Sunday, August 29, 2021Muharram 21, 1443 AH

SPORTGULF TIMES

Vio repeats Rio gold as Afghan athletes arrive in Tokyo

India collapse again as England seal crushing win

CRICKET CRICKET | Page 2 PARALYMPICS PARALYMPICS | Page 3

FOOTBALL

Manchester City pile on misery for Arsenal, ArtetaPage 4

Qatar likely to be on revised F1 calendar

Qatar Racing’s Mise En Scene lands Group 3 at Goodwood

Thompson-Herah, Duplantis shine in Paris Diamond League

Verstappen masters rain to claim Belgian Grand Prix pole, Russell in second

MOTORSPORT HORSE RACING

ATHLETICS

SPOTLIGHT

One race still to be confirmed for November 21

ReutersLondon, England

Formula One published a revised calendar for the remainder of the season yesterday with the number of races dropping from a

record 23 to 22 due to the Covid-19 pan-demic and Qatar expected to debut.

Three races were given new dates and one weekend in late November was left subject to confi rmation with Qatar likely to fi ll it with a fi rst Grand Prix at the Lo-sail International Circuit used regularly by MotoGP.

While Formula One did not mention Qatar on the list, an announcement is expected soon.

The rejig followed this month’s can-cellation of the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka for the second year in a row. Australia, Singapore, Canada and China were cancelled earlier.

Turkey’s Istanbul Park circuit will move from October 3 to take Japan’s October 10 slot. The Mexican and Brazilian races will also be pushed back a week, to November 7 and 14 respectively, with a new race to be announced on November 21.

If Qatar gets the nod, that would make a Middle Eastern run to end the season with Saudi Arabia’s fi rst race on Decem-ber 5 and Abu Dhabi on December 12.

Formula One starts a European triple-header this weekend with Belgium fol-lowed by the return of the Dutch Grand Prix and then the Italian Grand Prix at Monza on successive weekends.

Those dates, as well as Russia’s race in Sochi on Sept. 26, remain as planned.

The United States Grand Prix in Aus-tin, Texas, also retains its original date of October 24.

Formula One chief executive Stefano Domenicali said there had been exten-sive discussions with promoters and na-

tional authorities.“The pandemic continues to present

the season with challenges but we have proven we can adapt and we are confi -dent we can deliver a record-breaking 22 races this year despite a global pandem-ic,” added the Italian.

“I want to thank the promoters in Bra-zil, Mexico and Turkey for their patience and fl exibility and we will provide the details of the fi nal addition soon.”

COMING RACESSeptember 5: Netherlands (Zandvoort)September 12: Italy (Monza)September 26: Russia (Sochi)October 10: Turkey (Istanbul Park)October 24: United States (Austin)November 7: Mexico (Mexico City)November 14: Brazil (Sao Paulo)November 21: Venue TBCDecember 5: Saudi Arabia (Jeddah)December 12: Abu Dhabi (Yas Marina)

AFPSpa-Francorchamps, Belgium

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen mastered the rain to claim Belgian Grand Prix pole yes-terday, snatching the fastest

time in qualifying from surprise pack-age George Russell of Williams.

Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes will start on the second row as he goes for his 100th GP win, Daniel Ricciardo’s

McLaren completing the second row.Qualifying was marred by a heavy

crash in Q3 involving the McLaren of Lando Norris, whose hopes of a fi rst ever pole bit the dust at Eau Rouge.

With the Briton thankfully escap-ing serious injury, nine cars took to the track when the shoot-out resumed af-ter a 40-minute red fl ag intervention.

Fellow Briton Russell was poised to give Williams an astonishing fi rst pole since 2001 with seconds of Q3 to go.

But the young driver’s brilliant time

was narrowly shaded by Verstappen in the Dutch driver’s fi nal fl ying lap.

Russell is in contention alongside Valtteri Bottas for the second Mercedes drive in 2022.

“Tomorrow’s the most important one, but it’s been mega today. I’m de-lighted for everyone. If the weather is the same and it’s there for the taking, we’ll go for it,” said the Williams man.

“I’m just trying to stay positive, fo-cused and calm. Max did a great job and a great job also by George — that’s fantas-

tic,” said Hamilton, who is eight points clear of Verstappen in the standings.

“We’re fi rst and that’s the most im-portant thing,” said Verstappen.

Q3 got off to a dramatic start when Norris lost control of his McLaren af-ter the rear end hit the barriers at Eau Rouge. The only one of his four tyres intact was the front left.

TODAY’S GRID (TOP 10)Front row:Max Verstappen (NED/Red Bull)

George Russell (GBR/Williams)2nd row:Lewis Hamilton (GBR/Mercedes)Daniel Ricciardo (AUS/McLaren)3rd row:Sebastian Vettel (GER/Aston Martin)Pierre Gasly (FRA/AlphaTauri)4th row:Sergio Perez (MEX/Red Bull)Esteban Ocon (FRA/Alpine)5th row:Lando Norris (GBR/McLaren)Charles Leclerc (MON/Ferrari)

AgenciesGoodwood, England

The Qatar Racing Lim-ited-owned Mise En Scene remains unbeaten after a game success in

the Group 3 Tote Prestige Stakes, a seven-furlong contest for two-year-old fi llies, at Goodwood yesterday.

Trained by James Ferguson, the bay fi lly added to her debut success at Haydock and now re-mains unbeaten in two career starts, both the same distance.

Ridden by Oisin Murphy, the fi lly was smartly away and was settled against the rail behind early leaders Daneh and Value Theory. As the paced steadied, Mise En Scene travelled a shad-ed keenly, but was always well placed.

On entering the home straight, Value Theory came under pres-sure and Mise En Scene was asked to close on Daneh. The lat-ter held a two-length advantage inside the fi nal 400m as Mise En Scene was switched off the rail

and began to close. Inside the fi nal 200m, Mise En Scene still had a length to fi nd, but fi nished strongly and headed Daneh in the fi nal strides going on to score by a neck. Prosperous Voyage stayed on well for third.

Bred by The Gadfly Part-nership, Mise En Scene is by

Siyouni. Her dam Gadfly was unraced, but is a half-sister to Group One 1000 Guineas win-ner Speciosa.

Mise En Scene holds entries in both the Group 2 Rockfel Stakes at Newmarket on September 24 and the Group 1 Fillies Mile at New-market, as well, on October 8.

AFPParis

Olympic champion Elaine Thompson-He-rah stormed to victory in the women’s 100m

at the Paris Diamond League yesterday although the 33-year-old world record remains frus-tratingly out of reach.

The Jamaican star clocked a meet record of 10.72sec to see off compatriot and Tokyo bronze medallist Shericka Jackson in 10.97sec.

Thompson-Herah, 29, who won three golds in Tokyo with triumphs in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay, has been threat-ening Florence Griffi th-Joyner’s world record of 10.49sec set back in 1988.

Last weekend in Eugene, she ran the second fastest time in his-tory of 10.54sec and then timed 10.64sec in Lausanne on Thursday behind fellow Jamaican Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce’s 10.60sec, the third fastest ever mark.

“The world record is a short-term goal, it’s quite close but if I end the season without taking it, it doesn’t matter,” said Thomp-son-Herah.

“I am a double Olympic cham-pion (in the 100m), I’m delighted with my performance. I have never been this fast. I’m very happy with what I’ve accom-plished in 2021.”

Fraser-Pryce, the silver med-

allist in Tokyo, pulled out of the Paris meet citing fatigue.

Another Olympic champion Armand Duplantis was also a winner yesterday, taking victory in the pole vault with a clearance of 6.01m.

Duplantis saw off Filipino John Ernest Obiena (5.91m) and Olympic silver medallist Chris Nilsen (5.81m) before attempting to break his own world record of 6.18m set in February 2020.

The 21-year-old failed three times to clear 6.19m but his vic-tory was still welcome having been beaten into fourth place in Lausanne.

He has now had six clearances of six metres or more this sum-mer.

“I’m feeling good, I need to have some more competitions by the end of the season,” said the Swede.

“I’m glad I came here and passed six metres. It was a good day.”

He added: “To break the world record you need a perfect jump. I think I can do it but I’ll just have to do things a little better next time.”

American sprinter Fred Kerley, who was the 100m silver medal winner at the Olympics, edged out compatriot Kenny Bednarek to take the men’s 200m.

Both Kerley and Bednarek timed 19.79sec.

Olympic 3000m steeplechase champion Soufi ane El Bakkali fell at the fi rst obstacle and needed treatment trackside.

His early exit meant it was a Kenyan sweep with Benjamin Ki-gen setting a world-leading time of 8:07.12 to claim victory.

Morocco’s El Bakkali had been the fi rst non-Kenyan since 1980 to win Olympic gold in the event.

Oisin Murphy (foreground) rides Mise En Scene to victory in the Group 3 Tote Prestige Stakes at Goodwood yesterday. (Steve Davies)

Jamaica’s Elaine Thompson-Herah celebrates winning the women’s 100m at the Diamond League meeting in Paris yesterday. (Reuters)

Losail International Circuit.

SPORTGulf Times Sunday, August 29, 20212

Espargaro savours ‘oxygen bubble’ of season’s fi rst pole

MOTORCYCLING

AFPLeeds, United Kingdom

Ollie Robinson completed a fi ve-wicket haul as England thrashed India by an innings and 76 runs to win the third

Test at Headingley yesterday with more than a day to spare.

The hosts levelled the fi ve-match se-ries at 1-1 after India’s 151-run success in the second Test at Lord’s.

The tourists, 215-2 overnight, col-lapsed to 278 all against the new ball as they lost eight wickets for 63 runs in 19.3 overs during a mere 103 minutes’ play on the fourth morning.

Robinson, in just his fourth match at this level, returned Test-best fi gures 5-65 for a match haul of 7-81. India’s 278 all out, however, was 200 runs more than their woeful fi rst innings 78 – made after captain Virat Kohli won the toss – which saw England great James Anderson rip through the top order with 3-6.

“It’s a great day,” Root told the BBC af-ter his 27th Test win as England captain surpassed the record previously held by Michael Vaughan.

England’s victory, which saw Root make 121 – his third hundred of the series and sixth in Tests this year – in a total of 432 on the Yorkshireman’s home ground, followed a poor last day at Lord’s.

Asked if England’s revival had been a surprise, Root replied: “It might be for you but it’s not for me because I know the talent we’ve got and what we’re capable of.

Robinson has become an increasingly important fi gure in a pace attack miss-ing the injured Stuart Broad, Jofra Arch-er, Mark Wood, Chris Woakes and Olly Stone, with all-rounder Ben Stokes out of action due to mental health issues.

“To get a fi ve-for at Headingley, where I started my professional career, is very special,” said player of the match Rob-inson. “I enjoy bowling here and to bowl with Jimmy is an absolute honour. I learn from him every day.”

Meanwhile Kohli, one of Robinson’s wickets a spell of 4-25 in eight overs on Saturday, praised the Sussex seamer by saying: “He understands his skills really well, understands angles, swings the ball both ways, is very consistent and especial-ly in these conditions. A real fi nd for them.”

Kohli, whose side must regroup quickly before the fourth Test at the Oval starting on Thursday, insisted he had no regrets about batting fi rst as he put India’s col-lapse on Saturday down to “scoreboard pressure”.

“We knew we were always up against it when you are all out for 78 and the op-position then puts such a big score on the board,” he said.

“The English bowlers were outstand-ing today. The pressure was relentless and diffi cult to deal with. The batting or-der crumbled.”

India resumed on Saturday on 215-2 but, with 80 overs bowled, England took the new ball straight from the start of Saturday’s play.

From the moment Cheteshwar Pujara was out without adding to his overnight 91, lbw playing no shot to Robinson, Eng-land were in complete command with Kohli falling soon afterwards for 55 – his fi rst fi fty of the series – when he was caught in the slips by Root off Robinson.

Ajinkya Rahane (10) edging Ander-son to wicketkeeper Jos Buttler before Rishabh Pant (one), reaching for a wide delivery, nicked Robinson to third slip.

Now the only question was whether

India could keep the match going beyond the lunch interval.

They could not for all Ravindra Jadeja made 30, with the recalled paceman Craig Overton (3-47) ending the match when he had Mohamed Siraj caught in the slips for a duck to the delight of sun-drenched crowd of more than 16,000.

SCOREBOARD India 1st Innings ................................................ 78 England 1st Innings ..................................... 432 India 2nd Innings (overnight: 215-2)R. Sharma lbw b Robinson ........................ 59K. Rahul c Bairstow b Overton ...................8C. Pujara lbw b Robinson ............................ 91V. Kohli c Root b Robinson ......................... 55A. Rahane c Buttler b Anderson ..............10R. Pant c Overton b Robinson ..................... 1R. Jadeja c Buttler b Overton ...................30M. Shami b Moeen ............................................6I. Sharma c Buttler b Robinson .................. 2J. Bumrah not out .............................................. 1M. Siraj c Bairstow b Overton .....................0

Extras (b4, lb4, nb5, w2) ............................. 15Total (all out, 99.3 overs, 445 mins) ..278Fall of wickets: 1-34 (Rahul), 2-116 (Rohit), 3-215 (Pujara), 4-237 (Kohli), 5-239 (Ra-hane), 6-239 (Pant), 7-254 (Shami), 8-257 (Ishant), 9-278 (Jadeja), 10-278 (Siraj)Bowling: Anderson 26-11-63-1; Robinson 26-6-65-5 (2w, 5nb); Overton 18.3-6-47-3; Curran 9-1-40-0; Moeen 14-1-40-1; Root 6-1-15-0Result: England won by an innings and 76 runsPlayer of the match: Ollie Robinson (ENG)Series: Five-match series level at 1-1Remaining FixturesSep 02-06: 4th Test, The Oval, LondonSep 10-14: 5th Test, Old Traff ord, Man-chesterPrevious ResultsAug 04-08: 1st Test, Trent Bridge: Match drawnAug 12-16: 2nd Test, Lord’s: India won by 151 runs.

India collapse again as England seal crushing win

CRICKET

‘I enjoy bowling here and to bowl with Jimmy is an absolute honour’

AFPSilverstone, United Kingdom

Pol Espargaro was made to wait just a little bit longer for the pole position that could revive his disastrous

fi rst season at Honda at Silver-stone yesterday.

The Spaniard had recorded the fastest time of 1min 58.889sec when compatriot Jorge Martin was credited with an astonishing 1:58 right at the end of qualifying for the British Grand Prix.

As both riders circled the track gesturing in disbelief, it took the timekeepers a few min-utes to realise that the Pramac Ducati rider had cut across the chicane on his lap.

That left Italian Francesco Bagnaia of the factory Ducati team second fastest with 1.58.911. French championship leader Fabio Quartararo completed the front row of the grid for Yamaha.

Martin ended up fourth fastest after an earlier time. He is joined on the second row by the second Honda Spaniard Marc Marquez and Pol’s older brother Aleix Es-pargaro of Aprilia. Valentino Rossi, in his last British Grand Prix, was eighth fastest and will start on the third row.

Pol Espargaro, who has never won a MotoGP race, moved to Honda this season and had not recorded a pole position or a po-dium fi nish in the fi rst 11 races at his new team.

“We were just celebrating like if I won the race,” he said. “For me it’s more than that. OK, tomorrow is the race as well for points, but this is a huge step for me, not just this year but in my whole career to take a pole position is already a winning weekend after this tough season.”

“I’ve been struggling so much. Psychologically it’s a big bubble of oxygen. Sometimes the hard work doesn’t pay off , but in the end this happens.”

After two races in the sum-mer heat in Austria, the cooler weather and grippier surface at Silverstone helped Espargaro but

caused problems for other rid-ers in the one-lap ‘time attack’ on new tyres. “I dont feel good on the bike,” said Quartararo after battling onto the front row. “On the pace, I feel great but the bike is shaking everywhere on one lap. We need to see why.”

“I’m on the front row but re-ally not happy because I felt like I’m not feeling comfortable on the time attack.”

“But we are fast on the pace and that’s the most important.”

Bagnaia, whose consistency has lifted him to second in the cham-pionship even though he is yet to win a MotoGP race, echoed the sentiment.

“The qualifying was not easy because in this track we are suf-fering a bit more with new tyres,” he said. “But when I saw that everything was coming to me I was happy.”

Italian Lorenzo Savadori, who tried to make a comeback on his Aprilia on Friday after undergoing surgery on a fractured right ankle in early August, has withdrawn for the rest of the weekend. Silver-stone, one of the longest and fast-est circuits on the calendar, was not on the programme in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic but re-turns this year to a sell-out crowd.

England’s Ollie Robinson celebrates taking the wicket of India’s Virat Kohli during the fourth day of the third Test at Headingley, Leeds, Britain. (Reuters)

Bardet wins Vuelta Stage 14CYCLING

AFPMadrid

Romain Bardet won the mountainous 14th stage of the Vuelta a Espana and also grabbed the

lead in the climbing classifi cation yesterday.

The Frenchman, who rides for DSM, was part of a group of 18 riders that escaped early on the 165.7km stage and built a huge lead by the start of the fi nal climb.

He shook off the remnants of the breakaway for his fi rst Vuelta stage win and only his second career win outside France, fol-lowing the Tour of Burgos, also in Spain, earlier this month.

It was also his fi rst grand tour stage win in four years.

“It’s been a long wait, it’s true. I’ve been second several times since then,” said Bardet at the fi nish.

In the main pack, Norwegian Odd Christian Eiking responded to attacks from his main rivals

on the fi nal climb to come in 10min 49sec behind Bardet, and retain the overall lead, although he conceded a few seconds to reigning champion Primoz Roglic.

Bardet, who twice fi nished on the podium in the Tour de France early in his career, was caught in the huge crash in stage fi ve which knocked him out of contention for the overall victory.

He was part of the group that

went 8km into the stage and grabbed the lead in the King of the Mountains classifi cation when he was fi rst over the fi rst two peaks of the day.

“After that, I knew that even if I didn’t win, I had the polka dot jersey, so I bet on the stage win, and it worked out well,” said Bar-det.

The breakaway led by 14 min-utes at the foot of the last climb, but was broken up by crashes, punctures and attacks.

Bardet remained cool as com-patriot Nicolas Prodhomme and then two pursuers escaped.

“I had a feeling no one really wanted to commit in this breaka-way,” Bardet said.

“So I had really a hard time to

catch the men in front. We really played it smart with my team di-rector who told me exactly when I had to attack on the steepest (part of the climb). I just com-mitted.”

Bardet said that he had recov-ered from his earlier crash.

“The legs were OK,” he said. “Everyone is a bit tired.”

Bardet was followed home 44 seconds later by Spaniard Jesus Herrera of Cofi dis and Austral-ian Jay Vine of Alpecin, his shirt in tatters after a nasty fall earlier in the stage.

Briton Tom Pidcock of In-eos, the Olympic mountain bike champion, fi nished fourth, an-other 28 seconds back.

Down the mountain, French-

man Guillaume Martin, who is second overall, and a Cofi dis team-mate tried to shake off Eik-ing. The Norwegian was able to match that move.

“Martin tried to attack but I knew it was a lot of headwind so I gambled to stay on the wheel and it worked out,” said the

Intermarche-Wanty-Gobert rider.

Eiking could not quite keep up with a late attack from Slov-enian Roglic of Jumbo Visma who pinched 16 seconds at the end.

Eiking remained 54 seconds ahead of Martin with Roglic clos-ing to 1min 36sec.

Today, the peloton will have another tough day in the moun-tains, with four big climbs.

Team Sunweb’s French rider Romain Bardet celebrates as he wins the 14th stage of the La Vuelta in Pico Villuercas, Spain, yesterday. (AFP)

DeChambeau seizes lead with sizzling 60, Rahm chasing

AFPWashington

Bryson DeChambeau fi red two eagles in a spectacular 12-under par 60 and a one-shot

lead over Jon Rahm and Patrick Cantlay as darkness halted the BMW Championship second round.

The long-hitting American’s power was on full display on the 7,542-yard Caves Valley Golf Club course in suburban Balti-more, Maryland.

DeChambeau had a six-foot birdie putt at the 18th that would have given him just the 13th sub-60 round in US PGA Tour history, but he couldn’t get it to drop.

The world number six, who won his fi rst major title at the US Open last year, hit just seven of 14 fairways in regulation, but he split the fairway at 18, where his approach sailed over the pin and spun back to six feet.

Until that birdie miss De-Chambeau had made all 16 of his putts from within 12 1/2 feet.

“I misread the putt, so, one of those things,” DeChambeau said. “It was an awesome op-portunity.

“I had a couple shots, a cou-ple birdie opportunities at 17 and 18, and didn’t happen but still really proud of the way I

handled myself, and it’s great to feel some pressure again which is awesome.”

Despite the dazzling display, DeChambeau’s 16-under par total of 128 put him just one stroke in front of his nearest rival in the clubhouse Patrick Cantlay, who had 10 birdies and a bogey in a nine-under-par 63 for 129.

Cantlay was tied for the lead after his 10th birdie of the day at the 16th, but was in a green-side bunker at the par-three 17th and couldn’t get up and down for par.

DeChambeau didn’t have a blemish in a round that started with a 10-foot birdie at the fi rst, followed by a 12-foot bird-ie at the second.

He eagled the fourth, where his 273-yard second shot left him an 11-footer. With birdies at fi ve, seven and eight – where he rolled in a 30-foot putt – DeChambeau was seven-under for the round heading into the back nine.

Birdies at 11, 12 and 14 had him neck-and-neck with Can-tlay before another impressive eagle at 16 – where he hit his second shot from trampled dirt near a cart path 252 yards to three feet.

“One of the better ones of my career,” he said of his second shot at 16. “We judged the fl ier perfectly.

“A lot of putts went in,” he added of the round as a whole. “A lot of things went right.

GOLF

Repsol Honda’s Pol Espargaro during qualifying round of British Grand Prix in Silverstone, Britain, yesterday. (Reuters)

Bryson DeChambeau of the United States plays a shot during the second round of the BMW Championship at Caves Valley Golf Club in Owings Mills, Maryland. (Getty Images/AFP)

STARTING GRIDMotoGPFront row: 1. Pol Espargaro (ESP/Honda) 1min 58.889sec, 2. Francesco Bagnaia (ITA/Ducati) 1:58.911, 3. Fabio Quar-tararo (FRA/Yamaha) 1:58.9252nd row: 4. Jorge Martin (ESP/Ducati-Pramac) 1:59.074, 5. Marc Marquez (ESP/Honda) 1:59.086, 6. Aleix Espargaro (ESP/Aprilia) 1:59.2733rd row: 7. Jack Miller (AUS/Ducati) 1:59.368, 8. Valen-tino Rossi (ITA/Yamaha-SRT) 1:59.531, 9. Johann Zarco (FRA/Ducati-Pramac) 1:59.5794th row: 10. Alex Rins (ESP/Suzuki) 1:59.639, 11. Joan Mir (ESP/Suzuki) 1:59.763, 12. Brad Binder (RSA/KTM) 1:59.977.

SPORT3Gulf Times

Sunday, August 29, 2021

Vio repeats Rio gold as Afghan athletes arrive in Tokyo

PARALYMPICS

AFPTokyo

Fencing icon Beatrice “Bebe” Vio successfully defended her women’s Paralympic gold yester-

day as Afghanistan’s two athletes arrived in Tokyo to compete in the Games.

Vio, one of the world’s best-known Paralympians, was in un-stoppable form as she defeated China’s Zhou Jingjing 15-9 in the Women’s Individual Foil Catego-ry B gold medal match, just as she had done in Rio fi ve years ago.

The 24-year-old Italian, who had both forearms and legs am-putated when she contracted meningitis as an 11-year-old, screamed in joy before burst-ing into tears in the arms of her coach after the winning point was scored.

On day four of the competi-tion, a total of 54 gold medals were up for grabs across nine diff erent sports, including 17 athletics fi nals at the Olympic Stadium. The number of teams taking part rose to 163 as the International Paralympic Com-mittee said Afghanistan’s Zakia Khudadadi and Hossain Rasouli had arrived safely in the athletes’ village.

Khudadadi and Rasouli were evacuated last weekend to France as the Taliban took control of their country, it said. They will compete next week in taekwondo and athletics, and are “sending out a strong message of hope”, IPC chief Andrew Parsons said.

US wheelchair racing leg-end Tatyana McFadden won her 18th Paralympic medal – tak-ing bronze in the women’s T54 5,000m to extend her streak of fi nishing on the podium in every Paralympic race she has entered

since 2008. But she said just competing in Tokyo was a victory in itself, having been diagnosed with a blood-clotting disorder in 2017 that required an almost two-year recovery period.

“I’m on cloud nine,” said the 32-year-old, who was born in Russia and raised in an orphan-age until she was adopted at the age of six.

“I was in a really dark spot be-

cause it took me 20 months to re-cover, and everyone was getting better in those 20 months.”

McFadden added that it was “quite amazing” that she took the bronze behind US teammate Susannah Scaroni, who won gold.

Fleur Jong of the Netherlands won the women’s T64 long jump, beating French defending cham-pion Marie-Amelie Le Fur with a jump of 6.16m.

Le Fur, a three-time Paralym-pic gold medallist, said she would retire after the competition.

“The time has come to fi nish it here in Tokyo,” said the 32-year-old. “I’m proud to do so with this performance and with these extraordinary girls. There are no regrets.”

Spain’s Susana Rodriguez, who helped fi ght the coronavirus in her job as a doctor, won gold in

the women’s PTVI triathlon.Rodriguez, who fi tted hours

training for the Paralympics in between helping patients recover from the most severe infections, will also compete in the 1,500m at the Olympic Stadium on Sun-day.

“I will try to relax now and try to recover my legs,” she said.

“I need to keep calm because this situation gave me a lot of adrenaline.”

Britain’s Kadeena Cox will also turn her attention to athletics after winning her second cycling gold in the team sprint. She will try to defend her T38 400m title next week.

Also at the velodrome, hus-band and wife Neil and Lora Fachie of Britain won gold within 15 minutes of each other.

The boccia competition got underway with all four individ-ual gold medallists from the Rio Games returning to defend their titles.

Hong Kong’s BC4 champion Leung Yuk-wing will try to re-peat his Athens 2004 feat of win-ning gold in individual and pairs events.

“I am trying to be relaxed to face the game because just think-ing about being the champion or the gold medal would be a lot of pressure,” he said.

Away from the competition, organisers apologised after a vis-ually impaired Japanese judoka was hit by a self-driving bus in the Paralympic village on Thurs-day. Tokyo 2020 suspended the operation of the vehicles after the accident, where one of the buses “made contact” with Aramitsu Kitazono.

Kitazono was scheduled to compete in the men’s -81kg com-petition yesterday, but did not start his match against Ukraine’s Dmytro Solovey.

‘I will try to relax now and try to recover my legs’

Osaka sees no more Slam pullouts like French OpenAFPNew York

Defending US Open champion Naomi Osaka has ruled out any future repeats of her abrupt

withdrawal from the French Open, saying Friday she would have handled the controversy diff erently if given the chance.

The four-time Grand Slam winner, seeking her third New York title, dropped out at Ro-land Garros after skipping post-match interviews with report-ers, saying it caused her mental health distress.

When she was fi ned and warned future similar viola-tions could bring greater pun-ishments, Osaka withdrew from the tournament and skipped Wimbledon as well, her actions raising global awareness of the mental challenges facing world-class athletes.

Speaking in a room of report-ers on Friday with more tuned in virtually, the 23-year-old Japanese star said she would do things diff erently if put in the

same situation again. “I feel like there’s a lot of things I did wrong in that moment,” Osaka said Friday. “But I’m also the type of person that’s very in the moment, like whatever I feel I’ll say it or do it. I don’t necessarily think that’s a bad thing.

“I think there’s a lot of things I learned to do better. Of course, I don’t feel the same situation will happen again. I’d say maybe think it through a bit more in the way that I didn’t know how big a deal it would become.”

Osaka, seeded third in the fi -nal Grand Slam event of the year that begins Monday, said she was happier to have people ask-ing questions rather than getting them over audio and video mon-itors. “Defi nitely it feels better to see the person,” Osaka said. “It’s really off -putting just to be seated in front of a screen. May-be that’s one of the reasons why I feel, like, a lot of nerves. But it feels much better to be talking to a human.”

Osaka, who lit the cauldron in the opening ceremonies of the Tokyo Olympics, has played only once since then, losing in

her second match last week at Cincinnati. “I know I haven’t played that many matches. I know that I haven’t even gotten to a quarter-fi nal,” Osaka said.

“Actually I feel pretty happy with how I’m playing. I feel pretty confi dent with where I am right now. I’m not declaring that I’ll do amazing here. I’m the one-match-at-a-time person. Hope-fully it will work out in the end.”

Osaka says she has had to ad-just to feeling people look diff er-ently at her when they watch her play, a factor that could be a fac-tor with full capacity crowds be-ing allowed at the US Open after spectators were banned last year due to Covid-19.

“It will defi nitely feel a bit dif-ferent. I don’t really know how to describe it, but I kind of had to get over the feeling of people’s gazes feeling a bit diff erent to me,” Osaka said.

“At the same time I started to tell myself that it is what it is. I did what I did, so I can’t really change people’s perception on me.

“It might make me feel a little bit nervous. But fi rst rounds al-

ways make me feel a little nerv-ous. Maybe I can just attribute it to that. I guess I’ll fi nd out when I’m in that situation.”

Osaka said she would like to be able to see the court as a sanctu-ary from off -court troubles, but she doesn’t.

“It would be nice if there was that line for me, but no. I’m the type of person that everything is sort of the same,” Osaka said.

“You could see it earlier on in my career. If there was some-thing that was not right in my personal life, you could kind of see it in my playing.

“It would be really cool if I could draw that line and be able to be like a robot Superman that could go on the court, focus just on tennis. But no, I’m the type that kind of focuses on every-thing at one time. That’s why everything is sort of muddled to me.”

FOCUS

Djoko’s now-or-never moment at US OpenReutersNew York

Novak Djokovic hesi-tated to call the US Open a now-or-nev-er moment, but the

history-hunting Serb noted on Friday that an opportunity for a calendar year Grand Slam could be one of them.

The fact that only two male tennis players – Rod Laver and Don Budge – have ever achieved the feat underscores just how rare such moments are. Throw in that a Djokovic calendar Slam – winning the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and US Open in the same year – would be crowned by a record-setting 21st major title and the stakes may be as high as they have ever been for a player at a single tennis event.

“I don’t want to say it’s now or never for me because I think I’m going to have more oppor-tunities in my life to win slams. I don’t know if I’m going to be having more opportunities to win calendar slams. That’s why it’s a very unique opportunity,” Djokovic told reporters in New York.

“At the same time, I don’t need to put any additional pressure to what I already have, which is pretty big from my own self and from of course people around me,” Djokovic added.

Djokovic has said several times that pressure is a privi-lege, and the world’s top-ranked player can expect piles of it when play gets underway tomorrow at Flushing Mead-ows.

Not since Laver in 1969 has a man won the four Grand Slam titles in the same year. With Big Three rivals Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal out with inju-ries, Djokovic is a favourite to join that exclusive club.

“Obviously I know how big of an opportunity this is in front of me here in New York,

where historically I’ve played really well over the years. But I thrive under pressure, as well. I’ve done that many times in my career,” Djokovic said.

“This is what you work for day in, day out, all your life, to put yourself in a unique posi-tion to win Grand Slams and to make history. I have this chance, and I’m going to try to use it,” Djokovic added.

Without Federer and Nad-al, Djokovic is aware that the spotlight will be intensely fo-cused on him.

On the court instead of old rivals it is young guns Alexan-der Zverev, Daniil Medvedev and Stefanos Tsitsipas who the 34-year-old Djokovic believes stand between him and history.

“My participation here, without Rafa and Roger par-ticipating, I feel it,” said Djoko-vic, who will be back in action for the fi rst time since a disap-pointing showing at the Tokyo Olympics.

“Regardless of Roger’s and Rafa’s absence, you still have tremendous quality tennis players that are probably right now on hot streak.”

Djokovic added, “Zverev, Medvedev, Tsitsipas – those are the three top contend-ers I see for the title. Everyone wants to do well at the Grand Slam. Anything can really hap-pen.”

TENNIS

Sweden’s Ymer comes from behind to oust Alcaraz at Winston-Salem tennisMikael Ymer won seven straight games to stun rising Spanish star Carlos Alcaraz in straight sets, 7-5, 6-3, at the Winston-Salem Open Friday to become the first Swedish ATP Tour finalist since 2011.Ymer stormed back from a 3-5 deficit to take the first set then won the first three games of the second set to reach the first final of his career. “I was nervous,” said Ymer. “I knew he would come out very strong. Luckily I got a chance to break him in the first set.”

In Saturday’s final, the 22-year-old Ymer will face Ilya Ivashka, who is also in his first final and seeking to become the first Belarusian champ since 2003.Ivashka hammered Finland’s Emil Ruusuvuori 6-2, 6-1 in the other semi-final Friday.Ymer played flawless tennis from the baseline, clinching it on the first of two match points when the 18-year-old Alcaraz sailed his backhand long. He lost only one point in the final game due to a double

fault, his third of the match on the hardcourts at the Wake Forest Tennis Complex in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.Robin Soderling was the last Swede to reach a final, winning the Bastad, Sweden tournament in 2011.Ymer, whose parents are from Ethiopia, blasted three aces to just two for Alcaraz.Earlier this year, Ymer reached the third round at the Australian Open and the French Open where he defeated Gael Monfils for the

biggest win of his career.Ivashka is attempting to follow in the footsteps of compatriot Max Mirnyi, who is the last player from Belarus to win an ATP title doing it in 2003 at Rotterdam.“I feel good physically and mentally and I’m just trying to play my best tennis. I like to play on hard courts, so it’s all coming together this week,” Ivashka said.“It is something I have been dreaming of to get an ATP title, so let’s see tomorrow if it happens.”

Vaccination proof will be needed for US Open spectators

US Open organisers will require all spectators at this year’s final Grand Slam tourna-ment to have at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccine, the US Tennis Association announced Friday. The USTA said it was informed on Friday by the New York City Mayor’s off ice that it would mandate proof of Covid-19 vaccinations for entrance to Arthur Ashe Stadium, the main venue for the Flushing Mead-ows hardcourt showdown. “Given the continuing evolu-tion of the Delta variant and in keeping with our intention to put the health and safety of our fans first, the USTA will ex-tend the mayor’s requirement to all US Open ticket holders 12-years-old and older,” the USTA said in a statement.That will require at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine to

enter the grounds of the Na-tional Tennis Center for access to any match in any venue. No spectators were allowed at last year’s US Open due to Covid-19, a safety move that left the USTA with a $180 million budget deficit in 2020.This year’s tournament is set to welcome spectators at full capacity for every stadium, with the USTA having followed guidelines established by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the mayor’s off ice and the New York City Department of Health.Ticket holders were advised to bring a CDC vaccination card or other off icial immunisation record or a photo or photo-copy of the card. The USTA said it will have “extra measures to expedite entrance to the site to reduce any inconveniences” to ticketholders.

Beatrice Maria Vio of Italy reacts aft er winning wheelchair fencing foil individual – Category B gold medal – at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games yesterday.(Reuters)

Japan’s Naomi Osaka speaks during a interview ahead of the 2021 US Open at the Billie Jean King Natinal Tennis Center in Queens, New York. (AFP)

Man City pile on misery for Arsenal

Lewandowski hits hat-trick to pass 300 goals for Bayern Munich

Promotional campaign on for Qatar ahead of Euro qualifi ers

Nice crush Bordeaux to go 2nd

Immobile fi res treble as stylish Lazio hand Spezia 6-1 thrashing

Sunday, August 29, 2021

GULF TIMES FOOTBALLPREMIER LEAGUE

BUNDESLIGA

FIFA WORLD CUP 2022

LIGUE 1

SERIE A

Ten-man Chelsea hold Liverpool to a 1-1 draw

AFPLondon, England

Ten-man Chelsea held on for a 1-1 draw at Liver-pool after Reece James’ controversial dismissal,

while Mikel Arteta urged his Ar-senal fl ops to “look in the mir-ror” after a dismal 5-0 thrashing at Manchester City yesterday.

European champions Chel-sea took the lead through Kai Havertz’s looping header from James’s corner in the 22nd minute.

But a hard-fought clash of title contenders turned when James was sent off in fi rst half stoppage-time.

The Chelsea defender, sta-tioned on the goal-line, blocked Sadio Mane’s eff ort with his thigh and then his arm after Joel Matip’s header had hit the bar.

Referee Anthony Taylor was advised to check with the pitch-side monitor and he awarded a penalty before sending off James for denying a goalscoring opportunity.

Chelsea complained furi-ously but Mohamed Salah stepped up to convert the spot-kick before another an-gry protest from Blues de-fender Antonio Rudiger and goalkeeper Edouard Mendy sparked a penalty area melee.

Liverpool dominated the sec-ond half but Chelsea defended superbly, with Mendy making several fi ne saves.

Both sides remain unbeaten after seeing their 100 percent records come to an end in what was the fi rst chapter of what should be a gripping title race.

Arsenal have lost their fi rst three league games and are yet to score a goal this term.

Arteta’s side sit bottom of the league after their worst start to a season since 1954 as pres-sure mounts on their under-fi re boss.

Arteta’s switch to a back three failed to halt a slick City attack that suggested they are more than capable of defending their Premier League title this season despite missing out on Harry Kane and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Ilkay Gundogan opened the

fl oodgates before Ferran Torres pounced on shocking Arsenal defending to double City’s lead inside 12 minutes.

Arsenal’s task was made even harder when Granit Xhaka needlessly lunged at Joao Can-celo and was shown a straight red card.

Gabriel Jesus made it 3-0 be-fore half-time before Rodrigo and Torres, with his second of the afternoon, rounded off the scoring.

‘REALLY DISAPPOINTED’“I’m really disappointed with the things that happened on the pitch and the summary after three games, losing all of them, doesn’t make it any easier,” Arteta said.

“It is time to refl ect and look in the mirror, each of us, and try to change the dynamic straight away because we need to pick up results.”

Despite Arteta’s woes, Man-chester City boss Pep Guardiola insisted Arsenal should keep faith with his former assistant.

“I love him, we love him,” Guardiola said. “The period we worked together, these two or three seasons was a key point to build what we now have.

“I know, completely, his tal-

ent. I am pretty sure the mo-ment will come when every-thing will be back and he will do a job because he is an excellent manager.”

Everton beat Brighton 2-0 to extend their unbeaten start un-der former Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez.

A controversial appointment to replace Carlo Ancelotti in the close-season due to his Anfi eld links, Benitez is winning over his new fans after goals from Demarai Gray and Dominic Cal-vert-Lewin on the south coast.

After failing to win his fi rst two league games in charge of Crystal Palace, while also crash-ing out of the League Cup in midweek, Arsenal and France legend Patrick Vieira watched his team earn a creditable 2-2 draw at in-form West Ham.

Pablo Fornals and Michail Antonio twice put West Ham ahead, with Conor Gallagher netting both goals for Palace.

Promoted Brentford remain unbeaten after a 1-1 draw at As-ton Villa.

Brentford’s Ivan Toney got the opener and Emi Buendia scored his fi rst Villa goal to equalise.

Southampton snatched a dra-matic 2-2 draw at Newcastle thanks to James Ward-Prowse’s

stoppage-time equaliser.The Magpies took the lead

10 minutes into the second half through Callum Wilson before Mohamed Elyounoussi levelled for the visitors.

Allan Saint-Maximin looked to have won it from close range in the 90th minute, but Ward-Prowse converted from the spot.

Leicester won 2-1 at Norwich, with Jamie Vardy putting the Foxes ahead and Teemu Pukki equalising from the penalty spot before Marc Albrighton wrapped up the points.

RESULTSAston Villa 1 (Buendia 13) Brentford 1 (Toney 7)Brighton 0 Everton 2 (Gray 41, Calvert-Lewin 58-pen)Liverpool 1 (Salah 45+5-pen) Chelsea 1 (Havertz 22)Manchester City 5 (Gun-dogan 7, Torres 12, 84, Jesus 43, Rodri 53) Arsenal 0Newcastle 2 (Wilson 55, Saint-Maximin 90) Southampton 2 (Elyounoussi 74, Ward-Prowse 90+6)Norwich 1 (Pukki 44-pen) Leicester 2 (Vardy 8, Albrighton 76)West Ham 2 (Fornals 39, Antonio 88) Crystal Palace 2 (Gal-lagher 58, 70)

Manchester City’s Ferran Torres (left) scores their fifth goal during the Premier League match against Arsenal at Etihad Stadium in Manchester, England, yesterday. (Reuters)

QNADebrecen, Hungary

Streets and public places in Debrecen, Hungary, were decorated with pro-motional campaign for

the Qatar national football team ahead of the European qualifi ers for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.

Debrecen will host Qatar’s Group A matches against Serbia and Portugal on September 1 and 4 respectively at the Nagyerdei Stadion.

The Group also includes Ire-land, Azerbaijan and Luxembourg.

Qatar Football Association (QFA) launched the promotional campaign both in Debrecen and on its social media platforms which has been actively an-nouncing the campaign.

Main streets of Debrecen and its main train and stations, as well as Budapest Airport and main streets were decorated with

Qatari fl ags, advertisements, the national team players and infor-mation about the matches which will be held at the Nagyerdei Sta-dion.

Qatar had a strong kickstart in the fi rst three matches of the Eu-ropean qualifi ers after its win over Luxemburg 1-0 and Azerbaijan 2-1, and a draw with Ireland 1-1.

ReutersNice, France

Nice hammered Giron-dins de Bordeaux 4-0 to continue their fi ne start to the Ligue 1 sea-

son yesterday a week after crowd trouble marred their previous outing.

In a game that was played be-hind closed doors pending in-vestigations into the incidents that caused their home game against Olympique de Marseille to be abandoned last Sunday, Nice prevailed through an early goal by Justin Kluivert, a double by Amine Gouiri and Khephren Thuram’s late strike.

The result lifted them up to second on seven points from three completed matches, two behind Paris St Germain who travel to Reims today.

Kluivert opened the scoring after just seven minutes when he volleyed home from Hicham Boudaoui’s cross to give Christo-phe Galtier’s side a perfect start.

He also assisted in the second

goal, playing Gouiri through for the striker to finish the job with a left-footed effort on 33 min-utes.

Gouiri made it 3-0 three min-utes before the interval as he converted a penalty after being brought down by centre back Laurent Koscielny.

Thuram, the former French in-ternational Lilian’s second son and brother of France striker Marcus, added another with fi ve minutes left from inside the area shortly af-ter coming on as a substitute.

Bordeaux, who have yet to win a game this season, are 17th with two points from four outings.

AFPMilan, Italy

Ciro Immobile fi red Lazio to two wins from two in Serie A with a hat-trick in a 6-1 hammering of

Spezia yesterday, while Atalanta laboured to a goalless draw with Bologna.

Immobile struck his fi rst just seconds after Daniele Verde had given Spezia a shock fourth-minute lead in Rome, levelling the scores with a delicate dinked fi nish and then ramming home the second 10 minutes later with a fi rst-time strike from just out-side the penalty area.

The 31-year-old then missed a penalty in fi rst half stoppage-

time only to nod home com-pletely unmarked from the sub-sequent corner to complete his treble.

Felipe Anderson, Elseid Hysaj and Luis Alberto — who also cre-ated three of the goals — added three more stylish strikes after the break as Lazio put on a show of passing football that belied new coach Maurizio Sarri’s pre-match complaints about what he called a “shameful” Stadio Ol-impico pitch.

One of Italy’s Euro 2020 heroes and the winner of the European Golden Shoe in 2020, Immobile looks in fi ne form in Sarri’s ex-pansive system, having scored four of the nine goals Lazio have racked up in their opening two matches.

Italy’s entertainers over the past few seasons, Atalanta looked bereft of ideas in their stalemate with Bologna in Bergamo.

Having conceded fi ve to sec-ond-tier Ternana in their fi rst-round Italian Cup exit and two against promoted Salernitana last weekend, Bologna looked perfect home opposition for usu-ally goal-hungry Atalanta.

However Gian Piero Gasp-erini’s side struggled to create many opportunities and had to settle for a point following an underwhelming performance.

RESULTSLazio 6 (Immobile 5, 15, 45+2, Anderson 47, Hysaj 70, Luis Alberto 85) Spezia 1 (Verdi 4)Atalanta 0 Bologna 0

Qatar national football team players take part in their final training session in Austria ahead of the European Qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 yesterday.

Nice’s Amine Gouiri (centre) celebrates his goal with teammates during the Ligue 1 match against Bordeaux yesterday. (Reuters)

AFPBerlin, Germany

Robert Lewandowski scored a hat-trick as Bayern Munich thumped Hertha Berlin

5-0 yesterday, with the Poland striker passing the milestone of 300 goals for the defending Bun-desliga champions.

Bayern took an early lead through Thomas Mueller before Lewandowski struck either side of a Jamal Musiala goal.

Having scored a record 41 Bundesliga goals last season, Lewandowski has already netted fi ve times in three league match-es this term.

Lewandowski could have fi n-ished with four, having stepped over the ball to allow Mueller to score the early opener.

“Sometimes the fi rst goal is the most important, it was right to leave the ball for Tho-mas — I knew he was there,” said Lewandowski, who has scored three goals or more in 15 Bundes-liga games in his career.

“We had the game under con-trol and everything planned came off . I’m always hungry, I feel re-ally good and I am always look-ing to reach the next level, always ready to improve.”

Mueller said Lewandowski is playing at “another level”.

Lewandowski doubled the lead after Mueller’s opener by head-ing into the net at the second at-tempt having fi rst hit the cross bar as Bayern outclassed Hertha.

He has scored in 16 consecutive games for Bayern in all competi-tions, one more than club late leg-end Gerd Mueller, who scored in 15 consecutive games in 1969/70.

Hertha’s fortunes did not im-prove when their goalkeeper Alexander Schwolow landed on Berlin captain Dedryck Boyata after clearing a corner and the pair banged heads.

Bayern’s third came just after

the break when Mueller won pos-session and Musiala, 18, beat two defenders to fi re inside the far post.

Musiala made way for Leroy Sane who answered recent whis-tles from Bayern fans by serving up Lewandowski’s second.

Sane exchanged passes with Mueller, then sliced through the defence on the left and gave Lewandowski a simple tap in for his 300th goal in all competi-tions for Bayern. He completed his hat-trick when Joshua Kim-mich’s corner was fl icked on to the back post by Tanguy Nianzou for Lewandowski to head home.

JEONG’S RAPID-FIRE DOUBLEThe rout lifted Bayern into second in the table, level on seven points but behind early leaders Bayer Leverkusen, who swept Augsburg aside 4-1 thanks to two early own goals, on goal diff erence.

Augsburg made a disastrous start when Brazilian defender Iago, then striker Florian Niederlechner both turned the ball into their own net to generously put Leverkusen 2-0 up after 14 minutes.

Niederlechner made amends

when he stabbed home after Leverkusen goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky had rushed off his line.

It was one-way traffi c in the second half as Leverkusen domi-nated with goals by Patrik Schick and Florian Wirtz.

Freiburg are third after a 3-2 victory at Stuttgart, where all the goals came in a frantic fi rst half.

South Korea forward Jeong Woo-yeong, 21, made a dream start with two goals for Freiburg in the opening nine minutes before striker Lucas Hoeler made it 3-0 before half an hour was played.

Stuttgart hit back with rapid-fi re goals from striker Hamadi Al-Ghaddioui and defender Konstantinos Mavropanos just before half-time.

Austrian midfi elder Patrick Wimmer made a dream Bun-desliga debut with Arminia Bielefeld’s equaliser four minutes

from time in a 1-1 draw at home to Eintracht Frankfurt.

Wolfsburg can regain top spot if they pick up their third straight league win at home to fellow Champions League side RB Leip-zig today.

RESULTSVfB Stuttgart 2 (Mavropanos 45, Al Ghaddioui 45+2) Freiburg 3 (Jeong 3, 9, Hoeler 28)Mainz 3 (Lucoqui 15, Szalai 18, Stoeger 90+2) Greuther Fuerth 0Augsburg 1 (Niederlechner 30) Bayer Leverkusen 4 (Iago 3-og, Niederlechner 14-og, Schick 75, Wirtz 81)Arminia Bielefeld 1 (Wimmer 86) Eintracht Frankfurt 1 (Hauge 22)Cologne 2 (Schaub 82, Lem-perle 90+1) Bochum 1 (Zoller 90+4)Bayern Munich 5 (Mueller 6, Lewandowski 35, 84, Musiala 49) Hertha Berlin 0

Super League rebels planning next coup attempt: reportAFPBerlin, Germany

The three remaining Super League rebel clubs — Real Madrid, Barcelona and

Juventus — are planning an-other next attempt to replace UEFA’s elite Champions League competition, according to Ger-man magazine Spiegel.Last April, a breakaway group of 12 clubs briefly sent shock

waves through European football with their short-lived attempt to set up a new elite competition.It was designed to wrestle power away from European football’s governing body UEFA.The coup folded within 48 hours when nine clubs — Atletico Madrid, AC Milan, Inter Milan, Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal and Totten-ham Hotspur, backed down in

the face of fierce opposition from fans, players, politicians and organisations.However, Spiegel reports the remaining rebel clubs — Real, Barcelona and Juventus — are working with two consultancy agencies on their next attempt at launching a “Super League 2.0”.Spiegel says it has seen a 10-page document titled “Paving the way for the Super League: the strategy for reconstruction, reset — and victory”.

It lays out a campaign designed to win over other top clubs and key figures, such as politicians, stakeholders and journalists.The strategy outlines diff erent scenarios for a new competi-tion, such as a Super League 1, involving 20 clubs to replace the Champions League and a Super League 2, also contain-ing 20 clubs, instead of the Europa League. There would be promotion and relegation between the two leagues.