, FA Cup, League Cup, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup and made the last of his 61 appearances for England in 2016.

Firmino has scored 109 goals in all competitions for the Reds since joining from Hoffenheim, including 11 in 33 games this season.