United News of Bangladesh

Arambagh Krira Sangha emerged as the close title contender of the Bashundhara Group Bangladesh Championship League (BCL) Football beating BFF Elite Football Academy by 2-0 goals at the Fortis FC ground in Jalshiri here on Sunday afternoon. After the day’s match, both the PWD SC and Arambagh KS have secured 28 points each playing 12 and 13 matches respectively, but PWD SC topped list by virtue of better goal differences with an advantage of playing one match less than Arambagh KS. BFF Elite Academy remained at the 8th slot with 12 points from 12 matches. In the day’s match, Mohammad Nazimuddin scored first for Arambagh KS in the 25th minute (1-0) while Mohammad Arafat Mia assured the Arambagh victory scoring the 2nd goal in the 42nd minute (2-0). The day’ s another league match between BRTC SC and Uttar Baridhara Club ended in a goalless at the practice ground of Bashundhara Kings Arena here.  Bangladesh name squad for UAE T20Is, Litton to lead The day’s other league match between Wari Club and Farashganj SC also ended in a goalless draw at the Shaheed Barkat Stadium in Gazipur on Sunday. After the day’s matches, Uttar Baridhara Club advanced to the 6th slot in the 10-team league securing 13 points, Farashganj SC went down to the 7th place also with 13 points while Wari Club and BRTC SC remained at the 9th slot and 10th place respectively collecting 11 points each.

Al-Ahli won its first AFC Champions League Elite title after beating Kawasaki Frontale of Japan 2-0 in the final on Saturday. The star-studded Jeddah team, playing at home in front of 60,000 fans at King Abdullah Sports City Stadium, deserved what was a comfortable victory and completed an unbeaten tournament. First-half goals from Galeno and Franck Kessie put the two-time beaten finalist in control against the five-time Japanese champion. The tournament quarterfinals, semifinals and final were staged in Jeddah and Al-Ahli rode a wave of support. The hosts were on top early and made the breakthrough after 35 minutes. Roberto Firmino fed Galeno outside the area and the Brazilian winger, signed from Porto in January for around $55 million, sent a curling shot into the top corner. Three minutes before the break, Firmino crossed from the right for Kessie, and the former AC Milan and Barcelona midfielder headed home from close range. Firmino won the tournament’s Most Valuable Player award. Eric Dier to leave Bayern Munich at season’s end Kawasaki, which knocked out Cristiano Ronaldo's Al-Nassr in the semifinals to reach its first final, pressured after the restart but struggled to create clear chances against a team full of big-game experience. Firmino, signed from Liverpool in 2023, is a past UEFA Champions League winner, as are his teammates Riyad Mahrez and Edouard Mendy, who lifted the trophy with Manchester City and Chelsea respectively. Mahrez, with nine goals in the tournament, went close to adding a third late in the final, firing just wide. The home fans were already celebrating. "We are so proud. Once we knew that the final eight would be in Jeddah, it was our goal to be champions in front of our fans,” Al-Ahli goalkeeper Mendy said. “Since I came here 18 months ago, they have supported us so much. As I said when I signed, it was to make history, to win trophies and to make this club as big as it was before.” Al-Ahli is the third Saudi club to win the Champions League after Jeddah rival Al-Ittihad and Riyadh’s Al-Hilal.

Rahmatganj Muslim Friends Society shared points with Brothers Union Club in the Bashundhara Group Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) Football at the Fl. Lt Matiur Rahman Stadium in Munshiganj on Saturday. Rahmatganj's Gambian midfielder Solomon Kings displayed his brilliance in the match and was adjudged the best player of the match. After the day's 13th round matches, Rahmatganj MFS remained at the 4th slot and Brothers Union Club at the 5th place securing 20 and 19 points, respectively. BCL Football: Farashganj SC, Wari Club win Dhaka Mohammedan SC comfortably dominated the table securing 34 points to consolidate their claim for the league crown, former champions Dhaka Abahani Limited were in distant 2nd collecting 27 points while holders Bashundhara Kings remained at the 3rd with 24 points. In the day's other match, Youngmen's Club Fakirerpool defeated Chittagong Abahani Limited by 3-2 goals at the Shaheed Barkat Stadium in Gazipur. The match was locked in 1-1 goals in the first half. Shuvo Raj Bongshi put the port city team Ctg Abahani ahead in the 33rd minute (1-0) while Ivory Coast forward Quattara Ben Ibrahim leveled the margin for Youngmen's Club in the following 34th minute (1-1). Basundhara Kings retain Federation Cup Football title beating Dhaka Abahani Quattara Ben Ibrahim put Youngmen's Club ahead from behind in the 76th minute (2-1) while Sayed Hossain Sayem further widen the margin in the first minute of the added time (45+1 minute (3-1). Defender Faisal Ahmed reduced the Ctg Abahani margin (3-2) in the 3rd minute of the added time (45+3 minute)

Bayern Munich confirmed that English defender Eric Dier will depart the club at the end of the season, following the expiry of his contract. “We had discussions with Eric about a new contract. He told us that he doesn’t want to extend and will leave us,” Bayern sporting director Christoph Freund said Friday. “He’s a great guy. We had a great time together. Hopefully he crowns his time with us with his first title,” he added, reports AP. The 31-year-old is reportedly set to join French side Monaco, where he is expected to receive a longer deal and more regular playing time than at he did at the German powerhouse. Dier arrived in Munich from Tottenham Hotspur in January last year and made 45 appearances for the club. However, he struggled for minutes under new manager Vincent Kompany until recently, when he began to prove his value to the squad. Lord's to host 2026 Women's T20 World Cup final “We had good talks with his agent,” Freund said, adding, “There’s another possibility where he can sign a longer contract, you have to respect that.” Bayern can clinch the Bundesliga title with a victory over Leipzig on Saturday. It remains uncertain whether Dier will stay on for FIFA’s new Club World Cup in the United States, scheduled from June 14 to July 13. Freund noted that the club would “speak with him internally” about the matter.

The rescue act is on for Manchester United and Tottenham. Big wins for both teams in the first legs of the Europa League semifinals on Thursday kept alive their hopes of lifting a major trophy and qualifying for the Champions League. United beat Athletic Bilbao 3-0 at the San Mames in Spain and Tottenham won 3-1 at home against Norwegian club Bodo/Glimt. Both United and Spurs have endured miserable domestic campaigns and are languishing in the bottom half of the Premier League. But European club soccer's second-tier Europa League could yet see one of them salvage their season. Not only is silverware on the line, but so is an unlikely route to the lucrative Champions League as the prize for winning the competition. United in control United produced possibly its finest performance of the season to take a commanding first-leg lead against 10-man Bilbao. Casemiro headed Ruben Amorim’s team in front in the 30th minute after a cross from Harry Maguire. Barcelona’s attack meets Inter defence in UCL semifinals It was 2-0 seven minutes later when Rasmus Hojlund was brought down in the box by Dani Vivian and a penalty was awarded after a VAR review. Vivian was shown a red card for the foul and Bruno Fernandes converted from the spot. Fernandes got his second and United’s third in the 45th when he ran through on goal and curled a shot past goalkeeper Julen Agirrezabala. The United captain has now scored 19 goals and provided 16 assists in all competitions this season. According the statistician Opta, Liverpool's Mohamed Salah is the only Premier League player to have made more goal contributions this term with 56. “I want to score goals, I want to be involved. I know one of my qualities is getting goals and making assists, so I just need to keep going,” Fernandes said. United's win could have been even more emphatic with Noussair Mazraoui and Casemiro both hitting the woodwork. The second leg is at Old Trafford next Thursday and United is potentially just 90 minutes away from returning to Bilbao, which is staging the final on May 21. The run in Europe is in stark contrast to United's terrible domestic form, which will see it end the season with a club-record low-points total and its lowest position in the Premier League era. Sitting 14th in the standings, United has never looked likely to challenge for Champions League qualification through its league placing. But it has saved some spectacular performances for the Europa League — including the epic comeback against Lyon in the quarterfinals when it rallied from 4-2 down in extra time to win 5-4. Amorim, however, warned against complacency in the second leg. “They (Bilbao) can do the same thing in Old Trafford because they are really strong, they are really intense,” he said. “Of course, we are in the advantage. We have our fans, but again, this could change.” Tottenham leads Under-pressure Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou could yet live up to his proclamation that he always wins a trophy in his second season. Real Madrid defender Rüdiger gets 6-game ban for conduct toward referee That record — which was carried through with former clubs Brisbane Roar, Yokohama F Marinos and Celtic — has looked in serious jeopardy for much of a season that has seen Spurs lose 19 times in the league. But a 3-1 win against Bodo/Glimt at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium will fuel belief that Postecoglou could deliver the goods again. Spurs were ahead inside a minute through Brennan Johnson, and James Maddison doubled the lead 34th. Dominic Solanke's penalty in the 61st made it 3-0, but Ulrik Saltnes gave the Norwegians hope ahead of next week's return leg in Norway by pulling a goal back in the 83rd. “I don’t think the scoreline reflects our dominance, but at the end of the first leg, all you want is to be in a good position and we’ve got ourselves into a good position,” Postecoglou said. UEFA Conference League Chelsea completed a good night for English teams by beating Djurgarden 4-1 in Sweden in the first leg of their UEFA Conference League semifinal. Nicolas Jackson scored twice in the win. Real Betis won 2-1 against Fiorentina with on-loan Manchester United forward Antony getting a goal to maintain his impressive form since moving to Spain.

Barcelona’s high-scoring attack will face Inter Milan’s stingy defense in the opening game of their Champions League semifinal on Wednesday. Barcelona has the best attack in the competition with 37 goals scored, while the Italian visitors have allowed just five goals and kept a tournament-best eight clean sheets, AP reports. Hansi Flick’s Barcelona is as confident as can be after beating Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey final on Saturday. That launched the La Liga leaders' bid to sweep a treble of titles in its first season under the German coach. Inter, in contrast, arrives in Spain on a rare slump. Simone Inzaghi’s side has lost three straight games without scoring a single goal for the first time in 13 years, surrendering its lead of Serie A and exiting the Italian Cup. Real Madrid defender Rüdiger gets 6-game ban for conduct toward referee Raphinha and his 12 goals in the Champions League will lead Barcelona’s attack along with playmaker Lamine Yamal and Pedri González in midfield. Barcelona's overall top scorer Robert Lewandowski is injured. Inter has the doubt if striker Marcus Thuram can play after being sidelined during its losing streak with a left thigh injury. The second leg will be next week in Milan. The winner will face either Paris Saint-Germain or Arsenal in Munich on May 31. PSG beat Arsenal 1-0 in London on Tuesday in their first match.

Farashganj Sporting Club and Wari Club won their respective matches in the Bashundhara Group Bangladesh Championship League (BCL) Football at two separate venues in the capital on Wednesday. Farashganj SC beat BFF Elite Football Academy by 2-0 goals at the practice ground of the Bashundhara Kings Arena Wednesday afternoon. After a barren first half, Mehadi Hasan put Farashganj SC ahead in the 58th minute (1-0) while Al Amin doubled the Farashganj margin in the 62nd minute (2-0). PCB announce itinerary for next month’s Pakistan-Bangladesh five-match T20I series In the day’s other match, Wari Club defeated Public Works Department (PWD) Sports Club also by 2-0 goals at the Fortis FC ground in Jalshiri here Wednesday afternoon. Wari Club took lead in the very 9th minute of the match by a suicidal goal scored by Sumon Kumar while Shohag Barman confirmed the Wari victory scoring one more goal in the added time of the first half (45+2 minute).

 Real Madrid defender Antonio Rüdiger was handed a six-game ban Tuesday for his conduct toward a referee during the team’s loss to Barcelona in the Copa del Rey final. Rüdiger shouted at the referee and seemed to throw a small bag of ice during extra time in Madrid’s 3-2 loss to Barcelona on Saturday. The disciplinary committee of the Spanish football federation said Rüdiger’s ban was for “minor violence” toward the officials. Another Madrid player, Lucas Vazquez, was handed a two-match suspension because of his protest toward the match officials. Rüdiger has since apologized for his behavior but the incident prompted former Germany player Dietmar Hamann to call Sunday for the defender to be left out of Germany’s squad for the Nations League final four in June. The 32-year-old Rüdiger successfully underwent surgery on a meniscus tear in his left knee on Tuesday and will begin “his recovery process shortly.” The club did not give a timeline for his return but the recovery is expected to take several weeks. Inter looking to power back up ahead of Champions League match at Barcelona Rüdiger said surgery was “unavoidable” after playing through “severe pain.” “Now I'm finally pain-free again, and the surgery was a success,” he said on Instagram in a post that included photos of him in the hospital after the surgery, one in bed and another in a wheelchair while holding crutches. “I want to be able to play again as soon as possible as two big tournaments with the Nations League and the Club World Cup are in front of me, but I have to look from week to week now and we will see. I will do everything I can to make it happen.” Germany plays Portugal in the Nations League semifinals in Munich on June 4. Madrid's first game at the Club World Cup in the United States is on June 18.

Strange things happen when Inter Milan plays Barcelona in the Champions League semifinals. The last time the two teams met in the final four of Europe’s elite club competition, in 2010, Barcelona had to make a 15-hour journey by bus to Milan after an ash cloud caused by the eruption of the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajokull shut down air space, AP reports. Barcelona lost that first leg 3-1 and a stout defensive performance by Inter in the return match saw it advance to the final 3-2 on aggregate — where it beat Bayern Munich to clinch a historic treble under Jose Mourinho. Inter is hoping it won't have to make a similarly arduous journey after an unprecedented blackout brought much of Spain and Portugal to a standstill Monday. Power had almost fully returned to Spain early Tuesday morning and Inter’s charter flight was still scheduled to take off for Barcelona at 5 p.m. local time ahead of the first leg of their semifinal on Wednesday. Inter coach Simone Inzaghi will be hoping his team can power back up for the game as well. Inter heads to Barcelona following a dire run of results that has seen its dreams of another treble evaporate. Barcelona targets European title hat trick after winning UEFA Youth League final For the first time in more than 13 years, Inter has lost three straight matches without scoring a goal. Since a 2-2 draw against Bayern in the Champions League quarterfinals, the Nerazzurri have lost 1-0 to both Bologna and Roma in Serie A and 3-0 to AC Milan in the second leg of their Italian Cup semifinal. That has also seen them been leapfrogged at the top of the Serie A table by Napoli, slipping three points behind the new league leader. “The three defeats hurt and we’re not used to this, we have to look at ourselves and try to recover our physical and mental energy,” Inzaghi said. Those three games, however, had something in common: Marcus Thuram was missing. Thuram, who has been out with a left thigh issue, has scored 17 goals and provided nine assists across all competitions for Inter this season. Without the France forward, Lautaro Martinez has appeared fatigued attempting to carry Inter’s attack. And Marko Arnautovic, Thuram’s replacement, has been ineffective. Thuram has returned to training and could even start on Wednesday. “We’ll head to Barcelona and we will play them with respect, not fear,” Inzaghi added.

The 10- man Bashundhara Kings retained the Federation Cup Football title beating 12th time champions Dhaka Abahani Ltd by 5-3 goal in tie breaker at the Mymensingh District Stadium Tuesday afternoon. With the day's feat, Bashundhara Kings not only clinched the Federation Cup crown for the 2nd consecutive times but also took a sweet revenge of their defeat against Abahani Ltd in qualifier 1 match of the Federation Cup early this month.  In that match, a 10-man Dhaka Abahani Ltd beat Bashundhara Kings in the similar fashon in the tie breaker. The marathon final match between two teams moved towards tie breaking session as match was locked in 1-1 goals in stipulated 90- minute and also in the extra session of 30 minutes, held in two days in a gap of one week. The  ill-fated final match, which was postponed in 105th minute of the play last Tuesday due to insufficient light at the Mymensingh stadium following heavy rain and cyclonic winds, today (Tuesday) also failed to produce any result in the remaining 15 minutes of the play and rolled the match towards tie breaker. In the day's 15 minutes play, both the teams failed to make any significant attempts to take the result in their favour and  decided the fate of the match through penalty shoot out. In the penalty shootout, Brazilian midfielder Jonathan Fernandes, Shekh Morsalin, captan Topu Barman, Insan Hossain and Brazilian booter Daciel Elias converted all five spot kicks correctly to win the match. Shadman’s century lifts Bangladesh, but late collapse hands Zimbabwe hope On the other hand, Brazilian medio Raphael Augusto, Mahadi Khan Sabuj and Mirajul of Abahani scored from spot kicks while the other attempt of Nigerian forward Emeka ogbugh brilliantly saved by Kings custodian Mehedi Hasan Srabon. In the last Tuesday's 105th minute match, Argentine forward Juan Lescano gave Bashundhara Kings an early lead in the 6th minute with a well-placed header from the danger zone, capitalizing on a free-kick delivered by defender Mohammad Saaduddin (1-0). But the lead was short-lived, as Abahani’s Mohammad Ibrahim equalized in the 13th minute with a precise placing shot from close range, set up by a cutback from Nigerian forward Emeka (1-1). Bashundhara Kings were reduced to 10 men in the 102nd minute when Foysal Ahmed Fahim was shown a straight red card for an illegal tackle, and the Kings were forced  to play the remaining part of the final with ten players. Earlier, the title-deciding clash between the two arch-rivals was initially halted last Tuesday in the second minute of the second half following heavy rain and strong winds. After more than an hour’s break, the match resumed on the day in a waterlogged, muddy, and slippery pitch. Later, referee Saimon Hasan Sunny was forced to suspend the game again on the day after the first extra-time session (105th minute) due to insufficient light, as the Mymensingh venue lacks floodlights. Awards winners of the Federation Cup Football :  Man of the Match (Final): Mehdi Hasan Srabon (Bashundhara Kings) Best Goalkeeper of the Tournament: Mitul Marma (Abahani Limited Dhaka) Most Valuable Player (MVP):  Topu Barman (Bashundhara Kings) Highest Goal Scorers: Seven players finished as joint top scorers of the tournament scoring  three goals each They are: 1. Topu Barman – Bashundhara Kings 2. Arif Hossain – Mohammedan SC Ltd 3. Nabib Newaz – Rahmatgonj MFS 4. Samuel Boateng – Rahmatgonj MFS 5. Sazzad Hossen – Brothers Union Ltd 6. Mustapha Drammeh – Brothers Union Ltd 7. Mohammad Ibrahim – Abahani Limited Dhaka Fair Play Trophy : Rahmatgonj MFS