Erling Haaland is well aware he was brought to Manchester City to help them win the Champions League.

City are just one victory away from claiming the prize they covet most but has eluded them time after time with several near misses in recent years.

Haaland has been key to their latest charge to the final, where they face Inter Milan in Istanbul on Saturday, after a prolific first season at the Etihad Stadium.

The Norwegian has plundered 52 goals in all competitions since City identified him as the potential final piece in their jigsaw last year and paid £51million to recruit him from Borussia Dortmund.

“The Premier League, they won it two times in a row before I came here,” said Haaland. “So they know how to win the Premier League.

“The only thing they miss now is the Champions League. You can think and read between the words and the lines – I have been coming here for a reason.”

Haaland scored a record 36 Premier League goals as he helped City make it three titles in a row. They followed up that success by winning the FA Cup last weekend.

Now City are bidding to join rivals Manchester United in the history books by becoming only the second side to win the treble.

Doing so would see Haaland fulfil a long-held dream of winning the Champions League.

“I have been dreaming and thinking of it my whole life,” said the 22-year-old. “It has been my dream as long as I can remember, so a long time.

“Of course I have been thinking of this. There is one game left we have to perform at our best in. We have been doing it now for so many games in a row. It’s about keeping going.”

Such is Haaland’s love of the Champions League, that he even used to play the competition’s theme music in his car during his younger days.

“Yes, there is a video of me doing that,” he said. “You can search it up. It’s true.”

Haaland feels his game has improved at City under the guidance of Pep Guardiola – someone he describes as a “detail freak” – but is convinced there is more to come.

He said: “I am really enjoying every single day with him, with the intense Pep. I like it.

“I am still young, I can improve a lot and I am at the perfect place to work with the best coach and players in the world.”

Aidan O’Brien’s Buttons just grasped a debut success in the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Fillies Maiden at Leopardstown.

The two-year-old is by Kingman and out of the 2011 Oaks runner-up Wonder Of Wonders, with Ryan Moore opting to ride her ahead of her equally well-bred stablemate Content.

Wayne Lordan took the ride on the latter, by Galileo out of Mecca’s Angel, and the two were engaged in a very tight finish with Ger Lyons’ Serious notions.

On the line Content was visibly beaten, but the judge had to split the other two fillies and Buttons was eventually announced the winner by a nose.

“We’re delighted with her. We rushed her a little bit to get her out because we thought she could be a Chesham filly, but Ryan just said she’s too babyish for that,” said O’Brien.

“We’ll just pull back and give her a bit of time before we go again.

“Ryan said even though she’s by Kingman she will stay and seven (furlongs) would be her minimum. She was green turning and everything. She’s a very well-bred filly.

“Wayne’s filly finished very strong and she’s a well-bred filly as well.”

O’Brien and Moore did miss out when the strong late charge of Salt Lake City proved not enough to overhaul 15-8 favourite Moon De Vega and Billy Lee in the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Glencairn Stakes.

The market leader hit the front deep inside the final furlong when taking over from Vega Magnifico and ultimately had a neck to spare over the Ballydoyle runner.

The winner was making it two from two since joining Paddy Twomey, who said: “She’s a nice filly to have. She won her winners’ race and now she’s after winning her Listed race.

“I thought initially that nine furlongs might be a bit sharp for her, but she did it well in Gowran over nine and a half and Billy said there that she’s very comfortable at that distance.

“I’d say she’ll go for the Kilboy Stakes on Oaks weekend, it’s nine furlongs and a Group Three. That would be the logical next step.

“We haven’t been hard on her at home so hopefully she can keep improving.”

Andy Murray is the only British man left in singles at the Lexus Surbiton Trophy after Dan Evans suffered a shock second-round loss.

Evans was the top seed after taking a late wild card following his early French Open defeat but was toppled 7-5 6-2 by 21-year-old Canadian Gabriel Diallo, ranked more than 100 places below him.

It has been a difficult season so far for 33-year-old Evans, who will hope to fare better in Nottingham next week, where he is the defending champion.

There is a lot more home representation in the women’s draw, where Katie Boulter needs one more victory to overtake Emma Raducanu as British number one.

The eighth seed battled to a 3-6 6-3 6-4 victory over countrywoman Sonay Kartal to reach the quarter-finals, where she will face Swiss Viktorija Golubic.

Boulter was joined in the last eight by Isabelle Lacy, Katie Swan and Yuriko Miyazaki.

Sixteen-year-old Lacy was given a walkover by American Sachia Vickery and will play Miyazaki, who defeated compatriot Eden Silva, while Swan was 5-3 up on Oceane Dodin when the Frenchwoman retired.

Harriet Dart was close to joining them but lost a tight tussle 6-4 6-7 (5) 6-4 to top seed and last year’s Wimbledon semi-finalist Tatjana Maria, who next plays Swan.

Matt Fitzpatrick was one shot off the clubhouse lead jointly held by fellow Englishman Aaron Rai midway through the first round of the Canadian Open.

A week before his US Open defence, Fitzpatrick began his bid for a third career PGA Tour title in steady fashion with a four-under-par 68 at the Oakdale Golf and Country Club.

The 28-year-old, having started on the back nine, rolled in five birdies before a bogey on his penultimate hole of the day – the 352 par-four eighth – left him one shot behind the early leaders, which included Rai.

Rai had looked in all sorts of trouble after dropping four shots in three successive holes from the third to slump to three over, but he turned things round in remarkable fashion.

After recording birdies on the seventh and eighth to reach the turn on one over, the 28-year-old from Wolverhampton then picked up further shots on the 10th, 12th, 13th, 14th – where he came close to making a hole in one – 16th and 18th to move to five under.

That left him in a four-way share of first place with American pair Chesson Hadley and Justin Lower, and home hope Corey Conners.

Defending champion Rory McIlroy, whose build-up to the tournament saw him fielding questions about the shock merger between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf, was one under after an eventful opening 71 that included five birdies and four bogeys.

The world number three is seeking a hat-trick of victories at the Canadian Open following triumphs in 2019 and 2022, with the tournament having been cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to Covid.

Josh Taylor was held back from world title challenger Teofimo Lopez by a New York policeman and several security guards during a bizarre pre-fight press conference.

Promoters Top Rank dispensed with the usual face-to-face photographs following some highly charged comments between the pair in the media in the lead-up to this weekend’s fight at Madison Square Garden.

A statement before the media event read: “Instead of a traditional face-off, a layer of security will separate the combatants. Additional security has been hired due to the intense pre-fight rhetoric between the two combatants.”

After a question-and-answer session with the event host, a burly police officer entered the stage flanked by security guards either side and put his arms on Taylor several times to prevent the Scot approaching American Lopez.

The 25-year-old challenger stated last month that he liked the thought of being able to kill in the ring and get away with it, which prompted Taylor to warn “let’s see who ends up in the back of an ambulance” if he tried to do so during their WBO super-lightweight title fight.

When asked at Thursday’s media conference whether his comments relayed genuine hostility, Lopez said: “It is what it is, I speak my truth, that’s how I feel. Everything I speak out I am just trying to make into existence.”

When asked the same question, Taylor, who unified the division before vacating several titles, said: “It is a little bit genuine. I say what I mean as well. There is a bit of genuine dislike there.

“He has been disrespectful. A lot of words he has said, I am going to make him pay for on Saturday. I can’t wait to get in there and get tore in amongst him.”

Ring magazine belt-holder Taylor later branded Lopez, a former lightweight world champion, a “clown” after quoting Mike Tyson and called on him to produce his own saying.

Lopez, wearing a white suit with no shirt, responded: “Aim for death because that’s where life begins. Everyone is scared of death, I don’t know why, we all going to die, but at least if I die I will die for something that means something, that is going to last forever. It’s what greats are all about. Something that you don’t really know.”

Taylor, wearing a Scotland football top, was quickly manhandled by the police officer and joined on stage by six security guards when he moved towards his opponent to speak to him during the photoshoot.

The fight is due to start about 4am UK time in the early hours of Sunday morning.

India were scrapping to stay afloat in the World Test Championship final after a top-order collapse left Australia in the driving seat on day two of the World Test Championship final.

Australia were all out for 469 in their first innings, Steve Smith following in the footsteps of first-day centurion Travis Head to post 121, and then snapped up key wickets to establish a dominant position.

Each of their seam quartet struck as India lurched to 71 for four in the 19th over, before spinner Nathan Lyon joined the party and ended a battling fifth-wicket stand.

Ajinkya Rahane and Ravindra Jadeja doubled the score before the latter nicked Lyon to slip for 48. By stumps India were 318 behind on 151 for five, with plenty of work to do retain a realistic chance of succeeding New Zealand as red-ball world champions.

Australia arrived in the morning already boasting a healthy position on 327 for three. At that stage, they were surely hoping to clear 500, but India landed a few handy blows of their own as they took the last seven wickets for 108.

With 10 overs before lunch to work their magic, the Australian seamers made short work of the India openers. Captain Pat Cummins made the initial opening, thumping his opposite number Rohit Sharma halfway up the front pad with one that shaped in towards middle and off.

Scott Boland then joined the fray, seaming one in sharply and rearranging Shubman Gill’s stumps as he paid the price for a poorly-judged leave.

Boland filled his boots against England Down Under in 2021/22, taking a remarkable six for seven on debut at the MCG, and he made a compelling case for holding his spot at Edgbaston next week with 11 high-quality overs with the Dukes ball.

India survived a potential gut punch when star batter Virat Kohli came close to departing for a duck, withdrawing the bat only to see an inside edge spray off the toe and zip past his stumps, but their struggles continued after the break.

Cheteshwar Pujara belied his years of experience in English climes by repeating Gill’s error, shaping to leave all-rounder Cameron Green and paying the price with his off-stump. Kohli’s exit left India in strife but he was at least guilty only of receiving a brutish delivery from Mitchell Starc.

The left-armer was expensive, shipping 52 from nine overs, but showed off his ability to deliver big moments when he got one to explode off a length at Kohli and rap the thumb of his bottom hand as it sprayed to slip.

India’s position left a lot to be desired but, with Australians sensing blood Rahane’s perseverance and Jadeja’s counter-attacking nature served them well. They put on 71 together, parted only when Lyon offered a change of pace. He forced Jadeja into an unusually defensive stroke and clipped the outside edge to break the stand.

Smith had earlier brought up his 31st Test century, his seventh in England and his third at the Oval. Resuming on 95, he dispatched his first two balls of the morning from Mohammed Siraj to the boundary to reach three figures with minimal fuss.

India made regular inroads to keep the game moving forwards, Head departing for a classy 163 as Siraj got him brushing to the keeper with a bumper aimed at the ribs and Smith ending a five-and-a-half hour stay with an uncharacteristically loose prod that canoned into his stumps.

Former Rangers striker Mark Hateley believes his old club need to sign two forwards who can outscore James Tavernier or they will not stop Celtic dominating Scottish football.

Right-back Tavernier was the club’s top league goalscorer last term with 16 goals and his total in all competitions of 18 was the same as Antonio Colak.

Fashion Sakala and the now departed Alfredo Morelos both hit 12 while Celtic’s main striker Kyogo Furuhashi weighed in with 34 goals on the way to the club’s fifth treble in seven seasons.

Hateley said: “We need two strikers that can score more than a right-back to win anything. It’s as simple as that.

“We need strikers that can get more goals than the captain to have a chance of competing at the very top. And that doesn’t come cheap.

“I think you need to bring in three strikers that are all credible and can produce.”

Colak’s future looks unclear after he only scored four goals and struggled for fitness following Michael Beale’s arrival, while Sakala played in a central role at times and on the wing on other occasions.

On Sakala, Hateley said: “He’s a young lad so he will develop as time goes on but if you are working with top goalscorers, your game comes on a lot quicker. I think he would probably become more of a squad player.

“The key now is to get two strikers in the team. It’s now easier because Alfredo has left the club because it was always difficult to play another player with Alfredo. He was the lone wolf with players playing around him but Michael now has the ability to play with two strikers, different formations.”

Hateley does not necessarily believe Ange Postecoglou’s departure from Celtic Park to Tottenham is in itself an opportunity for Rangers.

“You could say so but the structure that Celtic have in place, I don’t think a lot will change,” he said.

“I don’t know if Ange can take players with him but what Ange has done has been absolutely phenomenal, and the way the board have trusted him in his methodology and his way of thinking has been commendable.

“Top coaches like a challenge and they like to challenge the best. Ange has produced that. It’s always great competition, if you have two great teams on the pitch who are competing to prove who has the edge, and it’s the same with managers. You need managers to push each other.”

Hateley was promoting the Glasgow European Capital of Sport 2023 Refugee Football Tournament, which will feature players from more than 50 nations at Toryglen Regional Football Centre on July 2.

The former England striker said: “Refugees are coming to all different parts of the world and trying to find homes and friendships and where better to come than Glasgow, Scotland? Always welcoming, hence why I am still here.

“Football is a medium where friendships are built so it’s an important factor. It’s a fantastic initiative.”

Celtic should bring Brendan Rodgers back “in a heartbeat” if their old manager is keen on a return to Glasgow, according to former Hoops full-back Mark Wilson.

Rodgers is favourite to replace Ange Postecoglou as Celtic boss following the Greek-born Australian’s departure to Tottenham.

The former Liverpool manager has previously stated he would be open to a return to Celtic Park if the timing was right, but accepted he might not be welcomed by fans who were hurt by the manner of his sudden exit to Leicester in February 2019 after winning seven domestic trophies out of seven.

There are reports that Rodgers would prefer a longer break after losing his job as Foxes manager in early April but talk of a return is lingering.

“If Celtic have got the option to bring him back, I would in a heartbeat, I really would,” Wilson said.

“Brendan Rodgers is a top-tier manager, his history shows that. You don’t get the Liverpool job if you’re not a top-tier manager, you don’t get the success in Glasgow he had if you’re not a top-class manager.

“He had a style of football here that the supporters and players bought into, possession-based. It was terrific to watch and it yielded trophies, year after year.

“Of course the baggage he has with some Celtic fans, the way he left, would be hard to dissolve. But football is a results-driven business and if he came back and started well, and there were a few good signings in the door, I think a lot of that bad feeling would quickly evaporate.”

Postecoglou’s departure days after clinching the treble has impacted some Celtic fans in similar fashion.

“It’s where are in the world of football,” Wilson said. “We are here in the Scottish Premiership, which is a fantastic league, entertaining, we all love it.

“But when you are just across the border from the richest league in the world, really anybody that is successful here is going to go to England.

“I know we hate saying it but the resources and the lure of the English Premier League is too much for our players, managers and chairmen who get offers for players. Managers are no different.

“When their stock is as high as Ange Postecoglou’s, and you get offered a job like Spurs, how can you blame anyone for going south of the border?”

Wilson was promoting the Glasgow European Capital of Sport 2023 Refugee Football Tournament, which will feature players from more than 50 nations at Toryglen Regional Football Centre on July 2.

“It’s an outstanding initiative, it gives everybody the opportunity to play, particularly in Glasgow where we are so diverse,” he said.

“And the football pitch brings everybody together, it doesn’t matter their race, religion, background, ethnicity, to have this tournament to bring all parties together, is going to be a fantastic occasion.

“I do a lot of work in Glasgow myself with charities and we have a lot of participants who are refugees, young refugees, and they can get signposted to the next level.”

Ollie Pope admits England are searching for a way to burst Steve Smith’s bubble in the Ashes, after the “stubborn” Australian notched up yet another century in the World Test Championship final.

Smith ground India’s bowlers down with a meticulous 121 at Pope’s home of the Oval, the 31st ton of his career and a seventh in English conditions that have served him well over the years.

It took India 268 deliveries and over five-and-a-half hours to end the 34-year-old’s knock, as his trademark bloody-mindedness once again came to the fore.

It was reminiscent of some of Smith’s epic occupations against England, against whom he has scored three double centuries, and Pope believes finding a way to derail his famed concentration could be the key to preventing more of the same this summer.

“He loves batting in England, over the years he averages over 60 here now. It’s obvious he knows these conditions and he knows his game inside out, so there’s a lot of respect for him,” said Pope.

“But there’s also a lot of talented bowlers in our changing room who have worked out ways we can challenge him. I can’t say too much but there’s probably slightly different plans this time.

“He’s got his routines – his slightly longer routines – before he faces each ball and he won’t be ready until he’s done all those routines. What’s made him successful is that stubbornness and that stubbornness for runs as well. That’s exactly the bubble we’ve got to try and get him out of.

“Steve Smith is a highly-skilled batter and scores a lot of runs but I think for him we might be looking at even quirkier ways to challenge him, test him out and make him as uncomfortable as we possibly can to try and get his wicket.”

While Smith’s Ashes record makes him a clear and obvious target, Pope is still looking to make his mark on the famous rivalry.

He was nursing a dislocated shoulder during the last series here in 2019 and endured a miserable time Down Under in 2021/22, making just 67 runs in three matches.

The 25-year-old’s status has soared since then, elevated to the crucial number three position by Ben Stokes and subsequently establishing himself as the skipper’s heir apparent.

He cracked a career-best 205 against Ireland in his final pre-Ashes innings and is certain he is a different prospect to the one who stumbled last time around.

Speaking at an event with England sponsors Radox, Pope said: “I’ve worked really hard and I’m definitely a better player than I was in the last Ashes. Hopefully I can show that in the runs I score.

“I’ve got a lot more experience, I know my game a lot better. I’ve worked hard at my game from a technical point of view, just to make everything slightly smaller in terms of less hand movement and less foot movement, a stiller base.

“From a mental point, obviously with this McCullum-Stokes era, I feel like it’s allowed me just to go and play rather than have to worry about getting out the whole time and what’s going to be said to me.

“The last Ashes was tough. I kind of assumed Jonny Bairstow was going to be playing the first Test, I found out the night before, probably about 9pm that I was playing. When you’re not certain, it’s quite hard to actually mentally properly prepare yourself.

“We’ve got a changing room now where everyone knows their position and everyone is having a lot of fun in that changing room, enjoying each other’s company. It just creates a really good environment that gives you every possible chance of success and that has been produced from the guys at the top.”

:: Ollie Pope was speaking on behalf of Radox, the Official shower gel of England Cricket.

British number one Dan Evans suffered a surprise loss in the Surbiton Trophy second round.

The world number 25 kicked off his preparations for Wimbledon early at the Challenger event in south London, but, after winning his last-32 match on Tuesday, he was beaten in straight sets by Canadian Gabriel Diallo.

The world number 146 won 7-5 6-2 to book a quarter-final place against Jurij Rodionov.

Evans, who was the first seed at Surbiton, is due to head to the Challenger event in Nottingham next week and his exit opens the draw up for Andy Murray.

The two-time Wimbledon champion who faces Australian Jason Kubler in Friday’s last-eight tie, is the second seed and will be eyeing his first grass title since winning at SW19 in 2016.

There were mixed results in the women’s ITF tournament, with seven Britons in action.

Katie Boulter came from a set down to beat compatriot Sonny Kartal 3-6 6-3 6-4 while Lily Miyazaki won another all-British affair, winning 6-4 7-5 against Eden Silva.

Isabelle Lacy did not have to go on court to advance as her opponent Sachia Vickery pulled out while Katie Swan was leading 5-3 in the first set when Oceane Dodin retired injured.

Harriet Dart headed out as she lost 6-4 6-7 (5) 6-4 to Tatjana Maria.

Karolina Muchova saved a match point to stun Aryna Sabalenka and reach her first grand slam final at the French Open.

The unseeded Czech fought back from 5-2 down in the deciding set to claim a 7-6 (5) 6-7 (5) 7-5 victory in a tremendous contest lasting three hours and 13 minutes.

Sabalenka, who was bidding to win back-to-back slam titles after lifting the Australian Open trophy, appeared to have turned things in her favour but tightened up in sight of the line and Muchova made her pay.

At 43 in the world, the 26-year-old is the fourth lowest-ranked woman to reach the final here, while it is the fifth year in a row that the final will feature an unseeded player.

A delighted Muchova said: “I don’t really know what happened. The atmosphere, it’s unbelievable. I just tried to keep fighting and it worked. I’m so happy.”

The Czech was playing in her second slam semi-final having also reached the last four at the Australian Open in 2021, but injuries severely restricted her last year, with her ranking dropping outside the top 200.

Muchova has been climbing rapidly this year, though, and can break into the top 10 by lifting the trophy.

Sabalenka, who has found attention more on her off-court views than her tennis this fortnight, made the faster start but Muchova grew steadily into the match and made the first big move, breaking for 5-4.

Back came Sabalenka immediately, though, a forehand winner saving a set point and then more crunching groundstrokes earning her the break.

It was a compelling contest between the raw power and aggression of Sabalenka and the more subtle skills of Muchova, who gave a masterful display of using angles and changes of direction as well as being very willing to come to the net.

She is not averse to a winner, too, and produced one from the top drawer on her second set point at 6-5 in the tie-break, drilling a backhand down the line.

Muchova then exploited her opponent’s disappointment to break at the start of the second, and the old Sabalenka might have fallen away quickly in a barrage of errors.

But the Belarusian has beaten her biggest rivals this season with an unshakeable commitment to attacking tennis and she regrouped well.

From 0-2 she moved a break ahead at 4-3 only for Muchova to bounce back, but Sabalenka confidently served twice to stay in the match, setting up another tie-break.

Nerves were evident from both and Sabalenka double-faulted on her first set point but powered away an overhead on the second.

The second seed probed for an immediate break at the start of the decider and, although Muchova did superbly to withstand that, a break for 4-2 gave Sabalenka some daylight.

The match appeared over when she forced a first match point at 5-2 but Muchova saved it confidently, and Sabalenka then became edgy, throwing in her worst service game of the match.

At 5-5, Sabalenka, who overcame serving yips last year, sent down back-to-back double faults and Muchova seized her opportunity.