Man City Must Use Champions League Pain to Fuel FA Cup, League Title Chase, Walker Says 

Manchester City's English defender #02 Kyle Walker reacts at the UEFA Champions League quarter-final second-leg football match between Manchester City and Real Madrid, at the Etihad Stadium, in Manchester, north-west England, on April 17, 2024. (AFP)
Manchester City's English defender #02 Kyle Walker reacts at the UEFA Champions League quarter-final second-leg football match between Manchester City and Real Madrid, at the Etihad Stadium, in Manchester, north-west England, on April 17, 2024. (AFP)
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Man City Must Use Champions League Pain to Fuel FA Cup, League Title Chase, Walker Says 

Manchester City's English defender #02 Kyle Walker reacts at the UEFA Champions League quarter-final second-leg football match between Manchester City and Real Madrid, at the Etihad Stadium, in Manchester, north-west England, on April 17, 2024. (AFP)
Manchester City's English defender #02 Kyle Walker reacts at the UEFA Champions League quarter-final second-leg football match between Manchester City and Real Madrid, at the Etihad Stadium, in Manchester, north-west England, on April 17, 2024. (AFP)

Manchester City must use the pain of their Champions League exit as motivation to achieve something special in the final weeks of the season, defender Kyle Walker said.

Last season's treble winners suffered a 4-3 penalty shootout loss to Real Madrid in their Champions League quarter-final at Etihad Stadium on Wednesday.

Pep Guardiola's side are two points ahead of Arsenal and Liverpool in the league with six games remaining and play Chelsea in the FA Cup semi-finals on Saturday.

"It hurts and we've got to feel the pain," Walker told reporters.

"We've got a massive run-in for the Premier League, a really big game against Chelsea and we have to take this as motivation to go on and do something special.

"It is a great opportunity to take this hurt and fire from our belly ... We owe it to the fans and as a group of players we've worked too hard to throw it away now."



African Players in Europe: Goals for Salah, Beto in Merseyside Derby

 Liverpool's Mohamed Salah greets fans after the English Premier League soccer match between Everton and Liverpool in Liverpool, England, Sunday, April 19, 2026. (AP)
Liverpool's Mohamed Salah greets fans after the English Premier League soccer match between Everton and Liverpool in Liverpool, England, Sunday, April 19, 2026. (AP)
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African Players in Europe: Goals for Salah, Beto in Merseyside Derby

 Liverpool's Mohamed Salah greets fans after the English Premier League soccer match between Everton and Liverpool in Liverpool, England, Sunday, April 19, 2026. (AP)
Liverpool's Mohamed Salah greets fans after the English Premier League soccer match between Everton and Liverpool in Liverpool, England, Sunday, April 19, 2026. (AP)

Egypt captain Mohamed Salah scored for Liverpool and Guinea-Bissau striker Beto for Everton in the Merseyside derby which the Reds won 2-1 at the weekend.

Salah, who will leave Anfield at the end of the season, claimed his seventh Premier League goal this season. Beto has netted nine times in all competitions.

Victory strengthened Liverpool's push for a Champions League place. They occupy the fifth and final qualifying spot, seven points ahead of sixth-placed Chelsea with five matches to play.

AFP Sport highlights African headline-makers in the major European leagues:

ENGLAND

MOHAMED SALAH (Liverpool)

Salah opened the scoring for last season's champions, slotting home in the first half following a superbly weighted pass from Cody Gakpo. He equaled Steven Gerrard's nine goals to become the joint top-scorer in the league fixture between the Merseyside teams.

BETO (Everton)

Everton equalized 10 minutes into the second half when Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall crossed and Beto poked the ball into the net ahead of onrushing goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili, who was stretchered off.

GERMANY

NICOLAS JACKSON (Bayern Munich)

Starting in place of Harry Kane, Jackson scored Bayern's second as they came from a goal down to beat Stuttgart 4-2 and clinch the Bundesliga title. With the sides locked at 1-1, Jackson latched onto a Luis Diaz assist and his powerful shot put Bayern in front. The Senegal striker, on a season-long loan from Chelsea, has six goals and two assists in the league.

YAN DIOMANDE (RB Leipzig)

Leipzig winger Diomande's stock continued to rise after scoring another stunning solo goal in a 3-1 win at Eintracht Frankfurt. The Ivory Coast forward dribbled laterally past five defenders before slamming a superb strike across the goal and into the net. Only 19, Diomande has 12 goals and seven assists in the Bundesliga this season.

SERHOU GUIRASSY (Borussia Dortmund)

Guirassy's 14th league goal of the season was not enough as Borussia Dortmund lost 2-1 at Hoffenheim. With three minutes remaining, Guirassy hit a low shot from outside the box to equalize only for Hoffenheim to secure the points with a late penalty.

FRANCE

BAMBA DIENG (Lorient)

The Senegalese striker continued his superb run of form by scoring the second goal for Lorient in their 2-0 defeat of his former side Marseille. Dieng has scored 14 goals in all competitions for Lorient this season, including 11 in 2026. He recently returned to the Senegal squad and will hope his form ensures he goes to the World Cup finals.

MOSTAFA MOHAMED (Nantes)

The Egyptian is hoping to go to the World Cup with his country, but before that he must try to save Nantes from what looks like certain relegation. He put his team ahead with a fourth goal of the season but Nantes could only draw 1-1 at home to Brest, a result which leaves them five points adrift of the relegation play-off spot and nine points from outright safety with five games remaining. Next up is a midweek trip to leaders Paris Saint-Germain.


Munich Win Fuels Hopes of US Men’s Clay Revival, Shelton Says

 Tennis - ATP 500 - Munich Open - MTTC Iphitos, Munich, Germany - April 19, 2026 Ben Shelton of the US celebrates with the Munich Open trophy after winning the men's singles final against Italy's Flavio Cobolli. (Reuters)
Tennis - ATP 500 - Munich Open - MTTC Iphitos, Munich, Germany - April 19, 2026 Ben Shelton of the US celebrates with the Munich Open trophy after winning the men's singles final against Italy's Flavio Cobolli. (Reuters)
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Munich Win Fuels Hopes of US Men’s Clay Revival, Shelton Says

 Tennis - ATP 500 - Munich Open - MTTC Iphitos, Munich, Germany - April 19, 2026 Ben Shelton of the US celebrates with the Munich Open trophy after winning the men's singles final against Italy's Flavio Cobolli. (Reuters)
Tennis - ATP 500 - Munich Open - MTTC Iphitos, Munich, Germany - April 19, 2026 Ben Shelton of the US celebrates with the Munich Open trophy after winning the men's singles final against Italy's Flavio Cobolli. (Reuters)

Ben Shelton said he ‌had laid down a claycourt marker for US men with his Munich Open win on Sunday after the world number six became the first American to claim an event above the ATP 250 level since Andre Agassi's 2002 Rome Masters triumph.

Shelton's 6-2 7-5 win over Flavio Cobolli also made him the fifth American this century to bag a claycourt title outside ‌the United States, ‌joining Agassi, Andy Roddick, Sam ‌Querrey ⁠and Sebastian Korda.

The ⁠23-year-old said the "huge" triumph underlined his ambitions before the French Open, which begins on May 24.

"Moving forward I have big ambitions for the claycourts, a surface I want to get better on each year. It's become one of ⁠my favorite surfaces to play on," ‌Shelton said.

While the American ‌women have had plenty of success on the sport's ‌slowest surface, with Coco Gauff winning the ‌French Open crown last year, the attention will now turn to whether the US men can leave their own mark in Paris.

With Tommy Paul and Frances ‌Tiafoe making the Roland Garros quarter-finals last year, Shelton said things were ⁠looking ⁠up as American men aim to end a Grand Slam drought going back to 2003 when Roddick won the hardcourt US Open.

"Success on clay is coming back," he added.

"I'm looking forward to being part of this progression of US men's tennis on clay.

"On the women's side, they have a lockdown as they won the French Open last year. We as men have some more to do but we're heading in the right direction."


Burnley Game Is Like a Final, Says Man City’s Haaland

Football - Premier League - Manchester City v Arsenal - Etihad Stadium, Manchester, Britain - April 19, 2026 Manchester City's Erling Haaland celebrates after the match. (Action Images via Reuters)
Football - Premier League - Manchester City v Arsenal - Etihad Stadium, Manchester, Britain - April 19, 2026 Manchester City's Erling Haaland celebrates after the match. (Action Images via Reuters)
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Burnley Game Is Like a Final, Says Man City’s Haaland

Football - Premier League - Manchester City v Arsenal - Etihad Stadium, Manchester, Britain - April 19, 2026 Manchester City's Erling Haaland celebrates after the match. (Action Images via Reuters)
Football - Premier League - Manchester City v Arsenal - Etihad Stadium, Manchester, Britain - April 19, 2026 Manchester City's Erling Haaland celebrates after the match. (Action Images via Reuters)

Manchester ‌City striker Erling Haaland said their next Premier League game against Burnley is like a final after Sunday's 2-1 victory over leaders Arsenal handed them the chance to go top with a win in midweek.

Arsenal have ‌topped the ‌table since October ‌but ⁠City, who have ⁠a game in hand, cut the gap to three points with the win at the Etihad Stadium.

Another win on Wednesday would ⁠put Pep Guardiola's side ‌level on ‌points with the London club ‌and see them top the ‌table on either goals scored or goal difference, depending on the margin of victory.

"On Wednesday ‌we're having a final. The Burnley game is ⁠as ⁠important as this game," Haaland, who scored the decisive goal in Sunday's win, told Sky Sports.

"We need to focus, stay humble."

Arsenal, who are chasing their first Premier League title since 2004, next play Newcastle United on Saturday.