Chelsea manager Sonia Bompastor believes her strong personality and will to succeed come from having to fight to play football when she was younger.

Bompastor, who was the first woman to win the Champions League as a player and manager with Lyon, said French attitudes and prejudice towards women playing the sport spurred her on.

“I wanted to fight against this idea that if you were a girl you couldn’t play football,” she told BBC Sport.

“After that I worked so hard but I enjoyed it so much. At around 18 I realised maybe I could have a good career in my life with football.

“Not a career thinking about winning money, more about enjoying and playing at a high level.”

The 44-year-old has gone on to have a glittering career, winning 11 major trophies during two spells at Lyon as a player before claiming three straight league titles and the 2021-22 Champions League trophy as manager.

Despite Emma Hayes’ success during her 12-year tenure at Chelsea, which yielded 13 major titles, Bompastor’s transition at the club has appeared seamless.

The Blues have won each of their opening two Women’s Super League matches, while they claimed a 3-2 win over Real Madrid in their first Champions League group-stage game on Tuesday.

However, they face a tough test against Arsenal at Emirates Stadium in the league on Saturday, in a game which is live on BBC One from 13:15 BST.

“Results have been good but this game will be different. It’s a derby. You have to be prepared,” said Bompastor, who has been impressed with the competitiveness of the WSL.

“The competition between the clubs is so big, so strong. I think something was missing in France, even if France has clubs competing at the highest level if you take Lyon and PSG.

“Here, every weekend you don’t take anything for granted and you have to fight to win the games so this is really good.”

MMA Fighting has Beterbiev vs. Bivol results live for the Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol fight card at Freedom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Saturday afternoon.

When the main event begins around 6 p.m. ET, check out our Beterbiev vs. Bivol live round-by-round updates for our live blog of the main event. Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol square off to determine the undisputed light heavyweight champion.

Artur Beterbiev (20-0) is the WBO, IBF, and WBC light heavyweight champion. Beterbiev has only fought once this year when he knocked out Callum Smith in the seventh round this past January.

Dmitry Bivol (23-0) is the WBA light heavyweight champion. Bivol knocked out Malik Zinad in the sixth round in his only fight of the year in June.

Check out Beterbiev vs. Bivol results below.

Main Event (ESPN+ at 6 p.m. ET)

Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol — for the IBF, WBC, WBO and WBA light heavyweight titles

Undercard (DAZN at 12 p.m. ET)

Fabio Wardley vs. Frazer Clarke

Jai Opetaia vs. Jack Massey — for Opetaia’s IBF cruiserweight title

Chris Eubank Jr. vs. Kamil Szeremeta

Skye Nicolson vs. Raven Chapman — for Nicolson’s WBC featherweight title

Ben Whittaker vs. Liam Cameron

Mohammaed Alakel vs. Jesus Gonzalez

Marco Maric vs. Christian Lopez Flores

MMA Fighting has Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol live round-by-round updates for one of the most anticipated boxing fights of the year at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Saturday night.

The main event is expected to begin around 6 p.m. ET on ESPN+. Check out our Beterbiev vs. Bivol results page to find out what happened on the undercard.

Artur Beterbiev (20-0) is the WBO, IBF, and WBC light heavyweight champion. Beterbiev has only fought once this year when he knocked out Callum Smith in the seventh round this past January.

Dmitry Bivol (23-0) is the WBA light heavyweight champion. Bivol knocked out Malik Zinad in the sixth round in his only fight of the year in June.

Get the Beterbiev vs. Bivol round-by-round live blog below:

Round 1:

Round 2:

Round 3:

Round 4:

Round 5:

Round 6:

Round 7:

Round 8:

Round 9:

Round 10:

Round 11:

Round 12:

Aline Pereira had a pretty good teacher.

Pereira, the sister of UFC champion Alex Pereira, knocked out Dee Begley in the first round at Karate Combat 50 at the Salt Palace Convention Center on Friday night in Salt Lake City, Utah.

“That’s the Pereira left hook. My big brother’s the one that showed me,” Aline Pereira said during post-fight interview.

Aline Pereira, who was making her Karate Combat debut, took the fight despite the fact her opponent Begley missed weight by four pounds.

Alex Pereira, who received a hug from his sister after her win, is coming off a devastating performance of his own when he retained his light heavyweight title with a fourth-round TKO of Khalil Rountree at UFC 307 last Saturday night.

Devastating knockouts from left hooks appear to be the Pereira family signature.

UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira was pit-side in Salt Lake City at Karate Combat 50 to watch his sister, Aline Pereria, take on Dee Begley.

Unfortunately for Begley, who weighed nine pounds more than the originally agreed-upon weight, would fall victim to a signature Pereira combo.

Aline fired a right hand followed by a left hook sending Begley crashing to the canvas. Aline rushed in and rained down follow-up punches until the referee stopped the action with about 35 seconds remaining in the first round.

The celebration was on, and Aline ran over to embrace Alex while Begley poured blood from her nose.

Check out video of the finish below (via X):

Aline Pereira took a page from her UFC champion brother Alex’s playbook with this vicious finishing combo at #KC50! 😲

🗿CHAMA 🗿 pic.twitter.com/Lr7qU1SoJW

— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) October 12, 2024

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During her post-fight interview, Pereira acknowledged she learned the combo from her brother. She also admitted there was frustration with Begley for missing weight, and was critical of her professionalism.

Aline, who has a kickboxing background like her brother Alex, stepped into the Karate Combat pit for the first time and created a highlight reel moment. As an MMA fighter, Aline is 1-2, with her most recent fight taking place September 2023.

For now, Aline appears eager to return to Karate Combat to create more magic.

October has been good to the Pereira family, as Alex just recorded his third light heavyweight title defense last weekend by stopping Khalil Rountree in a Fight of the Night war at UFC 307.

Some of the newer faces in the squad stepping up and making an impact could inject some life into Scotland’s form this year.

Clarke has made the decision not to call up many players from the under-21s squad given the junior side are going well in their own European qualification campaign and have crucial games against Belgium and Kazakhstan to play during this international window.

It means in-form Scottish Premiership midfielders Lennon Miller and Connor Barron, or Sturm Graz right-back Max Johnston, are missing, which could have generated some excitement.

Even with lots of players out, the squad has a familiar feel to it and it falls to teenage Middlesbrough winger Ben Doak and Vancouver Whitecaps midfielder Ryan Gauld, who both made their debuts as substitutes last month, to bring some freshness.

Doak has made five appearances in the Championship since the last international break, when the 18-year-old helped set up a goal against Poland and scored his first goal on loan to Boro from Liverpool against Stoke City.

His pace and dribbling ability offers something completely different, particularly with the recent switch to a back four.

Gauld has been nursing an injury in recent weeks, but the 28-year-old looked bright when coming on against Poland, creating two chances.

Then there is Andy Irving, the West Ham United midfielder taking part in his first camp. His story in itself is positive, having left Heart of Midlothian before ending up in the Premier League via the lower leagues in Austria and Germany.

“It’s been a mad journey to be honest,” the 24-year-old told the Scotland national side’s media channels this week.

“In Austria, I played more as an attacking midfielder and number 10 – when I was in Scotland, I was a bit more defensive. I’ve added different things to my game.”