Real Madrid Held by Betis before Champions League Final

Real Madrid's Marcelo da Silva (C) and teammates at the end of the Spanish La Liga match between Real Madrid and Real Betis held at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, in Madrid, central Spain, 20 May 2022. (EPA)
Real Madrid's Marcelo da Silva (C) and teammates at the end of the Spanish La Liga match between Real Madrid and Real Betis held at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, in Madrid, central Spain, 20 May 2022. (EPA)
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Real Madrid Held by Betis before Champions League Final

Real Madrid's Marcelo da Silva (C) and teammates at the end of the Spanish La Liga match between Real Madrid and Real Betis held at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, in Madrid, central Spain, 20 May 2022. (EPA)
Real Madrid's Marcelo da Silva (C) and teammates at the end of the Spanish La Liga match between Real Madrid and Real Betis held at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, in Madrid, central Spain, 20 May 2022. (EPA)

Real Madrid’s regular starters were held by Real Betis to 0-0 on Friday in the team’s last match before the Champions League final.

Madrid began with the team that is expected to face Liverpool on May 28 in Paris, where it will try to win a record-extending 14th European title.

Madrid won the Spanish league weeks ago and coach Carlo Ancelotti had been rotating the squad, but he put his best on the field against Betis to fine-tune them ahead of the trip to France next week.

At halftime, Ancelotti replaced Casemiro with Eduardo Camavinga and Toni Kroos with Federico Valverde. Later in the second half he rested Luka Modric, Rodrygo and Ferland Mendy.

Veteran left back Marcelo came in for Mendy in what may have been his final match with Madrid, although Ancelotti said no decision on the player’s future had been made yet. The Brazilian received a huge ovation from the fans when entering the match and after the final whistle at Santiago Bernabéu Stadium.

"He will still be one of our captains in Paris," Ancelotti said. "If in the end he leaves, he will leave as one of the best full backs in the world."

Karim Benzema came closest to scoring for Madrid but ended his campaign with a league-leading 27 goals, 10 more than any other player.

Since clinching its record-extending 35th league title, Madrid eliminated Manchester City in the semifinals of the Champions League before routing Levante 6-0 and drawing at Cádiz 1-1.

The draw left Madrid 13 points ahead of second-placed Barcelona, which closes its season against seventh-placed Villarreal on Sunday.

Betis secured fifth place with the draw, its best league finish since 2005. Manuel Pellegrini's team had already earned a spot in the second-tier Europa League by winning the Copa del Rey in a final against Valencia last month.

Before the match, both teams did a guard of honor, with players lining up to salute the opponents for their titles.

"We deserve a 10 for our season," Pellegrini said.

It was Betis' fifth straight game without conceding away to Madrid in the league. It won two of those matches, drawing the last three in a row.

In the other match on Friday, already relegated Levante made sure it won’t finish last after a 4-2 win at 12th-placed Rayo Vallecano, with Gonzalo Melero scoring twice for the visitors.

Granada, Mallorca and Cádiz will fight to avoid relegation on Sunday, while Villarreal and Athletic try to end in seventh place and earn the berth for the Europa Conference League.



Hospital: Vonn Had Surgery on Broken Leg from Olympics Crash

This handout video grab from IOC/OBS shows US Lindsey Vonn crashing during the women's downhill event at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games on February 8, 2026. (Photo by Handout / various sources / AFP)
This handout video grab from IOC/OBS shows US Lindsey Vonn crashing during the women's downhill event at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games on February 8, 2026. (Photo by Handout / various sources / AFP)
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Hospital: Vonn Had Surgery on Broken Leg from Olympics Crash

This handout video grab from IOC/OBS shows US Lindsey Vonn crashing during the women's downhill event at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games on February 8, 2026. (Photo by Handout / various sources / AFP)
This handout video grab from IOC/OBS shows US Lindsey Vonn crashing during the women's downhill event at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games on February 8, 2026. (Photo by Handout / various sources / AFP)

Lindsey Vonn had surgery on a fracture of her left leg following the American's heavy fall in the Winter Olympics downhill, the hospital said in a statement given to Italian media on Sunday.

"In the afternoon, (Vonn) underwent orthopedic surgery to stabilize a fracture of the left leg," the Ca' Foncello hospital in Treviso said.

Vonn, 41, was flown to Treviso after she was strapped into a medical stretcher and winched off the sunlit Olimpia delle Tofane piste in Cortina d'Ampezzo.

Vonn, whose battle to reach the start line despite the serious injury to her left knee dominated the opening days of the Milano Cortina Olympics, saw her unlikely quest halted in screaming agony on the snow.

Wearing bib number 13 and with a brace on the left knee she ⁠injured in a crash at Crans Montana on January 30, Vonn looked pumped up at the start gate.

She tapped her ski poles before setting off in typically aggressive fashion down one of her favorite pistes on a mountain that has rewarded her in the past.

The 2010 gold medalist, the second most successful female World Cup skier of all time with 84 wins, appeared to clip the fourth gate with her shoulder, losing control and being launched into the air.

She then barreled off the course at high speed before coming to rest in a crumpled heap.

Vonn could be heard screaming on television coverage as fans and teammates gasped in horror before a shocked hush fell on the packed finish area.

She was quickly surrounded by several medics and officials before a yellow Falco 2 ⁠Alpine rescue helicopter arrived and winched her away on an orange stretcher.


Meloni Condemns 'Enemies of Italy' after Clashes in Olympics Host City Milan

Demonstrators hold smoke flares during a protest against the environmental, economic and social impact of the Milano-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy, February 7, 2026. REUTERS/Kevin Coombs
Demonstrators hold smoke flares during a protest against the environmental, economic and social impact of the Milano-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy, February 7, 2026. REUTERS/Kevin Coombs
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Meloni Condemns 'Enemies of Italy' after Clashes in Olympics Host City Milan

Demonstrators hold smoke flares during a protest against the environmental, economic and social impact of the Milano-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy, February 7, 2026. REUTERS/Kevin Coombs
Demonstrators hold smoke flares during a protest against the environmental, economic and social impact of the Milano-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy, February 7, 2026. REUTERS/Kevin Coombs

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has condemned anti-Olympics protesters as "enemies of Italy" after violence on the fringes of a demonstration in Milan on Saturday night and sabotage attacks on the national rail network.

The incidents happened on the first full day of competition in the Winter Games that Milan, Italy's financial capital, is hosting with the Alpine town of Cortina d'Ampezzo.

Meloni praised the thousands of Italians who she said were working to make the Games run smoothly and present a positive face of Italy.

"Then ⁠there are those who are enemies of Italy and Italians, demonstrating 'against the Olympics' and ensuring that these images are broadcast on television screens around the world. After others cut the railway cables to prevent trains from departing," she wrote on Instagram on Sunday.

A group of around 100 protesters ⁠threw firecrackers, smoke bombs and bottles at police after breaking away from the main body of a demonstration in Milan.

An estimated 10,000 people had taken to the city's streets in a protest over housing costs and environmental concerns linked to the Games.

Police used water cannon to restore order and detained six people.

Also on Saturday, authorities said saboteurs had damaged rail infrastructure near the northern Italian city of Bologna, disrupting train journeys.

Police reported three separate ⁠incidents at different locations, which caused delays of up to 2-1/2 hours for high-speed, Intercity and regional services.

No one has claimed responsibility for the damage.

"Once again, solidarity with the police, the city of Milan, and all those who will see their work undermined by these gangs of criminals," added Meloni, who heads a right-wing coalition.

The Italian police have been given new arrest powers after violence last weekend at a protest by the hard-left in the city of Turin, in which more than 100 police officers were injured.


Liverpool New Signing Jacquet Suffers 'Serious' Injury

Soccer Football - Ligue 1 - RC Lens v Stade Rennes - Stade Bollaert-Delelis, Lens, France - February 7, 2026  Stade Rennes' Jeremy Jacquet in action REUTERS/Benoit Tessier
Soccer Football - Ligue 1 - RC Lens v Stade Rennes - Stade Bollaert-Delelis, Lens, France - February 7, 2026 Stade Rennes' Jeremy Jacquet in action REUTERS/Benoit Tessier
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Liverpool New Signing Jacquet Suffers 'Serious' Injury

Soccer Football - Ligue 1 - RC Lens v Stade Rennes - Stade Bollaert-Delelis, Lens, France - February 7, 2026  Stade Rennes' Jeremy Jacquet in action REUTERS/Benoit Tessier
Soccer Football - Ligue 1 - RC Lens v Stade Rennes - Stade Bollaert-Delelis, Lens, France - February 7, 2026 Stade Rennes' Jeremy Jacquet in action REUTERS/Benoit Tessier

Liverpool's new signing Jeremy Jacquet suffered a "serious" shoulder injury while playing for Rennes in their 3-1 Ligue 1 defeat at RC Lens on Saturday, casting doubt over the defender’s availability ahead of his summer move to Anfield.

Jacquet fell awkwardly in the second half of the ⁠French league match and appeared in agony as he left the pitch.

"For Jeremy, it's his shoulder, and for Abdelhamid (Ait Boudlal, another Rennes player injured in the ⁠same match) it's muscular," Rennes head coach Habib Beye told reporters after the match.

"We'll have time to see, but it's definitely quite serious for both of them."
Liverpool agreed a 60-million-pound ($80-million) deal for Jacquet on Monday, but the 20-year-old defender will stay with ⁠the French club until the end of the season.

Liverpool, provisionally sixth in the Premier League table, will face Manchester City on Sunday with four defenders - Giovanni Leoni, Joe Gomez, Jeremie Frimpong and Conor Bradley - sidelined due to injuries.