Soccer: Fiorentina fan left to die amid fighting between rival groups

A Fiorentina fan died after being caught up in fighting between Sporting Lisbon and Benfica supporters, ahead of Saturday night’s derby between the two clubs in Portugal.

The 41-year-old Marco Ficini had travelled to Lisbon with a group of friends to support Sporting, which is twinned with Fiorentina.

According to Portuguese media reports, Ficini was hit by a car in the early hours of Saturday morning when trying to escape fighting between Sporting and Benfica supporters near the Benfica stadium.

Both sets of fans ran away before the police arrived, leaving Ficini in the middle of the road.

He died in the hospital from his injuries.

An investigation has been opened and police are looking at video surveillance tapes from the scene.

Sporting expressed its “most profound sorrow” in a statement, adding that it “is monitoring the inquiry being undertaken by the authorities, with the objective of identifying those responsible.” Injury ends Ibrahimovic’s season: Zlatan Ibrahimovic could have played his last game for Manchester United. The English Premier League club announced on Saturday that Ibrahimovic sustained “significant knee ligament damage” on Thursday in the Europa League quarter-final victory over Anderlecht.

United didn’t put a timeframe on the Swedish striker’s recovery.

The 35-year-old Ibrahimovic had been offered a new contract for next season that was yet to be accepted.

Defender Marcos Rojo is also facing a lengthy layoff with knee ligament damage.

United says “both players require specialist opinions over the coming days. Estimations of time to full recovery will only be possible once definitive treatment plans have been decided after these consultations.”

Lyon, PSG women win: Saki Kumagai scored a penalty inside two minutes to set titleholder Lyon, with Canadian Kadeisha Buchanan, on its way to beating Manchester City 3-1 in the first leg of their Women’s Champions League semifinal on Saturday.

Paris Saint-Germain, featuring Ashley Lawrence, another Canadian, also took a big step toward an all-French final after winning at Barcelona 3-1.

Kumagai’s spot kick resulted from a penalty against Carli Lloyd, the world player of the year who handled the ball.

The game pitted two Lloyd against compatriot Alex Morgan, with the Americans taking advantage of a gap in the U.S. schedule to secure shortterm moves to European clubs this season.

It is more likely to be Morgan heading to the final in Cardiff in June. “I’m not counting us out yet,” Lloyd said.