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Pellegrini Wins in Return to Spanish league; Emery Draws

Valencia's Manu Vallejo celebrates scoring his side's 4rd goal during the Spanish La Liga match between against Levante at the Mestalla Stadium in Valencia, Spain, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2020. (AP)
Valencia's Manu Vallejo celebrates scoring his side's 4rd goal during the Spanish La Liga match between against Levante at the Mestalla Stadium in Valencia, Spain, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2020. (AP)
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Pellegrini Wins in Return to Spanish league; Emery Draws

Valencia's Manu Vallejo celebrates scoring his side's 4rd goal during the Spanish La Liga match between against Levante at the Mestalla Stadium in Valencia, Spain, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2020. (AP)
Valencia's Manu Vallejo celebrates scoring his side's 4rd goal during the Spanish La Liga match between against Levante at the Mestalla Stadium in Valencia, Spain, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2020. (AP)

It was a thrilling return to the Spanish league for Manuel Pellegrini. And a disappointing one for Unai Emery.

Back in the league on Sunday after long absences for both coaches, Pellegrini's Real Betis won 1-0 at Alavés — thanks to a stoppage-time goal from substitute Cristian Tello — while Emery's Villarreal couldn't get more than a 1-1 draw at home against promoted Huesca.

Emery was making his return to the league after leaving Sevilla in 2016 for stints with Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal. Pellegrini, a former Real Madrid and Manchester City coach, had last been in the Spanish league with Málaga in 2013.

The Spanish league kicked off this weekend without its top teams. Defending champion Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atlético Madrid and Europa League champion Sevilla had their first-round matches postponed to give them more rest time after their participation in European competitions in August. Barcelona, Atlético and Sevilla also won’t play in the second round.

The season started without fans because of the coronavirus pandemic. Spain recently saw a surge in coronavirus cases and has recorded more than 29,700 confirmed deaths with COVID-19.

Emery's draw
Villarreal, coming off a fifth-place finish last time, entered the new season amid high expectations after bringing in players such as Dani Parejo and Takefusa Kubo, but it was a struggling start against Huesca.

Villarreal salvaged the draw with a 68th-minute penalty kick converted by Gerard Moreno after video review confirmed a handball by Pablo Maffeo.

Maffeo had put the visitors ahead in the 42nd.

“I think the team did well enough to win the match,” Emery said. “After equalizing we were always very close to their area. We have things to improve but there were many things that we did well.”

Kubo, on loan from Real Madrid, came into the match as a late substitute.

Huesca is back for its second season in the top tier after being relegated immediately following its first promotion two years ago.

Pellegrini's win
Tello scored four minutes into stoppage time to give Pellegrini's team the opening win at Alavés.

Tello entered the match late and scored the winner with a low left-footed shot from outside the area in Betis' first official match under the Chilean manager.

“When the substitutions work, it's easy to give credit to the coach,” Pellegrini said. “But the players who got in did very well and we were able to score the goal that gave us the victory. We knew that we could win until the very end.”

Veteran Chilean goalkeeper Claudio Bravo also had a successful debut with Betis, keeping a clean sheet.

The game was originally scheduled to take place on Monday but was moved to the weekend after a scheduling dispute between the Spanish league and the Spanish footba;; federation, which is against playing matches on Mondays and Fridays.

Friday's game between Granada and Athletic Bilbao also was moved to the weekend.

Valencia derby
Manu Vallejo scored two second-half goals to help Valencia earn a 4-2 win over Levante.

Vallejo scored in the 75th minute of the Valencia city derby and again in stoppage time at the Mestalla Stadium.

José Luis Morales had scored in the first and 36th minutes to put Levante ahead, but Gabriel Paulista and Maxi Gómez netted in the 12th and 39th to keep Valencia in the match.

Valencia and Levante finished near the middle of the table last season.

Masip mistake
Real Sociedad salvaged a 1-1 opening draw thanks to a mistake by Valladolid goalkeeper Jordi Masip, who let a ball slip through after a simple free-kick into the area.

Roberto López Alcaide was credited with the 60th-minute goal at the José Zorrila stadium in Valladolid. Míchel Herrero had opened the scoring for the hosts in the 39th.

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Sports

Piastri on Similar Trajectory to F1 Champion Norris, Brown Says

May 25, 2025 McLaren's Lando Norris celebrates with a trophy on the podium after winning the Monaco Grand Prix alongside third placed McLaren's Oscar Piastri and McLaren chief executive Zak Brown. (Reuters)
May 25, 2025 McLaren's Lando Norris celebrates with a trophy on the podium after winning the Monaco Grand Prix alongside third placed McLaren's Oscar Piastri and McLaren chief executive Zak Brown. (Reuters)
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Piastri on Similar Trajectory to F1 Champion Norris, Brown Says

May 25, 2025 McLaren's Lando Norris celebrates with a trophy on the podium after winning the Monaco Grand Prix alongside third placed McLaren's Oscar Piastri and McLaren chief executive Zak Brown. (Reuters)
May 25, 2025 McLaren's Lando Norris celebrates with a trophy on the podium after winning the Monaco Grand Prix alongside third placed McLaren's Oscar Piastri and McLaren chief executive Zak Brown. (Reuters)

Oscar Piastri is on a similar career trajectory to Formula One world champion teammate Lando Norris and should have a shot at the title this season, McLaren boss Zak Brown said on Monday as they prepared to test in Bahrain.

The American told reporters on a video call that his drivers were raring to get going.

"He (Piastri) is now going into his fourth year. Lando has a lot more grands prix than he does so if you look at the development of Lando over that time, Oscar's on a similar trajectory," Brown said.

"So he's in a good place, physically very fit, excited, ready to ‌go."

LAST AUSTRALIAN CHAMPION ‌WAS IN 1980

Piastri, who debuted with McLaren in Bahrain ‌in ⁠2023, can become ‌Australia's first champion since Alan Jones in 1980.

While Piastri took his first win in his second season, Norris had to wait until his sixth. Both won seven times last year.

Brown said he had spoken a lot with the Australian over the European winter break and expected the 24-year-old, championship leader for much of 2025, to pick up where he left off.

He said the discussion had been all about creating the best environment for him and what ⁠McLaren needed to do to support him.

Brown said Piastri had spent time in the simulator and, in response to ‌a question about lingering sentiment in Australia that McLaren ‍favored Norris, "he knows he's getting a ‍fair shake at it".

"You win some, you lose some. Things fall your way, things ‍don't fall your way," added the chief executive.

PRE-SEASON FAVOURITE

Brown said Norris' confidence level was also very high.

"He's highly motivated and it's our job to give him and Oscar the equipment again to be able to let them fight it out for the championship," he said.

"If we can do that, I think Oscar and Lando will both be in with a shot."

Mercedes' George Russell is the current pre-season favorite after an initial shakedown ⁠test in Barcelona last month.

Norris can become only the second Briton to take back-to-back titles after seven times champion Lewis Hamilton, who won four titles in a row with Mercedes from 2017-20 as well as two together in 2014 and 2015.

The only other multiple British world champions are Jim Clark (1963, 1965), Graham Hill (1962, 1968) and Jackie Stewart (1969, 1971, 1973).

"I think there are some drivers that say 'I've done it. Now I'm done'," said Brown. "And then you have drivers like Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen and Michael Schumacher who go 'I've done it once, now I want to do it twice and three or four times'."

He reiterated that both remained free to race and said decisions would be taken strategically as and ‌when they arose.

"We feel like we'll be competitive. The top four teams all seem very competitive. Very early days but indications that we will be strong," he added.

Sports

‘Don’t Jump in Them’: Olympic Athletes’ Medals Break During Celebrations

Gold medalists team USA celebrate during the medal ceremony after the Team Event Free Skating of the Figure Skating competitions at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games, in Milan, Italy, 08 February 2026. (EPA)
Gold medalists team USA celebrate during the medal ceremony after the Team Event Free Skating of the Figure Skating competitions at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games, in Milan, Italy, 08 February 2026. (EPA)
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‘Don’t Jump in Them’: Olympic Athletes’ Medals Break During Celebrations

Gold medalists team USA celebrate during the medal ceremony after the Team Event Free Skating of the Figure Skating competitions at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games, in Milan, Italy, 08 February 2026. (EPA)
Gold medalists team USA celebrate during the medal ceremony after the Team Event Free Skating of the Figure Skating competitions at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games, in Milan, Italy, 08 February 2026. (EPA)

Handle with care. That's the message from gold medalist Breezy Johnson at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics after she and other athletes found their medals broke within hours.

Olympic organizers are investigating with "maximum attention" after a spate of medals have fallen off their ribbons during celebrations on the opening weekend of the Games.

"Don’t jump in them. I was jumping in excitement, and it broke," women's downhill ski gold medalist Johnson said after her win Sunday. "I’m sure somebody will fix it. It’s not crazy broken, but a little broken."

TV footage broadcast in Germany captured the moment biathlete Justus Strelow realized the mixed relay bronze he'd won Sunday had fallen off the ribbon around his neck and clattered to the floor as he danced along to a song with teammates.

His German teammates cheered as Strelow tried without success to reattach the medal before realizing a smaller piece, seemingly the clasp, had broken off and was still on the floor.

US figure skater Alysa Liu posted a clip on social media of her team event gold medal, detached from its official ribbon.

"My medal don’t need the ribbon," Liu wrote early Monday.

Andrea Francisi, the chief games operations officer for the Milan Cortina organizing committee, said it was working on a solution.

"We are aware of the situation, we have seen the images. Obviously we are trying to understand in detail if there is a problem," Francisi said Monday.

"But obviously we are paying maximum attention to this matter, as the medal is the dream of the athletes, so we want that obviously in the moment they are given it that everything is absolutely perfect, because we really consider it to be the most important moment. So we are working on it."

It isn't the first time the quality of Olympic medals has come under scrutiny.

Following the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, some medals had to be replaced after athletes complained they were starting to tarnish or corrode, giving them a mottled look likened to crocodile skin.

Sports

African Players in Europe: Ouattara Fires Another Winner for Bees

Football - Premier League - Newcastle United v Brentford - St James' Park, Newcastle, Britain - February 7, 2026 Brentford's Dango Ouattara celebrates scoring their third goal with Brentford's Rico Henry. (Reuters)
Football - Premier League - Newcastle United v Brentford - St James' Park, Newcastle, Britain - February 7, 2026 Brentford's Dango Ouattara celebrates scoring their third goal with Brentford's Rico Henry. (Reuters)
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African Players in Europe: Ouattara Fires Another Winner for Bees

Football - Premier League - Newcastle United v Brentford - St James' Park, Newcastle, Britain - February 7, 2026 Brentford's Dango Ouattara celebrates scoring their third goal with Brentford's Rico Henry. (Reuters)
Football - Premier League - Newcastle United v Brentford - St James' Park, Newcastle, Britain - February 7, 2026 Brentford's Dango Ouattara celebrates scoring their third goal with Brentford's Rico Henry. (Reuters)

Burkina Faso striker Dango Ouattara was the Brentford match-winner for the second straight weekend when they triumphed 3-2 at Newcastle United.

The 23-year-old struck in the 85th minute of a seesaw Premier League struggle in northeast England. The Bees trailed and led before securing three points to go seventh in the table.

Last weekend, Ouattara dented the title hopes of third-placed Aston Villa by scoring the only goal at Villa Park.

AFP Sport highlights African headline-makers in the major European leagues:

ENGLAND

DANGO OUATTARA (Brentford)

With the match at Newcastle locked at 2-2, the Burkinabe sealed victory for the visitors at St James' Park by driving a left-footed shot past Magpies goalkeeper Nick Pope to give the Bees a first win on Tyneside since 1934. Ouattara also provided the cross that led to Vitaly Janelt's headed equalizer after Brentford had fallen 1-0 behind.

BRYAN MBEUMO (Manchester Utd)

The Cameroon forward helped the Red Devils extend their perfect record under caretaker manager Michael Carrick to four games by scoring the opening goal in a 2-0 win over Tottenham after Spurs had been reduced to 10 men by captain Cristian Romero's red card.

ISMAILA SARR (Crystal Palace)

The Eagles ended their 12-match winless run with a 1-0 victory at bitter rivals Brighton thanks to Senegal international Sarr's 61st-minute goal when played in by substitute Evann Guessand, the Ivory Coast forward making an immediate impact on his Palace debut after joining on loan from Aston Villa during the January transfer window.

ITALY

LAMECK BANDA (Lecce)

Banda scored direct from a 90th-minute free-kick outside the area to give lowly Leece a precious 2-1 Serie A victory at home against mid-table Udinese. It was the third league goal this season for the 25-year-old Zambia winger. Leece lie 17th, one place and three points above the relegation zone.

GERMANY

SERHOU GUIRASSY (Borussia Dortmund)

Guirassy produced a moment of quality just when Dortmund needed it against Wolfsburg. Felix Nmecha's silky exchange with Fabio Silva allowed the Guinean to sweep in an 87th-minute winner for his ninth Bundesliga goal of the season. The 29-year-old has scored or assisted in four of his last five games.

RANSFORD KOENIGSDOERFFER (Hamburg)

A first-half thunderbolt from Ghana striker Koenigsdoerffer put Hamburg on track for a 2-0 victory at Heidenheim. It was their first away win of the season. Nigerian winger Philip Otele, making his Hamburg debut, split the defense with a clever pass to Koenigsdoerffer, who hit a shot low and hard to open the scoring in first-half stoppage time.

FRANCE

ISSA SOUMARE (Le Havre)

An opportunist goal by Soumare on 54 minutes gave Le Havre a 2-1 home win over Strasbourg in Ligue 1. The Senegalese received the ball just inside the area and stroked it into the far corner of the net as he fell.