Soccer: Spain: At Clásico in the desert, Real Madrid had the better end for themselves in extra time. Toni Kroos‘ royal team defeated FC Barcelona 3: 2 (1: 1) in the Spanish Supercup semifinals on Wednesday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and advanced to the final, in which the winner of Thursday’s game Atletico Madrid against Athletic Bilbao will be the opponent on Sunday. Real took the lead after 25 minutes through Vinicius Junior (25th), who overcame German national goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen with a left-footed shot. But FC Barcelona, where Ferran Torres was in the starting line-up after the corona infection, was able to equalize with a strange goal before the break. Real defender Eder Militao shot the ex-Gladbacher Luuk de Jong, from whom the ball first hit the inside post and then into the goal.
In the middle of the second half, Real seemed already on the way to victory when striker Karim Benzema took the lead again with a flick in the 72nd minute, but 19-year-old Ansu Fati equalized with a header seven minutes before the end. In the extension, the decision was made in a pressure phase from Barcelona. The Uruguayan Federico Valverde closed a counterattack to make it 3-2 for Real (98.). After the 0-1 slip against Getafe, Real was back on the road to success on Sunday with a 4-1 win over Valencia in La Liga. “It was important for us to win the next league game again after losing in Getafe. Our goal is clear, we want to be at the top at the end of the season,” said ex-Bayern professional David Alaba before the game.
Soccer, Italy: According to media reports, the relegation-threatened club CFC Genua 1893 from Italy is considering replacing the current coach Andrei Shevchenko with the former Bundesliga coach Bruno Labbadia. The club from the northern Italian region of Liguria has been thinking for a few days how it should go with the Ukrainian Shevchenko, the TV broadcaster Sky Sport Italia reported online on Thursday. The 55-year-old Labbadia, the son of Italian guest workers, is a favorite if Shevchenko should lose his post, it said.
The native of Darmstadt and former Bundesliga professional Labbadia had recently coached Hertha BSC, VfL Wolfsburg and Hamburger SV, among others. Milan legend Shevchenko ranked penultimate place in the table with CFC Genoa before the 22nd matchday. The 45-year-old, who led the selection of his home country to the European Championship quarter-finals last summer, has been coach at Rossoblù since November and has so far only had a meager result of three points from nine games.
Basketball, NBA: Dennis Schröder led the Boston Celtics to their third win in a row. The 28-year-old contributed 23 points to 119: 100 against the Indiana Pacers and showed his best performance in 2022 with a hit rate of over 70 percent after weak last weeks. The top scorer of the record champions was Jaylen Brown with 34 points, and Jayson Tatum also shone with 33 points. Rookie Franz Wagner, meanwhile, continued to be in top form when the Orlando Magic went bankrupt for the tenth time.
The 20-year-old managed a career record against the Washington Wizards with 10 assists, but he was unable to prevent the bottom light from 106: 112 with his own 14 points. His brother Moritz came back from the bench and contributed six points in a good 9 minutes. Maximilian Kleber and the Dallas Mavericks suffered a setback in the play-off race. The Mavs were subject to the New York Knicks 85: 108, Kleber got nine points with low odds. His national team colleague Daniel Theis contributed eight points in the 128: 124 of the Houston Rockets against the San Antonio Spurs.
Soccer, England: Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo has defended his coach Ralf Rangnick against criticism. “He arrived here five weeks ago and has changed a lot,” Ronaldo told Sky Sports. “But he needs time to convey his ideas to the players, including on the pitch. But I’m sure he will do a good job.” At Man United, seventh in the table, things are not going well yet. After a successful start under Rangnick, the Red Devils had a hard time lately. “We knew beforehand that we weren’t playing the best football like we had to,” said Ronaldo. “But we still have a lot of games to improve. And I think we’ve been better on some points since he arrived.”
Fußball, Africa-Cup: The Zambian referee Janny Sikazwe caused a scandal with bizarre decisions in the preliminary round match of the Africa Cup between fellow favorites Tunisia and Mali. The 42-year-old referee whistled twice for the game in Group F – and both times too early. First he blew in the 86th minute when the score was 1-0 for Mali in his whistle, noticed his mistake after protests from the Tunisian side, apologized and let the ball continue with a ball. The final whistle of the match in Limbe, Cameroon came after 89:45 minutes and thus 15 seconds too early.
This time the entire Tunisian delegation was furious, coach Mondher Kebaier frantically waved his watch around in front of the officials’ noses. The referee team had to leave the field under the protection of security guards in the face of the anger of the “Eagles of Carthage”. About half an hour later, with the press conference already in full swing, the game appeared to be resumed. The Malians with Bundesliga professionals Amadou Haidara from RB Leipzig and Diadie Samassekou (TSG Hoffenheim) returned to the field to play the last seconds of regular time and possible stoppage time. However, the Tunisians with Cologne’s Ellyes Skhiri stayed in the cabin, which could indicate a protest.
The only goal of the less than 90 minutes was scored by Mali’s center forward Ibrahima Kone with a 48th-minute penalty. Tunisia’s captain Wahbi Khazri failed in his team’s opening game from the penalty spot (77th). “In 30 years in this business I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Tunisia coach Kebaier: “His decision is inexplicable. We’ll see what happens now.” When the order came to return to the field, his players were “already in the ice baths”.
Sikazwe is nominated for the fifth time for the Africa championship, he was also at the 2018 World Cup and headed two preliminary round matches in Russia. It’s not the first time he’s been the focus of controversy. Sikazwe was once suspended after a game in the African Champions League on suspicion of corruption, as stated in the CAF announcement at the time. However, the suspension was lifted due to a lack of evidence.
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