14/04/2026

SPORTS TUESDAY | APR 14, 2026

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Inter flip the script

Villarreal add to Athletic misery HIGH-FLYING Villarreal defeated Athletic Bilbao 2 1 in La Liga yesterday, with the Basque side looking nervously over their shoulders towards the relegation battle after a poor run of form. Earlier, Real Oviedo climbed provisionally off the bottom of the La Liga table with a 3-0 win at Celta Vigo to give them hope they can avoid the drop. Athletic, who competed in the Champions League, have endured a difficult campaign and the final weeks of it will be spent ensuring they do not slump towards the relegation zone after third place Villarreal won at San Mames. Ernesto Valverde’s side have now suffered five defeats in their last six games across all competitions and are only six points above Elche in 18th. Villarreal are now nine points behind second placed Real Madrid, who drew 1-1 against Girona. On Sunday, champions Barcelona took a significant step towards retaining the Spanish title with a 4-1 derby win over Espanyol, moving nine points clear of Los Blancos . Real Oviedo secured their sixth win of the season to move within five Sinner’s masterclass sends early clay-season warning METICULOUS preparation was again at the heart of Jannik Sinner’s breakthrough Monte Carlo Masters triumph, as his win over Carlos Alcaraz in Sunday’s final took him back to the top of the world rankings and laid down a marker for the rest of the clay season. After completing the “Sunshine Double” of hardcourt titles at Indian Wells and Miami, Sinner was widely expected to skip Monte Carlo to recharge his batteries but the 24-year-old Italian was keen to build momentum. His 7-6(5), 6-3 victory over Alcaraz earned him his first big title on the sport’s slowest surface and made him the only player after Novak Djokovic in 2015 to claim the first three Masters titles of a season. “It’s not easy at all. I’m surprised in a very good way,” Sinner told reporters. While Sinner arrived early at Indian Wells last month to prepare his body for the heat of the Californian desert, his focus ahead of Monte Carlo was more tactical, centred on refining shot selection and adapting to each opponent. “Every day I wake up and I try to improve and get better as a player,” Sinner explained. “Here, we did it day by day trying to understand what the best style is against every opponent, because I haven’t played the same kind of tennis against everyone. “It means a lot to me and I’ll need a bit of time to realise what happened. It’s going to be good having some days off now away from the courts. “Everything was quite hectic, one tournament to the other, so we’ll see what’s coming next.” Sinner is expected to return to action in Madrid later this month or in Rome at the beginning of May. His coach, Simone Vagnozzi, said the Monte Carlo week provided clear evidence of the Italian’s progress on clay. “We’re really happy because after the first two matches he started to feel better, more drop shots, more variation with the height of the ball and with the serve,” Vagnozzi said. “We’re really impressed with his level.” The Monte Carlo title will give Sinner a psychological boost with the French Open just around the corner. The French Open main draw begins on May 24. – Reuters SHORTS

INTER MILAN put one hand on the Serie A title yesterday after coming back from two goals down to win 4-3 in a thrilling match at Como and move nine points clear of Napoli, who could only draw 1-1 at Parma. Trailing by two in the dying moments of the first half due to goals from Alex Valle and youthful virtuoso Nico Paz, Inter looked set to give champions Napoli hope their Scudetto defence might still be alive. But Marcus Thuram brilliantly poked home Nicolo Barella’s cross in stoppage time at the end of the opening half before the France for

that we’re capable of and played with desire and courage,” said Como coach Cesc Fabregas. “Yes we made mistakes. We’re a young team, and when you do, these teams will punish you. That’s the way it is.” Juventus have taken Como’s place in the top four of Italy’s top flight. Parma are level on 36 points with Genoa, who also took a step towards safety with a tumultuous 2-1 win over Sassuolo in the day’s early fixture. Genoa move nine points away from the relegation zone in 13th. – AFP

unassailable lead at the top of the table, while Como’s first defeat in two months left them outside the Champions League positions. Pressed by DAZN into declaring that the title was already sewn up, Inter midfielder Barella simply said “let’s wait a little while”, and Dumfries was equally evasive. “Today was a great win but every match counts and we have to stay focussed,” said Dumfries, who has missed a huge chunk of this season with injuries. “Today my team showed me

ward pounced on a mix-up between Como goalkeeper Jean Butez and defender Marc-Oliver Kempf to loop home the leveller moments after the break. Denzel Dumfries bulleted home Hakan Calhanoglu’s per fectly-delivered freekick in the 58th minute and then completed the turnaround at the Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia by coolly guiding home Manuel Akanji’s knockdown 14 minutes later. With six matches remaining in the season Inter now have a near

Clinical edge missing Rashford’s inefficiency leaves Barcelona chasing answers ahead of crucial tie M ARCUS RASHFORD had his chance against Atletico Madrid, but failed to take it – or any of the next five that came along on a frustrating European night. The England international has the line – as well as a potential World Cup spot in Thomas Tuchel’s England squad. The Spanish club have not yet but we can’t shy away from the responsibility to take these chances,” Rashford told CBS . “On another day, on another night, they go in.” On Saturday, Flick began with an area that could be improved. In the Champions League, Rashford has netted five times in 10 games and, if the pattern of the first leg is repeated, could be Barca’s main attacking threat again. Talented teenager Lamine

made a decision on whether to trigger the €30 million (RM139m) clause in Rashford’s loan deal to make his switch to Nou Camp per manent. With Raphinha out injured, Rashford has been the natural choice on Barca’s left flank. Rashford burst beyond Atletico fullback Nahuel Molina on numer ous occasions at Nou Camp but could not capitalise. “This team is always going to create

Rashford on the bench for Barcelona’s 4-1 thrashing of Espanyol in La Liga, likely to save the forward’s energy for the visit to Atletico’s Metropolitano stadium. Rashford came on after 65 min utes and netted the fourth in the last minute with a cushioned vol ley, which Flick hopes will raise his confidence levels. “I’m happy Marcus scored a goal today, it was very important for us,” said Flick. Rashford also scored against Atletico at the Metropolitano on April 4 in La Liga, with the second leg the third in a trilogy of clashes between the sides in under a fort night. The Englishman has six goals in 26 La Liga appearances, with his finishing

Yamal was double and triple marked, in the first leg, creating more room for Rashford to fly into. Rashford believes Barca can mount a comeback to reach the semifinals for a second season run ning. The attacker has 12 goals and 13 assists in 42 appearances, many as a substitute, but at cash-strapped Barca any such deal would repre sent a significant chunk of the summer budget. Signing Rashford might mean not being able to move for a much needed defensive reinforcement. Rashford’s job against Atletico is to make the question a no brainer, even on Barca’s tight budget for the sum mer. – AFP

another opportunity tomorrow (3am Malaysian time) to try and inspire Barcelona to a Champions League comeback in the Spanish capital. Rashford fired blanks as Barca suffered a 2-0 quarterfinal first leg defeat, but the England interna tional was also his team’s bright

est spark against the Rojiblancos , even though the killer finish eluded him. The 28-year-old, on loan from Manchester United, has a point to prove in the sec

chances, there’s so much quality in pos session … today the goal didn’t go i n ,

ond leg, particu larly with his future at the club on

Marcus Rashford during Barcelona’s loss in the Champions League quaterfinal first leg to Atletico Madrid at the Nou Camp on April 8. – REUTERSPIC

Lille ease back into third LILLE reclaimed third place in Ligue 1 with a comfortable 4-0 win away to 10-man Toulouse on Sunday. The victory sends Bruno Genesio’s side back above Marseille into the final Champions League qualification spot. Lille have 53 points, one more than Habib Beye’s Marseille in the battle for a direct spot in the league phase of the next edition of Europe’s premier club competition. Lyon, fifth, remained in contention for direct Champions League qualification with a 2-0 home win over mid-table Lorient yesterday. Nice drew 1-1 with Le Havre in a battle of two sides seeking to put more distance between themselves and the relegation playoff spot. Back to the drawing board for Mumbai MUMBAI INDIANS need a major rethink after suffering a third consecutive defeat in the Indian Premier League on Sunday, said captain Hardik Pandya. Mumbai lost to Royal Challengers Bengaluru by 18 runs at the Wankhede Stadium, leaving the five times champions eighth in the 10-team table with

points of safety at Celta. Defeat was a blow for Celta, sixth, who could not capitalise on fifth-placed Real Betis’s 1-1 draw at Osasuna earlier on. Mallorca moved out of the relegation zone with a 3-0 win over Rayo Vallecano, with target man Vedat Muriqi netting twice. Stuttgart hammer Hamburg in Bundesliga STUTTGART cruised to a 4-0 home win over Hamburg Sunday to climb above RB Leipzig into third place in the Bundesliga with five games remaining this season. German Cup holders Stuttgart are now ahead of Leipzig on goal difference with the top four sides guaranteed a Champions League spot. Stuttgart coach Sebastian Hoeness told DAZN his side upped their game after Leipzig and Bayer Leverkusen had both won on Saturday. Lucas Hoeler scored the only goal as Freiburg kept their European hopes alive with a hard-fought 1-0 win at Mainz. Werder Bremen edged closer to the Bundesliga drop zone after going down 3-1 at Cologne in an error-ridden performance that put them in 15th after 29 games.

just two points from four matches. Despite boasting several Twenty20 World Cup winning players – including Pandya, Suryakumar Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah and Tilak Varma – Mumbai have struggled to generate any momentum. “A lot of things need a rethink. But we have to see other options we can have, with the bat and the ball,” Pandya said after the match. “We need to still bat and bowl well. If you do that, irrespective of the toss (we should be fine).” Mumbai’s struggles have been most evident in the powerplay. Gujarat ease past Lucknow ENGLAND’S Jos Buttler struck his second successive half-century in the IPL to guide Gujarat Titans to a comfortable seven-wicket win over Lucknow Super Giants on Sunday. Buttler hit 60 off 37 balls and put on 84 runs for the second wicket with skipper Shubman Gill (56) as Gujarat chased down 165 with eight balls to spare at Lucknow’s Ekana Stadium. Buttler’s latest knock laced with 11 fours comes after his match-winning 52 in Gujarat’s previous match to overcome an extended slump which included a disappointing T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka.