Fan's Death Overshadows Bayern's Win in Champions League

Soccer Football - Champions League - Bayern Munich v Benfica - Allianz Arena, Munich, Germany - November 6, 2024  Bayern Munich players applaud fans after the match REUTERS/Angelika Warmuth
Soccer Football - Champions League - Bayern Munich v Benfica - Allianz Arena, Munich, Germany - November 6, 2024 Bayern Munich players applaud fans after the match REUTERS/Angelika Warmuth
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Fan's Death Overshadows Bayern's Win in Champions League

Soccer Football - Champions League - Bayern Munich v Benfica - Allianz Arena, Munich, Germany - November 6, 2024  Bayern Munich players applaud fans after the match REUTERS/Angelika Warmuth
Soccer Football - Champions League - Bayern Munich v Benfica - Allianz Arena, Munich, Germany - November 6, 2024 Bayern Munich players applaud fans after the match REUTERS/Angelika Warmuth

Bayern Munich is mourning the death of a fan who attended the team’s 1-0 win over Benfica in the Champions League on Wednesday.
The Bavarian club said early Thursday morning that it received the news that the fan had died while being transported to the hospital.
Bayern fans did not sing or chant during the game out of respect for the person. The atmosphere in Bayern’s stadium was noticeably muted some minutes after kickoff when it became apparent there was a medical emergency requiring the attention of paramedics and police officers.
The Bayern supporters’ group Club Nr. 12 said its members would “not be supporting as usual today because of an emergency medical intervention. Life comes before sport. We wish the family and friends lots of strength.”
The Bayern supporters did not resume chanting after the person was carried out of the block on a stretcher after about half an hour, The Associated Press reported.
Jamal Musiala’s 67th-minute header – set up by Harry Kane – was enough for Bayern to end its two-game losing run and claim its second win of the league phase.
The Bayern fans cheered and celebrated the goal, but the atmosphere remained muted for the rest of the match.
“We didn't know of it during the game, just after it,” Bayern midfielder Konrad Laimer said of the medical emergency. “We wish the family strength and best wishes, we're thinking of all involved, and we're hoping for the best for the individual fan."
Bayern's announcement came later.



Zheng Routs Paolini to Advance to Semifinals at WTA Finals in Saudi Arabia

Tennis - WTA Finals - King Saud University Indoor Arena, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - November 6, 2024 China's Qinwen Zheng celebrates after winning her women's singles group stage match against Italy's Jasmine Paolini REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed
Tennis - WTA Finals - King Saud University Indoor Arena, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - November 6, 2024 China's Qinwen Zheng celebrates after winning her women's singles group stage match against Italy's Jasmine Paolini REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed
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Zheng Routs Paolini to Advance to Semifinals at WTA Finals in Saudi Arabia

Tennis - WTA Finals - King Saud University Indoor Arena, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - November 6, 2024 China's Qinwen Zheng celebrates after winning her women's singles group stage match against Italy's Jasmine Paolini REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed
Tennis - WTA Finals - King Saud University Indoor Arena, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - November 6, 2024 China's Qinwen Zheng celebrates after winning her women's singles group stage match against Italy's Jasmine Paolini REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed

Zheng Qinwen cruised to a 6-1, 6-1 win over Jasmine Paolini to reach the semifinals of the WTA Finals on Wednesday.
Zheng needed just over an hour to defeat Paolini in the match that decided the final qualifier from the Purple Group at the season-ending tournament for the top eight women's players, The Associated Press reported.
Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka, who had won her first two matches to clinch a semifinal spot, lost 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 to No. 5 Elena Rybakina. It was Rybakina's first win of the round-robin phase.
It was Zheng's fourth win in as many matches against Paolini. The 22-year-old Chinese player had 12 aces and broke the Italian's serve five times.
“It's one of the best performances I had during this year,” Zheng said. “I'm really proud. I played in a really difficult group.”
Zheng is the youngest player to reach the semifinals in her first appearance at the WTA Finals since Petra Kvitova in 2011. It’s her seventh semifinal of the year and the first time she has beaten two top-10 opponents in the same tournament. She defeated Elena Rybakina on Monday.
Zheng has won 30 matches since Wimbledon, clinching the Olympic gold medal in Paris and winning titles in Palermo and Tokyo.
She could become the second player to win the singles gold medal and reach the WTA Finals championship match in the same season since tennis returned to the Olympics in 1988, after Serena Williams in 2012.
Paolini finished the season 38-19, having made the finals of the French Open and Wimbledon.
Jessica Pegula withdrew from her last match at the tournament because of a left knee injury. The American, who lost her first two matches and was already eliminated from semifinal contention, will be replaced in the Orange Group by first alternate and ninth-ranked Daria Kasatkina.
Kasatkina will play second-ranked Iga Swiatek on Thursday.