Champions League: Real edge past City to set up all-Madrid final

May 5, 2016

Madrid, May 5: Real Madrid will face Atletico Madrid in the Champions League final for the second time in three years after overcoming Manchester City 1-0 in their semi-final second leg on Wednesday.

Champions

Brazilian midfielder Fernando deflected Gareth Bale's cross into his own net after 20 minutes at the Santiago Bernabeu for the only goal of the tie after the first leg ended goalless.

Fernandinho came closest to taking City to their first ever Champions League final when his shot clipped the outside of the post a minute before half-time.

Real beat Atletico 4-1 after extra time in Lisbon two years ago to win the competition for a 10th time and will be hoping for a repeat when they face Diego Simeone's men in Milan on May 28.

"It is another final. It has been very difficult to get there," Madrid defender Sergio Ramos -- whose 93rd-minute header sent the previous final against Atletico into extra time -- told BeIN Sports Spain.

"We have shown we know how to win a final and we are going to try and do it again."

City's performance over the two legs left much to be desired, but goalkeeper Joe Hart claimed the difference between the sides had been the luck Real enjoyed in the only goal of the game.

"We could easily be in the final but they managed the game well," he told BT Sport.

"They've beaten us with a very lucky goal but it is what it is."

City manager Manuel Pellegrini's time at the club will come to an end without European glory as he will be replaced at the end of the season by Pep Guardiola.

And the Chilean lamented his side's lack of creativity to cause Madrid problems over the two legs.

"We worked very well the whole game and that is why Real Madrid couldn't create chances, but after that you need creativity and players who can make the difference in the last third and we lacked that."

Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane now has the chance to repeat his Champions League success as a player with Real in 2002 in his first season in charge as a coach.

"In a semi-final you always have to suffer, but we've achieved our place in the final," said Zidane.

Real were given a huge boost before kick-off as Cristiano Ronaldo made his return after a three-game absence due to a thigh injury.

By contrast, City were dealt a massive injury blow inside 10 minutes when captain Vincent Kompany was forced off once more with a muscle problem in an injury-disrupted campaign.

Ronaldo was looking to equal his own record of 17 Champions League goals in a season, but sent his first chance well over the bar with a header from Dani Carvajal's cross.

However, Madrid got the luck they needed to swing the tie in their favour with their next attack as Bale was played in on the right of the City box and his intended cross spooned up off Fernando and into the far corner to leave Hart helpless.

The difference in European pedigree between the clubs couldn't have been starker as Madrid were playing in their 27th semi-final, whilst City were in the last four for the first time.

That inexperience looked to be taking hold as City enjoyed decent spells of first-half possession without troubling the Real defence.

However, they came within inches of finding the crucial away goal just before the break when Kevin De Bruyne picked out Fernandinho and the Brazilian midfielder's low driven shot clipped the outside of the post.

The goalmouth action was all in City's box early in the second period as Hart denied Luka Modric and Ronaldo twice before Bale's looping header came back off the bar.

Yet, out of nothing City nearly snatched the goal they needed a minute from time when top scorer Sergio Aguero's first serious effort of the tie dipped onto the roof of the net.

Despite a frantic finale, though, Madrid continued their record of not conceding a goal at home in the Champions League this season to progress to their 14th European Cup final.

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News Network
April 2,2020

New Delhi, Apr 2: BJP MP and former cricketer Gautam Gambhir on Thursday said that he will donate his two year's salary to PM-CARES Fund to support the battle against coronavirus pandemic in the country.

"People ask what can their country do for them. The real question is what can you do for your country? I am donating my 2 year's salary to #PMCaresFund. You should come forward too! @narendramodi @JPNadda @BJP4Delhi #IndiaFightsCorona," Gambhir tweeted.

The total number of coronavirus cases in India climbed to 1965 on Thursday after 131 people confirmed positive in the past 12 hours, said the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

At present, there are 1764 COVID-19 active cases in the country and 50 people have died due to the lethal infection.

Interestingly, on this day in 2011, India lifted its second World Cup title after a drought of 28 years. Gambhir played a crucial role in the final and anchored the run-chase.

India won its first World Cup in 1983 under the leadership of former all-rounder Kapil Dev. 

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News Network
February 19,2020

Feb 19: India captain Virat Kohli on Wednesday dropped enough hints to indicate that seniormost pacer Ishant Sharma and young opener Prithvi Shaw will be in the playing XI for the first Test against New Zealand in Wellington. If India's net session on Wednesday is taken into consideration, Wriddhiman Saha is starting as the wicketkeeper ahead of Rishabh Pant for the series opener beginning on Friday. Hanuma Vihari, the team's designated No 6 batsman for away Tests, will be the fifth bowling option with Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Ishant being three specialist pacers.

Ravichandran Ashwin is in the mix for the lone specialist spinner's spot though Ravindra Jadeja's all-round skills can't be ignored either.

Ishant, who was out for three weeks with an ankle injury sustained during a Ranji Trophy game, bowled full tilt at the nets and even earned appreciation for troubling batsmen with his pace and bounce.

"He (Ishant) looked pretty normal and pretty similar to what he was bowling before the ankle injury. He is hitting good areas again and he has played (Test cricket) in New Zealand couple of times, so his experience will be useful to us. It was really good to see him bowling with pace and in good areas," Kohli said during his media interaction.

The skipper also said in as many words that the team wouldn't like to change Shaw's natural stroke-play which was a good enough hint that Shubman Gill will have to warm the benches for now.

"Prithvi is a talented player and he has his own game and we want him to follow his instincts and play the way he does. Look, these guys have no baggage and are not desperate to perform in any manner," the skipper said.

The skipper wants Shaw to take a leaf out of Mayank Agarwal's performance in Australia back in 2018-19 when he hit back to back half-centuries in Melbourne and Sydney.

"They don't have any nerves to do well overseas. Like a clear head with which Mayank played in Australia, Prithvi can do the same in New Zealand.

"A bunch of guys playing with fearlessness, something that can motivate the whole team, gives us start that the team wants and not get intimidated by the opposition in any way."

The skipper downplayed India's below-par show in the three-match ODI series, especially that of Agarwal.

"Prithvi, I think you can call him relatively inexperienced and Mayank, I wouldn't call him that inexperienced because he has scored a lot of runs last year. So he understands what his game is like in Test cricket.

"I think sometimes in white ball cricket we try to do too much but once you come into red ball cricket, you fall into that disciplined mode of batting, which obviously suits him much more at this stage."

While he didn't give an answer on the Saha-Pant debate, the burly Delhi keeper had precious little to do at the main nets and was seen spending more time doing his keeping drills and only got an opportunity to bat when the first team completed its routines.

New Zealand are likely to go with an all-pace attack but the Indian captain wants to stick to his team's strengths which is play with one spinner in the four-pronged bowling attack.

"If it had been a Johannesburg pitch, I could have said it's a possibility (to play four pacers) but our team has that skill that we can bowl out other teams with only three fast bowlers," he sounded confident.

"But you need one world class skillful spinner, who can take wickets on any pitch. We won't copy the home team. We would rather figure out what is the most lethal combination, which gives us balance," he added.

"As a bowling group it's better than the one that came to NZ last time and that is why we have got so many teams all out in last two and half years. We would like to repeat that here also," Kohli added.

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Agencies
June 2,2020

New Delhi, Jun 2: Expressing solidarity with the 'Black Lives Matter' campaign, star West Indies batsman Chris Gayle has alleged that he faced racist remarks during his career and cricket is not free of the menace.

Gayle did not elaborate when he faced racial remarks but hinted it might have been during his stints at global T20 leagues.

"I have travelled the globe and experienced racial remarks towards me because I am black, believe me, the list goes on," he posted on instagram on Monday night.

"Racism is not only in football, it's in cricket too. Even within teams as a black man, I get the end of the stick. Black and powerful. Black and proud," he said.

The big-hitting batsman's comments came in the backdrop of African-American George Floyd's death in the USA after a white police officer, Derek Chauvin, pressed his knee on the handcuffed man's neck as he gasped for breath.

The incident has sparked violent protests across the USA.

"Black lives matter just like any other life. Black people matter, p***k all racist people, stop taking black people for fools, even our own black people wise the p***k up and stop bringing down your own!," Gayle wrote.

Racism in cricket was drew attention most recently last year when England pacer Jofra Archer was abused by a spectator in New Zealand.

New Zealand's top players and the cricket board had offered apologies for the incident to the Englishman.

Also on Monday night, the England cricket team's official twitter handle posted a message denouncing racism.

"We stand for diversity, We stand against racism," the message read.

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