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⚽ All the latest ahead of a pivotal day’s football action⚽ Ten things to look out for | Fixtures | Tables | Mail DavidThat Frenkie de Jong interview leads us nicely – who says this blog is just thrown together? – to La Liga’s title race. In truth, it’s not much of a race at all as Barcelona can clinch the title this weekend with four games to spare. If Barcelona win at Osasuna today and Real Madrid can’t beat Espanyol on Sunday, it’s done. Then again, maybe Barca would prefer it to roll on a week as guess who are the visitors to the Camp Nou next Sunday? Yep, Real Madrid.Saturday 20.00 Osasuna v Barcelona Continue reading...

Updates from day two of the latest Championship games Sign up for the Spin | Mail Tanya or comment BTLA wicket at Grace Road, where Notts are pounding Leicestershire round the ground. Jack Haynes a fourth wicket for Ben Green. Joe Clarke is approaching his hundred. Notts 426-5.A pretty good looking crowd at Taunton, some huddling against a brick wall for warmth. Joe Root at first slip polishes the ball, Will Smeed, slow starting again, still on nought. Jack White on the money. Continue reading...

Former major winner ‘committed to making team golf work’Rebel tour now working on a junior golf initiative, he saysBryson DeChambeau, the two times US Open champion, has denied reports he is seeking a way out of the beleaguered LIV Golf, the rebel series whose future looks bleak after Saudi Arabian backers indicated they are pulling their multibillion-dollar sponsorship at the end of the 2026 season.LIV Golf is seeking to secure fresh backers in the wake of the decision by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) to scrap its $5bn (£3.68bn) investment in golf, as part of a general retreat from sports sponsorship. There is every prospect the 2026 season will prove LIV’s last. Continue reading...

Italian driver lost both legs in high-speed cart race crashHe went on to win four Paralympic golds as a para-cyclistAlex Zanardi, the former Formula One driver who lost both legs in a racing crash and went on to win Paralympic gold medals, has died at the age of 59, his family said on Saturday.Zanardi, from Bologna, made his F1 debut in 1991 and later achieved success in the Cart series in the United States, winning back-to-back championships in 1997 and 1998. His life took a dramatic turn in September 2001 when he was involved in a high-speed crash during a Cart race in Germany that led to the amputation of both legs. Continue reading...

The 34-year-old midfielder will leave Old Trafford after conclusively proving high-profile doubters wrongIt was two years ago that Jamie Carragher offered Casemiro a rather withering piece of advice: “Leave the football before the football leaves you.” Fast forward to this season and the Brazilian’s record for Manchester United reads: nine goals (second only to Benjamin Sesko), two assists, and 2,417 minutes played in 31 starts from a total of 32 appearances, with 13 games finished, including seven of the past nine.Consider, too, how the January announcement of Casemiro’s departure from United at the end of the current campaign has led to supporters pleading with the 34-year-old to stay, and that Casemiro is again a midfield first-choice for his national team in the buildup to a World Cup. Continue reading...

England head coach survived Ashes review but going missing for 43% of the county season is straight out of SeinfeldGeorge: Right now I just sit around pretending I’m busy.Jerry: How do you do that?George: I look annoyed. Think about it. When you look annoyed all the time, people think you’re busy. [Rolls his eyes, slaps his forehead, does look busy.]Does anyone remember Brendon McCullum? You know. Baz. It was a thing. People said “Bazball” in parliament. It was probably in the dictionary, one of those new zeitgeisty words, like rofl. Distinguishing marks? Hat. Jawline. A way of standing. Sports socks provocatively splayed on an ornate balcony. Look, it doesn’t really matter. But has anyone actually … seen him? Continue reading...

Midfielder broke a Barça Dutch record last week and is potentially one win from a third league title with team he visited as a teenager for funA warm sun bathes the Barcelona training ground as Frenkie de Jong arrives to chat. The midfielder’s work is done for the day and the Netherlands international is in his comfort zone here, the first team’s longest-serving player, a regular captain and effortlessly fluent in Spanish. It is a far cry from the day just over 10 years ago when he visited the Camp Nou.In late December 2015 De Jong made the most of the Eredivisie’s winter shutdown to take a city break in Barcelona with his now wife, Mikky. He was 18 and days from linking up with Ajax, who had signed him four months earlier but loaned him back to Willem II, and he managed to get tickets for Barcelona v Real Betis. It is an occasion that stuck in his mind. Continue reading...

Semi-final poised at 7-7 after attritional 14th frameJohn Higgins edges to 13-11 lead over Shaun MurphyWu Yize and Mark Allen’s semi-final is poised at seven frames all after their afternoon session ended with a bizarre frame – the longest in the World Snooker Championship’s Crucible era – clocking in at just over 100 minutes.Allen began the afternoon trailing 6-2 overnight to an opponent high on confidence and belief, but fought back in style, winning five frames in succession to edge 7-6 ahead. Continue reading...

It was the night all the nerves vanished into the ether, replaced by every track on the Leeds United soundtrack as Premier League survival was all but confirmed. It was all too easy to defeat rudderless and relegated Burnley, to put Leeds nine points clear of the relegation zone, with their rivals having four games remaining.Anton Stach’s smart shot started the festivities before Noah Okafor and Dominic Calvert-Lewin provided the headline act to move Leeds above Newcastle into 14th and extend the gap to 18th-placed Tottenham. The final half an hour at Elland Road was boisterous as the supporters celebrated a crucial victory in a hard-fought journey to safety. Continue reading...

Sunday storms could affect first F1 race in five weeksMcLaren edges Mercedes’ Antonelli in sprint qualifyingWith Formula One returning after its early season enforced break, the Miami Grand Prix is proving an enticing prospect given most of the teams used the time to work furiously on upgrades to their cars. Many of which are being deployed here. Intriguing enough were it not also for the updated regulations being given their debut outing and the threat of lightning storms on Sunday potentially causing a schedule change.Five weeks have passed since the last round in Japan on 29 March after the Saudi Arabian and Bahrain GPs were cancelled because of the war in the Middle East, a break welcomed by many as an unexpected opportunity to assess their cars, which are still very much a work in progress after the rule changes this season. Continue reading...