Juventus boss Massimiliano Allegri insisted that a 1-1 draw with Torino at Allianz Stadium on Friday continued his team's "positive streak".
The hosts took the lead through a first-half Matthijs de Ligt header, but Andrea Belotti equalised just after the hour mark and Juve struggled to create any meaningful chances in response, failing to hit the target at all in the second half.
The Old Lady remain in fourth place in Serie A, eight points behind leaders Milan having played a game more, and just three points ahead of Atalanta in fifth, who have two games in hand.
Speaking to DAZN after the game, Allegri appeared to be satisfied with both the result and performance.
"It matters because, with the point, we followed up on the positive results we've had in the last two to three months," he said. "It wasn't easy, we weren't brilliant compared to Torino, but we played a good game.
"Paradoxically, we conceded a goal in our best moment. In the first half we had two or three situations where we could have scored, but not in the second half.
"Then we weren't very clean in the second half, but I think it's a normal path, it's natural when you're playing in the league, especially when you're aiming to be in the top four, so a draw isn't to be dismissed.
"I'd say the boys played a good game in terms of commitment and intensity. They tried to win until the end, so it's a point that we take home and allows us to extend the positive streak."
Allegri also seemed unconcerned by the performance of Dusan Vlahovic, who struggled to make an impact, having just one shot all game before coming off in the 74th minute.
The Serbia striker made a January move from Fiorentina in a transfer that could be worth up to €80million.
"He struggled because he's a very good player, but he has to learn a lot," Allegri added. "As many players have to learn. Tonight, he had to drag Bremer around the pitch and not give him any points of reference, because he is very strong on direct balls and less strong when you drag him around the pitch.
"Let's not forget that he comes from a team who are having a very good season, but he played one game a week. He's played six [here], so I think it's normal for him to grow. It amuses me because someone comes in and has to play every game.
"You have to grow, you have to get used to it, all the things you need in a great team, otherwise physically you can't manage to play a game every three days."
Daniele Rugani was withdrawn from the starting line-up ahead of the game after picking up an injury in the warm-up, while Luca Pellegrini and Paolo Dybala both came off with knocks, but Allegri did not seem concerned despite the upcoming Champions League round-of-16 first leg away at Villarreal on Tuesday.
"I'm not worried at all also because during the season there are injuries and those we have and who are fit and enlisted, will play on Tuesday against Villarreal and then we will prepare for Empoli," he said.
Pep Guardiola insists he is not frustrated with Manchester City's failure to sign Harry Kane from Tottenham last year.
The England striker appeared eager to leave north London for the Etihad Stadium, but City were unable to persuade Spurs chairman Daniel Levy to cash in on his star performer.
It looked as though not recruiting a new centre-forward could scupper City's plans this season after they lost to Leicester City in the Community Shield and Spurs in the Premier League back in August, in a match Kane sat out amid the uncertainty over his future.
Yet City have since embarked on an imperious run of form, winning 20 and losing just one of their subsequent league games to open up a nine-point gap at the top of the table.
Kane, meanwhile, has scored just five times in the league in 2021-22, his minutes-per-goal rate of 358.4 more than twice as bad as at any other time in his career. Spurs, meanwhile, are on a three-match losing streak ahead of Saturday's clash with City at the Etihad Stadium.
"I was never in my 11 or 12-year career disappointed in what the club I manage cannot do in the transfer market," Guardiola said. "And I never created a fire here because I represent the club and the club is always beyond myself by far.
"When we have some talks and cannot agree, we do it internally. We tried [for Kane] but it was far away [from] being done because Tottenham were clear this is not going to happen. And when they say this two, three, four times, it's over.
"Now you can say: 'Harry Kane didn't come and everything is going well.' But at the time I didn't know it. We lost to Spurs and Leicester in the Community Shield. And I [didn't] know what will happen in the next few weeks.
"The club gave me players, and I'm always delighted – and it's then what we can do together. Maybe if we had a proper striker we would play with a striker but with the players we have, we have to adapt.
"I know they [the club] do the best for me. When we lose we are sad, but nobody is pointing fingers saying: 'Your fault, your fault, your fault.' We don't do that. That's why I'm happy here. At other clubs when you lose it's 'what's the problem?'."
In 2016-17, when Antonio Conte was in charge of Chelsea, he became the first manager to inflict a league double over Guardiola in the same season.
In the first of those meetings in December 2016, Guardiola tried to match Conte's back-three system and lost the game 3-1, a mistake he is unlikely to repeat.
"We played three at the back, we lost 3-1," he said. "What a decision I made."
Roberto Bautista Agut followed two sprints with a gruelling slog as he battled past Karen Khachanov to reach the final of the Qatar Open.
Spanish second seed Bautista Agut had dashed past Andy Murray and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina for the loss of just three games in Doha, but Khachanov proved far more obdurate.
After a slow start, eventually Bautista Agut picked up the pace and emerged a 2-6 6-3 7-5 winner in two hours and 24 minutes of toil, earning a shot at Georgia's Nikoloz Basilashvili in Saturday's final.
Bautista Agut praised Russian Khachanov for making him scrap for the win.
"He was playing very fast," said Bautista Agut, quoted on the ATP website. "He was playing very solidly, he was defending very well and he hit many unbelievable passing shots. I had to play incredibly well tonight. I enjoyed tonight so much."
Third seed Basilashvili is the defending champion this week and made light work of France's Arthur Rinderknech, tying up a 6-4 6-2 victory.
In Marseille, Greek top seed Stefanos Tsitsipas was stunned by Russian qualifier Roman Safiullin in the Open 13 quarter-finals. World number 163 Safiullin had a staggering 13 break points against the under-performing Tsitsipas serve, and although 11 of those were saved, the two that were not decided the match.
Safiullin, for his part, faced one break point and saved it on the way to a 6-4 6-4 victory. He made his presence felt at the ATP Cup in Australia at the start of the year and, although results have been disappointing since, the 24-year-old is doing well again in France this week.
Next for Safiullin will be last week's Rotterdam champion Felix Auger-Aliassime, who saw off Belarusian Ilya Ivashka 6-3 6-4 in the last match of the day. After losing his first eight finals on the ATP Tour, Auger-Aliassime may well be closing in on a second title in eight days.
Saturday's other semi-final will see Russian second seed Andrey Rublev tackle Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi, who reached the last four of a main-tour event for the first time by crushing Aslan Karatsev 6-1 6-3.
Rublev dug deep to edge out French wildcard and former top-10 player Lucas Pouille 6-3 1-6 6-2.
Italy international Andrea Belotti scored in his first start since November to deny Juventus all three points as Torino held them to a 1-1 draw at Allianz Stadium on Friday.
A first-half header from Matthijs de Ligt was cancelled out by Belotti's equaliser in the second half, leaving the Old Lady eight points behind Serie A leaders Milan having played a game more.
Belotti is out of contract at the end of the season and is expected to leave Torino, but the fans will wish him well if this proves his final contribution to the Turin derby.
Meanwhile, Massimiliano Allegri will not have been impressed with the showing from his side ahead of their Champions League round-of-16 first leg at Villarreal on Tuesday.
Juve suffered a blow before the game kicked off with Daniele Rugani injured in the warm-up and replaced at centre-back by Alex Sandro, with Luca Pellegrini starting at left-back.
Torino made a strong start and would have been ahead were it not for Wojciech Szczesny's slight touch on a Josip Brekalo cross, taking it away from a waiting Belotti.
However, it was Juve who took the lead on 13 minutes when a looping Juan Cuadrado corner was headed in at the far post by De Ligt, who arrived with a towering leap.
The visitors began the second half well, too, and were level when Brekalo – who was a thorn in Juve's right side all game – got to the byline and found Belotti, whose close-range shot squirmed under Szczesny's hand.
It was Torino who pushed for another goal until the final 10 minutes when the hosts finally came back to life, but they were unable to find a winner.
Major League Baseball has postponed all spring training games until March 5 at the earliest as negotiations continue to end the lockout.
Games were due to take place from Saturday, February 26, but the lack of a breakthrough in talks with the MLB Players Association (MLBPA) has prompted the delay in getting back on the field.
MLB said in a statement on Friday: "We regret that, without a collective bargaining agreement in place, we must postpone the start of spring training games until no earlier than Saturday, March 5. All 30 clubs are unified in their strong desire to bring players back to the field and fans back to the stands.
"We are committed to reaching an agreement that is fair to each side. On Monday, members of the owners' bargaining committee will join an in-person meeting with the Players Association and remain every day next week to negotiate and work hard toward starting the season on time."
MLB has designated Monday, February 28 as its deadline for a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) deal to be signed off to allow Opening Day to take place on March 31.
The MLBPA said in December that the lockout was a move designed by team owners "to pressure players into relinquishing rights and benefits".
On the part of the MLB, commissioner Rob Manfred claimed the MLBPA "came to the bargaining table with a strategy of confrontation over compromise", describing demands as "the most extreme set of proposals in their history".
Talks have continued in an effort to find agreement on labour terms and the MLBPA made a new offer on Thursday.
A previous strike led by players forced the 1994 World Series to be scrapped, and lasted into 1995.
Two of the great under-performers of the 2022 Winter Olympics could strike gold on the final Saturday of the Games.
Star US skier Mikaela Shiffrin has endured a dismal fortnight, and the same can be said for the Great Britain team as a whole.
All this could change, as Shiffrin bids to end her Beijing campaign on a high with a first medal at her sixth attempt, while Team GB are guaranteed at least silver in men's and women's curling. They have yet to appear on the medal table, with curling proving the team's salvation.
Sweden will face Slovakia in the men's ice hockey bronze medal game, ahead of Sunday's final between Finland and Russian Olympic Committee.
Here, Stats Perform takes a look at Saturday's gold medal events.
Alpine skiing
Shiffrin remarked that she felt "like a joke" after failing to finish the women's combined – a third DNF of her difficult trip to China. She has also had a ninth place and an 18th, so Shiffrin has a lot on the line in the mixed team parallel slalom.
The event is part of the Olympic programme for just the second time, with Switzerland defending their title and Norway the reigning world champions.
It sees skiers race one another, two at a time, on side-by-side and identical slalom courses, with the first to reach the finish line scoring for their team. Each team contains two men and two women, who race against rivals of the same gender, with 16 teams entered and the competition operating in a knockout mode, with quarter-final places on offer to the first-round winners.
Bobsleigh
Germany lead the way in the battle for the top of the podium after two of the four heats staged so far, with the sled piloted by Laura Nolte in gold medal position, ahead of defending champion Mariama Jamanka.
That creates the possibility of a German one-two, although the USA's Elana Meyers Taylor sat third with aspirations of improving on that position going into Saturday, when the competition concludes.
Cross-country skiing
Finland's Iivo Niskanen is the reigning champion in the 50km mass start and has a gold, silver and bronze from Beijing, but he is sitting out Saturday's event.
There are a host of challengers lining up to succeed Niskanen as champion. Among them, Russian Olympic Committee's Alexander Bolshunov will be looking to improve on his silver from 2018 and add to his four medals accrued so far in Beijing.
Norway's Simen Hegstad Krueger and Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo could also be in the mix, along with the likes of Bolshunov's team-mate Denis Spitsov.
Curling
Standing between Bruce Mouat's Team GB rink and the gold medal are a strong Sweden team, led by skip and former army tank commander Niklas Edin.
Edin was not mincing his words when he described the showdown as "a clash of the titans in our sport".
Great Britain edged their round-robin tussle 7-6 in Beijing but also have recent experience of losing to Sweden. Competing as Scotland, the GB men were beaten 10-5 by the Swedes in the 2021 World Championship final.
Edin said of Saturday's match: "It might be nerve-wracking, but it's going to be a super well-played game. For the last couple of years they've probably been the most consistent team. And in championships over the past seven, eight years we've been the most consistent team."
Sweden also feature in Saturday's women's bronze medal game, taking on Switzerland, after losing 12-11 to Great Britain in Friday's semi-final.
Figure skating
China's Sui Wenjing and Han Cong set the highest score ever achieved by a duo in a short programme to edge ahead in the pairs skating on Friday, with Saturday's free skating to come.
Their score of 84.41 points eclipsed that of Russian Olympic Committee's Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov (84.25), with a second Russian pair consisting of world champions Anastasia Mishina and Aleksandr Galliamov in third.
China have won gold in the pairs once before, when Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo, a married couple, triumphed on the Vancouver ice in 2010.
Freestyle skiing
New Zealand have taken a gold and silver from Beijing so far, both going to snowboard marvel Zoi Sadowski-Synnott. Now freeski world champion Nico Porteous will look to follow her lead and reach the podium in the men's halfpipe final.
Porteous will compete in a field otherwise made up of competitors from the United States and Canada, and by setting the second-best score in qualifying has already served a reminder of his medal credentials.
US star Aaron Blunck led the way in qualifying, with another American, Birk Irving, in third. But perhaps all eyes should be on David Wise, winner of this event at the last two Games. At the age of 31, Wise is chasing a hat-trick, and posting the fourth-best score in qualifying suggests the man from Reno, Nevada, should not be discounted.
Speed skating
Action on the speed skating rink wraps up on Saturday with the men's and women's mass start events.
Korea's Lee Seung Hoon is the men's defending champion and is joined in the field by the silver medallist from four years ago, Belgium's Bart Swings. The last time Belgium won a Winter Olympics gold was in the pairs figure skating at the 1948 Games in St Moritz. American Joey Mantia is another with serious designs on gold.
In the women's event, the Dutch duo of Irene Schouten and Marijke Groenewoud are likely to be there or thereabouts, along with Canada's Ivanie Blondin and Italy's Francesca Lollobrigida.
History was made in Beijing on Friday as Johannes Thingnes Boe secured victory in the men's 15km mass start biathlon event.
It meant Norway became the first ever nation to win 15 gold medals at a single Winter Olympic Games, overtaking Canada's previous record total of 14 from 2010.
Boe's success was his fourth gold at Beijing 2022, and fifth medal overall, with Norway cementing their place at the top of the medal table with five more on Friday, including Boe's.
Vetle Sjaastad Christiansen took bronze in the same event, while Tiril Eckhoff and Martu Olsbu Roiseland claimed silver and bronze respectively in the women's 12.5km mass start.
Roiseland became the first athlete to win a medal in all four individual biathlon events at a Winter Games, while Haavard Holmefjord Lorentzen added another bronze in the men's 1000m speed skating.
Hosts China moved up to fourth in the medal table following another win for Eileen Gu in the women's freeski halfpipe, her second gold of the Games.
Netherlands sit level with Sweden in joint-fifth place after Thomas Krol won the men's 1000m speed skating event
Switzerland leapfrogged Austria into seventh after a one-two in the men's ski cross big final as Ryan Regez took gold and Alex Fiva won silver.
France remain 10th behind the Russian Olympic Committee despite gold for Justine Braisaz-Bouchet in women's 12.5km mass start.
Medal table:
1. Norway (G15 S8 B11, Total: 34)
2. Germany (G10 S7 B5, Total: 22)
3. United States (G8 S8 B5, Total: 21)
4. China (G8 S4 B2, Total: 14)
T5. Netherlands (G7 S5 B4, Total: 16)
T5. Sweden (G7 S5 B4, Total: 16)
7. Switzerland (G7 S2 B5, Total: 14)
8. Austria (G6 S7 B4, Total: 17)
9. Russian Olympic Committee (G5 S9 B13, Total: 27)
10. France (G5 S7 B2, Total: 14)
Inter confirmed three-year contract extensions for key directors Giuseppe Marotta, Piero Ausilio and Dario Baccin on Friday.
Sporting chief executive Marotta, chief sport officer Ausilio and his deputy officer Baccin were set to see their previous deals expire at the end of the season.
The trio will continue to operate under president Steven Zhang until at least June 2025 after the technical team agreed fresh terms, having overseen a period of success on the pitch.
Inter secured their first Scudetto in 10 years last season as head coach Antonio Conte guided the Nerazzurri to a dominant Serie A title triumph.
His successor, Simone Inzaghi, has Inter second in Serie A this season, a point behind local rivals Milan, who have played a game more.
Reports in Italy suggest a new deal for midfielder Marcelo Brozovic could soon follow the announcements of new contracts for the three directors, with the Croatia midfielder set to sign new terms to keep him at the club until June 2026.
Inter next face Sassuolo in the league on Sunday as they look to step up their pursuit of leaders Milan.
As Liverpool continue their quest to put pressure on Manchester City (well, try to), Norwich City travel to Anfield hoping to boost survival chances.
But history isn't on the side of Dean Smith's men, who must be fearing the worst against a side they never seem to cope well with.
Expectations for Norwich are surely lower against Liverpool than versus any other team.
Here's why…
Red-faced Canaries
Norwich City really, really don't like playing Liverpool. Liverpool really, really enjoy playing Norwich City.
The Reds have handed out some absolute batterings to Norwich down the years, with the Luis Suarez era particularly profitable for the Reds.
Granted, a historically good team racking up goals against sides who traditionally finish near the bottom isn't anything new, but Liverpool's domination of Norwich does take things a bit further.
They average 2.8 goals per game against the Canaries in the Premier League – that's 53 in 19 matches. Among all the teams the Reds have played at least five times, that is their highest rate.
Liverpool have already beaten Norwich twice this season, winning 3-0 in the Premier League and 3-0 in the EFL Cup.
If they beat them by three or more goals again, it'll be only the ninth occasion of an English top-flight side completing such a hat-trick in a single season, and the first since Arsenal against Aston Villa in 2014-15.
Fortress Anfield
Anfield is a tough place to go at the best of times – from Norwich's perspective, this certainly isn't "the best of times".
As Liverpool continue to badger away near the top of the table, hoping to capitalise on any Manchester City slip-up, they have put together a strong run at home.
They are unbeaten in their previous 15 home league games and have won the most recent six by an aggregate score of 17-1.
Norwich do at least make the long trip to Liverpool – presumably made even longer by Storm Eunice – having won their last away game.
Having said that, away to Liverpool is a slightly different proposition than going to Watford, with all due respect.
Similarly, Norwich haven't won back-to-back away games in the top flight since January 2012 and managed to win just one of their last 25 league meetings with a top-three side – that was on the final day of 2012-13.
Polar opposites
Apart from the fact they've conceded the most (50) and scored the fewest (14) in the Premier League, Norwich aren't doing too badly…
Okay, that sounds disingenuous but they have managed to climb to 18th in the table and a win here – however unlikely that may be – could see them end the weekend one point from safety.
The problem, though, is the contrasting quantities of their goals record with Liverpool, who have scored the joint-most (61) and conceded the third-fewest (19).
On top of that, Liverpool have scored more than twice as many goals in both the first (31) and second half (30) of games as Norwich have in total this term.
It certainly won't look like there's much hope if Norwich need goals in the second half. Six of their strikes this term have been after the break, though half of those came one game (away to Watford).
Salah eyes assists double-double achievement
It won't be remotely surprising to learn Salah has a good record against Norwich. He's been involved in five goals (two scored, three assisted) in three Premier League matches against them.
With that in mind, he'll surely be confident of adding to that haul and reaching a landmark.
With 16 goals and nine assists already this term, Salah is agonisingly close to reaching double figures in both for the third time in a Premier League season, having also managed this in 2017-18 and 2019-20.
Only three players in Premier League history have managed it three times or more, with Eric Cantona leading the way (four) and Didier Drogba the sole individual on three.
It's surely only a matter of time, and his track record against Norwich would have few betting against it occurring on Saturday.
Diego Simeone insisted he "fully believes" Atletico Madrid can secure Champions League qualification as he seeks solutions following disappointment against Levante.
The reigning LaLiga champions are 15 points off local rivals and leaders Real Madrid after 24 games, sitting fifth in the league and level on points with fourth-placed Barcelona, who have played a game fewer.
Simeone's side suffered another setback in their last outing, falling to a 1-0 defeat against bottom side Levante, as their top-four push for Champions League football next season was dented again.
However, Atletico have won their past seven top-flight meetings with their next opponents Osasuna and Simeone believes his side can escape their underwhelming run of form on Saturday.
"It's normal after the painful defeat, but with a desire to have a new opportunity and to focus on the game against Osasuna, who play really well and are going through a good moment," Simeone told reporters at Friday's pre-match news conference when asked about the squad's morale.
"I have the motivation to live on every day. I'm at a great club, where I want to be, and I look at the future trying to solve the present.
"There isn't one circumstance [behind our problems], but several, and I believe blindly in the players that I have. I'm sure they'll pull this off.
"We're now facing a 14-game league in which there will be seven teams who will have the chance to get into the Champions League, and being all together, looking for ways out of difficult moments like we had in the pandemic, when we had one point more than we do today, [and] we were sixth and finished third.
"We'll have to make a great effort for this, but we're focusing on the present."
Atletico have won on each of their past three LaLiga visits to El Sadar and are looking for four consecutive top-flight wins at Osasuna in the competition for the first time.
However, Simeone's team have failed to win in any of their most recent five away league games, conceding at least twice in each of those matches (12 in total).
But Simeone insisted he has the backing of Atletico chiefs Miguel Angel Gil Marin and Andrea Berta after meeting with the pair to discuss the club's problems.
"We get together no more than one or two days a month, and we talk about the good or bad situations," Simeone added on his discussions with Atleti’s executives.
"It's a bad moment, but we have to take things forward, being together."
Eileen Gu told herself she was the best before going out and proving it as China's home Winter Olympics superstar landed a second gold medal of the Games in Beijing.
The United States-based teenager triumphed in the women's freeski halfpipe, posting a best score of 95.25 to win comfortably from the Canadian pair of Cassie Sharpe and Rachael Karker.
It made Gu, at the age of 18 years and 168 days, the youngest athlete to win three individual medals at any single edition of the Winter Olympics.
Dubbed the 'Snow Princess', Gu said the Olympic experience had been a life-changer.
"It has been two straight weeks of the most intense highs and lows I've ever experienced," she said. "It has changed my life forever."
After gold in the freeski big air and silver in slopestyle, this was her sign-off event at Beijing 2022, with Gu delivering a mesmerising display of agility and skill after giving herself a pep talk.
"Instead of looking to other athletes and being like, 'Oh, what are they doing? How can I be like them?', I try to build myself up more," Gu said. "So, it's the opposite of what I do in training, but at the top I said, 'My name is Eileen Gu, and I'm the best halfpipe freeskier in the world'."
Gu burst into tears as her achievement sank in. She also cast a little doubt over her future in the sport. Asked if she might consider competing for the USA in future, Gu said: "I have no idea what I'm even doing next year. I'm going to go to college, but in terms of skiing competitively, am I going to continue competing? Who knows?
"I love skiing and I would love to continue competing, but in terms of resources and time and, you know, what else I'm juggling. It just depends, right? I'm going to do whatever feels right and hopefully be able to create some kind of positive change out of any decision that I make."
Medals record for Norway
Johannes Thingnes Boe's fourth biathlon triumph in Beijing established a Winter Olympics landmark as it gave Norway a 15th gold medal, a record haul for a single edition of the Games.
Norway were already the most successful nation in Winter Olympics history, and they have been hammering home that status over the past fortnight.
Boe's latest run to glory came in the 15km mass start, which he won by 40.3 seconds from Sweden's Martin Ponsiluoma. Norway also took bronze through Vetle Sjaastad Christiansen.
The 28-year-old Boe, who also has a bronze from the 20km individual, enjoyed having a team-mate on the podium and said of Norway's record feat: "I feel really proud. We have both been a part of it, winning gold today and also in the men's relay where Vetle won a gold medal for us, so we are making history and as a nation we are really proud."
Norway also landed silver and bronze in the women's 12.5km mass start, which was won by France's Justine Braisaz-Bouchet, ahead of Tiril Eckhoff and Marte Olsbu Roeiseland.
Roeiseland's bronze gave her a fifth medal in Beijing, a second third-place finish to add to three gold-winning performances, and she said: "I was maybe not at my best in this cold, but I really tried to fight, and it was so fun to race with Tiril today, we raced the whole race together and the position in the standing was really tough. Today I'm just so happy with the bronze, for me it was like gold actually."
Champion Braisaz-Bouchet said: "I was so shocked I won. I'm really happy to say I'm Olympic champion. It's quite amazing."
Regez leads Swiss cross double
Ryan Regez and Alex Fiva delivered a Swiss one-two in freestyle's men's ski cross, with champion Regez finding the equilibrium he had been seeking all week when it mattered most.
"I've been really nervous for the whole week," Regez said. "It's my first Games and the last big event was the World Championships last year, which Alex won, and I was just super nervous there as well and I was skiing in my head, so thinking whilst skiing and there I messed up.
"Today it was just a lot of pressure on me because I won the last two World Cup events. I'm in the lead of the overall World Cup so for sure everyone was just hoping I would come here and take the victory and eventually it worked out, but there was just so much going on, so much pressure. I phoned a lot with family, friends, and yesterday I had a long talk with my coaches.
"That just calms me down a lot and that was really important. Today actually I wasn't nervous at all, which was quite unusual. In the morning, yes I was, but then as soon as I went on the mountains everything was gone and I just could ski free."
Dutch skaters back up to speed
Thomas Krol delivered a fifth long-track speed skating gold medal for the Netherlands team, but a first for eight days after the wins began to dry up.
Krol's victory came in the 1,000 metres, as he edged out fast times from Canada's Laurent Dubreuil and Norway's Haavard Holmefjord Lorentzen.
"It's really hard to express all the emotions that are going through me, a dream just came true," said the 29-year-old, who has aspirations to become a pilot when his sporting career ends. "I'm so intensely happy that I made it. It means everything.
"I was expecting my time not to be fast enough because there were more great skaters coming. So, it was a nerve-wracking 10 minutes for me."
Dubreuil put disappointment at missing out on gold into context, saying: "My daughter especially helped me. She is just three years old, and she doesn't care about my results. Seeing her not even one per cent sad after my race when I called them, she was running around and having so much fun, running and jumping and yelling. It made me realise, it's just sport."
Pep Guardiola has no doubt Antonio Conte can lead Tottenham to sustained success, but only if the Italian gets the backing he needs.
Spurs boss Conte this week appeared to suggest his playing resources had been weakened by trading in the January transfer window.
Conte clarified his position on Friday when he stressed that was only a view he took in terms of squad numbers, saying the arrivals of Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur from Juventus had in fact improved the quality at his disposal.
While Conte insisted Spurs chairman Daniel Levy knows his true thoughts, the merest implication of any unhappiness from the head coach has come at a bad time, with the team on a three-game losing run in the Premier League.
They have gone down to Chelsea, Southampton and Wolves, dealing a blow to hopes that Conte might lead the team to a top-four finish and a place in next season's Champions League.
Now Guardiola's Manchester City await Spurs on Saturday at the Etihad Stadium, in the ultimate test for any English team.
City have lost just one of their last 11 home league games against Tottenham (W8 D2), going down 2-1 in February 2016. However, they did lose the reverse fixture on the opening weekend of the season.
Guardiola spoke of his admiration for Conte, saying on Friday: "If the club rely on him 100 per cent, they will have success.
"My first season here was tough in terms of results. Every manager needs time, he needs investment, he needs many, many things to be there for a long time or have success, especially in this country.
"All the managers need time. Unfortunately in football we don't have time. I had time, the club gave me this time, that's why I will always be grateful, but all the managers need time to make plans and try to convince the players to follow what you feel."
Guardiola said being a head coach in England was "more difficult than any other part of the world". But he believes Conte has demonstrated with Juventus, Chelsea and the Italy national side that he is a coach who consistently improves teams.
"I have incredible respect for the fact when I watch his teams I feel there's something new I can learn and I can improve," Guardiola said.
Tottenham have scored just 17 times in the Premier League from an expected goals (xG) total of 23.2 since Conte took charge at the start of November. Over the same period, City have scored 40 goals from an xG tally of 33.5.
Replying to comments from Conte in which he labelled Guardiola the world's best coach, the City boss added: "Thank you so much, but I am not. I appreciate it, but I'm not."
Spurs have won three of their last four Premier League games against City, as many as they had managed in their previous 13 against them. However, these last three victories have all been in home games.
Should they pull off the league double this term, it will be the first time Spurs have achieved that against reigning English top-flight champions since they beat Liverpool 1-0 home and away in the 1986-87 season.
City have taken 43 points from the last 45 available, roaring away at the top of the table, but Guardiola says a wounded Spurs could make his task complicated.
"This is the problem, the fact they've lost three times in a row it will be more difficult tomorrow, for sure, 100 per cent," he said.
"It's difficult for top teams to lose four times in a row. They have a lot of weapons. We know how with Son [Heung-min] we've suffered, with Harry Kane, with [Lucas] Moura. They have a lot of quality."
Antonio Conte has attempted to clarify his comments after appearing not overly impressed with Tottenham's January transfer activity.
Spurs allowed Tanguy Ndombele, Bryan Gil and Giovani Lo Celso to leave on loan last month, while Dele Alli joined Everton on a permanent deal.
Tottenham brought in Juventus pair Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur on the final day of the transfer window, following repeated links with Adama Traore and Luis Diaz, who chose Barcelona and Liverpool respectively.
Conte hinted at his discontent in an interview with Sky Sport in Italy, suggesting Spurs had "weakened", but the former Inter head coach tried to clarify his views on Friday.
"During the interview after the transfer window, after January ended, they asked me about the club, if I was happy, and I said the club did the best that the club could do," Conte told reporters.
"We lost four players and I said important players for Tottenham, because these players we sent away on loan, Tottenham paid a lot of money. When you spend a lot of money, it means we are talking about important players.
"To pay attention to the future because we need players used to playing in this league and in my last interview, I said numerically, when you lose four players, important players for Tottenham, I repeat because they spent a lot of money, and you sign two players.
"If I had 20 players and now I have 18 players numerically, you can be a bit weaker...numerically. Then I said also with Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur, as a squad we are more complete. I think I was very, very clear."
Conte reiterated that his main priority is securing Champions League football next season, but Spurs have lost three consecutive Premier League games, last winning at Leicester City on January 19, and sit eighth.
They are seven points off fourth-placed Manchester United, who have played three games more, ahead of Saturday's trip to Manchester City, and Conte is expecting another tough task.
"I always said I'm enjoying my time with Tottenham, enjoying working with these players," he added. "I always said this.
"Then we have four months at the end of this season and we have to try to do our best to finish in the best place possible in this league and then we'll see.
"It'll be an interesting game for us. But I don't think that it's right to consider it a special game because there are the best coaches in the world [in the dugouts]. It's a game between two teams, one team that's maybe the best in the world and almost perfect.
"They're in a fantastic period of form. That's one side. On the other side is a team trying to build something important for the future.
"At this moment, two different levels. At the same time, we prepared the game very well. We know that tomorrow we're going to suffer.
"We know very well that problem tomorrow, like in every game, Manchester City will keep the ball for 70-80 per cent. But at the same time in the other 20 per cent we have to be good, be effective, attack in the right way.
"When they have the ball, we must be compact and tactically perfect. If you want a good result against Manchester City at the moment, you have to be perfect. You have to know you have to suffer as a team, to find the situations to try to hurt them."
And Conte predicts City will defend their top-flight crown come the end of the season as he questioned whether Spurs could reach the levels of Pep Guardiola's side in the future.
"It's difficult to answer this question," he continued. "We're talking about a fantastic team. They're working with the same coach for many years.
"They have the possibility to, also in these years, go into the market and spend a lot of money.
"For sure, Pep is doing a fantastic job but in every club that he trained he had fantastic results. Important clubs, because Barcelona is an important club, Bayern Munich is an important club, now Manchester City is an important club but for sure great compliments to him, because to play against his team is not simple, not easy for anyone.
"I think they're the favourite to win the Premier League – to be ahead by nine points means in this league you're very strong."
Jelena Ostapenko will meet Veronika Kudermetova in the Dubai Tennis Championships final after defeating Simona Halep 2-6 7-6 (7-0) 6-0 on Friday.
Ostapenko, who is the world number 21, stunned Halep in their first meeting in the 2017 Roland Garros final to win her first Grand Slam before the Romanian exacted revenge in Beijing later that season.
In their first meeting since that last-four clash, Halep raced out the blocks to wrap the first set in just 27 minutes as she converted both break-point opportunities to take an early lead.
However, Ostapenko responded emphatically in the following set, claiming a 3-0 advantage before eventually levelling things up after a one-sided tie-break separated the pair in the second.
Ostapenko carried her momentum in the deciding set as she made a blistering start, with Halep unable to win a single game as the 24-year-old secured victory in an hour and 36 minutes.
Kudermetova awaits the Latvian in the final after Marketa Vondrousova was forced to withdraw from her last-four match due to a right adductor injury.
The pair have not met before on the WTA Tour but boast identical records at the start of the 2022 season, with both winning eight of their matches and losing three.
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