29/04/2026

SPORTS WEDNESDAY | APR 29, 2026

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SHORTS Gerrard offered return to management BRISTOL CITY are aiming to per suade Steven Gerrard to become their manager for next season, as he contemplates a return to man agement in England. The Liverpool great has also been linked to the job at rele gated Burnley, and is understood to be open to working in the Championship. Gerrard has been out of work since leaving Al Ettifaq in the Saudi Pro League in 2025. Bristol City are said to have laid out an enticing and attractive project as they attempt to con vince the 45-year-old to join. If Gerrard were to take the job at Ashton Gate, which he is understood to be open to, he would be succeeding his old England and Liverpool manager, Roy Hodgson, who is there tem porarily. Gerrard is said to be keen to get into management as soon as possible. It is similarly understood that many of his generation have taken note of the renewed respect for Frank Lampard after his work at Coventry City, and the way he dug in through the EFL. More of those profiles are now prepared to do the same, and both Bristol City and Burnley offer attractive jobs in different ways. Gerrard’s last job in England was with Aston Villa, whom he left in October 2022, having pre viously guided Rangers to the Scottish title. Spurs’ Simons heartbroken A “HEARTBROKEN” Xavi Simons is facing up to eight months on the sidelines after suffering a rup tured ACL at the weekend. The Dutchman was chasing a loose ball alongside Hugo Bueno during Saturday’s clash between Tottenham Hotspur and Wolves when he jarred his knee on the pitch. Simons immediately col lapsed to the ground, writhing in agony, as Spurs medical staff rushed over to attend to him before he was carried out of Molineux on a stretcher. The 23-year-old has now been told the full extent of his devas tating injury. Not only will Simons miss the remainder of the season with Spurs, but he will also be ruled out of this summer’s World Cup in North America in a crush ing blow. Taking to Instagram , the attacking midfielder posted a deeply emotional update for his followers. He wrote: “They say life can be cruel and today it feels that way. “My season has come to an abrupt end and I’m just trying to process it. Honestly, I’m heartbro ken. None of it makes sense. “All I’ve wanted to do is fight for my team and now the ability to do that has been snatched away from me... along with the World Cup. “Representing my country this summer... just gone. It’ll take time to find peace with this, but I’ll continue to be the best team mate I can be. I have no doubt that together we’ll win this fight.”

D ECLAN RICE has urged Arsenal to embrace the weight of history in their chase for a first Champions League crown ahead of tomorrow’s (3am Malaysian time) semifinal trip to Atletico Madrid. The Gunners travel to the Spanish capital for the first leg looking to move a step closer to only their second Champions League final appearance. Mikel Arteta’s side have been labelled English football’s nearly men after three successive runners up finishes in the Premier League. They have fallen short in Europe as well, losing 3 1 on aggregate to eventual winners Paris Saint Germain in the Champions League semi-finals last season and bowing out against Bayern Munich in the 2024 quarter-finals. Arsenal have never won Europe’s elite club com petition, with their lone final ending in defeat against Barcelona in 2006. The Premier League has become the London club’s holy grail after their painful streak of near misses in recent years. But lifting the Champions League for the first time would be an equally fitting riposte to those doubting the mental strength of Arteta’s men. Just seven games separate Arsenal from the club’s great est ever season. They sit three points clear of second-placed Manchester City in the Premier League title race,

‘Bring it on’ Rice bullish as Gunners aim for Champions League history

was hardly a convincing response to the cynics. But it did end a two-game losing run in the league and eased a little of the tension after four defeats in their previous six matches in all competi tions. Arsenal are sweating on the fitness of Eberechi Eze and Kai Havertz for the trip to Madrid after they limped off last weekend. Eze had taken his goal tally for the season to 10 with a sublime strike against Newcastle. The England midfielder has been a rare source of attacking inspiration in a side whose success has been build on a solid defensive foundations. And Rice is desperate for his international team mate to be fit to face Diego Simeone’s side. “That’s what he’s been brought here to do. I said a few weeks ago, his ball striking is unbelievable,” he said. “What a player, what a guy. He’s going to be mas sive for us these next few weeks. We really need him.” – AFP Opened in 2017, it obviously does not have the history of its predecessor – that will take time, and intense performances on nights like these, to build. “Congratulations Atletico – if you beat Arsenal, then the (anniversary) celebration will be perfect,“ wrote Madrid newspaper AS . The Rojiblancos ’ support are the loudest in Spain and Simeone called on them to give his team the edge against the Premier League leaders. “Atletico have struggled to reach the Champions League semifinals and finals,“ explained the coach. “We’ve built this success through hard work and the support of our fans. “We need them now more than ever, and hope fully, we can give them what they want on the pitch.” When the conditions are right, at the Metropolitano Atletico have proven they can dis mantle any side. They blitzed Barcelona 4-0 in the Copa del Rey semifinal first leg, a lead which proved unassailable, and romped to a 5-2 derby victory over Real Madrid there earlier this season. Those matches, along with many others, should have put to bed the myth that Simeone’s team play the same, dour, defensive football which was the bedrock of their success in the first half of his 14-year reign. What is non-negotiable though, now, then and always for Simeone, is his team’s intensity, work-rate and competitiveness, and capacity to suffer when they need to against superior opponents. “We’ve reached this point by competing the way we have – nothing has stopped us so far,“ said Simeone. Coraje y corazon – courage and heart – is the team’s motto and even when on the attack, Atletico look to cause damage with their power and speed. – AFP “The reality is he has to get scanned, assessed, hopefully he won’t be long but at this point I don’t know. Maybe he’s back next week, maybe not. I have no idea.” Salah is the third highest scorer in Liverpool’s history, with 257 goals in 440 appearances, and Van Dijk believes his achievements – including winning the Champions League in 2019, the Premier League twice and the PFA Player of the Year award three times – mean he will be celebrated, whether or not he is able to play for the club again. “He will get the send-off regardless,”he added.“I don’t think that is the thing at this point, we shouldn’t think too far ahead. Knowing Mo he is a quick healer with the right people around us and let’s see.” – The Independent

with four matches to play and five for Pep Guardiola’s men. Three games remain in the Champions League if Arsenal reach the final against PSG or Bayern in Budapest on May 30. Rice wants his teammates to prove their past experiences have made them battle-hardened for their pursuit of history. “We’ve played in tough games in the last three or four years at the highest level, so we know what to expect and what’s to come,“ the midfielder said. “That’s what it’s been all season, and that’s what we want it to be towards the end of the season. We’re Champions League semifinalists, let’s embrace it, enjoy it and bring it on.” After losing two high-stakes showdowns with City recently – a 2-0 League Cup final defeat and 2-1 loss in the Premier League – the jury remains out on Arsenal’s ability to get over the line when it matters most. A fraught 1-0 win over Newcastle on Saturday ATLETICO MADRID and Diego Simeone have regu larly tasted the sting of disappointment, even in what is the club’s golden age. They host Arsenal tomorrow in the Champions League semifinals chasing redemption after their crushing Copa del Rey final defeat little over a week ago. Tens of thousands of Atletico fans travelled down to Seville only to go home empty-handed, just as they did in the 2014 and 2016 Champions League finals against bitter rivals Real Madrid. Atletico have never won Europe’s pre mier competition, also beaten in their other final appearance in 1974. They can take a first step towards a fourth final against Mikel Arteta’s side this week, in which they are celebrating the club’s 123rd anniversary. In their first game back home after the Copa final disappointment, on Saturday against Athletic Bilbao, Atletico’s fans gave the team a cold reception. “The fans don’t need messages (from me), what they need is to win,“ noted Simeone, Atletico’s most decorated manager, in Seville. However by the end of the team’s 3-2 victory over Athletic, only their second in the last nine games across all competitions, the mood had lightened. “We have to get up from that blow and give eve rything to get to the final,“ key striker Julian Alvarez said yesterday. The Arsenal tie offers a route to immediate atone ment, and by tomorrow the atmosphere will be fren zied, intoxicating, as it was for the quarterfinal elimi nation of Barcelona. Atletico are no longer at the Vicente Calderon but the Metropolitano stadium is just as intense, louder still, with the increased capacity. “I hope so,” said the defender. “There will be a medical assessment and then that will determine what the issue is going to be. I know he is doing everything in his power to be back on the pitch as soon as possible.” Liverpool have four matches remaining, starting with Sunday’s trip to Old Trafford, with their other trip being to Aston Villa. They are at home to Chelsea on May 9 and Brentford on May 24, in what had shaped up as Salah’s final game for the club. “If you get injured at this stage of the season, especially in the situation he is in, there is only two more home games left for him it’s a combination of feelings that go through your mind when you go off,” Van Dijk said.

Simeone chasing redemption against Arsenal

Atleti coach Diego Simeone. – REUTERSPIC

Van Dijk hopeful Salah will be fit for Liverpool farewell

Ű BY RICHARD JOLLY

VIRGIL VAN DIJK believes Mohamed Salah will get a big send-off at Anfield even if his Liverpool career has already come to a premature end. But the Liverpool captain is convinced his departing teammate will to everything in his power to return before the end of the season and play for the club again. Salah came off in Saturday’s 3-1 win over Crystal Palace with a hamstring injury, with head coach Arne Slot unsure if he will be back before the end of the campaign. The 33-year-old will undergo a scan to see the extent of the damage and Van Dijk hopes he will be back.