Bayern set sights on dream home Champions League final

Bayern set sights on dream home Champions League final
Bayern’s players celebrate their side’s 6-1 win after their Bundesliga match against Holstein Kiel, at the Holsten stadium in Kiel, Germany, on Sept. 14, 2024. (AP)
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Updated 16 September 2024
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Bayern set sights on dream home Champions League final

Bayern set sights on dream home Champions League final
  • “Something big is coming,” Neuer told reporters ahead of Tuesday’s opening clash with Dinamo Zagreb at home
  • “The most important thing is the final in Munich. We want to go there and everything else is secondary”

BERLIN: Bayern captain Manuel Neuer said Monday his side were fully focused on the Champions League season, with this year’s final to be held at Munich’s Allianz Arena.
“Something big is coming,” Neuer told reporters ahead of Tuesday’s opening clash with Dinamo Zagreb at home.
“The most important thing is the final in Munich. We want to go there and everything else is secondary.
“We know what this final means to the city, the fans and the players. Our motivation is simply very high.”
Six-time European champions Bayern come into the season after their first trophyless campaign in 11 seasons, with Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen winning a league and cup double.
In the Champions League, Bayern were eliminated in the semifinals by eventual winners Real Madrid, who beat Borussia Dortmund 2-0 at Wembley to lift the trophy.
Neuer and fellow Bayern veteran Thomas Mueller, who both won the 2013 and 2020 Champions League finals, are the only two players in the squad to remember the 2012 home final, which they lost on penalties to Premier League side Chelsea.
Mueller went on social media on Monday, telling followers “the road to Munich starts tomorrow.
“I’m very excited. Let’s enjoy the best football in Europe.”
Manager Vincent Kompany, set to coach his first match in the Champions League, told reporters “the fans can dream.”
“The most important thing for me is that we show it on the pitch. We have a difficult game tomorrow. The important thing is that we play well and win tomorrow.”
Bayern have won every one of their Champions League openers since 2002 when they lost 3-2 to Deportivo La Coruna, which was the prelude to their first and only group stage elimination.


Winners crowned after first round of Saudi Toyota Drag Racing Championship

Winners crowned after first round of Saudi Toyota Drag Racing Championship
Updated 28 September 2024
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Winners crowned after first round of Saudi Toyota Drag Racing Championship

Winners crowned after first round of Saudi Toyota Drag Racing Championship

RIYADH: The 2024 Saudi Toyota Drag Racing Championship's first round concluded on Friday at the Dirab Circuit in Riyadh with winners receiving their awards.

Organized by the Saudi Automobile and Motorcycle Federation and sponsored by Abdul Latif Jameel Motorsports, the event saw competition over three days, featuring 58 participants from Saudi Arabia and neighboring countries.

Winners in various car categories included Muslim Al-Qallaf, Ibrahim Al-Shunaifi, Faisal Al-Ahmad, and Majid Al-Harbi.

In motorcycle categories, Khalid Ali Al-Dosari claimed multiple victories.

The top winners were honored in an awards ceremony led by Khalid Al-Suwaidan, CEO of the Saudi Automobile and Motorcycle Federation.


Man City held without Rodri as Palmer’s four-goal haul fires Chelsea

Man City held without Rodri as Palmer’s four-goal haul fires Chelsea
Updated 28 September 2024
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Man City held without Rodri as Palmer’s four-goal haul fires Chelsea

Man City held without Rodri as Palmer’s four-goal haul fires Chelsea
  • City’s second successive draw in the league was especially frustrating as Arsenal moved level on points with them with a last-gasp 4-2 win against Leicester a few hours later
  • Palmer became the first player ever to score four goals in the first half of a Premier League match with a stunning display at Stamford Bridge

LONDON: Manchester City felt the absence of star midfielder Rodri as the Premier League champions were held to a damaging 1-1 draw at Newcastle, while Cole Palmer scored four times in Chelsea’s 4-2 win against Brighton on Saturday.
City’s second successive draw in the league was especially frustrating as Arsenal moved level on points with them with a last-gasp 4-2 win against Leicester a few hours later.
Rodri has been ruled out for the rest of the season after surgery on a knee injury suffered in last weekend’s bruising 2-2 draw with title rivals Arsenal.
Josko Gvardiol put City in front at St. James’ Park, but Newcastle were well worthy of the point given to them by Anthony Gordon’s second-half penalty.
Guardiola described Rodri, who is unbeaten in his past 52 Premier League appearances stretching back to February 2023, as “irreplaceable.”
To fill the void left by the Spaniard, Rico Lewis was thrust into a central midfield role alongside Mateo Kovacic.
But City lacked the control and poise so often provided by Rodri on and off the ball.
“It is always difficult here with their physicality and they defend so deep. We had chances but (Nick) Pope (the goalkeeper) was brilliant so we take the point,” said Guardiola.
“We made bad decisions (with the chances) to make it 2-0.”
At the Emirates Stadium, Gabriel Martinelli put Arsenal ahead in the 20th minute with his first goal this season, the Brazilian winger drilled a low finish inside the far post from Jurrien Timber’s cross.
Martinelli turned provider on the stroke of half-time, setting up Leandro Trossard to stroke in Arsenal’s second goal.
James Justin reduced the deficit with a deflected 47th-minute effort and stunned the Emirates Stadium into silence in the 63rd minute when his thunderous volley cannoned in off the woodwork.
But Mikel Arteta’s men stole the points four minutes into stoppage-time when Trossard’s shot deflected off Leicester’s Wilfred Ndidi for an own goal, with Kai Havertz netting moments later to confirm the victory.
Palmer became the first player ever to score four goals in the first half of a Premier League match with a stunning display at Stamford Bridge.
Former Brighton duo Moises Caicedo and Robert Sanchez were guilty of mistakes when Georginio Rutter put the Seagulls ahead in the seventh minute.
Just moments after hitting the post and then having a goal disallowed, it was third time lucky for Palmer in the 21st minute.
Palmer equalized with a clinical finish after Nicolas Jackson seized on Adam Webster’s mistake to tee up his fellow forward.
When Jadon Sancho was tripped in the area by two Brighton defenders, there was never any doubt that penalty expert Palmer would step up to dispatch the 28th-minute spot-kick with ease.
Palmer completed his nine-minute-and-48-second treble in the 31st minute, curling a brilliant free-kick past Bart Verbruggen from 25 yards to make it five goals in six league games this term.
Carlos Baleba pulled one back in the 34th minute, but Palmer’s incredible afternoon wasn’t over and, in the 41st minute, the England star converted Sancho’s pass with an emphatic strike.
West Ham midfielder Tomas Soucek rescued a 1-1 draw at Brentford, who made Premier League history thanks to Bryan Mbeumo’s quick-fire opener.
Under-fire Hammers boss Julen Lopetegui saw his side fall behind after just 37 seconds as Mbeumo’s superb volley made Brentford the first Premier League team to score in the first minute in three consecutive games.
But Soucek swept in West Ham’s 54th-minute equalizer to avoid a fourth defeat in their last five games in all competitions.
Dwight McNeil struck twice in the second half as Everton beat Crystal Palace 2-1 to end their winless start to the league season, just days after the Goodison Park takeover by a group led by American billionaire Dan Friedkin.
Raul Jimenez’s 51st-minute penalty gave Fulham a 1-0 win at Nottingham Forest.
Liverpool will go top of the table if they win at Wolves in Saturday’s late game.


Guardiola wants close friend Arteta to explain himself after cryptic comments about Man City

Guardiola wants close friend Arteta to explain himself after cryptic comments about Man City
Updated 28 September 2024
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Guardiola wants close friend Arteta to explain himself after cryptic comments about Man City

Guardiola wants close friend Arteta to explain himself after cryptic comments about Man City
  • Arteta seems certain their relationship won’t be damaged
  • Guardiola, however, might have gotten irritated

MANCHESTER: The friendship between Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola and Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta could come under strain with the rivalry between their title-chasing Premier League clubs intensifying in recent days.
Arteta seems certain their relationship won’t be damaged.
Guardiola, however, might have gotten irritated.
Arsenal’s tactics, and use of soccer’s so-called “dark arts,” brought some criticism from a number of City players after the feisty 2-2 draw between the teams last weekend.
Arteta responded rather cryptically by saying he has “all the information” about City owing to his time there as an assistant to Guardiola from 2016-19.
“So I know, believe me,” Arteta said.
Those remarks were sufficiently vague for Guardiola to wonder whether Arteta may actually be alluding to the off-the-field issues at City, which are currently defending themselves against 115 charges of breaching Premier League regulations following an investigation into the club’s financial affairs.
“Next time he has to be more clear exactly what does he mean,” Guardiola said of Arteta. “He said he was here four years and we know exactly what happened here.
“It can be related (to) the process now with 115 charges, maybe it’s about that. He knows information about that maybe, or maybe he has something like ... I don’t know. OK, next time, like a good relation I have with him, hopefully this question has been asked. He can answer exactly what does it mean when he said he was here and ‘I know what’s happening here.’“
Guardiola was speaking Friday in a news conference that took place about the same time as Arteta was holding one at Arsenal’s training base.
Asked about his relationship with Guardiola, Arteta said: “I love him, I respect him, I admire him and I admire his team and everything that he does. This is sport. One thing is our profession, another is our personal relationship.
“If our relationship was damaged because one draws and the other one wins or the amount of times that they’ve beaten us, I would not talk to him anymore. So that’s not our relationship, especially the relationship that I consider both of us have. In sport it will never get in my way, a personal relationship, that’s for sure.”
Guardiola said he feels Arsenal might be provoking his players into a rivalry, picking up especially on post-match comments by Arsenal defender Gabriel.
“Gabriel said it perfectly after the match — so this is a war, we are here to provoke the opponent, to push them,” Guardiola said. “At the end what can you do? OK, you provoke me — I’m there. You want a war? I’ll do a war.”
Arsenal have finished runner-up to City in the league the last two seasons.


MOD UAE dominate opening day of Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Jiu-Jitsu Championship

MOD UAE dominate opening day of Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Jiu-Jitsu Championship
Updated 28 September 2024
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MOD UAE dominate opening day of Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Jiu-Jitsu Championship

MOD UAE dominate opening day of Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Jiu-Jitsu Championship
  • Round 3 No-Gi takes place from Sept. 27-29 at Al-Bait Metwahid in Sharjah

SHARJAH: MOD UAE emerged as the frontrunner on the opening day of the Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Jiu-Jitsu Championship, Round 3 No-Gi, which is being held from Sept. 27-29 at Al-Bait Metwahid in Sharjah.

Friday’s action saw athletes from the Adults and Masters divisions take to the mat, with MOD UAE competitors delivering commanding performances to firmly establish their lead. Sharjah Self-Defense Sports Club followed closely in second place, while Al-Ain Jiu-Jitsu Club secured third spot.

The championship continues over the weekend, with U-12 and U-14 athletes competing on the second day, followed by the U-16 and Youth categories on the third. The competition is part of a five-round series held across the Emirates throughout the season.

Yousef Abdullah Al-Batran, board member of the UAE Jiu-Jitsu Federation, said: “Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Jiu-Jitsu Championship is a great platform to promote jiu-jitsu and support its growth among different categories of athletes. It shows our ongoing efforts to achieve excellence and reflects the strong support from our leadership to advance various sports, especially jiu-jitsu, as it plays a key role in promoting values like determination, persistence and patience.”

He added: “We’re pleased to see the large turnout and strong support from the audience, which has added excitement to the championship and motivated the athletes to give their all to win. It also highlights the special place jiu-jitsu holds in everyone’s hearts.”

Haitham Hanawi of MOD UAE, who won gold in the Men’s Adults/Masters Brown/Black 56kg category, said: “Competing in this championship was tough, especially with the different strategies needed for No-Gi competitions. I won gold thanks to the hard training and support from my teammates and coaches. The matches were difficult, but it was a great way to test my skills. I believe this tournament will keep helping jiu-jitsu grow in the UAE.”


Champions Al-Nassr kick off new Saudi Women’s Premier League with win over AlUla

Champions Al-Nassr kick off new Saudi Women’s Premier League with win over AlUla
Updated 28 September 2024
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Champions Al-Nassr kick off new Saudi Women’s Premier League with win over AlUla

Champions Al-Nassr kick off new Saudi Women’s Premier League with win over AlUla
  • Al-Shabab overcame Al-Taraji 4-0 while Al-Ahli comprehensively beat Al-Amal 6-2

RIYADH: Reigning champions Al-Nassr kicked off their defense of the Saudi Women’s Premier League title with a 3-1 win over AlUla in Riyadh on Friday night.

It was one of three matches that got the 2024-25 season underway, with AlUla shocking the home team when they took the lead through Jaine Lemke on 23 minutes. However, Clara Luvanga equalized for Al-Nassr five minutes later to ensure the teams went into half-time on level terms.

Second half goals from Ruth Kipoyi (52) and Lina Boussaha (64) completed Al-Nassr’s comeback.

Meanwhile, Al-Shabab defeated Al-Taraji 4-0 at Prince Naif bin Abdulaziz Sports City Stadium in Al-Qatif with goals from Fatima Al-Sadah (9), Nataša Andonova (40, 63) and Al-Bandari Mubarak (76).

In Friday’s third match, Al-Ahli completed a comprehensive 6-2 win over Al-Amal at King Fahad Sport City Stadium in Taif to top the table with two more matches remaining in the opening round.

Al-Ahli’s goals came from a hat-trick by Naomie Kabakaba (11, 18, 87) and one each by Elodie Nakkach (45), Ayah Al-Majali (64) and Alice Kusi (71). Al-Amal’s consolation strikes came from Mariam Sidibe (74) and Stephanie Gbogou Tape (85).

On Saturday night, Al-Hilal will welcome Eastern Flames to Inaya Medical Colleges Stadium in Riyadh, while Al-Ittihad will play host to Al-Qadsiah in Jeddah.