Nigeria women’s national table tennis team began their campaign at the ITTF World Team Championships with a 3-0 defeat to Wales women’s national table tennis team in London.
Nigeria found it difficult to cope with the strong performance of the Welsh side during the opening fixture.
Ajoke Ojomu and Shukurat Aiyelabegan both lost their matches in straight sets as Wales took control of the tie.
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Fatimo Bello gave Nigeria some hope with a determined display in the third match. She battled hard and pushed her opponent to five sets before narrowly losing 3-2, a result that confirmed victory for Wales.
Despite the loss, the Nigerian team still has more matches to play and will hope to bounce back in their remaining group games.
Confederation of African Football and UEFA have signed a new agreement to improve football development in Africa and Europe.
The agreement was signed by CAF President Patrice Motsepe and UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin.
The partnership will focus on important areas such as coaching education, referee training, youth football, and the growth of women’s football.
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The agreement is also expected to help improve football leagues and strengthen football administration across Africa.
Motsepe described the deal as an important moment for African football. He said the partnership would allow CAF to learn from UEFA’s experience and help improve football development on the continent.
Both organisations also plan to share knowledge, improve football facilities, and create better opportunities for players, coaches, and officials.
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The new agreement is seen as a long-term partnership that could help raise football standards and build stronger ties between Africa and Europe.
The San Diego Padres (19-11) suffered their first two-game losing streak since March 31 on Wednesday afternoon, falling 5-4 to the Chicago Cubs (19-12).
It also marked their first series loss since facing the San Francisco Giants in late March along with having lost three out of the last four games.
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San Diego’s offense struggled, managing just three hits, two of which were home runs.
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The Cubs struck first in the top of the second inning when catcher Miguel Amaya singled to center, bringing in outfielder Michael Conforto for a 1-0 lead. A strange sequence put Conforto on base after he hit a deep fly to center field that Jackson Merrill, known for robbing home runs, misjudged and dropped, turning it into a double then led to the run.
“I just got one up for it and I didn’t catch it,” Merrill said. “Shit happens.”
Two innings later, center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong launched his third home run of the season, a two-run shot to left field to extend the lead to 3-0.
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Padres starter Matt Waldron delivered one of his better performances since stepping into the rotation following Nick Pivetta’s injury. Waldron pitched 5.0 innings, allowing six hits and three runs. While not dominant, it marked progress after he surrendered six runs in each of his previous two starts.
“I feel like I’m making strides in the right direction,” Waldron said.
The Padres responded in the middle innings. Third baseman Miguel Andújar got San Diego on the board with his first home run of the season, driving a sweeper to left field. After a Jake Cronenworth walk, Nick Castellanos followed with a no-doubt two-run shot to left-center, his first as a Padre, tying the game at 3-3 and energizing Petco Park.
“Anytime that you have results, it’s a good feeling,” Castellanos said.
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Apr 29, 2026; San Diego, California, USA; San Diego Padres left fielder Nick Castellanos (21) rounds the bases after hitting a two-run home run during the fifth inning against the Chicago Cubs at Petco Park.
Denis Poroy-Imagn Images
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Apr 29, 2026; San Diego, California, USA; San Diego Padres left fielder Nick Castellanos (21) rounds the bases after hitting a two-run home run during the fifth inning against the Chicago Cubs at Petco Park.
The momentum didn’t last.
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Matt Shaw doubled off Adrian Morejón, putting runners in scoring position in the top of the 6th inning. With Conforto on third after reaching earlier, a defensive miscue proved costly. Ty France recorded an out at first on a Crow-Armstrong ground out, but a delayed reaction allowed Conforto to break for home. France’s throw to Luis Campusano came too late, giving the Cubs a 4-3 lead.
In the eighth inning, Shaw struck again, taking Jason Adam deep on the sixth pitch of the at-bat to extend the lead to 5-3.
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The Padres had one final opportunity in the bottom half. After loading the bases, two of their highest-paid stars stepped to the plate. Fernando Tatis Jr., who hasn’t homered since early September 2025, drove a ball to deep center field, but it fell short of the wall. Castellanos scored on the play to cut the deficit to 5-4.
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Manny Machado followed but grounded into a double play, ending the inning and the Padres’ comeback hopes.
“We’ve proved that we’re a team, that’s a very good contender this year,” Merrill said. “Everyone in our clubhouse is contributing. I’m just excited to keep it going.”
In April, the Padres won 18 games, their most in a single month since 1998. They sit just half a game behind the Dodgers, who have also dropped their last two. Everything is still in front of San Diego, but they need their big bats to start producing.
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“I’m waiting for them to get hot, and once they get hot, we’re going to roll off a bunch of wins again,” Knorr said. “So, just a matter of time waiting for them to get ready and feel comfortable again.”
San Diego will have Thursday off before opening a new series against the Chicago White Sox on Friday. Noah Schultz (1-1) is scheduled to face Germán Márquez (3-1) at 6:40 p.m. PT.
Apr 29, 2026; San Diego, California, USA; Chicago Cubs left fielder Michael Conforto (20) scores ahead of the tag of San Diego Padres catcher Luis Campusano (12) during the sixth inning at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Denis Poroy-Imagn Images
Pete Crow-Armstrong homered and drove in three runs for the second time in as many games, fueling the visiting Chicago Cubs to a 5-4 victory over the San Diego Padres on Wednesday.
Matt Shaw belted a solo homer among his three hits for the Cubs, who won the final two contests of the three-game series to improve to 12-3 in their last 15 games.
Crow-Armstrong launched a two-run shot in the fourth inning. The homer was the third of the season for Crow-Armstrong, who belted a three-run blast in Chicago’s 8-3 victory over San Diego on Tuesday.
Crow-Armstrong drove in the go-ahead run in the sixth on a groundout to first base. Michael Conforto ran on contact and used a swim move at home plate to dodge the tag of catcher Luis Campusano.
Jameson Taillon (2-1) retired the first 14 batters he faced before Miguel Andujar homered in the fifth. Nick Castellanos belted a two-run blast in the inning, however Taillon settled down and finished the seventh. He allowed three runs on three hits and struck out six with one walk.
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Corbin Martin walked the bases loaded in the eighth before being relieved by Ben Brown, who surrendered a sacrifice fly to Fernando Tatis Jr. that trimmed Chicago’s lead to 5-4. Brown induced Manny Machado to ground into an inning-ending double play.
Brown retired the first two batters in the ninth before Hoby Milner struck out Ramon Laureano on three pitches to secure his first save of the season.
Adrian Morejon (2-1) yielded one run on one hit in two-thirds of an inning.
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Miguel Amaya’s RBI single to center field opened the scoring in the second before Chicago extended its lead to 3-0 in the fourth. Shaw reached on a two-out bunt single before Crow-Armstrong deposited a 0-1 sweeper from Waldron over the wall in right field.
Andujar sent a 1-2 sweeper from Taillon over the wall in left field. Jake Cronenworth followed with a walk before Castellanos deposited a 1-0 cutter over the wall in left-center field to forge a 3-3 tie. The homers were the first of the season for both Andujar and Castellanos.
Padre bench coach Randy Knorr filled in for manager Craig Stammen, who attended an out-of-town funeral.
The Saudi Public Investment Fund is on the brink of pulling funding from LIV Golf, thrusting the future of the breakaway league into question beyond the 2026 season.
LIV employees, players and staff will be officially notified on Thursday that the league is losing Saudi financial support at the completion of the 2026 season, ending weeks of speculation — including from LIV’s own CEO — that the Saudis might be on the verge of getting out of the business of running a golf league. The Wall Street Journal first reported the news on Wednesday evening, followed by several other news outlets, including CNBC.
The news casts fresh doubt on LIV’s future as a competitive entity, which has been propped up by more than $5 billion in Saudi funding since its 2022 launch and relied upon regular cash infusions to stay afloat while enduring heavy financial losses. Reports first called LIV’s Saudi-funded future into question two weeks ago, around the time the PIF announced a new set of initiatives aimed at tightening up the sovereign wealth fund’s balance sheets. Reports at the time suggested that LIV was fully funded by the PIF through the completion of the 2026 season, but left the league’s plans opaque beyond the team championship at the end of August.
While the future of the Saudi investment had not been confirmed at the time of the initial flurry of news, several reports from the Financial Times, New York Times and Wall Street Journal, among others, suggested that a Saudi withdrawal from LIV was expected, if not imminent. In a since-deleted interview with LIV’s European TV rights holder, even LIV CEO Scott O’Neil suggested that the league could be on its own financially at the end of the season.
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“The reality is you’re funded through the season,” O’Neil said in the clip, which was later deleted and reposted without the quote included. “Then you work like crazy as a business to create a business and a business plan to keep us going.”
The WSJ report says that Saudi investment in the league will be no more following the 2026 season, and quotes a “person familiar with LIV’s thinking” suggesting the league has already begun the process of looking for outside investors. A spokesperson for LIV did not immediately respond to GOLF.com’s request for comment.
So, what does all this mean? And why is it happening now? Let’s answer your questions below.
5. Is it really over for the Saudis and LIV?
It sure looks that way! Assuming nothing changes, the PIF will sail off into the sunset after the 2026 season is done in late-August, leaving LIV without a financial backer for the first time in the league’s existence.
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4. What will LIV do without Saudi funding?
Unclear! The PIF has played a critical role in LIV’s existence since the league’s founding, footing billions in startup expenses and maintaining a near-constant presence over the league as it attempted to gain a foothold in golf. In fact, perhaps the most impactful components of Saudi influence on LIV can’t be explained in dollars and cents: The financial security provided by the PIF meant LIV was under no immediate obligation to turn to a profit — a strategy that allowed the league to operate like a startup, running up losses in pursuit of marketshare.
Over the years, LIV has spent lavishly on star players, high-profile concert guests, production costs and event buildouts in an effort to build a fanbase and roster of sponsors. The cost of that engine — and the staff needed to run it — has been steep: more than $5 billion, according to the league’s financial filings. But LIV was always operating under the assumption that its funding from the Saudis was secure.
“No, honestly, we haven’t heard anything other than what Yasir [Al-Rumayyan, the PIF governor] told us at the beginning of the year,” Sergio Garcia said in Mexico City two weeks ago. “That he’s behind us, that they have a long-term project.”
Under O’Neil, the league made headway in cutting losses, but O’Neil indicated it could still be “five to 10” years from profitability. So, where does that leave the league without Saudi funding in as soon as five months?
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Perhaps the simplest path forward for LIV would be finding a new investor who might be able to prolong the league’s runway on the path to profitability. In his interview with the European TV rights holder, O’Neil suggested this was LIV’s likeliest option.
“This notion of do you have to raise money? Probably,” he said. “This is business. But if we keep the trajectory going the way we are and the revenue growth going, this is going to be a really good business for a really long time.”
3. Why is the PIF getting out of golf?
The PIF’s decision to pull away funding from LIV aligns with a much broader strategic shift to divest from sports, which was announced by the sovereign wealth fund in mid-April. In just the last few weeks, the PIF has sold its glitzy soccer team, Al-Hilal, distanced itself from a flag football venture with Tom Brady and now, according to reports, pulled funding away from LIV.
Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the PIF governor, acknowledged that the Saudis planned to shift their priorities away from sports and moonshot bets, and toward more traditional investments, suggesting the PIF was “reviewing its investments and deals” and “reassessing its priorities.”
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Some of the reason for this pivot comes thanks to changing financial realities for the Saudis, who are light on cash (relatively speaking) after years of spectacularly ambitious bets in a well-publicized effort to diversify their economy (which the country’s leader, Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, named Vision2030). In recent months, the PIF has announced plans to wind down much of its spending in Vision2030, including withdrawing support behind the $500 billion megacity Neom, after years of construction delays and budgetary issues.
Geopolitical pressures have also played a role. The Saudi government has seen its primary economic driver, oil, slo precipitously in the fallout from the Iranian blockade on the Strait of Hormuz, with exports falling from 10.4 million barrels per day to 7.25 million barrels per day. The war has also caused the government to significantly increase its defense spending, including a recent $9 billion deal with the United States.
Still, the sovereign wealth fund’s ties to the league can’t be overstated: The league offices in New York’s Hudson Yards are in the same building as several PIF-related projects, including Neom, and Al-Rumayyan has been a frequent presence at LIV events and forged friendships with several players.
2. What happens to the rest of LIV’s events? And what about its players?
Business as usual, except for one notable omission: LIV recently postponed its mid-June event for New Orleans until the fall, citing issues with heat and competition with the World Cup as reasons for the postponement.
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The remainder of LIV’s players remain under contract through the end of the season, including Bryson DeChambeau, whose contract expires at the end of the season.
1. When will we know more?
It’s hard to say, though it stands to reason that the summer and fall will be busy times on the calendar of LIV CEO Scott O’Neil.
The former England fast bowler heaped praise on Vaibhav Sooryavanshi for his explosive performances in IPL 2026, while also reflecting on Rajasthan Royals’ bold decision to sign him. He added that if Sooryavanshi enters the auction, he could command a significantly higher price. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has been in sensational form since making his IPL debut in 2025. Bought by Rajasthan Royals for Rs 1.1 crore at the IPL 2025 mega auction, the move was initially questioned by many. However, the teenage prodigy has silenced all critics with his performances. After scoring a century in his debut season, Sooryavanshi has elevated his game further in IPL 2026. His scores this season read: 52, 31, 39, 78, 0, 46, 8, 103, and 43, a remarkable run of consistency and explosiveness.He currently tops the run-scoring charts with 400 runs in nine innings, averaging 44.44 at a staggering strike rate of 238.09, becoming the first player to cross the 400-run mark in IPL 2026.Stuart Broad’s take on RR’s bold callFormer England fast bowler Stuart Broad praised Rajasthan Royals’ scouting system while reflecting on the bold decision to sign such a young player.“Fair play to Rajasthan Royals’ scouting system or academy system-whatever they have done. I remember when they signed him at the auction – he was 14, maybe even 13 – and I thought it was a bit odd for top-flight domestic cricket to bring in someone so young. That’s a lot of pressure, just having him around the squad for three years. What’s the point of that? It’s not as if you can sign him on a 10-year contract; he might just leave for the Mumbai Indians or something if given an opportunity,” Broad told former England teammate Jos Buttler on the For the Love of Cricket podcast.“I mean, to be fair, when he walks into his next player retention, he can go into the auction, if he wants, ‘you have to give me some sort of numbers,” he added.
The 2025/26 football season is nearly over, but there are still some huge games to play. Here’s your TV guide to watching every end-of-season Premier League, Champions League and EFL fixture
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The 2025/26 football season is drawing to a close, but numerous crucial fixtures remain. Over the coming weeks, the Premier League and every tier of the English Football League (EFL) will determine their champions, with Arsenal and Manchester City continuing their battle for the top-flight crown.
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In the National League, one additional side will secure promotion to League Two following York City’s dramatic late winner that sent them back to the EFL. There are also significant matches in the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League, with Arsenal, Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest and Crystal Palace all remaining in contention.
Fixtures from each of these competitions are spread across several broadcasters, including Sky, TNT Sports, Amazon’sPrime Video and DAZN. With this in mind, we’ve gathered all the essential information football supporters need to watch the most important matches during the season’s final stretch.
Here’s where to watch every end-of-season game.
Premier League
Sky Sports will broadcast some of the most significant fixtures in the Premier League title race, alongside vital relegation battles. The broadcaster has already expanded its top-flight coverage from 128 matches to at least 215 games, with a total of 30 fixtures showing in May. Among the most eagerly awaited fixtures to be broadcast on Sky Sports are Man Utd vs Liverpool (May 3), Tottenham vs Leeds United (May 11) and Bournemouth vs Man City (May 19). Sky has also confirmed it will broadcast every match across the final two weekends of the season, including all 10 games on the last day (May 24).
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All these fixtures are included with TV packages such as the £44 Ultimate TV and Sky Sports bundle, which also comes with free subscriptions to Netflix, HBO Max and Disney+. Existing Sky TV customers can add Sky Sports to their package for £22, but keep in mind Sky states its prices ‘may change’ during the 24-month contracts.
Select Premier League fixtures are shown exclusively on TNT Sports, though its coverage is more limited than Sky’s. Airing on TNT are Aston Villa vs Tottenham (May 3) and Liverpool vs Chelsea (May 9), each of which can be streamed via TNT’s new home on HBO Max or Prime Video’s TNT Sports channelfor £30.99 on a monthly rolling basis.
Sky Sports, HBO Max, Netflix and Disney+ with Ultimate TV package
Sky has upgraded its Ultimate TV and Sky Sports bundle to now include HBO Max, Netflix, Disney+, discovery+ and Hayu, as well as 135 channels and full Sky coverage of the Premier League and EFL.
Sky broadcasts more than 1,400 live matches across the Premier League, EFL and more with at least 215 live from the top flight alongside Formula 1, darts and golf.
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Champions League and Europa League
TNT Sports is home to the vast majority of Champions League, Europa League and Conference League games, with every game bar a single Tuesday fixture available on the platform. First up is Atletico Madrid vs Arsenal (April 29) in their semi-final first leg, with the second leg (May 5) streaming on Amazon’s Prime Video. All remaining fixtures, including Bayern Munich vs PSG (May 6) and both legs of Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa’s Europa League semi-final (April 30, May 7), will be exclusively available on TNT. This also applies to Crystal Palace vs Shakhtar Donetsk (April 30, May 7) in the Conference League semi-final.
All of these matches can be streamed on TNT via HBO Max or Prime Video’s TNT Sports channel for £30.99 per month on a rolling basis, though bear in mind this subscription will automatically renew each month unless cancelled. UEFA will once again make the final of all three European competitions free to stream on discovery+, with supporters simply needing to register on the platform, where no paid subscription is required.
Watch the Champions League and Europa League on TNT Sports
The UEFA Champions League is back on TNT Sports and fans can catch all the action on the TNT Sports Prime Video channel. A monthly subscription also includes select Premier League and FA Cup fixtures.
EFL
Sky Sports broadcasts more than 1,000 fixtures each season from the EFL, spanning the Championship, League One and League Two. It also shows every one of the 72 clubs featured live more than 20 times.
Sky has confirmed it will broadcast every fixture on the EFL’s final day (May 2) across all three divisions, live from a 12.30pm kick-off. All 15 play-off games will also be shown live on Sky, with the semi-finals running from May 8-15 and the finals on May 23, 24 and 25.
Those not shown on a main Sky Sports channel will be available on the digital channel Sky Sports+and the Sky Sports app. All EFL fixtures are included with Sky TV packages such as the £44Ultimate TV and Sky Sports bundle, which comes with free subscriptions to Netflix, HBO Max and Disney+.
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National League
The National League has already entered its play-off phase following the incredible title decider between Rochdale and York City, and every game is live on DAZN. This includes the semi-finals (May 3) and the final (May 10) at Wembley.
Each fixture will be shown live on DAZN with its £14.99NLTV Season Pass. This subscription runs until July 31 and also includes on-demand highlights and replays of each game.
It is worth noting that DAZN’s NLTV Season Pass will renew automatically after 31 July, so subscribers should ensure they cancel before this date if they do not wish for the subscription to continue.
A furious Mikel Arteta said he was “incredibly fuming” with VAR’s decision to overturn a late Arsenal penalty in his side’s 1-1 Champions League draw against Atletico Madrid.
Viktor Gyokeres and Julian Alvarez both scored from the spot before Dutch referee Danny Makkelie awarded Arsenal a third penalty of the night after Eberechi Eze was sent tumbling by David Hancko’s outstretched right leg with 10 minutes of the semi-final first leg remaining.
However, VAR intervened before Makkelie controversially overturned his own decision.
It was the second VAR intervention of the evening which went against Arsenal after Ben White was adjudged to have handled Marcos Llorente’s volley, which Alvarez converted from the spot.
And Arteta said: “In the manner that we conceded the penalty, we were disappointed. In the Premier League, it’s not a penalty, but here I have to accept that this is handball.
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“But what I’m incredibly fuming with is how the hell the penalty on Eze gets overturned in the manner that it happened when there is no clear and obvious error? And this changes the course of the game. And at this level, I’m sorry but this cannot happen.
“When a referee has to watch it 13 times, what is clear about that? It’s impossible and we are all fuming about it. We need to apply the rules.
“When you have fought so hard for nine months to be in this position, that goal could have completely changed the course of the tie. And it cannot happen. I’m sorry. We put so much on it. So, so, so much on it. This cannot happen.”
Asked if he would take up the incident with UEFA, Arteta replied: “I think that it’s up to the club to decide the best thing to do. Now they’re not going to give us a penalty. That’s gone. And that’s it. That’s over.”
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Pressed on his reaction to Arteta’s comments, Atleti boss Diego Simeone, who gesticulated wildly throughout the VAR process and also appeared to call for Eze to be booked for diving, said: “I never give my opinion on my colleague’s statement.
“In terms of the first penalty (for Arsenal), in my humble opinion, the player feels contact on his back and he drops down and in the Champions League semi-finals, this cannot be a penalty, but the referee believed it was.
“The second one (against Eze) was not a penalty. Sometimes the VAR plays in your favour and sometimes it doesn’t.”
Despite the setback, Arteta will be hopeful of using home advantage in the second leg at the Emirates on Tuesday to secure Arsenal’s first final since 2006.
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Arteta added: “I’m very proud and I said that to the boys, the way we handled the context for nine-and-a-half months is just remarkable, and I really value what they’ve done because I’ve seen some of the best teams in the world here fall apart and concede three and four.
“We didn’t get the result that we wanted. We wanted to win it. But at least it is in our hands, in front of our people. We want to be in that final and in a week’s time we are going to have the opportunity to do that.”
Arsenal were held to a 1-1 draw by Atletico Madrid in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League semi-final on Wednesday night.
The Gunners went into the match unbeaten in the competition and hoping to record consecutive wins for the first time this month.
Mikel Arteta’s side took the lead before half-time through Viktor Gyokeres, who converted a penalty late in the first half.
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Gyokeres won the spot-kick after being brought down inside the box and calmly fired the ball past Jan Oblak.
However, Atletico Madrid drew level 12 minutes into the second half after Ben White was penalised for handball in the area.
Julian Alvarez stepped up and blasted home the equaliser to leave the tie finely balanced ahead of the return leg at the Emirates Stadium next Tuesday.
Julian Alvarez’s penalty secured Atletico Madrid a 1-1 draw against Arsenal in a nervy Champions League semi-final first leg clash on Wednesday.
Viktor Gyokeres sent the Premier League leaders ahead from the spot just before the interval after he was fouled, but Alvarez followed suit 10 minutes into the second half after Ben White’s handball.
Arsenal were upset at a late penalty decision being overturned following a VAR review when David Hancko made contact with Eberechi Eze in the area.
Atletico had the better for long periods but Arsenal’s solid defending helped them leave the Spanish capital in a good position to return to the Champions League final 20 years after their last appearance.
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“We were the team we have to be, if we play at this level we can win,” said Atletico captain Koke of his team’s second-half display on Movistar.
“From my point of view they didn’t create much danger against us… the team defended well and they just had that penalty.”
What the game lacked in the dizzying goal rush of Paris Saint-Germain’s 5-4 win over Bayern Munich in the other semi-final the night before, it replaced with tension and a desperation not to fall behind.
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Toilet paper rained down from the stands of the Metropolitano stadium minutes before kick-off, in a striking — if wasteful — display, which invited cynical jokes from some quarters about the calibre of the spectacle ahead.
In a tussle between arguably the continent’s two biggest teams never to lay a finger on the trophy neither wanted to blink first.
Atletico still have an outdated defensive reputation but pinned Mikel Arteta’s miserly Arsenal back in the early stages, with David Raya tipping Alvarez’s shot around the post.
The Gunners, a long way from Arteta’s eve-of-the-game demand they dominate proceedings, looked to smash and grab, with Marc Pubill blocking from Martin Odegaard on a quick breakaway.
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Noni Madueke, starting on Arsenal’s right flank with Bukayo Saka only fit for the bench, hammered just wide from distance as last year’s beaten semi-finalists sporadically emerged from their half.
The next time they did, Gyokeres won a penalty. The Swedish striker, who might not have started if Kai Havertz was fit, exchanged passes with Martin Zubimendi and Hancko clumsily shoved him in the back from behind.
Diego Simeone and Atletico veteran Antoine Griezmann begged for the decision to be reviewed but VAR saw no reason to intervene.
Gyokeres took the spot-kick himself, walloping it past Jan Oblak, who dived the right way but stood no chance of keeping it out.
Three-time runners-up Atletico, back in the semi-finals for the first time in nine years, came out guns blazing in the second half.
Raya saved Ademola Lookman’s drive with Gabriel blocking Griezmann’s follow-up.
The hosts pulled level from the penalty spot after White handled Marcos Llorente’s shot, the ball bouncing up and hitting his arm, which was away from his body.
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Alvarez took it, and having missed in Atletico’s Copa del Rey final shoot-out defeat earlier in April, this time made no mistake with an unforgiving blast rivalling Gyokeres’s first-half effort.
MLS-bound Griezmann looped a shot off the crossbar and then sent the rebound off target as Atletico turned the screw in pursuit of an advantage to take into next Tuesday’s second leg.
Nigeria international Lookman twice came close and could end up ruing his missed chances.
Arsenal thought they had won a second penalty when substitute Eze went down under a sluggish Hancko challenge but the referee changed his mind after a VAR review, deciding the Slovakian defender’s contact was minimal.
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Arsenal next take on Fulham as they continue their battle with Manchester City for the Premier Leaguetitle, while with little to play for in La Liga Simeone will rotate heavily, before this tie is decided in London.
Bryant, 28, spent last season with the Texans after the Eagles released him out of the preseason. He played 12 games with four starts and made two catches for 7 yards and one tackle.
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The Browns made Bryant a fourth-round draft pick in 2020, and he started in nine games his rookie year. In his career, Bryant has appeared in 90 games, starting 27, and has caught 100 passes for 884 yards and 10 touchdowns.
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After four seasons in Cleveland, Bryant joined the Raiders in 2024.
The Seahawks now have 83 players on the roster, not including undrafted rookie free agents who will sign ahead of rookie minicamp this week. Seattle can have up to 91 players on the roster, including international pathway player, Federico Maranges.
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