Barcelona could be forced to deal with a huge Raphinha injury blow which will almost certainly impact Marcus Rashford

Marcus Rashford could be set for a major Barcelona twist after Raphinha appeared to suffer an injury playing for Brazil. At half-time of their friendly defeat to France, the Barca winger was replaced by Luiz Henrique with fears over another hamstring issue.

Manager Carlo Ancelotti confirmed as much after the game as the Brazil boss explained why he was taken off at the interval. He said: ”Raphinha played very well, then he had a problem at the end of the first half and we had to change him, his muscle bothered him a little and I think they’re going to evaluate him tomorrow.”

Since returning from injury, Raphinha has started eight of the last nine Barcelona matches which has seen Rashford’s minutes decrease significantly. The 28-year-old, who is on a season-long loan from Manchester United, has played just 28 minutes across Barcelona’s last four games.

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Rashford started the two games that Raphinha missed out entirely and thus would more than likely return to the team if he has picked up an injury. Barcelona have four big games after the international break, with Rashford’s role seemingly set to change.

That could arrive at the perfect time as he looks to secure the England starting spot on the left of Thomas Tuchel’s starting XI. A glimpse on his position in the pecking order is likely to emerge over the coming days during friendlies against Uruguay and Japan.

The Catalan club have been impressed by his displays this season and are keen to activate the £26million buy-option clause included in his loan switch. However, it has been claimed that they are actively trying to pay a fee below that.

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United do find themselves in a strong position though, with clubs in the Premier League and around Europe making enquiries over his availability, as per ESPN.

Rashford returning to Old Trafford has also not been ruled out with United in a commanding position either way. On one hand, a player very near the top of his game could be back in the squad or United sell to the highest bidder this summer.

Any final decision over his future is expected after the World Cup with Rashford’s full focus likely to be on that after hoping to finish the season strong.

Barcelona currently sit top of La Liga, clear of Real Madrid by four points and are also in the Champions League quarter-finals where they will take on Atletico Madrid.

Hansi Flick’s side have already faced their domestic rivals over two legs this season with Atletico winning 4-3 on aggregate. During the second leg win for Barca, Rashford played up front with his versatility opening up more avenues for minutes.

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It’s time, folks. Your underdog 4th-seeded Alabama Crimson Tide will hit the court shortly for a Sweet Sixteen showdown with the top-seeded Michigan Wolverines. Dusty May’s group has the best roster money can buy, as this Michigan squad is every bit as good as the UConn and Duke teams that ended Alabama’s NCAA Tournament journeys of the previous two seasons. It’s going to take everything this team has to stun the Wolverines and advance to the program’s third straight Elite Eight.

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Idle Flyer has steadied the ship after a turbulent launch to her prep, realigning towards her Group One objective, where the upcoming Emancipation Stakes at Rosehill acts as a crucial lead-in.

Trainer Matthew Smith was forced to delay the mare’s debut owing to a tenacious virus, starting her instead across an unbefitting 1200m in the Wenona Girl Quality March 7, but Idle Flyer underlined her potential with a solid fourth.

A barrier trial triumph has kept her on song since, paving the way for Saturday’s Group 2 Emancipation Stakes (1500m) engagement, in which she rates an initial market pick.

“We started in a race we didn’t really want to start in because we had a few interruptions to her ‘prep,’” Smith said.

“She has been a little bit behind. Her run was good first-up, so she goes into this race fit and well, but is she at her peak yet? Probably not.

“She is ready to go, but one more and she will be cherry ripe.”

Smith’s operation has a full slate, including Portland in the Neville Sellwood Stakes (2000m) and Derby candidates Eureka Rebel with Dezignation tackling the Tulloch Stakes (2000m) ahead of the ATC Australian Derby.

Though longer shots among competitors, these three-year-olds have affirmed stamina at the distance, with Smith expecting progression to the 2400m showpiece.

“Both look like they will stay really well,” he said.

“I just want to see them hitting the line. The danger in these races is you get no tempo, and then they’re not going to be suited.

“I don’t know what the Derby field will be like. I thought it might lack a bit of depth in the staying ranks, and we’d give it a shot.”

Fierce Impact, a prior Smith inmate and triple Group 1 captor best known for shorter trips, sires Eureka Rebel.

The trainer’s Mountain Queen, another from that pedigree, mirrors Eureka Rebel’s staying promise and is in the mix for the Australian Oaks (2400m).

“The ones by him that we’ve got showing ability are more middle-distance horses. It would be nice if we could get one through to each of the (classic) races,” Smith said.

In the Neville Sellwood third-up, the gelding Portland takes on classy import Barnavara, yet Smith views the middle-distance assignment on a rain-impacted surface as ideal progression.

“He has been looking to get out to this trip,” Smith said.

“He’s not right at his top yet, but he’s on the way and this will be another step in the right direction. His work has been good, and I can’t fault him really.”

For the Emancipation Stakes, racing odds are available across various betting sites.

India‘s parliament has passed a law that will roll back rights for transgender people. The move is sparking a lot of reaction. As Human Rights Watch explains, the bill amends the 2014 law in which the Indian government recognised transgender people as a third gender. Under the controversial legislation passed this week, it will now remove the right to self-identify and limit recognition to those defined by physical or biological traits. There are an estimated 2 million transgender people in India, although the real number is believed to be much higher.

Indian MP Derek O’Brien writes in the Indian Express that the bill will require the mandated reporting of gender-affirming surgery by the medical board and local authorities. He says this will violate the principles of personal liberty and essentially force people to disclose their transgender identity. Authorities say it will better protect them, but O’Brien argues that it will reinforce the conditions that make protecting them necessary.

The Hindu, another Indian paper, reports that the bill now awaits the approval of Droupadi Murmu, the Indian president. Amidst widespread protests, the All Indian feminist alliance penned a letter to her, urging not to sign it. They condemned the “undue and unjustifiable haste” with which the bill was passed.

Meanwhile, the International Olympic Committee has moved to ban transgender female athletes from competing in future women‘s Olympic events. The Guardian reports that Kirsty Coventry, the IOC president, said the landmark decision was taken because it is not fair for biological males to compete in the female category. The IOC’s decision will ban transgender women athletes from the female category of events at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics and future Games. Athletes who wish to compete in the female category will have to undergo a one-time SRY masculinity gene test. The decision also extends to DSD athletes, those with differences of sexual development such as Caster Semenya, the South African athlete who identifies as female but has some male chromosomes too. 

The Guardian, in an analysis piece, calls the decision “seismic”. It notes that four and half years ago, the IOC was hailing the participation of Laurel Hubbard, the transgender weightlifter from New Zealand. Now with this decision, it has made one the most astonishing U-turns from a governing body in modern times. The decision also reflects a changed political climate. 

Elsewhere, Vanity Fair‘s new cover features Olympic skier Lindsey Vonn, just weeks after her horrific crash in Milan Cortina. She talks about the moments after that crash, the pain, nearly losing her leg to amputation, her long road to recovery and why she hasn’t ruled out a comeback.

Finally, a baby macaque at a Japanese zoo who went viral for cuddling a plush toy has reportedly found love. You might remember Punch the monkey – we talked about him here on the press review several weeks ago. He melted hearts with his cuddling of an orangutan plush toy after being rejected by his tribe. The Times of London says Punch’s many superfans can rejoice because it appears he has found love with another primate. He’s been seen getting cosy with a female macaque at the monkey mountain enclosure. In an Oedipal twist, it appears that his new lady looks a lot like his mother!

You can catch our press review every morning on France 24 at 7:20am and 9:20am (Paris time), from Monday to Friday.

The traffic on the way to France’s World Cup tuneup against Brazil was a problem. Kylian Mbappe’s knee was not.

The former Paris Saint-Germain and current Real Madrid star showed no ill effects from his knee injury on Thursday when he broke free for a goal to give France an early lead on its way to a 2-1 victory in a friendly between two of the world’s top teams.

Mbappe missed almost a month with a left knee sprain for Real Madrid before coming on as a substitute in the last two matches. France coach Didier Deschamps started Mbappe but had him on a limit of about an hour; he came off for a substitute in the 65th minute.

“He has a lot of desire, a lot of soreness in his legs,” Dechamps said. “Beyond that – the quality to make to make a difference, he’s always had.” 
With a crowd of 66,215 heavily favoring Brazil, Mbappe and Hugo Ekitike gave France a 2-0 lead on the same pitch where they will play their final group stage game of this summer’s World Cup, against Norway and Erling Haaland. Bremer cut the deficit to 2-1 in the 78th minute.

The friendly went off without any major hiccups despite the simmering feud between the town of Foxborough and World Cup organizers over almost $8 million in security costs. The sides reached an agreement two weeks ago in which the organizing committee promised to make the payment in advance and the town approved the necessary entertainment license.

That was expected to be the last remaining obstacle to the world’s biggest sporting event arriving in this 20,000-person suburb tucked between Boston and Providence, Rhode Island, that swells to three times its size for New England Patriots games. To accommodate FIFA requirements, a grass field has replaced the artificial turf that had been used for the NFL’s Patriots and the New England Revolution of Major League Soccer.

“Good stadium. Good pitch. It was all OK to play good football,” Brazil coach Carlo Ancelotti said. “The atmosphere in the stadium was good – a lot of Brazilian supporters. Everything was fine, apart from the result.” 
Deschamps said the biggest problem was the travel from Boston, about 25 miles away but part of it on a four-lane road with stoplights and tens of thousands of fans trying to get to the game.

“I am convinced that everything will be fine,” Deschamps said. “The most difficult thing are the trips that take a lot of time. … One hour and 15 minutes before a game is not easy.” 
The crowd was the second-largest to watch a soccer match at Gillette Stadium, behind only a 2007 friendly between Brazil and Mexico. It was speckled with fans in Brazilian yellow kits, with just a few French flags waving to celebrate Mbappe’s goal. (The media dining room was more neutral, with madeleines, macarons and eclairs alongside Brazilian brigadeiro, pudim and mousse deo maracuja.) 
Also in the house were coach Joe Mazzulla and players from the NBA’s Boston Celtics, with forward Jayson Tatum taking part in the pregame coin toss alongside Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey.

The 2018 World Cup champion and 2022 Golden Boot winner, Mbappe sprained his left knee in December but played through January before sitting out almost a month. He said on Monday that his injury was “truly behind me.” (Reports that said the team examined the wrong knee were false, Mbappe said at a news conference in Foxborough on Wednesday.) 
And he showed it in the 32nd minute when Ousmane Dembele delivered a through ball that left no one between the No. 2 scorer in French soccer history and the goalkeeper. Mbappe tapped it ahead once before chipping it over the keeper to make it 1-0.

France took a 2-0 lead in the 65th minute when Ekitike, Liverpool’s top scorer this season, converted a pass from Michael Olise in the penalty area. Mbappe left for a substitute immediately afterward.

After France’s Dayot Upamecano was sent off in the 55th minute for taking down a player with a clear path to the goal, a card that was upgraded from yellow to red on video review, Brazil cut the deficit to 2-1 when Bremer redirected a cross from Luiz Henrique past France keeper Mike Maignan.

The game also featured a mid-half “cooling break” that enabled players to rest and hydrate – even though the temperature in early spring New England was in the mid-60s Fahrenheit (15 Celsius). After a heat wave during last year’s Club World Cup, FIFA announced that all games in the 2026 World Cup would include the break, regardless of the temperature on the pitch.

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Brazil will play Croatia on Tuesday in Orlando, Florida, their first matchup since the 2022 World Cup quarterfinals.

“There are no friendlies for us,” defender Leo Pereira said. “Every game is a big game, and we have to play it as if it was a World Cup final.” 
France will play Colombia in Landover, Maryland, on Sunday.

Kai Rooney’s mum, Coleen, has offered some intriguing insight into where her sons’ careers could head – and it may not be to follow in dad Wayne’s footsteps

Manchester United prospect Kai Rooney may be following in dad Wayne‘s footsteps at club level. However, the similarities in career path may end there after mother Coleen‘s latest reveal.

Rooney Jr, 16, is making the kind of moves to signal he’s got what it takes to fashion a career in football. He’s joined up with Darren Fletcher’s under-18 side this season and played a part in the squad that’s taken United to an FA Youth Cup semi-final against Crystal Palace.

But while he may be on the fast track at club level, it may not end up being his dad’s old England side – who face Uruguay this evening – Kai represents at international level. Not only that, but Coleen recently appeared on The Late, Late Show and confessed any of her four sons could be open to representing the Republic of Ireland instead.

“Obviously they’re so young yet,” she told host Patrick Kielty. “We haven’t got to that point, but I think they’d be proud to play for Ireland, yeah.

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“But I don’t know, they don’t know. Let’s let them make the decision.”

Both Wayne and Coleen have Irish heritage, and the former could have qualified to pull on the iconic green through his grandparents. It’s a similar case for Coleen, whose father Tony McLoughlin, a former bricklayer, also hails from Irish stock.

In the event he struggled to earn the attention of English selectors, Kai could therefore find a home across the Irish Sea. And the same might be said for any of his brothers should they chase a career in the sport, either.

Wayne and Coleen share three other boys in Klay, 12, Kit, 10, and Cass, eight. However, none among that trio have gathered nearly the same excitement as their eldest sibling in terms of sporting prospects just yet.

England’s 2026 World Cup kits

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Kai first started exciting scouts when he raked in 56 goals and 28 assists over the course of a campaign while playing for United’s under-12s. However, he’s still yet to really take off with Fletcher’s group just yet.

Coleen has revealed Wayne, England’s former top scorer, agreed to not attend Kai’s matches for a spell, simply because he gets mobbed by fans too often. However, he broke that treaty for United’s recent quarter-final win over Sunderland in the FA Youth Cup, though Kai was an unused substitute.

He’ll hope to set the record straight by making more of an impact in their upcoming semi against Palace on April 11. And a few more star turns may be enough to earn the attention of certain international setups, including the Republic of Ireland.

The former midfielder played under Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp in separate top-flight leagues

Thiago Alcantara confessed that the key differences between playing under Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola were “energy and control”.

The former midfielder left Liverpool alongside Klopp in 2024 after working under the German for four years. He spent three years with Guardiola at Bayern Munich before the Spaniard moved to Manchester City in 2016.

Alcantara will come up against a familiar foe in Borussia Dortmund this weekend as he takes part in Liverpool’s charity match on Saturday afternoon. Klopp will also return to the dugout for the same occasion.

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Alcantara spoke about the key differences between the two managers on the Coaches’ Voice and noted that Guardiola was more about controlling a game than allowing “chaos” to ensue.

He said: “With Jurgen, it was all about energy. With Pep, it was about control. Rules that we have to have before reaching the final area, that’s when freedom comes. It’s completely the opposite [with Klopp], it’s that ‘I want to be comfortable in chaos.’”

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Highlighting the difference under Klopp, the 34-year-old added: “We had a physical team, wanted to play the ball straight pass in front… we are generating more energy for the team.

“The benefit for the team regarding the energy we had, it’s about the pressure we did when we lost the ball. It was faster than ever I saw in my life, when we lost the ball, we were already making a cage.

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“We were all the time putting traps, so when they had the ball we cover situations so we can go 1v1, or our attacking player was in a favourable position. These two players, number eight and number six, they are very linked. This player [the other midfielder] is the physical profile, he will enjoy more the attacking positions.”

Alcantara spent three years under Guardiola’s guidance, claiming three Bundesliga titles and three domestic trophies during that period. He also lifted the Champions League in Germany following the Spaniard’s departure, alongside four additional league titles and domestic silverware.

In comparison, the former midfielder won just two domestic trophies with Klopp – the FA Cup and Community Shield – before departing and ultimately retiring in 2024.

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France said on Friday the International Olympic Committee’s decision to introduce gender testing to determine eligibility for the female category was a “step backwards”.

“We oppose a generalisation of genetic testing, which raises numerous ethical, legal, and medical questions, particularly in light of French legislation” which does not allow such tests, Sports Minister Marina Ferrari said in a statement.

“These tests, introduced in 1967, were discontinued in 1999 due to strong ​reservations within the scientific community regarding their relevance. France regrets this step backwards,” Ferrari said.

The IOC announced on Thursday only “biological females” will be allowed to compete in women’s events, preventing transgender women from competing.

It is re-introducing gender testing from the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics onwards in a move that will also rule out many athletes with differences in sexual development (DSD), previously known as intersex athletes.

Donald Trump takes credit for transgender ban at LA’s 2028 Olympics

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