It was on 29 August 2012 that Real Madrid lifted their ninth Spanish Super Cup. In that edition, the Whites, who were playing as LaLiga champions, faced Barcelona. The first leg took place on 23 August at the Camp Nou, where Barcelona won by the narrowest of margins (3-2). Six days later, the madridistas turned the tie around at the Santiago Bernabéu and won the trophy on away goals (2-1).
Trent Alexander-Arnold will make a swift return to Anfield after Liverpool were drawn to host Real Madrid in this season’s Champions League.
The right-back will face his old teammates months after his controversial move to the Bernabéu, which drew vocal disapproval from sections of the Liverpool support.
It was one of several high-profile reunions produced in a league phase draw that also pits Kevin De Bruyne, now with Napoli, against Manchester City. The Napoli manager, Antonio Conte, will also meet his former club Chelsea. Arsenal will prime themselves for the latest appearance of Harry Kane, a long-time nemesis while at Spurs, in Bayern Munich colours at the Emirates.
The sprawling draw, which paired each of the 36 contenders with eight opponents, offered England’s six representatives a mixed bag. Liverpool will also host Real’s city neighbours, Atlético, as well as softer-looking tasks against PSV Eindhoven and the Azeri champions, Qarabag. They will travel to Inter, Eintracht Frankfurt, Marseille and Galatasaray.
Real Madrid’s Trent Alexander-Arnold will return to Anfield. Photograph: Thomas Coex/AFP/Getty Images
Manchester City will renew acquaintances with Real Madrid, who they have faced 10 times in the past five and a half years. Madrid most recently defeated them 6-3 on aggregate in the playoff round in February and will host this season’s tie at the Bernabéu. City will also visit newcomers Bodø/Glimt, Villarreal and Monaco; Pep Guardiola’s side will host Borussia Dortmund, Bayer Leverkusen and Galatasaray along with Napoli.
Arsenal will hope to avenge their quarter-final defeat against Kane and Bayern of 2023-24. Atlético, Olympiakos and the Kazakh debutants Kairat Almaty will also visit north London; last season’s Premier League runners-up will travel to Inter, Club Brugge, Slavia Prague and Athletic Bilbao.
Chelsea face a relatively tough-looking path through the league phase. They will meet Barcelona, Benfica, Ajax and the Cypriot side Pafos at Stamford Bridge, playing away ties against Bayern, Atalanta, Napoli and Qarabag. The theme of reunions persists for Tottenham, who will travel to Bodø/Glimt after defeating the Norwegians in the Europa League semi-finals in May.
Harry Kane’s Bayern Munich knocked Arsenal out in 2023-24. Photograph: David Klein/Reuters
Spurs also face the reigning champions, Paris Saint-Germain, who edged them out on penalties in the Super Cup a fortnight ago, at the Parc des Princes. Their assignments on the road include Frankfurt, another opponent from 2024-25, and Monaco. Thomas Frank’s team host Dortmund, Villarreal, Slavia Prague and Copenhagen.
There will be few easy games for Newcastle, particularly if they find themselves shorn of Alexander Isak before the competition begins. St James’ Park will play host to Barcelona, Benfica, PSV and Athletic Bilbao; their fans will await trips to PSG, Bayer Leverkusen, Marseille and Union Saint-Gilloise.
Other noteworthy clashes include a rerun of the 2021 final between PSG and Bayern, along with an epic trip to the Kazakh capital for Real Madrid when they face Kairat Almaty.
The first set of games will take place between 16 and 18 September; five subsequent rounds are scheduled before mid-December, with two more lined up for January. The order of the fixtures, along with dates and kick-off times, will be released on Saturday.
NEW YORK — “Venus, she’s a legend. She’s an icon. Growing up, when I first started playing tennis, people asked me, ‘Who did you watch when you were growing up?’ I always said Justine Henin and the Williams sisters.”
Leylah Fernandez said that matter of factly, on the rooftop of the player clubhouse at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason, Ohio during a casual conversation in early August.
Less than a month later, in a scene she likely would not have predicted, she was sharing a court with her idol on Louis Armstrong Stadium in front of more than 14,000 rabid fans who were no doubt thrilled to have one more opportunity to see Venus play.
And the result was a good one for the American-Canadian pairing. The duo, which accepted a wild card into the US Open doubles draw on Tuesday, upset sixth-seeded Lyudmyla Kichenok and Ellen Perez, 7-6 (4), 6-3, in their first-round matchup on an unseasonably windy day in Queens. (It was downright uncomfortable if you were dressed for summer, though the fired-up crowd hardly seemed to notice.)
Towering over her partner — a former US Open singles finalist and doubles quarterfinalist — and looking at times like a big sister, the 45-year-old Williams earned her first win in three New York tries after bowing out in the revamped mixed doubles tournament last week and losing to Karolina Muchova on Monday.
It looked bleak to start, with Williams and Fernandez falling behind 5-2 in the first set, but they rallied to even it at 5. And with the thunderous crowd firmly in their corner, they eked out the tiebreak to take the first set and grab firm control of the match.
The next set was far less dramatic, as the unseeded pair jumped out to a 4-1 lead and comfortably closed it out.
“I’m used to being the big sister,” Williams told reporters after the match, “so I’m kind of asking her what she wants. It’s important for her to feel comfortable. Theoretically I have more experience, but she’s been playing a lot more matches, so maybe that makes us neck and neck in terms of how we can compete.
“But I think we just had to see what happened, because you never know what’s going to happen in a match and you have to adjust. Once we got down, I feel like we just put our foot on the gas.”
It was a full circle moment for the 22-year-old Fernandez, who remembers practicing with Venus outside of Lexington, Kentucky back in 2020. She was new to the Hologic WTA Tour at the time and didn’t know many players, and the gesture was a meaningful one.
“I thought I was going to be very intimidated, but she was super nice and welcoming,” Fernandez recalled during the Cincinnati Open.
She certainly appeared nice and welcoming again on Thursday, as the two embraced after securing the win.
This was Williams’ first doubles victory in Queens in 11 years, though she’s certainly no stranger to doubles success at this venue. The seven-time Grand Slam singles champion won the doubles tournament here in 1999, alongside her sister Serena, and the pair won it a second time in 2009.
Williams and Fernandez will play Eri Hozumi and Ulrikke Eikeri in the second round on Saturday.
RIGA (Latvia) – The FIBA EuroBasket 2025 action will shift into Gameday 2 for Groups A and B which are taking place in Riga and Tampere, respectively.
The spotlight will once again shine on 12 teams playing in Latvia and Finland, with opening-day winners looking to build on a promising start and those who lost hoping for a swift bounce-back.
What’s on the plate on Friday?
Key Storylines
Hosts Latvia take on Estonia in a search for first win;
Portugal’s Queta faces Nikola Jokic after an impressive debut;
Germany aim to take advantage of heartbroken Sweden.
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Group A: Can The Unicorn and Latvia pick it up?
Hosts Latvia are looking to improve as soon as possible
Hosts Latvia endured a tough start to the tournament, as Türkiye shot the lights out and silenced more than 11,000 fans in Riga. The home team now look to bounce back against Estonia, who are also eager to respond after their opening loss to Serbia. One of them will leave with their first win on the board. Elsewhere, Portugal’s Neemias Queta goes head-to-head with reigning NBA champion Nikola Jokic in a must-watch clash against Serbia, while Türkiye aim to build on their perfect start – with Czechia ready to test their momentum.
Did you know?
Türkiye made 15 three-pointers on 60% shooting from beyond the arc against Latvia, both being their best shooting numbers in the last 30 years.
Latvia lost to Türkiye on opening day, but they have never lost consecutive EuroBasket games when playing in Riga.
Neemias Queta had 23 points and 18 rebounds in FIBA EuroBasket debut and will try to become the sixth player with a double-double in each of his first two games.
All information has been provided by Opta.
Group B: World champs out to double win tally
All smiles for Germany after the opening success
Sweden came agonizingly close to upsetting Finland in Tampere, only to fall just short in a dramatic finish. They now face Germany, who are aiming for a second straight win and to deepen Sweden’s early struggles. Montenegro will also be chasing their first victory, though a difficult test awaits against Lithuania, highlighted by the clash of two NBA big men, Jonas Valanciunas and Nikola Vucevic. To close out the day, hosts Finland look to move to 2-0, but Great Britain arrive determined to get on the board and spoil the party.
Did you know?
Andreas Obst has scored multiple three-pointers in nine of his 10 FIBA EuroBasket games. He only
failed to sink a three-pointer in his debut against France in 2022.
Lithuania grabbed 57 rebounds against Great Britain on opening day, the most for a team in a FIBA EuroBasket
game in the last 30 years.
Finland are averaging 88.6 PPG at the FIBA EuroBasket under Lassi Tuovi’s reign, the highest scoring average for any Finland’s head coach.
The beauty of the third-tier Conference League is it enables team from smaller countries to compete in the group stages – and allow teams that don’t win many trophies to succeed.
And Chelsea.
Until the Blues steamrolled everyone last season to win the Conference League, the previous winners had been Roma, West Ham and Olympiakos.
Roma ended a 14-year trophy drought, while it was 43 years for West Ham – and a Greek club had never won a European trophy before Olympiakos.
So it is far from inconceivable that a team like Crystal Palace could lift it this time.
The top seven countries in Uefa’s rankings only had one team each in it.
They are Palace, Fiorentina, Rayo Vallecano, Mainz, Strasbourg, AZ Alkmaar – and Santa Clara, who lost to Shamrock Rovers so are out.
And, having won the FA Cup in May, the Eagles actually have better recent pedigree than any of those other teams.
Since 2002, of those teams, only Strasbourg (two French League Cups) and AZ (one Dutch title and one Dutch Cup) have won anything.
Palace defender Chris Richards said: “Everybody is super excited. We are an ambitious club, and now is time to win some games in Europe. We are ready to make history.”
Boss Glasner won the Europa League with Eintracht Frankfurt in 2021-22.
Former Palace striker Glenn Murray, speaking on Channel 5, added: “Oliver Glasner has done it at the European level. To have him in charge, they have a special talent there.
“I feel as though they will navigate it, and they will weigh the balance of the Premier League and Europe. Hopefully they can reach the later stages.”
Ex-England defender Matt Upson, who had a brief loan spell at Palace in 2001, said: “They have shown they can navigate cup competitions.
“They have a manager who is very pragmatic and knows how to get there, which gives them every chance.”
Kobbie Mainoo tells Manchester United he wants to leave on loan, Wolves are fighting to keep Jorgen Strand Larsen, Tottenham and Chelsea battle for Xavi Simons and Aston Villa are set to re-sign Marco Asensio.
Kobbie Mainoo has told Manchester United he wants to leave on loan in search of regular minutes but the club want the 20-year-old England midfielder to stay and fight for his place and will not sanction a move. (Athletic – subscription required, external)
Wolves are ready to reject Newcastle’s third bid of £60m for Jorgen Strand Larsen and remain adamant that the 25-year-old Norway striker will not be sold during this transfer window. (Telegraph – subscription required, external)
Tottenham are close to agreeing a deal in the region of £60m with RB Leipzig for the Netherlands attacking midfielder Xavi Simons, 22, after racing to try to minimise the threat of Chelsea hijacking their move. (Telegraph – subscription required, external)
After agreeing a fee for Manchester United winger Alejandro Garnacho, 21, Chelsea are also prepared to make a £60m bid for Leipzig’s Simons. (Metro), external
Tottenham have made contact with Manchester City about a move for the Netherlands defender Nathan Ake, 30. (Givemesport), external
Aston Villa are close to signing forward Marco Asensio on a permanent deal from Paris St-Germain after the 29-year-old Spain international impressed while on loan at Villa Park last season. (L’Equipe – in French), external
After losing Romelu Lukaku to injury, Italian champions Napoli are ready to sign Manchester United’s 22-year-old forward Rasmus Hojlund on loan, with a verbal aggrement already reached for the Denmark international. (Gianluca DiMarzio), external
Manchester United’s 26-year-oldDutch left-back Tyrell Malacia is set to join Elche on a season-long loan after choosing the La Liga side over Lille. (Voetbal International – in Dutch, external)
Newly promoted Serie A side Cremonese are interested in 38-year-old Jamie Vardy, the former England striker who has been without a club since leaving Leicester City at the end of last season. (Times – subscription required, external)
Vardy’s former Leicester team-mate and France international N’Golo Kante is set for a return to Europe after the 34-year-old former Chelsea midfielder was offered to AS Monaco and Paris FC by Saudi Pro League champions Al-Ittihad. (L’Equipe – in French), external
Crystal Palace are bracing themselves to lose captain Marc Guehi, 25, to Liverpool before Monday’s deadline and want £45m for the England defender. (Express), external
Burnley are interested in signing Benfica’s Florentino Luis, 26, but Marseille and Roma have also shown interest in the Portuguese defensive midfielder this summer. (Sky Sports, external)
Rangers have made contact with Everton over a loan deal for 21-year-old Portuguese striker Youssef Chermiti. (Sky Sports, external)
Paris FC’s 19-year-old French defender Dimitri Colau will undergo a medical at West Ham on Saturday before signing a four-year contract with the Hammers. (Footmercato – in French, external)
Besiktas have sacked former Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer after they were knocked out of the UEFA Conference League playoffs by Lausanne.
Besiktas were beaten 1-0 at home by the INEOS-owned Lausanne on Thursday night, with former Arsenal striker Nathan Butler-Oyedeji scoring the only goal in first-half stoppage-time before Besiktas had Felix Uduokhai sent off early in the second half, giving Lausanne a 2-1 aggregate win.
“After getting knocked out of UEFA Conference League tonight, Beşiktaş Board of Directors held an emergency meeting and decided to part ways with Head Coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer,” Besiktas said in a statement.
“The Board also thanked Mr. Solskjaer for his services to Beşiktaş and wished him luck in his future career.”
Solskjaer took charge of the Super Lig club in January — his first coaching role since leaving Man United in November 2021 — and guided them to fourth at the end of last season.
