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Barcelona Faces Home Game Challenges with Injuries and Stadium Issues

FILE - In this Oct.1, 2017 file photo, Spanish La Liga soccer match between Barcelona and Las Palmas is played at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona, Spain. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez, File)
FILE - In this Oct.1, 2017 file photo, Spanish La Liga soccer match between Barcelona and Las Palmas is played at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona, Spain. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez, File)
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Barcelona Faces Home Game Challenges with Injuries and Stadium Issues

FILE - In this Oct.1, 2017 file photo, Spanish La Liga soccer match between Barcelona and Las Palmas is played at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona, Spain. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez, File)
FILE - In this Oct.1, 2017 file photo, Spanish La Liga soccer match between Barcelona and Las Palmas is played at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona, Spain. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez, File)

Barcelona approaches its first home game in La Liga missing a few injured players — and a proper stadium.

Among a few off-field problems for unbeaten Barcelona, the biggest is its inability to get the newly renovated Camp Nou stadium reopened.

The permits to return to the Camp Nou have not been approved, so the Catalan club will play its first Spanish league home game at a 6,000-seat venue, about 99,000 less than the refurbished Camp Now offers.

On Sunday when it meets Valencia, Barcelona will use Estadi Johan Cruyff, which typically hosts the Barcelona women’s team and the men’s reserve and youth squads.

Coach Hansi Flick also won't be able to count on players nursing injuries such as Frenkie de Jong, Alejandro Balde and Gavi. De Jong's setback came while playing with the Netherlands during the international break.

Key matchups Real Madrid, winner of its first three matches, on Saturday visits a Real Sociedad squad that is winless.

The Basque Country club opened with consecutive draws against Valencia and Espanyol and lost at promoted Oviedo. Madrid routed Oviedo on the road and picked up victories against Osasuna and Mallorca.

Athletic Bilbao, the only other team to open the season with three straight victories, hosts Alaves on Saturday. Athletic has beaten Real Betis, Sevilla and Rayo Vallecano.

Atletico Madrid, off to an unusually slow start after draws against Alaves and Elche and a loss to Espanyol, will try and earn its first victory when it hosts third-placed Villarreal on Saturday.

Players to watch Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappé was last season's top league scorer and already leads again this season with three from three matches. Two others have three; Getafe's Adrián Liso and Villarreal's Tajon Buchanan.

Barcelona's Lamine Yamal and Madrid's Vinícius Júnior are right behind with two each.

Real Betis is expected to debut newly signed Brazil forward Antony.

Out of action In addition to De Jong, Balde and Gavi, Barcelona also remains without goalkeeper Marc-André Ter Stegen.

New Madrid coach Xabi Alonso still can't count on Jude Bellingham, while Athletic will likely be without its star forward, Nico Williams, because of an injury while with Spain.

Off the field Barcelona said there was still no timetable on when it could get the permits for Camp Nou. The club played the last two seasons at the city’s publicly owned Olympic Stadium.

“We will be back to the Camp Nou as soon as possible,” club president Joan Laporta said on Thursday.

The Spanish league, meanwhile, continued to work to get the final approvals to play the Villarreal-Barcelona match in Miami in December. It hoped for UEFA's approval later Thursday.

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Sports

Sabalenka Apologizes for Outburst During Loss to Svitolina

13 November 2026, US, Indian Wells: Belarusian tennis player Aryna Sabalenka in action against Ukraine's Elina Svitolina during their women's singles group stage match of the FAGE WTA Finals tennis tournament at Indian Wells. Photo: Charles Baus/CSM via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
13 November 2026, US, Indian Wells: Belarusian tennis player Aryna Sabalenka in action against Ukraine's Elina Svitolina during their women's singles group stage match of the FAGE WTA Finals tennis tournament at Indian Wells. Photo: Charles Baus/CSM via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
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Sabalenka Apologizes for Outburst During Loss to Svitolina

13 November 2026, US, Indian Wells: Belarusian tennis player Aryna Sabalenka in action against Ukraine's Elina Svitolina during their women's singles group stage match of the FAGE WTA Finals tennis tournament at Indian Wells. Photo: Charles Baus/CSM via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
13 November 2026, US, Indian Wells: Belarusian tennis player Aryna Sabalenka in action against Ukraine's Elina Svitolina during their women's singles group stage match of the FAGE WTA Finals tennis tournament at Indian Wells. Photo: Charles Baus/CSM via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa

Aryna Sabalenka apologized on Saturday for her angry outburst during her defeat by Ukraine's Elina Svitolina at the WTA Finals.

Television footage appeared to show the Belarusian swearing during Friday's round-robin match, with some social media users interpreting her remarks as being directed at Svitolina or Ukrainians. The loss eliminated Sabalenka from the season-ending tournament.

"My comment was not directed at Elina," Sabalenka said in a social ⁠media post.

"I was ⁠frustrated with a small group of spectators who were aggressively cheering my mistakes, and I reacted emotionally in the moment.

"That said, I should have handled my frustration differently, and I apologize to anyone I offended.

"Elina played a great match, ⁠and I wish her all the best for the rest of the tournament."

Svitolina did not shake hands with Sabalenka after the match, maintaining her policy of not doing so with Russian or Belarusian opponents following Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, which Moscow launched with Belarus as a staging ground.

Asked about her reaction to Sabalenka's apology, Svitolina called for mutual respect, acknowledging that fans' passions ⁠can ⁠sometimes run high.

"We've played many times with Aryna. She has her fans, I have my fans," she told reporters after her semi-final win over Linda Noskova on Saturday.

According to Reuters, she expressed hope that matches between the two of them would be respected, "because yes, sometimes in some matches that we've played, also been not great comments towards me in regards of the war."

Svitolina, the 2018 WTA Finals champion, faces Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva in Sunday's final.

Sports

Portugal Changes How No. 7 Is Written to Honor Cristiano Ronaldo

Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates after scoring the 1-2 goal during the FIFA World Cup qualifying match against Hungary, in Budapest, Hungary, 09 September 2025. (EPA)
Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates after scoring the 1-2 goal during the FIFA World Cup qualifying match against Hungary, in Budapest, Hungary, 09 September 2025. (EPA)
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Portugal Changes How No. 7 Is Written to Honor Cristiano Ronaldo

Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates after scoring the 1-2 goal during the FIFA World Cup qualifying match against Hungary, in Budapest, Hungary, 09 September 2025. (EPA)
Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates after scoring the 1-2 goal during the FIFA World Cup qualifying match against Hungary, in Budapest, Hungary, 09 September 2025. (EPA)

The Portugal football team is making a change to how the No. 7 is written to honor the recently-retired Cristiano Ronaldo.

Ronaldo, who wore the number and went on to make it his own as “CR7,” retired from international soccer last week, ending a remarkable career that spanned six World Cups, a European title, and the men’s all-time international scoring record.

“Time to debut a new 7. Because there’s one that will be eternal,” the Portuguese national team wrote on social media on Saturday. The post included a goat emoji to signify “Greatest Of All Time.”

It also included a video that showed a horizontal crossed line through the No. 7 as it’s commonly written in Europe, suggesting that Ronaldo’s successors will all have that cross to bear when they wear the number.

Portugal, already assured of reaching the quarterfinals, was hosting Denmark in the Nations League later Saturday.

The 41-year-old Ronaldo quit on Nov. 5 after falling out with coach Jorge Jesus. His last appearance with Portugal was Sept. 24 in a 1-0 home win over Wales in the Nations League.

Jesus kept him on the bench for the following match and said he didn’t plan to start him in the next one, so the superstar forward decided to leave the team’s training camp.

Jesus later said Ronaldo would be welcome back and the decision to return was up to him.

Sports

Ronaldinho Poised for Ravenna Start and, Perhaps, One Last Goal

Brazilian football legend Ronaldinho waves during Ravenna FC’s team presentation for the 2026-27 season in Marina di Ravenna, Italy, Aug. 20, 2026. (AFP)
Brazilian football legend Ronaldinho waves during Ravenna FC’s team presentation for the 2026-27 season in Marina di Ravenna, Italy, Aug. 20, 2026. (AFP)
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Ronaldinho Poised for Ravenna Start and, Perhaps, One Last Goal

Brazilian football legend Ronaldinho waves during Ravenna FC’s team presentation for the 2026-27 season in Marina di Ravenna, Italy, Aug. 20, 2026. (AFP)
Brazilian football legend Ronaldinho waves during Ravenna FC’s team presentation for the 2026-27 season in Marina di Ravenna, Italy, Aug. 20, 2026. (AFP)

Ronaldinho will roll back the years this weekend when the 46-year-old Brazilian starts his first competitive match in over a decade, and in the unlikely setting of an Italian third-tier derby the World Cup winner may realize his dream of scoring one last time.

The Brazil great and Ballon d'Or winner signed for Ravenna in June, also taking a stake in the club, but because he had not played since his final appearance for Fluminense in 2015, doubts remained over whether fans would ever see him in action.

Ravenna revealed ‌three weeks ago ‌that the former Barcelona and AC Milan player ‌would ⁠make his return ⁠in Sunday's home clash with local rivals Forli, and on Friday, manager Andrea Mandorlini told reporters that Ronaldinho would start the match.

"He will play from the start, there's no doubt," Mandorlini said.

"Then together we will decide how long he plays. He is one of the greatest players of the modern era. And we have to get a ⁠result. We always play with three forwards. He will ‌be one of the three."

Ronaldinho was ‌welcomed by the Ravenna fans in August, without committing to a return ‌to the pitch. He returned to Italy on Friday afternoon and ‌will have just one training session with his teammates on Saturday before making his club debut.

A temporary stand has been erected at the Stadio Bruno Benelli to cater for the crowd, and if this does turn out ‌to be one last hurrah for Ronaldinho, he may well get the chance to score his 300th ⁠professional goal.

"I ⁠scored my first Italian goal in the derby," Ronaldinho told Corriere della Sera, referring to his first official goal for AC Milan, which came against Inter Milan.

"It was a special evening that will remain in the memory of all AC Milan fans. It was September 28, 2008. I scored with a header, which is not my specialty. Who knows if I'll be able to repeat that feat tomorrow."

"... Returning to the pitch at 46 is the best move of my career."

Simone Rabbi will play alongside the Brazilian up front for Ravenna, and in Friday's press conference he said that if his side are awarded a penalty on Sunday, Ronaldinho will take the spot kick.