Pep Guardiola has overstepped the mark in recent matches, but he is back in Madrid ready to push Manchester City’s limits

06:00, 11 Mar 2026

What is Pep Guardiola trying to achieve on the touchline in going out of his way to irk the officials? And what does it mean for Manchester City for both this season and beyond?

In the middle of an excellent performance from his players in the FA Cup at Newcastle, Guardiola appeared to have one of his strangest days in the office. He may never be a man to hide his frustrations, yet he went above and beyond his normal behaviour with referees before and after he picked up a yellow card.

Whether it was clenching his fists as he squared up to the fourth official, shouting how sorry he was (for his team being so good) when Omar Marmoush smashed in City’s third or having to be dragged away from the referee and linesman by his security guard at full-time, this was the most volatile Guardiola has been all season. A yellow has earned him a two-game ban after his sixth of the season, yet it could easily have been red.

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There were specific circumstances to partly explain the level of rage. Guardiola is still angry about three decisions made by referee Sam Barrott and his team in the 2-1 Premier League defeat at St James’ Park in November – a result that, reversed, would have the title race in City’s destiny.

He was annoyed before the game began that Barrott had been handed their FA Cup fifth round clash, and an early challenge on Tijjani Reijnders in the penalty box after he had shot at goal brought back visions of the penalty that Phil Foden should have had for Fabian Schar clattering him.

But if it felt personal on Saturday, the yellow card was hardly unusual for the City boss. Not only was it his sixth of the season, this was his fifth in his last 14 games in the Premier League and FA Cup – a disciplinary record that would raise eyebrows if it was a player never mind somebody who doesn’t step foot on the pitch.

Is this Guardiola teeing off and settling scores because he knows he is leaving at the end of the season so feels he can do what he wants? Or is that feeling down to the fact he is in his tenth year in English football and has won so much that he no longer needs to tow any lines?

Possibly both, and as he returns to the Bernabeu again he will relish the opportunity to cause more damage in an arena where he is loathed by the 80,000 supporters who angrily whistle and jeer every mention of his name and picture on the big screens. Ten years in Manchester may have taken him out of the sting of a Madrid media who broadcast what time he went to bed before the December game, yet he remains a Barcelona boy through and through.

Whether he sees out his contract or, as a lot of people expect, leaves the Etihad in 2026, Guardiola has to be seeing this trip as potentially his last to the Bernabeu. He will have had the same feeling for the match three months ago, and while he was calm rather than angry in his press conference he still managed to twist the knife in.

With an idiom that can only have come from being delivered in his native tongue, Guardiola’s advice for Xabi Alonso was to ‘p*** with his own p****’. Not only was it crude, it was pointed; invited to contribute to the pressure on a man he loves from their time at Bayern together, the Catalan instead made clear how tough the environment is for any coach at Real to battle against the power elsewhere in the club.

He will have enjoyed that even if he took no pleasure in Alonso’s exit shortly after, and even more important was being able to see his young team win. The message afterwards was that they have to play better to make it through the knockouts, a message that is only spoken when there is confidence the players can rise to the challenge.

That mood was such a stark contrast to February 2025, when City had thrown away a 2-1 lead in the final minutes of the home leg of their play-off with Madrid and then surrendered a few minutes into the game at the Bernabeu. As Guardiola talked through their exit, he looked resigned as he said that previous exits had been much harder to take because they had been so much worse this time.

Above all else, Guardiola is a winner who hates losing. Even worse than losing is not competing – and that is what it felt like in the middle of their issues last season when nothing that the great manager tried could seemingly turn them back into champions.

It couldn’t happen for the team but it has happened at the club. After three transfer windows that have seen considerable change to the squad and starting XI, they have a decent chance of success in all four competitions that they entered at the beginning of the campaign.

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That gives Guardiola energy, and he does everything he can on the touchline to pass that onto his players. Perhaps the added tilt at referees is a reflection of the fact that this City team aren’t quite there yet, not favourites for any competition even if they are strong contenders in all of them.

“It’s a pity that the Premier League is not in our hands – that is a big drop against Nottingham [Forest],” he said on Saturday after beating Newcastle. “But don’t think much, recover, go to Madrid, make a good selection and hopefully we can behave – win or lose – in the way we are.

“That’s always been my focus; when we play on the biggest stages against the big teams it’s not about winning or losing but being who we are as individuals and as a team. After that, you can win or lose but that is the main target I have in my mind that I say all the time to my players.”

Guardiola could to with toning down the touchline anger towards officials – it isn’t a good look and has cost him a seat in the dugout for the FA Cup quarter final against Liverpool as well as the league game at West Ham. But when he sees how unstoppable his team can be again, it is difficult for the City manager to contain his emotions.

The more they can give, the less he will need to.

Hello and welcome to another episode of On This Week, where we take a look back over some of the major and not so major things to have happened in the history of Sunderland AFC over the years. Join Martin, Andrew and Kelvin as they journey back in time to look back on:

• Brazil’s Under 15s playing at Roker in 1988

• Roker Park’s red card protest

• Two epic cup ties versus Leeds in 1967

• The first Sunderland player to be sent off

• Mudslides and a whole host of controversy at Wigan in 1987

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UEFA Champions League heavyweights FC Bayern Munich and Atlético de Madrid moved closer to the quarter-finals after dominant victories in the first legs of their round of 16 matches on Tuesday night.

However, the other two ties remain open after Galatasaray SK defeated Liverpool FC 1-0 in Istanbul, while FC Barcelona rescued a late draw against Newcastle United FC.

Bayern thrash Atalanta

FC Bayern Munich produced a ruthless performance to crush Atalanta BC 6-1 away from home.

Josip Stanišić opened the scoring with a simple finish before Serge Gnabry and Michael Olise struck quick goals to give the German side a 3-0 lead inside the first 25 minutes.

The visitors continued their attacking display after the break as Nicolas Jackson scored on a swift counterattack. Olise then curled home his second goal of the night before substitute Jamal Musiala added a sixth.

Mario Pašalić managed to score a late consolation goal for Atalanta in added time, but the Italian side now face a very difficult task in the second leg.

Olise was named Player of the Match after his impressive display.

Galatasaray edge Liverpool

Galatasaray SK secured a slim advantage ahead of the return leg at Anfield after a 1-0 victory over Liverpool FC.

Mario Lemina scored the only goal of the match in the seventh minute with a powerful header.

The goal came after Victor Osimhen redirected a corner from Gabriel Sara into Lemina’s path.

Both sides created several chances in a fast and lively contest, with Florian Wirtz and Davinson Sánchez going close for the Turkish champions.

Liverpool pushed harder in the second half, but Alexis Mac Allister fired just wide while Hugo Ekitiké was denied by goalkeeper Uğurcan Çakır.

Lemina was named Player of the Match.

Barcelona rescue draw at Newcastle

FC Barcelona earned a dramatic 1-1 draw against Newcastle United FC thanks to a late penalty from Lamine Yamal.

Newcastle had looked set for victory when Harvey Barnes scored in the 86th minute with a first-time strike after a precise cross from Jacob Murphy.

Barnes had earlier hit the post with a curling effort as the home side created the better chances.

But in stoppage time, Malick Thiaw fouled Dani Olmo inside the box, and Yamal calmly converted the penalty, sending goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale the wrong way.

Barnes was named Player of the Match.

Atletico punish Tottenham

Atlético de Madrid put themselves in a strong position after defeating Tottenham Hotspur FC 5-2.

The Spanish side stunned Tottenham with four goals in just 22 minutes. Marcos Llorente, Julián Alvarez and Antoine Griezmann all scored after defensive mistakes from the visitors.

Robin Le Normand also found the net after goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario pushed out a corner.

Pedro Porro and Dominic Solanke scored for Tottenham, but Alvarez added his second goal after a quick counterattack to seal the win.

Alvarez was named Player of the Match.

Other matches

Other round of 16 matches will take place on Wednesday as Bayer 04 Leverkusen host Arsenal FC, while FK Bodø/Glimt face Sporting CP.

Paris Saint-Germain FC will also take on Chelsea FC, while defending champions Real Madrid CF meet Manchester City FC.

The second-leg matches will be played next week as teams battle for places in the quarter-finals of the competition.

Derek Chisora has weighed in with his view on Conor Benn leaving Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing to join Dana White’s Zuffa promotion.

It came as a huge shock last month when it was announced that Benn had parted ways with long-term promoter Hearn in order to join forces with the new upstart Zuffa company fronted by UFC chief White.

Benn had spent his entire career with Matchroom up to that point, dating back to 2016, going through many highs and lows during that decade, including infamous failed drugs tests, and two epic fights with Chris Eubank Jr last year.

He returns to action when he faces Regis Prograis in a 150-catchweight bout on the Tyson Fury vs. Arslanbek Makhmudov card on April 11, where he will receive a reported purse of 15 million dollars.

It is because of that figure why heavyweight contender Chisora has no issues with Benn leaving Hearn, telling Playbook Boxing that his countryman has done the right thing.

“We both know the saying, if you want loyal, you buy a what? A dog. I’m not loyal. Nobody’s loyal when somebody comes and say ‘you know what? I’m gonna give you this much money. Come with me.’

“Let’s not try and make it like what this young man did was so bad. He did good business. If he turned it down, you guys will be like ‘oh, you’re a fool. Why you turn it down for? Oh you’re loyal to Eddie.’ Nah, f**k that, man.”

Chisora has a fight of his own to prepare for next month, as he faces former WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder at The O2 Arena on April 4.

The late, great architect Mike Strantz never hewed to convention. So it’s only fitting that a side project spawned by his most iconoclastic creation skips a few conventions of its own.

At Tobacco Road Golf Course in the North Carolina Sandhills, owner Mark Stewart has announced construction of the Matchbox, a 12-hole par-3 course that will thread through the trees near the 12th and 13th fairways of Strantz’s wondrous funhouse of a layout. Like its big sibling, the new course will sit on family land that once served as a gravel mining site, its spoil piles and sandy ridges providing the unruly raw material for Strantz’s imagination when the main course opened in 1998.

Short courses are everywhere these days, sprouting up at resorts and daily-fee facilities across the country. But Tobacco Road has put a twist on the trend.

The Matchbox will be built with synthetic turf blended into the natural landscape, allowing for more consistent conditions without having to clear the tree canopy for sunlight. It will also feature a mix of real-sand and faux bunkers.

Stewart, who spoke to GOLF by phone Tuesday, said the approach fits with the out-of-the-box thinking Strantz brought to the original course. “I think he’d be thrilled,” Stewart said. “It goes along with his whole maverick approach.”

The Matchbox is being designed by Carlton Marshall Golf Design, whose principals, Justin Carlton and Chris Marshall, specialize in synthetic-turf projects. Another key player is Mark White, a former Strantz apprentice and one of Tobacco Road’s original shapers.

Strantz himself died of cancer at 50 in 2005, but not before blazing a distinctive path. An Ohio native, he cut his teeth under Tom Fazio and then lit out on his own, earning acclaim for his first solo project, Caledonia Golf & Fish Club in South Carolina, as well as for its neighbor, True Blue. Tobacco Road came next. A wild statement piece, the course perplexed some critics but attracted a huge faction of admirers. Over time, the latter camp has only grown, and Tobacco Road has emerged as a Sandhills must-play, a quirky complement to the region’s more classical designs.

Part of the Matchbox routing will play along a pond that even many Tobacco Road regulars might not know exists. Stewart said that he and Strantz had discussed having a par-3 play over it during the original design process, but it didn’t make the final routing.

The holes themselves cut the profile of Tobacco Road’s Mini-Me, stitched onto a five-acre parcel with roughly 40 feet of elevation change. The 3rd will play as a blind 60-yard shot from an elevated tee. The 7th requires a 40-yard carry over a cove. The 9th is meant to channel the spirit of the big course’s in-your-face opening, playing through two large mounds.

Stewart said he’d had his eye on the par-3 parcel for more than 20 years, long contemplating what he might do with it. And the name he had in mind all along was never in doubt. The Matchbox nods to tobacco (matches for lighting), but also alludes to a golf match while winking at the intimate scale of a matchbox car. “I’ve had that name in mind for years,” he told GOLF.

Miami Heat star Bam Adebayo made NBA history on Tuesday night.

Adebayo scored 83 points, all while setting league marks for free throws made and attempted in a game for the Miami Heat in a 150-129 win over the Washington Wizards. It is the second-highest scoring game for a player ever, only to Wilt Chamberlain’s famed 100-point game.

“An absolutely surreal night,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra told reporters after the game.

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Adebayo started with a 31-point first quarter. He was up to 43 at halftime, 62 by the end of the third quarter. And then came the fourth, when the milestones kept falling despite facing double-, triple- and what once appeared to be a quadruple-team from a Wizards defense that kept sending him to the foul line.

He finished 20 of 43 from the field, 36 of 43 from the foul line, 7 for 22 from 3-point range.

After the game, he was seen in tears while he hugged his mother, Marilyn Blount, before leaving the floor after the game.

“Welp won’t have the highest career high in the house anymore,” Adebayo’s girlfriend, four-time WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson, wrote on social media, “but at least it gives me something to go after.”

MAGIC’S ANTHONY BLACK MAKES INCREDIBLE DUNK OVER FOUR DEFENDERS IN HISTORIC NBA GAME

Bam Adebayo #13 of the Miami Heat celebrates during the fourth quarter of the game against the Washington Wizards at Kaseya Center on March 10, 2026, in Miami, Florida.  (Megan Briggs/Getty Images)

The NBA’s previous best this season was 56, by Nikola Jokic for Denver against Minnesota on Christmas night. The last player to have 62 points through three quarters: one of Adebayo’s basketball heroes, Kobe Bryant, who had exactly that many through three quarters for the Los Angeles Lakers against Dallas on Dec. 20, 2005.

He wound up passing Bryant for single-game scoring as well. Bryant’s career-best was 81 — a game that was the second-best on the NBA scoring list for two decades.

Adebayo scored 31 points in the opening quarter against the Wizards, breaking the Heat record for points in any quarter — and tying the team record for points in a first half before the second quarter even started.

He finished the first half with 43 points, a team record for any half and two points better than his previous career high — for a full game, that is — of 41, set Jan. 23, 2021, against Brooklyn.

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Adebayo’s season high entering Tuesday was 32. He matched that with a free throw with 5:53 left in the second quarter, breaking the Heat first-half scoring record.

Adebayo’s 43-point first half was the NBA’s second-best in at least the last 30 seasons — going back to the start of the digital play-by-play era that began in the 1996-97 season.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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Australia granted asylum to five members of the Iranian women’s soccer team who were visiting the country for a tournament when the Iran war began, a government minister said Tuesday. The announcement followed days of urging by Iranian groups in Australia and by U.S. President Donald Trump for the Australian government to help the women, who had not spoken publicly about a wish to claim asylum. The team drew speculation and news coverage in Australia when players didn’t sing the Iranian anthem before their first match.

Early Tuesday, police officers transported five of the women from their hotel in Gold Coast, Australia, “to a safe location” after they made asylum requests. There, they met with Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke and the processing of their humanitarian visas was finalized.

“I don’t want to begin to imagine how difficult that decision is for each of the individual women, but certainly last night it was joy, it was relief,” said Burke, who posted photos to social media of the women smiling and clapping as he signed documents. “People were very excited about embarking on a life in Australia.”

The women granted asylum were happy for their names and pictures to be published, he said. Burke added that the players wanted to make clear that they were “not political activists.”

Iranian state TV said the country’s football federation asked international soccer bodies to review what it called Trump’s “direct political interference in football,” warning such remarks could disrupt the 2026 World Cup, which begins in North America in June.

Naghmeh Danai said she was invited as a migration agent and member of the Iranian-Australian community to visit the women at a hotel Monday night and to reassure them about what was available to them in Australia.

“I told them that if you accept this offer, you will have a great future here. You will have more respect. You won’t be under a lot of suppression that you have been in your country. And they were thrilled,” Danai said.

“At the same time, it’s understandable that it was a very hard decision for them to make when they have family back home and when they just came here to compete,” Danai added.

The Iranian team arrived in Australia for the Women’s Asian Cup last month, before the Iran war began on Feb. 28. The team was knocked out of the tournament over the weekend and faced the prospect of returning to a country under bombardment. Iran’s head coach Marziyeh Jafari said Sunday the players “want to come back to Iran as soon as we can.”

An official squad list named 26 players, plus Jafari and other coaches. Burke said the offer of asylum was extended to all on the team.

A commotion erupted Tuesday afternoon outside the team’s hotel as members of the public knelt or lay in front of the team bus.

The protesters, some wearing red, white and green clothing or holding pre-Revolution Iranian flags, tried to prevent the bus from departing the hotel, but it was delayed by only minutes. Some chanted “Save our girls” and “Please act now.”

An Iranian-born protester who sat in front of the bus, Hadi Karimi, said the demonstrators had attempted to create more time for the team members to talk to Australian authorities.

“We haven’t slept,” Karimi said, referring to the time between the team’s last game and its departure. “We were there. That means it works. We did something.”

The women flew to Sydney Airport, where police evicted protesters from the international terminal before the team boarded an international flight to Kuala Lumpur, the Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported.

The ABC reported that Burke had confirmed more members of Iran’s delegation have sought asylum in Australia, without giving details.

Burke’s office did not immediately respond to the AP’s request for confirmation of the Iranians’ departure or comment on whether any additional women had opted to stay in Australia.

Burke was expected to provide an update Wednesday.

The home affairs minister didn’t detail what threats the players faced if they returned to Iran. During the tournament, the women mostly declined to comment on the situation at home, although Iran forward Sara Didar choked back tears in a news conference Wednesday as she shared their concerns for their families and all Iranians.

The Iranian team has drawn intense news coverage after the players’ silence during the anthem before an opening loss to South Korea last week was viewed by some as an act of resistance and others as a show of mourning. The team hasn’t clarified. Players later sang and saluted during the anthem before their remaining two matches.

“Australians have been moved by the plight of these brave women,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told reporters. “They’re safe here and they should feel at home here.”

Australia’s announcement came after Trump on Monday in Washington called on Australia to grant asylum to any team member who wanted it. Earlier that day, Trump had lambasted Australia on social media, saying it was “making a terrible humanitarian mistake by allowing the … team to be forced back to Iran, where they will most likely be killed.” Trump added: “The U.S. will take them if you won’t.”

Less than two hours later, in another social media post, Trump praised Albanese, saying, “He’s on it! Five have already been taken care of, and the rest are on their way.”

Iran’s football federation said Trump’s comments were “baseless and unlawful” and urged global football authorities to intervene.

Iranian first Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref separately said: “Iran welcomes its children with open arms and the government guarantees their security.”

“No one has the right to interfere in the family affairs of the Iranian nation and play the role of a nanny who is kinder than a mother,” he added.

The president’s offer of asylum represented something of a change for Trump, whose administration has sought to limit the number of immigrants in the U.S. who can receive asylum for political purposes.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Igor Tudor insisted he made the right decision to pick Antonin Kinsky against Atletico Madrid – even as he ended up substituting the goalkeeper in the 17th minute after two horrible blunders and with Tottenham 3-0 down.

The Croatian, who replied “no comment” when asked if he deserved to remain in charge of Spurs, said he had never taken a goalkeeper off as early during his 15 years as a manager and said Kinsky apologised to the team for his mistakes.

The 22-year-old Czech was surprisingly selected ahead of usual first-choice Guglielmo Vicario, who was instead brought off the bench and conceded the last two goals in Atletico’s 5-2 win.

But Tudor claimed: “It was the right decision to pick him (Kinsky) before. Toni is a very good goalkeeper. Unfortunately what happened, happened. Afterwards it is easy to say it was not a right decision.

“It happened very rare things in my coaching 15 years, I never do that. It was necessary to preserve the guy, to preserve the team. Incredible situation.”

Kinsky gave the ball away for Atletico’s sixth-minute opener, scored by Marcos Llorente, and presented it straight to Julian Alvarez for their third goal.

Tudor denied that captain Cristian Romero told him to take Kinsky off and explained why he ignored the upset goalkeeper as he went off, adding: “We don’t need to comment. We don’t need to speak too much. I explained to Toni, also speaking after, that he is the right guy and a good goalkeeper. Unfortunately, it happened in this big game, these mistakes.”

Tudor said Kinsky was apologetic in the dressing room and accepted the decision to take him off.

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He added: “He was sorry. He made an excuse for the team. The team is with him. Me too. I was speaking with him. He understands the moment. He understands why he go out.”

Tudor has lost all four games since Tottenham appointed him and said he was not worried about being sacked.

“It is not a topic for me,” he said. “It is not about my job, it is about how to help the team. It will be always be about that.”

Spurs are waiting to discover if Romero and substitute Joao Palhinha are concussed after an injury-time clash of heads, which would rule them out of Sunday’s Premier League game against Liverpool.

“We will see,” Tudor said. “Sometimes it is difficult to explain. It looks like everything is against us. Incredible things.”

The stable of Tony and Calvin McEvoy relies on a grade reduction to trigger improved performances from Veight.

Last successful in the Group 1 George Ryder Stakes (1500m) at Rosehill close to two years ago, the Grunt-sired Group 1 winner has struggled since.

Post his latest Group 1 assignment, Veight lines up in Saturday’s $200,000 VOBIS Gold So Si Bon (1400m) at Caulfield.

In the 2024 spring Veight laboured, was gelded amid pneumonia troubles, then posted a lone 2025 appearance finishing bottom in the Group 1 Doomben 10,000.

Returned to spell, a paddock accident inflicted neck damage, halting spring aspirations.

Veight seemed on track for the McEvoys after opening with second in the Group 2 Australia Stakes (1200m) at Pakenham and bronze in the Group 3 Kevin Heffernan Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield on February 7, the five-year-old now primed.

The trainers were left puzzled however when he was beaten out of sight in the Futurity Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield February 21.

“We went over him thoroughly and he has no issues at all,” Calvin McEvoy said.

“The first two runs were good for the prep, but he had a tough run last time and put the white flag up early which was disappointing.

“We sent him back to Ballarat for a change of scenery and he’s down in grade on Saturday, so we’ll be looking for him to perform.”

Through 18 outings, Veight has tackled stakes races bar his February 2023 Pakenham maiden win and the ensuing Golden Eagle.

With 61kg declared for Saturday, Jackson Radley takes the mount claiming 3kg.

An apprentice will pilot Veight in competition for the initial time.

“I’m not sure what’s happened there, but we’re able to use his claim,” McEvoy said.

“He’s got 58 (kg), so he’s in pretty well in off his best form.

“I expect him to bounce back, but if he doesn’t bounce back he might be looking after himself a little bit.”

Secure the top betting sites for betting markets for the race in the VOBIS Gold So Si Bon at Caulfield.