Category Sports News

The Oklahoma City Thunder’s comeback from a “rusty” start over the Minnesota Timberwolves earned them the victory in their first game of the NBA Western Conference finals series.

After taking a 48-44 lead into half-time, Minnesota were on the verge of an upset against the top seeds thanks to Julius Randle’s 20 first-half points.

However, Gilgeous-Alexander scored 20 of his 31 points in the final two quarters to give his team a 114-88 victory.

In an on-court interview with ESPN, Gilgeous-Alexander stated, “We were a little rusty in the first half, but we shouldn’t be.”

“We were missing free throws and layups.” Simply put, we had to continue to be aggressive and confident in our work.

Gilgeous-Alexander, who had 30 or more points in his fourth game in a row, also had five rebounds and a game-high nine assists.

“Games are feel-out games. Both they and we will make adjustments in Game Two. It’s a series, and not the first time it happened, Gilgeous-Alexander continued.

There is still a lot more work to be done, the author writes.

Unsure of who to support in the Europa League final but interested in watching along?

No problem! If you don’t like it, just sit back and take the game, as we’ve put together a quiz to see if you should put yourself in the middle of Manchester United or Tottenham Hotspur.

A final between two teams that are so uninspired has never been played in European competition history.

The Europa League winners from Wednesday’s game between Manchester United and Tottenham in Bilbao could be the league’s lowest-ever winners of a significant European trophy.

And they will certainly become the lowest team to ever qualify for the European Cup or Champions League.

Spurs is 17th place, while United are 16th, and United have lost 39 league games overall.

Since February 2, only league games have been won against relegated opponents or opponents of each other.

Their points tally could have had them relegated in some previous seasons.

On BBC Radio 5 Live’s Monday Night Club, former Celtic striker Chris Sutton remarked, “I can’t recall a game that was so highly pressurized for both teams.”

BBC Sport senior football correspondent Sami Mokbel and chief football news reporter Simon Stone, who will both be at San Mames for the final, have had their say on whose season has been worse.

Mokbel’s song “Underperformed, Underachieved, Unacceptable” is a. At least psychologically.

” While Tottenham will cling on to hope of somehow turning a catastrophic season into a historic one, there can be no running away from the fact that results and performances have been largely disastrous.

“Twenty-one Premier League defeats and counting.” If Spurs win the Europa League title on Wednesday night, all of that will be forgotten, of course.

” Whether that is enough to keep Ange Postecoglou in a job, however, is the million-dollar question with all the indications pointing towards the Australian departing regardless of the outcome in Bilbao.

“The fact that Postecoglou’s tenure in north London appears to be coming to an end soon shows how pitiful their domestic campaign has been,” they said.

“To their credit, injuries have diminished Tottenham’s season. They have lost key players for long periods of time.

“But this is a highly-assembled Tottenham squad,” according to the club-record £65m signing of Dominic Solanke.

“Manchester United are in a transitional season,” according to the statement.

“It’s different for Tottenham. This was a team prepared to compete for Champions League qualification following Postecoglou’s positive first season in charge, which saw Spurs finish fifth.

Instead, they could move up one place to the top. That’s undeniably poor. “

Manchester United have suffered worse because of their own actions, according to Stone.

United “reviewed Erik ten Hag’s tenure after their 4-0 defeat at Crystal Palace in May, and then after their FA Cup final victory over Manchester City, and made the decision to stick with him.”

” United gave him money to spend, specifically on Matthijs de Ligt and Joshua Zirkzee in the summer, then sacked him after nine games.

And United told Ruben Amorim to start right away, not wait until the summer, before he could join Sporting.

The safety net is Bilbao and then that United hit the ground running at the start of the following year, which would justifies the refusal to wait for Amorim.

“But, in the here and now, United have been woeful.

There have been times in video games where the passing triangles worked and the game appeared fluid.

Rasmus Hojlund has not, however, looked a threat on either side of the field, and their fundamental errors have undermined them both.

” With six minutes left of extra time in their Europa League quarter-final against 10-man Lyon, it was not easy to strike a single optimistic note on United’s behalf. They somehow came to their rescue.

“United has now won one point out of five Premier League games. No-one has done worse than that.

This is United’s worst season overall since the 1973-1974 relegation campaign. Additionally, they reported £113. 2 million in financial losses in September.

Only two teams with domestic league records have ever won a trophy in Europe.

That includes the old Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, European Cup Winners ‘ Cup, Uefa Cup, European Cup, Champions League, Europa League and newish Conference League.

West Ham finished 14th in the Premier League before moving up to third-place Conference League just two seasons ago, making them the lowest-ranked team ever.

14th place is the highest position that Manchester United or Spurs can achieve, with a number of outcomes required.

The other lowest finishes have all come in various iterations of the Europa League.

Inter Milan won the Uefa Cup in 1993-94, only managing to hold on for one point (in the previous system of two points for a win). The team finished 13th out of 18 Serie A teams.

And a team that finished 12th has won it three times: Sevilla, Schalke, and Arsenal in the 1969-1970 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup.

That Sevilla team are the lowest-placed to have ever qualified for the European Cup or Champions League – until now.

Sutton, a former Chelsea player, said: “There won’t be a lot of quality on display.

“Both sets of players will be apprehensive and nervous,” the player said.

On Amorim and Postecoglou making changes in recent Premier League games, he added:” I don’t understand why they are gripped by fear. Both managers want to have momentum going into the cup final.

This will be the sixth all-English final in a European competition, with Chelsea or Tottenham in the lead.

England is the first nation to participate in Uefa competition without the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup.

Tottenham beat Wolves for the 1972 Uefa Cup final and Manchester United defeated Chelsea to win the 2008 Champions League.

Both English-language finals took place in 2019, with Chelsea defeating Arsenal in the Europa League and Liverpool defeating Tottenham in the Champions League.

Both managers have silverware won abroad, but they are looking for their first trophy in charge of an English club.

Both teams will be desperate to win this game, but they have very different motivations.

This would be Tottenham’s first European trophy since 1984 and their first since the 2008 Carabao Cup.

It would vindicate Postecoglou’s early-season declaration that he always wins a trophy in his second season.

And somehow their worst domestic season since the 1970s might turn out to be their best.

Former Republic of Ireland goalkeeper Shay Given said, “I’m sure if that happens on Wednesday night Ange will be smug walking off the pitch and saying, “See you later, I’ve told you what I do mate.”

Sutton reckons if Spurs lose, Postecoglou may not even be in charge for the final game of the Premier League season at home to Brighton on Sunday.

The former Blackburn forward predicted that if Postecoglou wins, he would be welcomed. But “just imagine the atmosphere if Tottenham loses,” he said.

” I suspect he might not be in charge if that happens because that will be as toxic as anything. “

Champions League qualification is the ultimate goal for Manchester United, who have won domestic cups in the last two seasons.

According to Kieran Maguire, a specialist in football finance, it was the most significant game in the club’s history financially.

Sutton feels the game is a potential” get-out-of-jail-free card “for Amorim.

The Portuguese, who hopes to oversee a summer rebuild, said: “I think qualifying for the Champions League is more crucial for everything than the preparation for the following season.

Pep Guardiola has said he will quit as manager of Manchester City if he is given a big squad to select from after the summer transfer market.

A number of Man City’s senior players were not included in the squad for Tuesday’s 3-1 win against Bournemouth and Guardiola says he is unhappy at leaving so many players out.

Abdukodir Khusanov, Savinho, James McAtee, Claudio Echeverri and Rico Lewis all missed out on Tuesday’s 20-man matchday squad as City moved to third in the Premier League and within a point of Champions League qualification.

But, despite this showing the depth Guardiola has at his disposal, the Spaniard wants to work with a smaller squad.

He said: “I said to the club I don’t want that [a bigger squad]. I don’t want to leave five or six players in the freezer. I don’t want that. I will quit. Make a shorter squad, I will stay.”

Guardiola says it is “impossible for my soul” to leave players watching from the stands.

“Maybe [for] three, four months we couldn’t select 11 players, we didn’t have defenders, it was so difficult. After people come back but next season it cannot be like that,” the 54-year-old added.

“As a manager I cannot train 24 players and every time I select I have to have four, five, six stay in Manchester at home because they cannot play. This is not going to happen. I said to the club. I don’t want that.”

City spent more than £200m on four players in January after suffering a number of key injuries. Kevin De Bruyne is one of those players who will definitely depart in the summer, while the future of Jack Grealish is in doubt.

When asked if it meant more exits were inevitable, Guardiola – who signed a deal keeping him at the club until 2027 – said: “It is a question for the club. I don’t want to have 24, 25, 26 players when everyone is fit. If I have injuries, unlucky, we have some players for the academy and we do it.

Kevin de Bruyne received an emotional farewell at Etihad Stadium for the final time on Tuesday night – and the moment even brought manager Pep Guardiola to tears, who called it a “sad day”.

The 33-year-old will go down as a Manchester City legend and proclaimed he will “always be here” after the announcement that a statue will be built in his honour outside the stadium.

Captain De Bruyne is set to depart this summer and started his last home game in City’s 3-1 victory over Bournemouth, but the Premier League great bowed out in a somewhat abject manner.

He had the chance to go out in style but missed a first-half sitter and was then sacrificed in the second half after Mateo Kovacic’s sending off – a sad ending for such an illustrious career.

De Bruyne said in his post-match speech: “I wanted to play with creativity, I wanted to play with passion. I wanted to enjoy football and I hope everyone enjoyed it.

“Everybody has pushed me so hard inside and outside the club to be the best version of myself and these guys in front of me have made me better than I was before.

“It’s an honour to play with these guys. I’ve made so many friends for life.”

The decade-long association has produced unprecedented success for City, while the player has etched himself into the club’s history books by taking home an incredible 16 winners’ medals during that period.

Once the full-time whistle was blown, nothing was going to spoil his grand send-off as City players, staff and supporters paid tribute to their midfield maestro.

Guardiola said: “Everybody saw how much the people from Manchester City are connected with him and his family and how much love [they have].

“Titles are nice and everything that he has achieved, but when you leave after 10 years with this much respect and gratitude, there is nothing else better than that.

“I am part of that, the club will take the decision, but it is a sad day and he will be missed, there is no doubt about that.”

Guardiola added: “When Kevin arrived here, I am pretty sure he was not a Man City fan, I don’t know who he supports, but I am pretty sure he is a fan now and will be forever.

On a night when ‘The Boss’ rolled into town, ‘The King’ waved goodbye for the final time.

De Bruyne’s face was plastered everywhere you looked on arrival at the stadium and although legendary US singer Bruce Springsteen may have been playing a few yards away at the Co-Op Live arena, this was the hottest ticket of the day.

Merchandise stalls had scarves emblazoned with De Bruyne’s name, as did the shirts of supporters, while the matchday programme has a mock-up of the player with the crown from the Premier League trophy atop his head.

City had announced in the lead-up to kick-off that they had dedicated a mosaic and named a road after De Bruyne at the club’s academy.

It was also fitting that a playmaker that has created such artistry on the grass canvass has had a huge mural painted of him in Manchester’s Northern Quarter.

Once chants of “ohh Kevin De Bruyne” to Seven Nations Army died down, there was a buzz of anticipation each time he had his foot on the ball, willing him to showcase a goal or assist for one last time on their turf.

The big moment could not have been planned any better – the ball laid to him on a plate, in front of an open goal, a couple of yards out, but De Bruyne in slow motion scooped the ball onto the bar.

The 33-year-old had his head in his hands, so did the returning Rodri on the bench and City fans all around as the dream finale went awry.

“It’s terrible,” De Bruyne said of the miss. “There’s no excuses. My son is going to be very tough on me today.”

At full-time, a montage of his best moments over the past decade flashed up on the screen with messages from the likes of Sergio Aguero, Vincent Kompany, Raheem Sterling and Pablo Zabaleta.

De Bruyne was given a guard of honour as he returned to the pitch with his wife and kids by his side.

Then came the outpouring of emotion.

The former Chelsea man struggled to hold it together during his speech in the middle of the park, as did a tearful Guardiola watching on from the sidelines.

“We want you to stay, Kevin de Bruyne, we want you to stay,” was the chant that rung out from supporters but there appears to be no turning back, as he led his team-mates on a lap of appreciation before making an exit for one last time.

Former City defender Micah Richards said: “He lets his football do the talking. He’s such a shy character but I have been meeting him over the years and seeing how humble he is and how great a player he is, it is just great to see.

Guardiola holds De Bruyne in such high esteem that he described the Belgian as the “second best” passer he has worked with – after the great Lionel Messi.

Since his debut in September 2015, De Bruyne has played 283 top-flight games and has provided 119 assists, second in the Premier League’s all-time list behind Ryan Giggs’ 162, and scored 72 goals.

Those 190 goal involvements puts him fourth on the Premier League list during that period behind Mohamed Salah, Harry Kane and Son Heung-min.

With 843 chances created during that period, De Bruyne has been, by far, the most prolific creative player in the division, with Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes lagging behind in second with 535.

The game against Bournemouth was De Bruyne’s 142nd and final home league appearance for City, with only David Silva having played more Premier League games at the Etihad with 160.

Asked what City meant to him, De Bruyne said it was “home”, “family” and that his kid “were Manc”.

Former Liverpool midfielder Jamie Redknapp said on Sky Sports: “Who is the next De Bruyne in world football? They don’t exist. He is like a unicorn, so don’t even bother looking for another KDB.

De Bruyne has made it clear he is not abdicating his throne by his own choice, saying he was surprised not to be offered a new contract by the club.

While his next move could be to Chicago Fire in the US, attention will soon turn to the difficult task of finding a replacement.

BBC Sport understands City are withdrawing their initial interest in Bayer Leverkusen’s Florian Wirtz, owing to the soaring costs of any deal, but Nottingham Forest’s Morgan Gibbs-White is among the options.

City, though, have two players at the club in Phil Foden and Jack Grealish that have played a bit-part role this term and could provide the answer if they can rediscover their form.

“He [De Bruyne] is irreplaceable,” said Richards. “I have been disappointed with Phil Foden, but he needs to step up now.

“There is a vacancy available and this is Foden’s time.”

De Bruyne added: “To do what we’ve done as a club, supporters, teammates we’ve won everything.