Sporting Lisbon a surprise in Champions’ final 16

The parade of European powers advancing to the Champions League knockout stage Wednesday was disrupted by Sporting Lisbon completing a stunning turnaround to join them.

Manchester City and Real Madrid are back in the round of 16 after beating teams they lost to in September. Paris SaintGermain also goes through despite its 2-1 loss at City after leading through Kylian

Mbappe’s goal early in the second half.

Madrid’s win meant that for the 25th straight time the Spanish powerhouse will be playing in the knockout rounds.

Madrid’s 3-0 win at Sheriff — avenging a 2-1 home defeat to the champion of Moldova two months ago — ensured Inter Milan also advanced from Group D by beating Shakhtar Donetsk 2-0.

Three-time European champion Inter returns to the round of 16 after a 10-year absence, though Sporting ended a 13-year wait by beating Borussia Dortmund 3-1.

Sporting seemed overmatched in September when routed at home by Ajax then beaten in Dortmund, but three straight wins have proved enough for the surprise Portuguese title-winner to advance with a game to spare.

Ajax and Liverpool extended their dominating group-stage campaigns with fifth straight wins. Thiago Alcantara’s long-range strike and Mohamed Salah’s latest individual goal maintained Liverpool’s perfect record in its group with a 2-0 win over Porto. Liverpool was already assured of advancing to the last 16.

ETC.

Figure skating: Twotime U.S. figure skating champion Alysa Liu is making a coaching change less than three months before the Winter Olympics. The 2019 and 2020 U.S. champ will begin training in Colorado Springs with Christy Krall, Drew Meekins and Viktor Pfeifer. She previously trained in Oakland, California, under Massimo Scali and Jeremy Abbott.

The women’s squad for the February Games in Beijing will be selected in early January at the national championships in Nashville, Tennessee. Liu is a favorite to make the team. Liu, 16, is the 2020 world junior bronze medalist and finished second at the junior Grand Prix Final in 2019. Earlier this season, Liu won the Nebelhorn Trophy — to secure the United States a third berth in Beijing.

MLB: Wander Franco made it to the majors last season as a 20-yearold and quickly showed the talent to be a star for a long time. The Tampa Bay Rays were impressed enough to invest — at a record-breaking amount—– in his future, and are close to finalizing a 10-plus year deal that will guarantee him close to $200 million. If consummated, the final deal will be the largest in Rays history, and for a player with less than one year of service time in the majors. … Former Mets left-hander Steven Matz signed a four-year, $44 million deal with the Cardinals.