عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Sports

PSG Ousts Liverpool from Champions League to Join Barcelona, Bayern and Inter in QF

PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma and teammates celebrate after winning the penalty shoot-out during the UEFA Champions League Round of 16, 2nd leg soccer match between Liverpool FC and Paris Saint-Germain, in Liverpool, Britain, 11 March 2025. EPA/ADAM VAUGHAN
PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma and teammates celebrate after winning the penalty shoot-out during the UEFA Champions League Round of 16, 2nd leg soccer match between Liverpool FC and Paris Saint-Germain, in Liverpool, Britain, 11 March 2025. EPA/ADAM VAUGHAN
TT
TT

PSG Ousts Liverpool from Champions League to Join Barcelona, Bayern and Inter in QF

PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma and teammates celebrate after winning the penalty shoot-out during the UEFA Champions League Round of 16, 2nd leg soccer match between Liverpool FC and Paris Saint-Germain, in Liverpool, Britain, 11 March 2025. EPA/ADAM VAUGHAN
PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma and teammates celebrate after winning the penalty shoot-out during the UEFA Champions League Round of 16, 2nd leg soccer match between Liverpool FC and Paris Saint-Germain, in Liverpool, Britain, 11 March 2025. EPA/ADAM VAUGHAN

Gianluigi Donnarumma came through and Paris Saint-Germain defeated Liverpool in a penalty shootout to join Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Inter Milan in the quarterfinals of the Champions League on Tuesday.
PSG beat Liverpool 1-0 on the night to level the aggregate score at 1-1. Ousmane Dembélé scored 12 minutes into the second-leg match after a blunder by the Liverpool defense, The Associated Press reported.
After extra time, Donnarumma stopped the penalty shots by Darwin Nunez and Curtis Jones to secure his team a 4-1 shootout win. Desire Doue scored the winning spot kick for PSG, which will face either Aston Villa or Club Brugge.
“It does not matter if we deserve the win. Both teams deserved to go through," PSG coach Luis Enrique said. “We were better in Paris and they were better here. My team showed great personality and character at Anfield.”
The French league leader — seeking its first Champions League title — had lost at this stage in five of the past eight editions. It lost to Borussia Dortmund in last season's semifinals.
“It was the best game of football I have ever been involved in," Liverpool manager Arne Slot said. "It was an incredible performance, especially if you compare it with last week. We were creating chances and then we were 1-0 down. We ran out of luck after last week.”
Barcelona cruised past Benfica with Raphinha scoring twice and Lamine Yamal once in a 3-1 win at home.
The Catalan club advanced 4-1 on aggregate score after last week’s 1-0 victory and will play either Borussia Dortmund or Lille in the quarterfinals.
After a 3-0 first-leg win, Bayern Munich had no trouble advancing past German rival Bayer Leverkusen.
Bayern made it to the last eight a record 23 times in the Champions League era after a 2-0 win at Leverkusen to advance 5-0 on aggregate.
Inter moved on past Feyenoord with a 2-1 victory at San Siro to advance 4-1 on aggregate.
Bayern and Inter will meet in the last eight.
A thrilling clash at Anfield saw chances come and go at both ends, with Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson pulling off a string of saves to deny PSG, and with Liverpool substitute Jarell Quansah hitting the post in the second half.
Dembélé took advantage of mix up between Ibrahima Konate and Alisson to roll the ball into the empty net for the only goal of the game.
Premier League leader Liverpool, which did not make it to the Champions League last season, won the first leg 1-0 through Harvey Elliott’s late goal in Paris last week.
Barcelona powers into quarterfinals Raphinha’s double made him the leading scorer in the Champions League this season with 11 goals. He had scored the lone goal last week in Lisbon.
The Brazil forward put Barcelona ahead in the 11th, then Yamal added to the lead in the 27th before assisting in Raphinha’s second goal in the 42nd to become the youngest player to score and assist in a Champions League match at 17 years, 241 days.
“My teammates make things much easier for me,” Yamal said. “It was a good goal but sometimes these things come off and sometimes they don’t. For the assist, I tried to shoot and Raphinha turned it into a goal.”
Nicolás Otamendi scored for Benfica in the 13th to become the third-oldest scorer in a Champions League knockout game at the age of 37 years, 27 days, according to UEFA. Yamal’s goal meant he became the second-youngest.
Kane leads Bayern Harry Kane scored his 10th Champions League goal of the season and set up another as Bayern Munich cruised into the quarterfinals.
Leverkusen never looked likely to overturn the three-goal deficit from the first leg, even before Kane bundled in the ball at a free kick in the 52nd after Leverkusen’s Patrik Schick misjudged an attempted clearance.
Kane set up Alphonso Davies for Bayern’s second goal with a flicked cross in the 71st as the all-German rivalry became a one-sided contest. Bayern could have scored more as Jamal Musiala hit the crossbar with one shot and the post with another.
Inter comfortably advances A goal at the start of each half saw Inter easily advance, with Marcus Thuram scoring a stunning eighth-minute opener. The Inter forward received the ball midway inside the Feyenoord half and then weaved his way into the area before unleashing a powerful effort into the top right corner.
Jakub Moder leveled from the penalty spot shortly before halftime after being tripped by Hakan Çalhanoglu.
Inter restored its advantage on the night six minutes into the second half with a penalty of its own, which Çalhanoglu converted after Mehdi Taremi was fouled by Thomas Beelen right in the corner of the area.

Most Viewed

 
 
Sports

5 Women Rejoin Iranian Soccer Squad in Malaysia after Abandoning Australia Asylum

Members of Iran's women's football team arrive at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang on March 16, 2026, after staying in a hotel in the Malaysian capital while awaiting the next leg of their journey home. (Photo by MOHD RASFAN / AFP)
Members of Iran's women's football team arrive at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang on March 16, 2026, after staying in a hotel in the Malaysian capital while awaiting the next leg of their journey home. (Photo by MOHD RASFAN / AFP)
TT
TT

5 Women Rejoin Iranian Soccer Squad in Malaysia after Abandoning Australia Asylum

Members of Iran's women's football team arrive at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang on March 16, 2026, after staying in a hotel in the Malaysian capital while awaiting the next leg of their journey home. (Photo by MOHD RASFAN / AFP)
Members of Iran's women's football team arrive at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang on March 16, 2026, after staying in a hotel in the Malaysian capital while awaiting the next leg of their journey home. (Photo by MOHD RASFAN / AFP)

The Iranian women’s soccer team had yet to reveal plans to leave Malaysia after most of the seven squad members who created a diplomatic furor by accepting asylum in Australia a week ago have rejoined their teammates in Kuala Lumpur, a sport official said Monday.

The squad flew from Sydney on March 10 after being knocked out of the Women’s Asian Cup in Australia, leaving behind six players and a support staff member who had accepted protection visas.

Four players and the staffer have since rejoined the team in Kuala Lumpur, the latest flying in on Monday. No reasons have been given for the changes of heart, but the Iranian diaspora in Australia blames pressure from Tehran, The Associated Press reported.

The team is being supported in Kuala Lumpur by the Asian Football Confederation. The confederation’s general secretary, Windsor Paul John, said the team was waiting in Malaysia's largest city to make flight connections to their war-torn homeland.

“It could be today, tomorrow or next week,” Windsor told reporters in Kuala Lumpur. “We are just waiting for them to tell us their plans.”

Windsor said his confederation had not received any direct complaints from players about returning home, despite media reports their families in Iran could face retaliation for the team failing to sing their national anthem before the opening match.

“We couldn’t verify anything. We asked them and they said, ‘No, it’s ok,’” he said. “They are actually in high spirits... they didn’t look afraid.”

Iranian authorities have welcomed the women's decisions to reject asylum as a victory against Australia and US President Donald Trump.

Iran’s squad had arrived in Australia for the tournament shortly before the war in the Middle East began on Feb. 28, complicating travel arrangements.

Assistant Immigration Minister Matt Thistlethwaite described the women's plight in Australia as a “very complex situation.”

“These are deeply personal decisions, and the government respects the decisions of those that have chosen to return. And we continue to offer support to the two that are remaining,” Thistlethwaite said.

Those who stayed in Australia have been moved to an undisclosed safe location and are receiving assistance from the government and the Iranian diaspora community, he said.

Kylie Moore-Gilbert, a political scientist at Sydney's Macquarie University who spent more than two years in Iranian prisons on spying charges from 2018 to 2020, said “winning the propaganda war” had overshadowed the women's welfare.

“The high stakes made the Iranian regime sit up and pay attention and try to force their hand in response, in my view,” Moore-Gilbert said.

"I do think in this case, had these woman quietly sought asylum without that publicity around them, it’s possible that the Islamic Republic officials might have, as they have in the cases of other Iranian sports people in the past who’ve defected ... simply allowed that to happen," she added.

Iran’s Tasnim News Agency said the players who left Australia were “returning to the warm embrace of their family and homeland,” describing their return as a failure of what it called an American-Australian political effort.

Concerns about the team’s safety in Iran heightened when the players didn’t sing the Iranian national anthem.

The Australian government was urged to help the women by Iranian groups in Australia and by Trump.

Some members of the Iranian diaspora in Australia have accused the support staffer who initially accepted asylum then left Australia on Saturday of spreading Iranian government propaganda to her teammates via text messages.

Thistlethwaite said there was no evidence to support the theory that the staffer had persuaded others to leave. All those who had remained in Australia after the team had left were “genuine asylum seekers,” he said.

The embassy in the national capital Canberra remains staffed, despite the Australian government expelling the ambassador last year.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese cut off diplomatic relations with Iran in August after announcing that intelligence officials had concluded that the Revolutionary Guard had directed arson attacks on a Sydney kosher food company and Melbourne’s Adass Israel Synagogue in 2024.

Australian-Iranian Society of Victoria vice president Kambiz Razmara said the women who accepted asylum had been under pressure from the Tehran regime.

“They’ve had to make decisions at the spur of the moment with very little information and they’ve had to react to the circumstance,” Razmara said. “I’m surprised that they’ve decided to go, but I’m actually not surprised because I appreciate the pressures that they’re experiencing."

Sports

Egypt, Saudi Move Camps from Qatar and Set March 27 Friendly in Jeddah

The Saudi flag. Asharq Al-Awsat
The Saudi flag. Asharq Al-Awsat
TT
TT

Egypt, Saudi Move Camps from Qatar and Set March 27 Friendly in Jeddah

The Saudi flag. Asharq Al-Awsat
The Saudi flag. Asharq Al-Awsat

Egypt will play Saudi Arabia in a friendly in Jeddah on March 27 after both sides shifted their international-window training camps from Qatar due to travel disruptions caused by the conflict in the Middle East, the federations said on Sunday.

Qatar had planned to stage a wider ⁠football festival this ⁠month that would have included the 'Finalissima' between Spain and Argentina, but the event was scrapped after UEFA cancelled the match due to regional instability.

The Saudi ⁠federation said their squad would now train in Jeddah and Serbia and play an additional friendly away to Serbia in Belgrade on March 31 as part of preparations for the 2026 World Cup.

Egypt said the Jeddah match was arranged to secure strong preparation for ⁠the ⁠finals in North America later this year, thanking Qatar for its initial efforts to host the festival.

Egypt will play in Group G in the June-July tournament alongside Belgium, Iran and New Zealand, while Saudi Arabia are drawn in Group H with Spain, Uruguay and Cape Verde.

Sports

Sinner Says Arriving Early to Acclimatize Helped Indian Wells Title Bid

Jannik Sinner of Italy poses with his trophy after defeating Daniil Medvedev of Russia in the final at the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament Sunday, March 15, 2026, in Indian Wells, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Jannik Sinner of Italy poses with his trophy after defeating Daniil Medvedev of Russia in the final at the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament Sunday, March 15, 2026, in Indian Wells, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
TT
TT

Sinner Says Arriving Early to Acclimatize Helped Indian Wells Title Bid

Jannik Sinner of Italy poses with his trophy after defeating Daniil Medvedev of Russia in the final at the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament Sunday, March 15, 2026, in Indian Wells, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Jannik Sinner of Italy poses with his trophy after defeating Daniil Medvedev of Russia in the final at the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament Sunday, March 15, 2026, in Indian Wells, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Jannik Sinner said his first Indian Wells title was the result of meticulous preparation in the heat of the Californian desert after the Italian arrived a week before the tournament began to train and acclimatize.

The world number two has sometimes struggled in hot and humid conditions, most notably when severe cramp nearly forced him to quit his Australian Open third-round match in January and when he retired in retired in Shanghai last year.

However, he showed little sign of discomfort during his 7-6(6) 7-6(4) win over Daniil Medvedev ⁠on Sunday, when ⁠the temperature approached 35 degrees Celsius shortly before the final's scheduled start time of 2 p.m.

"It was hot but it wasn't humid, so it makes a difference," Sinner told reporters, according to Reuters.

"But I've been here a week before the tournament started. Very similar conditions as it was today. We ⁠put in long days of practice. I felt very well prepared, so I wasn't having issues with the weather and the heat, which is very positive for me.

"It's all part of the process we're trying to do and becoming the best possible athlete. We definitely do a lot of work in the gym to play at this level."

Victory meant Sinner has now collected titles at all six ATP Masters 1000 events on hardcourts, as well as ⁠the ATP ⁠Finals, Australian Open and US Open on the surface, to join an elite group also comprising Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.

"I knew that this was a tournament I haven't won, so I wanted to prepare in the best possible way, as professionally as possible," he said.

"Having this achievement now means a lot to me. Now I have couple of days to relax ... there is not so much time in between here and Miami.

"It's again an important tournament in Miami, but we try to play the best tennis possible there too."