Munich prosecutors reopen Jérôme Boateng assault probe
Munich authorities have reopened their investigation of assault allegations against Bayern Munich defender Jérôme Boateng after receiving new information from police investigating the death of his ex-girlfriend, prosecutors said on Thursday.
Munich prosecutors last summer shelved their investigation into an alleged 2019 assault by Boateng on his former girlfriend Kasia Lenhardt, after Lenhardt decided "not to provide any more incriminating statements." They also wanted to wait for the outcome of the football star's trial in a separate assault case.
Boateng's attorney has rejected the allegations in both cases. Lenhardt, a model, was found dead in a Berlin apartment on Feb. 9 and police have said they have found no evidence of outside involvement. Boateng returned to Germany from Bayern's participation at the Club World Cup in Qatar for personal reasons the following day.
Munich prosecutors told The Associated Press in an email that they reopened their investigation on Feb. 10, after "we received new information from the course of investigation into the death" of Lenhardt.
They would not comment further on the new information, saying the investigation is ongoing.
Meantime, the Munich district court trial of Boateng on allegations of assault against former partner Sherin Senler, the mother of their two children, has not been able to start due to coronavirus restrictions.
Boateng's legal representative filed a complaint against Munich prosecutors in June 2020 alleging an innocent person was being prosecuted, but the complaint was rejected by the state prosecutor's office on Aug. 18, 2020.
It was not clear when the trial would be able to begin.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored late to steer Arsenal into the last 16 of the Europa League with a 3-2 win over Benfica on Thursday.
Arsenal had to come from behind to advance 4-3 on aggregate, while Napoli was knocked out despite beating Granada 2-1 in the second leg. Granada advanced 3-2 on aggregate.
Aubameyang scored twice for Arsenal, including the decisive 87th-minute winner just as the Gunners were poised to go out on the away goals rule despite playing both games abroad due to coronavirus-related travel restrictions.
The teams played the second leg in Athens while the first leg ended 1-1 in Rome after Benfica's home game was relocated from Portugal.
Aubameyang opened the scoring in the 21st, finishing clinically after Bukayo Saka played him through.
Diogo Gonçalves equalized with a perfectly placed free kick inside the top left corner in the 43rd.
Aubameyang thought he'd scored again early in the second half but a VAR review confirmed he was just offside for Martin Ødegaard's through ball.
A mistake from Dani Ceballos gifted Benfica its second goal after an Arsenal corner in the 61st. Benfica goalkeeper Helton Leite produced a long kick out that Ceballos tried heading back to his own goalkeeper, but only inadvertently laid it off for Rafa Silva, who rounded Bernd Leno before finishing into the empty net.
It was just the Portuguese team's second effort on target on the night.
But left back Kieran Tierney replied with a strike inside the far post in the 67th after showing good composure to elude a Benfica defender, and Aubameyang completed the turnaround with a close-range header to the 19-year-old Saka's cross.
This time, the VAR check was in Arsenal's favor.
Ajax progressed with a 2-1 win over Lille (4-2 on aggregate), Rangers cruised through with a 5-2 win over Belgian team Antwerp (9-5), Shakhtar Donetsk beat Maccabi Tel Aviv 1-0 (3-0), Villarreal defeated Salzburg 21 (4-1), and Norwegian team Molde left it late to seal a 2-0 win (5-3) over Hoffenheim in Germany.
AC Milan scrape past Red Star
Franck Kessie’s penalty proved enough, but Milan only scraped past 10-man Red Star Belgrade on away goals thanks to a stunning Gianluigi Donnarumma save.
The first leg of this Europa League Round of 32 ended 2-2 in Belgrade, with the Serbians twice battling back to equalise, even after a red card. Milan Rodic was therefore suspended, with Aleksandar katai and Veljko Nikolic injured, while the Rossoneri missed Ismael Bennacer and Mario Mandzukic.
The deadlock was broken in contentious circumstances, because Rade Krunic had shinned his shot horribly and it went practically sideways, striking Marko Gobeljic on the arm. Nonetheless, VAR and the referee decided it was worthy of a penalty, converted coolly by Franck Kessie. He dedicated the goal to Willy Ta Bi, the Atalanta youth player who replaced him in Bergamo and died this week from cancer at 21.
Ben Nabouhane had the ball in the net on 19 minutes, but it was only after Pankov had handled in order to provide the assist.
It was all Red Star after that penalty, as Ben Nabouhane saw his free kick bounce off the crossbar with Gianluigi Donnarumma beaten, then he drilled in the deserved equaliser from a tricky angle with his left foot after running onto the Ivanic through ball.
There was a huge Borjan save on Diogo Dalot, sticking out a leg to parry when the ball was rolled across from the right to find the defender totally unmarked.