Daily News Channel
Michel Platini, the president of the governing body for European football (UEFA) has exclusively told CNN that he urges fans not to travel to the Champions League final in Rome without a ticket — in the wake of news that a Briton needed hospital treatment after being stabbed.
Minnows Burnley have become the smallest town to have a team in the English Premier League, after securing promotion by defeating Sheffield United 1-0 in the Championship play-off final at Wembley. Wade Elliott’s 13th-minute strike proved enough as Burnley, a north-west town of only 80,000 people, made their dreams come true in what is billed as the ‘richest match in football’ because of the potential rewards that come with playing in the Premier League. Burnley were one of the original 12 members of the Football League, when it was formed in 1888, and they will now be playing football in the top flight for the first time since relegation in 1976.
Newcastle’s 16-year stay in the English Premier League has come to an end as a Damien Duff own goal saw them lose 1-0 at Aston Villa.
Maria Sharapova’s return to competitive tennis came to an abrupt halt as she was beaten in the quarterfinals of the Warsaw Open by eighth seed Alona Bondarenko.
Clay-court king Rafael Nadal saved three match points before defeating third seed Novak Djokovic 3-6 7-6 7-6 in an epic four-hour struggle to reach the Madrid Open final on Saturday.
Barcelona claimed their first trophy in three years and stayed on course for a historic treble by thrashing Athletic Bilboa 4-1 in the Spanish Cup final.
Tom Henning Ovrebo is a name now etched in the minds of European football fans — mostly for the wrong reasons. Ovrebo was in charge of Wednesday night’s 1-1 Champions League semi-final draw between English side Chelsea and Spain’s Barcelona at Stamford Bridge. The match ended in controversy as the visitors stole an equalizer and Chelsea striker Didier Drogba launched a verbal tirade on the referee
A stunning last-gasp strike from Andres Iniesta put 10-man Barcelona in the Champions League final on the away goals rule, giving the Catalan giants a 1-1 draw at Chelsea on a night of high drama at Stamford Bridge. With the clock showing two minutes gone out of an extra four minutes at the end of the game, Spanish international Iniesta fired in a sublime shot from the edge of the area to break Chelsea’s hearts and take Pep Guardiola’s side through to a dream final against holders Manchester United in Rome on May 27. Following last week’s cagey goalless draw at the Nou Camp, all the talk before the match was whether Barca’s stunning attacking prowess could pierce Chelsea’s solid defense.
Holders Manchester United remain on course to become the first side to retain the Champions League, as two goals in the first 11 minutes saw them defeat Arsenal 3-1 for a 4-1 aggregate victory and a place in the final against either Chelsea or Barcelona in Rome. A carnival atmosphere at the Emirates Stadium saw the home fans optimistic that last week’s 1-0 defeat at Old Trafford could be overturned, but those hopes were cruelly dashed as two individual mistakes allowed United to take a foothold in the game — a position they never looked likely to relinquish. Arsenal went into the match unbeaten in their last 27 home matches in Europe, since Chelsea defeated them 2-1 at Highbury in 2004, and had yet to taste European defeat at the Emirates, but that proud record always looked in doubt from the moment United took an eighth-minute lead.
Manny Pacquiao’s two-round demolition of Ricky Hatton has set up the prospect of the biggest money-spinning fight in the history of boxing. The Filipino knocked out the plucky but outclassed Briton in Las Vegas on Saturday night — earning him by a conservative estimate at least $2 million dollars per minute. Hatton, who could well now hang up his gloves, will pocket more than $8 million as a consolation