Related items

• Rob Page: Gareth Bale ‘enjoying retirement’ and won’t join Wales coaching staff

  Gareth Bale will not be joining the Wales coaching staff, manager Rob Page has said.

  Former captain Bale ended his stellar playing career in January with a farewell statement announcing he was “stepping down but not stepping away” from the Wales environment.

  Page said he wanted to keep the former Real Madrid forward, his country’s most capped men’s player with 111 appearances, involved in some capacity but the Wales manager has now confirmed that will not be in a coaching role.

  “I spoke to Gareth on Monday and I’m due to have another conversation with him this week,” Page said ahead of this month’s Euro 2024 qualifiers against Armenia and Turkey.

  “Nothing particular or specific, just a general. He’s open to conversations and he wants to play a part in the future, but not from a coaching point of view.

  “For me to have another voice from the outside watching things is beneficial. He’s enjoying his retirement.”

  Bale’s former team-mate Chris Gunter joined Page’s backroom staff ahead of two qualifiers in March, from which Wales made a positive start to Euro 2024 qualifying by picking up four points against Croatia and Latvia.

  Page said: “Gunts has come up and he’s a first-class lad. He’s doing his coaching badges, he’s great around the changing room and the lads love him to bits. He’s doing really well at the minute.

  “We’ve just had a four-day camp with the under-21s and our EFL players and we’ve given him more responsibility with regards to the training sessions.

  “The culture in the changing room is the most important thing. When I had him as a player, he was key to that.

  “He was never afraid to come to talk to the coaching staff and I still want that. He drives that for us.”

  Wales head to Portugal this week to prepare for their Euro 2024 double-header, with three key players nursing injuries.

  Skipper Aaron Ramsey (calf), goalkeeper Danny Ward (dislocated finger) and Neco Williams (broken jaw) missed the final games of the season for their respective clubs.

  But Page has been encouraged by his squad playing more Premier League minutes this term, a top-flight total of 251 appearances being 135 more than the previous campaign and the most since the 2016-17 season.

  He said: “You want your best players playing at the top level because that will help us to compete against the top teams in Europe and the rest of the world.

  “We need our players being exposed to the top teams, whether that’s in the Premier League, LaLiga, Bundesliga or Serie A.

  “Thankfully, we now have more of our Welsh players playing at the top level.”

• Billy Dodds proud of his Caley Thistle side despite final setback

  Inverness manager Billy Dodds was proud of his players after their Hampden efforts against treble-winning Celtic.

  Caley Thistle restricted the champions to few chances before Kyogo Furuhashi swept home a 38th-minute winner in the Scottish Cup final.

  Half-time sub Liel Abada doubled Celtic’s lead but Inverness fought back through Dan MacKay before Jota sealed a 3-1 win in stoppage-time.

  “Everything a losing manager feels, you are disappointed, but proud at the same time.

  “There’ s a massive gulf between the teams but I thought we asked them questions at certain times, I really did.

  “We lost goals at bad times, because i was trying to get to half-time, had a plan in my head, then we lost a goal when I was going to make an attacking substitution.

  “I love working with this group and after being idle for five weeks or so, I thought they put on a hell of a performance.

  “I am absolutely thrilled by the way they dug in and what they gave me in terms of effort and determination.”

  Dodds added: “Every manager talks about character and all that we have and we certainly did to come back into the game.

  “Wallace Duffy whips in a great ball and it’s a brilliant finish from Dan MacKay.”

• Paris Saint-Germain 2-3 Clermont: Messi and Ramos denied winning send-off as visitors fight back

  Paris Saint-Germain failed to muster a winning send-off for Lionel Messi and Sergio Ramos as they ended the Ligue 1 season by squandering a two-goal lead in a 3-2 loss against Clermont.

  Early goals for the Spaniard and Kylian Mbappe put the champions on top at Parc des Princes, before Johan Gastien, Mehdi Zeffane and Grejohn Kyei completed a stirring comeback from the visitors.

  It was a damp last note for ex-LaLiga heroes Messi and Ramos, who leave Paris as two-time league champions but without having won supporters' hearts – with Messi booed ahead of kick-off.

  Likewise, it may prove a dour final chapter for coach Christophe Galtier, who is widely tipped to depart despite leading PSG to a record 11th league title. 

  PSG, who wore shirts adorned with the name of injured team-mate Sergio Rico in the first half, needed VAR to rescue them after Kyei prodded home an early finish.

  The hosts promptly seized control, with Ramos netting a farewell header from Vitinha's delivery before Mbappe doubled their lead with an excellent penalty following Alidu Seidu's foul on Achraf Hakimi.

  Clermont refused to fold though, with Gastien capitalising on Marco Verratti's mistake to halve the arrears and Zeffane bundling in a leveller either side of Kyei putting a spot-kick wide in a thrilling first half.

  Messi, who misfired on his farewell, spurned a chance to finish Mbappe's square ball after the restart before Kyei nosed the visitors in front with a close-range finish.

  PSG continued to toil for an equaliser in the closing stages and Messi almost stole a point in the final minute of injury time, only for goalkeeper Mory Diaw to stop his direct free-kick with an acrobatic save.