Category Sports News

Rangers, Hibernian and Dundee United are among 10 teams from the UK who will discover their first opponents in the qualification rounds of the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League this week.

The draws for the first round of qualifying for all three competitions take place on Tuesday, 17 June with the second round qualifying draws a day later.

All three competitions have four rounds of qualifying prior to a league phase.

The three Scottish teams enter at the second qualifying round of their respective competition – Rangers in the Champions League, Hibs in the Europa League and Dundee United in the Conference League.

Northern Irish champions Linfield and Welsh title winners The New Saints both enter the first round of Champions League qualifying.

Dungannon Swifts, who won the Irish Cup, enter the second round of Conference League qualifying alongside Dundee United

The remaining four teams from the UK – Penybont and Haverfordwest County from Wales, and Larne and Cliftonville from Northern Ireland – all feature in the Conference League’s first qualifying round.

The 28 teams in the Champions League’s first qualifying round have been split into two pots – seeded and unseeded.

The New Saints and Linfield are both seeded, meaning that – on paper – they have a more advantageous draw.

Teams they could potentially face include Dinamo Minsk of Belarus, Shelbourne from the Republic of Ireland and Armenian side Noah, who met Chelsea in the group stages of the 2024-25 Conference League.

Should either side advance to the second qualifying round, they will enter the champions path – for clubs who qualified as national champions.

Both teams would enter as unseeded teams, where potential opponents include Danish champions Copenhagen or Slovakian champions Slovan Bratislava.

Rangers enter at this point, but are in a separate section known as the league path.

The Glasgow side are one of three seeded teams in that path and will face either Panathinaikos (Greece), Servette (Switzerland) or Brann (Norway) in the second round.

Hibernian are the only British side entering either of the first two Europa League qualifying rounds.

As one of eight unseeded sides in the second qualifying round, their potential opponents include Braga of Portugal, Belgian outfit Anderlecht or Midtjylland from Denmark.

PAOK (Greece) and Young Boys (Switzerland) will enter later in the competition, as well as 16 losing sides from earlier qualifying rounds in the Champions League.

Of the 10 UK teams featured in the first two qualification rounds for Europe’s three club competitions, six are going into the Conference League.

Northern Irish duo Larne and Cliftonville and Welsh sides Penybont and Haverfordwest County all enter the first round.

Larne enter as a seeded team, with the other three sides all unseeded.

Dundee United and Dungannon Swifts enter the second round of qualifying, with the former seeded and the latter unseeded.

Larne are guaranteed to be a seeded side in the second qualifying round, should they get that far.

Nottingham Forest will enter the final round of Conference League qualifying and are guaranteed to be a seeded side in that draw, meaning they will avoid a meeting with Fiorentina (Italy), Rayo Vallecano (Spain), Mainz (Germany) and Strasbourg (France), among others.

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Salernitana have requested the second leg of their Serie B relegation play-off against Sampdoria be postponed, after players and staff were admitted to hospital with food poisoning.

The Italian club have formally requested a postponement after 21 of the travelling party became ill as they flew back from Genoa after losing Sunday’s first leg 2-0.

Salernitana face relegation to Italy’s third tier after dropping out of Serie A 12 months ago, but many of their players are too ill to train before Friday’s second leg.

“We are truly shocked by what happened and by the series of events that risk jeopardising Salernitana’s smooth and peaceful approach to the final and crucial minutes of the season,” club CEO Maurizio Milan said.

“Many players and staff, at the moment, are not even able to show up at the sports centre to resume training.”

The club say they have made informal contact with Serie B officials and received “general openness” to evaluating their postponement request.

Salernitana have also called for an investigation into the “causes of this widespread and serious episode”.

“I think it’s probably the biggest disappointment I have ever had to deal with in my life.”

Seonaid McIntosh still carries the scars with her from two failed attempts to live up to her world number one ranking at the Olympics.

They are not visible. But, after reversing her plan to retire after Paris 2024, she knows there is a chance they may never heal despite targeting a third attempt to medal in Los Angeles.

Big things have been expected of McIntosh at the Olympics since she won the 50m prone rifle world title in 2018 and the World Cup final the following year.

World Cup and European titles have followed, but returning empty handed from Paris after failing to reach the final in any of the three disciplines she contested still rankles.

“I think most of it is out of my system, there is always going to be a little bit that stays,” McIntosh said.

“It felt like that was the second time it had happened – it all conspired against me for Tokyo [Olympics in 2021] and the same thing happened for Paris, so that disappointment was, I think, doubled almost because of that.

“I am not sure if I am completely over it yet. We will find out when I go back to training, or even when we get to LA.”

McIntosh revealed that, prior to Paris “I was absolutely adamant I was going to retire” after it, regardless of how she got on.

Amid her despair in France, a chat with her partner prompted a change of heart and the decision to have another go at trying to turn her Olympic medal dreams into reality.

“He turned to me and he said ‘I know this isn’t necessarily the right time for this, and obviously take time to make the decision, but if you want to go back for another games, given everything that has just happened, I will totally understand and I will 100% support you’,” she recalled.

“I was then like ‘I don’t think I could give it up at this point given what has just happened, I think I have to try again’, because that was twice in a row I had got to the games as world number one and fluffed it up or something has happened.

McIntosh has still to return to training, although she hopes to do so in September, after two lots of surgery – to deal with a troublesome hip injury and a problem with her jaw.

With rheumatoid arthritis and Chron’s disease, the Edinburgh shooter is well used to dealing with physical issues.

As she targets Los Angeles 2028, she admits finding a way of dealing with what affected her in each of the last two Olympics could be the biggest challenge.

“So now that it has happened twice, I have that worry, is this a pattern? Is it going to happen a third time?” she said.

“I think this three years up until LA is going to be really different for me because I think I am going to have that fight with myself constantly.

“I think I am going to have that in the back of my head yapping at me being like, even if you go into this last one being the best you have ever been, and being world number one again, you are going to have a crisis of confidence when you get there and it is not going to matter.”

McIntosh does have time on her side with the qualification window for the LA games not opening until near the end of next year.

“Obviously I am going to be a wee bit rusty when I go back, but I think, technically, I am still one of the best shooters in the world,” she added. “I think the bit that is going to separate me is trying to figure out that psychology side of things.

Johnny Sexton says he was not surprised to see a record number of Ireland players selected in the British and Irish Lions squad, but accepts “everyone has their own opinion”.

Lions head coach Andy Farrell, who has also been Ireland boss since 2019, picked 15 in his initial 38-man squad for the Australia tour and last week called up Connacht prop Finlay Bealham following Zander Fagerson’s injury.

When asked about the strong Ireland contingent – 12 Leinster players, three from Connacht and one from Munster – Sexton pointed to the national team’s form in recent years.

“Well, Ireland have done pretty well over the last few years, having won the [Six Nations] championship last year, the Grand Slam the year before, so you’re probably looking over the last three years,” said the former Ireland captain, who is a kicking coach in Farrell’s Lions backroom team.

“With some players, coaches would look at form over eight, nine years. It’s not just if you’ve played well in a couple of games in the Six Nations, you can’t force your way in, but sometimes you take a bigger picture look with players.

“They know the way Andy coaches, they know the system. It didn’t surprise me because historically, let’s say when there was a Welsh coach and the Welsh team did well, there were the majority of the Welsh team.

When asked if he could understand why people would question the number of Ireland players in the squad, Sexton said “everyone has their own opinion”, which is the “beauty of sport”.

“You can go through the players and think ‘well who are you talking about that you wouldn’t have picked?’ because for me in terms of the last three or four years they have performed well,” added the two-time Lions tourist.

“Sometimes you can be swayed by how the Six Nations finished. The first game, Ireland against England, it was a great performance and that comes into consideration.

“With Andy, I’ve never seen such a thorough process with all the combinations and the amount of players that were considered and talked about.

Having retired after the 2023 Rugby World Cup, Sexton took a job in the commercial sector before returning to the Ireland set-up as a part-time coach for last year’s autumn internationals and this year’s Six Nations, a role he “loved”.

In April, he “jumped at” the chance to join Farrell’s Lions backroom team and take a full-time role with the Irish Rugby Football Union after the tour to Australia.

Now, after a year outside of rugby, he feels he is “where I should be” after admitting “deep down” he always wanted to give coaching a try.

And while some Irish coaches have opted to cut their teeth abroad – Ronan O’Gara in France, for example – Sexton said working abroad has never appealed to him.

“I want to be in Ireland, but I’ve got to concentrate on the here and now,” he said.

“That’s ultimately how I made the decision. I have to make myself happy in the here and now and not worry about the future. If it [the IRFU role] is only for two years, it’s only for two years.

As part of his Lions role, Sexton – who was a key member of the successful 2013 tour to Australia – will work closely with fly-halves Finn Russell, Marcus Smith and Fin Smith.

“There’s a little bit of everything really. It depends on what person you’re working with, what form they’re in, if they need help or if they’re in a good place.

“The first week’s been getting to know Marcus and Fin Smith. I don’t think I played against Fin but I played against Marcus a couple of times.

“They’re remarkable, talented, great characters, great people, I’ve got to know that over the first week. I’m looking forward to working with them.”

The Lions face Argentina at Aviva Stadium in Dublin on Friday (20:00 BST) in their pre-tour send-off fixture.

The 15-strong cohort of Bath, Leicester and Leinster players who were involved in Saturday’s Premiership and United Rugby Championship finals linked up with the squad for Monday’s training at University College Dublin.

Daryl Gurney says he hopes his and Josh Rock’s victory for Northern Ireland in the World Cup of Darts in Germany can help “push on” the sport, but admits their triumph “hasn’t sunk in”.

The pair won a thrilling last leg to beat Wales 10-9 and be crowned world champions for the first time.

They were forced to regroup following four missed darts to wrap up the win when 9-8 ahead as Welsh pair, Gerwyn Price and Jonny Clayton, took advantage to level.

Gurney kept his cool in the decider to nail double eight and seal the £80,000 first prize amid emotional scenes and he hopes their achievement will help inspire the next generation.

“If me and Josh can help push on darts, it would be brilliant, but we’ve always had a brilliant standard of players,” said Gurney.

“With Josh coming through and me winning in previous years, I feel as though more people are taking the chance on not just playing the game, but managers are taking note of Irish players and sponsoring them to give them that chance.

Gurney was speaking on Monday as he prepared to head for home and admitted there was no time for wild celebrations on Sunday night.

Following victory over South Africa on Saturday, the pair had to come through matches against the Republic of Ireland and Germany earlier on Sunday, before beating Wales in the decider.

It provided a mental test but Gurney commended his playing partner, whom he is tipping to reach the very top of the sport.

“Josh was immense, the best player in the competition for me,” he said.

“His scoring was unreal, he pumped them in at perfect times. He has been on fire all year, a future world champion, future major champion and just a pleasure to play with him. He made my job a lot easier.

“We made the decisions together. He wanted to throw first and I was more than happy to let him do that.”

Hitting the double eight to seal victory was a sweet moment for Gurney who had been waiting since the 2018 Players Championship for a third major title.

Out of the four players in the final, Gurney is the lowest ranked, so there were some nerves as he got ready to take out the match-winning double eight.

Four people have been handed suspended jail sentences after being found guilty of committing hate crimes against Real Madrid forward Vinicius Jr.

The quartet were found guilty of hanging an inflatable effigy of Vinicius Jr over a bridge near Real Madrid’s training ground in January 2023, shortly before Atletico Madrid’s Copa Del Rey match at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.

A banner above the effigy read: “Madrid hates Real”.

Three of the group were sentenced to 14 months in prison, while one was given a 22-month sentence for distributing images of the act online.

However, the sentences have been suspended after all four signed a letter of apology to the Brazil international, Madrid, La Liga and the Spanish football federation (Rfef).

Vinicius Jr has regularly been the victim of racial abuse since joining Real Madrid in 2018 from Flamengo.

The Brazilian, who has made 316 appearances for the club, was subject to racist chanting by Atletico fans during a La Liga match in September 2022.

The 24-year-old was targeted again later that month during a match against Real Valladolid, with five people later being handed suspended prison sentences.