Sports
Salah penalty seals victory for Premier League leader Liverpool against Wolverhampton
Liverpool restored its seven-point lead at the top of the Premier League with a 2-1 win against Wolverhampton on Sunday.
But Arne Slot's team had to hold off a fightback from relegation-threatened Wolves at Anfield, which included a brilliant long-range goal from Matheus Cunha.
First-half strikes from Luis Diaz and Mohamed Salah secured the win for Liverpool and ensured it maintained its advantage over second-placed Arsenal.
Liverpool failed to register a single shot on target after the break as Wolves dominated the chances.
“Obviously 2-0 at halftime, we know that can be one of the most dangerous results in football. We had to come out and we had to start well – and we didn’t quite do that," said Liverpool defender Andrew Robertson. “When they scored, everyone gets nervous. The players get nervous, the crowd get nervous – of course that’s only natural. But it’s a massive win for us and another game down.”
Champions League exit awaits Real Madrid or Man City and at least 3 more former title holders
Diaz bundled the ball over the line from close range in the 15th minute to give Liverpool the lead. And Salah doubled the advantage from the penalty spot in the 37th after Diaz was brought down.
It was the Egypt international's 28th goal of an outstanding season and extended his current scoring streak to six straight games.
But if the home crowd was expecting a routine victory against 17th-placed Wolves, it was anything but.
Liverpool conceded a goal in stoppage time to draw 2-2 with Everton on Wednesday and was pushed again.
Cunha's drag-back and curled finish from around 20 yards (meters) in the 67th came after a sustained period of pressure from the visitors.
Before that Marshall Munetsi was denied when through on goal — it took a crucial block in front of goal from Jarell Quansah to prevent him from converting late on.
Tottenham hosts Manchester United later Sunday.
148 minutes ago
Bangladesh Archery team leaves for Bangkok
An 18-member Bangladesh Archery team, out of 19, left Dhaka for Thailand’s Bangkok to participate in the 2025 Asian Cup World Ranking Tournament, Stage 1, beginning on Tuesday (February 18).
The team consists of 13 archers and six officials.
3-day National Athletics Championship 2025 begins Monday
Recurve Men’s Archers: Rakib Miah, M Mishad Prodan, Ram Krishna Saha, and Mohammad Sagor Islam.
Recurve Women’s Archers: Shima Akhter Shimu, Ety Khatun, and Sonali Roy.
Compound Men’s Archers: M Sohel Rana, Himu Basar, and Newas Ahmed Rakib.
Rebelling women footballers agree to join practice after boycotting national camp for 3 weeks
Compound Women’s Archers: Puspita Zaman, Bonnya Akhter, and Khurshid Jahan.
General Secretary of the Bangladesh Archery Federation, Kazi Rajib Uddin Ahmed Chapal, will present the latest developments on hosting the upcoming 24th Asian Archery Championship 2025 in Bangladesh during the World Archery Asia meeting.
49 minutes ago
3-day National Athletics Championship 2025 begins Monday
The three-day 48th National Athletics Championship 2025, organised by the Bangladesh Athletics Federation (BAF), will begin on Monday at the National Stadium in Dhaka.
Adviser of the Ministry of Youth and Sports, LGRD and Cooperatives, Asif Mahmud Sajib Bhuiyan will inaugurate the event on Monday afternoon as the chief guest.
Secretary of the Ministry of Youth and Sports, M Rezaul Maksud Zahedi, will be the special guest at the function, which will be chaired by BAF President Major General (Retd) Dr. Mohammad Nayeem Ashfaque Chowdhury.
A total of 445 athletes from 41 teams representing different districts and organizations are expected to participate in 40 events over the three-day meet — 22 for men and 18 for women.
Details of the meet were disclosed by BAF officials at a press conference held at the National Stadium's conference room in Dhaka on Sunday.
BAF Vice President M Iqbal Hossain, General Secretary M Shah Alam, and Joint Secretary M Kitab Ali, among others, were present at the press conference.
1 hour ago
Rebelling women footballers agree to join practice after boycotting national camp for 3 weeks
National captain Sabina Khatun-led 18-rebelling women’s national footballers, who boycotting the national team's practice session under the English Head Coach Peter Butler for about three weeks, finally agreed to join the national team's practice session on Sunday (Feb 16).
Chairman of the BFF Women's Football Committee Mahfuza Akhter Kiron informed the good news to the newsmen at the BFF office on Sunday following her long inititive and the day's successfull discussion with rebel players.
However, the rebel senior booters will join the practice session in the next month after national women's team return from UAE in the first week of March playing two International friendlies there against the hosts on February 26 and March 2. Bangladesh women's football team, without 18 rebel players, is likely to fly to UAE on March 24.
They have agreed to join next month's national team's training camp for the Women's Asia Cup Qualifiers to be held in June after taking some rest and will sign contract with BFF at that time, said Kiron.
Women Footballers: International careers of Sabina, other seniors under threat
"The senior officials of BFF will sit with Women's Head Coach Peter Butler and rebelling 18 senior players at the beginning of the next month's practice session to solve misunderstanding between coach and players and as well as to cool the present tense-packed situation," she further added.
Earlier on January 29, 18 national senior players at a press conference at the BFF premises, revolted against their English Coach Pater Butler issuing a three-page statement after the head coach contract was renewed further for two years from January this year.
They raised several allegations against Butler including mental harassment, repression, using abusive words, body shaming, misbehaving, continuous discrimination and unfair treatment
1 hour ago
Bangladesh Tigers camp starts focusing on out-of-form players
While the Bangladesh National Cricket Team is gearing up to prove their prowess in the ICC Champions Trophy in Dubai, some out-of-form star cricketers joined the Bangladesh Tigers program in Dhaka to stay fit for forthcoming challenges.
Experienced cricketers like Litton Das and Mominul Haque have also joined this camp.
Local coaches, Mizanur Rahman, Nazmul Islam, Tarek Aziz and Sohel Islam are overseeing this camp, focussing on both fitness and skill development.
Participants include players such as Afif Hossain, Shamim Hossain, Naeem Hasan, Hasan Murad, and Sadman Islam, along with Litton and Mominul.
Bangabandhu National Stadium renamed as “National Stadium, Dhaka”
“We started the camp by sitting down with the players and discussing their individual goals and areas for improvement,” said Sohel Islam. “We talked about what they want to work on personally, and where they want to improve their skills.”
This camp came as a great chance for Litton to prepare for future matches. The right-handed wicketkeepr batter just lost his place in the national team that is to take part in the Champions Trophy.
Sohel said Litton’s struggles in white-ball cricket and emphasized the camp's intention to address them. He said the coaches have already identified some aspects of Litton’s batting that need to go through some adjustments.
Tigers set to roar in Champions Trophy
Sohel added that one of the core ideas of this camp is to keep the players fit so that they can meet the requirements of the national team at any point. He added that the coaches are maintaining regular communication with the national team coaches.
“We're all working together to ensure that players who come through the Tigers program are fully prepared for international cricket,” he said.
2 hours ago
Champions League exit awaits Real Madrid or Man City and at least 3 more former title holders
Now the jeopardy really kicks in for the Champions League with a title chase, pride and hard cash on the line.
At least four former European champions will be among eight teams eliminated when the new knockout playoff round ends this week.
Real Madrid or Manchester City, Bayern Munich or Celtic, AC Milan or Feyenoord and PSV Eindhoven or Juventus.
Their European seasons will be over in February before even reaching the round of 16 that teams like Madrid and Man City, who meet in their second-leg game Wednesday, have come to expect.
Indeed, City coach Pep Guardiola has never failed in 16 seasons of coaching — four at Barcelona, three at Bayern and nine in Manchester — to take his team to the round of 16 in the Champions League.
Advancing to the last-16 is worth 11 million euros ($11.5 million) in prize money from UEFA. While that pays just a few months of salary for Kylian Mbappé or Erling Haaland, it is a path toward a bigger share of the 2.5 billion euros ($2.6 billion) total prize fund shared by 36 teams that started in the league phase in September.
It took 152 games so far in the new expanded format — already 21% more than the entire 125-game competition in each of the past 21 seasons — just to reach this stage.
The business end of the Champions League arguably only starts now, with 37 games left through the May 31 final in Munich.
Heavyweight clash in MadridReal Madrid vs. Manchester City at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium is a classic match in the modern Champions League: A 3-3 draw in the quarterfinals last year and a thrilling 3-1 win for Madrid in extra-time to decide their semifinal in 2022. Each time coach Carlo Ancelotti’s team went on to win the title, extending the record to 15 in the competition's 70-year history.
Their first meeting in Madrid, a group-stage game in September 2012, was a late comeback by Madrid with two goals after the 85th minute to win 3-2 — just as it was in Manchester last Tuesday in the first leg.
That 2012-13 season was the last time City did not play in the round of 16. The English champion’s streak of 11 straight years, including finally lifting the trophy in 2023, is at serious risk Wednesday.
German clubs' home comfort. Tense week for Italian clubsBayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund start home games with leads from the first leg as they seek to join Bayer Leverkusen in the round of 16. Bayern hosts Celtic on Tuesday with a 2-1 lead and Dortmund starts 3-0 up on Sporting Lisbon in the early game Wednesday.
Paris Saint-Germain also has a 3-0 advantage at home, against Brest on Wednesday. It will be the clubs' third meeting in 19 days. Benfica also won on the road, 1-0 at Monaco, and hosts the return leg on Tuesday.
Juventus takes a 2-1 lead to Eindhoven on Wednesday and Club Brugge is 2-1 up going to Atalanta on Tuesday in Bergamo. About 30 miles (50 kilometers) away, in Tuesday’s early game, AC Milan hosts Feyenoord trying to overturn a 1-0 deficit.
West is best and wealthiestThe Champions League is dominated more than ever by teams from the richest leagues in western Europe, banking hundreds of millions more in prize money.
No team from eastern Europe qualified for the knockout stage. Croatia’s champion Dinamo Zagreb was edged out in 25th place on goal difference behind Brugge.
All eight seeded teams already in the round of 16 come from the five countries — England, Italy, Spain, Germany, France — ranked highest by UEFA based on results in all European competitions across five seasons.
Sixth-ranked Netherlands and No. 7 Portugal are well set to place at least one team in the rest of the competition. The lowest-ranked country still involved, No. 14 Scotland, is likely to have Celtic eliminated by Bayern.
Round of 16 drawThe pairings will be set Friday at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, at midday local time (1100 GMT).
The eight playoff winners will be unseeded, and play the home leg first, against the seeded teams that placed in the top eight of the 36-team league phase standings.
First-leg games are played March 4-5 and return games are one week later. There is now no separate draw for the quarterfinals and semifinals because the tennis-style seeded bracket is set through to the final.
Seedings: 1 Liverpool; 2 Barcelona; 3 Arsenal; 4 Inter Milan; 5 Atletico Madrid; 6 Bayer Leverkusen; 7 Lille; 8 Aston Villa.
Liverpool and Barcelona will be drawn against the winners of either of the playoffs involving the Nos. 15 and 16 seeds, PSG and Benfica. As Real Madrid placed 11th in the league, the winner of its playoff with Man City will next play the fifth- or sixth-place team, Atletico or Leverkusen.
4 hours ago
Man United forward Amad Diallo ruled out for a 'number of weeks' with ankle injury
Manchester United forward Amad Diallo has sustained an ankle injury that will rule him out for a “number of weeks,” the club said Sunday.
Diallo picked up the injury during training this week.
“Extremely disappointed to be writing this message in such a crucial time of the season,” he posted on X. “Unfortunately, I will be out for some time with an injury.
“I will come back stronger than ever!!"
Diallo has been one of United's best players in a troubled season for the 20-time Premier League champion. He has scored nine goals including a late winner against Manchester City in December and an equalizer in a 2-2 draw with Liverpool in January.
His injury leaves United coach Ruben Amorim short of attacking options after Marcus Rashford and Antony were loaned out in the January transfer window.
5 hours ago
Bangladesh's longest marathon due on Feb 20-22 in Cox's Bazar
Bangladesh’s longest ultra-marathon, ‘Coastal Ultra 2025’, will take place on February 20 to 22 at the scenic Marine Drive in the tourist hub of Cox’s Bazar aiming to promote eco-friendly coastal tourism, sustainable development, and marine ecosystem
Organized by the non-profit volunteer organisqation ‘Coastal Ultra Bangladesh’, the theme of the marathon is “Save the Ocean, Save the Earth.”
For the first time in Bangladesh’s running history, a 200-kilometre ultra-marathon will be held. ‘Coastal Ultra Bangladesh’ announced this milestone in a press release.
The event is designed to promote sports tourism, encourage environmentally responsible travel, and raise awareness about coastal ecosystem conservation and marine biodiversity protection.
Through such events, ‘Coastal Ultra Bangladesh’aims to brand Bangladesh on the global stage.
Ultra-marathons, or ultra runs, are long-distance races that exceed the traditional marathon distance of 42.195 kilometers.
The shortest ultra-marathon category is typically 50 kilometres.
In recent years, ultra-marathons have gained immense popularity worldwide. Neighbouring countries frequently host ultra-marathons in various locations, using such events to promote their cities and landscapes while fostering a culture of endurance sports.
In this prestigious ultra-marathon, approximately 400 national and international runners will participate.
They were selected based on strict qualification standards that meet international criteria.
To support them, some 250 volunteers will be actively involved.
The event features four race categories: 50 kilometers, 100 kilometers, 100 miles, and 200 kilometers.
Participation is entirely free, and all necessary services will be provided to runners at no cost.
Igloo Ice Cream, Guardian Life Insurance, Orion Group, SIM Group, Beacon Pharmaceuticals, E-Learning & Earning Ltd., and Nazihar IT Solutions Ltd are sponsoring the event.
The event’s community partners include ‘Vertical Dreamers’, one of the country’s leading mountaineering clubs, and ‘Hemonto Riders’, a prominent cycling group.
The charity partners are ‘Pawmang Shishu Sadan’, a children’s home in Champajhiri Para, Lama, Bandarban, and the humanitarian organization ‘Half Mad Human’.
The event is being organised with the support of Bangladesh Tourism Board, Bangladesh Athletics Federation, and Cox’s Bazar District Administration.
9 hours ago
Atalanta's hopes of silverware fading after more disappointment and Napoli held again
Atalanta is losing hope of silverware match by match.
It followed up Wednesday’s disappointing — and controversial — defeat at Club Brugge in the Champions League with a goalless draw at home to relegation-threatened Cagliari in Serie A on Saturday.
However, third-placed Atalanta remained five points behind Napoli after the league leader was held to a third straight draw, this time 2-2 at fourth-placed Lazio.
That means Inter Milan can move to the top of Serie A with a win at bitter rival Juventus on Sunday.
Atalanta has won just one of its past six matches in all competitions and hosts Brugge on Tuesday in the return leg of the knockout playoff round.
Cagliari inched to five points above the relegation zone.
Atalanta had a number of players out with injuries and coach Gian Piero Gasperini opted to rest a host of other regulars between the Champions League matches.
Both Atalanta and Cagliari defended well in Bergamo and there was just one shot on target in the first half.
Atalanta thought it had broken the deadlock on the hour but Marco Brescianini’s effort was ruled out for a foul by Stefan Posch on Cagliari goalkeeper Elia Caprile.
Atalanta finished the match strongly and Caprile had to make a number of important saves.
Third straight draw for Napoli
Napoli was keen to get back to winning ways after draws against Roma and Udinese.
It looked like it turned the match around when it fought back to lead 2-1 in the 64th minute following a comical own goal.
Matteo Politano whipped in a cross from the right and Giacomo Raspadori’s shot went in off Lazio defender Mario Gila’s bottom and teammate Adam Marusic.
Kane lifts Bayern to beat Celtic in Champions League playoffs. Milan, Atalanta and Monaco all lose
Lazio thought it levelled almost immediately — and in spectacular fashion — but Mattia Zaccagni’s acrobatic overhead kick was ruled out for offside.
The home side snatched a point three minutes from time when Boulaye Dia combined with Zaccagni on the right and cut inside to fire into the far bottom corner.
Gustav Isaksen gave Lazio the lead in the sixth minute with a powerful strike from 30 yards but it was cancelled out by Raspadori seven minutes later.
Isaksen hadn't scored since a late winner in the last league match against Napoli in December.
First at San Siro
Santiago Giménez is proving well worth the 30 million euros ($31 million) AC Milan paid Feyenoord for him.
The Mexico forward netted his second goal in as many league matches — and his first at San Siro — to help Milan beat Hellas Verona 1-0.
Alex Jiménez started the move, sending Rafael Leão into the left of the area and he delicately lobbed it over a defender for Giménez to nod into an empty net in the 75th minute.
Barcelona to play Atletico Madrid in Copa semifinals
Milan was seventh, five points below fourth place. The Rossoneri host Feyenoord on Tuesday in the Champions League after losing the first leg 1-0.
Verona was three points off the drop zone.
11 hours ago
10-man Real Madrid draws at Osasuna after Bellingham red card for cursing at the ref
Jude Bellingham's use of an English expletive to curse at the referee left Real Madrid a man down and unable to defend a lead as the La Liga leaders drew at Osasuna 1-1 on Saturday.
Kylian Mbappé put Madrid ahead in the 15th minute with his 11th goal in as many league games. But Madrid was outnumbered after Bellingham's red card for using an expletive while protesting the refereeing five minutes before halftime.
Osasuna pulled level after the referee awarded a penalty after a video review and booked Eduardo Camavinga for stomping the foot of Ante Budimir in the box. Budimir slotted the 58th-minute equalizer past Thibaut Courtois to unleash celebrations at El Sadar Stadium.
The draw in Pamplona put Madrid’s league lead in jeopardy. While Atletico Madrid failed to take advantage of the slip and stayed one point behind the frontrunners, Barcelona can pull level with its top rival if it beats Rayo Vallecano on Monday.
Next up for Madrid is a home game against Manchester City on Wednesday when it will try to make good on its 3-2 win in their first meeting of the Champions League knockout rounds playoff.
'English translation error'
In what seemed to be a stretch of linguistic analysis, coach Carlo Ancelotti tried to defend his player by claiming that referee José Luis Munuera made a translation error of Bellingham’s use of an English expletive.
“Bellingham didn’t do anything that deserved a sending off,” Ancelotti said. “He said ‘(expletive) off,’ not ’(expletive) you.' I don’t think that was meant to be offensive.”
Munuera wrote in his refereeing report that Bellingham told him "from just a few meters away, ‘(expletive) you.’”
Bellingham said “I don’t want to go into details of what was said” but insisted he was unfairly treated, saying the referee made a translation error and that there was indeed a degree of difference between the expletive when combined with “off" or “you.”
Real Madrid's Bellingham shown red card after using English expletive to protest referee
“It is clear that he made a mistake and there was a miscommunication," said the England midfielder, who got a two-game ban last season after receiving a red card for using an expletive in English protesting a ref's call.
More fuel for the fire
Ancelotti was also shown a yellow card early after he complained excessively for what he thought was a handball by an Osasuna player in the host's area.
Following its loss at Espanyol, the powerhouse sent a scathing letter to Spain’s soccer federation to decry what it considered “adulterated” refereeing that favored other teams. The league president responded by saying that the 36-time champion had “lost its mind.”
The decisions by Munuera aggravated Madrid’s sense of grievance regarding the refereeing in La Liga.
"Things have happened in the last three games that everyone has seen,” Ancelotti said. “The VAR has reviewed plays in our area and not in the opponent’s area. … We just have to keep fighting. We played a good game today and we will try to do so again on Wednesday and in the next La Liga game.”
Mbappé remains hot
Mbappé had an up and down first few months while adapting to Madrid, but he has been scoring at ease in recent weeks and has 17 league goals, second only to the 19 by Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski.
Mbappé had an opportunity to bag an injury-time winner but Osasuna goalkeeper Sergio Herrera blocked his shot from an angle.
Osasuna, which beat Barcelona 4-2 in September when the Catalan club was leading the league, moved into seventh place.
Budimir’s goal let the Croatia striker equal an Osasuna club record of 57 career goals in La Liga, a mark set by Sabino Andonegui.
“It is always very special to enter the history of a club that is over 100 years old. I am very proud,” Budimir said.
Atletico ‘gladiators’ fail to retake lead
Arsenal forward Kai Havertz injured in training in Dubai
Atletico Madrid remained a point behind Madrid after it was also reduced to 10 men and needed a late goal from substitute Alexander Sorloth to draw at home with Celta Vigo 1-1.
Pablo Barrios hurt Atletico’s chances when he saw a direct red card for a studs-first slide into the lower leg of Pablo Durán just seven minutes into the match.
Borja Iglesias earned a penalty when fouled by Robin Le Normand in the area, sending substitute Iago Aspas to the spot to put Celta ahead in the 68th.
Sorloth salvaged a point for the hosts when the Norway striker won a long ball and rifled it home in the 81st.
“After the sending off (of Barrios), my players were gladiators,” coach Diego Simeone said, “because playing 90 minutes with a man down, do you know how hard that is?”
Also, Alaves drew at Leganes 3-3, while a struggling Valencia took a 1-1 draw at fifth-placed Villarreal in a regional derby.
11 hours ago