Aston Villa finally ended their 30-year wait for a major trophy after defeating SC Freiburg 3-0 in the UEFA Europa League final on Wednesday night in Istanbul.

Goals from Youri Tielemans, Emiliano Buendia and Morgan Rogers secured a famous victory for Unai Emery’s men as the Premier League side lifted their first trophy since winning the League Cup in 1996.

Villa took control of the final late in the first half when Tielemans fired home a powerful volley in the 41st minute after meeting a clever corner delivery from Rogers.

Just before the break, Buendia doubled the advantage with a brilliant curling strike from outside the penalty area after Freiburg failed to close him down.

Rogers completed the victory in the 58th minute, sliding in to convert Buendia’s cross and spark wild celebrations among the Villa supporters inside Besiktas Stadium.

The triumph also marked Villa’s first major European title since their famous European Cup success in 1982, when they defeated Bayern Munich in Rotterdam.

Villa players wore white shirts for the final, similar to the kit used during that historic 1982 victory, with club legends Peter Withe and Dennis Mortimer watching from the stands.

Manager Unai Emery continued his remarkable record in the Europa League by winning the competition for a fifth time. Emery previously lifted the trophy three times with Sevilla and once with Villarreal.

The success completed a remarkable turnaround for Villa, who struggled badly at the beginning of the season and went six matches without a win.

Since taking charge in October 2022, Emery has transformed the club from relegation candidates into European champions and Champions League qualifiers.

Villa dominated much of the contest and could have scored earlier before Tielemans finally broke Freiburg’s resistance with his superb finish.

The victory ended years of disappointment for Villa, who had suffered several painful cup defeats in recent seasons before finally enjoying a memorable night in Istanbul.

Although Travis Kelce agreed to a one-year deal with the Kansas City Chiefs that will bring him back for a 14th NFL season, much of the recent attention surrounding the star tight end has focused less on football and more on his relationship with Taylor Swift and the couple’s reported wedding plans.

Swift’s ties to football date back years. According to the 14-time Grammy winner, her father, Scott Swift, and Chiefs coach Andy Reid have long shared a friendship. Since beginning her relationship with Kelce, the music superstar has frequently appeared in luxury suites at Kansas City games.

The three-time Super Bowl champion recently revealed his fiancée also made a sharp observation about a legendary Pittsburgh Steelers running back.

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Taylor Swift celebrates with Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce after the AFC Championship Game at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri, on Jan. 26, 2025. (David Eulitt/Getty Images)

On a recent episode of New Heights, the podcast he co-hosts with brother Jason Kelce, Travis shared Swift’s amusing observation that Jerome Bettis looked “like an offensive lineman running with the football.”

AARON RODGERS CONFIRMS HE’S RETIRING AFTER UPCOMING SEASON WITH THE PITTSBURGH STEELERS

Jason’s mention of Bettis’ upcoming golf tournament prompted Travis to share a story about unexpectedly running into the Hall of Famer during a dinner with Swift.

“He is just the best dude ever. I got to run into him at dinner. I was like telling Tay about him like, ‘That dude was a beast.’”

Kelce later showed Swift highlights from Bettis’ Hall of Fame career, which stretched from 1993 to 2005.

Running back Jerome Bettis of the Pittsburgh Steelers runs with the football against the Denver Broncos during the AFC Championship game at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh, Pa., on Jan. 11, 1998. The Broncos defeated the Steelers 24-21. (George Gojkovich/Getty Images)

“I showed her a Jerome Bettis highlight tape and she was like ‘Why does he look like an offensive lineman running with the football?’ Because he was ‘The Bus,’” Kelce said.

Bettis, a six-time Pro Bowler, was listed at more than 250 pounds for much of his decade-long run with the Steelers, earning him the nickname “The Bus.” He began his career with the Rams, who selected him in the first round of the 1993 NFL Draft.

Jerome Bettis signs a football during Touchdowns on the Green, the inaugural Tim and Sherice Brown Celebrity Golf Invitational to Blitz Human Trafficking before Super Bowl LVIII at Topgolf Las Vegas on Feb. 8, 2024, in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Aaron J. Thornton/Getty Images)

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Bettis won Super Bowl XL with the Steelers.

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Macklin Celebrini is 19 years old and already carrying the weight of a comparison that no player in hockey ever escapes easily. Brady Tkachuk called him Sidney Crosby 2.0 on a recent episode of the Wingmen podcast, and the hockey world has been talking about it ever since.

The comparison did not come out of nowhere. Celebrini produced 115 points in his sophomore NHL season with the San Jose Sharks, finishing as a Ted Lindsay Award finalist and establishing himself as one of the most complete young centres the sport has seen since Crosby himself arrived in Pittsburgh two decades ago.

The Crosby Parallel Is Already Undeniable

Matthew Tkachuk put it plainly on the podcast. Players who remember Crosby as a teenager see the same qualities in Celebrini, including the skating, the puck protection, and the ability to control the tempo of a game through the middle of the ice.

Brady went further. “It’s not quite changing of the guard because Sid’s still Sid,” he said. “But it’s just like, holy cow, this kid is going to be 2.0 for the next 20 years.” That kind of praise from opponents carries enormous weight. 

Brady Tkachuk is not in the business of building up rival players without reason, and the respect in his voice was unmistakable. When Team Canada assembled for the World Championship in Switzerland, Celebrini was named captain before Crosby joined the roster. 

Rather than reclaiming the armband, Crosby encouraged Celebrini to keep the captaincy and accepted an alternate captain role himself. Celebrini responded by scoring twice against Italy. Crosby then produced four assists against Denmark as Canada rolled through group play unbeaten. 

The two have developed immediate chemistry on the top line together, a development that feels almost cinematic given the circumstances. Celebrini already skated alongside Connor McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon at the Winter Olympics in a line nicknamed the Mac Attack. 

At the World Championship, he is now linemates with Crosby himself. The San Jose Sharks are still building around their young core, but Celebrini has already outgrown the rebuild narrative. He is not a prospect anymore. He is a star, and the sport is beginning to treat him like one.

The torch has not officially changed hands. Crosby is still Crosby. But the next era of Canadian hockey has a face, and at 19 years old, Macklin Celebrini is only getting started.

Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez revealed he broke his finger during the warm-up before his side’s Europa League final win against Freiburg.

The Argentine suffered the injury moments before kick-off in Istanbul and had to be checked over by a physio.

But he managed to play the entire match on Wednesday as Villa won 3-0 to secure their first European trophy for 44 years.

The 33-year-old did not have much to do, as goals from Youri Tielemans, Emi Buendia and Morgan Rogers ended Villa’s 30-year wait for a major trophy, but still managed to make two saves.

He said: “Today I broke my finger during the warm-up and for me, every bad thing brings something good. I’ve done this my whole life and I’ll keep doing it.

“Should I be worried? Well, I’ve never had a broken finger before. Every time I caught the ball, it went the other way. But these are things you have to go through, and I’m proud to defend Aston Villa.”

The injury also did not stop Martinez from joining in the post-match celebrations as he jumped into the Villa fans before hoisting manager Unai Emery aloft.

Argentina will hope Martinez’s injury is not too serious with their World Cup squad set to be announced before next month’s tournament in the USA, Canada and Mexico.

The former Arsenal keeper has now won every final he has played in during his career, including the FA Cup final, the World Cup final, two Copa Americas and now the Europa League.

Kolkata Knight Riders, after five losses in their first six games, were virtually counted out of the IPL 2026 playoff race. However, they are now on a winning streak. Kolkata Knight Riders lived to fight another day with a crucial four-wicket win over Mumbai Indians after Sunil Narine-led bowlers once again delivered on a testing Eden Gardens surface to keep their IPL playoff hopes alive on Wednesday. Needing nothing less than a win to remain in contention, KKR rode on a clinical bowling effort to restrict the already eliminated five-time champions to a modest 147/8 after Ajinkya Rahane won an important toss.

All teams have now played 13 games. Three playoff spots are already sealed: Royal Challengers Bengaluru (18 points), Gujarat Titans (16 points) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (16 points). Five teams are vying for the one remaining spot: Rajasthan Royals (14), Punjab Kings (13), KKR (13), Chennai Super Kings (12) and Delhi Capitals (12). All of them need to win their last match to advance.

However, there is a remote possibility of RR qualifying for the playoffs even with a loss in their last game, but for that to happen, they need to have a strong run rate and hope that other teams in contention lose their matches. DC play KKR in their final match and the winner of that game must have lesser run-rate than RR for Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s side to progress even with a loss.

In reply, veteran Manish Pandey (45 off 33 balls; 6×4) finally got an opportunity to bat at No. 3 with talented keeper-batter Angkrish Raghuvanshi injured and anchored a tense chase with a 33-ball 45.

He, along with Rovman Powell (40; 30b, 4×4, 2×6), shared a crucial 64-run partnership to set it up as the hosts overhauled the 148-run target in 18.5 overs.

The victory lifted KKR from eighth to sixth in the standings with 13 points and kept their slim playoff hopes alive with six wins from 13 matches.

However, their fate is no longer in their own hands as KKR will now closely follow Rajasthan Royals’ clash against Mumbai Indians on Sunday afternoon before they face Delhi Capitals in the evening clash.

A Royals win would seal their qualification and eliminate KKR, rendering Kolkata’s final league game against DC inconsequential.

For MI, it was their ninth defeat in 13 matches as the five-time champions remained second from bottom with one game left.

On a surface where strokeplay remained difficult, KKR began shakily and lost both openers inside the powerplay.

Finn Allen, coming off a blistering 35-ball 93 in the previous match against Gujarat Titans, started aggressively with two boundaries before Deepak Chahar cleaned him up for 8.

Ajinkya Rahane survived an lbw review via umpire’s call but never looked comfortable during his 17-ball 21 before edging Corbin Bosch in the final over of the powerplay.

Bosch struck again in the eighth over when Cameron Green (4) miscued a poor delivery down the leg side straight to fine leg as KKR slipped to 54/3.

Mumbai sensed an opening but let the game drift through sloppy fielding.

Jasprit Bumrah, enduring another forgettable outing, leaked 14 runs in his second over as KKR steadily rebuilt through Pandey and Powell.

There was further frustration for MI in the 10th over when Powell top-edged a pull off Hardik Pandya.

Deepak Chahar at fine leg appeared set for the catch but left it for Robin Minz running across from deep square leg, only for the ball to land safely between them.

Pandey, however, could not complete the chase and was cleaned up by Bumrah, while in the next over, Powell fell to AM Ghazanfar.

But with hardly any scoreboard pressure – KKR needed 19 from the last four overs – Rinku Singh (nine not out) and Anukul Roy (four not out) sealed their seventh win in the last eight matches.

Earlier, KKR’s bowlers had exploited the sticky conditions superbly as Cameron Green (2/23; three overs), left-arm pacer Saurabh Dubey (2/34) and Sunil Narine’s exceptional figures of 1/13 choked MI.

Green was exceptional on the field and with the ball, striking twice in the space of three deliveries to remove Ryan Rickelton (6) and Naman Dhir (0).

He then pulled off a stunning running catch from midwicket to dismiss Rohit Sharma (15) off Dubey just when the Indian stalwart was looking to break free.

MI went on to lose three wickets for six runs in the space of eight balls.

After a one-hour rain interruption, KKR’s spin duo of Narine and Varun Chakravarthy tightened the screws further, conceding just 14 runs in their first four overs while bowling in tandem.

Narine, in particular, was menacing with his turn and variable bounce, repeatedly troubling Tilak Varma before taking the prized scalp of MI skipper Hardik Pandya (26; 27b), beating him with a delivery that drifted in and stayed low to crash into the stumps.

Chakravarthy was unlucky not to dismiss Tilak on 12 after spilling a return catch following a collision with wicketkeeper Angkrish Raghuvanshi.

Raghuvanshi hurt his hand in the process and had to walk off the field, with Tejasvi Dahiya coming on as a substitute.

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MS Dhoni (Image credit: BCCI/IPL)

NEW DELHI: When will MS Dhoni return for Chennai Super Kings this season? It is a question that has followed the franchise throughout IPL 2026, but there is still no definite answer.CSK, currently placed sixth on the table with 12 points from 13 games, will face Gujarat Titans in their final league-stage fixture on Thursday. Ahead of the match, batting coach Michael Hussey once again addressed Dhoni’s availability. Hussey confirmed that Dhoni will miss the GT clash because of a thumb injury but added that the veteran wicketkeeper-batter could return if CSK qualify for the playoffs.A victory against Gujarat Titans would take CSK to 14 points, though they would still need favourable results from other remaining league fixtures to stay alive in the playoff race.“I can confirm he is not here with the team, but if we do happen to qualify, then he will definitely join back up with the team. He has got a bit of a sore thumb, so it is recovering nicely, but he would not be ready for this match. But hopefully, if we can manage to get through to the playoffs, then hopefully he will be alright,” Hussey said.CSK head into the game against GT on the back of consecutive defeats. They first lost to Lucknow Super Giants before suffering a five-wicket defeat against Sunrisers Hyderabad.Speaking about the loss to SRH, where Ishan Kishan starred with a match-winning half-century in a successful chase of 181, Hussey admitted the result was disappointing but stressed the need to move on quickly.“Obviously, it has made it more difficult for us to get through to the top four. Individually, everyone will take a few little learnings from it, but we have to move on quite quickly. We were all very disappointed, obviously, after the match,” he said.“We were a bit flat in the dressing room. But coach spoke to us about, OK, come on, we have got one more game, one more chance, so we have got to make sure we move on from this very quickly. It is all about our attitude moving forward,” he added.

Former Indianapolis Colts’ running back Salvon Ahmed has signed with a new team.

According to NFL insider Jordan Schultz, Ahmed is signing with the Chicago Bears. Ahmed was a free agent this offseason.

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Ahmed suffered a season-ending ankle injury in training camp last summer, following a hip drop tackle that was made during practice.

Two majors are now in the books, and up next on the PGA Tour schedule is the 2026 CJ Cup Byron Nelson at TPC Craig Ranch in McKinney, Texas. Play begins on Thursday, May 21 with the first tee times at 8 a.m. ET. Some of the PGA’s top players have opted to skip this tournament, but Dallas-area natives Scottie Scheffler and Jordan Spieth are both in the 2026 CJ Cup Byron Nelson field. They’re also two of the top three favorites in the 2026 CJ Cup Byron Nelson odds, with Scheffler, the defending champion, favored at +160 (risk $100 to win $160) and Spieth third at +1600, with Si Woo Kim at +1500.

Brooks Koepka is next on the PGA odds board at +2200, with no other golfer lower than +3500, leaving plenty of longshots on the board to consider. Before locking in any 2026 Cj Cup Byron Nelson picks, or any PGA DFS picks or One and Done selections, be sure to see the 2026 CJ Cup Byron Nelson predictions and projected leaderboard from the proven computer model at SportsLine.

SportsLine’s proprietary model, built by DFS pro Mike McClure, simulated every PGA Tour event 10,000 times and reveals golf betting picks that have a history of being extremely profitable. 

This same model has also nailed a whopping 17 majors entering the weekend, including the 2026 Masters — its fifth Masters in a row — as well as last year’s PGA Championship and Open Championship. Anyone who has followed its sports betting picks could have seen massive returns on betting sites. 

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Now that the 2026 CJ Cup Byron Nelson field is set, the model simulated the tournament 10,000 times, and the results were surprising. Head to SportsLine now to see the projected leaderboard, which you can use for PGA picks, one and done contests or PGA DFS lineups. 

2026 CJ Cup Byron Nelson predictions 

One major surprise the model is calling for at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson 2026: It is fading Spieth at +1600, saying he finishes outside the top 5 despite playing a course he’s very familiar with. Spieth’s game has shown some promising signs this year as he’s finished inside the top 20 in both majors. However, he’s still looking for his first top-10 in any event since the 2025 Memorial Tournament and his first win since 2022, so the model isn’t confident backing him with the third-lowest odds this week. See who else to fade here. 

Another surprise: The model is high on Pierceson Coody as a +4000 longshot. The 27-year-old Texan has seven top-25 finishes on the PGA Tour this season, including a pair of top-10s as he’s putting together his best professional season. He’s extremely strong off the tee, ranking 26th in strokes gained in that category. He’s also 14th on tour in average driving distance. His ability to shrink the course is a big factor in why the model projects him as a top-5 contender this week. See who else to pick here. 

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How to make 2026 CJ Cup Byron Nelson picks

The model is also targeting several other longshots, including one going off around 70-1 who makes a stunning run for the title. You can only see the model’s picks here. 

Who will win the 2026 CJ Cup Byron Nelson, and which longshots will stun the golfing world? Check out the 2026 CJ Cup Byron Nelson odds below and then visit SportsLine to see the projected leaderboard, all from the model that’s nailed 17 golf majors, including three in 2025.

2026 CJ Cup Byron Nelson odds, favorites 

Get full 2026 CJ Cup Byron Nelson picks, best bets and predictions here.
(odds via FanDuel and subject to change)

Scottie Scheffler +160
Si Woo Kim +1500
Jordan Spieth +1600
Brooks Koepka +2200
Ryo Hisatsune +3500
Michael Thorbjornsen +3500
Taylor Pendrith +4000
Davis Thompson +4000
Pierceson Coody +4000
Keith Mitchell +4500
Austin Eckroat +4500
Rasmus Højgaard +5000
Wyndham Clark +5000
Tom Kim +5500
Eric Cole +5500
Michael Brennan +6000
Sungjae Im +6000
Christiaan Bezuidenhout +6500
Blades Brown +6500
Mac Meissner +6500
Max Greyserman +7000
Stephan Jaeger +7000
Jordan Smith +7000
Richard Hoey +7000
Matti Schmid +8000
Beau Hossler +8000
Adrien Dumont de Chassart +8000
Max McGreevy +8000
Johnny Keefer +10000
Taylor Moore +10000
Zecheng Dou +10000
John Parry +10000
William Mouw +10000
Thorbjørn Olesen +10000
Patrick Rodgers +10000
Chris Kirk +10000
Kevin Yu +10000
Tony Finau +10000
Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen +10000
Karl Vilips +10000
Haotong Li +10000
Kevin Roy +10000
Doug Ghim +10000