After Real Betis’ thrilling 4-3 victory over Barcelona in November 2018, midfielder Sergio Busquets gifted then-Betis manager Quique Setien his shirt with a personal message written on the back. “For Quique, with appreciation and admiration for the way you view football,” it read. It remains Barcelona’s only defeat at the Nou Camp since September 2016…… MORE
Barcelona has become the world’s highest-earning soccer club, usurping fierce rival Real Madrid at the top of Deloitte’s Football Money League for the first time. The new study found that Barca generated a record-breaking revenue of $935.9m (840.8 million euros) last season, becoming only the third club to hold the top position. As a result,…… MORE
A tennis player was forced to retire from Australian Open qualifying in Melbourne after collapsing with a coughing fit caused by bushfire smoke. Slovenia’s Dalila Jakupovic was leading 6-4 5-6 against Switzerland’s Stefanie Vogele, but was unable to finish her service game at the end of the second set. “It was very hard for me…… MORE
Reigning league champion, currently top of La Liga and through to the next round of the Champions League — so why did Barcelona sack its coach Ernesto Valverde? For most clubs, winning successive league titles, progressing to the knockout stages of this season’s Champions League as group winner and being captained by Lionel Messi, one…… MORE
Nobody at Liverpool dares talk about winning the Premier League. After 30 years without winning English football’s top-flight title, there’s a sense that careless words might jinx a potentially history-making season that — so far — has been almost perfect. Liverpool has twice won the Champions League since 1990, but that league title has proved…… MORE
While most footballers at the age of 52 are well into their second decade of retirement, Kazuyoshi Miura has no intention of hanging up his boots just yet. The Japanese striker, nicknamed “King Kazu,” has signed a new 12-month contract with first division club Yokohama FC to take him into a 35th season of professional…… MORE
Is Sergio Aguero now the finest international goalscorer to ever grace the English Premier League? The Manchester City goal machine scored a hat-trick against Aston Villa, Sunday, to eclipse Thierry Henry as the division’s top international goalscorer. Aguero, from Argentina, now has an incredible 177 goals, two more than French Arsenal legend Henry and 33…… MORE
A man who has won 16 Grand Slam titles has banked plenty of magic moments. But Novak Djokovic says his latest victory, at the first-ever ATP Cup finals, is one of the sweetest of his career. The 32-year-old led Serbia to the title in Sydney, Australia — first by beating old adversary Rafael Nadal and…… MORE
It’s official. Liverpool have made the best start to a season in the history of the English Premier League. A 1-0 win against Tottenham saw the Reds notch up 61 points from their first 21 games to surpass Manchester City’s record of 59 points set during their title-winning 2017-2018 season, and also after their 21st…… MORE
There may be a new tournament in men’s tennis — but the title will be decided by two of the game’s longstanding legends. Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal mustered all their experience to see Serbia and Spain through to the inaugural ATP Cup finals in Sydney, Australia. The two tennis titans came through testing matches…… MORE
