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Napoli Club, Fans Pay Tribute to Maradona on 4th Anniversary of his Death

(FILES) Gimnasia y Esgrima team coach Argentinian former football star Diego Armando Maradona gestures during an Argentina First Division Superliga football match against Godoy Cruz at Malvinas Argentinas stadium in Mendoza, Argentina, on October 05, 2019. (Photo by Andres Larrovere / AFP)
(FILES) Gimnasia y Esgrima team coach Argentinian former football star Diego Armando Maradona gestures during an Argentina First Division Superliga football match against Godoy Cruz at Malvinas Argentinas stadium in Mendoza, Argentina, on October 05, 2019. (Photo by Andres Larrovere / AFP)
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Napoli Club, Fans Pay Tribute to Maradona on 4th Anniversary of his Death

(FILES) Gimnasia y Esgrima team coach Argentinian former football star Diego Armando Maradona gestures during an Argentina First Division Superliga football match against Godoy Cruz at Malvinas Argentinas stadium in Mendoza, Argentina, on October 05, 2019. (Photo by Andres Larrovere / AFP)
(FILES) Gimnasia y Esgrima team coach Argentinian former football star Diego Armando Maradona gestures during an Argentina First Division Superliga football match against Godoy Cruz at Malvinas Argentinas stadium in Mendoza, Argentina, on October 05, 2019. (Photo by Andres Larrovere / AFP)

Napoli fans and club officials paid tribute to Diego Maradona on the fourth anniversary of his death, flocking to murals of the Argentina great around the city on Monday.
Napoli coach Antonio Conte, captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo and president Aurelio De Laurentiis laid flowers at two of the murals, while fans gathered below the huge mural of Maradona in the Quartieri Spagnoli that acts as an unofficial museum to Maradona, The Associated Press reported.
Fans chanted Maradona’s name and lit smoke in the blue color of the shirt Maradona wore both with Napoli and Argentina.
Maradona died at 60 on Nov. 25, 2020 of a heart attack, two weeks after being released from a hospital in Buenos Aires following brain surgery.
He led Napoli to its first two Serie A titles in 1987 and 1990 and the club's stadium was renamed Stadio Diego Armando Maradona upon his death.
Napoli won its third Italian league title in 2023 and again leads Serie A this season.

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Saliba Ruled Out of France Squad, Lacroix Called up as Replacement

Soccer Football - Premier League - Arsenal v Chelsea - Emirates Stadium, London, Britain - March 1, 2026 Arsenal's William Saliba celebrates scoring their first goal. (Action Images via Reuters)
Soccer Football - Premier League - Arsenal v Chelsea - Emirates Stadium, London, Britain - March 1, 2026 Arsenal's William Saliba celebrates scoring their first goal. (Action Images via Reuters)
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Saliba Ruled Out of France Squad, Lacroix Called up as Replacement

Soccer Football - Premier League - Arsenal v Chelsea - Emirates Stadium, London, Britain - March 1, 2026 Arsenal's William Saliba celebrates scoring their first goal. (Action Images via Reuters)
Soccer Football - Premier League - Arsenal v Chelsea - Emirates Stadium, London, Britain - March 1, 2026 Arsenal's William Saliba celebrates scoring their first goal. (Action Images via Reuters)

Defender William ‌Saliba has been ruled out of France's squad due to injury ahead of this month’s friendlies against Brazil and Colombia, with Maxence Lacroix called up to replace him, the country's football federation (FFF) said on Sunday.

Arsenal's Saliba played the full 90 minutes in a ‌2-0 defeat ‌by Manchester City in ‌Sunday's ⁠League Cup final, ⁠before the FFF announced his injury.

"The Arsenal center back is suffering from recurring pain in his left ankle, requiring treatment and a minimum rest period of ⁠10 days," it said in ‌a statement.

"National ‌coach Didier Deschamps has decided to replace ‌him with Maxence Lacroix," the ‌FFF added.

The Crystal Palace defender, 25, has earned his first France call-up, ahead of the 2026 World Cup. ‌He has played 43 games in all competitions this season.

Saliba ⁠was ⁠among the expanded 27-man France squad announced by Deschamps on Thursday.

France will face Brazil in Boston on March 26 before taking on Colombia in Washington on March 29.

The 2022 World Cup runners-up are in Group I at this year's tournament with Senegal, Norway and a winner from the inter-confederation playoffs.

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Akliouche Shines as Resurgent Monaco Beats Slumping Lyon and Lille Wins at Marseille

Monaco's French midfielder #11 Maghnes Akliouche (R) celebrates with his teammates after scoring a goal during the French L1 football match between Olympique Lyonnais (OL) and AS Monaco (ASM) at the Groupama Stadium in Decines-Charpieu, central-eastern France on March 22, 2026. (AFP)
Monaco's French midfielder #11 Maghnes Akliouche (R) celebrates with his teammates after scoring a goal during the French L1 football match between Olympique Lyonnais (OL) and AS Monaco (ASM) at the Groupama Stadium in Decines-Charpieu, central-eastern France on March 22, 2026. (AFP)
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Akliouche Shines as Resurgent Monaco Beats Slumping Lyon and Lille Wins at Marseille

Monaco's French midfielder #11 Maghnes Akliouche (R) celebrates with his teammates after scoring a goal during the French L1 football match between Olympique Lyonnais (OL) and AS Monaco (ASM) at the Groupama Stadium in Decines-Charpieu, central-eastern France on March 22, 2026. (AFP)
Monaco's French midfielder #11 Maghnes Akliouche (R) celebrates with his teammates after scoring a goal during the French L1 football match between Olympique Lyonnais (OL) and AS Monaco (ASM) at the Groupama Stadium in Decines-Charpieu, central-eastern France on March 22, 2026. (AFP)

Maghnes Akliouche scored a brilliant individual goal and American forward Folarin Balogun netted a penalty as Monaco rallied to win 2-1 at Lyon on Sunday for a sixth straight league victory.

Coach Paulo Fonseca's slumping Lyon side is seven games without a win overall having equaled a club record with 13 straight victories.

Sixth-place Monaco is only one point behind fourth-place Lyon and fifth-place Lille in the race for a Champions League spot next season and faces third-place Marseille after the international break.

The top three qualify directly for the Champions League and the team finishing fourth goes through qualifying.

Marseille opens the door

Marseille lost 2-1 at home to Lille, which scored a late winner through Olivier Giroud. Monaco can move level on points with Marseille if it wins their match on April 5.

Marseille forward Mason Greenwood went off early on after being barged over at full speed by Calvin Verdonk. He was replaced by Ethan Nwaneri, who scored with a neat half-volley from Igor Paixão's left-wing cross. The 19-year-old Nwaneri is on loan from Premier League leader Arsenal.

Lille goalkeeper Berke Özer went off in first-half stoppage time after taking an accidental blow to the face from Marseille striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang as they challenged for the ball. Özer was replaced by Arnaud Bodart.

Another high-profile error from Marseille defender Leonardo Balerdi gifted Lille a 49th-minute equalizer. Balerdi's misjudged clearance hit the foot of Thomas Meunier and went in.

Meunier then set up Giroud in the 86th with a pinpoint cross which the veteran striker met with a typical downward header.

Lyon's slump continues

Things looked good for Lyon when Brazil forward Endrick set up midfielder Pavel Šulc in the 42nd minute, skipping past two defenders down the right before cutting the ball back to the Czech midfielder near the penalty spot.

But Endrick went for goal himself in the 57th and saw his shot cleared near the line with teammate Corentin Tolisso unmarked.

Akliouche equalized five minutes later when he controlled a long pass with one touch to cut inside Clinton Mata and curled a shot into the top-right corner. Akliouche then won a penalty after drawing a foul from Tolisso and Balogun sent the goalkeeper the wrong way.

The penalty was awarded despite a video review showing Endrick had his jersey pulled by Monaco captain Denis Zakaria in the buildup to the penalty.

It was a second error from the officials, who failed to spot a headbutt from Lyon left back Nicolas Tagliafico to the side of Akliouche's head. Tagliafico raised his right arm as he was running alongside Akliouche as if to disguise the intent.

Tagliafico was sent off in the 89th for a violent lunge on Lamine Camara, whose left foot buckled under him.

Immobile gets going

Veteran Italian striker Ciro Immobile finally got off the mark for new club Paris FC in a 3-2 home win over Le Havre.

It was a typical poacher's effort from the 36-year-old Immobile to put his side ahead. He latched onto a loose ball and drilled a low shot into the opposite corner. The win moved Paris FC up to 13th under new coach Antoine Kombouaré.

Rennes drew 0-0 at home to rock-bottom Metz and eighth-place Strasbourg won 3-2 at next-to-last Nantes with two late goals from Joaquín Panichelli.

The Argentina striker's brace moved him top of the Ligue 1 scoring charts with 16, one ahead of Greenwood.

On Saturday, Paris Saint-Germain won 4-0 at Nice to reclaim top spot from Lens.

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Alcaraz Eyes Clay Court Season after Early Miami Exit

World number one Carlos Alcaraz will refocus on the clay court season after another early exit at the Miami Open. Rich Storry / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP
World number one Carlos Alcaraz will refocus on the clay court season after another early exit at the Miami Open. Rich Storry / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP
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Alcaraz Eyes Clay Court Season after Early Miami Exit

World number one Carlos Alcaraz will refocus on the clay court season after another early exit at the Miami Open. Rich Storry / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP
World number one Carlos Alcaraz will refocus on the clay court season after another early exit at the Miami Open. Rich Storry / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP

World number one Carlos Alcaraz remained confident his game is improving despite a third-round exit at the Miami Open, and after a few days to reset he'll be turning his attention to the clay court season.

"Probably I'm going to go back home," Alcaraz said after falling in three sets to 36th-ranked American Sebastian Korda on Sunday.

"Chilling with my family, with my friends a couple of days. I don't know how much my team are going to allow me to have rest and a day off.

"The clay season is around the corner. My mind right now is to take some days off, to reset my mind, reset the batteries, be ready and in good shape for the clay season."

Korda became the lowest-ranked man to defeat Alcaraz since 55th-ranked David Goffin ousted him in the second round at Miami last year.

The Spaniard had built a 73-6 record in the year since then, including a 16-0 run to start 2026 that included an Australian Open title that made the 22-year-old the youngest man to complete a career Grand Slam, said AFP.

He added a title in Doha before a semi-final defeat at Indian Wells, and he knows that every lower-ranked player comes out swinging freely against him.

"Obviously when you're winning tournaments and you have great record win/lose, everything is easier in the way of pressure to the opponents," he said. "I'm feeling they have more to win than to lose in those matches ... they're playing without pressure."

Alcaraz is trying to make sure he doesn't respond by piling pressure on himself.

"I'm not thinking about my pressure," he said. "I don't feel it at all. I'm trying to play my best."

That includes constant work to improve his game, and despite Sunday's result he's confident he's on the right track.

"I would say what I was practicing, you know, I think I just did it really well," he said. "Some couple things in previous tournaments that I just didn't feel comfortable, I think in this tournament, I started to feel better and better.

"I think the process has been good. Besides the loss today, I think I'm still in the right way."