WEDNESDAY, MAY 31, 2017 SPORTS England can help heal terror wounds: Southgate

BURTON-ON-TRENT: The England foot- several sporting events in the United Manchester and their families,” al football team, we have to keep work- way that you normally work. “It’s not ball team have a “responsibility” to help Kingdom last weekend, including Southgate told a press conference at ing and keep showing that things like easy for anybody, but we feel a responsi- people move on with their lives follow- Sunday’s FA Cup final between Arsenal England’s national training base in this won’t affect us as a country. bility to do that and we feel it’s our duty ing last week’s deadly terror attack in and Chelsea. Southgate believes it is Burton-on-Trent, central England. “We’re respectful of those who’ve lost as a national team to do that.” Manchester, manager Gareth Southgate important for teams like England to send “We’re conscious there’s that balance their lives and their families, but we also England play Scotland in a World Cup said yesterday. out a message that the country will not of sport and life at this moment in time. recognise that the right message qualifying match in Glasgow on June 10 Tributes were paid to the 22 victims of be cowed by terrorism. “Our thoughts “From our point of view, one of the mes- towards terrorism is to keep doing what before facing France in a friendly in Paris the suicide attack at Manchester Arena at are definitely with the victims of sages we have to give is that as a nation- you’re doing and to keep working in the three days later. —AFP

Real Madrid’s campaign in the Champions League

MADRID: A look at Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo to keep Bayern from Champions League campaign ahead of reaching the semifinals for the sixth Saturday’s final against Juventus in Cardiff: straight season. Ronaldo scored both goals in the 2-1 GROUP STAGE first-leg win in Germany and added a hat Real Madrid easily advanced from a trick in the 4-2 second-leg victory at home. group containing Sporting Lisbon, Legia Arturo Vidal opened the scoring in the Warsaw and Borussia Dortmund, even first leg but the Bayern midfielder missed a though it finished second behind penalty just before halftime and Madrid Dortmund. eventually rallied for the victory. Bayern The defending champions drew both had Javi Martinez sent off in the second matches against the German club, relin- half of what was Bayern’s first Champions quishing a two-goal lead at the Santiago League setback at home after 16 consecu- Bernabeu Stadium. tive wins. Madrid’s other setback in the group In the return game, Bayern was able to stage was a 3-3 draw at Legia Warsaw. It match the first-leg result over 90 minutes. had routed the Polish club 5-1 at the But Vidal was sent off in the 84th and Bernabeu. Ronaldo scored twice early in extra time to Madrid struggled in its opening match, put Madrid in the semifinals for the sev- needing two very late goals to earn a 2-1 enth straight season. The goals also win over Sporting Lisbon at the Bernabeu. enabled Ronaldo to become the first play- Madrid later defeated Sporting by the er reach 100 Champions League goals. same score in Portugal. SEMIFINALS ROUND OF 16 Madrid met Atletico for the fourth con- Madrid faced a Napoli team that was secutive time in the Champions League, one game short of equaling its unbeaten and again it got the better of its record of 19 matches in all competitions. crosstown rival. The Italian team took early leads in both Madrid had already beaten Atletico in legs to give Madrid a scare, but the the final in 2014 (in extra time) and in European champions rallied both times to 2016 (in a penalty shootout). The team earn consecutive 3-1 victories and reach also eliminated Atletico in the quarterfi- the quarterfinals. nals in 2015. LONDON: Huddersfield Town’s Welsh goalkeeper Danny Ward (centre left) and Huddersfield Town’s German head coach David Karim Benzema, Toni Kroos and Cristiano Ronaldo gave Madrid a 3-0 Wagner (centre right) hold up the Championship Playoff trophy as Huddersfield’s players celebrate winning the penalty Casemiro scored in the first leg in Madrid first-leg win with a hat trick at the shoot-out on the pitch after the English Championship play-off final football match between Huddersfield Town and Reading after Lorenzo Insigne’s extraordinary long- Bernabeu, but there was drama in the at Wembley Stadium in London on Monday. Huddersfield won the penalty shoot-out 4-3 after the game finished 0-0 after range goal for Napoli less than 10 minutes return match at the Vicente Calderon extra time. —AFP into the game. Stadium as Atletico scored two early goals Dries Mertens gave Napoli hope in the to move one short of a historic comeback. second leg with a goal in the 24th minute, It looked like things could go Atletico’s SOCCER but Madrid hit back with an equalizer way until Karim Benzema found a way to from Sergio Ramos, an own-goal by get past three Atletico defenders and set Mertens and a stoppage-time strike by up a crucial away goal for Francisco “Isco” David Wagner taunts critics as Alvaro Morata. Alarcon just before halftime. Madrid held on to secure a return to the final and keep QUARTERFINALS alive its hopes of becoming the first team Huddersfield hit promotion jackpot In a quarterfinal matchup between two to retain the Champions League title since powerhouses, Madrid needed extra time the competition’s new format was created LONDON: David Wagner’s arrival at Huddersfield “By the way Ian Holloway, all the best for next ative goal difference, Huddersfield needed penalty and two decisive performances from in 1992. —AP Town was greeted with scorn, but just 18 months season,” Wagner said. “I know a lot of the pundits heroics to go up. later the German has silenced the critics by master- wrote us off. I’m so happy to prove experience is They saw off Reading thanks to on-loan minding his club’s fairytale promotion to the not essential, especially here in England which is Liverpool goalkeeper Danny Ward’s save from Premier League. so traditional. Jordan Obita and a cool winning kick from When Wagner was plucked from his role as “I’ve been in confrontation with experience ever Christopher Schindler. Borussia Dortmund’s reserve team coach by since I’ve been here. People said I’m not used to “Before the shoot-out I said to the players ‘we Huddersfield owner Dean Hoyle in November 2015, English football, I’m not used to not having a winter worked 10 months and you have the chance to many pundits claimed his lack of experience in the break, and I’d never been in the play-offs before. come to the Premier League. All you need to do is cut-throat world of the second-tier Championship “Well, experience is important, but if you have put the ball in the net from 12 yards,’” Wagner said. meant the appointment was doomed to failure. passion and ideas you can match it.” Wagner’s tri- When the fixture list comes out, Wagner will look Ian Holloway, then a television pundit and now umph is even more impressive when you consider for Huddersfield’s dates with Liverpool, whose man- Queens Park Rangers manager, labelled Huddersfield’s budget ranked among the lowest in ager Jurgen Klopp has been a close friend since they Huddersfield as candidates for relegation at the start the second tier. worked together at Dortmund. of this season. Turning an unglamourous former mill town into Klopp, who is godfather to one of Wagner’s But Holloway and the rest of the doubters under- a host venue for the star-studded line-ups of daughters, was the boss back in Germany, but they estimated the urbane Wagner’s pioneer spirit, inspi- Chelsea, Manchester United and company is the will meet in England on equal terms. rational personality and tactical prowess. stuff of dreams. “I will speak to Jurgen for sure, about everything Having revitalised his team with a host of young- “The people that remember Huddersfield being that happened,” Wagner said. sters signed on loan from the Premier League, in the top flight are very old,” said Wagner, himself 45 “It will be funny to meet him in the Premier Wagner rewarded Hoyle’s faith in spectacular fash- years old. “It’s special. I’m so proud for the players League. He’s a pal but it doesn’t meant it won’t be ion at Wembley on Monday as Huddersfield beat and so happy for the whole town. crazy on the touchline.” Reading 4-3 on penalties after a 0-0 draw to return “We set no limits, now we know where our limits While Huddersfield look forward to the big time, to the top flight for the first time in 45 years. are-in the Premier League. “I told the players they are Reading manager Jaap Stam faces the difficult task Winning promotion, which is worth £170 million heroes. They had the opportunity to become leg- of lifting his players’ shattered morale. ($218 million, 195 million euros) to the Terriers, was a ends and they have done it.” “What we achieved this season is great, but in a CARDIFF: Real Madrid’s head coach Zinedine Zidane, right, speaks with his sweet moment for Wagner and, drenched in cham- final it doesn’t matter how you play, the result is the players during a training session at a media open day in Madrid, yesterday. pagne from his players’ celebrations, he arrived at a HEROICS most important thing,” said the Dutchman. Real Madrid will play Juventus Saturday in the Champions League final in post-match press conference keen to remind his Fittingly for a team who became the first in “Everybody is very disappointed. It’s hard but Cardiff. —AP critics how far he had come in such a short time. Football League history to be promoted with a neg- that’s how it goes.” —AFP Wolfsburg clinches Bundesliga Juventus’ campaign in survival with playoff win the Champions League CARDIFF: A look at Juventus’ Champions QUARTERFINALS BRAUNSCHWEIG: Wolfsburg clinched League campaign ahead of Saturday’s final Juventus excelled with defensive soccer at Bundesliga survival by beating Eintracht against Real Madrid in Cardiff: Camp Nou, holding Barcelona to a 0-0 draw in Braunschweig 1-0, giving the side a 2-0 victory the return leg after a victory in Turin. on aggregate in their relegation-promotion GROUP STAGE Paulo Dybala, who has been compared to playoff on Monday. Juventus didn’t lose a match in a group Lionel Messi, scored two first-half goals and Vieirinha’s powerful strike after the break with Sevilla, Lyon and Dinamo Zagreb. defender Giorgio Chiellini added the third, 10 gave the visiting side a comfortable cushion, The Bianconeri had a disappointing start, minutes after the break, in the first leg. after Mario Gomez gave Wolfsburg a 1-0 win drawing 0-0 at home against Sevilla, but they Goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon pulled off a fan- at home in the first leg. advanced to the knockout stage with a 3-1 win tastic stop to deny Andres Iniesta moments “We achieved the absolute minimum. I can in Spain, courtesy of two late goals. before Dybala’s second. He was instrumental understand the players’ relief, but it’s not a That ninth-minute strike by Sevilla defender again in Barcelona as Juventus displayed poise success,” said Andries Jonker, Wolfsburg’s third Nicolas Pareja was the last goal Juventus would and experience to ensure there would be no coach of the season. concede until the second leg of the semifinals comeback. The BBC of Leonardo Bonucci, The Volkswagen-backed club was forced against Monaco - a run of 690 minutes. Andrea Barzagli and Chiellini proved more than into the playoff after finishing third from bot- The only other occasion Juventus dropped up to the task of dealing with Barcelona’s MSN of tom in the Bundesliga. It was the side’s lowest points was in another home draw, when it was Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar. Juventus position since gaining promotion to the top held 1-1 by Lyon. defended as a team, with the forwards tracking flight in 1997. back, too - something which has been its Braunschweig, which was third in ROUND OF 16 strength under Allegri. Germany’s second division, was bidding to Juventus was rarely troubled by FC Porto, return to the Bundesliga after its relegation which had a player sent off in each leg. SEMIFINALS in 2014. However, the Bianconeri struggled to break Gonzalo Higuain hadn’t scored in a “The Lions” lived up to coach Torsten Porto down in the first match even after Alex Champions League knockout match since 2013, Lieberknecht’s words after defeat in the first Telles was sent off in the 27th following two but the Argentina forward ended that negative leg, “Lions bookings in quick succession. Massimiliano streak against Monaco. Higuain netted twice in bite. We’ll really bite back.” But the closest Allegri resorted to two second-half substitutes the 2-0 first leg victory in the principality, dou- the side came to scoring was when Christoffer who quickly scored. Marko Pjaca netted five bling his tally from 24 previous matches in the Nyman shot straight at Wolfsburg goalkeeper minutes after coming on, while Dani Alves took knockout stages. Juventus withstood pressure Koen Casteels early on. two minutes to find the back of the net. from Monaco and then punished it on the count- Their hopes were all but ended when BRAUNSCHWEIG: Wolfsburg’s midfielder Yunus Malli (L) vie for the ball with Braunschweig’s midfielder Mirko Boland (C) and defender Maximilian Sauer (R) during Any hope Porto had of bouncing back er attack, with both of Higuain’s goals coming Vieirinha hammered Wolfsburg ahead after evaporated shortly before halftime in the after good spells from the home side. the break from a rebound. Braunschweig sud- German Bundesliga relegation second leg football match between Eintracht return match in Turin, when Gonzalo Higuain’s Buffon pulled off several fine saves in his denly needed three goals due to Wolfsburg’s Braunschweig and VfL Wolfsburg on Monday in Braunschweig, central Germany. —AFP effort was stopped by the outstretched hand 100th appearance in Europe’s top club competi- away score. of Maxi Pereira, leading to an inevitable red tion, but he was finally beaten in the second leg The home side never looked like getting supporters, leading to an uneasy faceoff as director Olaf Rebbe said.A warden had card for the defender. by 18-year-old Kylian Mbappe, who wasn’t even them. Braunschweig fans stormed the pitch flares were lit and hurled toward the officials. already been struck by a flare when Paulo Dybala converted the resulting born when the 39-year-old goalkeeper made his after the game forcing players to take cover. “We had to go the changing rooms. We Braunschweig fans lit pyrotechnics before penalty. Serie A debut in 1995. —AP Riot police formed a line to protect visiting couldn’t celebrate,” Wolfsburg sporting the second half. —AP