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Leclerc Takes Pole Position for Monaco GP, Ends Verstappen's Bid for F1 Record

25 May 2024, Monaco, Monte-Carlo: Monaco's Formula 1 driver Charles Leclerc of Ferrari competes during the Practice 3 ahead of the Formula One Monaco Grand Prix. Photo: Beata Zawrzel/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
25 May 2024, Monaco, Monte-Carlo: Monaco's Formula 1 driver Charles Leclerc of Ferrari competes during the Practice 3 ahead of the Formula One Monaco Grand Prix. Photo: Beata Zawrzel/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
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Leclerc Takes Pole Position for Monaco GP, Ends Verstappen's Bid for F1 Record

25 May 2024, Monaco, Monte-Carlo: Monaco's Formula 1 driver Charles Leclerc of Ferrari competes during the Practice 3 ahead of the Formula One Monaco Grand Prix. Photo: Beata Zawrzel/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
25 May 2024, Monaco, Monte-Carlo: Monaco's Formula 1 driver Charles Leclerc of Ferrari competes during the Practice 3 ahead of the Formula One Monaco Grand Prix. Photo: Beata Zawrzel/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa

Charles Leclerc took pole position for Ferrari at the Monaco Grand Prix and ended Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen's bid for a record-extending ninth straight pole on Saturday, The Associated Press reported.
Verstappen, who shares the F1 record with the late Ayrton Senna, starts Sunday's race from sixth place for Red Bull on arguably the most difficult track for overtaking in the series.
Leclerc secured his third pole in four years at Monaco, where he grew up overlooking the start-finish line, and took his career total to 24 poles.
He finished .154 seconds ahead of McLaren's Oscar Piastri and .248 clear of Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz Jr. McLaren's Lando Norris qualified fourth ahead of Mercedes driver George Russell.
“Really, really happy about the lap,” Leclerc said. “I know more often than not that qualifying is not everything in the race.”
Leclerc took pole in 2021, but could not start due to a gearbox problem. He led from pole in 2022 until Ferrari made an incorrect call to change his tires.
Verstappen won the race from pole last year but will be hard pushed to win his sixth race of the season.
But Leclerc is well set to end his run of nearly two years without a win, dating to July 2022 at the Austrian GP.
“I just need a good launch (from the start),” said Leclerc, who has won five F1 races in his career.
Traffic forced a couple of drivers to swerve around other cars struggling for space on Monaco's tight and sinewy 3.3-kilometer (two-mile) street circuit.
Spanish veteran Fernando Alonso narrowly avoided a piece of debris just before heading into the tunnel section during Q1, the first part of qualifying.
Alonso failed to make it into Q2 and so did Red Bull's Sergio Perez, who muttered an expletive on race radio. He is out of contract at the end of the season and Red Bull has yet to confirm he will get a seat for 2025.
Norris only just squeezed into Q2, but then found his rhythm.

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My Grandfather Encouraged Me to Play for Algeria, Luca Zidane Says

Algeria's goalkeeper #23 Luca Zidane reacts during the Africa Cup of Nations (CAN) Group E football match between Algeria and Sudan at Moulay Hassan Stadium in Rabat on December 24, 2025. (AFP)
Algeria's goalkeeper #23 Luca Zidane reacts during the Africa Cup of Nations (CAN) Group E football match between Algeria and Sudan at Moulay Hassan Stadium in Rabat on December 24, 2025. (AFP)
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My Grandfather Encouraged Me to Play for Algeria, Luca Zidane Says

Algeria's goalkeeper #23 Luca Zidane reacts during the Africa Cup of Nations (CAN) Group E football match between Algeria and Sudan at Moulay Hassan Stadium in Rabat on December 24, 2025. (AFP)
Algeria's goalkeeper #23 Luca Zidane reacts during the Africa Cup of Nations (CAN) Group E football match between Algeria and Sudan at Moulay Hassan Stadium in Rabat on December 24, 2025. (AFP)

Luca Zidane, son of French World Cup-winner Zinedine, said his grandfather had supported him in switching international allegiance to Algeria, after playing for France at junior level.

Zinedine Zidane is widely regarded as one of the greatest French footballers, inspiring his country to their first World Cup victory in 1998 and scoring two goals in the 3-0 win over Brazil in the final in Paris. The midfielder also guided them to the Euro 2000 trophy, achieving an unprecedented double for Les Bleus.

The decision to switch nationalities by Luca, who chose to avoid comparisons with ‌his father from ‌an early age by opting to play as ‌a ⁠goalkeeper, came as ‌a surprise, especially since he made it at the age of 27.

He quickly became Algeria's first-choice keeper, and his father watched him play against Sudan in Vladimir Petković's side's opening Africa Cup of Nations Group E match on Wednesday, which they won 3-0.

Zidane was not tested much during the match, but he did make an important save from a dangerous chance that fell to Yaser Awad with the score at ⁠1-0.

"When I think of Algeria, I remember my grandfather. Since childhood, we’ve had this Algerian culture in the ‌family," Zidane told BeIN Sports France.

"I spoke to ‍him before playing for the national ‍team, and he was extremely happy about this step. Every time I receive ‍an international call-up, he calls me and says that I made a great decision and that he is proud of me."

He said his father had also backed his decision. "He supported me," Luca said. "He said to me ‘Be careful, this is your choice. I can give you advice, but in the end, the final decision will be yours'.

"From the moment the coach and the federation ⁠president reached out to me, it was clear that I wanted to go and represent my country. After that, I naturally spoke with my family, and they were all happy for me."

Zinedine Zidane, who was sent off in the 2006 World Cup final in Germany which they lost to Italy on penalties, won the Champions League in 2002 with Real Madrid and claimed the Ballon d'Or award in 1998.

His son, who plays in Spain for Granada after starting his career at Real Madrid, has always worn a shirt bearing the name Luca, but he decided his national team jersey would carry the name Zidane.

"So for me, being able to honor ‌my grandfather by joining the national team is very important," he said. "The next jersey with the name on it will be for him."

Sports

Villa Face Chelsea Test as Premier League Title Race Heats Up

Football - Premier League - Aston Villa v Manchester United - Villa Park, Birmingham, Britain - December 21, 2025 Aston Villa's Morgan Rogers celebrates scoring their second goal =. (Action Images via Reuters/Paul Childs)
Football - Premier League - Aston Villa v Manchester United - Villa Park, Birmingham, Britain - December 21, 2025 Aston Villa's Morgan Rogers celebrates scoring their second goal =. (Action Images via Reuters/Paul Childs)
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Villa Face Chelsea Test as Premier League Title Race Heats Up

Football - Premier League - Aston Villa v Manchester United - Villa Park, Birmingham, Britain - December 21, 2025 Aston Villa's Morgan Rogers celebrates scoring their second goal =. (Action Images via Reuters/Paul Childs)
Football - Premier League - Aston Villa v Manchester United - Villa Park, Birmingham, Britain - December 21, 2025 Aston Villa's Morgan Rogers celebrates scoring their second goal =. (Action Images via Reuters/Paul Childs)

Aston Villa face a tough challenge at Chelsea on Saturday after muscling their way into the Premier League title race alongside Arsenal and Manchester City.

The Gunners, top of the tree at Christmas, host Brighton, while Pep Guardiola's in-form City travel to Nottingham Forest.

Liverpool manager Arne Slot is grappling with a striker crisis after Alexander Isak fractured his leg, while Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes also faces a spell on the sidelines.

AFP Sport looks at three talking points ahead of the festive action:

Rogers spearheads Villa charge

Unai Emery's third-placed Villa are still considered rank outsiders for the Premier League title even though they are just three points behind leaders Arsenal.

Villa's 2-1 home win against Manchester United was their 10th consecutive victory in all competitions -- the first time they have achieved the feat as a top-flight team since 1914.

One of the major reasons for their recent success is the form of England midfielder Morgan Rogers, who failed to register a single goal involvement in his first seven matches in all competitions.

Now it is a different story: he has recorded 11 goal involvements in his past 15 appearances and the quality of his goals has been striking.

Rogers' seven Premier League goals this season have come from just 2.86 expected goals -- a metric used to determine how likely a player is to convert a chance.

But football analysts Opta give Villa just a five percent chance of becoming English champions for the first time since 1981.

Emery's men have an opportunity to silence the doubters when they take on fourth-placed Chelsea, with a match at Arsenal to follow just days later.

Slot's goals headache

In the early weeks of the season, Arne Slot would probably have envisaged Mohamed Salah and Alexander Isak as two of his first-choice attackers.

Now the Liverpool boss has neither -- Salah is with Egypt at the Africa Cup of Nations, while Isak faces at least two months on the sidelines after fracturing his leg against Tottenham.

Slot has steadied the ship at Anfield after a shocking run of six defeats in seven Premier League matches that left Liverpool's title defense in tatters.

A run of three wins and two draws in five league games has lifted the reigning champions into fifth spot, but there will be concerns over where the goals are going to come from ahead of the visit of bottom club Wolves.

Isak's absence will heap more pressure on the shoulders of top-scorer Hugo Ekitike.

The summer signing has netted eight times in the Premier League -- twice the tallies of Salah and Cody Gakpo.

Fernandes blow for Man Utd

Bruno Fernandes has been a shining light and virtually ever-present during Manchester United's recent lean years.

But manager Ruben Amorim is going to have to plan for a period without his talisman after the Portugal midfielder pulled up with an apparent hamstring injury in United's 2-1 defeat at Villa Park.

While the prognosis is unclear, Amorim has already ruled Fernandes out of United's clash against Newcastle at Old Trafford on Friday, among a list of absentees, with the Portuguese boss urging the rest of his squad to "step up" in the absence of his "impossible to replace" captain.

"It's massive," defender Diogo Dalot told Sky Sports. "We don't know how bad it is but for him to come off (in) the game, we know how tough he is."

Playmaker Fernandes has five goals and seven assists in the Premier League this season for inconsistent United, who are also without top-scorer Bryan Mbeumo, on Africa Cup of Nations duty with Cameroon.

Sports

Romero Faces FA Charge for Behavior After Liverpool Dismissal

Tottenham Hotspur's Argentinian defender #17 Cristian Romero (C) and Spanish defender #23 Pedro Porro (R) remonstrate with referee John Brooks (L) during the English Premier League football match between Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, on December 20, 2025. (AFP)
Tottenham Hotspur's Argentinian defender #17 Cristian Romero (C) and Spanish defender #23 Pedro Porro (R) remonstrate with referee John Brooks (L) during the English Premier League football match between Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, on December 20, 2025. (AFP)
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Romero Faces FA Charge for Behavior After Liverpool Dismissal

Tottenham Hotspur's Argentinian defender #17 Cristian Romero (C) and Spanish defender #23 Pedro Porro (R) remonstrate with referee John Brooks (L) during the English Premier League football match between Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, on December 20, 2025. (AFP)
Tottenham Hotspur's Argentinian defender #17 Cristian Romero (C) and Spanish defender #23 Pedro Porro (R) remonstrate with referee John Brooks (L) during the English Premier League football match between Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, on December 20, 2025. (AFP)

Tottenham captain Cristian Romero was charged by England's Football Association with allegedly acting in an "improper" manner in response to being sent off during Saturday's 2-1 Premier League defeat against Liverpool.

With Xavi Simons already being given a red ‌card earlier, ‌Tottenham ended up ‌with ⁠nine men ‌after captain Romero was given a second yellow for a tackle on Ibrahima Konate in the 93rd minute.

"It's alleged that he (Romero) acted in ⁠an improper manner by failing to ‌promptly leave the ‍field of ‍play and/or behaving in a ‍confrontational and/or aggressive manner towards the match referee after being sent off in the 93rd minute," the FA said in a statement.

Romero has until ⁠January 2 to respond to the charge.

The dismissal meant he already has to serve a one-match ban and will miss Sunday's away trip to Crystal Palace.

Tottenham are 14th in the league table with 22 points, 17 ‌behind leaders and derby rivals Arsenal.