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Perfect Al-Hilal Beat Al-Shorta to Book Asian Champions League Last-16 Spot 

Al-Hilal players celebrate a goal scored during Tuesday's match. (SPA)
Al-Hilal players celebrate a goal scored during Tuesday's match. (SPA)
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Perfect Al-Hilal Beat Al-Shorta to Book Asian Champions League Last-16 Spot 

Al-Hilal players celebrate a goal scored during Tuesday's match. (SPA)
Al-Hilal players celebrate a goal scored during Tuesday's match. (SPA)

Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal won 4-0 against Iraq's Al-Shorta in Riyadh on Tuesday to book their place in the knockout rounds of the Asian Champions League Elite with a fifth win in a row as Al-Wahda from the UAE also confirmed their progress.

Marcos Leonardo scored twice to move Simone Inzaghi's side on to a maximum 15 points from the opening five matches in the 12-team western league phase and qualify for the last 16.

The Brazilian opened the scoring in first-half stoppage time with a bullet header past Hasan Ahmed while Ahmed Yahia's 61st-minute sending off for a second bookable offence left Al-Shorta with what proved to be an insurmountable task.

Goalkeeper Ahmed allowed Sergej Milinkovic-Savic's header to slip through his hands as Al-Hilal doubled their lead two minutes later, while Leonardo nodded in the third with 18 minutes left and Cancelo hit the fourth in added time.

The top eight finishers in both the western and eastern league phases advance to March's Round of 16, with the quarter-finals, semis and final to be played on a centralized basis in Saudi Arabia in April.

Dusan Tadic inspired Al-Wahda to come back from a goal down in the first half to defeat Qatar's Al-Sadd 3-1 in Abu Dhabi and also confirm the Emirati outfit's place in the knockout rounds.

Brazilian striker Claudinho had given Al-Sadd, under new manager Roberto Mancini, the lead from the penalty spot in the third minute of first-half stoppage time but Tadic levelled 10 minutes after the restart.

The former Southampton playmaker showed his class with a strike on the turn that flew into the top corner before hitting his team's second with another emphatic finish 11 minutes later.

Tadic then turned provider with three minutes left to allow Caio Canedo to net their third, sealing the win and confirming Al-Wahda's progress with 13 points from five matches.

"When we don't give our opponents the initiative we are much better and this is the way Al-Wahda should play," said Tadic. "This is how we win the game.

"In the first half I believe we gave them too much space and then everyone can play football. In the second half we didn't give them space and we showed we're a better team than them."

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Sports

Real Madrid’s Carvajal Suffers Toe Fracture

Real Madrid's Dani Carvajal during the team's training session at club's sport complex in Valdebebas, Madrid, Spain, 23 April 2026. (EPA)
Real Madrid's Dani Carvajal during the team's training session at club's sport complex in Valdebebas, Madrid, Spain, 23 April 2026. (EPA)
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Real Madrid’s Carvajal Suffers Toe Fracture

Real Madrid's Dani Carvajal during the team's training session at club's sport complex in Valdebebas, Madrid, Spain, 23 April 2026. (EPA)
Real Madrid's Dani Carvajal during the team's training session at club's sport complex in Valdebebas, Madrid, Spain, 23 April 2026. (EPA)

Real Madrid defender Dani Carvajal will miss the Clasico on May 10 after suffering a toe fracture, his club said Saturday.

The veteran right-back is set to miss the next two weeks according to Spanish media and could return for the club's final game of the season against Athletic Bilbao.

Real Madrid, second, are 11 points behind league leaders Barcelona who could clinch La Liga this weekend with a win at Osasuna, if Los Blancos drop points at Espanyol on Sunday.

Carvajal will be out for the Clasico clash at Barca next Sunday, which may be his last as a Madrid player.

The defender, who has won six Champions League titles and four La Liga titles with Madrid, is out of contract at the end of the season.

The 34-year-old had hoped to form part of Spain's World Cup squad this summer but after an injury-hit season his chances were already slim before his latest setback.

Sports

Alex Zanardi, Auto Racing Champion-Turned-Paralympian, Dies at 59 After Life-Altering Accidents

Alex Zanardi of Italy celebrates holding his gold medal following the medal ceremony for the man's road cycle individual time trial H4 category at the 2012 Paralympics games, Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2012, at Brands Hatch motor racing circuit near London. (AP)
Alex Zanardi of Italy celebrates holding his gold medal following the medal ceremony for the man's road cycle individual time trial H4 category at the 2012 Paralympics games, Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2012, at Brands Hatch motor racing circuit near London. (AP)
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Alex Zanardi, Auto Racing Champion-Turned-Paralympian, Dies at 59 After Life-Altering Accidents

Alex Zanardi of Italy celebrates holding his gold medal following the medal ceremony for the man's road cycle individual time trial H4 category at the 2012 Paralympics games, Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2012, at Brands Hatch motor racing circuit near London. (AP)
Alex Zanardi of Italy celebrates holding his gold medal following the medal ceremony for the man's road cycle individual time trial H4 category at the 2012 Paralympics games, Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2012, at Brands Hatch motor racing circuit near London. (AP)

Alex Zanardi, the Italian auto racing champion-turned-Paralympic gold medalist whose career was marked by two life-altering accidents, has died. He was 59.

Zanardi’s family announced his death on Saturday, saying that he passed away on Friday night.

“Alex died peacefully, surrounded by the affection of those closest to him,” the family said in a statement without providing a cause of death.

In 2020, Zanardi was seriously injured in a handbike accident after crashing into an oncoming truck during a relay event in Tuscany. Zanardi suffered serious facial and cranial trauma in the crash and was put in a medically induced coma.

Nearly 20 years earlier, Zanardi lost both of his legs in an auto racing crash.

"Italy loses a great champion and an extraordinary man, capable of turning every challenge of life into a lesson in courage, strength, and dignity,” Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni said on X.

“Alex Zanardi knew how to bounce back every time, facing even the toughest challenges with determination, clarity, and a strength of spirit that was truly exceptional,” Meloni added. “With his sporting achievements, with his example, and with his humanity, he gave all of us much more than a victory: he gave hope, pride, and the strength to never give up. On behalf of myself and the government, I extend my heartfelt thoughts and the sincerest closeness to his family and to all those who loved him. Thank you for everything, Alex.”

Zanardi won two championships in CART in the United States before a brief move to Formula One. He returned to America and was racing in Germany in a CART event in 2001 when both of his legs were severed in a horrific accident the weekend after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. CART raced only because the series was already in Germany at the time of the attacks and could not return to the US.

During his recovery, Zanardi designed his own prosthetics — he joked that he made himself taller — and learned to walk again. He then turned his attention to hand cycling and developed into one of the most accomplished athletes in the world. He won four gold medals and two silvers at the 2012 and 2016 Paralympics, competed in the New York City Marathon and set an Ironman record.

His spirit, will, and determination gave the beloved Italian a larger-than-life persona. When he returned to the US in 2019 to compete for BMW at the Rolex 24 of Daytona without his prosthetics, he was the most revered driver in a field that included F1 champion Fernando Alonso.

Drivers from around the world sought out Zanardi for photographs and were transfixed as he told elaborate tales of his adventures in the nearly two decades since many had seen him.

Noted for his infectious smile and fanciful storytelling, Zanardi was praised by Pope Francis after his 2020 crash as an example of strength amid adversity. Francis penned a handwritten letter of encouragement assuring Zanardi and his family of his prayers.

Zanardi’s family added that it “thanks everyone who is sharing their support right now and asks for respect during this time of mourning.”

Funeral details were still to be announced, the family said.

Sports

Kinsky Says de Zerbi Has Lifted Tottenham Spirits as Club Fights to Avoid Relegation

Football - Premier League - Wolverhampton Wanderers v Tottenham Hotspur - Molineux Stadium, Wolverhampton, Britain - April 25, 2026 Tottenham Hotspur manager Roberto De Zerbi celebrates after the match (Action Images via Reuters/Jason Cairnduff)
Football - Premier League - Wolverhampton Wanderers v Tottenham Hotspur - Molineux Stadium, Wolverhampton, Britain - April 25, 2026 Tottenham Hotspur manager Roberto De Zerbi celebrates after the match (Action Images via Reuters/Jason Cairnduff)
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Kinsky Says de Zerbi Has Lifted Tottenham Spirits as Club Fights to Avoid Relegation

Football - Premier League - Wolverhampton Wanderers v Tottenham Hotspur - Molineux Stadium, Wolverhampton, Britain - April 25, 2026 Tottenham Hotspur manager Roberto De Zerbi celebrates after the match (Action Images via Reuters/Jason Cairnduff)
Football - Premier League - Wolverhampton Wanderers v Tottenham Hotspur - Molineux Stadium, Wolverhampton, Britain - April 25, 2026 Tottenham Hotspur manager Roberto De Zerbi celebrates after the match (Action Images via Reuters/Jason Cairnduff)

Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky ‌said the arrival of head coach Roberto De Zerbi has instilled a positive mindset as the club battles to avoid relegation from the Premier League this season.

De Zerbi became the club's third manager of the 2025-26 season when he joined Spurs in late March on a long-term contract, replacing Igor Tudor and taking over a team that was already sliding towards the danger zone.

Spurs are 18th in the Premier ‌League table with ‌34 points, two behind 17th-placed West ‌Ham ⁠United, with four ⁠matches remaining in the season.

"By the way he (De Zerbi) speaks, what you read and what you hear from him is that he believes in us and that is a big message that he gives us overall: that the quality is there in the ⁠squad," Kinsky said in an interview with ‌Sky Sports on Friday.

"It's just ‌not to speak about it but to show it. ‌With the combination, with the style that he wants ‌to play, I think our squad fits to that so I believe this is going to work.

"Now we have four points from three games, there is four left ‌and I hope and I believe that this is the right way." Spurs ended ⁠a 16-game ⁠winless run in the league with a victory over already relegated Wolverhampton Wanderers last week, with Kinsky producing a crucial late save from Joao Gomes' free-kick to secure all three points.

"It's very precious. If we wouldn't bring three points from there, of course, it would be much more difficult now," the 23-year-old said about the win against Wolves.

"We are not closer but at least we didn't get further (away). So the difference is still just two points."

Spurs travel to fifth-placed Aston Villa on Sunday.