Nantes head coach Antoine Kombouare labelled his players "a sh***y team" on Sunday as he took a dramatic swipe at the group two weeks ahead of the Coupe de France final.

There will be glory in their sights at the Stade de France on April 29 when Nantes tackle Toulouse for cup honours.

However, former Paris Saint-Germain boss Kombouare tore into his side in a television interview after the 2-1 loss at Auxerre on Ligue 1 duty that left Nantes 15th in the table.

The 59-year-old told Prime Video: "Today the players aren't concerned by survival because, up to now... imagine, you got to the 16th finals of the Europa League, you're going to the Stade de France in two weeks.

"But apparently they would prefer for us to be up the creek and find ourselves 17th to be able to wake up.

"They like to play with the pressure so we're going to laugh. In any case today, I hear those from Auxerre say that we are a good team but no, we are a sh****y team!"

 

Nantes saw their Europa League campaign ended by Juventus in February when they lost 4-1 on aggregate to the Italian giants.

They have not won a domestic league match since February 12 when they scored a 1-0 home victory over Lorient, taking three points from a possible 24 since.

It is a run that has left relegation a distinct possibility, with Nantes just two points clear of the drop zone, which contains the bottom four sides for this season as Ligue 1 makes the change to an 18-team league from the 2023-24 season.

They will be seeking back-to-back Coupe de France titles, having beaten Nice 1-0 in last season's final.

Paul George is unlikely to be fit to feature for the Los Angeles Clippers in their NBA playoffs first-round series against the Phoenix Suns.

The eight-time All-Star forward has been out with a sprained right knee since March 21, but it had been hoped he would be back in time for the start of the postseason.

According to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski though, the Clippers have been preparing for the series without George.

It means they will almost certainly need to rely heavily on Kawhi Leonard in his absence against a Suns team that has gone to another level since adding Kevin Durant in February.

George averaged 23.8 points per game during the regular season, as well as 6.1 rebounds, 5.1 assists, and 2.8 three-point shots made.

Game 1 between the Clippers and the Suns takes place in Phoenix on Sunday.

Erik ten Hag had hoped his Manchester United team would kill off Nottingham Forest earlier than they did as they ran out 2-0 victors at the City Ground on Sunday.

Antony put the Red Devils ahead in the first-half, but United struggled to find a way past Keylor Navas again until Diogo Dalot grabbed a second in the 76th minute.

United ended the game with an expected goals rate (xG) of 3.49, and ultimately secured three points to leapfrog Newcastle United into third place in the Premier League.

"A solid performance. A well deserved win. The only criticism I could say, it had to be higher, the score. It had to be 3-0 or 4-0. We missed a lot of chances there," Ten Hag told Sky Sports after the game.

"You want to score and finish and kill the game in the early moments. That's always important. In big games you don't create so many chances, so you have to score them.

"We need more goalscorers and I'm happy with Antony. He scored a goal, gave an assist. His start in the game wasn't that good... But after he came into the game and he was continually a threat for the opponent."

United were without top scorer Marcus Rashford through injury, as well as defensive pair Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez after both suffered knocks in Thursday's 2-2 Europa League quarter-final first leg draw with Sevilla.

 

To add to Ten Hag's issues, Marcel Sabitzer was forced to pull out of the game after being injured in the warm-up on Sunday, and was replaced by Christian Eriksen.

It may have even been a benefit for Ten Hag, with the midfield trio of Casemiro, Eriksen and Bruno Fernandes winning 15 of their 17 matches started together at the club, drawing the other two.

"Sabitzer came off in the warm-up, he felt something. We decided not to take the risk, we will find out tomorrow what it is," the Red Devils' manager explained to BBC Sport. "But when you have Eriksen on the bench, it is definitely not a disadvantage.

"Last week I had nine fit top defenders, now I have four. We need all our players, we are still in three competitions, we need all the players to form a top team."

Dalot celebrated with notable enthusiasm when he made it 2-0 after running onto a pass from Antony and finishing calmly, and he explained to the BBC: "It was a release of emotions, more than the goal it was the moment of the goal, we needed it to be more comfortable.

"One-nil up with 10 minutes to go, it's going to be a war, so it came at the right moment."

Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago got their Women U20 Championship qualifiers off to winning starts on Saturday.

Six games were played in Groups C, D and F. In Group C action at the Estadio Felix Sanchez Stadium in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Guyana drubbed Suriname 6-0.

Se-Hanna Mars opened the scoring in the 24th minute before Sandra Johnson scored the first of her two goals in the 44th as Guyana took a 2-0 lead into half-time. Johnson added her second shortly after the resumption in the 47th minute.

 Glendy Lewis added Guyana’s fourth in minute 55 and Samantha Banfield made it 5-0 five minutes later. Jalade Trim completed the rout in the 90th minute.

In the second match on the night the Dominican Republic clobbered Dominica 15-0 as  Angelina Vargas scoring a double hat-trick, her goals coming in the sixth, 11th, 33rd 44th, 73rd and 78th minutes.

Jaylen Valecillo (7’, 21’, 63’) also had a hat trick, Ariana Diaz had a brace (14’, 37’) while Jazmyn Jackson (9’), Renata Mercedes (11’), Stella Tapia (86’) and Isabella Ventura (90’) all chipped in with scores.

The Rignaal Jean Francisca Stadium in Willemstad is serving as the site for Group D, and Trinidad and Tobago got off to a winning start in a 3-0 final against Cayman Islands. Talia Martin scored goals in the 22’ and 68’, while Nikita Jackson found the back of the net in the 66’ to give Trinidad and Tobago the three points.

Puerto Rico enjoyed a winning start in Willemstad as they topped Guadeloupe 5-0. Kenedy Garcia (12’), Enasia Colon (40’), Estefania Gonzalez (52’), Jocelyn Chinea (73’) and Fabiola Martinez (88’) supplied the goals for the Boricuas.

The Estadio Nacional in Managua was the location of the day’s games in Group F, beginning with Costa Rica’s 13-0 win over Belize.

Alexa Herrera had four goals (7’, 14’, 20’, 33’), Sheika Scott notched a hat trick (4’, 45+2’, 56’), Tanisha Fonseca contributed a brace (12’, 29’) and Jocelyn Briceno (33’), Dayra Dinarte (56’), Veronica Matarrita (71’) and Luciana Gonzalez (89’) all added scores for the Ticas.

Host nation Nicaragua took on Guatemala in the second game of the day in Managua and it ended with a 3-1 win to Nicaragua.

Aryeri Mejia (56’) and Daniela Manzanares (64’) scored for the Pinoleras in addition to an own goal (69’), while Guatemala got their score from Karen Gonzalez (19’).

All of the teams will be back in action on Monday.

In Group C in Santo Domingo, Guyana will look to make it two wins in a row versus Dominica, while the Dominican Republic will try to continue their scoring ways against Suriname.

Group D in Willemstad will see Trinidad and Tobago seek a second win against Guadeloupe, while Puerto Rico take on Cayman Islands.

Rajasthan Royals retained their place at the top of the IPL points table with a remarkable backs-to-the-wall run chase to beat Gujarat Titans by three wickets.

The winners of Sunday's match would lead the competition through five rounds, with the big-scoring Royals in command coming into this meeting.

But their hopes of protecting that position were hit by the early wickets of openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and Jos Buttler in reply to 177-7.

Shubman Gill (45) and David Miller (46) had led the Titans to that strong total, meaning Rajasthan required an improbable turnaround after losing their two leading scorers and initially struggling to get going thereafter

Captain Sanju Samson stepped up with a swift 60, though, and Shimron Hetmyer got them over the line despite a fine bowling performance from Mohammad Shami, who added to the dismissal of Buttler with two more late wickets.

Hetmyer crucially remained in the middle and completed the comeback with his fifth six to finish on 56 off 26, with the Royals 179-7 with four balls remaining.

Titans take out Rajasthan openers

Jaiswal and Buttler opened together for the fourth time this year, aiming to build on the success of those previous three matches, all of which ended in Rajasthan victories. Buttler made fifties in each of those matches, with Jaiswal joining him on two occasions, too.

But both batters were out before the end of the third over, a wicket maiden for Shami (3-25) that reduced the Royals to 4-2. At that stage, it seemed the Titans had halted the reply before it had even got going.

Royals rally to another big score

Even with Jaiswal and Buttler contributing only a run between them, the Royals retained some spectacular batting power. They have scored 175 or more in every one of their five matches this year, showing the scale of the task for any opponent looking to take them out of the game.

Xavi bemoaned the state of the Coliseum Alfonso Perez pitch after Sergi Roberto was injured in Barcelona's goalless LaLiga draw at Getafe on Sunday.

The misfiring Blaugrana were held at relegation-threatened Getafe after failing to score for a third consecutive game.

Barcelona remain well on course to win the title, leading Real Madrid by 11 points with nine games to play, but were left to rue their lack of a cutting edge once again.

Sergi Roberto was replaced by Eric Garcia early on due to a hamstring injury and Xavi put that down to the playing surface.

The head coach said, according to Marca: "The state of the grass has affected us. Yesterday we trained with a dry field. I have been criticised a lot for the issue of the surface. Today the whole world has seen it.

"It is very difficult to play like this, it is bad for the show. The ball gets stuck, it's bad even for Getafe. It's essential that it be in good condition."

Xavi added: "It's no excuse and we have to recover our sensations.

"We take a point that makes it not bad at all because of how uncomfortable we have been."

Regarding the injury, Xavi said: "Sergi noticed something in the hamstring. Let's see tomorrow. Let it be for a short time, whether or not there is an injury."

The leaders face third-placed Atletico Madrid next Sunday and Xavi warned they must not let their standards slip.

"I think we're having a good season in the league, but we mustn't fall asleep. Very important games are coming up," Xavi said.

"We tried to get the full-backs to go inside. We tried, we didn't have the best game, it's clear. We gave everything and we got a point that isn't entirely bad, but we're not satisfied.

"I hope that next week we can get two or three players back. It's not an excuse, we have a good squad, I'm satisfied. From there, minimise injuries and get people back. We'll plan for next season and see what happens."

Juventus suffered a second successive Serie A defeat as Gregoire Defrel's fine finish saw Sassuolo win 1-0 on Sunday.

Three days on from beating Sporting CP 1-0 in the Europa League, Juve turned in a tired display at Mapei Stadium, as Sassuolo dented the Bianconeri's Champions League qualification hopes.

Defrel's 64th-minute goal had been coming, with Massimiliano Allegri's team having lived a charmed life at the back while offering little going forward.

Juve found some spark late on, with Adrien Rabiot denied by Andrea Consigli and Angel Di Maria squandering a golden chance, but Sassuolo held firm to beat Juve at home in the league for the first time since October 2015.

Sassuolo carved out the only chance of a muted first half, but Nedim Bajrami failed to keep his shot down from a tight angle.

Danilo should have done better with a near-post header shortly after the restart, though Juve needed stand-in goalkeeper Mattia Perin to thwart Sassuolo soon after.

Having tipped a curling Maxime Lopez shot wide, Perin pulled off a fantastic save from Defrel's close-range header.

Perin could only stand and watch as Federico Gatti headed against the woodwork just after the hour, Juve coming away unscathed after the defender's awful attempt at a clearance.

Yet the pressure eventually told – Defrel arrowing in a brilliant finish on the spin after Nicolo Fagioli's dreadful clearance fell his way.

Juve finally sparked into life, with Rabiot's header forcing Consigli into a superb save before substitute Di Maria blazed over as the visitors' comeback attempts proved fruitless, with Paul Pogba's late cameo from the bench unable to inspire an equaliser.

Arjun Tendulkar tasted victory on his IPL debut as superstar father Sachin sang the praises of Mumbai Indians' new opening bowler.

The young Tendulkar made a century on his first-class debut for Goa against Rajasthan in December, and the 23-year-old chalked up another career landmark when he made his bow on the T20 big stage on Sunday.

It came in an impressive five-wicket win for Mumbai over Kolkata Knight Riders, with Tendulkar playing what was ultimately a minor role in the team's success.

He delivered the first over of the match and finished with 0-17 from two overs, before Mumbai's batting meant he was not required to play an active role in the run chase.

Proud dad Sachin Tendulkar wrote on Twitter: "Arjun, today you have taken another important step in your journey as a cricketer. As your father, someone who loves you and is passionate about the game, I know you will continue to give the game the respect it deserves and the game will love you back.

"You have worked very hard to reach here, and I am sure you will continue to do so. This is the start of a beautiful journey. All the best!"

Sachin Tendulkar played 78 matches in the IPL, scoring 2,334 runs at an average of 34.84 and twice topping 550 runs in a season.

He is widely regarded as India's greatest cricketer and holds the record for the most Test runs, scoring 15,921 in 200 matches in the longest format.

Long-time West Indies rival Brian Lara also celebrated the arrival of another Tendulkar in the IPL, posting a message of "Congrats" on Instagram alongside a picture of himself and a much younger Arjun.

Lara is coach of Sunrisers Hyderabad, who happen to be Mumbai's next opponents, with that game scheduled for Tuesday.

Manchester United beat Nottingham Forest 2-0 on Sunday at the City Ground to strengthen their hold on a Champions League qualification spot.

Goals in either half from Antony and Diogo Dalot were enough to take Erik ten Hag's men up to third in the Premier League table, overtaking Newcastle United after their defeat at Aston Villa on Saturday.

Forest – without a win in 10 – remain in the relegation zone, behind Everton on goal difference.

United's injury issues lengthened further after Marcel Sabitzer pulled up with a groin problem in the warm-up, with Christian Eriksen replacing him in the starting line-up, but that did not appear to weaken the Red Devils.

Jadon Sancho had a glorious chance to give the visitors the lead inside the first minute after Keylor Navas palmed a Bruno Fernandes cross straight to him, but the former Borussia Dortmund man could only hit Felipe with his effort.

Harry Maguire was lucky not to concede a penalty when a Forest corner struck the England defender's outstretched arm at the far post, and United took full advantage of that moment of fortune.

Fernandes had been pulling the strings in midfield, and in the 32nd minute, found Anthony Martial with a throughball. The Frenchman's shot was saved by Navas, but Antony followed in for a simple tap in at the back post.

Navas tipped a Fernandes effort from an angle onto the bar early in the second half, while Martial missed a good headed chance with 20 minutes remaining as United looked for a second.

That arrived in the 76th minute as Antony played a neat ball into the path of Dalot, who raced into the penalty area and finished well past Navas as United secured just their second away league win of 2023.

Mikel Arteta rued Arsenal's loss of purpose after they went 2-0 up against West Ham and then blew the chance of victory.

The Hammers hit back to draw 2-2 at London Stadium on Sunday, in a damaging result to Arsenal's title hopes, with Manchester City now just four points behind with a game in hand.

Bukayo Saka's penalty miss early in the second half was compounded by Jarrod Bowen's equaliser two minutes later, as Arsenal surrendered a two-goal lead for the second game running, having previously done so at Liverpool.

Gabriel Jesus and Martin Odegaard put the Gunners 2-0 up inside 10 minutes at West Ham, but Arteta thinks his team grew complacent.

"Very disappointing. The way we started was superb again, we were in total control, then we lost purpose," he told Sky Sports.

"We gave them hope, conceded a terrible penalty, then credit to them. We got on the roller coaster where everything is going, corners and throw-ins, and we never got away from that.

"The purpose we needed for a third and fourth goal, I didn't see it."

Arsenal's lack of focus was exemplified by Thomas Partey's mistake in the build-up to West Ham's first goal, with Declan Rice robbing the midfielder of possession before Lucas Paqueta drew a clumsy challenge from Gabriel Magalhaes.

Saka ultimately missed the chance to restore Arsenal's two-goal advantage when he skewed well wide from the penalty spot following Michail Antonio's handball, but Arteta was philosophical about the youngster's profligacy.

"A player who takes penalties misses penalties, I don't know anyone who hasn't," Arteta said of Saka, before adding Arsenal "can't control" the pressure in the title race.

Captain Odegaard echoed his manager's thoughts, saying: "A lot of the same things to last week – started well, but then we stopped, allowed them to play on their qualities.

"We gave them the game they wanted, we gave them hope, and that's on us. We have to look forward now.

"We started to do a lot of stupid things on the ball, we allowed them to play on the long balls.

 "We have to remember we are still top of the league with everything in our own hands. The same mindset, same mentality to make sure we win the next one."

Arsenal will look to bounce back against Southampton on Friday, before they face City in a potential title decider on April 26.

West Ham, meanwhile, are now four points clear of the bottom three.

"It would have been a good result getting a point anyway, but going 2-0 down and coming back shows great character," Hammers boss David Moyes told BBC Sport.

"The games are coming thick and fast and the players are doing a really good job."

Barcelona misfired once again as the LaLiga leaders were held to a goalless draw at Getafe on Sunday.

The Blaugrana failed to score in a third consecutive game in all competitions, although they remain well on course for the title with an 11-point advantage over second-placed Real Madrid.

Raphinha and Alejandro Balde hit the woodwork in the first half of a frustrating game for toothless Barca at Coliseum Alfonso Perez.

Battling Getafe were good value for a hard-earned point in their battle to avoid relegation.

Getafe posed questions of the Barca defence early on, and former Camp Nou forward Munir El Haddadi headed just wide before Sergi Roberto was replaced by Eric Garcia due to a hamstring injury.

The Blaugrana had another let-off when Enes Unal rose to meet a corner but headed over the crossbar from close range, and Getafe were almost behind moments later, having been caught out by a long ball down the middle.

Raphinha raced clear after the ball bounced over the top of the Getafe defence, and after the winger's effort struck the post, Balde followed up to hit the same upright.

Barca raised the tempo after the break, and Robert Lewandowski was narrowly off target when he met Jordi Alba's whipped cross with a glancing header.

Raphinha bent a free-kick from long range over the crossbar, and with Getafe doing a good job of containing the leaders, Xavi sent on Ansu Fati and Ferran Torres midway through the second half.

David Soria produced a brilliant save diving to his left to keep out a rasping drive from Raphinha, and Gavi fired wide, yet Borja Mayoral should have snatched all three points at the other end when he drilled wide late on.

Andrey Rublev came from a set down against Holger Rune to win the Monte Carlo Masters on Sunday, his first Masters 1000 title.

Having done the same in his semi-final against Taylor Fritz, Rublev showed grit and determination to do so again in the final, eventually winning 5-7 6-2 7-5.

Rublev become only the third player in the Open Era to have comeback wins in both the semi-final and final at Monte Carlo after Ivan Lendl (1988) and Ilie Nastase (1971).

Rune started the stronger of the two and forced a break in the sixth game of the first set with two delightful drop-shot winners, only for Rublev to break straight back in the next game.

After throwing away seven of eight break point chances in the first set, it was somewhat inevitable Rublev was unable to save a crucial one on his own serve with Rune at set point, sending a return long to hand the Dane the first frame.

This was Rune's sixth ATP Tour-level final, making him the fifth teenager to pass five since 2000.

Rublev seemed determined not to make the same mistake again as he immediately broke Rune's serve in the opening game of the second set, although he did pass up two chances for a double break before Rune levelled the set at 2-2.

The heat appeared to be affecting both players' service games in a high-octane encounter, but Rublev steadied himself before breaking again and then racing to another as he comfortably secured the second set.

As Rublev had done after dropping the opener, however, Rune responded defiantly and raced out to a 3-0 lead in the decider, but after missing a chance to go 5-1 up, he was broken back as Rublev came back to 4-4.

At 5-5, a tiring Rune twice hit the net with overhead smashes and then had a double fault at break point, leading to a crucial break for the Russian, who then served out the match to clinch the title.

"I know it's tough to lose a final, but you are too freaking young, man, and already have a Masters 1000 title, so give me one time to win it," Rublev joked with a smiling Rune at the trophy presentation.

Venkatesh Iyer's maiden T20 century was in vain as Mumbai Indians produced an excellent run chase to beat Kolkata Knight Riders by five wickets on Sunday.

Iyer took over as the leading run-scorer in the IPL with a magnificent 104 from 51 balls in KKR's 185-6 at the Wankhede Stadium.

The left-hander struck nine sixes and another six boundaries, facing only 49 balls to get to three figures as he ended a 15-year wait for a KKR century since Brendon McCullum achieved the feat.

He finished on the losing side, though, as Ishan Kishan (58 from 25) smashed a quickfire half-century and Suryakumar Yadav (43 off 25) returned to form to give Mumbai back-to-back wins.

Iyer put on a show after Cameron Green and the excellent Piyush Chawla (1-19) dismissed Narayan Jagadeesan and Rahmanullah Gurbaz respectively in the powerplay.

The in-form number three carted the Indians attack to all parts, dominating a fourth-wicket stand of 50 with Shardul Thakur in a masterclass before finally falling to Riley Meredith soon after bringing up a swashbuckling hundred.

There was a late flurry from Andre Russell (21 not out from 11), but it soon became apparent KKR were short of runs as Kishan and Rohit Sharma – batting as an impact player while struggling with a stomach bug – got Mumbai off to a flyer.

Suyash Sharma (2-27) had Rohit (20) superbly caught by Umesh Yadav to end a partnership of 65 in the fifth over, with Kishan hitting five sixes and as many fours before he was bowled by Varun Chakravarthy.

Suryakumar and Tilak Varma (30) then put on 60 to put the Indians well on their way to victory before Tim David (24no from 13) got the team home with 14 balls to spare.

 

Iyer takes orange cap in style

Iyer took the Indians attack apart, scoring KKR's first century since current England Test head coach McCullum bludgeoned a brutal 158 back in April 2008.

The 28-year-old's hundred was the second of this tournament, two days after Harry Brook's 100 for Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Iyer's exploits ensured he took the top scorer's orange cap from Shikhar Dhawan, with 234 runs from five visits to the crease at an average of 58.50.

Suryakumar steps up as captain

It had been a miserable IPL so far for Mumbai's Suryakumar, but he was back in the runs skippering the side with Rohit unable to play a full part.

He missed out on a half-century after nicking Thakur behind, but looked in good touch as he cleared the rope three times and hit another four boundaries.

Jaylen Brown credited the adrenaline of the game after somehow managing to top-score despite having a hand injury as the Boston Celtics started their NBA playoff first-round series against the Atlanta Hawks with a win.

Brown cut his right hand last week when he smashed a glass vase at his home, but he was able to play on Saturday.

Despite having had stitches following the injury, Brown's cut split open again against the Hawks, and he had to leave the court at TD Garden after just eight minutes to have his bandage changed.

However, he returned to ultimately play 37 minutes and score 29 points as the Celtics won 112-99, with 45 points in the second quarter.

Brown insisted the laceration between his fingers was "fine now", although he is still working out the best way to manage the issue.

"I think it's going to be alright," he said. "It's a constant adjustment, making sure I have a good grip on the ball.

"There's not a lot of padding on it, so it's just a different feel shooting the ball. [The pain] is fine. Especially with the adrenaline of the game, you kind of just get going."

Celtics forward Jayson Tatum, who scored 25 points, said of his team-mate: "He came out aggressive. He looked like he looked fine and played really well."

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