Sport news in brief
Guardiola confident Man City will avoid European ban
Pep Guardiola is confident that Manchester City will escape punishment from Uefa when the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) returns its verdict on Monday.
City appealed their two-year ban from the Champions League for breaching Financial Fair Play regulations, with the CAS hearing taking place via video link last month. The Premier League club denied any wrongdoing when their punishment was announced in February and insisted that they will be exonerated by the appeal process.
Guardiola, meanwhile, has always said that he has complete trust in the City hierarchy after listening to their arguments and seeing the evidence for himself. “The intention is, every season, to play in the Champions League and do the best as possible. It’s not about what is going to happen on Monday,” he said on Friday.
“But on Monday, I’m so confident because I know, and hear, and saw, the arguments of the club that next season we will be there. But we have to wait and after I will give my opinion and the club will give a statement.”
Champions League quarter-final draw revealed
A Champions League quarter-final against Lyon or Juventus will await Man City in August in Guardiola’s side can finish the job against Real Madrid next month.
The Manchester club defeated a 10-man Real 2-1 at the Bernabeu in the last-16 first leg in February, and the tie will be completed on either 7 or 8 August at the Etihad Stadium. Lyon and Juventus must also complete their last-16 tie ahead of the quarter-finals, with the French club having won the first leg 1-0 at home.
Elsewhere in the quarter-finals, which take place 12-15 August, the winner of Napoli vs Barcelona will face the winner of Chelsea vs Bayern Munich. The first leg of the former fixture ended 1-1 in Italy, while Bayern cruised to a 3-0 victory over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
In the remaining quarter-final, Atalanta from Serie A take on French champions Paris Saint-Germain.
Europa League final-eight clashes lined up
The draw for the Europa league quarter-finals was also made on Friday, with Manchester United set for a last-eight showdown against Copenhagen or Istanbul Basaksehir, assuming Ole Gunnar Solksjaer’s men emerge from their last-16 second leg against LASK unscathed.
United won the first leg of the tie 5-0 before the coronavirus pandemic forced the rescheduling of the remainder of the tournament.
Elsewhere in the quarter-finals, Wolves will face Sevilla or Roma if Nuno Espirito Santo’s side can see off Olympiacos in their last-16 second leg. Wolves drew 1-1 at Olympiacos in the first leg and are on course to progress on away goals.
Rangers lost their round-of-16 first leg against Bayer Leverkusen 3-1, but if Steven Gerrard’s team can pull off a comeback they will meet Inter Milan or Getafe in the last eight, while the remaining quarter-final will be contested between the winners of Wolfsburg vs Shakhtar Donetsk and the victors from Eintracht Frankfurt vs Basel.
Broad ‘angry, frustrated and gutted’ to be dropped
On Friday, Stuart Broad was unable to hold back his disappointment at being dropped for the ongoing first Test between England and West Indies.
The 34-year old, with 485 wickets to his name, was left out of the XI at the Ageas Bowl as England opted for the extra pace on Mark Wood and Jofra Archer to supplement Broad’s long-term partner James Anderson. The West Indies made it to 57 for one at stumps on day two after England were bowled out for 204 following stand-in captain Ben Stokes’s decision to bat first, and Broad felt he could have had an impact.
“I’m not a particularly emotional person,” he said on Sky before the start of day three. “But I’ve found the last couple of days quite tough. To say I’m disappointed would be an understatement. You only get disappointed if you drop your phone and break your screen.
“I’ve been frustrated, angry, gutted – because it’s quite a hard decision to understand. I’ve probably bowled
the best I’ve ever bowled in the last couple of years.”
Formula One announces Mugello GP for September
Ferrari will celebrate its 1,000th grand prix at their home track in Mugello after Formula One extended this season’s calendar to 10 races.
The sport will head to the Ferrari-owned track – 25 miles away from Florence in Italy – for the first time, and a race at the Sochi Autodrom in Russia was also confirmed by the sport’s bosses on Friday. The Mugello race will be the third instalment of another triple-header, following grands prix in Spa and Monza, and is set to take place on 13 September.
The round in Russia has been penned in for 27 September. It is understood that fans could be permitted at both events.
F1’s owners Liberty Media remain hopeful of staging at least 15 races this year, and possibly as many as 18. A race in Portimao in the Algarve is also set to be rubber-stamped in the coming weeks.