Ronald Koeman will remain as Barcelona head coach for the 2021-22 season, president Joan Laporta confirmed on Thursday.
Ronald Koeman will remain as Barcelona head coach for the 2021-22 season, president Joan Laporta confirmed on Thursday.
Dutchman Koeman – a legend in his playing days at Camp Nou – guided Barca to a third-placed finish in LaLiga last term, meaning they finished outside of the top two for the first time since 2007-08, though the Blaugrana did succeed in winning the Copa del Rey.
They were inspired by Lionel Messi, who scored 30 league goals to win an eighth Pichichi trophy, though the 33-year-old is also the subject of speculation over his next move, with his contract at Barca coming to an end.
Koeman was appointed by Josep Maria Bartomeu last year, after Quique Setien's ill-fated tenure, with the former Netherlands coach signing a two-year contract.
Laporta succeeded Bartomeu in March, taking charge at Camp Nou for a second spell, and reports had suggested he was keen to install his own choice as coach.
On Thursday, however, he confirmed the 58-year-old will remain in charge for at least another year.
"After this reflection period, we have agreed that we will continue the current contract of Ronald Koeman," Laporta told a media conference.
"We're very satisfied with the conversations we have had. They were frank conversations and the coach's behaviour was impeccable.
"We found solutions to any slight differences. We have thought about what is best for Barcelona and we're all happy to make this announcement."
Asked if he would have kept Koeman on if there had not been a year left on his contract, Laporta said: "The year remaining that he had was an independent thing and didn't condition us.
"For now, the previous contract continues. We'll have talks about everything else further down the line.
"He already made an effort last season and we haven't contemplated [a pay cut] this time. He understands the club's situation."
After a poor start to the congested season, Barca did manage to drag themselves into title contention, only to slip up towards the end of the campaign.
Their tally of 79 points is their lowest total since 2007-08, when they managed 67. Indeed, the last coach to earn 76 or fewer points in his first 38 games with the club was Frank Rijkaard in 2003-04 (72 - W21 D9 L8).
With Atletico Madrid triumphing this year and Real Madrid winning LaLiga in 2019-20, it meant Barca have failed to win the title in two successive seasons for the first time since 2008.
Uncertainty over Koeman's future has not stopped Barca acting swiftly in the transfer market, albeit mostly acquiring players who were available on free transfers.
Sergio Aguero and Eric Garcia have arrived following the expiration of their contracts at Premier League champions Manchester City, while Barca also exercised their option to bring Emerson back to the club following two seasons at Real Betis.
Novak Djokovic booked a place in the last 32 of the French Open with a straight-sets victory over Uruguayan veteran Pablo Cuevas.
The top seed, seeking just a second triumph at Roland Garros, followed up his emphatic win against Tennys Sandgren in round one with a slightly tougher 6-3 6-2 6-4 triumph against Cuevas.
World number one Djokovic had 31 winners to 22 unforced errors and will now face James Duckworth – who beat Ricardas Berankis earlier on Thursday – in the next round.
Djokovic initially took some time to get going and lost his serve in just the third game, before instantly hitting back in the fourth.
The 18-time grand slam winner did not look back from that point, serving up some impressive tennis on the clay and breaking Cuevas again in the eighth game to take a one-set lead.
Cuevas has reached the third round in Paris on four occasions, but hopes of doing so again this year were effectively put to bed in a blistering second set from Djokovic, who was successful with all 11 of his first serves to close in on victory.
Playing on Court Suzanne-Lenglen did not faze Djokovic – with Roger Federer taking prime position on Court Philippe-Chatrier – as he held throughout a gruelling third set and completed the job with a 10th ace of an entertaining contest.
Data Slam: Another milestone reached for Djokovic
Thursday's match was Djokovic's 350th at a grand slam and he looked very impressive pretty much from the moment he recovered from his early wobble. Cuevas also played well, but his opponent saved eight of the nine break points he faced to set up a meeting with Berankis.
WINNERS/UNFORCED ERRORS
Djokovic – 23/22
Cuevas – 31/26
ACES/DOUBLE FAULTS
Djokovic – 10/3
Cuevas – 5/3
BREAK POINTS WON
Djokovic – 5/8
Cuevas – 1/9
Despite admitting that life inside consecutive bubbles has taken a toll on him mentally, Jamaican all-rounder Andre Russell has vowed to do all he can to lift the Quetta Gladiators once the Pakistan Super League T20 competition resumes on June 9.
Adelaide United booked their place in the A-League Finals with a 2-2 draw against 10-man Western Sydney Wanderers at Coopers Stadium thanks to Craig Goodwin's goal.
The hosts required only a point to make certain of a top-six finish and they were ahead inside 11 minutes when Ziggy Gordon turned Ryan Strain's shot into his own net.
However, Wanderers had lost only one of their last eight league meetings away at United and were back on level terms thanks to a Bruce Kamau shot that deflected in off Strain.
Carl Robinson's side had been eliminated from the top-six picture before kick-off yet they found themselves ahead against United through Graham Dorrans' low drive with half an hour played.
A red card for Tass Mourdoukoutas six minutes later following a reckless challenge on Louis D'Arrigo gave United hope but the visitors held firm until the 56th minute.
Goodwin peeled away at the back post and thumped a low shot past Daniel Margush for his third goal in five games.
That proved to be it as Carl Veart's men held on to pick up a draw which keeps them on course for A-League glory and ended Wellington Phoenix's Finals hopes in the process.
The FA have confirmed the date for the Community Shield, with the traditional English football season curtain-raiser to be played at Wembley on August 7.
Premier League champions Manchester City will take on FA Cup winners Leicester City, a week ahead of the 2021-22 top-flight campaign starting, with the match kicking off at 17:00 BST.
Arsenal beat Liverpool in the 2020 Community Shield, which was played in late August due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the footballing calendar.
Prior to the Gunners' triumph, City had won the trophy in 2018 and 2019.
It will be Leicester's third appearance in a Community Shield match, having won the honour in 1971 – which they qualified for as champions of the second division – and lost to Manchester United in 2016.
While City cruised to their third league title in the space of four seasons in 2020-21, Leicester overcame eventual Champions League winners Chelsea to clinch their first FA Cup success.
In the two league meetings between City and Leicester last season, the Foxes won 5-2 at the Etihad Stadium, before Guardiola's men ran out 2-0 victors in the reverse fixture in April.
Lucas Vazquez has committed his future to Real Madrid, with the winger penning a three-year deal to remain at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Carlo Ancelotti was appointed as coach for a second stint in charge of Madrid earlier this week, and one of the first moves he reportedly signed off on was the new contract for Vazquez.
The 29-year-old Spain international, who plays predominantly on the wing but was also used as a full-back in 2020-21 by Zinedine Zidane before a knee injury ended his campaign, and his chances of making Luis Enrique's squad for Euro 2020.
Vazquez's deal had been due to expire at the end of June, but he has now agreed to remain with Los Blancos through to June 2024.
Having come through Madrid's academy, Vazquez did not feature under Ancelotti during the Italian's first spell in charge between 2013 and 2015, making his senior debut the following season.
He has made 240 appearances for Madrid in all competitions, scoring 26 times in total, and helping the club to two LaLiga titles and three successive Champions League triumphs.
Vazquez made 34 appearances in total for Madrid in 2020-21, scoring twice, providing seven assists and contributing to 22 victories.
Only Toni Kroos – from eight more games – created a greater number of chances (95) than Vazquez (72).
Vazquez's expected assists per 90 minutes was 0.27, the best in Madrid's squad, and on average he created 2.33 opportunities for every 90 minutes played.
Ashleigh Barty's French Open campaign came to an end in sad circumstances on Thursday as the world number one was forced to retire hurt when 1-6 2-2 down against Magda Linette.
Barty required medical attention during her first-round win over Bernarda Pera two days earlier, with a hip injury a cause for concern.
The 25-year-old – back at Roland Garros for the first time since winning her maiden grand slam title in Paris in 2019 – vowed to "play through the pain barrier", yet the injury proved too much to deal with on Thursday.
Barty's retirement throws the draw wide open, with both of the top seeds now out after Naomi Osaka decided to withdraw amid her disagreement with tournament organisers.
Barty's discomfort seemed evident from the off, though Linette did have to fend off an immediate break point to hold in the first game.
The Australian had to claw back three break points on her first serve, however, and a double fault in game four handed Linette the first break, with Barty clearly struggling when attempting to twist to her right.
A lame backhand into the net gifted Linette another break, and the Pole served out the set at the first time of asking with just 36 minutes on the clock.
After a lengthy delay in which she received treatment both on court and back in the changing rooms, Barty returned with seemingly renewed vigour to hold the first game of set two with relative ease.
Linette, though, kept her composure, with a couple of aces helping her level things up, and despite winning the next game thanks to her speed of serve, Barty was grimacing again.
Some excellent returns from Barty kept Linette at bay, but the world number 45 struck a powerful serve down the middle to make it 2-2, and that proved the final straw for her opponent, who shook hands at the net and, with a wave to the crowd, trudged down the tunnel.
DATA SLAM: BARTY'S BRAVE FACE NOT ENOUGH
Linette has claimed one of the biggest wins of her career, though the 29-year-old would have wished for it to come in more glorious circumstances. Barty tried her best to continue, but the injury was having too much of an impact on the key parts of her game – she made four double faults to Linette's zero, and tallied up 18 unforced errors, double the amount of her opponent.
WINNERS/UNFORCED ERRORS
Barty – 9/18
Linette – 12/9
ACES/DOUBLE FAULTS
Barty – 2/4
Linette – 4/0
BREAK POINTS WON
Barty – 0/1
Linette – 2/7
Julian Nagelsmann will have "a lot of fun" with the quality at his disposal as Bayern Munich coach, according to his predecessor Hansi Flick.
Nagelsmann will replace Flick at Bayern ahead of next season, after two encouraging years at RB Leipzig.
Flick confirmed his impending departure from Bayern in April. He took over from Niko Kovac – initially on an interim basis – in November 2019 and will leave the club having won two Bundesliga titles, the Champions League, the DFL-Supercup, the DFB Pokal, the UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup.
The 56-year-old's next position will be as head coach of the German national team; he will succeed Joachim Low after Euro 2020.
And Flick promised his successor at Bayern will have much joy taking charge of such a talented squad.
"I think Julian Nagelsmann will have a lot of fun with this team because it is of enormous quality and a great attitude," Flick told Bayern's official media channels.
"I wrote that to him too. It's a top team that knows what's important. And here you have to support them as a trainer."
It is not just Flick who will be leaving Bayern.
There is something of a changing of the guard ahead of next season, with CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and club stalwarts Javi Martinez, Jerome Boateng and David Alaba also departing – the latter having agreed to join Real Madrid.
Nagelsmann will have to contend with the fact Thomas Muller, Robert Lewandowski – who broke Gerd Muller's long-standing Bundesliga record of 40 goals in a single season – and Manuel Neuer are approaching the twilight of their respective careers, yet Flick hailed the performances of the three Bayern greats.
"Thomas [Muller] is a phenomenon for me," Flick said.
"He doesn't always get everything right in the game, but he brings you as a coach significantly more moments of joy than those in which you are upset about him – for example, when he goes out to the corner again, where he shouldn't be, loses the ball, and then a counter-attack emerges.
"Sometimes I almost had to laugh and had the feeling that he was doing this on purpose to annoy me a little and get the adrenaline going again. But he means so much for the team and this club, someone like him will never be around again. What he has achieved in his career is unique."
Muller, along with Lewandowski, Neuer, Alaba and Joshua Kimmich, who has developed into a world class central midfielder, were five players Flick could always count on.
"For me and for all coaches, the central axis is the decisive element," he added. "And there has been nothing better in the world in the past two years.
"I never really want to single someone out of my team because we can only achieve our goals together, but I could always rely on these five players 100 per cent, it was pure joy."
Bayern played 86 games under Flick, winning 70 and losing just seven, while only one of their nine draws finished goalless.
Flick's Bayern kept 34 clean sheets and scored 255 goals, averaging one every 30.4 minutes and outscoring their expected goals tally of 215.95, racking up 1,545 shots – the third-highest total in all competitions by a team from Europe's top five leagues, behind Manchester City (1,694) and Manchester United (1,557), though both of those Premier League sides played at least 17 more matches over the time in question.
Indeed, Bayern's goal tally under Flick makes them the top scorers from Europe's top five divisions in all competitions since he took charge, with Pep Guardiola's City (229) some way behind in second.
Inter have confirmed the appointment of Simone Inzaghi as their new head coach.
Inter have confirmed the appointment of Simone Inzaghi as their new head coach.
The announcement comes a week after Inzaghi left his position at Lazio, having spent five years in charge at the Stadio Olimpico.
Serie A champions Inter had been seeking a replacement for Antonio Conte, who departed by mutual consent after securing the Nerazzurri a first league title since 2010.
A brief statement on the Inter website read: "FC Internazionale Milano welcomes Simone Inzaghi as the new coach of the first team: the coach has signed a two-year contract with the Nerazzurri club."
Inzaghi won 134, drew 45 and lost 72 of his 251 matches in all competitions while at Lazio, the only club where he has worked during his coaching career so far.
Lazio released a statement on their website last Thursday confirming his exit, though did not refer to Inzaghi by name.
"We respect the change of mind of a coach and, before that, of a player who for many years tied his name to the Lazio family and the many Biancocelesti successes," the statement read.
The former Italy international, younger brother of Filippo Inzaghi, takes over at a time when there is financial uncertainty at Inter, with media reports suggesting they will have to offload players to help balance the books.
Massimiliano Allegri was linked with the Inter vacancy too, but he returned to former club Juventus to replace Andrea Pirlo.
As for Conte, he has emerged as a potential candidate for Tottenham, having previously won the Premier League with Chelsea.
Philadelphia 76ers head coach Doc Rivers hailed the "absolutely amazing" defensive improvement made by Tyrese Maxey following the rookie guard's starring role in his side's progression to the Eastern Conference semi-finals.
Maxey laid on 13 points, six rebounds, two assists and claimed one steal during his 26 minutes on the court in Wednesday's 129-112 series-closing win against the Washington Wizards.
The 20-year-old has posted double digits in successive playoff games, but Rivers was more impressed by the other aspect of the youngster's performance against the Wizards.
"I think he is a hell of a player," Rivers said. "I think he has found himself. He figures out now how we need him to play.
"That makes not only him a good player, but everybody else good on the floor when he is on the floor."
With star man Joel Embiid again absent for Game 5 due to a knee problem, Maxey has stepped up for the 76ers when needed after struggling during the regular season on defense.
"He was our worst defender and it wasn't close – the numbers said that to you," Rivers added.
"The last month he has turned a corner defensively. He made so many little plays defensively – rebounds, digs, getting steals. Obviously, the offensive energy was there but watching him grow defensively for this team has been absolutely amazing."
Seth Curry's playoff career-high 30 points, a triple-double from Ben Simmons and a 28-point showing courtesy of Tobias Harris helped the 76ers past the Wizards.
The Atlanta Hawks await in the Eastern Conference semi-finals and Rivers is hopeful Embiid will be back in contention for Game 1 on Sunday.
"He's a competitor. The fact that he's not playing tonight or whenever he can't play, it bothers him," Rivers said. "He's really not in a great place that way, but he's good. He'll be fine.
"I don't know exactly when he will be back. At least I'm hopeful. I think that's be a better way of putting it. He's going do his treatment, and we're going to assess the day-to-day and see when we can get him."
Naomi Osaka's shock withdrawal from the French Open has raised questions over news conferences and their impact on mental health for athletes.
Osaka pulled out of Roland Garros on Monday, a day after tournament organisers fined the four-time grand slam champion and threatened her with more severe sanctions for refusing to attend mandatory media conferences.
The 23-year-old world number two and Japanese star had opened up about her mental health problems, revealing in a statement she has had "long bouts of depression" since claiming the 2018 US Open.
While her WTA and ATP Tour colleagues voiced their support, Osaka's stance has sparked controversy, though more importantly it has highlighted the growing issue of mental health problems in sport.
"I think it's a very important stance because it really highlights how sport has really looked at challenging issues through either the paradigm of sport or business," World Players Association executive director Brendan Schwab told Stats Perform. "Here, there is a very simple rule put in place that athletes have to attend post-match media conferences in order to promote visibility around the sport and then to promote the commercial interests of the sport. But that rule is put in place without any due diligence being done as to the risks with that on athletes or athlete health and safety.
"If we look at health and safety, we have to look at not only physical health but mental health and wellbeing. There is a very clear rule but it's going to impact athletes differently. The tournament organisers and sports bodies need to understand they have this proactive duty and to be aware of those impacts, and where their rule is going to have a harmful impact, they need to just adjust their procedures and requirements accordingly."
German great Boris Becker voiced his concerns for Osaka's future following her decision to quit the French Open in Paris.
A six-time slam winner, Becker told Eurosport: "I always believed the media was part of the job. Without the media, there is no prize money, no contracts, you don't get half the cake. I hated the media and I didn't like talking to journalists, but you had to do it.
"Now she is pulling out of the tournament altogether because she can't cope with it and that raises much bigger questions for me. If she can't cope with the media in Paris, she can't cope with the media in Wimbledon or the US Open. So I almost feel like her career is in danger due to mental health issues."
It is a view shared by many past and present tennis players – news conferences are part and parcel of the job. But are they?
"I think everyone would agree that is an important part of the job, but certainly not an essential part. The essential part of the job is performing as a player. But we cannot ask people to perform in circumstances where it's unsafe. It may be safe for some and unsafe for others," said Schwab.
"As in this case, there is an understanding that a particular player has a pre-condition or certain vulnerability, not to respond to that is inexcusable. It's certainly no defence to say it's safe for other people. That is why we need a real deep understanding of mental health.
"It's really important to see it as an occupational issue. A sporting place is not an ordinary workplace. It is a workplace which has heightened pressure. Therefore, the likelihood of there being adverse mental health impacts are greater. It's not going to affect everyone equally and sports bodies need to be smart enough to understand that fact."
Schwab added: "For Naomi's incredibly courageous stance here, there will be other players for which withdrawal is not an option and they will continue to face the workplace and pressures associated with that and therefore exacerbating the harm they're already experiencing."
The World Players Association is the leading voice of organised players in the governance of world sport. It brings together 85,000 players across professional sport through more than 100 player associations in over 60 countries.
As mental health becomes more prevalent in a professional sports environment amid the growing physical and emotional demands, Schwab said: "What our Players Associations do is they run player development and wellbeing programmes. The more sophisticated of those programmes would actually have employees and experts who are engaged by the player associations but often based in the teams or club environment, so the players know they can access them, they are proximate to the players so they can access tailored advice and support.
"Mental health is one of those things but there are many other issues that players will have to deal with. The athletic career itself is short-term and precarious, so there is constant effort being made to ensure players are developing holistically, they're pursuing education and other opportunities."
As Schwab voiced his disapproval of the "blanket rule" to post-match commitments, the Australian shed light on how the World Players Association prepares athletes for the media.
"Certainly part of our development programmes, we will provide what we call induction programmes so that the players go through what they will expect in terms of their athletic career, so they can excel as athletes and in the job," he said. "Clearly, dealing with the media is a very important part of those programmes, but you have to be really careful to ensure this isn't a 'one-size-fits-all' approach. Player associations have a common interest with sports bodies to maximise the interest in the sport and commercial viability so the players can share in their wealth, but the impact is dispiriting.
"If we look at the way players are being trained physically, physical loads are being tailored based on the individual athletic capacity of certain players. Physical health is not the only health and safety concern we have to be worried about. Players have different vulnerabilities in terms of mental health and therefore it makes absolute sense for sports bodies to tailor their commitments, so they don't unnecessarily expose more vulnerable players than others. A blanket rule, like in this case, where athletes feel vulnerable and are at risk of an adverse health consequence should not be imposed.
"I really do believe the tournament organisers, Roland Garros in particular, exacerbated that harm when they started to promote the fact that other players were comfortable to do the press conferences in order to put pressure on Naomi, and clearly that has proven to be incredibly counterproductive… if the starting point is not a recognition of their proactive duty to provide a safe workplace and that safe workplace means understanding the physical, mental and the wellbeing risks holistically and then tailoring for the particular needs of players individually, then these kind of problems will likely reoccur."
Trae Young relished his starring role as the Atlanta Hawks beat the New York Knicks 103-89 to secure progression to the Eastern Conference semi-finals on Wednesday.
Young had been targeted by fans throughout the first-round playoff series, even being spat on by one of them during Game 2.
He was given a frosty reception again at Madison Square Garden this time around, with certain chants aimed at the 22-year-old, but Young had the last laugh.
In the final minute as Knicks fans rose to give their team one last ovation with Hawks cruising to a comfortable win that ultimately eliminated the hosts, Young sunk a three-pointer before bowing at the centre of the court and waving goodbye to the crowd.
The cheers quickly turned back to jeers.
"I know where we are. I know it's a bunch of shows around this city," Young said afterwards. "And I know what they do when the show is over.
"It feels good. Like I said since the beginning of the season, I feel like I've worked my whole life for this moment, to play in the playoffs on the biggest stage.
"I put in a lot of work. A lot of the guys who have been here have done the same. It feels good to win it. It feels good to win the series. Now we get to focus on the second round."
Young played a leading role for the Hawks, his 36 points and nine assists both highs for the match.
On top of that, his consistency throughout the series has undoubtedly been important for the Hawks, with Young averaging 29.2 points and 9.8 assists each game, while also getting the winning points in Game 1.
He ends the series with 146 points, which is the seventh-best playoff hall in the NBA since the 1976-77 ABA-NBA merger, and his team-mate John Collins suggested the Knicks crowd chose the wrong man to pick on.
"Trae loves this stuff," he said. "He's in the gym grinding. You see him pandering and playing to the crowd.
"Certain guys get motivated and find their reason and extra motivation to play based off the crowd. The crowd does give you energy.
"Trae loves to use that negative energy and use it as fuel for him. For whatever fans who want to keep antagonising that man, please go right ahead. It's not going to bother him, and we've got his back as well."
The Hawks will face top seeds Philadelphia 76ers in the next round.
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