Lewandowski Strikes Twice for Champion Barcelona but Can’t Catch Mbappé for Scoring Title 

Football - LaLiga - Athletic Bilbao v FC Barcelona - San Mames, Bilbao, Spain - May 25, 2025 FC Barcelona's Robert Lewandowski scores their first goal. (Reuters)
Football - LaLiga - Athletic Bilbao v FC Barcelona - San Mames, Bilbao, Spain - May 25, 2025 FC Barcelona's Robert Lewandowski scores their first goal. (Reuters)
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Lewandowski Strikes Twice for Champion Barcelona but Can’t Catch Mbappé for Scoring Title 

Football - LaLiga - Athletic Bilbao v FC Barcelona - San Mames, Bilbao, Spain - May 25, 2025 FC Barcelona's Robert Lewandowski scores their first goal. (Reuters)
Football - LaLiga - Athletic Bilbao v FC Barcelona - San Mames, Bilbao, Spain - May 25, 2025 FC Barcelona's Robert Lewandowski scores their first goal. (Reuters)

Barcelona capped its title-winning campaign with a 3-0 victory at Athletic Bilbao on Sunday, with Robert Lewandowski scoring twice, but falling short of catching Kylian Mbappé as the Spanish league's top scorer for the season.

Lewandowski found the net in the 14th and 17th minutes in Bilbao to finish the league season with 27 goals, four fewer than Mbappé, who scored twice in Madrid's 2-0 win against Real Sociedad on Saturday.

Lewandowski, who was out injured in some recent matches, hadn't scored since April 9 in a Champions League match against Borussia Dortmund. His last league goal was in March against Girona.

Lewandowski had led the scoring race during most of the season, but Mbappé finished with a red-hot run that included 10 goals in his last six matches.

Barcelona finished with a goal-difference of plus 63 after scoring 102 times and conceding 39. It won 28 matches, drew four and lost six.

It ended with 88 points, four points more than second-placed Madrid and 12 points more than third-placed Atletico Madrid.

Athletic had already secured a fourth-placed finish to secure a Champions League spot for the first time in a decade.

‘Under control’

The 36-year-old Lewandowski reached 101 goals in total across all competitions in his three seasons with Barcelona. He had 42 this year after scoring 26 last season and 33 in his debut campaign.

“We had it under control,” Lewandowski said. “This season was almost perfect. We have to enjoy this moment.”

Barcelona coach Hansi Flick praised his team.

“We wanted to finish like we started it, like we performed during the season, and they did a great job,” Flick said.

Levante promoted

Carlos Álvarez scored seven minutes into stoppage time as Levante won 3-2 at Burgos to seal its promotion to the first division three years after being relegated.

Levante rallied for the victory after trailing 2-1 up to the 85th minute. It secured one of the top two spots in the second tier to automatically advance to the first division.

Relegation and European places

Saturday's matches decided the final European places and the last relegated team. Leganes was demoted after Las Palmas and Valladolid had already been relegated in advance. Celta Vigo grabbed the final Europa League spot and Rayo Vallecano earned the Conference League place.

Barcelona, Madrid, Atletico, Athletic and Villarreal will play in the Champions League next season. Real Betis got the other Europa League spot.

Atletico finished the season with a 4-0 win at Girona with a hat trick by striker Alexander Sorloth. He had scored four goals in a 4-0 win over Real Sociedad earlier this month.

Sorloth, often used as a substitute by Atletico coach Diego Simeone, ended with 20 goals, fourth in the league's scoring list. Ante Budimir of Osasuna was third with 21 goals, six fewer than Lewandowski and 10 fewer than Mbappé.

Fifth-placed Villarreal beat 17th-placed Sevilla 4-2 with a pair of goals by Pape Gueye.



Sabalenka Apologizes for Outburst During Loss to Svitolina

13 November 2026, US, Indian Wells: Belarusian tennis player Aryna Sabalenka in action against Ukraine's Elina Svitolina during their women's singles group stage match of the FAGE WTA Finals tennis tournament at Indian Wells. Photo: Charles Baus/CSM via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
13 November 2026, US, Indian Wells: Belarusian tennis player Aryna Sabalenka in action against Ukraine's Elina Svitolina during their women's singles group stage match of the FAGE WTA Finals tennis tournament at Indian Wells. Photo: Charles Baus/CSM via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
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Sabalenka Apologizes for Outburst During Loss to Svitolina

13 November 2026, US, Indian Wells: Belarusian tennis player Aryna Sabalenka in action against Ukraine's Elina Svitolina during their women's singles group stage match of the FAGE WTA Finals tennis tournament at Indian Wells. Photo: Charles Baus/CSM via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
13 November 2026, US, Indian Wells: Belarusian tennis player Aryna Sabalenka in action against Ukraine's Elina Svitolina during their women's singles group stage match of the FAGE WTA Finals tennis tournament at Indian Wells. Photo: Charles Baus/CSM via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa

Aryna Sabalenka apologized on Saturday for her angry outburst during her defeat by Ukraine's Elina Svitolina at the WTA Finals.

Television footage appeared to show the Belarusian swearing during Friday's round-robin match, with some social media users interpreting her remarks as being directed at Svitolina or Ukrainians. The loss eliminated Sabalenka from the season-ending tournament.

"My comment was not directed at Elina," Sabalenka said in a social ⁠media post.

"I was ⁠frustrated with a small group of spectators who were aggressively cheering my mistakes, and I reacted emotionally in the moment.

"That said, I should have handled my frustration differently, and I apologize to anyone I offended.

"Elina played a great match, ⁠and I wish her all the best for the rest of the tournament."

Svitolina did not shake hands with Sabalenka after the match, maintaining her policy of not doing so with Russian or Belarusian opponents following Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, which Moscow launched with Belarus as a staging ground.

Asked about her reaction to Sabalenka's apology, Svitolina called for mutual respect, acknowledging that fans' passions ⁠can ⁠sometimes run high.

"We've played many times with Aryna. She has her fans, I have my fans," she told reporters after her semi-final win over Linda Noskova on Saturday.

According to Reuters, she expressed hope that matches between the two of them would be respected, "because yes, sometimes in some matches that we've played, also been not great comments towards me in regards of the war."

Svitolina, the 2018 WTA Finals champion, faces Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva in Sunday's final.


Portugal Changes How No. 7 Is Written to Honor Cristiano Ronaldo

Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates after scoring the 1-2 goal during the FIFA World Cup qualifying match against Hungary, in Budapest, Hungary, 09 September 2025. (EPA)
Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates after scoring the 1-2 goal during the FIFA World Cup qualifying match against Hungary, in Budapest, Hungary, 09 September 2025. (EPA)
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Portugal Changes How No. 7 Is Written to Honor Cristiano Ronaldo

Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates after scoring the 1-2 goal during the FIFA World Cup qualifying match against Hungary, in Budapest, Hungary, 09 September 2025. (EPA)
Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates after scoring the 1-2 goal during the FIFA World Cup qualifying match against Hungary, in Budapest, Hungary, 09 September 2025. (EPA)

The Portugal football team is making a change to how the No. 7 is written to honor the recently-retired Cristiano Ronaldo.

Ronaldo, who wore the number and went on to make it his own as “CR7,” retired from international soccer last week, ending a remarkable career that spanned six World Cups, a European title, and the men’s all-time international scoring record.

“Time to debut a new 7. Because there’s one that will be eternal,” the Portuguese national team wrote on social media on Saturday. The post included a goat emoji to signify “Greatest Of All Time.”

It also included a video that showed a horizontal crossed line through the No. 7 as it’s commonly written in Europe, suggesting that Ronaldo’s successors will all have that cross to bear when they wear the number.

Portugal, already assured of reaching the quarterfinals, was hosting Denmark in the Nations League later Saturday.

The 41-year-old Ronaldo quit on Nov. 5 after falling out with coach Jorge Jesus. His last appearance with Portugal was Sept. 24 in a 1-0 home win over Wales in the Nations League.

Jesus kept him on the bench for the following match and said he didn’t plan to start him in the next one, so the superstar forward decided to leave the team’s training camp.

Jesus later said Ronaldo would be welcome back and the decision to return was up to him.


Ronaldinho Poised for Ravenna Start and, Perhaps, One Last Goal

Brazilian football legend Ronaldinho waves during Ravenna FC’s team presentation for the 2026-27 season in Marina di Ravenna, Italy, Aug. 20, 2026. (AFP)
Brazilian football legend Ronaldinho waves during Ravenna FC’s team presentation for the 2026-27 season in Marina di Ravenna, Italy, Aug. 20, 2026. (AFP)
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Ronaldinho Poised for Ravenna Start and, Perhaps, One Last Goal

Brazilian football legend Ronaldinho waves during Ravenna FC’s team presentation for the 2026-27 season in Marina di Ravenna, Italy, Aug. 20, 2026. (AFP)
Brazilian football legend Ronaldinho waves during Ravenna FC’s team presentation for the 2026-27 season in Marina di Ravenna, Italy, Aug. 20, 2026. (AFP)

Ronaldinho will roll back the years this weekend when the 46-year-old Brazilian starts his first competitive match in over a decade, and in the unlikely setting of an Italian third-tier derby the World Cup winner may realize his dream of scoring one last time.

The Brazil great and Ballon d'Or winner signed for Ravenna in June, also taking a stake in the club, but because he had not played since his final appearance for Fluminense in 2015, doubts remained over whether fans would ever see him in action.

Ravenna revealed ‌three weeks ago ‌that the former Barcelona and AC Milan player ‌would ⁠make his return ⁠in Sunday's home clash with local rivals Forli, and on Friday, manager Andrea Mandorlini told reporters that Ronaldinho would start the match.

"He will play from the start, there's no doubt," Mandorlini said.

"Then together we will decide how long he plays. He is one of the greatest players of the modern era. And we have to get a ⁠result. We always play with three forwards. He will ‌be one of the three."

Ronaldinho was ‌welcomed by the Ravenna fans in August, without committing to a return ‌to the pitch. He returned to Italy on Friday afternoon and ‌will have just one training session with his teammates on Saturday before making his club debut.

A temporary stand has been erected at the Stadio Bruno Benelli to cater for the crowd, and if this does turn out ‌to be one last hurrah for Ronaldinho, he may well get the chance to score his 300th ⁠professional goal.

"I ⁠scored my first Italian goal in the derby," Ronaldinho told Corriere della Sera, referring to his first official goal for AC Milan, which came against Inter Milan.

"It was a special evening that will remain in the memory of all AC Milan fans. It was September 28, 2008. I scored with a header, which is not my specialty. Who knows if I'll be able to repeat that feat tomorrow."

"... Returning to the pitch at 46 is the best move of my career."

Simone Rabbi will play alongside the Brazilian up front for Ravenna, and in Friday's press conference he said that if his side are awarded a penalty on Sunday, Ronaldinho will take the spot kick.