SPORTS

Goals from Tammy Abraham and Ross Barkley gave Frank Lampard’s Chelsea an impressive 2-1 win against Barcelona in a pre-season friendly in Japan. Abraham opened the scoring with a neat first-half finish after rounding the goalkeeper, and substitute Barkley curled in a second late on. Ivan Rakitic struck in injury time for Barcelona with powerful drive. The game saw £107m ...

Football star Cristiano Ronaldo will not face charges after being accused of sexual assault, US prosecutors say. Kathryn Mayorga, 34, had alleged that the Juventus player raped her at a Las Vegas hotel in 2009. She reportedly reached an out-of-court settlement with the Portuguese star in 2010, but sought to reopen the case in 2018. He denied the allegations. In ...

Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba is a “positive influence” who “brings everyone together” at the club, says team-mate Juan Mata. There has been speculation about Pogba’s Old Trafford future after he spoke of finding “a new challenge” in June, while his agent has said the France international wants to leave. But pre-season has been going well for the squad, said ...

Real Madrid forward Gareth Bale is “very close to leaving” the Spanish club, says boss Zinedine Zidane. The Wales international, 30, was left out of Real’s 3-1 pre-season defeat by Bayern Munich in Houston, USA. Speaking after the game, Zidane said: “We hope he leaves soon. It would be best for everyone. We are working on his transfer to a ...

Sergio Ramos scored a second-half penalty to help Spain beat a spirited Norway 2-1 on Saturday in their opening Euro 2020 qualifier, while teenage striker Moise Kean netted in Italy’s win over Finland. > > > HIGHLIGHTS from all the Uefa Euro 2020 qualifiers. . . Spain were not at their clinical best in Valencia, but got their Group F ...

Libya will play host to South Africa in the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualification group E match at the Stade Taieb Mhiri in Tunisia on Sunday. Kick-off is at 7:00 pm CAT. The Mediterranean Knights boosted their chances of qualifying for the finals when they hammered Seychelles 8-1 away in their previous group E match four months ago. ...

Argentina’s Lionel Messi and Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo are both set to play for their countries for the first time since the 2018 World Cup in Russia. Messi is due to start Friday’s friendly for Argentina against Venezuela in Madrid, with Ronaldo in the squad for Portugal’s opening Euro 2020 qualifier at home against the Ukraine in Lisbon. Both men have ...

Houston Rockets guard James Harden has become the first player in NBA history to score at least 30 points against all 29 opponents in a single season. The reigning NBA MVP scored 31 points in a 121-105 win over the Atlanta Hawks – the 48th time in 67 games this season that he has managed at least 30 points. Harden, ...

Chelsea winger Callum Hudson-Odoi – who is yet to start a Premier League game – says he is “shocked” to have received his first England call-up. The 18-year-old was brought into the England squad on Monday for the upcoming Euro 2020 qualifiers against the Czech Republic and Montenegro. He has played 19 games for Chelsea this season, scoring five times. ...

Lionel Messi scored a hat-trick of the highest quality as Barcelona avenged their defeat by Real Betis earlier in the season to move 10 points clear at the top of La Liga. His first was a 20-yard free-kick before he converted Luis Suarez’s backheel pass with a toe-poked strike. The pick of the bunch was a clipped finish that went ...