RB Leipzig have fired coach Marco Rose, days out from a German Cup semi-final clash at Stuttgart, the club said in a statement on Sunday.
Jurgen Klopp, Head of Soccer at parent company Red Bull, was not named in the statement and has said previously he would not step in as coach, whether on a permanent or interim basis.
Leipzig slipped to sixth in the table after Saturday’s 1-0 loss at Borussia Moenchengladbach, their sixth successive away match without a win.
The Saxony club are three points behind a place in the top four and Champions League qualification for next season.
They face a tight battle for the remaining two spots, with league leaders Bayern Munich and defending champions Bayer Leverkusen all but assured of a place in next season’s competition.
READ ALSO: Messi Returns, Scores Inside Two Minutes
Leipzig-born Rose took over in September 2022 and guided them to a German Cup triumph in his first season in charge, along with third place in the league.
The club also won the DFL Supercup, equivalent to England’s Charity Shield, with a 3-0 win over Bayern Munich at the start of the 2023-24 season.
Last season, Leipzig finished fourth, with Germany awarded five Champions League placings due to UEFA coefficient placings.
“We believed in Marco and his team for a very long time and tried everything until the very end to turn things around together”, sporting director Marcel Schaefer said in a statement.
“However, given the current situation and the lack of results, we are firmly convinced that we need a new impetus for the remaining games to achieve our goals this season”.
Leipzig thanked Rose for his time at the club but the coach was not quoted in the statement. The remainder of his team were also dismissed.
The 48-year-old, who previously coached Red Bull Salzburg, Borussia Moenchengladbach, and Borussia Dortmund, was under contract until June 2026.
Besides their stuttering league form, Leipzig lost seven of eight games in this season’s Champions League and failed to qualify for the knockout stages.
The two-time German Cup winners travel to Stuttgart to play in the semi-finals of the competition on Wednesday.
Leipzig, owned by Red Bull since 2009, have only missed out on the Champions League once since the 2016/17 campaign in the Bundesliga and made it to the semi-finals of the competition in 2020.
Leipzig said a successor to Rose would be named “shortly”.
Lionel Messi returned to action for Inter Miami after his injury layoff and scored just two minutes after entering as a second-half substitute in his team’s 2-1 win over the Philadelphia Union on Saturday.
Messi had missed Argentina’s World Cup qualifiers in South America during the recent international window after picking up an adductor strain in Miami’s most recent Major League Soccer game, a 2-1 win at Atlanta on March 16.
Finnish winger Robert Taylor had put Miami ahead in the 23rd minute, slotting home a low pass from Benjamin Cremaschi after Jordi Alba had broken down the left flank.
Messi was brought on by coach Javier Mascherano in the 55th minute and within two minutes was on target. Messi’s former Barcelona teammate Luis Suarez picked him out on the right and he jinked to make space and fired a low, right-foot effort into the far corner.
READ ALSO: RB Leipzig Fire Coach Rose With Top-Four In Doubt
Philadelphia pulled a goal back in the 80th minute when Quinn Sullivan whipped in a cross from the right and Hungarian midfielder Daniel Gazdag brought the ball down before firing home a crisp shot.
Unbeaten Miami are top of the Eastern Conference with four wins from their opening five games of the season.
Inter face a busy spell with a trip to Los Angeles to play LAFC in a CONCACAF Champions Cup quarter-final, first leg on Wednesday. They have a home game against Toronto the following Sunday with the return against LAFC three days later.
Mascherano said it had been a cautious move to start with Messi on the bench.
“We didn’t want to risk him from the start because we thought he might be at risk playing the whole game, but we did want him to get some minutes”, said the Argentine coach.
“The plan is that he can recover and travel to Los Angeles. He played today because he was fine. Maybe he wasn’t ready for the full 90 minutes but it was good for him to play 45 minutes. If nothing unusual happens the plan is for him to travel”, he added.
Seven goal thriller
In a seven goal thriller, Atlanta United trailed 3-1 at home to New York City FC after Wolff scored twice for the visitors before an own goal from Keaton Parks brought them back into the game.
But then a header from Miguel Almiron, who returned to the club from Newcastle United during the pre-season transfer window brought Atlanta level with 15 minutes remaining.
Another recent arrival, Ivorian forward Emmanuel Latte Lath, a club record $22 million signing from Middlesbrough, took advantage of hesitant defending to sneak in and grab the 84th minute winner to make it 4-3.
Uruguayan striker Diego Rossi scored twice for the Columbus Crew in their 2-1 win at DC United and Canada striker Tani Oluwaseyi grabbed a brace for Minnesota United in their 2-0 win over Real Salt Lake.
Spanish midfielder Carles Gil scored the winner from the penalty spot in the seventh minute of stoppage time as the New England Revolution beat the New York Red Bulls 2-1.
Gil had opened the scoring for New England with a superb free-kick before ex-Bayern Munich forward Eric Choupo-Moting levelled for the Red Bulls.
World number one Aryna Sabalenka won the Miami Open on Saturday, beating American Jessica Pegula 7-5 6-2 in the WTA 1000 final at Hard Rock Stadium.
The title was the Belarusian’s first at Miami and her second of the season following her January triumph in Brisbane.
Having lost the final at Indian Wells to Russian 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva earlier this month, Sabalenka was determined not to fall at the last hurdle again.
“Winning this trophy is super special”, said Sabalenka, who paid tribute to Pegula’s performance.
READ ALSO:  , Eze Leads Crystal Palace Into FA Cup Semi-Finals
Jessica Pegula (L) of the United States and Aryna Sabalenka embrace following the women’s final on Day 12 of the Miami Open Presented by Itau 2025 at Hard Rock Stadium on March 29, 2025 in Miami Gardens, Florida. Al Bello/Getty Images/AFP
Both players struggled to hold their serve in the first set, with Pegula causing Sabalenka some trouble when she brought her up to the net.
But the momentum shifted when Pegula was serving to stay in the set at 6-5 down and Sabalenka produced a delicate forehand drop and then a superb down the line winner to take the set.
Once she recovered from being broken on her first service game of the second set, it was easier going for Sabalenka, whose bid for a third straight Australian Open title was thwarted in the Melbourne final by Madison Keys earlier this year.
Aryna Sabalenka poses with the Butch Buchholz Trophy following her victory against Jessica Pegula of the United States in the women’s final on Day 12 of the Miami Open Presented by Itau 2025 at Hard Rock Stadium on March 29, 2025 in Miami Gardens, Florida. Matthew Stockman/Getty Images/AFP
Sabalenka broke twice to go 3-1 up and never looked in danger from that point on as she wrapped up the win in one hour 27 minutes.
It was the third time that Pegula has faced Sabalenka in a final and she has lost on all three occasions.
The men’s final on Sunday will feature Novak Djokovic up against Czech 19-year-old Jakub Mensik with the Serb looking for his 100th professional title.
Nottingham Forest reached the FA Cup semi-finals for the first time in 34 years as Belgian goalkeeper Matz Sels starred in a 4-3 penalty shoot-out win over Brighton on Saturday.
After the quarter-final clash at the Amex Stadium finished 0-0 following extra-time, Sels took centre-stage to send Forest to Wembley.
Sels saved spot-kicks from Jack Hinshelwood and Diego Gomez and, although Forest’s Neco Williams blazed over, Ryan Yates held his nerve to stroke home the winner.
Forest also needed shoot-outs to get past third-tier Exeter and top-flight strugglers Ipswich in the fourth and fifth rounds respectively this season.
Nuno Espirito Santo’s side are enjoying a remarkable season that could culminate in Champions League qualification and a first FA Cup final appearance since 1991.
“It was such a stressful moment. Matz saved us again. He’s been doing really well. It’s the third time and we’ve always been successful. Credit to him”, Nuno said.
“We are so happy. It’s a huge moment for all of us to share with our fans.
” We have to focus on the Premier League but it’s going to be a beautiful moment for all of us on our journey. “
Forest, who last won the FA Cup in 1959, have climbed to third in the Premier League, leaving them within touching distance of appearing in the Champions League for the first time since 1980-81.
They are five points clear of fourth-placed Chelsea and six ahead of fifth-placed Manchester City with nine games to go.
Brian Clough’s men were the last Forest team to make the FA Cup semi-finals, beating West Ham before losing the final to Tottenham.
Forest join Crystal Palace in the last four after the Eagles won 3-0 at Fulham in Saturday’s other quarter-final.
On Sunday, Manchester City travel to Bournemouth and Aston Villa visit Championship side Preston, the last club from outside the top tier in this season’s tournament.
READ ALSO: Eze Leads Crystal Palace Into FA Cup Semi-Finals
Sels heroics
Nottingham Forest’s Belgian goalkeeper #26 Matz Sels gestures during the English FA Cup quarter-final football match between Brighton &, Hove Albion and Nottingham Forest at the Amex stadium in Brighton, on March 29, 2025. (Photo by Glyn KIRK / AFP)
Forest crushed Brighton 7-0 at the City Ground in Premier League in February, a result that ranked as the Seagulls ‘ heaviest defeat for 67 years.
Since that humbling loss, Brighton had won four times in a five-game unbeaten run in the league, but they were unable to stop Forest’s penalty mastery.
Nuno surprisingly dropped wingers Callum Hudson-Odoi and Anthony Elanga to the bench in a move that appeared to prioritise Tuesday’s league clash with Manchester United.
Forest were also without Chris Wood after their leading scorer suffered a hip injury on international duty with New Zealand.
Wood’s replacement Taiwo Awoniyi went close to an early opener, accelerating on to Ola Aina’s pass for a stinging strike that Bart Verbruggen saved at his near post.
But, shorn of their best attacking options, Forest struggled to make headway after that.
Brighton were hardly much more incisive, with Pervis Estupinan’s long-range blast pushed away by Sels.
Carlos Baleba was inches away from putting the Seagulls ahead on the stroke of half-time, lashing just wide from the edge of the area.
After their tepid start, Forest finally showed signs of life when Morgan Gibbs-White’s strike from distance forced a superb save from Verbruggen.
But Nuno had seen enough and sent on Hudson-Odoi and Elanga.
Verbruggen repelled Elanga’s close-range effort to force the tie into extra-time.
Gomez nearly won it for Brighton in the closing stages, but his header from Brajan Gruda’s cross was brilliantly saved by Sels, foreshadowing the keeper’s heroics in the shoot-out.
It was a rollercoaster week for football fans in Nigeria. A 90th-minute goal by Zimbabwe dented the country’s hopes of reaching next year’s World Cup.
That game shaped the week for Nigerian sports fans. But the news of Dani Alves’s freedom, the adjusted transfer window in England, and the announcement of new hosts for the U-20 AFCON all made headlines in the last seven days.
From UEFA’s bid to probe Real Madrid stars Vinicius and Mbappe to preparations for the National Sports Festival, First 11 will explore the biggest sports stories this week.
Nigeria’s World Cup Dreams In Tatters
Nigeria are at risk of missing out on two consecutive World Cups. Photo: X@NGSuperEagles
Starting from home, Nigerians are still reeling in the pains of a crushing 1-1 draw against Zimbabwe in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, further jeopardizing the Super Eagles ‘ dreams of playing in the competition. The draw condemns Nigeria to fourth in the six-team group, six points below leaders South Africa in the race for an automatic qualification to the World Cup.
With four matches to go, Nigeria’s road to the US, Canada, and Mexico looks narrower. They will hope for results to go their way in other games in the group , – including winning their own – to have a hope of making the competition or a playoff spot.
Four More Countries Qualify for World Cup
The Fifa World Cup trophy is displayed ahead of the draw for the 2026 Fifa World Cup European qualifiers at the FIFA headquarters in Zurich, on December 13, 2024. (Photo by Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP)
As Nigeria struggle to get a ticket, Argentina joined the early birds for the tournament after the latest round of qualifiers. Others are Japan, Iran, and New Zealand who have now joined the hosts US, Mexico, and Canada, for the Mundial
Adjusted Transfer Window
Manchester City’s English midfielder #47 Phil Foden (R) celebrates scoring the team’s third goal with Manchester City’s Norwegian striker #09 Erling Haaland during the English Premier League football match between Manchester City and Chelsea at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, north west England, on January 25, 2025. (Photo by Oli SCARFF / AFP)
In England, the Premier League will have two transfer windows this summer. This is to allow Manchester City and Chelsea to register players for the Club World Cup.
Clubs in the English top flight will now be able to recruit and retain players in a special window between June 1 and 10. The exceptional registration period was approved by FIFA last October and is open to any national association that has teams involved in the new expanded Club World Cup, which starts in the United States on June 14.
A Lion’s Share
New FIFA Club world cup trophy
Meanwhile, the winner of this year’s expanded Club World Cup will get up to $125 million in prize money.
FIFA said a total prize fund of $1 billion for the event, which runs from June 14 to July 13, had already been made public, but the world football governing body has now broken down the sums for the 32 participating teams. Each team will share in the $525 million pot for participating.
A further $475 million will be distributed according to performance in the tournament.
Blatter, Platini Cleared
Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter gives a thumbs-up as he leaves Switzerland’s Federal Criminal Court after the verdict of his trial over a suspected fraudulent payment in the southern Switzerland city of Bellinzona, on July 8, 2022. (Photo by Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP)
Still in football. Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter and ex-UEFA chief Michel Platini have been acquitted on appeal by a Swiss court in a long-running corruption case that shattered their careers as the most powerful figures in world football.
Former UEFA president Michel Platini looks on when leaving the courthouse after the verdict of an appeal by the Swiss Attorney General’s office against former UEFA and FIFA presidents over a suspected fraudulent payment in Muttenz near Basel, on March 25, 2025. (Photo by Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP)
Blatter, 89, and Platini, 69, listened in silence as the Extraordinary Court of Appeal clerk in the town of Muttenz, near Basel, read out a decision identical to the one handed down in 2022, which had initially cleared them. Prosectors had requested suspended sentences of 20 months for the pair, but charges of fraud, for which they risked five years ‘ imprisonment, as well as disloyal management, breach of trust and forgery of documents were all dismissed.
Egypt To Host U-20 AFCON ,
Returning home to Africa, Egypt have been awarded the hosting rights for the U-20 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), days after Cote d’Ivoire pulled out as host nation.
The West African nation pulled out from hosting the tournament, citing “unforeseen circumstances”, according to CAF.
But the football body said Egypt will now host the competition billed for Sunday, 27 April 2025, to 18 May 2025.
Alves Freed
(FILES) Prison workers unions ‘ members protest over the killing of a cook by an inmate the week before, as convicted rapist and former Brazil international football player Dani Alves (R), flanked by his lawyer Ines Guardiola, leaves Brians 2 prison in San Esteban Sasroviras, near Barcelona, on March 25, 2024. (Photo by LLUIS GENE / AFP)
In Spain,  , an appeals court has overturned former Brazil international footballer Dani Alves ‘ rape conviction. It held that his trial was marked by “shortcomings” and “inaccuracies”.
Alves was sentenced to four-and-a-half years in jail in February last year for raping a young woman in the VIP bathroom of a Barcelona nightclub on December 31, 2022.
Tinubu Lights NSF Torch
PRESS RELEASE
PRESIDENT TINUBU FLAGS OFF TORCH OF UNITY MOVEMENT FOR 22ND NATIONAL SPORTS FESTIVAL
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has officially flagged off the Torch of Unity movement, marking the commencement of the 22nd National Sports Festival, tagged Gateway 2025.
The… pic. twitter.com/FpNnsNEv6O
On the homefront, President Bola Tinubu flagged off the Torch of Unity Movement for the 22nd National Sports Festival.
During a brief event at the State House in Abuja on Tuesday, Tinubu says sports is a unifying factor and a growth catalyst.
The Gateway Games will be held in Ogun State from May 16 to 30, 2025.
World Athletics Approves Swab Test ,
A nurse swabs the nose of a patient as he administers a COVID-19 test in Ljubljana on December 22, 2020, as nationwide mass free rapid testing for the novel coronavirus Covid-19 starts. Jure Makovec / AFP
Meanwhile, World Athletics has approved the introduction of a cheek swab test to determine if an athlete is biologically female.
According to Sebastian Coe, the head of the international track and field federation, the decision taken by the body’s decision-making Council was a “really important” way of protecting the female category.
UEFA Opens Probe Against Mbappe, Vinicius, Others
Real Madrid’s Brazilian forward #07 Vinicius Junior (R) celebrates scoring his team’s second goal during the Spanish league football match between Real Madrid CF and Girona FC at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid on February 23, 2025. (Photo by Pierre-Philippe MARCOU / AFP)
Back to football! UEFA says it has opened an investigation into four Real Madrid stars, including Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Junior, for an alleged “indecent conduct” during their Champions League last 16 win over Atletico Madrid.
Madrid’s two superstar forwards, as well as defender Antonio Rudiger and midfielder Dani Ceballos, face potential punishment ahead of their quarter-final first-leg clash at Arsenal on April 8.
NBA To Review European League Proposal
Stephen Curry #30 of the Golden State Warriors drives to the basket during the game against the Sacramento Kings on March 13, 2025, at Chase Center in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Noah Graham / NBAE / Getty Images / Getty Images via AFP)
Lastly, the NBA will review a proposal to create a European basketball league. An NBA spokesperson said the new competition could feature up to 10 teams.
League owners will consider a plan that includes eight to 10 franchises, including up to four teams who already play in the EuroLeague — Europe’s top club competition. The proposed league would also feature new franchises in cities such as London and Paris, which could be worth as much as $500 million, Sportico reported, citing a source with direct knowledge of the plans.
Eberechi Eze inspired Crystal Palace to a 3-0 FA Cup quarter-final win at Fulham on Saturday with a goal and an assist in a four-minute period in the first half.
Fresh from scoring his first England goal against Latvia on Monday, Eze broke the deadlock with a stunning strike from outside the box.
He then turned provider for Ismaila Sarr to rapidly double Palace’s lead and Eddie Nketiah added more gloss to the scoreline as a second-half substitute.
After a difficult start to the season, Palace are one of England’s form teams as Oliver Glasner’s men have also marched up the Premier League table to 12th in recent months.
Crystal Palace’s English striker #09 Eddie Nketiah (C) celebrates with teammates after scoring their third goal during the English FA Cup quarter-final football match between Fulham and Crystal Palace at Craven Cottage in Fulham, west London on March 29, 2025. (Photo by HENRY NICHOLLS / AFP) Crystal Palace’s English midfielder #10 Eberechi Eze celebrates after scoring the opening goal of the English FA Cup quarter-final football match between Fulham and Crystal Palace at Craven Cottage in Fulham, west London on March 29, 2025. (Photo by HENRY NICHOLLS / AFP) Crystal Palace’s English goalkeeper #01 Dean Henderson (L) and Crystal Palace’s English defender #06 Marc Guehi (R) celebrate after the English FA Cup quarter-final football match between Fulham and Crystal Palace at Craven Cottage in Fulham, west London on March 29, 2025. Palace won the game 3-0. (Photo by HENRY NICHOLLS / AFP)
The Eagles have won their last six away games, including a 2-0 win at Craven Cottage last month, and will believe they can go on to win the FA Cup for the first time.
Palace were able to welcome back French striker Jean-Philippe Mateta for the first time since he needed 25 stitches in an ear wound suffered in his side’s fifth-round win over Millwall four weeks ago.
But it was Eze who was Palace’s match winner with two decisive moments in a matter of minutes.
The 26-year-old cut inside on his favoured right foot to curl in off the far post to open the scoring on 34 minutes.
Eze then jinked past Sander Berge and showed his ability on either foot with this time an inch-perfect left-footed cross for Sarr to head in at the near post.
“It’s unbelievable — the individual quality”, said Glasner on Eze’s impact.
“It was so important the first goal because we got the belief back, we were really struggling in the beginning. You need something when you’re struggling in the game, some positive actions to get the belief back”.
Crystal Palace’s Austrian manager Oliver Glasner gestures on the touchline during the English FA Cup quarter-final football match between Fulham and Crystal Palace at Craven Cottage in Fulham, west London on March 29, 2025. (Photo by HENRY NICHOLLS / AFP) Crystal Palace’s English striker #09 Eddie Nketiah (C) celebrates with teammates after scoring their third goal during the English FA Cup quarter-final football match between Fulham and Crystal Palace at Craven Cottage in Fulham, west London on March 29, 2025. (Photo by HENRY NICHOLLS / AFP)
Fulham are four places and six points above Palace in the Premier League and will now turn their focus to trying to qualify for the Champions League for the first time by finishing in the top five.
However, their dreams of Wembley were extinguished 15 minutes from time.
Eddie Nketiah had only been on the field a few minutes as Mateta’s replacement and produced a composed finish under his former Arsenal team-mate Bernd Leno for a third goal in four games.
Brighton host Nottingham Forest in Saturday’s other quarter-final tie.
Forest thrashed the Seagulls 7-0 last month, but Brighton have won six and drawn one, 2-2 away to Manchester City, of their seven games since.
Crystal Palace’s English midfielder #10 Eberechi Eze runs with the ball in the build-up to the second goal during the English FA Cup quarter-final football match between Fulham and Crystal Palace at Craven Cottage in Fulham, west London on March 29, 2025. (Photo by HENRY NICHOLLS / AFP) Crystal Palace’s English midfielder #10 Eberechi Eze (R) shoots to score the opening goal of the English FA Cup quarter-final football match between Fulham and Crystal Palace at Craven Cottage in Fulham, west London on March 29, 2025. (Photo by HENRY NICHOLLS / AFP)
City are the favourites for the competition but face a tough trip to Bournemouth on Sunday.
After a disappointing season that has fallen well short of their usual standards, the FA Cup is City’s final shot at winning a trophy.