08/05/2026

SPORTS FRIDAY | MAY 8, 2026

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Roma’s Champions League return back on track

ROMA have a return to the Champions League firmly within their sights ahead of Sunday’s trip to Parma as both Juventus and AC Milan’s hope’s of finishing in Serie A’s top four are threatened by the resurgent capital club. A hammering by new champions Inter Milan a month ago seemed to signal the end of Roma’s hopes of ending a long absence from Europe’s top club competition. But 10 points from their subsequent four matches have taken Roma to within one point of fourth-placed Juventus, with Milan only two fur ther points ahead in third. “We’re going well, but we know that we cannot make any mistakes if we’re going to have any chance of making the Champions League,” coach Gian Piero Gasperini said after last weekend’s

league title race but Milan have scored just once in five matches and are now looking over their shoul ders at Roma, with Como also only three points off the top four. Making things worse for Milan, who have Atalanta at the San Siro on Monday, is midfield lynchpin Luka Modric missing the rest of the sea son with a cheekbone fracture, and his absence was keenly felt at Sassuolo last weekend. Parma have nothing to play for and Roma’s final opponents Verona are already relegated, but sand wiched between those two fixtures is the Rome derby, with Lazio always keen to give their neigh bours a bloody nose. – AFP

faith in Gasperini, who is liked by fans even after his row with local boy and lifelong Roma fan Ranieri, in the hope he can break the club back into the Champions League. Roma haven’t played in Europe’s top club com petition since being knocked out by Porto in the last 16 seven years ago but their prospects of doing so are looking up with three matches remaining this season. Also playing into Roma’s hands is how Milan’s form has fallen off a cliff, Massimiliano Allegri’s team picking up just seven points since beating Inter two months ago. That derby win looked to have reopened the

thumping of Fiorentina. “We’ve got three matches that we have to get right and hope that others don’t.” Roma have found form at just the right time, and Gasperini has solidified his position at the helm after a battle with Claudio Ranieri seemed to have put his job at risk. Ranieri was dismissed from his role as senior advisor to Roma’s billionaire American owners a fortnight ago, after a spat between him and Gasperini boiled over in public just before the 3-0 thumping of Pisa which began this recent hot run of form. The Friedkin family has decided to put their

‘Bayern lacked killer instinct’ Kane’s stoppage time equaliser too late to save German giant

SHORTS Toronto get tough on resale of WC tickets

TICKETS to World Cup matches in Toronto can now only be resold for their original price on Fifa’s official mar ketplace, with football’s world govern ing body updating its policy yesterday to comply with the Ontario govern ment’s recent ban on reselling event tickets above face value. The new terms come one week after tickets for six matches at Toronto Stadium were removed from the offi cial marketplace in response to the Canadian province passing its 2026 budget bill. Ontario’s “Putting Fans First Act” states no person can make a ticket available for sale on the secondary market or facilitate the sale of a ticket on the secondary market for an amount that exceeds the ticket’s origi nal price. Under Fifa’s updated terms, a ticket for a match at Toronto Stadium cannot be listed on its platform for a resale price higher than the original amount paid to Fifa Ticketing, even if that ticket was previously purchased on the mar ketplace above face value. Tickets for matches at any of the other 15 venues can be listed above face value on the official resale and exchange marketplace, which Fifa says is designed to protect fans and is sub ject to federal and local regulations. Melbourne viewing party ban lifted AUSTRALIAN authorities yesterday reversed a ban on public watch parties in Melbourne’s Federation Square for the 2026 football World Cup after the decision sparked an outcry. The Melbourne Arts Precinct, which manages the square, had said it would stop hosting the big-screen events because of the risk posed by unruly fans, who have used flares in the past. Jacinta Allan, premier of the state of Victoria, intervened to reverse the ban, which had been condemned by the country’s football chiefs. “I disagree with the decision – and I am overturning it,” Allan said in a state ment. “There’s always a risk of bad behaviour from a few d***heads at every public gathering, but police and security will be on site and there’ll be zero tolerance for it,” she said. “The World Cup should bring us together, not keep us apart.” Football Australia had condemned the ban, saying it would rob fans of the chance to follow their team together. Melbourne Arts Precinct director Katrina Sedgwick said she “welcomed” the state’s decision to help provide a safe site for watching the World Cup in Federation Square. “We look forward to seeing the Socceroos back on the world stage, and on the Big Screen next month,” she said in a statement.

B AYERN MUNICH captain Manuel Neuer bemoaned his side’s lack of killer instinct in yesterday’s Champions League semifinal elimination at the hands of holders Paris Saint-Germain. PSG set up a clash with Arsenal in the final with a 1-1 draw in the second leg at

“We decisive. Congratulations to PSG. The Champions League is over for us this season, but there will be another chance – and that’s a motivation for me. “We have played Paris five times – we have won twice, lost twice and drawn once, which was today. We tried everything, that also has to be said.” needed to be more

couldn’t take the next step. Our goal came too late.” England captain Kane’s goal, in the fourth added minute, came too late to give the hosts hope of scor ing another to force extra time. “Our goal unfortunately came a bit too late. We didn’t have time to create another

chance or maybe even get a set piece,” Neuer said. “At that point it was too late.” Bayern are through to the German Cup final and have already won the Bundesliga, but Neuer admitted “right now, disap pointment prevails”.

Bayern, sealing a 6-5 aggregate victory. Bayern have scored an incredible 175 goals in all competitions this sea son but were unable to break through until stoppage time, when Harry Kane grabbed an equaliser. “We didn’t have big

PSG opened up a two-goal lead in the tie inside three minutes. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia raced into space down the left and looked up to see Dembele arriving in the box. The Georgian playmaker pulled the ball

back for Dembele to race onto it and hammer a fin ish first-time into the roof of the net before Neuer could react. Bayern were furious not to have been awarded a penalty midway through the half. Goalkeeper Matvei Safonov made an uncertain punch and the ball landed with Vitinha, who in attempting to clear slammed the ball against the arm of teammate Joao Neves. As it was another PSG player that had made the clearance, it was not deemed to be handball despite Neves’ arm being well away from his body. Kane found space from Alphonso Davies’ pass in added time to fire the ball into the roof of the net, but there was not to be a famous fightback. “I understand if they’re disappointed,” Kompany told TNT Sports when asked what he said after wards to his players. “I think we gave everything. “We have to look at some of the phases that were decided by the officials across the two games which, it’s never an excuse for everything… but it matters. “If we look at both legs probably too much went against us. The guys gave everything and we tried against a fantastic PSG team.” The defeat ended six-time Champions League winners Bayern’s hopes of returning to the final for the first time since 2020, when they beat PSG 1-0. The German giants have now not made it through a two-legged semifinal since 2013, with their last triumph coming during the Covid-hit 2019/20 season in which the quarterfinals and semifinals were single-leg ties. – AFP/The Independent under way in the United States, Mexico and Canada, Real have precious little to play for between now and the close of the season. Barcelona are aware they could clinch the title on Monday, while Madrid have remained tight lipped over Mbappe’s fitness ahead of the fixture. Despite the mounting criticism, sections of the Spanish press claim Mbappe made a voluntary visit to the Madrid training ground on his day off in a bid to be ready for this weekend’s clash. On Sunday, Real boss Alvaro Arbeloa said: “Each player, in their free time, does what they consider appropriate; that is not my concern. “We have not built Real Madrid with players who play in tuxedos, but with players who finish the match with their shirts full of sweat and mud, based on effort, sacrifice, and perseverance,“ he said before adding that “no player is bigger than Real Madrid.” – Express newspapers

Speaking with German TV, Bayern coach Vincent Kompany agreed with his captain, but said he would take motivation from the defeat. “I don’t have the ability to

chances today, but we still created enough to score. We missed the killer mentality that PSG had to score the goals,” Neuer said to

stay disappointed for long. Of course, in the end we lost two very, very tight games against a very good opponent. It’s bitter.

D A Z N . “We were close to the final b u t

Bayern’s Harry Kane (top) in action during yesterday’s Champions League semifinal 2nd leg match against PSG. – REUTERSPIC

Mbappe fires back after Real commitment questioned REAL MADRID forward Kylian Mbappe has fired back at critics questioning his dedication to his injury recovery, insisting he remains wholly com mitted to returning to peak fitness. Exposito last weekend while sidelined. Madrid supporters questioned why Mbappe was “on holiday” ahead of the Clasico , with doubts raised over “the seriousness of his rehabilitation.” Photographs of him on a yacht emerged around the same time Real were playing Espanyol.

The Los Blancos striker is currently sidelined with a hamstring injury and is a doubt for a crunch showdown with Barcelona on Monday (3am Malaysian time). Hansi Flick’s side are currently 11 points clear of their fierce rivals in second place, and avoiding defeat would hand Barca the title at the Nou Camp on Monday. It has been a turbulent campaign for Madrid, who are teetering on the brink of finishing the season empty-handed. Mbappe has been one of the standout per formers for Real this season, yet has drawn fierce criticism from sections of the Spanish media after reportedly travelling to Italy with actress Ester

Nevertheless, in a statement issued to The Associated Press , Mbappe firmly rejected any sug gestion of wrongdoing. “Part of the criticism is based on an overinter pretation of elements related to a recovery period strictly supervised by the club, without reflecting the reality of Kylian’s commitment and the work he puts in every day for the team,” the statement read. Some Real supporters hold the belief that Mbappe is deliberately limiting himself in order to remain fit for the World Cup with France this year. With just five weeks until the tournament gets