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Man City put off Mbappe price The Blancos have confirmed that he will be out for at least three weeks with a calf muscle issue, which would see him return to fitness in the middle of May. And therefore Bale, 27, will be absent in both legs of Madrid’s last four clash against fierce rivals Atletico, in what is a bitter blow after a difficult weekend for Zinedine Zidane’s men following their narrow 3-2 defeat against title rivals Barcelona....

Balotelli is enjoying one of the most prolific spells in his career, having scored 31 goals in 49 Ligue 1 appearances for Nice during the last two seasons. The centre-forward has not appeared for his country since the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, having been overlooked by successive coaches in the form of Antonio Conte, Gian Piero Ventura and recent caretaker Luigi Di Biagio. Materazzi, though, wants to see the 27-year-old offered the opportunity to add to his 33 caps and 13 international goals, as the Azzurri, who missed out on a place at the World Cup in Russia, prepare to try and qualify for Euro 2020....

Bamberg were beaten 69-67 in the second leg on Wednesday but progressed 138-136 on aggregate thanks to Rice’s floater with only 5.5 seconds remaining on the clock. Rice scored 25 points on the night and also had five assists to prevent AEK from securing back-to-back titles. AEK opened up a 12-point lead in the final quarter but were unable to hold on, crashing out at the quarter-final stage. Tenerife, winners of the inaugural tournament two years ago, overcame a first-leg deficit to go through with a resounding 81-64 home victory over Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem....

Afghanistan and Bangladesh are set to lock horns in an ODI series with valuable points on offer in the ICC World Super League. Bangladesh have made a few changes to their set-up, but the onus remains on stalwarts Tamim Iqbal and Shakib Al Hasan. However, Afghanistan are a force to be reckoned with in the 50-over format with their bowling attack boasting quality spinners in Rashid Khan and Mujeeb Ur Rehman....

The Victorians, led by Imrul Kayes, have arguably been the standout team in the tournament. Having won four of their six games, they are sitting pretty atop the points table. Their net run rate of 0.942 is also the best among the six participating teams. Their previous game against Minister Group Dhaka got washed off without a single delivery being bowled. Before that, they beat the Chattogram Challengers by nine wickets (DLS method)....

Khaleda Zia, 62, inherited the political legacy of her slain husband, President Gen. Ziaur Rahman, and Sheikh Hasina, 59, that of her assassinated father, the nation’s founding leader, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Both were top contenders for power in Bangladesh’s next election, scheduled for late 2008. But now both face a permanent exile from politics as even their own supporters accuse them of corruption, cronyism and attempts to establish political dynasties....

Ozil suffers Instagram hack Meng Yongli stated his side’s place in League One could be untenable in the wake of their 2-2 draw with Wuhan Zall on Saturday, a result that kept them bottom of the table after 16 matches. But the club were yet to submit any documents to the Chinese Football Association — who had urged them “not to act on impulse and to reconsider their decision” — to begin the process of withdrawing from the competition when Rongda released a statement confirming their chief’s exit, including an apology from Meng....

Among the who’s who of attendees was former U.S. president Barack Obama, a noted basketball superfan. And although his Bulls team was unable to make the 2020 NBA playoffs, Obama still showed up to watch (in spirit). MORE: Lakers vs. Heat score, highlights: Los Angeles cruises to Game 1 win Obama even got “front row” seats and was placed between Shaquille O’Neal and James Worthy, the latter of whom seemed pretty pleased with his virtual proximity to the former president:...

The Warriors have booked their berth in the final and will take on the winner of the match between the Knight Riders and the Tridents. The two teams locked horns twice in the league stage, with Barbados emerging victorious on both occasions, by 63 runs and seven wickets respectively. Thus, the Tridents will start as firm favorites in this clash as they look to seal a berth in the final....

The Yellow Submarine took the lead in the 39th minute of the game through Karl Toko Ekambi, however, the Green-and-Whites equalized three minutes after the break, thanks to an Emerson goal. Santi Cazorla gave the visitors the lead from the spot on the 68th minute before Ekambi scored his second of the night on the 76th minute to make it 3-1 for Villareal. Gerard Moreno and Samuel Chukwueze added two more goals in injury time to make the final score 5-1....

Leganes pulled one back through Nabil El Zhar but it was Messi who scored again and made sure that the Catalans continued their winning streak in all competitions. The league leaders have now gone 38 games unbeaten in La Liga and need just one more to achieve the all-time record. So without wasting further detail, let’s analyze this game from Barcelona’s point of view and discuss the three things that the winning side did right on the night:...

Barcelona cannot afford Messi’s €75 million per year annual salary, and will therefore look to offer him a longer contract with reduced wages to convince him to sign a new deal. Lionel Messi was desperate to leave Barcelona last summer after a dismal end to the 2019-20 season. The 33-year-old had a number of public spats with the club’s hierarchy and was left infuriated after the club decided to sell Luis Suarez to Atletico Madrid....

Spanish and European champions Madrid have been strongly linked with a move for Ceballos, who was named Player of the Tournament after starring at the European Under-21 Championship. Ceballos to decide future Barca have now emerged as a possible destination for the highly-rated 20-year-old following his breakthrough competition, where Spain lost to Germany in the final last week. After unveiling Cristiano Tello on Monday, Serra Ferrer told reporters: “I devoted the time with Barcelona to closing the signing of Cristian....

Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are seen as two of the greatest footballers to have played the game and a constant debate rages over who has been the better player over the years. Barcelona star Pique admits he prefers Lionel Messi over Cristiano Ronaldo Barcelona center-back Gerard Pique has voiced his views on the matter. The 33-year old admitted that he prefers his Barcelona teammate Lionel Messi over Cristiano Ronaldo....

Mourinho: Pogba doesn’t give an ass The Catalan club have told Goal that stories suggesting that they were set to be reported to FIFA are false and furthermore confirmed that they never considered signing the youngster. It would have been illegal for the Camp Nou outfit to have signed a non-European player under the age of 18, but in any case, they do not believe that he is of the required level....

Barca target Verratti demands PSG exit The Catalan club had been unable to spend any more cash due to budget restrictions for 2016-17 running up until the end of June, but they are now ready to start bidding for the Italy international. It was reported earlier this week by Barcelona-based sports paper El Mundo Deportivo that club chief Josep Maria Bartomeu will personally take charge of negotiations for the midfielder and those should start this week....

Barcelona, with concerns over the fitness of Lionel Messi, travel to the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium on Saturday, looking to extend their own undefeated run this term to 30 league games. It was Real Sociedad who had gone 32 without loss in the 1979-80 season, only two away from finishing the then 34-game season as invincibles. But, in the penultimate match, Sevilla snatched a 2-1 win thanks to Ricardo Bertonis double, his second an 83rd-minute winner....

The RFEF fined Valencia 1500 euros ($1637) after Barca forward Neymar was struck by a missile thrown from the stands at the Mestalla, but the visiting players were also criticized by the Competition Committee for their “reproachable behavior.” And the Catalan giant has reacted angrily to the suggestion of wrongdoing on its own players’ part, stressing that they were “victims of clearly condemnable behavior.” A club statement read: “FC Barcelona considers the comments made by the Royal Spanish Football Federation’s (RFEF) Competition Committee totally reprehensible and excessive when explaining their resolution for the events which occurred last Saturday at Mestalla during the league match between Valencia CF and FC Barcelona....

Barca plot Isco raid The Catalans had hoped for the encounter to take place last summer, but because of a clash with Euro 2016 the event was postponed as so many players had professional duties to undertake in France. However, with the summer footballing calendar clear, the event will take place at Camp Nou with a 19:00 kick off, while a return fixture will be played at Old Trafford on September 2....