Atlético hold off Barcelona comeback after Lookman strike and García red

Defeat never tasted so good. At the end of a battle in which both teams had fought and both had bled, in which they had suffered but above all played, a huge banner was unfurled at the Metropolitano. “We give everything to win the cup,” it said, and, boy, had they. For the first time, Diego Simeone had seen his team lose a Champions League knockout game at home, but it didn’t matter: instead there was delirium, the club’s anthem belted out louder than ever before. “Buah! You don’t know how lovely it is to be among the four best teams in Europe,” the coach said.

They had waited a long time for this. Ten years and one day later, Atlético Madrid eliminated Barcelona to reach the semi-final of the Champions League again. “This is the third time we’ve done this – against Messi’s Barcelona, against Lamine’s Barcelona – and it isn’t easy,” Simeone said; the other two times, in 2014 and 2016, they reached the final to which they are so desperate to return and exorcise the ghosts from Lisbon and Milan. “I’ve been here 14 years and never stop feeling emotional,” Simeone said. “I told the players: thank you, thank you, thank you. For the things we do, the faith we have.”

Published: April 14, 2026, 9:25 pm

NFL reporter Russini resigns amid ‘self-feeding speculation’ over photos with Patriots’ Vrabel

• Photos prompted investigation by The Athletic

• Russini seen as one of NFL’s top reporters

NFL reporter Dianna Russini has resigned from The Athletic less than a week after photos of her and New England Patriots coach Mike Vrabel prompted an internal investigation at The New York Times-owned sports outlet.

The New York Post last week published the photos of Vrabel and Russini at an Arizona resort and said they were taken before the NFL owners meetings that began in Phoenix on 29 March.

Published: April 14, 2026, 8:23 pm

Javier Mascherano resigns as Inter Miami manager months after winning MLS Cup

• Mascherano coached one full season with Messi in Miami

• Inter Miami have been off to a slow start in 2026

Javier Mascherano has stunningly stepped down as Inter Miami’s manager, just months after leading the team to their first MLS title.

In the club’s announcement of the move, Mascherano said he was leaving for “personal reasons,” though later on the announcement specifies that his coaching staff will also depart the club.

Published: April 14, 2026, 5:19 pm

Azzi Fudd taken first in WNBA draft by Dallas Wings in UConn reunion with Paige Bueckers

• Fudd goes No 1, reunites with Bueckers

• UCLA set record with five first-round picks

• Analysis: Ella Brockway goes pick by pick

• Sign up for our WNBA 30 newsletter

Azzi Fudd was selected by the Dallas Wings with the first pick of the WNBA draft on Monday night, capping a 12-month ascent from NCAA champion to the top overall choice and setting up a reunion with former University of Connecticut teammate Paige Bueckers.

The 5ft 11in guard, who led UConn to last year’s national title and was named the Final Four’s Most Outstanding Player, is the seventh player from the program to go No 1. Bueckers, the top selection by Dallas in the 2025 draft and the reigning WNBA rookie of the year, watched Fudd’s name called from a sold-out crowd at the Shed, the $500m cultural center at Hudson Yards on Manhattan’s west side.

Published: April 14, 2026, 2:11 am

Return trip from NYC to World Cup final stadium could cost $100 during tournament

• NJ Transit says no decision has been finalized

• Trip to New Jersey stadium typically is $12.90

Train tickets from New York City to MetLife Stadium, the New Jersey site of eight World Cup games this summer, are set to increase sevenfold to more than $100 during the tournament, according to a new report.

The Athletic reported NJ Transit’s plans for the ticket increase on Tuesday, citing sources familiar with the public transportation provider. NJ Transit told Fox 5 New York that the price has not been finalized. A decision is expected in the coming days, the Athletic report said.

Published: April 14, 2026, 7:40 pm

Javokhir Sindarov earns world chess title shot with stunning Candidates win

• Uzbek grandmaster wins Candidates with round to spare

• Sindarov, 20, to face India’s Gukesh for world title in fall

Javokhir Sindarov will challenge for Gukesh Dommaraju’s world chess championship this fall after clinching the Candidates tournament with a game to spare on Tuesday afternoon in Cyprus.

The 20-year-old Uzbek grandmaster closed out an emphatic victory in the 14-game double round-robin with a tame 58-move draw playing with the black pieces against Dutch star Anish Giri, moving to 9½ points and leaving the world No 9 two adrift with one round remaining.

Published: April 14, 2026, 6:03 pm

US Soccer sporting director Matt Crocker leaves for role with Saudi Arabia as World Cup looms

• Crocker hired Emma Hayes and Mauricio Pochettino

• Sporting director duties to be split in the meantime

US Soccer sporting director Matt Crocker is leaving his post with less than two months to go until the 2026 World Cup, US Soccer announced on Tuesday. The Guardian can also confirm Fox Sports’ earlier reporting that Crocker is taking up a similar role with the Saudi Arabia football federation.

US Soccer said Crocker’s duties will be shared by chief operating officer Dan Helfrich, assistant sporting director Oguchi Onyewu, women’s youth national team head of development Tracey Kevins, and “the broader sporting leadership team.”

Published: April 14, 2026, 2:45 pm

Boss of the Bronx: the turbulent reign of George Steinbrenner, baseball’s ultimate showman

A new book looks at how an eccentric shipping magnate ushered in a long run of success for the New York Yankees

George Steinbrenner could be quite the pitchman – whether selling New York to free agents or starring in Pepto-Bismol TV ads alongside Billy Martin. And now a new book remembers the late Yankees owner and the dynasty he founded.

The Bosses of the Bronx: The Endless Drama of the Yankees Under the House of Steinbrenner flows from the pen of sports journalist and author Mike Vaccaro. As the New York Post’s lead sports columnist for more than two decades, Vaccaro has witnessed the Steinbrenner dynasty from a rarefied perspective – the journalistic equivalent of a seat along the third-base line.

Published: April 14, 2026, 9:00 am

Dembélé delivers knockout double as PSG end Liverpool’s European dream

It felt routine in the end, the imperious champions of Europe through to another Champions League semi-final, Luis Enrique waving politely to the VIPs up in the Sir Kenny Dalglish stand having cavorted around Anfield following Paris Saint-Germain’s victory here last season, and a despondent Mohamed Salah bidding farewell to the Kop after his final European outing in a Liverpool shirt. But this was no routine departure from the Champions League for Liverpool.

Having exited the FA Cup quarter-final 4-0 and with a whimper, Arne Slot’s side exited the Champions League quarter-final 4-0 on aggregate but with a fight. For 72 minutes they also had hope, went toe-to-toe with the finest unit in Europe and kept on pressing despite the loss of Hugo Ekitiké to a potentially serious injury and a debatable decision to give – and then take away – a penalty with the capacity to change everything. It will be of little consolation to Slot and his team that, for the second successive season against PSG, taking the fight to Luis Enrique’s champions and putting the fright on them brought no reward at Anfield. The damage inflicted in Paris last week proved irrepairable.

Published: April 14, 2026, 9:06 pm

Hemp leads England past Spain to boost Women’s World Cup qualifying hopes

• World Cup qualifier: England 1-0 Spain (Hemp 3’)

• Lionesses win sides’ first meeting since Euros final

A resolute England gave their chances of ­automatic qualification for 2027’s World Cup a ­tremendous boost as they beat the world champions, Spain, at Wembley and demonstrated they are strong enough defensively to hold off the most technically gifted squad in the women’s game.

In a closely fought match in which both teams missed some ­gilt-edged opportunities, the sides were ­ultimately separated by two moments where the ball bounced extremely close to the line; one where it did cross the goalline and another where it did not.

Published: April 14, 2026, 8:16 pm

West Brom could be hit with points deduction and relegation after season has ended

• EFL in race against time to hear charges

• Club alleged to have breached P&S rules

West Brom could be given a points deduction that relegates them from the Championship after the season has finished as the club contest charges of breaching the English Football League’s profit and sustainability (P&S) rules.

With the Championship league season concluding on 2 May the EFL is running out of time to hear the charges against West Brom, which relate to an alleged breach of the £39m loss limit in the three-year period culminating in the 2024-25 season. EFL sanctioning guidelines state that any punishment for a P&S breach must be applied in the campaign after it took place, which in West Brom’s case means this season, but the rulebook does not give a definitive cutoff point so it is unclear when the season ends.

Published: April 14, 2026, 7:03 pm

Arteta insists Arsenal must prove to themselves they have title mentality

• ‘We have to show on the pitch that we have the mindset’

• Manager unsure when Saka will return from injury

Mikel Arteta has admitted that Arsenal must prove to themselves that they have the right mindset to win the Premier League title but revealed there are major doubts over when Bukayo Saka will return from an achilles injury.

The England forward will miss the second leg of Arsenal’s Champions League quarter-final against Sporting on Wednesday and looks set to still be sidelined for Sunday’s crucial Premier League showdown with Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium. Pep Guardiola said after City’s win over Chelsea last Sunday which cut Arsenal’s lead to six points that their recent resurgence is “about mindset, not tactics” as he attempts to win a seventh title in England.

Published: April 14, 2026, 9:45 pm

Championship: Southampton see off Blackburn and close gap to Ipswich

• Saints just three points off second after 3-0 home win

• Ipswich slip to 2-0 defeat at battling Portsmouth

Southampton have moved just three points off automatic promotion after a 3-0 victory over Blackburn, coupled with Ipswich’s 2-0 defeat at Portsmouth.

The hosts extended their unbeaten run to 18 games in all competitions with a comprehensive victory at St Mary’s, secured by first-half goals from Cyle Larin and Ryan Manning and a late strike from Cameron Archer.

Published: April 14, 2026, 9:52 pm

Iraola to leave Bournemouth at end of season with Premier League rivals on notice

• Manager’s future has been talking point for months

• Players told of exit after training on Tuesday afternoon

Andoni Iraola has informed Bournemouth he will leave the club when his contract expires at the end of the season. He is expected to consider his options this summer with ­several Premier League jobs potentially arising.

The 43-year-old’s departure could also open the door for the Basque to join his boyhood club Athletic Bilbao, but the former Borussia Dortmund head coach Edin Terzic is thought to be the frontrunner to succeed Ernesto Valverde.

Published: April 14, 2026, 1:03 pm

Luis García: ‘I didn’t expect football to give me that again. But there I was, crying’

Liverpool legend talks memories of Istanbul, learning magic and his adventures in Malaysia with Johor Darul Ta’zim

Luis García was “super cool”, he says. That, at least, was the plan, but things have a habit of working out differently. When the former Atlético Madrid, Barcelona and Liverpool player retired in 2016, it was the second time: he walked out of the game in 2014 and walked back in again six months later. But this time, he wasn’t going to be affected. All that suffering and satisfaction, the pressure, the emotion: that was no more.

“I was always very competitive and once I had left football, I thought I wasn’t going to have those feelings I had before,” he says. “I still enjoy football, still play seven-a-side with my friends – every Saturday at 10am, Los Jareños Club de Futbol – but I thought I had lost that and it wasn’t coming back. In fact, I was trying to avoid it; I didn’t want it. So when it happened, it surprised me. I didn’t expect football to give me that again. But there I was, crying.”

Published: April 14, 2026, 7:01 am

‘No longer viable’: Super Rugby team Moana Pasifika to be axed at end of season

• Franchise founded in 2020 confirms operations will cease

• Club cites ‘financial, operational, and strategic realities’

Moana Pasifika have confirmed the Super Rugby franchise will fold at the end of the season, citing “financial, operational, and strategic realities”.

“Despite the tireless dedication of players, staff, and supporters, it is no longer viable to continue the franchise at this level of competition,” the team said in a statement.

Published: April 15, 2026, 12:38 am

Arne Slot fears ‘really bad’ Ekitiké injury and laments missed Liverpool chances

• Liverpool out of Champions League after loss to PSG

• Ekitiké carried off with suspected achilles injury

Arne Slot once again lamented Liver­pool’s wastefulness in front of goal after they were knocked out of the Champions League by Paris Saint-Germain and suffered the added blow of losing Hugo Ekitiké to a potentially serious injury.

Liverpool produced a vastly improved second-leg display against the European champions but exited at the quarter-final stage after a 4-0 aggregate defeat. Ousmane Dembélé scored twice late on to extinguish Anfield’s hope of another European comeback.

Published: April 14, 2026, 10:59 pm

Atlético Madrid 1-2 Barcelona (agg 3-2): Champions League quarter-final, second leg – as it happened

Atlético Madrid held onto to reach the semi-finals against 10-man Barcelona on a pulsating night in the Spanish capital

I always feel sorry for the young mascots on Champions League nights. They are living the dream but having to dress like a credit card.

The teams are primed in the ‘tunnel’ which is more spacious than my house.

Published: April 14, 2026, 9:28 pm

Liverpool 0-2 PSG: Champions League quarter-final, second leg – as it happened

Ousmane Dembélé struck twice in the second half to complete an emphatic aggregate victory for PSG

When Warren Zaïre-Emery ran the show as a 17-year-old in a 3-0 win against Milan, Thierry Henry said “the sky is the limit” for the Paris Saint-Germain midfielder. His stratospheric rise led him too close to the sun, though, and the crash back down to Earth was a rude one. But he has since dusted himself off.

Liverpool Van Dijk, Mac Allister, Gravenberch, Jones.

Paris Saint-Germain Nuno Mendes, Kvaratskhelia.

Published: April 14, 2026, 9:20 pm

England 1-0 Spain: Women’s World Cup 2027 qualifying – as it happened

Lauren Hemp’s early goal, plus a lot of hard work and dogged defending, earned England a narrow win over Spain at Wembley

1 min: And we’re off! Spain get the game started.

Right then, nothing between us and football but a few seconds and a whistle.

Published: April 14, 2026, 8:18 pm

WNBA draft: Azzi Fudd goes No 1, UCLA smash record and Flau’jae Johnson traded – as it happened

• TCU’s Miles is No 2, Spain’s Fam No 3, UCLA’s Betts No 4

• Fudd is set for reunion with fellow No 1 pick Bueckers

• Sign up for WNBA 30: a limited run women’s basketball newsletter

Last year, No 1 overall pick Paige Bueckers got a $78,831 salary as a rookie. Tonight, the top pick will get a $500,000 salary.

That bump is thanks to the salary increases in the new collective bargaining agreement. The new CBA includes specific salary tiers for each of the top eight picks – for example, the No 2 pick will earn a base salary of $466,913. Second- and third-round picks who sign contracts with teams will earn the new league minimum of $270,000. That’s up from $69.3k for second-rounders and $66k for third-rounders last year.

Published: April 14, 2026, 1:42 am