Category Sports News

Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca says he is “not happy” that opponents Real Betis have been given two days of extra preparation for next week’s Conference League final.

La Liga has accepted a request from Betis to bring their final league match against Valencia – originally scheduled for Sunday – forward to Friday evening (20:00 BST).

Chelsea, by contrast, travel to Nottingham Forest – who, like the Blues, are chasing Champions League football – on Sunday, three days before the final in Wroclaw, Poland on Wednesday, 28 May.

Sunday’s final round of Premier League games must all kick off at the same time (16:00 BST) to prevent any side gaining an unfair advantage over their rivals.

But Maresca said: “I’m not happy, 100%, you cannot allow another team 48 hours more when you play a European final.

The Argentine has confirmed that back-up goalkeeper Filip Jorgensen will start in the final, while Christopher Nkunku and Marc Guiu remain injury doubts.

“Filip [Jorgensen] is going to play the final because he played all the competition. It is unfair if you arrive at the final and he is not playing the final,” said Maresca.

“This game will be Filip plus 10 players, I do not know which the other 10 will be, but Filip is going to play because he deserves to play.

“At the moment, Guiu and Nkunku start to take part in our sessions, but are still not 100%.”

Coach Brendon McCullum has confirmed that Essex bowler Sam Cook will start for England against Zimbabwe this week.

With Gus Atkinson, Josh Tongue, and spinner Shoaib Bashir in his place, the 27-year-old will form a novice bowling attack. He has been prolific in county cricket recently.

The 13-man squad’s two members, including Durham bowler Matthew Potts and Somerset batter James Rew, are the ones who were left out.

As anticipated, Zak Crawley will start as opener, but Ollie Pope will start at number three in the middle order, with Jamie Smith taking a wicketkeeper break.

At the end of the current season, former England and Liverpool keeper Pepe Reina will stop playing.

The 42-year-old is currently a member of Italian club Como, where they will play their final game of the season against Inter Milan on Friday.

Reina, a graduate of the Barcelona academy, was a member of the Spain squad that won the 2008 and 2012 World Cups and the European Championships.

He left Villarreal for Liverpool in 2005, where he won the FA Cup and League Cup, as well as the Premier League Golden Glove award, which is presented to the top keeper with the most clean sheets three years in a row from 2005 to 2006.

Reina started 394 games for Liverpool before leaving in 2014, joining teams like Bayern Munich, Napoli, AC Milan, Aston Villa, Lazio, Villarreal, and Como.

When he turned out for Villarreal in 2023, he played the 1, 000th competitive game of his career.

Reina told Movistar, “A very beautiful career is coming to an end, a very full life is coming to an end.” “It’s very fortunate for what I’ve had to go through.

What lengths would you go to, and how far would you go?

Up to 80, 000 fans from Tottenham and Manchester United are scheduled to show up for the Europa League final on Wednesday in Bilbao, which will have a population of about 350, 000.

As the airport prepares to handle 174 private jets, three times the usual number of flights, National Police staff has been working at the city’s airport, strengthening border control.

However, many supporters are following creative itineraries to travel to Spain for the final because of the expensive costs of direct flights and limited accommodations (bilbao has an estimated 13, 000 hotel beds).

The 33-hour ferry from Portsmouth to Bilbao was a “bucket-list” trip for Manchester United fan Dave.

He made a lot of new friends while traveling alone to the final, leaving his Derby home on Sunday morning for Portsmouth via London Waterloo, and arriving in Spain at 07:00 BST on Tuesday.

“This journey was on my bucket list,” he said. I’ve already started using the Pride of Bilbao [ferry] but I’ve never done it. I’m anticipating Bilbao’s sights because it seems to be very good food. My first visit to the Basque country.

Although he is skeptical about United’s chances, he envisions the final as a showcase for English football’s best.

He expressed his hope that United would put a little class on the field and give us some more. And it’s enjoyable for both fans and neutrals to showcase Premier League football.

Ben, a London-based Tottenham fan, was also taking the ferry. He enjoyed the unexpected wildlife encounters and fan interactions while taking the train and taxi to Portsmouth after some initial hiccups.

The ferry was lovely, I thought. Did some whale watching and dolphin sightings, which I didn’t expect,” Ben said.

“Many holidaymakers were surprised to hear Sol Campbell songs being sung last night. Fans of United and Spurs were both present during the laugh.

Ryan from Southampton, a fellow Tottenham fan and for the first time, said: “I felt a little seasick at first, but it’s all good. It will be incredible and I’m very excited to be here.

Sue McGranigan, a Manchester United supporter, chose to travel all the way through France on foot instead of a bike.

She will depart by coach at 02:45 BST on Tuesday morning, arriving in Bilbao around Wednesday lunchtime, following a ferry from Dover to Calais, a nine-hour coach to Bordeaux, where she will spend the night, and a final four-hour coach ride to the Spanish city the morning of the match.

It’s much less expensive, they say. The coach trip costs about £350, whereas direct flights cost 900. She said when she spoke to BBC Radio 5 Live from a distance of about half an hour from London, “I’ve had about half an hour’s sleep.”

The coach is quiet, though. I assumed they would be drinking and singing, but it’s all United fans, which is very quiet.

For his part, Adam Paterson will travel more than 2,500 miles to Spain. On Tuesday afternoon, the United fan will fly from Manchester to Bilbao with friends Dylan Heath and Will Baldwin and then fly to Dublin, Paris, and Rome.

We simply thought, “Why not?” You don’t compete in the European final every week, Adam said, explaining his bizarre and wonderful “journey to BBC Radio Manchester.”

We don’t even have a hotel, according to the statement, which is not even the worst part of it. Simply put, we’ll need to pull an entire-night err.”

Arun, Ed, and Justin, the team’s optimistic supporters, avoided the high costs by making travel arrangements well in advance of Tottenham’s selection for the final.

Before setting off on a 370-mile journey to Bilbao, they rented a car from Stansted to Barcelona.

The Football Policing Unit, Greater Manchester Police, and the Metropolitan Police have collaborated with local police and Uefa to ensure that all fans have a positive experience, according to Chief Constable Mark Roberts, the national lead for football policing.

From Wednesday morning, more than 3, 000 police officers will be stationed throughout the city, with three security rings around the stadium limiting access to spectators and locals.

Roberts advised fans who don’t have a ticket to Bilbao to avoid the city and said British police would be there to “act as a liaison” and provide information and assistance.

Each team received approximately 15, 000 tickets, with the remaining being purchased by neutrals or donated to Uefa sponsors.

Bilbao is a beautiful city, and fans can’t wait there thanks to the neighborhood’s police and residents. However, it’s not the biggest city, and Bilbao’s ability to accommodate those additional travelers without a ticket is what worries most. If there are no tickets available, we suggest that people think about not traveling, he said.

Some police departments still think English fans are influenced by the 1980s, which is quite out of date. We want to counteract intelligence and claim that supporters of this nation should be treated based on behavior rather than perception.

French Open 2025

Dates: May 25 through June 8th, Location: Roland Garros, Paris

After being defeated by Daria Saville in the opening round of qualifying, Heather Watson’s chances of making it to the French Open main draw are over.

Watson lost 7-6 (7-2) 6-2 to the Australian, making his 11th major draw appearance at Roland Garros.

Italian Giulio Zeppieri defeated Briton Jan Choinski 6-4 7-6 (7-5) in the opening round of men’s qualifying, which also saw him lose.

The second Grand Slam of the year, the French Open, will take place on Sunday.

On Tuesday, British competitors Fran Jones and Dan Evans square off in men’s qualifying, while Billy Harris and Billy Harris will battle it out for the title.

To become the main draw, players must pass three of Paris’ qualifying rounds.

In the opening set, Watson and Saville exchanged their momentum, leading 4-2 after the first break before Saville finally equalized.

Watson rallied back from a 40-0 set of serve errors to break the opening set’s deadlock, but she was unable to take her final set point.

Another set of breaks confirmed a tie-break, but Watson initially refused to play the game after being flagged twice by the chair umpire for a violation.

Instead of purposefully putting the ball back on her, she claimed she had been waiting for it, but the umpire disagreed.

In the end, Saville intervened and demanded that Watson receive her first serve.

The Australian former world number 20 then quickly took control of the tie-break, extending that momentum into the third set and giving the match a 3-0 lead.

Exeter and England wing Immanuel Feyi-Waboso’s prospects of playing Test rugby this summer increased after the 22-year-old was selected for a two-day England training camp this week.

Feyi-Waboso has not played since dislocating his shoulder in December, with his comeback delayed by a setback suffered at an England camp in February.

Gloucester centre Seb Atkinson, Leicester back row Emeke Ilione and Sale midfielder Rekeiti Ma’asi-White are also included in a 33-strong group that does not include either British and Irish Lions, or players from Northampton and Bath, who are preparing for European finals this weekend.

Forwards:

Joe Batley (Bristol Bears), Fin Baxter (Harlequins), Richard Capstick (Exeter Chiefs), Arthur Clark (Gloucester Rugby), Ben Curry (Sale Sharks), Theo Dan (Saracens), Alex Dombrandt (Harlequins), Afolabi Fasogbon (Gloucester Rugby), Jamie George (Saracens), Joe Heyes (Leicester Tigers), Emeka Ilione (Leicester Tigers), Nick Isiekwe (Saracens), Jack Kenningham (Harlequins), Gabriel Oghre (Bristol Bears), Asher Opoku-Fordjour (Sale Shark), Bevan Rodd (Sale Sharks), Tom Willis (Saracens)

Backs:

Feyi-Waboso had a breakout campaign last season, scoring his first international try off the bench in Six Nations defeat by Scotland, before crossing in all three matches on England’s summer tour of Japan and New Zealand.

His top-end pace brings an extra dimension to England’s attack and was sorely missed despite the team finishing second in this year’s Six Nations.

Exeter and England publicly disagreed over how his injury treated, with the recently-signed Professional Game Partnership giving England a greater say in the conditioning and rehabilitation of their centrally contracted players.

Exeter head coach Rob Baxter indicated earlier this month that Feyi-Waboso could get a run-out in the Chiefs’ final game of the season against Sale on 31 May.

Intriguingly, British and Irish Lions head coach Andy Farrell suggested that he would supplement his initial 38-man selection for the tour of Australia with later call-ups for those who need a chance to prove their fitness.

England will play Argentina in Buenos Aires and San Juan on 5 July and 12 July respectively before a one-off Test against the United States on 19 July in Washington.