Jack Grealish credits Manchester City’s togetherness for their recent success ahead of another crucial run-in in the Premier League. 

Pep Guardiola’s men are second in the table, just one point behind Arsenal with a game in hand, as they aim to win an unprecedented fourth consecutive league title.

City have already won the Club World Cup this season, beating Fluminense to earn the trophy, and they will also play in the FA Cup final against Manchester United for the second year in a row later this month.

Despite the hopes of back-to-back trebles being ended by their Champions League quarter-final exit to Real Madrid, Grealish is confident that City will finish the season successfully, highlighting the crucial strong bond amongst the team.

"I've said in a lot of interviews that, for me, the team I'm in now - and especially last year - it's just unbelievable, the togetherness we have. Over the years, there have been so many top teams in the Premier League that haven't done what we've done," he told Sky Sports.

"Even City's team in 2018-19, with David Silva, Sergio Aguero and Kevin De Bruyne and Man United's team in 2008-09, with Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez - none of these teams won the treble.

"That says something about our team because you can have all of the talent in the world, but you need to have the other side of it as well, like that togetherness of the pitch. That's something we had so much of, and we've got it this season as well.

"With the experience we have and the quality we have, we don't really doubt ourselves.

"I feel like everyone knows how hard it is to win a treble. We did it last year, and it was one of the best feelings I've ever had in football, especially having played such a big part in it.

"I just want to finish the season strongly, try and win every competition we're in at the moment."

Grealish has struggled with injuries this season, managing 33 appearances in all competitions, and scoring just three goals.

Since making his return against Arsenal at the end of March, the 28-year-old has played in all but one of City’s eight games, and he is determined to make a successful finish to the season.

"When I'm injured, I start watching clips of myself and just remember how many good moments I have had in football. It brings back my love for football," he said.

"There's nothing that beats it. It's what I'm used to, and it's what I've done my whole life, so when I'm stuck indoors while the team are out training for a month or six weeks, it is difficult at times.

"Being injured certainly gave me that extra motivation to come back and just play well again and try and succeed with City. I'm over the moon to be back and, hopefully, I can have a strong end to the season."

Ange Postecoglou says Mauricio Pochettino’s time at Tottenham was a success despite him not winning any trophies.

Spurs will face their former manager’s Chelsea side at Stamford Bridge on Thursday, with both teams needing points in the race for a top-seven finish.

Pochettino led Spurs to a Champions League final and three consecutive top-three finishes in the Premier League during his five-year spell between 2014 and 2019.

The Argentinian failed to lift a trophy in his time at the club, but Postecoglou thinks it is unfair to use that as a baseline for Pochettino’s success.

"I mean it's a funny one you know because if all we measure sort of success on is just trophies, then okay. You know, but I don't think that's what life's about,” he said.

"I think anyone who doesn't think that Mauricio's five and a half years here were successful, doesn't really appreciate, I think, football for what it is because, you know, to get to the Champions League final, to, you know, come runners-up in the toughest league in the world.

"There's no silverware but in my mind, particularly the way he developed that group, I think he was a success.

"This is the business we're in and we get measured by – most of us get measured by other things so we've got to accept that."

Spurs have not won a trophy this season, but they are still in the race for a Champions League spot and sit seven points behind Aston Villa with two games in hand.

Asked about his own success in his first season at the club, he added: "They're not questions I need to ask, or I need to sort of investigate.

"As I said, I go by what I see now, today, what's important to me today. What's important to me is how the lads train and get ready for a big game."

Ralf Rangnick has confirmed he will remain in charge of Austria's national team beyond Euro 2024, having turned down Bayern Munich's interest.

Rangnick confirmed last week that Bayern had been in touch regarding the possibility of him taking over ahead of next season.

Bayern are aiming to fill an impending void, with current coach Thomas Tuchel set to leave the club at the end of the campaign.

But Rangnick has now confirmed he will be staying put, though he insisted he did not "reject" Bayern.

"I am national team coach of Austria with all my heart," he said in a statement released by the Austrian Football Association (OFB).

"This task brings me a lot of joy and I am determined to continue down the road we have started.

"I want to clearly stress that this is not a rejection of Bayern Munich but rather a decision for my team and our common goals."

"We are fully focused on the Euro. We will do everything we can to go far."

There have been calls from some Bayern fans for Tuchel to stay in charge, with some going as far as to sign a petition.

Bayern wanted to appoint Xabi Alonso as Tuchel's successor, but the former midfielder has elected to stay with Bayer Leverkusen.

While Leverkusen stormed to the Bundesliga title to end Bayern's 11-year dominance of the competition, Tuchel's team can still salvage silverware in the form of the Champions League.

Bayern head into the second leg of their semi-final tie with Real Madrid on the back of a 2-2 draw in Munich in Tuesday's first leg.

Tyronn Lue insisted that the Los Angeles Clippers will be "better for Game 6" after their worst game of the series against the Dallas Mavericks.

The Clippers lost 123-93 in Game 5 on Wednesday, giving the Mavericks a 3-2 series lead as they prepare for the next meeting in Dallas.

Los Angeles struggled against the Mavericks' defence, and at one point, missed 16 straight 3-point attempts.

Asked what went wrong for the Clippers on Wednesday, Lue said: "We just didn’t play well, all round. Offensively, defensively, we just didn’t play a good game. We know that.

"Playoffs, you have to win four games. We didn’t play our best game; we understand that and we all understand that collectively – we’ll be better for Game 6.

"Not making shots, not defending, had some gambles that really cost us early in the game. It was a two-point game, we gave up three gambles, and it became eight points, that got them going.

"We weren’t good on both sides of the basketball, we had a bad game and, to give them credit, they played well.

"We understand how we need to play. We got into our stuff a little slow. We didn’t shoot the ball well; we didn’t play well either – it kind of goes hand in hand. We didn’t play the style of basketball we need."

The Clippers have been in this position against the Mavericks before, going down 3-2 during the first round in 2021.

On that occasion, they won to force a Game 7 and went on to advance to the semifinals.

Shaquille O’Neal, however, does not think the Clippers are consistent enough to beat the Mavericks.

"They tried to play hero ball at the end by shooting those threes. Paul [George] had a surge of scoring late, but too late by then,” he said to NBA on TNT Sports.

"That's why I've never really been on the Clippers bandwagon because those two guys [George and James Harden] are too inconsistent for me. You can't go from 33 to seven."

Kyrie Irving was amazed by the "resilience" of Luka Doncic after he led the Dallas Mavericks to a pivotal Game 5 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers despite suffering from injury and illness.

A knee problem that has been troubling Doncic since Game 3 was wrapped with ice by midway through the fourth quarter, but he scored 35 points to lead the Mavs to a 123-93 rout of the Clippers.

That gave the Mavs a 3-2 lead in their Western Conference first-round series and put them on the brink of a series victory.

Doncic had 14 points in the third quarter as Dallas extended its lead to 25 before taking an 89-69 advantage into the fourth. He shot 14 of 26 from the field and finished with 10 assists and seven rebounds. 

It was the fifth time in his postseason career that Doncic had produced a performance with at least 30 points and 10 assists, extending what is already a team record.

And Doncic also tied with Michael Jordan for the most consecutive 20-plus point games on the road to begin an NBA playoff career. He has now done that in 15 consecutive games.

Maxi Kleber hit five 3-pointers and Irving added 14 points and six assists on a great Wednesday night for Dallas.

"I always speak on his resilience," Irving said about Doncic after the game, per ESPN. "He's not feeling a hundred percent, but he's still going to go out there and play. 

"For me as a teammate, I enjoy that. I enjoy being around somebody like that that's going to push themselves but also be smart and still make an impact on the game – and still empty his clips, as we like to say. 

"Even though he is not feeling well or he's not able to be a hundred percent, he's still able to lead our team in his own way."

The Mavericks will try to close out the Clippers at home in Game 6 on Friday. Doncic admitted that, given his condition, he would not have played in Game 5 if it had been a regular season contest.

"It's the playoffs," he said after playing while feeling unwell as well as managing the pain in his knee.

"When you start the game in the playoffs, it's a different thing. There's a lot of adrenaline, a lot of emotions. So you just keep going."

Clippers coach Tyronn Lue knows finding a way to stop Doncic will be key if his team are to reverse their fortunes.

"We knew at some point Luka was going to have a Luka game," he said. "We are not going to hang our heads.

"We have got to win four games. We go to Dallas, Game 6 on Friday and we will be ready to go."

Borussia Dortmund coach Edin Terzic said he was not surprised by Jadon Sancho's quality after the on-loan forward helped the German side to a 1-0 win over Paris Saint-Germain in the first-leg tie of their Champions League semi-final.

Sancho joined Manchester United from Dortmund for 85 million euros ($91.11 million) in August 2021 but failed to hold down a regular spot and returned to Germany after becoming embroiled in a row with manager Erik ten Hag.

After impressing on the right wing against PSG, Terzic said he always sees Sancho's quality in training.

"It's maybe not so easy to bring it onto the field, especially when you haven't had rhythm for a while," he told reporters.

"We know his quality, and we saw it again today. We knew we needed a performance like that from Jadon."

Dortmund bagged the winner in the 36th minute through Niclas Fullkrug to take a slim advantage going into Tuesday's return leg in Paris.

Despite winning the first leg, Terzic knows that the tie is still all to play for in the second leg.

"We showed a very good game, a narrow win but a deserved one. It was a great teamwork performance that got us there. We wanted that small advantage. We know next week will most likely be tougher than today," he said in a press conference.

"This is just half-time and next week will be a different story. It won't be easy to deal with their power play in front of a home crowd. We felt it today from the 45th to the 60th minute.

"We felt their quality. We showed our best game against PSG, but next week they will have a euphoric backing of their fans, and they will want to turn the tie around.

It is a victory that, coupled with Bayern Munich’s draw with Real Madrid on Tuesday, secures Germany a fifth automatic Champions League spot next season.

"We wanted to qualify for the Champions League through the Bundesliga and not this way. But the fact that it will be enough to qualify as fifth is also partly down to our success, our contribution," Terzic added.

"Our minimum goal was to qualify for the Champions League. Now it [added spot] does not improve our Bundesliga season, but it does offer a softer landing."

Luis Enrique is hoping Paris Saint-Germain's home support proves the difference in the second leg of their Champions League semi-final against Borussia Dortmund.

PSG must try to overturn a 1-0 deficit when BVB visit the Parc des Princes next week.

Dortmund's Niclas Fullkrug fired in a first-half goal to seal victory over visitors PSG, who had more possession throughout Wednesday's game but could not take their chances at Signal Iduna Park.

While PSG beat Barcelona in the quarters and Real Sociedad in the last 16, playing the second leg away both times, Luis Enrique knows their home fans could be crucial if they are to reach the final at Wembley on June 1.

"We saw an even match with two teams that play good football when they have the ball," Luis Enrique told reporters.

"We both created many scoring chances. This time our opponents scored and we didn't. The result reflects how close the game was.

"In the last two rounds, they had the home game as their second game, whereas it was the other way round for us. Now it's a different and new scenario, we'll have the crowd on our side in the second leg.

"I would have liked to create the chances we have created, but you have to be effective to score. We'll see what version we show in Paris."

Despite creating more chances after the break, PSG lost without scoring for the first time across all competitions this season.

"We missed our chances in the second half," PSG defender Achraf Hakimi told Canal+.

"We knew what they were going to do, with long through balls. We were very focused, the coach repeated it all week."

PSG have progressed from two of their previous four Champions League knockout ties when losing the first leg, with the first of those coming against Dortmund in the last 16 in 2019-20.

"We've come back from 1-0 down before," added PSG captain Marquinhos.

"We've shown that we can do it, especially at home, with the energy of our supporters, it's going to be a different scenario. We know we can do a lot better. We just need to take our chances and be more decisive.

"We conceded a goal that we shouldn't have conceded, and we've been talking all week about these deep passes from this Borussia team. It's the details that make all the difference, and we're going to do better in the next game if we want to go through."

Jaylen Brown and Derrick White each scored 25 points and the Boston Celtics rolled to a 118-84 rout of the short-handed Miami Heat on Wednesday to advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Up next for the top-seeded Celtics is the winner of the Cleveland-Orlando series that the Cavaliers lead 3-2.

Sam Hauser had 17 points and Jayson Tatum added 16 with 12 rebounds for the Celtics, who never trailed and gained a measure of revenge a year after Miami routed them in Game 7 of the conference finals.

Bam Adebayo scored 23 points and Tyler Herro had 15 for Miami, which exited the playoffs prior to the conference finals for the first time since 2021.

The Heat, who missed 26 of 29 from 3-point range and were outrebounded 56-29, played without Jimmy Butler (knee), Terry Rozier (neck) and Jaime Jaquez Jr. (hip).

Doncic, Mavericks rip Clippers

Luka Dončić scored 20 of his 35 points in the second half to lead the Dallas Mavericks to a 123-93 rout of the Los Angeles Clippers for a 3-2 lead in their Western Conference first-round series.

Doncic had 14 points in the third quarter as Dallas extended its lead to 25 before taking an 89-69 advantage into the fourth quarter. He shot 14 of 26 from the field and finished with 10 assists and seven rebounds.

The Mavericks will try to close out the Clippers at home in Game 6 on Friday.

Maxi Kleber hit five 3-pointers and Kyrie Irving added 14 points for Dallas, which shot 54 percent (47 for 87) from the field, including 35.9 percent (14 for 39) from long range. The Clippers, meanwhile, were held to 37.9 percent (33 for 87) shooting and 25.7 percent (9 for 35) on 3s.

Paul George and Ivica Zubac scored 15 points apiece and James Harden scored just seven points on 2-of-12 shooting and missed six of his seven 3s. Russell Westbrook missed his first eight shots before finally scoring in the third quarter and finishing with six points on 2 of 11 from the field.

Max Kepler and Jose Miranda delivered run-scoring singles in the seventh inning and the Twins added four runs in the ninth to win their 10th straight game, 10-5 over the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday.

Alex Kiriloff had a solo home run, Will Castro and Miranda each finished with three hits and Ryan Jeffers contributed a two-run double for the Twins, whose winning streak is their longest since June 2008.

Minnesota has beaten the major league-worst White Sox seven times during the streak, with the other three wins coming against the 11–20 Angels.

Tommy Pham and Kory Lee homered for Chicago, which lost its third straight to fall to 6-25.

Twins center fielder Byron Buxton left in the second inning with right knee soreness after an unsuccessful attempt to steal second base.

Imanaga sharp again as Cubs hold off Mets

Shota Imanaga continued his historic start with seven scoreless innings and the Chicago Cubs completed a perfect relay for the game’s final out to hold off the New York Mets, 1-0.

Imanaga limited the Mets to three singles with one walk and seven strikeouts to improve to 5-0 with a 0.78 ERA in his first six major league starts.  

He is the first pitcher since 1901 to go 4-0 with a sub-1.00 ERA and at least 28 strikeouts in his first five starts.

The Mets put runners at second and third with one out in the bottom of the ninth against Hector Neris before Jeff McNeil hit a flyball to medium left field. Ian Happ made the catch and relayed to third baseman Nick Madrigal, who threw home to get Pete Alonso for the final out.

Chicago scored the game’s only run in the fifth, when Matt Mervis led off with a double, moved up on a wild pitch and scored on rookie Pete Crow-Armstrong’s sacrifice fly.

Red-hot Lugo wins again

Seth Lugo pitched seven strong innings for his fifth win and Michael Massey hit a three-run homer to lift the Kansas City Royals to a 6-1 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays.

Lugo allowed just one hit until giving up Danny Jansen’s home run with two outs in the seventh. The right-hander walked two and struck out eight to improve to 5-1 and lower his ERA to 1.60.

Bobby Witt Jr. had two hits, scored once and had an RBI to help the Royals take two of three in the series.

Salvador Perez had an RBI single and extended his career-best streak of reaching base safely to 21 games. He leads the AL with a .355 batting average and 27 RBIs.

Kansas City gave Lugo all the support he needed with a three-run sixth. Kyle Isbel led off with a double, moved up on a sacrifice and scored on Witt’s single. Vinnie Pasquantino then doubled, and Perez’s hit plated Witt before Massey’s groundout made it 3-0.

Manchester United loanee Jadon Sancho issued a reminder of his star quality as Borussia Dortmund beat Paris Saint-Germain 1-0 in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final tie on Wednesday.

Niclas Fullkrug scored the winner after 36 minutes, taking in Nico Schlotterbeck's floated pass before driving a low shot beyond PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.

Fullkrug has now been involved in six Champions League goals this season (three goals, three assists), the joint-most by a German player in their debut campaign in the competition, alongside BVB team-mate Marco Reus in 2012-13 (four goals, two assists).

The star of the show, however, was undoubtedly Sancho.

He tormented Nuno Mendes throughout a lively performance, creating three chances for his team-mates – a game-high tally alongside Julian Brandt, Kylian Mbappe and Achraf Hakimi.

Sancho had completed seven dribbles by the halfway point, more than he managed in any full game for the Red Devils.

By full-time, that number had crept up to 12, the most by any player in a Champions League semi-final since Lionel Messi completed 16 for Barcelona against United in April 2008, and the most on record by an Englishman at any stage of the competition (since 2003-04).

Sancho even outshone Mbappe, who struck the far post with a curling effort early in the second half but was limited to just three shots totalling 0.17 expected goals (xG). 

PSG did have their chances, though, with their total of 14 shots their most without scoring in any Champions League game since the second leg of their 2020-21 semi-final against Manchester City (also 14), when they were beaten 2-0 and eliminated from the competition. 

Dortmund are now unbeaten in 11 straight Champions League home games, winning seven and drawing four. 

It's their longest ever such streak at Signal Iduna Park, and they have also won four straight knockout games on their own turf for the first time in their Champions League history.

While Dortmund have a valuable lead to protect in Paris next Tuesday, Edin Terzic will be expecting a strong reaction from PSG.

The Ligue 1 champions have progressed from two of their last four Champions League knockout ties when losing the first leg, with the first of those successes coming against Dortmund in the last 16 in 2019-20 (1-2 away, 2-0 at home).  

Niclas Fullkrug fired home a first-half winner as Borussia Dortmund claimed a 1-0 victory over Paris Saint-Germain in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final tie in Germany.

Nico Schlotterbeck floated a pass into Fullkrug's path and the Germany international brought the ball under his spell with a wonderful touch before drilling a low shot past Gianluigi Donnarumma in the 36th minute.

PSG, on the back foot for much of the first half, improved after the break and struck the woodwork twice in a matter of moments just after the restart.

Kylian Mbappe curled an effort against the right-hand post before Achraf Hakimi scuffed a shot against the other upright on the rebound as Edin Terzic's side escaped with a first-leg lead.

The teams will meet again at the Parc des Princes next Tuesday, with the winners of the tie facing either Bayern Munich or Real Madrid – who drew 2-2 in their first leg on Tuesday – in the final at Wembley Stadium.