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Whilst Leeds United eased past Coventry City in a dominant 3-0 victory, their celebrations may be short-lived, with those at Elland Road now left hoping that a star man has avoided an ACL injury.

Leeds injury news

The Whites already entered their game against Coventry without the likes of Maximilian Wober and Manor Solomon in two frustrating blows for Daniel Farke, who could do without mounting injury struggles. However, in the face of those absences, it was still business as usual. Farke’s side swept Coventry to one side, courtesy of goals from Wilfried Gnonto, Jayden Bogle and Joel Piroe in an excellent display.

Having taken all three points, Leeds now sit fifth and just two points below West Bromwich Albion at the top of the Championship, who lost for the first time this season in a shock result against Sheffield Wednesday this weekend.

With just how tight things are at the top, Leeds could do with a full squad to choose from, but injuries to Solomon, Wober and now potentially another star man may leave Farke scrambling for options.

According to BBC Sport’s Adam Pope (as reported by The Leeds Press), Leeds are now sweating over concerns that Ethan Ampadu suffered an ACL injury against Coventry. The defensive midfielder was forced off at half-time, having initially attempted to run his injury off – perhaps only making matters worse by doing so.

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Farke revealed that the £40,000-a-week star will now be assessed, telling reporters: “Our most important player. We have to wait for the assessment.”

If Ampadu’s injury is long-term, then there’s no doubt that Leeds will face a major problem in pursuit of automatic promotion, with their Welshman a crucial part of Farke’s side, as reiterated by the manager himself.

"Important" Ampadu will be a big miss

A doubt for the Norwich City game on Tuesday at the very least, Ampadu’s absence will provide Farke’s side with a frustrating blow in every game that the midfielder misses, whether that’s just a handful of fixtures or for months to come.

The former Chelsea man has finally found his place in senior football, becoming Farke’s most important player in a Leeds side gunning for a return to the Premier League at the second time of asking.

Prior to coming off against Coventry, the club captain had played almost every minute of Championship football this season, starting from the off in every single fixture in all competitions so far this season. One of the first names on the teamsheet, Leeds must now ask the likes of Ao Tanaka to step up in place of the Welshman.

The summer arrival replaced Ampadu after his injury last time out, and he could be asked to do a similar job against Norwich and beyond. Replacing such an important player will be a near-impossible task, but if there’s any time for the Whites’ summer business to pay dividends, they’ll hope it’s in the next few weeks.

Cristiano Ronaldo cut a furious figure at the full-time whistle despite his Al-Nassr side securing a 3-1 win over Al-Fateh.

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Al-Nassr beat Al-Fateh 3-1Ronaldo scores & has goal disallowedPortuguese fuming at full timeFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

Ronaldo scored and had a goal disallowed in the victory on Sunday, with the 39-year-old livid that he was denied a second after being adjudged to have been offside. After clips of the Portugal international yelling down the camera lens circulated on social media, Piers Morgan embraced the veteran when the game was over – with the journalist claiming his friend was "robbed" of a legitimate goal.

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Ronaldo was greeted by Morgan after the match and was told it was "ridiculous" that he had been "robbed" – and Ronaldo agreed that it would have been a "beautiful" goal.

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The strike that did stand for Ronaldo brought up his 920th career goal and his 20th of the season for Al-Nassr. The result means they are third in the table, eight points behind joint leaders Al-Hilal and Al-Ittihad.

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Ronaldo is likely to feature again on Thursday when Al-Nassr travel to relegation-threatened Al-Raed in the Saudi Pro League.

With Iyer back, the Capitals should be able to unleash Nortje alongside Rabada once more

Sruthi Ravindranath21-Sep-2021 • Updated on 22-Sep-20211:15

Were Delhi Capitals right to stick with Pant as captain?

Big pictureThese two teams finished at opposite ends of the table during the first leg of IPL 2021. The Delhi Capitals had everything going their way in that period – Shikhar Dhawan and Prithvi Shaw ruled the powerplay, their bowlers shone through – as they climbed to the top of the table with six wins in eight matches. There’s only more good news for them coming into the second half: Shreyas Iyer, one of their best batters last season, has returned from injury. And he’s feeling “on top of the world”. They also have a guy who wants to be the best finisher in the world. All this means they have pretty much everything in place to secure their third consecutive playoffs spot.Related

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Meanwhile, it was not all good for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the India leg of this season. Their captain David Warner was replaced – and dropped – halfway through the first leg as a result of his waning form. They fielded 21 players in the first half of IPL 2021, and none of their quicks played all seven matches.While they had a few commendable individual bowling performances, their batting let them down on most occasions, and as a result, they could win just one out of their seven games. This time around, they also don’t have Jonny Bairstow, who was their highest run-scorer in the first leg.They will be hoping to find inspiration from their 2020 campaign in the UAE when they made the playoffs, but it doesn’t look that easy for now. A lot rests on Warner and their captain Kane Williamson to turn their campaign around.In the newsWatch IPL on ESPN+ (US only)

IPL 2021 is available in the US on ESPN+. You can subscribe to ESPN+ and tune in to Wednesday’s match here.

Sunrisers have been dealt a blow ahead of the match on Wednesday with pacer T Natarajan testing positive for Covid-19*. According to an IPL release, he has isolated himself from the rest of the squad and is currently asymptomatic. Allrounder Vijay Shankar, net bowler G Periyasamy and four other Sunrisers backroom staff, who have been identified as his close contacts, are also isolating, while the rest of the contingent has tested negative in the RT-PCR test conducted in the morning.Sunrisers have brought in Sherfane Rutherford as Bairstow’s replacement. The middle-order batter might not be a like-for-like replacement for Bairstow, but he comes into the IPL with enough T20 game-time and a decent form behind him. In 11 matches in the recently-concluded Caribbean Premier League, he scored 262 runs at a strike rate of 127.18, with three half-centuries, playing for the champions St Kitts & Nevis Patriots. It remains to be seen how he will fit into the Sunrisers’ team combination but they could use someone like him to bolster their middle order.Last week, the Capitals announced that Rishabh Pant will continue as captain for the rest of the 2021 season despite regular captain Iyer having returned from a shoulder injury. The Capitals have also roped in the Australian bowler Ben Dwarshuis as Chris Woakes’ replacement for the rest of the season, while left-arm pacer Kulwant Khejroliya has replaced M Siddharth.Likely XIsDelhi Capitals: 1 Prithvi Shaw, 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Shreyas Iyer, 4 Rishabh Pant (capt & wk), 5 Marcus Stoinis, 6 Shimron Hetmyer, 7 Axar Patel, 8 R Ashwin, 9 Kagiso Rabada, 10 Anrich Nortje, 11 Avesh KhanSunrisers Hyderabad: 1 David Warner, 2 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 3 Manish Pandey, 4 Kane Williamson (capt), 5 Kedar Jadhav, 6 Abdul Samad, 7 Jason Holder/ Mohammad Nabi, 8 Rashid Khan, 9 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 10 Shahbaz Nadeem, 11 Sandeep SharmaRishabh Pant’s IPL batting returns have fallen away over the last two seasons•BCCIStrategy punt With Bairstow absent, the Sunrisers will need to find an opening partner for David Warner. While Wriddhiman Saha has often filled in and done an excellent job, another option could be to use Manish Pandey there. While Pandey’s overall strike rate in the IPL since 2019 is a modest 127.92, he has enjoyed batting in the powerplay, where he’s scored his runs at 149.30 – the highest strike rate of all batters in the IPL to have batted at least 20 times in the powerplay since 2019. And he’s scored at that rate while only being dismissed twice in 215 balls. With Iyer returning to their line-up, the Capitals might be tempted to play the extra fast bowler in Anrich Nortje, who teamed up so well with Kagiso Rabada during their run to the final last season in the UAE. This would mean leaving out one of their overseas batters, most likely Steven Smith, who bats in Iyer’s usual position at No. 3, and who didn’t enjoy the greatest of runs during the first half of the season: 104 runs in six innings at a strike rate of 111.82. This would mean the Capitals retain their lower-middle-order hitting pair of Marcus Stoinis and Shimron Hetmyer, with the latter having enjoyed a tremendous run during the first half of the season, clattering 84 runs off just 41 balls while being dismissed only once in six innings.Stats that matter Until the end of the 2019 season, Rishabh Pant had a strike rate of 162.69 in the IPL. Since the start of the 2020 season, however, that figure has plummeted to 120.08, the second-lowest strike rate of all batters who have scored at least 300 runs in this period, behind Shubman Gill. Pant’s rate of hitting sixes – one every 35.6 balls – is the second-lowest among these batters, behind Virat Kohli. Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s economy rate for an IPL season had never crossed 8, until this season. During the first leg in India, he went at 9.10 per over, while only picking up three wickets in five games. With the T20 World Cup around the corner, he’ll hope he can turn his form around quickly. R Ashwin needs one wicket to become the third Indian bowler to bag 250 in T20 cricket, after Piyush Chawla and Amit Mishra, who both have 262 each.

West Bromwich Albion, after an electric start to Championship life this season, have stuttered in their last few matches in the competitive league.

Winless in their last three games now in the second tier, with zero goals scored in their last two hiccups in the division, it will be up to Carlos Corberan to get more out of his troops moving forward after the international break is over and done with.

He will want to get Josh Maja firing on all cylinders again, after the former Sunderland attacker had netted a ridiculous seven strikes in the league, before experiencing a goal drought in his team’s last two league encounters.

He would equally love to have this former Baggies sharp shooter back on the books to share out the goal load if he could, who the West Midlands outfit managed to sell on for a bumper amount in 2019.

Rodriguez's time at West Brom

Jay Rodriguez would join the Hawthorns ranks for an excessive fee too back in 2017, entering the building for a hefty £12m after starring at Southampton in patches.

Rodriguez’s breakout campaign for the Saints would see him bag a mightily impressive 15 Premier League strikes for the South Coast side from 33 league games during the 2013/14 season, before the Baggies would then swoop in for the 6 foot 1 forward’s services three years down the line after he had further matured at St. Mary’s.

He would go on to be a hit in his new location too, with 33 goals picked up from 90 appearances, as his second full season as a Baggie saw him take the Championship by storm.

During the 2018/19 campaign, Rodriguez would singlehandedly try to steer his side to promotion back up to the promised land of the top-flight by registering a sublime 22 strikes from 45 games, alongside the equally potent exploits of Dwight Gayle, only for West Brom to come up short in the playoff mix.

With West Brom agonisingly missing out, the West Midlands outfit must have known that Rodriguez was likely to move on and that they would be powerless to stop a top-flight team from snapping him up.

Burnley would eventually win back their former star in 2019, with the Baggies having to take a hit on the £12m they once splurged out on the towering attacker, as the Clarets sealed a deal worth £10m.

Now, however, that sad decision to offload him for less than his weighty £12m looks to have been the right call, as his value continues to tumble the more his playing days go on.

Rodriguez's value in 2024

According to Football Transfers, the experienced 35-year-old’s value now stands at a far lesser £839k, as his minutes dry up at Turf Moor under the early regime of Scott Parker.

Rodriguez has only started two clashes this season so far for his promotion-chasing side in the league, with zero goals and zero assists also coming his way from his limited minutes on the pitch.

Season

Games played

Goals scored

24/25

6

0

23/24

21

2

22/23

28

10

21/22

29

2

20/21

31

1

19/20

36

8

Sourced by Transfermarkt

Whilst he did start off his time back with the Clarets on a promising footing, with eight goals bagged from 36 games during the 2019/20 season, it’s clear that Rodriguez has lost his way over the last two campaigns, as he begins to fade into the background now under Parker.

Therefore, the Baggies won’t feel too displeased with themselves that they managed to get £10m out of their former star when they did, as the likes of Tom Fellows and Maja attempt to strike fear back into Championship defences moving forward after their recent blip, away from any mention of their ex-number 19.

Once labelled as being an “exceptional” talent by ex-Baggies manager Tony Pulis when discussing his rise up the ranks at Southampton in 2017, the 35-year-old’s playing days do look like they could be up soon, as his current side and his former outfit battle it out to win promotion up to the top-flight.

West Brom must have regret over Pulis signing who's now worth £33m

Nobody at West Bromwich Albion would have seen this star’s rise coming.

ByKelan Sarson Oct 4, 2024

Ben Sawyer, a long-time mentor of the allrounder, sees her bowling coming along nicely

AAP18-Oct-2021Sydney Sixers coach Ben Sawyer has launched a defence of star allrounder Ellyse Perry, claiming the spotlight on her form and drop down the order is over the top.Perry has moved from opening to No. 4 for the Sixers’ winning start to the WBBL, accommodating the arrival of India’s Shafali Verma. It comes after an international series against India where Perry scored a half-century but averaged 106.50 with the ball across all formats.That prompted debate over Perry’s form, and whether she even remained in the top-10 most valuable players in the WBBL. But Sawyer said he was mystified by the criticism, particularly after Perry helped the Sixers to a win over Hobart on Sunday.Related

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“A whole lot has been said that I think has been a little bit over the top,” Sawyer said. “It was her decision to move down the order when we’d spoken a lot about that we hadn’t finished off games particularly well.”It was pretty weird, I saw something after the game yesterday that she’s not considered the top 10 cricketers in the WBBL anymore. I’d have her in the top 10, I think most teams would.”Sawyer is Perry’s long-time mentor, as her Sixers coach and fast-bowling coach. And he is adamant bowling will remain a part of her game for the rest of the 30-year-old’s career.Ellyse Perry has moved down the order this season•Getty ImagesPerry was on limited bowling duties for the Sixers last summer on return from her severe hamstring tear, and has games without bowling for Australia in the past nine months. But Australia’s leading all-time wicket-taker and fifth highest run-scorer across all formats remains in the top 10 of both the ICC’s one-day and T20 allrounder rankings.She is also playing a key early-innings role for the Sixers in the WBBL, while trying to improve on middle and death-overs bowling for Australia.”People forget that it takes a bit of time as a bit of a senior cricketer to get out of quarantine for 14 days and to get back into it,” Sawyer said. “The more she bowled, the better she got. Yesterday [against Hobart] was another example of that, with 2 for 9.”But once again as a really good leader we spoke about the fact that pace off was going to be really important. She didn’t just bring herself on to bowl when she probably could have answered a lot of critics yesterday and continued on. She chose what was best for the side.”Meanwhile crowds will be able to return for Tuesday’s WBBL double-header featuring Melbourne Stars, Hobart, Brisbane and Perth, with Hobart’s lockdown ending on Monday night.

Barcelona's second-choice striker sent a timely reminder to Hansi Flick as they romped past Valencia to reach the last four of the Copa del Rey

Ferran Torres returned to haunt his old club with a first-half hat-trick as Barcelona thumped Valencia 5-0 in the Copa del Rey quarter-finals.

The forward, who was at Los Che between 2006-20, gave Barca the perfect start when he swept home Alejandro Balde's brilliant pass into the box in the third minute.

The ex-Manchester City ace – who came in for top scorer Robert Lewandowski – made it 2-0 in the 17th minute when he fired past Stole Dimitrievski, with the goal eventually allowed to stand following a VAR review.

Fermin Lopez got in on the act six minutes later when he raced onto Pedri's sumptuous floated pass, took it around the goalkeeper in consummate style, and knocked the ball into an empty net. Torres then bagged his third when he found the corner after a lovely lay-off from captain Raphinha on the half-hour mark.

Umar Sadiq looked to have pulled a goal back just after the interval, only to be denied by the offside flag. Their bad luck continued when the Nigerian won his team a penalty, before that was pulled back for another offside.

Yamal was inches away from grabbing a brilliant individual goal but his curling effort cannoned off the wrong side of the post. The 17-year-old did, however, get on the scoresheet when his deflected effort squirmed past Dimitrievski in the 59th minute.

The 'ole-ing' away support wanted a repeat of the Blaugrana's 7-1 win over Valencia in La Liga last month but in the end they had to settle for a 5-0 victory on Thursday night.

GOAL rates Barcelona's players from Mestalla…

AFPGoalkeeper & Defence

Wojciech Szczesny (7/10):

The Pole did not have a great deal to do but made some good early saves when the scoreline was more respectable. Plus, he commanded his area well.

Jules Kounde (7/10):

Didn't get that many chances to bomb forward but went about his work competently enough.

Eric Garcia (7/10):

One of the easiest nights he will have in his footballing career but when called upon he was solid.

Pau Cubarsi (8/10):

Made an important sliding challenge to block Fran Perez's shot when in a dangerous area. Was given an early rest as he didn't return for the second half.

Alejandro Balde (8/10):

Pulled off a delightful assist for Barca's opener and was a handful throughout. Also made way at the break to save his legs.

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Frenkie de Jong (7/10):

Went about his work quietly and efficiently and may challenge Marc Casado for a starting spot soon.

Pedri (9/10):

Barca's midfield conductor beautifully orchestrated the feel and tempo of the game and popped up with some wonderful passes into the final third.

Fermin Lopez (8/10):

The attacking midfielder proved too hot to handle for Valencia and he took his goal in expert fashion. Can't do much wrong at present.

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Lamine Yamal (8/10):

Showed off some of his outrageous box of tricks but his goal was rather on the timid side. Still, he is so good to watch.

Ferran Torres (10/10):

The Spain international's clinical display will have reminded Flick that Barca have two top-class forwards at their disposal.

Raphinha (8/10):

The skipper bagged two assists in a hard-working and enterprising performance.

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Inigo Martinez (7/10):

Picked up where Cubarsi left off with an assured display at the back.

Gerard Martin (6/10):

Had a couple of struggles with Sadiq and gave the ball away once or twice.

Dani Olmo (7/10):

Was neat and tidy on the ball and looked lively in attack.

Marc Casado (7/10):

Worked hard and got stuck in during his cameo.

Hector Fort (N/A):

Didn't have much time to make an impact.

Hansi Flick (8/10):

Made a few changes, most notably Torres coming in, and they worked like a charm. His team were in ruthless form in the first 30 minutes and that put the tie to bed. Rested some heavy-hitters and gave some players an extra bit of rest with early substitutions.

In pursuit of Premier League leaders Liverpool, Manchester City have been handed the boost of a returning star who was sidelined for the last seven games before the international break.

Man City injury news

Of course, it’s impossible to discuss Manchester City’s injury news without mentioning the continued absence of Rodri. The Spaniard is set to miss the entirety of the current campaign after suffering an ACL injury in a dramatic 2-2 draw against title rivals Arsenal. Arguably without their most important player, the Cityzens must push on in the hope of winning a fifth-straight Premier League title.

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It’s not exactly been smooth sailing without their midfielder, however. Gone are the composed, dominant champions that English football has grown all too used to. Arrived, for now, is a Manchester City side who have a glaring weakness without Rodri and one that Newcastle United stole a point from and Fulham nearly took all the way at The Etihad.

In need of some defensive assurance after the international break to return to their ruthless best, Pep Guardiola and Manchester City have been handed a much-needed boost on the injury front.

As reported by Sky Sports’ Ben Ransom, Nathan Ake is now back in Manchester City training and in line to return to the squad against Wolverhampton Wanderers this weekend after missing the last seven games through injury. Guardiola confirmed the news, but revealed that both the defender and Kevin de Bruyne will not be ready to start from the off as early as this Sunday.

Sidelined since suffering a knock in September’s international break with the Netherlands, Ake has missed games against Inter Milan in the Champions as well as Arsenal, Newcastle United and Fulham in the Premier League.

"Fundamental" Ake can prove importance again

Amid Manchester City’s depth of talent – from John Stones and Manuel Akanji to Ruben Dias – it can be easy to forget the important role that Ake has played under Guardiola in recent years. His versatility to fill in at both centre-back and left-back has proved to be key on more than one occasion and will continue to be just that as the current campaign goes on.

Guardiola is well aware of that too, having previously praised the £160,000-a-week Dutch international. The Manchester City boss told Sky Sports via Manchester Evening News back in 2023: “It has been fundamental for us. Earlier this season, when you play against Saka or Vinicius – this type of winger – or Martinelli, Salah, Mane in the past, you need a proper, proper, proper defender to win duels one-against-one. Otherwise, in this competition or the Champions League – those levels, they need one action to beat you.

“And Nathan gave us that boost that we didn’t have in the past. I think the biggest step this year, in the back four, was the real, real, proper defenders – who win their duels and in the box, win their duels. In the past, we didn’t have it and Nathan, like Manuel Akanji and Kyle Walker, he can do it and everyone took a step forward in that sense.”

Ipswich Town welcome Leicester City to Portman Road this weekend in what is a huge fixture for Kieran McKenna’s side. The Tractor Boys are still without a win in nine Premier League games and currently 18th in the table, just three points ahead of bottom club Southampton.

Leicester, meanwhile, though they endured a slow start to the campaign, have picked up in recent weeks. The Foxes have won two of their last three Premier League games, beating both Bournemouth and Southampton – the type of wins against teams around you that can get you out of trouble.

Speaking to BBC Radio Suffolk’s Final Whistle earlier this week, former Ipswich defender Mick Mills said he believes McKenna’s side “need to win” against Leicester, who, like Ipswich, were in the Championship last year.

“I would put Leicester as one of the possible ones we could maybe finish above. If we get it right and get the win we need, we move within two points of Leicester – that’s touching distance, and where we have to be,” he said.

“There’s eight or nine teams now that won’t be in the relegation fight – they’re in a different world But there are teams that are going to be down there, and Leicester are one of them – that is why that is important.”

Ipswich given big boost in early team news before Leicester clash

Fortunately for McKenna, the Northern Irishman could see a number of his injured stars return this weekend for the game against Leicester. According to 3 Added Minutes, all of Omari Hutchinson, Sam Morsy, Ben Johnson, and Jacob Greaves could all return after spells on the sidelines.

Greaves and Johnson haven’t featured in either of Ipswich’s last two games against Everton and Brentford, while both Morsy and Hutchinson missed the game against the Bees – Morsy with a muscle injury and Hutchinson with illness.

Speaking about Johnson last week, McKenna said: “Ben is still out with a small thigh injury. There was a possibility he could have made it for this weekend, but he’s not been able to. We’ll have to see how he is next week.”

Tuanzebe still out with bizarre injury

One man McKenna will still have to make do without against Leicester, however, is Axel Tuanzebe. The 26-year-old defender, who formerly played for Manchester United and earns £40,000-per-week at Portman Road, is currently sidelined with a cut to his hand, which he sustained from breaking a glass while washing up.

He is not expected to return until at least the end of November. Speaking about Tuanzebe’s injury earlier this month, McKenna said: “It’s a household accident, very, very unfortunate and very, very serious. He was very close to losing his thumb. He’s had surgery to repair the tendons in the thumb that was damaged, I think the recovery is going pretty well, but it’s a long-term injury.”

Prior to his injury, the DR Congo international had been a key player for Ipswich this term, starting all six of the club’s first six Premier League games.

Jude Bellingham was humiliated by Thibaut Courtois with a nutmeg in training ahead of Real Madrid's Champions League clash with Manchester City.

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Bellingham back in England for UCL dutyMidfielder nutmegged by CourtoisWas left red-faced in Real training at EtihadFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

Twenty-four hours before a titanic showdown between the reigning English champions and the current Champions League holders, Carlo Ancelotti's troops stepped onto the Etihad Stadium pitch to fine-tune their tactics. Despite the magnitude of the first leg round of 16 play-off encounter, it looked like a regular day at the office for Los Blancos. The players were involved in a fun rondo and during the drill, Courtois nutmegged Bellingham, which the rest of the Real squad in stitches.

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Courtois faces a daunting 90 minutes in Manchester. Real Madrid will be putting up a makeshift rearguard in the absence of a regular centre-back and a right-back. With Antonio Rudiger, Eder Militao, David Alaba, Dani Carvajal, and Lucas Vazquez all injured, Ancelotti might deploy Fede Valverde at right-back, with Aurelien Tchouameni and Raul Asencio as the two centre-backs.

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With Madrid and City meeting regularly in the Champions League in recent seasons, Ancelotti believes their encounters have become a modern-day version of El Clasico. However, given their dismal Clasico record this season against Barcelona, the Italian manager will hope those ghosts remain buried in Spain while they look to bring an advantage to the Santiago Bernabeu ahead of the decisive second leg next Wednesday.

Match-winner praises Neesham for playing ‘a hell of a knock’

Deivarayan Muthu10-Nov-20211:42

Daryl Mitchell – ‘It never felt like it was out of our grasp’

New Zealand never felt that the target of 167 was beyond their reach, despite losing early wickets and falling behind the asking rate, in their semi-final against England in Abu Dhabi. So said finisher-turned-opener Daryl Mitchell after his unbeaten 72 off 47 balls dragged New Zealand into their first-ever T20 World Cup final.He put on 40 for the fifth wicket with Jimmy Neesham in a mere 17 balls after his side had slipped to 107 for 4 at the start of the 16th over.”No, it probably sounds weird, but it never felt like it was out of our grasp,” Mitchell said at the post-match press conference. “I think especially with that smaller side boundary on one side, we knew that there were going to be match-ups there that might suit us towards the end, and look, we were obviously very lucky at times; a couple sailed over the ropes that could have been a metre shorter and we’re all out.Watch cricket live on ESPN+

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“But at the same time, we always knew that as long as we kept just within the certain numbers that we felt comfortable with that we were always a chance. I thought the way that Neesh [Neesham] came out and really dominated that one over really set the momentum heading into those last few, so yeah, take my cap off to him. He played a hell of a knock.”Mitchell’s rickety start mirrored New Zealand’s: he was on 12 off 10 balls after the powerplay and then 28 off 28 in the 13th over. Mitchell struggled against the swing and seam of Chris Woakes, but he somehow rode out that incisive new-ball spell and picked off the seamer for 6,6,4 to seal New Zealand’s victory, with an over to spare.”Yeah, I think the new ball is very challenging on that surface,” Mitchell said. “It was pretty two-paced to start off with, and as you could probably see, it was tough to get going at times.”I thought the way that all the batters that came in sort of hung in there and helped build a platform to try and allow us to launch at the end, and we were very lucky that a few just snuck over the rope and got us going… it’s a bit of a blur, but I can imagine it was a hell of a game to watch, and I think the way England played was very special as well. It’s obviously pretty cool to get the job done, but I know it’s a game of inches, that’s for sure.”Daryl Mitchell swings towards midwicket•ICC via GettyMitchell’s parents had flown into Abu Dhabi ahead of the semi-final to support him at his first World Cup. Mitchell’s father, John, is a prominent sporting figure in New Zealand; he is a former All Blacks player and coach. Mitchell had last met his father after exiting the World Test Championship bubble in the UK, where John was then part of the England rugby team as their defence coach.”It was cool to have dad there,” Mitchell said. “Obviously flying over from England, with what’s going on in the world at the moment with Covid, yeah, it makes it challenging at times, but it was cool to have him in the crowd. Obviously with the bubble life I can’t catch up with him, but I’m sure I’ll have a chat to him on the phone tonight and he’ll be pretty chuffed.”Mitchell is sort of a late bloomer, having made his domestic debut for Northern Districts in domestic cricket in 2011. It was only in 2020-21 that he had a bumper season after moving to Canterbury – a run that culminated in a first New Zealand central contract and a first call-up to New Zealand’s World Cup squad. Mitchell also had a stint with Middlesex in the most recent T20 Blast, scoring 209 runs in eight innings at a strike rate of 144.13 in addition to picking up eight wickets.Related

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“I guess I actually consider myself very lucky to have played for New Zealand,” Mitchell said. “I think I debuted at 27, so to be able to get seven, eight years of domestic cricket under my belt before representing New Zealand, I think I actually consider myself very lucky.”I learned my game a little bit and [to] go through the highs and lows of domestic cricket so that once you get on to the international stage you understand what works for you both as a cricketer and as a person, you can just go about doing your business. I’m just enjoying being able to represent my country, play for New Zealand and share a changing room with all my teammates. It’s pretty cool. I’m having a blast and just trying to make the most of it.”New Zealand are just one step away from winning two world titles in the same year, but they aren’t getting ahead of themselves.”Look, we’re a bunch of Kiwis,” Mitchell said. “There’s only five million of us, so we’re obviously very proud to be representing our country. Obviously we’ve had some success in the last few years. But we’re going to enjoy the win tonight, make sure that obviously we celebrate that, but then we move on pretty quickly.”We know that we have a final on Sunday, and whoever we’re taking on should be good fun. We’ll give it everything we’ve got, but at the end of the day there’s certain things you can’t control, so we’ll see what happens.”