MADRID: Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti knows he will have a tough decision to make in goal for the Champions League final against Borussia Dortmund on Saturday.
Will he pick Andriy Lunin, who has played in goal nearly the entire season, or Thibaut Courtois, the veteran who has won the Champions League before but has just returned from injury?
“It’s really difficult,” Ancelotti said Monday. “Of course it’s really difficult, because both of them deserve to play this final. Lunin because he did a fantastic season, and Courtois because he is back from his injury and everyone knows the quality of Courtois. It’s a difficult decision but I think I’m going to take into the game this decision, no doubt.”
Lunin was nursing a fever and was the only Madrid player who didn’t train on Monday as Madrid began its final week of preparations. But Ancelotti said the 25-year-old Ukrainian was expected to be available for Saturday’s final in London.
The illness surely doesn’t help Lunin’s chances, though, and many had already expected Ancelotti to go with the more experienced Courtois despite his lack of minutes this season.
Courtois ruptured a left-knee ligament in August, just two days before the start of the season. The 32-year-old Belgian then also ruptured the meniscus in his right knee in March, when he was close to making a comeback.
He was sidelined until the beginning of this month, when he started in a 3-0 win over Cadiz, a victory that secured Madrid’s 36th Spanish league title.
Lunin was back in goal as Madrid beat Bayern Munich in the Champions League semifinals. He had saved two penalties in the decisive shootout win over Manchester City in the quarterfinals.
Lunin had earned the starting position over Kepa Arrizabalaga, the former Chelsea player who is Madrid’s other reserve goalkeeper. Ancelotti said Lunin was the best goalkeeper in the world right now.
Courtois has proven experience in finals, though, having won the 2022 Champions League with Madrid, the FA Cup with Chelsea, the Europa League with Atletico Madrid, and two Copa del Rey titles (one for Madrid, one for Atletico), among several other titles.
“Both deserve to play for various reasons,” Ancelotti said.
Ancelotti joked that he will wait as long as possible to announce the starting goalkeeper because otherwise the debate would be over, and “I like the debate.”
Ancelotti has ‘really difficult’ decision to make in goal for Madrid ahead of Champions League final
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Ancelotti has ‘really difficult’ decision to make in goal for Madrid ahead of Champions League final
- Lunin was nursing a fever and was the only Madrid player who didn’t train on Monday as Madrid began its final week of preparations
Stiller out, Burkardt in for Germany’s Nations League games
The 24-year-old Burkardt has played three games for Germany
BERLIN: Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann has called up Mainz forward Jonathan Burkardt to his squad for upcoming Nations League games after Stuttgart’s Angelo Stiller dropped out with an injury.
Burkardt will join the team at their training base in Herzogenaurach on Friday, the German soccer federation said Tuesday, in preparation for the Nations League semifinal against Portugal in Munich on Wednesday, and the final or third-place playoff against either Spain or France four days later.
The 24-year-old Burkardt has played three games for Germany. He was the Bundesliga’s top-scoring German player with 18 goals for Mainz this season.
Stiller, who starred for Stuttgart as the team won the German Cup on Saturday, dropped out with a recurrence of the ankle ligament injury that had kept him out for two weeks previously.
The DFB said Stiller has “not completely healed.”
Stiller was involved in three of Stuttgart’s four goals as they defeated Arminia Bielefeld 4-2 in the cup final.
Newcastle losing another sporting director as Mitchell to step down
- Mitchell was leaving “due to health reasons” and his departure was “by mutual consent,” NUFC said
- “The club are in great hands on and off the pitch,” Mitchell said
NEWCASTLE: Newcastle are losing another sporting director after the Premier League club announced Paul Mitchell is stepping down next month.
Mitchell took the position only last July following the departure of Newcastle’s previous sporting director, Dan Ashworth, to Manchester United.
Mitchell was leaving “due to health reasons” and his departure was “by mutual consent,” Saudi-backed Newcastle said on Tuesday.
There were reports of tension between Mitchell and Newcastle manager Eddie Howe at the start of this season.
Newcastle won the English League Cup in March for their first major domestic trophy in 70 years, and finished in fifth place in the Premier League to qualify for next season’s Champions League.
“The club are in great hands on and off the pitch,” Mitchell said, “and are in a fantastic position to continue building.
“I’d like to wish everyone connected with Newcastle United a bright and successful future.”
Mitchell previously worked for Tottenham, Leipzig and Monaco.
Coach Michel Gonzalez readies Al-Qadsiah for King Cup final
- Spaniard holds light training session after resting key players for league game against Al-Hilal
- Al-Qadsiah will play Al-Ittihad in Friday’s showdown in Jeddah
JEDDAH: Spanish coach Michel Gonzalez put his Al-Qadsiah team through a light training session on Tuesday as they prepare for Friday’s King Cup final showdown against Al-Ittihad.
Al-Qadsiah qualified for the final after beating Al-Raed 1–0 in the semifinal. Al-Ittihad beat Al-Shabab 3–2 to secure their spot.
Gonzalez left several of his first team players out of Monday’s Saudi Roshn League away clash with Al-Hilal at the Kingdom Arena, which they lost 2-0.
Goalkeeper Koen Casteels, defenders Nacho, Ibrahim Mahnashi, Turki Al-Ammar, midfielder Nahitan Nandez and striker Julian Quinones were all rested ahead of final, which will be played at Al-Inma Stadium in King Abdullah Sports City.
Al-Qadsiah will fly to Jeddah on Thursday and have their final training session at the stadium ahead of the match.
Pope Leo XIV casts doubt on which soccer club he supports during audience with Italian champ Napoli
- Leo cast doubt on the assumption that he’s a Roma fan during a private audience with freshly crowned Italian champion Napoli
- “Maybe they didn’t want to applaud because in the media they say I’m a Romanista,” Leo said
VATICAN CITY: That Pope Leo XIV is a Chicago White Sox fan and likes to play tennis has already been established.
The most pressing sports question for many locals inside the Vatican and surrounding Italy concerning the first American pope remains a mystery, though.
Does Leo support an Italian soccer club?
Leo cast doubt on the assumption that he’s a Roma fan during a private audience with freshly crowned Italian champion Napoli — Roma’s rival — on Tuesday. But his comments revealed that he follows the Italian game.
When Leo entered the Clementine Hall inside the Apostolic Palace where Napoli’s players and staff were seated, there was a slight delay before the guests applauded.
“Maybe they didn’t want to applaud because in the media they say I’m a Romanista,” Leo said, referring to Roma fans. “That’s what the press says. Not everything that you read in the press is true.”
Napoli clinched its fourth Serie A title following a 2-0 win over Cagliari on Friday with goals from Scott McTominay and Romelu Lukaku.
Napoli president and film producer Aurelio Del Laurentiis presented Leo with a Napoli No. 10 shirt — the same number worn by the late Diego Maradona when he played for the southern Italian team — with the pope’s name on it and featuring signatures from all of the club’s players.
“You’re a No. 10,” De Laurentiis said, referring to the number often worn by a team’s most talented forward.
When De Laurentiis introduced Napoli coach Antonio Conte, the pope cut him off and said “I know him from the (TV) screen, I’ve seen him many times.”
Conte has also coached Italy’s national team, as well as Juventus, Chelsea and Inter Milan.
“He’s profoundly Catholic,” De Laurentiis said of Conte. “He’s someone who believes in God very attentively and goes to pray often.”
Leo cited the “social aspect” of Napoli’s title.
“We know how popular soccer is in Italy and practically the entire world,” Leo said. “So, in that respect, the social value of an achievement like this, which is greater than the mere technical-sports aspect, is an example of a team that works together, in which the individual talents are sacrificed for the common good.”
The pope also warned that “when sports becomes a business, it risks losing the values that make it educational, and it can actually become un-educational.”
“I want to make an appeal to parents and sports officials: you need to pay careful attention to the moral quality of the sports experience at the competitive level, because it has an impact on the humane growth of young people,” Leo said.
The meeting with Napoli came less than two weeks after Leo held a private audience with top-ranked tennis player Jannik Sinner.
Thousands of Al-Ittihad fans flood Jeddah streets to celebrate Saudi Pro League triumph
- Win was Jeddah club’s 15th Saudi top-flight crown
JEDDAH: Jeddah turned into a sea of yellow and black on Monday night as thousands of Al-Ittihad fans poured onto the streets to celebrate their team’s triumphant capture of the 2024–2025 Saudi Pro League title.
The win was the club’s 15th top-flight crown.
The celebrations erupted following a 1-0 victory over Damac in the final round at King Abdullah Sports City Stadium, where 60,000 passionate fans created an electric atmosphere with four enormous tifos unfurled across the stands to salute the champions.
The jubilant scenes stretched across the city, with supporters waving flags, chanting, setting off fireworks and honking car horns along the Jeddah Corniche.
Many gathered at the Al-Ittihad Club premises and celebrated long into the night.
The title marks a significant milestone for the historic club, whose fans have remained fiercely loyal throughout the season. To show their appreciation for the support, the club invited a number of dedicated supporters to take photos with the league trophy at the team’s training ground.
While fans had hoped to celebrate the achievement with players in an open-top bus parade, Al-Ittihad management announced the festivities would be postponed until after Friday night’s King’s Cup final against Al-Qadsiah, also set to take place in Jeddah.
Club President Loay Mashabi, who oversaw Al-Ittihad’s title victory in his first year in charge, expressed his emotions after the final whistle, saying: “I don’t know if I will ever experience a joy greater than this; making millions of fans happy is a responsibility I carry with pride.”
