Sport

Real Madrid’s in-form Spanish maestro, Isco has been deemed unfit to face unfit to face Bayern Munich in Real Madrid's Champions League semi-final second leg, despite his admirable hope of playing through the pain barrier, MARCA reports. A painkilling injection had been contemplated by the midfielder as he sought to overcome a shoulder sprain picked up in last week's trip to Bavaria, however Monday's training session produced negative results on his recovery.

Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane has said his side will look to attack Bayern Munich quickly in Tuesday’s Champions League semi-final second leg as they seek to remain on course for an unprecedented third consecutive European Cup. Real hold a 2-1 lead after the first leg in Germany last week, however the Frenchman insists the job is nowhere near complete.

President Donald Trump’s threat to nations against a U.S. bid to co-host the 2026 World Cup has prompted FIFA, soccer’s governing body to refer to guidelines that warn against political influence overbids.

Morocco is the only rival to a joint bid to stage the event from the United States, Canada and Mexico, with the FIFA Congress due to choosing the hosts in Moscow on June 13.

“The U.S. has put together a STRONG bid w/ Canada & Mexico for the 2026 World Cup,” Trump tweeted.

“It would be a shame if countries that we always support were to lobby against the U.S. bid. Why should we be supporting these countries when they don’t support us (including at the United Nations)?”

Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson was proud of the efforts of his players as they hammered Leicester City 5-0 to boost their Premier League survival bid.

Palace had looked like a team destined for relegation after losing their opening seven Premier League fixtures without scoring a goal but they've now climbed to 11th and six points clear of the bottom three, where only Southampton are capable of catching them.

The in-form Wilfried Zaha again excelled and scored their opening goal, after which further finishes from James McArthur, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Patrick van Aanholt, and Christian Benteke's penalty, secured the three points which has seen them take a giant step towards safety.

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has admitted he regrets his war of words with Arsene Wenger as his side prepare to host Arsenal in Sunday’s English Premier League game at Old Trafford.

Mourinho had called Wenger “a specialist in failure” and a “voyeur”, in the past while the Frenchman also insulted him.

“We had big matches, big fights, so thank you so much for that. Regret? Little negative episodes, yes I do and probably he also does,” Mourinho said during his pre-match press conference on Friday.

The Supreme Court has set aside the 2016 judgment of the Appeal Court on the leadership tussle of the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF).

Chris Giwa and his board had dragged the FIFA-recognised Amaju Pinnick-led board to the Supreme Court, to set aside the verdict of the Appeal Court which set aside the ruling of a Federal High Court in Jos that ordered the continuation of the case.

They had claimed in the originating suit that the mandate given to them by the congress of the NFF in August 2013 was sacrosanct and that the election in Warri that brought in the Pinnick group was held in defiance of a High Court order.