Chelsea, Lyon and Roma Stay Perfect with Victories in Women's Champions League

Roma's Evelyne Viens, right, fights for the ball with Galatasaray's Berna Yeniceri during the women's Champions League group A soccer match between Galatasaray and Roma at Ataturk Olympic stadium in Istanbul, Türkiye, Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024. (Huseyin Yavuz/Dia Photo via AP)
Roma's Evelyne Viens, right, fights for the ball with Galatasaray's Berna Yeniceri during the women's Champions League group A soccer match between Galatasaray and Roma at Ataturk Olympic stadium in Istanbul, Türkiye, Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024. (Huseyin Yavuz/Dia Photo via AP)
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Chelsea, Lyon and Roma Stay Perfect with Victories in Women's Champions League

Roma's Evelyne Viens, right, fights for the ball with Galatasaray's Berna Yeniceri during the women's Champions League group A soccer match between Galatasaray and Roma at Ataturk Olympic stadium in Istanbul, Türkiye, Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024. (Huseyin Yavuz/Dia Photo via AP)
Roma's Evelyne Viens, right, fights for the ball with Galatasaray's Berna Yeniceri during the women's Champions League group A soccer match between Galatasaray and Roma at Ataturk Olympic stadium in Istanbul, Türkiye, Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024. (Huseyin Yavuz/Dia Photo via AP)

Chelsea, Lyon and Roma all stayed perfect in the Women’s Champions League by cruising to away victories on Thursday.
Roma routed Galatasaray at Istanbul 6-1, Chelsea beat Twente in the Netherlands 3-1 and eight-time champion Lyon won 2-0 at Wolfsburg.
Real Madrid claimed its first victory of the campaign by easing past Celtic 4-0, The Associated Press reported.
Roma and Lyon both have six points in Group A. Two-time champion Wolfsburg and Galatasaray, the first Turkish team to reach the group stage, have no points.
In Group B, Chelsea leads with six points, with Madrid and Twente on three and Celtic last bottom without a point.
Wolfsburg striker Alexandra Popp made her 100th competition appearance — becoming only the second player to reach the mark but it was Lyon defender Wendie Renard, the only one who has played more, who stole the show.
Renard’s header found the back of the net early on in her 118th game in the competition.
US international Lindsey Horan netted from the penalty spot in the second half.
Lyon is the competition’s record eight-time champion but last won the trophy in 2022. It was runner-up last season to Barcelona.
In a matchup between the Italian and Turkish champions, Roma dominated in Istanbul.
Summer signing Hawa Cissoko scored in the seventh minute to mark her debut game in the competition. The France defender who transferred from West Ham headed home off Manuela Giugliano's corner.
Valentina Giacinti made it 2-0 in the 24th minute when she was left unmarked near the spot to head in Verena Hanshaw's cross.
Giugliano failed to convert from the spot in the first-half stoppage time but Emilie Haavi got Roma's third with a right-footed blast past goalkeeper Gamze Yaman early in the second.
Giugliano finally found the back of the net from close range for a 4-0 lead before Andrea Staskova scored the consolation goal for the hosts. Roma substitutes Marta Pandini and Alice Corelli also scored.
Blues win again under Bompastor Chelsea struck early in another winning performance under new coach Sonia Bompastor, who joined from Lyon.
Agnes Beever-Jones put the Blues ahead with a long-distance deflected strike in the seventh minute and Maika Hamano made it 2-0 a short time later by lifting the ball over goalkeeper Olivia Clark from outside the area.
Substitute Guro Reiten added the third in the second from the spot just past the hour mark.
On Saturday, Chelsea beat city rival Arsenal 2-1 in the Women’s Super League.
Real Madrid scored three second-half goals in 11 minutes against Celtic in Group B.
The Spanish team had lost to Chelsea 3-2 in the first round and drew with Atlético 1-1 in the Madrid derby over the weekend.
Caroline Weir fired a long-range left-footer from outside the box into the far top corner in the seventh minute.
The visitors kept if close until the 72nd minute, when Signe Bruun headed home the second goal followed eight minutes later by Caroline Moller's lob of goalkeeper Kelsey Daugherty for a 3-0 lead. Linda Caicedo then converted from the penalty spot.
It's back-to-back losses for Scottish club Celtic, making its debut in the group stage. It has yet to score.



Sabalenka Pulls Out of Stuttgart Open with Injury

MIAMI GARDENS, FLORIDA - MARCH 28: Aryna Sabalenka returns a shot against Coco Gauff of the United States during the Women's Singles Final on Day 12 of the Miami Open Presented by Itau at Hard Rock Stadium on March 28, 2026 in Miami Gardens, Florida.   Carmen Mandato/Getty Images/AFP
MIAMI GARDENS, FLORIDA - MARCH 28: Aryna Sabalenka returns a shot against Coco Gauff of the United States during the Women's Singles Final on Day 12 of the Miami Open Presented by Itau at Hard Rock Stadium on March 28, 2026 in Miami Gardens, Florida. Carmen Mandato/Getty Images/AFP
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Sabalenka Pulls Out of Stuttgart Open with Injury

MIAMI GARDENS, FLORIDA - MARCH 28: Aryna Sabalenka returns a shot against Coco Gauff of the United States during the Women's Singles Final on Day 12 of the Miami Open Presented by Itau at Hard Rock Stadium on March 28, 2026 in Miami Gardens, Florida.   Carmen Mandato/Getty Images/AFP
MIAMI GARDENS, FLORIDA - MARCH 28: Aryna Sabalenka returns a shot against Coco Gauff of the United States during the Women's Singles Final on Day 12 of the Miami Open Presented by Itau at Hard Rock Stadium on March 28, 2026 in Miami Gardens, Florida. Carmen Mandato/Getty Images/AFP

World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka on Thursday pulled out of next week's Stuttgart Open citing an injury sustained at the Miami Open in March.

The Belarusian wrote on social media that she had failed to recover in time for the clay court tournament, which starts on Monday, AFP reported.

"Unfortunately, I suffered an injury after Miami, and even though I tried everything to recover in time, I'm not ready to compete," Sabalenka said Thursday.

The 27-year-old did not specify the nature of the injury.

The four-time Grand Slam winner has made it to the final in Stuttgart in four of the past five years but is yet to win the tournament.

"I always love coming back to Stuttgart. The atmosphere, the fans, and the support I feel there are so special to me. And of course, I was really hoping to have another chance."

Sabalenka beat local favorite Coco Gauff 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 to win the Miami Open to make it a "sunshine double," having won the WTA 1000 at Indian Wells two weeks prior.


Verstappen's Race Engineer to Leave Red Bull for McLaren

FILED - 19 February 2026, Bahrain, Sakhir: Formula One driver Max Verstappen talks with his race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase during the second Formula 1 pre-season test at the Bahrain International Circuit. Photo: Bradley Collyer/PA Wire/dpa
FILED - 19 February 2026, Bahrain, Sakhir: Formula One driver Max Verstappen talks with his race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase during the second Formula 1 pre-season test at the Bahrain International Circuit. Photo: Bradley Collyer/PA Wire/dpa
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Verstappen's Race Engineer to Leave Red Bull for McLaren

FILED - 19 February 2026, Bahrain, Sakhir: Formula One driver Max Verstappen talks with his race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase during the second Formula 1 pre-season test at the Bahrain International Circuit. Photo: Bradley Collyer/PA Wire/dpa
FILED - 19 February 2026, Bahrain, Sakhir: Formula One driver Max Verstappen talks with his race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase during the second Formula 1 pre-season test at the Bahrain International Circuit. Photo: Bradley Collyer/PA Wire/dpa

Max Verstappen's long-time Formula One race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase is to leave Red Bull and join McLaren in a supporting role to team principal Andrea Stella.

There was no immediate comment from either team on Thursday but senior insiders confirmed the move, first reported in Dutch media, to Reuters.

The news was also reported by the BBC and Sky Sports, with 2028 given as the likely start date for a man who has been working with Verstappen since 2016 and has played a key role in helping the Dutch driver to four world championships.

Lambiase, 45, had also been linked with Silverstone-based Aston Martin, whose team principal is former Red Bull star designer Adrian Newey.

While Aston Martin have endured ⁠a nightmare start ⁠to the season, struggling to even finish races with an uncompetitive Honda engine, McLaren won both titles last year with champion Lando Norris and teammate Oscar Piastri.

Lambiase is expected to become head of race engineering at McLaren once a potentially long period of 'gardening leave' comes to an end, with former Ferrari engineer Stella continuing in his position.

Stella, who worked with Michael Schumacher in a golden era at Ferrari in the early 2000s, has a multi-year contract with McLaren ⁠and no intention of returning to Maranello despite some media speculation about his future.

The close but forthright relationship between Verstappen and 'GP' over the team radio has become a familiar part of Formula One, similar to the pairing of Lewis Hamilton and Peter 'Bono' Bonnington during the seven-times world champion's spell at Mercedes.

Former Red Bull boss Christian Horner, fired last July, once compared the relationship to that of "an old married couple arguing about what to watch on television.

"The dynamic between the two is so intense that in between you have to ask yourself who is supposed to be the driver and who is supposed to be the engineer here."

Losing the Briton will be a blow to Verstappen, after the departure of other important figures ⁠in recent seasons and ⁠once-dominant Red Bull's waning performance on track, but the 28-year-old has also increasingly cast doubt on his own longevity in the sport.

“I'm thinking about everything inside this paddock,” he said in Japan last month.

Verstappen is no fan of the sport's new engine era and rules that force drivers to manage energy deployment and take corners at less than full speed.

In 2021, when they won a first title together, the Dutchman went so far as to say that he would not continue without Lambiase.

"I have said to him I only work with him. As soon as he stops, I stop too," he told Dutch broadcaster Ziggo Sport. "We can be pretty strict with each other sometimes but I want that. He has to tell me when I'm being a jerk and I have to tell him."

McLaren already have former Red Bull employees Rob Marshall and Will Courtenay in senior roles as chief designer and sporting director respectively.


Nike in Exclusive Talks to be Match Ball Provider for UEFA Men's Club from 2027

Nike sneakers are seen on display at Westfield Stratford City in London, Britain, July 30. REUTERS/Mina Kim
Nike sneakers are seen on display at Westfield Stratford City in London, Britain, July 30. REUTERS/Mina Kim
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Nike in Exclusive Talks to be Match Ball Provider for UEFA Men's Club from 2027

Nike sneakers are seen on display at Westfield Stratford City in London, Britain, July 30. REUTERS/Mina Kim
Nike sneakers are seen on display at Westfield Stratford City in London, Britain, July 30. REUTERS/Mina Kim

The joint venture between UEFA and European Football Clubs, UC3, said on Thursday it has entered exclusive negotiations with Nike to become the official match ball provider for all UEFA men's club competitions from 2027 to 2031, Reuters reported.

A deal would mark the first time Nike gets a contract to become the official match ball provider for UEFA men's club competitions after 25 years, taking over from rival Adidas which has held the rights since 2001.

The value of the deal across the competitions could roughly double to more than 40 million euros ($46.70 million) a year, the Financial Times reported on Thursday, citing a person familiar with the matter.