Barcelona are through to the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey after a 1-0 win against 10-man Real Sociedad at Camp Nou.
The hosts were unable to find the breakthrough in the first half despite dominating, but were handed an advantage when Brais Mendez was sent off in the 40th minute.
Ousmane Dembele gave the Blaugrana the lead early in the second half after being played through by Jules Kounde, finishing powerfully past Alex Remiro.
The contest between LaLiga's first and third-placed teams was rarely as close as the scoreline suggested until a late push from Sociedad, and Xavi's men march on looking to add another trophy to their recent Supercopa de Espana success.
Barca started brightly and had the ball in the net in the 11th minute, but Robert Lewandowski's goal-bound strike deflected off the offside Frenkie de Jong on its way in.
The dangerous Dembele threatened shortly after when a determined run ended with a curled effort just wide of the left-hand post, while Takefusa Kubo struck the crossbar just before the half-hour with the visitors' first attempt.
There were borderline ironic cheers before half-time from the home fans as referee Gil Manzano, who sent off Lewandowski earlier in the season, handed a red card to La Real's Mendez when a VAR review showed the midfielder had caught Sergio Busquets on the ankle with his studs.
Dembele opened the scoring in the 52nd minute when he raced onto a pass down the right channel from Kounde, before firing his shot past Remiro at his near post.
La Real should have been level on the hour when Alexander Sorloth somehow turned Kubo's cross over the bar from close range, while Gavi hit the woodwork at the other end.
One goal was enough to seal Barca's passage to the final four, though, thanks to late Marc-Andre ter Stegen saves to deny Roberto Navarro and then Jon Ander Olasagasti.
Manchester United put one foot into the EFL Cup final with an assured 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest in the first leg of their semi-final on Wednesday.
Goals for Marcus Rashford, Wout Weghorst – his first for the club – and Bruno Fernandes secured victory for the visitors at the City Ground.
After dropping points in back-to-back Premier League games against Crystal Palace and Arsenal, it marked a return to winning ways for Erik ten Hag's men.
For Steve Cooper's hosts though, it marks a bitterly disappointing result, with any chance of a comeback at Old Trafford now likely scotched.
United needed just six minutes to carve Forest open, with Rashford afforded space to scamper down the left wing and squeeze between two defenders before beating Wayne Hennessey at the near post.
Forest thought they had equalised with a superb breakaway finished by Sam Surridge in the 23rd minute, only for the VAR to deem the striker offside.
The hosts looked to be growing into the game after that but received a sucker punch on the stroke of half-time when Weghorst turned in after Antony's effort was parried.
Christian Eriksen nearly added a third nine minutes after the interval, his looping attempt hitting the crossbar.
With time running out, Forest called upon former United midfielder Jesse Lingard from the bench in the hope of salvaging something for the second leg.
But the result was put beyond doubt in the 89th minute, Fernandes drilling into the bottom-left corner to surely send United to Wembley.
Nick Kyrgios is aiming to return to action at Indian Wells after undergoing successful surgery on his knee, his manager Daniel Horsfall confirmed.
The 2022 Wimbledon runner-up was left "devastated" after being forced to withdraw from the Australian Open on home soil last week.
Kyrgios was ruled out of his home grand slam after an MRI scan on his knee revealed a cyst as a result of a small lateral meniscus tear.
He went under the knife on Monday and is now battling to be ready in time for the first Masters 1000 event of the season at Indian Wells, which starts on March 6.
"The surgery was a great success," Horsfall told Australian newspaper The Herald.
"We couldn't have been more pleased with the outcome of it. Now we will be pushing ahead for a speedy recovery and are aiming to see everyone at Indian Wells."
Kyrgios won the seventh ATP Tour singles title of his career in Washington last August and claimed the Australian Open men's doubles title with Thanasi Kokkinakis 12 months ago.
The 27-year-old, who has yet to play competitively this season, is a two-time quarter-finalist on the hard courts at Indian Wells.
Enzo Fernandez will remain a Benfica player beyond the end of the January transfer window, according to the Portuguese giants' head coach Roger Schmidt.
The Argentina midfielder has been strongly linked with a move to Chelsea throughout the month, but Benfica are reportedly insisting the Premier League side meet the player's release clause, believed to be £106million (€120m).
Schmidt previously described Chelsea's pursuit of the 22-year-old as "disrespectful", and speaking to reporters on Wednesday, he reiterated his confidence that Fernandez will stay.
"Yes, of course," he said about the player remaining in Lisbon. "When you see Enzo playing for Benfica you can tell he's in shape and happy. He's not thinking about anything else.
"I'm not expecting to lose any of our regular starters. I see the players concentrated and I hope this continues."
Fernandez, fresh off winning the World Cup last month as well as picking up the tournament's Young Player award, leads the Primeira Liga for passes attempted this season with 1,511, 260 more than the next most (Sporting CP's Goncalo Inacio – 1,251).
Chelsea have had a busy window already, signing David Datro Fofana, Andrey Santos, Joao Felix (loan), Benoit Badiashile, Mykhaylo Mudryk and Noni Madueke.
UEFA has confirmed format changes to both the Nations League and qualifiers for the European Championships and World Cup.
The changes to the Nations League, which began in 2018, include an additional knock-out element, with League A group winners and runners-up taking part in two-legged quarter-finals.
Teams that finish third in League A and League B will face off against the runners-up of League B and League C in two-legged promotion/relegation play-offs.
Changes to qualifying for European Championships and World Cups will now see 12 groups of either four or five teams drawn, with group winners qualifying and runners-up either also qualifying or entering play-offs.
"The introduction of the UEFA Nations League was a success story, replacing friendly games with more competitive matches," said UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin.
"And now, by introducing the new knock-out phase, teams will be given even more opportunities to progress while keeping the same number of games within the international match calendar.
"The predictability of the European Qualifiers has also been addressed and tackled, with a fresh new format that will offer all the teams an equal chance to qualify for major tournaments."
The amendments to qualifying will come into effect after Euro 2024.
It was also decided at an Executive Committee meeting on Wednesday that next season's UEFA Super Cup will be moved from its original host city of Kazan in Russia to Athens, Greece.
UEFA confirmed that the game between the winners of the Champions League and the winners of the Europa League will be played at the Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium in the Greek capital on August 16.
Normally, Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks visiting the Phoenix Suns would feel like a battle for supremacy near the top of the league.
However, going into their clash at Footprint Center on Thursday, it threatens to be the latest in a poor run of form for Dallas, who not only have a bad recent record in Phoenix, but whose form has fallen off a cliff in 2023.
Their win at the Houston Rockets in their first game of the year was their seventh in a row, but since then they have a record of 3-8, including back-to-back home defeats to the Los Angeles Clippers and Washington Wizards in their last two outings.
Head coach Jason Kidd recently called for an improvement from his defense, whose standards have slipped this season.
Following defeat to the Atlanta Hawks last week in which they conceded 130 points, Kidd said: "In this league, if you do that, no matter if you have Luka or Kareem [Abdul-Jabbar] or LeBron [James], you're going to lose. It doesn't matter how many points you score, you're always going to be short.
"So until we put a better effort into playing defense and understanding what we have to do, we're going to score 120, but we're going to give up 130, 140. One night we might give up 150, but we'll be fine because we scored, so it doesn't look too bad."
The Suns are recovering from their own bad run, though.
Last year's runaway Western Conference winners started the season with 15 victories in their first 21 games, before only succeeding in six of their next 24.
Four wins on the bounce since then have sparked hope of a resurgence in Phoenix, though, and they will be hoping to take advantage of a vulnerable Mavericks side.
After his impressive performance in the 128-97 win against the Charlotte Hornets, Cameron Johnson said: "It's life – you weather storms. Things don't always go your way. We've found that out the past couple years. That doesn't mean you tuck tail, run, sell the farm, hide away forever.
"We have a lot of confidence in our group. Top to bottom."
Monty Williams' men will look to call on that confidence when they welcome the Mavs to Arizona.
PIVOTAL PERFORMERS
Phoenix Suns – Chris Paul
The experienced Paul was absolutely central to the recent 112-110 win against the Memphis Grizzlies, scoring 22 points with 11 assists, before putting up another 11 assists against the Hornets.
With Devin Booker out, Phoenix have had to share the wealth when it comes to scoring points, and Paul has been key when available in enabling others to find those points.
If Deandre Ayton (illness) is missing again, it will likely come down to the 37-year-old to step up once more.
Dallas Mavericks – Luka Doncic
The Suns are 20th in the league for points scored this season, but the Mavs are a place lower. That seems pretty crazy when you think they have one of the best players in the league in their ranks, and he is again having a productive season.
From 44 games, Doncic has led the way with an average of 33.8 points per game, the most in the league, with 9.1 rebounds and 8.6 assists.
The Slovenian will need help from his team-mates in Phoenix, and a lot more than he had when his 41 points against the Wizards wasn't enough for the win.
KEY BATTLE – Can the Mavs defense finally thrive with no obvious Suns threat?
As mentioned, Dallas have struggled to stop the opposition from racking up the points this season, going from the second-best defense in the regular season last year to 12th so far this.
One factor they could rely on here, though, is the Suns being without Booker and therefore without anyone averaging more than 17.5 points per game (Ayton).
HEAD-TO-HEAD
Prior to Dallas beating Phoenix 130-111 in early December, the Suns had won 10 in a row against them, while they have gone 9-1 in their last 10 home games against the Mavs.
The three awards won at the recent 2022 RJRGLEANER Sports Foundation National Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year Awards have come as a boon of motivation for both athletes and members of the coaching staff of the Tornadoes Swim Club.
On Friday, January 20, three swimmers of the Kingston-based club were recipients of a national award for their successes in both swimming and triathlon over the past year.
Leading the pack in swimming is the now overseas-based,18 -year-old Sabrina Lyn, former Tornadoes Swim Club member, who copped the 2022 Female Swimmer of the Year Award following gold medal performances at the 2022 Carifta Swimming Championships where she also set a personal best time the 100m Butterfly and set a meet record in the relay.
Lyn also won gold and other medals at the inaugural Caribbean Games held in Guadeloupe and set the 200m record in the butterfly at the CCAN Swimming Championship in Barbados.
The talented young swimmer, who was recently accepted to Louisiana State University (LSU) said that receiving the award has been a “very honouring experience”. She said that she felt inspired to walk in the footsteps of Jamaica’s swimming doyenne Alia Atkinson who also received the national honour.
“This makes me feel like I am on track to represent Jamaica and my club and to walk in her footsteps on the Olympic stage,” she said.
Female Triathlete of the Year is Rihanna Gayle copped first place at the the Jamaica National Championship Triathlon and was a silver medalist in the CARIFTA Aquathlon in Bermuda last November.
Gayle also secured silver in the World Triathlon Development Regional Cup hosted in Santa Domingo in October 2022.
“It was a big motivation for me to be there at the ceremony and to be recognized among all the great athletes in Jamaica,” said the 17-year-old, who is a student at the St. Andrew High School for Girls.
“Triathlon is a unique sport, and it takes a lot of work, but I am also willing to work hard to accomplish more and to go further in the Triathlon.”
Sixteen-year-old Israel Allen, a student at Jamaica College and National Triathlon Champion, was elated to receive the Male award and is proud of his achievements in the sport.
Allen has represented Jamaica on various occasions in both competitive swimming and triathlon and has won several awards including a bronze medal for Jamaica at the 2022 CARIFTA Aquathlon.
Head Coach of the Tornadoes, Wendy Lee was in a jubilant mood following last Friday’s announcements and hailed the success of the three awardees who she says, “Have been striving towards excellence since they were eight years old.”
“These awards are indeed a physical manifestation of the hard work that we continue put in to producing Jamaica’s best aquatics athletes and as head coach, I am extremely proud of the strides that all our athletes are taking led of course by Sabrina, Rihanna, and Israel,” Lee said.
She credits the round of successes the club secured in 2022 to the holistic approach that the club takes to athlete development.
“All of our swimmers are actively pursuing big goals both in and outside of the pool,” Lee said.
“We are committed to age-appropriate training of the highest standards for all our swimmers, and we are truly honoured to continue to facilitate and nurture this tradition of excellence.”
In 2022, the Tornadoes secured victory in seven of nine local meets and are already preparing for what is expected to be continued success in 2023.
Three of the four quarterbacks who have led their teams to their conference's championship game have been named finalists for the NFL's Most Valuable Player Award.
Kansas City Chiefs' Patrick Mahomes, Philadelphia Eagles' Jalen Hurts and Cincinnati Bengals' Joe Burrow are among the five finalists announced on Wednesday.
Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen and Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson were also tabbed as finalists.
Mahomes, the current betting favourite to win the honour for the second time in his career, Hurts and Jefferson are also finalists for Offensive Player of the Year along with Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill.
The 2018 NFL MVP led the league with 5,250 passing yards and 41 touchdown passes while helping the Chiefs to an AFC-best 14-3 record. Top-seeded Kansas City will host Burrow's Bengals in the conference title game on Sunday.
Hurts compiled 3,701 passing yards, 760 rushing yards and 35 total touchdowns to lead the Eagles to a 14-3 record and the NFC's No. 1 seed. Philadelphia will host a San Francisco 49ers team guided by quarterback Brock Purdy, one of three finalists for Offensive Rookie of the Year, in Sunday's conference championship.
Purdy, the final pick of the 2022 draft who has gone 7-0 since replacing an injured Jimmy Garoppolo, is joined by Seattle Seahawks running back Kenneth Walker and New York Jets wide receiver Garrett Wilson as finalists.
San Francisco's stout defence was also represented with end Nick Bosa one of three finalists for Defensive Player of the Year. Dallas Cowboys edge rusher Micah Parsons, the runner-up for the award last season, and Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones are also up for the honour.
49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan was also named a finalist for NFL Coach of the Year along with the New York Giants' Brian Daboll and Jacksonville Jaguars' Doug Pederson, both of whom directed their teams to playoff appearances in their first seasons.
San Francisco garnered two other award finalists in running back Christian McCaffrey and defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans. McCaffrey joins Giants running Saquon Barkley and Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith as candidates for Comeback Player of the Year, while Ryans is a finalist for Assistant Coach of the Year.
Eagles offensive coordinator Shane Steichen and Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson are the other Assistant Coach of the Year finalists.
The Defensive Rookie of the Year award will go to either Jets cornerback Ahmad "Sauce" Gardner, Lions defensive end Aidan Hutchinson or Seahawks corner Tariq Woolen.
All of this season's winners will be announced at the NFL Honors event in Phoenix on February 9, three days before Super Bowl LVII will be held at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizozna.
Voting was conducted before the start of the playoffs by a nationwide panel of 50 media members who regularly cover the league.
Italy will be "hungry for revenge" following their World Cup absence when they meet Spain at the Nations League Finals in June, Roberto Mancini's assistant Alberico Evani has told Stats Perform.
The European champions missed out on a second consecutive edition of the global tournament last year after falling to a shock qualification play-off defeat against North Macedonia in March.
However, the Azzurri bounced back to top a competitive Nations League group containing Hungary, Germany and England as they qualified for the competition's final four for the second edition in a row.
Italy will face Spain – who beat them in the 2021 semi-finals at San Siro – on June 15 following Wednesday's draw, while hosts Netherlands will meet Croatia.
Evani, who was a World Cup runner-up as a player in 1994 before joining Mancini's backroom team in 2018, knows Spain will be tough opponents but hopes Italy can prove a point.
"We've struggled against them in the past because of their style of play," Evani said of the threat posed by La Roja.
"We would have preferred to avoid them, but it's also nice to have to play against them, as we can see if we have improved.
"We are the only two teams who reached the final four in the last two consecutive editions. Let's see if we can change the result.
"We are hungry for revenge and to take back what we have left in London two years ago [when winning the delayed Euro 2020].
"We have the skills to do it and we are doing all we can to be competitive again, we are working to be in the best possible conditions in June."
Mancini recently called for coaches to be braver in giving top-level experience to young Italian players, something Evani is also keen to see.
"We had a camp right before Christmas and we called up all these young players. There is a lot of quality, they are interesting players with big futures ahead of them," he said.
"We hope their respective clubs will let them play more and more so they can gain the right experience. We have the talents, I think the future is bright."
Evani was speaking less than a week after Serie A giants Juventus were issued with a 15-point deduction following an investigation into the club's past transfer dealings.
Italy won the 2006 World Cup amid investigations that saw several of Serie A's top clubs punished in the aftermath of the Calciopoli scandal, and Evani hopes the Azzurri can again find motivation from a crisis affecting the country's domestic league.
"Our country always find strength in hardships," he said. "We didn't qualify for the World Cup and we now have this issue with the entire Italian football system. Who knows, we might be able to find the right boost to reach new heights."
Four people have been questioned by police after displaying pro-Russia symbols and allegedly threatening security guards at the Australian Open.
Tennis Australia banned Russian and Belarusian flags from the event at Melbourne Park earlier this month, after a spectator was reported to security for displaying one during a match between Ukraine's Kateryna Baindl and Russian Kamilla Rakhimova.
Russian and Belarusian players have not been able to play under their countries' flags since Vladimir Putin's regime launched an invasion of Ukraine last February.
On Wednesday, spectators were seen displaying a Russian flag during Andrey Rublev's quarter-final defeat against Novak Djokovic, while one man appeared to be wearing a t-shirt adorned with the letter 'Z' – used as a pro-war symbol in the country.
The man was seen in conversation with an Australian Open official at Rod Laver Arena, while social media footage later showed a flag featuring Putin's face being waved outside the venue.
A widely reported statement from Tennis Australia read: "Four people in the crowd leaving the stadium revealed inappropriate flags and symbols and threatened security guards.
"Victoria Police intervened and are continuing to question them.
"The comfort and safety of everyone is our priority and we work closely with security and authorities."
Rory McIlroy has been called an "immature little child" by Patrick Reed.
McIlroy confirmed he purposely ignored Reed at a practice session ahead of the Dubai Desert Classic.
Reed, one of the high-profile players who left the PGA Tour to sign up for the LIV Golf Invitational last year, was alleged to have thrown a tee at McIlroy, who claimed not to have noticed.
The American, who McIlroy said had served him with court papers on Christmas Eve, has denied there was any malicious intent behind that move, as he hit out at the world number one's behaviour.
Reed told reporters: "One of my attorneys filed a lawsuit against the PGA Tour based off the fans' perspective.
"Supposedly, he subpoenaed Tiger [Woods] and Rory. You know, the media sits there and acts as if I'm the one that is subpoenaing these guys and, honestly, that's far from the truth – it has nothing to do with me and nothing to do with any of the lawsuits that I'm a part of.
"It was good to see [Rory] again this week, that he's over here supporting [the DP World Tour] again, but it is one of those things.
"If you're going to act like an immature little child, then you might as well be treated like one."
Reed, who won the Masters in 2018, explained what happened when he went to greet McIlroy.
"[McIlroy's caddie] Harry [Diamond] shook my hand and Rory was messing with his TrackMan [golf app], and he just looked up and kind of decided to ignore us.
"Since my tees are Team Aces LIV tees, I flicked him one. It was kind of a funny shot back. Funny how a small, little flick has basically turned into me stabbing him."
McIlroy said the incident was a "storm in a teacup", but also said: "I'm living in reality. I don't know where he’s living. If I were in his shoes, I wouldn't expect a hello or a handshake."
Reed is now hoping to go head-to-head with McIlroy out on the course.
"That would be great, but I will tell you this much – there won't be much talking," Reed said.
"Even if I said hello on the first, he won't say anything. I can be as much a gentleman as I can be, [it's] his choice if he doesn't respond."
Diego Simeone warned Atletico Madrid against focusing all their energy on stopping Vinicius Junior in Thursday's Copa del Rey quarter-final against rivals Real Madrid.
Vinicius is enjoying another standout campaign for Carlo Ancelotti's men, leading his team-mates for goal contributions (16 – 11 goals, five assists) across all competitions as they bid to follow up last season's LaLiga and Champions League double.
The last Madrid derby was marred by racist abuse being directed towards the winger, who responded by dancing in front of Atletico's supporters after Los Blancos took the lead in a 2-1 win.
The Brazil international will look to guide Madrid to their first Copa del Rey semi-final since 2019 on Thursday, but Simeone is aware he will not be the only threat for Atleti to deal with.
"They have very important footballers, highlighting just one falls short," he said at Wednesday's pre-match press conference.
"We think of Real Madrid as a team, they have a lot of very good tools to compete, we'll try to take the game where we feel most comfortable to hurt them.
"They're a competitive team, and when they decide to compete, they do very well. We must show our strength, enthusiasm and desire to play an important game."
Atleti have won five of their seven games since the World Cup, only losing to Barcelona in that run, and Simeone is pleased with the progress displayed by his team.
"I see us better since we returned from the World Cup, with more offensive options to create danger and working very well as a group," he said.
"I see the group as committed and enthusiastic, and we are going to play an important game, a tie against a very strong team with a coach that I greatly admire."
For Madrid, Thursday's game represents their first at the Santiago Bernabeu since a 2-1 win over Cadiz in November, and Ancelotti hopes returning to their iconic stadium will provide his side with a boost.
"It may be that we are favourites because we play at home, but both teams have motivation and enthusiasm," the Italian said.
"The illusion of going home, I think, will help us. Playing in front of our fans will help us. Going back to the Bernabeu will be special."
Asked whether the opportunity to effectively end Atleti's hopes of lifting a trophy this season provided additional motivation, Ancelotti added: "We don't think about that. It's an important opportunity to reach the semi-finals of an important competition, nothing more.
"We take into account the strength of the rival and we know that it takes a lot [to win]. It's a special game, and it's going to be an entertaining game because Atletico are improving."
Mikel Arteta is not enjoying battling Pep Guardiola for honours, describing the "challenge" he faces in taking on someone he considers a close friend.
Arteta spent three and a half years as Guardiola's assistant at Manchester City before taking the manager's job at Arsenal.
After finishing eighth, eighth and fifth in the Premier League in his first three seasons in charge at Emirates Stadium, only now has Arteta put together a team capable of matching City.
Arsenal are five points clear at the top of the table with a game in hand over Guardiola's second-placed side.
Seeing City suffer is not easy for Arteta, however, given his attachment to his former boss.
Ahead of an FA Cup tie between the two sides, their first meeting this season, Arteta said: "I would prefer to do it with someone else, to be fair.
"I want the best for him, genuinely the best for him, and when you're challenging like this, something comes in between.
"It's a strange feeling. It is what it is, and that's our challenge."
However, with City the standard-bearers in English football, Arteta knew this day would come if he was going to turn Arsenal into contenders again.
"I always hoped that was going to be the case one day, and it's happening this season," he said.
"Obviously that's not going to change any friendship, the moments we had, how important he is in my life, how important he is in my profession.
"We're both wanting to win and defend our clubs the best possible way. That's always been the case since day one."
Mikel Arteta expects to learn a lot about Arsenal from their FA Cup clash with Manchester City, even if that match is "very, very different" from next month's Premier League encounter.
Leaders Arsenal are yet to meet second-placed City in the league this season, but Arteta's men have forged a five-point gap to the defending champions with a game in hand.
It means their first meeting of the campaign will come instead in the fourth round of the cup, where the Arsenal manager plans to measure his team against elite opposition.
"It's a big test for us against, in my opinion, the best football team in the world," Arteta said.
"We're looking forward to it, because it's going to tell us a lot about where we are."
That tie will take place at the Etihad Stadium, before the teams do battle in the league at Emirates Stadium next month.
Asked how one result might impact on the other, Arteta was dismissive.
"I think they're going to be two very, very different games," he said. "The context is extremely different. Let's see."
The numbers bear that out, with Pep Guardiola winning 13 of his 16 matches against Arsenal as City manager but suffering his only two defeats in this fixture in their two FA Cup clashes. Arsenal have won four in a row against City in this competition.
Arteta added: "Obviously it's important to play well and to win; that gives you more momentum, more confidence and prepares you better for the next match. That's our focus, to do that on Friday."
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