Neymar fumes after French Cup final ban

LISBON — Cristiano Ronaldo (pictured left) will not return to his boyhood club Sporting in the summer, his agent Jorge Mendes said after the Juventus forward’s mother Dolores Aveiro insisted she would try to bring him back to the Portuguese club.

Ronaldo (36), has one year remaining on his contract at Juventus but has been linked with a departure this summer to Sporting, the club where he began his senior career.

After Sporting clinched the Portuguese title for the first time since 2002 on Tuesday, Ronaldo’s mother Aveiro said

“next year he (Ronaldo) will play in Alvalade (Sporting’s stadium).”

“Cristiano is very proud of Sporting winning the championship, as he has demonstrated publicly,” Mendes told Portuguese newspaper Record.

“But at the moment, his career plans do not go through Portugal.”

Ronaldo leads the way in the Serie A goalscoring charts this term with 28 goals, but his club Juventus have had a difficult season and could miss out on the Champions League next season.—

PARIS — Neymar will likely not play for Paris Saint-Germain in next week’s French Cup final against AS Monaco due to a booking in Wednesday’s semi-final.

The Brazilian star fumed online after being suspended, describing the situation as “a mess”.

“I would like to understand the reasoning of the guy who takes care of bookings in France! That deserves an applause. What a mess,” Neymar posted in an story.

Neymar was shown a yellow card not long after coming on as a late substitute in the semifinals in Montpellier, triggering a one-game ban that stems back to a sending off in a Ligue 1 match against Lille last month.

PSG could still appeal the ban, which, if successful, could still see him play against Monaco in the final at the Stade de France, which will be played behind closed doors.

Neymar scored in a shootout as PSG beat Montpellier 6-5 on penalties on Wednesday following a 2-2 draw in regular time.

The former Barcelona superstar, who last week signed a contract extension to keep him in Paris until 2025, scored the only goal when PSG beat SaintEtienne in last season's final.

PSG are also without the injured Marco Verratti and suspended Presnel Kimpembe for the final.

Mauricio Pochettino's side host Reims in Ligue 1 on Sunday and need a win with first-place Lille looking to end PSG's dominance of France's top flight.