London: Frank Lampard believes Chelsea can claim victory against Barcelona in the Champions League semi-final after reaching the last-four by defeating Benfica 2-1 on aggregate in the second leg at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday. The Blues took a 1-0 lead into the quarter-final second leg against the Portuguese side and survived a late scare when Javi Garcia's equaliser put his side within a goal of progressing. Chelsea are 12/1 to...
10:02 AM, Apr 05, 2012
Madrid: Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho believes Barcelona are guaranteed a place in this season's Champions League final, alluding to favouritism towards the Catalan club in Europe's premier club competition. The Madrid boss, speaking after his side's 5-2 win over APOEL at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday, claimed a meeting with his former side Chelsea at Munich in May is impossible. When asked about the two semi-finals in a television...
09:55 AM, Apr 05, 2012
Barcelona: Zlatan Ibrahimovic's return to Barcelona ended with him feeling "disgusted" after two penalties led to AC Milan's 3-1 loss and exit from the Champions League on Tuesday. Ibrahimovic was back at the Camp Nou for the first time since his 2010 exit from the Spanish champions after just one season and while the Sweden striker set up the Italian club's lone goal from Antonio Nocerino, he was kept from...
09:39 AM, Apr 05, 2012
Barcelona: Barcelona star Lionel Messi broke the record for the most goals in a single Champions League campaign and equalled the all-time European Cup record when he netted an 11th-minute penalty against AC Milan in their quarter-final second leg on Tuesday. Messi scored two first-half penalties to lead Barcelona to a 3-1 victory over Milan at the Camp Nou and a place in the Champions League semi-finals for the fifth...
04:18 AM, Apr 04, 2012
Munich: Ivica Olic scored twice to send Bayern Munich comfortably through to the Champions League semi-finals for the second time in three years with a 2-0 win over Marseille on Tuesday. Bayern had a 2-0 lead from the first leg and Olic all but secured the German side's progression when he struck in the 13th minute, after former Marseille player Franck Ribery set the Croatian up for an easy tap-in....
03:25 AM, Apr 04, 2012
Barcelona: Lionel Messi broke yet another record in an already remarkable season as Barcelona finally broke down AC Milan's stubborn defence to move one step closer to becoming the first team to defend their Champions League title. The three-time World Player of the Year scored two first-half penalties on Tuesday to lead the Spanish club to a 3-1 victory over Milan and a place in the semi-finals of the tournament...
02:55 AM, Apr 04, 2012
Key Biscayne, Fla.: A marathon second set was all even in a tie-breaker on Friday night when Novak Djokovic found himself involved in yet another grueling point. He hit 13 shots, all smacked aggressively from the backcourt, many landing within a foot or two of the baseline at the far end. Finally Djokovic's dogged opponent cracked. Juan Monaco sailed a weary forehand long, and moments later the top-ranked Djokovic clinched...
10:44 AM, Mar 31, 2012
London: A new photo of Fabrice Muamba appeared on the midfielder's Twitter account on Friday showing him sitting up and smiling, almost two weeks after his heart stopped beating and he collapsed during the FA Cup quarter-finals. The first photo of Muamba since his cardiac arrest showed the usually clean-shaven Bolton player bearded, fully dressed and seated with a pillow for support. An accompanying message said: "Fab wanted me to...
07:52 PM, Mar 30, 2012
Miami: India's Leander Paes and his Czech partner Radek Stepanek pulled off an amazing victory over top seeds Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan to secure their berth in the final of the Sony Ericsson Open. However, Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna crashed out of the tournament in straight sets on Thursday. Paes is one win away from a third consecutive Sony Ericsson Open doubles title - with three different partners...
02:19 PM, Mar 30, 2012
Indian Wells: Roger Federer overcame Rafael Nadal and the rain for a 6-3, 6-4 semi-final victory in the BNP Paribas Open on Saturday night, acing Nadal on a match point that was delayed a couple minutes by rain drops. Federer handled the cold, windy conditions better than Nadal, whose grumpy expression matched his out-of-sorts body language. The match got started nearly three hours late because of rain. Wind whipped the...
10:34 AM, Mar 18, 2012
Indian Wells, California: John Isner fired 20 aces, including one at 135-mph on his fourth match point, to beat top-ranked Novak Djokovic 7-6 (7), 3-6, 7-6 (5) in the BNP Paribas Open semi-finals on Saturday. Isner will play No. 3 Roger Federer in Sunday's final. Federer overcame Rafael Nadal and the rain for a 6-3, 6-4 semi-final victory, acing Nadal on a match point that was delayed a couple minutes...
10:28 AM, Mar 18, 2012
London: Chelsea's return to form since the sacking of Portuguese Andre Villas-Boas is down to the players rediscovering their passion for the game, interim manager Roberto Di Matteo said on Friday. The Italian has overseen three consecutive wins since Villas-Boas was axed, culminating in the enthralling 5-4 aggregate victory over Napoli on Wednesday that earned the Londoners a Champions League quarter-final against Benfica. The games are coming thick and fast...
04:07 PM, Mar 17, 2012
Nyon: Athletic Bilbao were rewarded for eliminating Manchester United in the Europa League by being drawn on Friday to play Schalke in the quarter-finals. "It was a fiesta for us," Bilbao secretary Javier Aldazabal said of the Basque club's impressive 2-1 win on Thursday, following a 3-2 upset of the English champions at Old Trafford. "To be in the European last-eight, it's a surprise but we are enjoying it." Atletico...
12:39 PM, Mar 17, 2012
Indian Wells, California: Rafael Nadal outlasted David Nalbandian 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 in the BNP Paribas Open on Friday, setting up a semi-final against Roger Federer that will be a rematch of their Australian Open semi-final. Federer had an easier time in his quarter-final, beating Juan Martin del Potro 6-3, 6-2 in just more than an hour for his fourth victory over the Argentine this year. Top-ranked Victoria Azarenka defeated Angelique...
10:41 AM, Mar 17, 2012
Nyon, Switzerland: Barcelona and Real Madrid were kept apart in the Champions League quarter-finals and semi-finals draw on Friday, though the defending champions must first beat AC Milan before the Spanish giants can hope to meet in a potentially stellar final. Barcelona will travel for the first leg against seven-time winners Milan, in a quarter-finals clash that reunites the two European powers after they met in the group stages. Madrid,...
04:58 PM, Mar 16, 2012
Indian Wells: Comfortably the best player in the world for more than a year, Novak Djokovic believes he is close to the stunning form he produced to launch his 2011 campaign with a 41-0 record. The top-ranked Serbian has clinched four of the last five Grand Slams and stayed on track for a third Indian Wells title after beating Spaniard Pablo Andujar 6-0, 6-7, 6-2 in the fourth round on...
03:36 PM, Mar 15, 2012
London: If Chelsea fail to overturn a two-goal deficit against a buoyant Napoli on Wednesday, England will be without a representative in the Champions League quarter-finals for the first time since 1996. Chelsea were left to fly the flag for the English Premier League after Arsenal were eliminated by AC Milan last week, continuing England's poor run in the competition this season after the two Manchester clubs were knocked out...
09:52 AM, Mar 14, 2012
Indian Wells, California: Roger Federer outlasted hard-serving Milos Raonic 6-7 (4), 6-2, 6-4 under the lights in the third round of the BNP Paribas Open on Tuesday night, extending his run of winning 35 of 37 matches since last year's US Open. Rafael Nadal didn't have as much trouble in sunny conditions, beating countryman Marcel Granollers 6-1, 6-4. It was similarly easy on the women's side for top-ranked Victoria Azarenka...
08:41 AM, Mar 14, 2012
Sachin Tendulkar's ODI career is on its last legs, if they haven't folded already. Those on the inside track say he was to announce his ...
10:52 AM, Feb 28, 2012
Marana, Arizona: Rory McIlroy and Lee Westwood set up a mouth-watering duel in the last-four of the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship when they each completed comfortable victories in Saturday's quarter-finals. Northern Ireland's world number two McIlroy never trailed before beating South Korean Bae Sang-moon 3&2, while third-ranked Westwood won 4&2 against fellow Briton Martin Laird at Dove Mountain's Ritz-Carlton Golf Club. Either McIlroy or Westwood can depose Luke Donald as...
10:33 AM, Feb 26, 2012
