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Barca Boss Flick Hails Garcia After Goalkeeper Stars Against Former Club

Barcelona's Spanish goalkeeper #13 Joan Garcia jumps to make a save during the Spanish League football match between RCD Espanyol and FC Barcelona at RCDE Stadium in Cornella de Llobregat on January 3, 2026. (AFP)
Barcelona's Spanish goalkeeper #13 Joan Garcia jumps to make a save during the Spanish League football match between RCD Espanyol and FC Barcelona at RCDE Stadium in Cornella de Llobregat on January 3, 2026. (AFP)
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Barca Boss Flick Hails Garcia After Goalkeeper Stars Against Former Club

Barcelona's Spanish goalkeeper #13 Joan Garcia jumps to make a save during the Spanish League football match between RCD Espanyol and FC Barcelona at RCDE Stadium in Cornella de Llobregat on January 3, 2026. (AFP)
Barcelona's Spanish goalkeeper #13 Joan Garcia jumps to make a save during the Spanish League football match between RCD Espanyol and FC Barcelona at RCDE Stadium in Cornella de Llobregat on January 3, 2026. (AFP)

Barcelona coach Hansi Flick hailed Joan Garcia as one of the best goalkeepers in the world after the former Espanyol player delivered a decisive performance against his old club in a Catalan derby on Saturday.

Garcia was instrumental in Barcelona's 2-0 victory, producing a series of outstanding saves, with the league leaders extending their lead at the top of the LaLiga standings to 49 points.

"The first thing I have to do is thank Joan Garcia," Flick told reporters. "He is one of the best goalkeepers in the world. We suffered, ‌but we ‌took the three points and that is ‌the ⁠message we ‌send to LaLiga."

Flick praised the goalkeeper's composure, particularly given the hostile reception he faced on his return to the RCDE Stadium, where he had previously come through the ranks.

"Fantastic," the German manager said when asked about Garcia's mental strength. "I think he will not forget what he lived here, because he played for Espanyol ⁠and they gave him his opportunity. Now he plays for us, and he ‌was one of the reasons for the ‍win."

Garcia was jeered from the ‍warm-up, with banners aimed at him displayed in the ‍stands, including images of rats and mock banknotes bearing his face. Flick said the 24-year-old appeared unaffected before kickoff.

"Of course I spoke with him," Flick said. "I saw him calm, as always. Focused, convinced. The great teams have the best goalkeepers, and he is one of them."

Espanyol coach Manolo Gonzalez, whose side ⁠created several clear chances but failed to score, declined to discuss Garcia's performance.

"I'm not going to talk about Joan," he said. "Whatever I say will be twisted. I don't want to go into that.

"We were very close to winning and it slipped away... today we should have won."

Turning his attention to the Super Cup, Flick added that the victory would give his side a morale boost ahead of Wednesday's clash with Athletic Bilbao.

"It's not easy after the Christmas break to play this match and go ‌straight into the Super Cup," the German said. "But this victory will give us confidence."

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Mercedes the Class of the Field in Chinese GP Practice

Formula One F1 - Chinese Grand Prix - Shanghai International Circuit, Shanghai, China - March 13, 2026 Mercedes' George Russell ahead of practice. (Reuters)
Formula One F1 - Chinese Grand Prix - Shanghai International Circuit, Shanghai, China - March 13, 2026 Mercedes' George Russell ahead of practice. (Reuters)
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Mercedes the Class of the Field in Chinese GP Practice

Formula One F1 - Chinese Grand Prix - Shanghai International Circuit, Shanghai, China - March 13, 2026 Mercedes' George Russell ahead of practice. (Reuters)
Formula One F1 - Chinese Grand Prix - Shanghai International Circuit, Shanghai, China - March 13, 2026 Mercedes' George Russell ahead of practice. (Reuters)

Mercedes' George Russell led ‌the way in practice for the Chinese Grand Prix on Friday ahead of teammate Kimi Antonelli, with the at times twitchy-looking McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri heading the chasing pack.

Russell, who won the season opener in Melbourne, posted a flying lap of one minute, 32.741 seconds on soft tires and stayed top of the timesheets for most of the only practice session ahead of qualifying for the sprint race around the Shanghai International Circuit.

The Briton's time was 0.120 seconds quicker than Antonelli.

McLaren looked to have a better handle on their Mercedes power unit, after team principal Andrea Stella complained about ‌a lack of ‌engine data from the supplier following the last ‌race ⁠in Australia.

Norris was ⁠0.555 seconds down on Russell's time, with Piastri 0.731 behind the Mercedes.

The papaya-colored McLarens looked to be struggling with the sweeping Turn 1, with Piastri running wide around the 30 minute-mark as the rear end of his car stepped out, with his engineer confirming both cars were facing the same issue.

With Ferrari running their innovative "flip-flop" wing on both cars, Charles Leclerc was fifth fastest ⁠and 0.858 seconds behind Russell.

Seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton switched ‌to the soft tire relatively early in ‌the session and while last year's sprint race winner finished 1.388 seconds off ‌the pace, the track had got quicker by the time Mercedes set ‌their fastest laps.

The Briton's Ferrari suffered an early lock up and spin and also made contact with compatriot Norris in the first half of the session when the McLaren driver attempted a pass only for Hamilton to close the gap going ‌into the corner.

The Haas of Ollie Bearman pipped Red Bull's five-times world champion Max Verstappen, who were 1.685 seconds ⁠and 1.800 ⁠seconds off the pace.

Dutchman Verstappen will be hoping to avoid a similar situation to the rear-axle lockup that caused him to crash in qualifying at last weekend's Melbourne race.

The Racing Bulls car of Arvin Lindlad stopped after 15 minutes, possibly with a power train issue, taking the rookie out of the only practice session ahead of competitive running on a circuit he has not driven before.

The Audis of Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto enjoyed a strong first run, finishing ninth and 12th ahead of the second Red Bull of Isaac Hadjar in 13th.

Despite high hopes for the season after the regulations reset, Aston Martin continued to struggle for pace with two-time world champion Fernando Alonso 18th and just two-tenths faster than Valteri Bottas's Cadillac, F1's newest entrants.

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Sabalenka and Sinner Move to the BNP Paribas Semifinals

INDIAN WELLS, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 12: Aryna Sabalenka plays a backhand against Victoria Mboko of Canada in their quarterfinal match of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells Tennis Garden on March 12, 2026 in Indian Wells, California. Clive Brunskill/Getty Images/AFP
INDIAN WELLS, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 12: Aryna Sabalenka plays a backhand against Victoria Mboko of Canada in their quarterfinal match of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells Tennis Garden on March 12, 2026 in Indian Wells, California. Clive Brunskill/Getty Images/AFP
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Sabalenka and Sinner Move to the BNP Paribas Semifinals

INDIAN WELLS, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 12: Aryna Sabalenka plays a backhand against Victoria Mboko of Canada in their quarterfinal match of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells Tennis Garden on March 12, 2026 in Indian Wells, California. Clive Brunskill/Getty Images/AFP
INDIAN WELLS, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 12: Aryna Sabalenka plays a backhand against Victoria Mboko of Canada in their quarterfinal match of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells Tennis Garden on March 12, 2026 in Indian Wells, California. Clive Brunskill/Getty Images/AFP

Carlos Alcaraz and Aryna Sabalenka — the world's top-ranked men's and women's tennis players — both won quarterfinal matches in straight sets during an eventful Thursday at the BNP Paribas Open.

Sabalenka held off Victoria Mboko, 7-6 (0), 6-4 to keep her in the running for her first title at Indian Wells. Alcaraz — who has opened 2026 by winning 16 straight matches — topped Cameron Norrie 6-3, 6-4 to move within two rounds of his third title in four years at the ATP Masters 1000 event just outside of Palm Springs.

Jannik Sinner, Alexander Zverev and Daniil Medvedev also advanced to the men's semifinals, with Medvedev benefiting from a disputed, overturned point late in his 6-1, 7-5 victory over defending champion Jack Draper.

Draper momentarily threw his arms to his side to signal he thought Medvedev's deep forehand had landed long during a rally that ended several shots later when Medvedev's backhand went into the net. Medvedev, already up one set, asked chair umpire Aurelie Tourte for a video review.

Tourte said that by rule, Draper's gesture was “something different than you would do normally,” and that she felt compelled to award the point to Medvedev.

“We played two shots afterwards,” Draper protested calmly. “I get it if he missed the next ball, but he didn't.”

The ruling, which drew boos from the crowd, put Medvedev up 0-30 en route to a break that allowed him to serve out the match one game later, setting up his semifinal showdown with Alcaraz on Saturday.

According to The Associated Press, Medvedev said he would have accepted whatever ruling Tourte made and merely requested the review because the rules allow it.

“I don't feel great” about it, Medvedev told Draper on the court moments after the match. Draper told Medvedev that he ”won the match fair and square," but didn't think his gesture distracted Medvedev enough to warrant the review.

Jannick Sinner of Italy (R) greets Learner Tien of the US (L) after winning their men’s singles quarterfinals match on day 9 of the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament in Indian Wells, California, USA, 12 March 2026. EPA/JOHN G. MABANGLO

Sinner and Zverev will meet in the other men's semifinal.

Sabalenka plays her semifinal on Friday against 14th seed Linda Noskova of Czechia, a 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 winner over unseeded Australian Talia Gibson.

Sabalenka hasn’t lost a set in the tournament, but was pushed by the 10th-seeded Mboko, a 19-year-old Canadian who won the 2025 Canadian Open — and whom Sabalenka defeated 6-1, 7-6 (1) in the fourth round of the Australian Open earlier this year.

“That was a tough battle today,” Sabalenka said. “Happy with the level I played in those key moments in each set.

After winning every point in a first-set tiebreaker, Sabalenka got the one break she needed to vanquish Mboko in two sets.

Also advancing to the semifinals for just the second time at Indian Wells was ninth-seeded Ukrainian Elina Svitolina, who knocked off second-seeded Iga Swiatek, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4.

Svitolina broke to go up 5-4 in the third set and held serve for the match. She'll play Friday against Elena Rybakina, who beat American Jessica Pegula, 6-1, 7-6 (4).

Sinner served 10 aces while defeating 25th-seeded Learner Tien, 6-1, 6-2. The second-seeded Italian's victory ended the run of the youngest American — at age 20 — to play in a quarterfinal at Indian Wells since his coach, Michael Chang, won the tournament in 1992.

Zverev put 72% of his first serves in play during his 6-2, 6-3 victory over France's Arthur Fils.

Alcaraz was broken twice by Norrie, but broke back four times.

Sports

Solanke Says Tottenham's Madrid Meltdown One in a Million

Tottenham Hotspur's Dominic Solanke celebrates scoring the 1-0 goal during the English Premier League soccer match of Tottenham Hotspur against Crystal Palace, in London, Britain, 05 March 2026. EPA/DANIEL HAMBURY
Tottenham Hotspur's Dominic Solanke celebrates scoring the 1-0 goal during the English Premier League soccer match of Tottenham Hotspur against Crystal Palace, in London, Britain, 05 March 2026. EPA/DANIEL HAMBURY
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Solanke Says Tottenham's Madrid Meltdown One in a Million

Tottenham Hotspur's Dominic Solanke celebrates scoring the 1-0 goal during the English Premier League soccer match of Tottenham Hotspur against Crystal Palace, in London, Britain, 05 March 2026. EPA/DANIEL HAMBURY
Tottenham Hotspur's Dominic Solanke celebrates scoring the 1-0 goal during the English Premier League soccer match of Tottenham Hotspur against Crystal Palace, in London, Britain, 05 March 2026. EPA/DANIEL HAMBURY

Tottenham Hotspur's meltdown against Atletico Madrid in Tuesday's Champions League last-16 clash was a one-in-a-million occurrence, according to forward Dominic Solanke.

Igor Tudor's side conceded three times in the opening 15 minutes, two of the goals following calamitous errors by goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky who was immediately substituted.

A slip by Micky van de Ven also led to Atletico's second goal as Tottenham imploded before staging something of a comeback to eventually lose 5-2.

Solanke's goal at least gave Tottenham a glimmer of hope before next week's second leg in London, but he said it had been hard to recover from such a ⁠dreadful start.

"Obviously the ⁠first 20 minutes was difficult, very difficult circumstances which are one in a million," Solanke told Sky Sports on Thursday. "You never prepare for that. You prepare all week to go into a game, have a game plan and then stuff like that can happen, which is rare.

"That gave us a bit of ⁠mountain to climb, but I think overall, we try to take some positives. We know we've still got another game,” Reuters quoted him as saying.

Kinsky's slip for the first goal and then stray pass for the third saw him hauled off by Tudor, who has found himself under an intense spotlight after losing all four games since being named as interim manager after the sacking of Thomas Frank.

He will still be in charge for Sunday's away trip to Solanke's old club Liverpool when Tottenham will be desperate to avoid a ⁠seventh successive ⁠defeat in all competitions -- a run that has left them hovering just above the Premier League relegation zone.

"We've been so good in the Champions League this year but we know we haven't been anywhere near good enough in the league," Solanke said. "It's hard to put a finger on it, just changing one thing. I think we need to be better in every department. We're trying to stay positive and want to change it around.

"We need to be brave, we need to be strong and have full belief."

Tottenham are 16th in the Premier League table, one point above West Ham United and Nottingham Forest.