Arteta admits Arsenal had point to prove after ‘big moment in season’ with win at Sporting

• Havertz goal offers response after back-to-back defeats

• Arteta praises ‘extraordinary’ Raya for crucial saves

Mikel Arteta acknowledged that Arsenal had a point to prove against Sporting after losing their last two matches and believes that Kai Havertz’s late winner could prove to be a “big moment” in their season.

Arsenal had David Raya to thank for making three superb saves that kept the scores level before Havertz came off the bench to seal a priceless away victory. It was a huge relief for Arteta, who had urged his players to rediscover their identity after they suffered back-to-back defeats for the first time this season against Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final and Championship side Southampton in the FA Cup.

Published: April 7, 2026, 10:43 pm

Harry Kane gives Bayern Munich edge despite Real Madrid fightback in thriller

“This is why you guys come to these games,” Vincent Kompany had said, and especially here. For the quality, the chaos and the goals, the edge, the drama and the history that invades every moment. Another wild Champions League night had this place believing in another crazy comeback, the noise level rising towards what appeared destined to be one, last thunderous crescendo as Real Madrid rose again and went for their biggest European rivals. In the end, though, Bayern Munich held on for a win that sets up another, definitive battle at the Allianz Arena next week.

Strikes from Luis Díaz and Harry Kane either side of half-time had given Bayern a 2-0 lead, underlining an incontestable authority in the opening hour. But a Kylian Mbappé goal 16 minutes from the end began a rebellion that could have left the tie on even more of a knife edge than it is, Madrid finding chances for a draw or even another victory. They also found Manuel Neuer rolling back the years, aged 40, with nine saves.

Published: April 7, 2026, 9:12 pm

Dawn Staley: Time to ‘turn the page’ on Final Four skirmish with Geno Auriemma

• Staley says she has ‘great deal of respect’ for UConn coach

• Auriemma had issued apology to South Carolina staff

South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley says it is time to move past her Final Four skirmish with UConn coach Geno Auriemma that became the talk of the tournament.

Staley released a statement on South Carolina’s X account on Tuesday in which she expressed her respect for Auriemma and said the two have spoken since South Carolina’s 62-48 victory in the Final Four on Friday night. The season ended with UCLA’s runaway 79-51 win over South Carolina in Sunday’s national championship game.

Published: April 7, 2026, 8:06 pm

Rory McIlroy returns to scene of Masters glory with ‘big weight off my shoulders’ | Andy Bull

The defending champion is a lot more relaxed but ‘just as motivated’ this year after finally winning at Augusta

On the Tuesday of last year’s Masters, Rory McIlroy dined with Justin Rose in the clubhouse at Augusta. He arrived right around the time that all the guests at Scottie Scheffler’s champions dinner were having cocktails on the balcony. “I was pulling up Magnolia Lane,” McIlroy says. “And I’m like, well, do I go and park way over at the parking lot? Because I’m not going to park in the champions parking lot.’”

Not when there’s Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods and everyone else looking down. “I didn’t want to get out and use a valet because they were going to see me and it was going to be weird. So I had this really awkward moment,” McIlroy says with a laugh. “Thankfully that was the last time that I needed to do that.”

Published: April 7, 2026, 8:12 pm

Drone racing to drone strikes: have war and sport become indistinguishable?

The Trump administration’s pushing of the war in Iran reflects a sporting culture driven by clipped-up content, shameless tribalism and a lust for escalation

Among the more surprising continuities of 2026 has been the visual kinship between the Winter Olympics and the US’s illegal and unprovoked war in Iran. High-speed camera drones were a highlight of TV coverage of the recent Games in Milano Cortina, bringing viewers within kissing distance of the action as Olympic athletes hurtled down the slopes and around the tracks in the skiing and sliding events. The incessant screech of the drones aside, the introduction of quadcopter-borne cameras felt like a real step forward in coverage of the winter sports, bringing a (literal) new perspective to events that had become, over recent decades, fairly static as a viewing experience.

No sooner had the Olympics finished than aerial video was back on our screens – only the footage, in this case, was of a far darker variety. In place of the ludicrous hip flexibility of the slaloming skiers and the high-speed cornering of the monobobbers, for the past month our feeds have been flooded with satellite and drone imagery of the US military blowing Iranian aircraft, ships, vehicles, munitions buildings, and citizens to smithereens. The aerial perspective that brought the strength and speed and elasticity and joy of Olympic competition to our screens now transmits the daily horrors of war in easily snackable, two-minute clips on to our phones. In the era of the milkshake duck, it’s almost expected that anything positive in our culture will eventually turn sour – and technology, of course, is ethically agnostic, a tool that can be used for both good and evil ends. But even in a culture as depraved and hypocritical as ours, the seamless transition from drone-supplied footage of Olympic excellence to drone-supplied footage of war crimes has felt genuinely jarring.

Published: April 7, 2026, 11:00 am

Bryson DeChambeau making his own golf clubs in quest for Masters title

• American faded to finish joint-fifth last year at Augusta

• ‘I am working on irons, building irons, building a driver’

Bryson DeChambeau has revealed the latest strand to his career: golf club manufacturing. The two-time major winner used pre-tournament media duties at the Masters to explain he is making his own clubs, in what marks a stark departure from elite golfers working in tandem with equipment companies.

“I think it’s the willingness to always try to improve,” DeChambeau said. “There’s this nature that I have about myself where innovation is a habit of mine and I really find and take pride in that ability to learn, even through failure, even through making a bad decision or a good decision.

Published: April 7, 2026, 8:25 pm

USMNT striker Patrick Agyemang to miss World Cup after ‘serious’ achilles injury

• Derby striker was stretchered off after awkward landing

• 25-year-old had scored for US in friendly v Belgium

US national team striker Patrick Agyemang will miss this summer’s World Cup after suffering a “serious” achilles tendon injury during Derby County’s 2-0 win over Stoke City on Monday, the club said.

The 25-year-old, who is in his first season at Derby, rose to settle a ball in the 37th minute and landed awkwardly. Play stopped for five minutes before he was stretchered off by medical staff.

Published: April 7, 2026, 1:11 pm

Michigan outlasts UConn to win first NCAA men’s basketball title since 1989

• Elliot Cadeau scored 19 points and won Final Four MOP

• Foul trouble haunts Huskies in low-scoring affair

• As it happened: Read Beau Dure’s live play-by-play

High-scoring Michigan had to get down and dirty to dig out the national title Monday, making only two three-pointers all night but still muscling its way to a 69-63 victory over stingy, stubborn UConn.

Elliot Cadeau led the Wolverines with 19 points, including the team’s first basket from beyond the arc, which came 7:04 into the second half. He was later named Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four.

Published: April 7, 2026, 3:38 am

Jason Day hits out at ‘selfish’ Tiger Woods after DUI charge

• Australian golfer saddened by his ‘hero’ facing struggle with addiction

• Five-time Masters champion to miss first major after car crash and arrest

Australian ace Jason Day has expressed sadness at Tiger Woods’ plight but taken issue with the golf great’s “selfish” judgement for driving under the influence.

Woods has reportedly checked himself into rehab in Switzerland after being arrested and charged on 27 March after crashing his car near his home on Jupiter Island in Florida.

Published: April 7, 2026, 12:38 am

Women’s Super League academy teams to play in third tier under new FA proposals

• Four youth sides picked could not be promoted

• Plans involve mid-season split and up to £1m investment

Major structural changes to the Women’s National League, including four Women’s Super League academy sides entering tier three of the pyramid from 2027 and the introduction of a mid-season split similar to that used in Scotland, have been proposed by the Football Association, the Guardian can reveal.

The plans come alongside a potential investment package of about £1m, enhancements to legal and medical support in the loan system, and a hope of attracting more fans and media attention to the league.

Published: April 7, 2026, 6:06 pm

Southampton leapfrog Wrexham after thrashing to climb into playoff spots

Southampton continued their Championship charge as they thrashed Wrexham 5-1 to replace the Welsh side in the playoff places.

Fuelled by their stunning weekend FA Cup quarter-final triumph over Arsenal, Tonda Eckert’s in-form side flew out of the traps at Stōk Cae Ras with early goals from Kuryu Matsuki and Flynn Downes, having already hit the woodwork twice.

Published: April 7, 2026, 9:44 pm

Mircea Lucescu, former Romania football captain and coach, dies aged 80

• Bucharest hospital confirms his death after heart attack

• Coach led team to Euro 84 and won multiple club titles

Mircea Lucescu, the Romanian football great who was a serial trophy winner as a player and a coach, has died aged 80.

Lucescu’s death was confirmed by Bucharest university emergency hospital on Tuesday. He had been taken to hospital after reportedly having a heart attack on Friday morning.

Published: April 7, 2026, 6:55 pm

Arne Slot backs his Liverpool side to go ‘toe-to-toe’ with PSG in Champions League

• Wirtz denies Liverpool ‘gave up’ in Manchester City loss

• Isak could return off bench after four months out injured

Arne Slot has warned Liverpool will suffer another emphatic defeat should they switch off against Paris Saint-Germain in their Champions League quarter-final first leg on Wednesday evening but believes his toiling team can save their season by going “toe-to-toe” with the European champions.

The pressure on Liverpool and their head coach has intensified following Saturday’s 4-0 capitulation against Manchester City in the quarter-final of the FA Cup. Florian Wirtz disagreed with the captain Virgil van Dijk’s damning assessment that Liverpool “gave up” at the Etihad Stadium, but both the £116m playmaker and Slot admitted there can be no repeat of that performance at Parc des Princes.

Published: April 7, 2026, 7:36 pm

Napoli president says he would allow Antonio Conte to leave for Italy job

• Conte says he should be considered to succeed Gattuso

• Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri also linked with role

Napoli’s president, Aurelio De Laurentiis, has said he would not stand in Antonio Conte’s way if the coach asked to take the vacant Italy job, after Conte said he ought to be under consideration to succeed Gennaro Gattuso.

Gattuso resigned as the Azzurri’s coach on Friday after Italy failed to reach the World Cup for a third straight time. Conte’s deal at Napoli runs until 2027 and the Italian champions are seven points off the Serie A leaders, Inter, with seven matches remaining.

Published: April 7, 2026, 2:13 pm

Joey Barton pleads not guilty to causing grievous bodily harm in golf club incident

• Former footballer denies assault in north-west England

• Barton to remain in custody with trial set for 1 September

Joey Barton has denied assaulting a man outside a golf club in north-west England. The 43-year-old former Manchester City and Newcastle midfielder appeared via video link from Liverpool prison for the plea hearing at Liverpool crown court.

He pleaded not guilty to causing grievous bodily harm with intent to Kevin Lynch on 8 March. Barton’s co-defendant, Gary O’Grady, was not asked to enter a plea to the charge on Tuesday.

Published: April 7, 2026, 2:41 pm

David Squires on … the shocks and flops from the FA Cup quarter-finals

Our cartoonist on humiliating exits for Arsenal and Liverpool, low-hanging fruit and Hugo Ekitike’s shirt swap

• Buy one of David’s cartoons | His favourites from 2025

• And his latest book, Chaos in the Box: get it now

Published: April 7, 2026, 12:06 pm

Sporting 0-1 Arsenal: Champions League quarter-final first leg – as it happened

Kai Havertz came off the bench to score a stoppage-time winner as Arsenal beat Sporting 1-0 in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final in Lisbon

The teams are out and the Champions League anthem is being played. ‘You are my life’ reads the tifo, an ode from Sporting fans to their beloved club. Great energy in Lisbon so far – mostly from the home fans but the pocket of 2,600 Arsenal away fans are doing their best. Kick-off up next.

A look at the pre-match post bag.

After the last 2 losses, nothing can be taken for granted and I don’t think Arsenal are favourites for this game tonight. Arteta is trying to convince himself but the truth is: he is panicking!

Zubimendi and Rice are our two most important players tonight. If they have a good game, I think we will take a good lead to the Emirates.

Shocking that all the players Arsenal withdrew from international duty are now in the starting XI. How does that work?

I am quite surprised that Viktor Gyökeres has gotten a decent reception during the warmup … We all know Alexander Isak would not receive the same warm welcome on Tyneside. What is the difference between how the two forced moves?

Published: April 7, 2026, 9:23 pm

Real Madrid 1-2 Bayern Munich: Champions League quarter-final first leg – as it happened

Harry Kane’s goal gave Bayern the advantage despite a ferocious late rally from Real in a thrilling first leg

At the end of tonight’s game, a Real Madrid fan will charge onto the pitch, chin Harry Kane and flatten the referee Michael Oliver.

No, of course they won’t. But that is essentially what happened at the end of the first ever meeting between Real and Bayern. The footage is kinda bonkers: watch for the affronted gentleman who sprints into view from behind the goal.

Published: April 7, 2026, 9:15 pm

Bay Collective to buy Sunderland Women and sets ambitious target

• Multi-club group also owns Bay FC in United States

• Bay FC forward Keira Barry gets first England call-up

Sunderland’s women’s team are to be taken over by the multi-club ownership group Bay Collective, which has agreed to buy a majority stake in the Women’s Super League 2 club, subject to league approval.

The deal comes with plans to enhance Sunderland’s training ground and academy to create a “platform for sustained success at the highest levels”. Sunderland are eighth in WSL2 with two matches remaining.

Published: April 7, 2026, 3:01 pm

Sale believe Courtney Lawes can regain England place after veteran signs one-year deal

• Former captain spent past two seasons at Brive

• Alex Sanderson: ‘He’s still got the ability’

Courtney Lawes has been backed to regain his England place following confirmation he will be joining Sale Sharks this summer on a one-year deal. The former national captain has spent the last two seasons with Brive in France’s Pro D2 but has indicated he would love to play international rugby again should the chance arise.

While Lawes will be 38 next February and retired from the Test arena after the 2023 World Cup in France, he still feels he can make an impact at the top level of the game. That view is shared by Sale’s director of rugby, Alex Sanderson, who is looking forward to welcoming the former Northampton stalwart to Manchester.

Published: April 7, 2026, 2:38 pm

Jon Rahm adamant he will play for Europe at next year’s Ryder Cup

• Spaniard confident resolution with DP World Tour is close

• Rahm paired with Gotterup and Åberg at Masters

Jon Rahm has declared he will play for Europe in next year’s Ryder Cup, with the Spaniard confident of ending his standoff with the DP World Tour by this September. Rahm’s sentiment from Augusta National will raise Luke Donald’s confidence that he will be able to call on one of his key team members for Europe’s Ryder Cup defence.

Rahm has been subject to fines reaching seven figures for participating on the LIV Tour without consent from the DP World Tour, of which he is still a member. Rahm dropped his appeal over the sanctions recently, which leaves him in default to the DP World Tour and unavailable for Ryder Cup selection. He also turned down a deal which would have seen the situation resolved in return for playing six designated DP World Tour events.

Published: April 7, 2026, 5:03 pm

The Masters is a welcome oasis in golf’s fractious world, despite its stuffy foibles | Ewan Murray

No phones, no littering, no cheering bad shots – ‘patrons’ face strict rules at Augusta, but what a contrast to last year’s disgraceful Ryder Cup

It is easy to poke fun at the prissy traditions of the Masters. Golfers, never mind spectators, enter a state of panic over what horrible fate may befall them should they break the rules inside Augusta National. It is preposterous in so many ways; adults consumed by fear over missteps at a golf tournament. People do not typically feel this way inside the Sistine Chapel.

This year, there are reasons to be grateful for Augusta’s unapologetic approach. The Masters provides a welcome break from the ear-bashing noise of the modern world. The United States is an especially fractious place. This major also offers a timely escape from the racket within golf itself. Brief serenity should be appreciated.

Published: April 7, 2026, 7:00 am

Michigan defeats UConn to win NCAA men’s basketball championship – as it happened

Elliot Cadeau scored 19 points as the Wolverines held off a late rally by UConn to capture their first title since 1989. Read Beau Dure’s live play-by-play

UConn 4-9 Michigan, 15:42 left, first half: Solo Ball works inside to get two for UConn, but then he gets called for blocking at the other end. Questionable call, to be honest. He seemed set.

Cadeau misses a three, but Michigan get a second and third chance. Johnson converts the tip-in.

Published: April 7, 2026, 3:34 am