Benzema keeps Madrid alive in CL despite loss against City
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND >> It was the coolest of penalties at the end of one of the wildest matches in Champions League history.
With his cheekily dispatched “Panenka,” Karim Benzema might just have kept Real Madrid's chances alive against Manchester City in the semifinals.
City won a breathless first-leg match 4-3 at Etihad Stadium on Tuesday but squandered so many chances in an end-to-end, basketball-style epic that it hardly felt like a victory for the English team.
“We could have killed them off,” said Phil Foden, one of City's four scorers in a game that had pretty much everything.
City built a two-goal lead three times but just couldn't shake off Madrid, the kings of the competition — as City manager Pep Guardiola calls them.
So it felt inevitable that when Aymeric Laporte gave away a penalty with 10 minutes remaining, Madrid wouldn't waste the opportunity to return to Santiago Bernabeu for next week's second leg with, somehow, only a one-goal deficit.
Just when many inside the Etihad were losing their heads, Benzema kept his, chipping the ball high and straight down the middle before wheeling away in front of Madrid's jubilant fans with his arms outstretched.
“The most important thing is we never lay down our arms,” Benzema said. “We are all in this until the end.”
NCAA athletics EMMERT STEPPING DOWN NO LATER THAN 2023 >>
NCAA President Mark Emmert is stepping down after 12 years on the job.
NCAA Board of Governors Chairman John DeGioia announced the move Tuesday and said it was by mutual agreement. Emmert will continue to serve in his role until a new president is selected and in place or until June 30, 2023.
“Throughout my tenure I've emphasized the need to focus on the experience and priorities of studentathletes,” Emmert said in a release from the NCAA. “I am extremely proud of the work of the association over the last 12 years and especially pleased with the hard work and dedication
of the national office staff here in Indianapolis.”
Emmert, a former university president, was appointed to the job in April 2010.
NBA
COUSINS FINED $15K FOR KICKING TOWELS INTO STANDS >> Nuggets center DeMarcus Cousins has been fined $15,000 for kicking towels into the stands during Game 4 of Denver's first-round playoff series against Golden State, the NBA announced.
The incident occurred when Cousins returned to the bench after getting called for a personal foul with 7:27 remaining in the second quarter of the Nuggets' 126-121 home victory on Sunday.
Cousins finished with 10 points. Denver avoided a sweep with the win. Game 5 is Wednesday night.
MLB
WHITE SOX OF JIMÉNEZ HAS SURGERY TO REPAIR TORN TENDON >>
The Chicago White Sox are sticking with a six-to-eight week timeline for Eloy Jiménez after the outfielder had surgery Monday morning to repair a torn hamstring tendon behind his right knee.
Jiménez got hurt during Saturday's 9-2 loss at Minnesota when he stretched for first base while running out a grounder to third. The 25-year-old slugger stumbled after the play and his right knee appeared to lock up.
Jiménez's injury is similar to the one that sidelined White Sox catcher Yasmani Grandal for almost two
months last season. Righthander Lance Lynn also is on the injured list with a similar issue after he was pulled from his final start of spring training with right knee discomfort. BRAVES POSTSEASON STAR ROSARIO OUT 8-12 WEEKS FOR EYE ISSUES >> The Atlanta Braves placed slumping outfielder Eddie Rosario on the 10-day injured list with blurred vision and swelling in his right eye and expect him to miss eight to 12 weeks.
A star of the 2021 postseason, when he was the MVP of the NL Championship Series and helped the Braves win their first World Series title in 26 years, Rosario was off to a miserable start with just three hits in his first 44 at-bats for an .068 average, with no homers or RBIs.
Tennis
WIMBLEDON DEFENDS `AGONIZING DECISION' TO BAN RUSSIANS >> Two All England Club officials defended during a news conference Tuesday the “intensely tough and agonizing decision” to bar players from Russia and Belarus from Wimbledon this year because of the invasion of Ukraine.
Citing the club's “responsibility to play our part in limiting the possibility of Wimbledon being used to justify the harm being done to others by the Russian regime,” Chief Executive Sally Bolton said, “we believe that this decision is the only viable option for Wimbledon.”
As much as Bolton and All England Chairman Ian
Hewitt touted Wimbledon's return to “normal” this year — a word they used repeatedly, mainly with regard to COVID-19, during a briefing about a tournament that begins June 27 — the questions and answers about the historic Russia policy dominated Tuesday's session with the media.
Among the prominent players affected by the ban announced last week are reigning U.S. Open champion Daniil Medvedev, who recently reached No. 1 in the rankings and is currently No. 2; No. 8 Andrey Rublev; No. 4 Aryna Sabalenka, a Wimbledon semifinalist last year; Victoria Azarenka, a former No. 1 who has won the Australian Open twice; and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, the French Open runner-up last year. Medvedev, Rublev and Pavlyuchenkova are from Russia; Sabalenka and Azarenka are from Belarus.
NADAL TO PLAY IN MADRID AFTER RECOVERING FROM RIB INJURY >> Rafael Nadal will play the Madrid Open after recovering from a rib injury that sidelined him for a month.
Nadal had been recovering from a stress fracture he sustained while playing at Indian Wells in March. His loss to American Taylor Fritz in the final of that tournament ended a run of 20 consecutive wins for Nadal, including a record 21st Grand Slam title when he won the Australian Open.
Nadal missed tournaments in Miami, Monte Carlo and Barcelona because of the injury.