Sports
Real Madrid will be out for revenge against Man City in the Champions League. Expect fireworks
The all-time kings of Europe take on the current holders in the standout tie of the Champions League quarterfinals.
For the third year running Madrid and City meet in a match-up in which the winner has gone on to lift the trophy in the past two seasons. And it would be difficult to look beyond either team going on to continue that streak this time around.
City is still in contention for back-to-back trebles after winning the Premier League title, Champions League and FA Cup last year.
Madrid, reinvigorated by the signing of Jude Bellingham last summer, is eight points clear at the top of the Spanish league and aiming for a record-extending 15th European Cup title.
The Spanish giant also has a point to prove after being routed 4-0 by City in the second leg of last year's semifinals.
Then it was City who had a score to settle, having suffered a late collapse at the Bernabeu to crash out in the semifinals in 2022.
Manager Pep Guardiola will likely know how motivated Madrid will be to exact revenge — just as his players were last year — and that adds a subplot to a tie that is already heavy on intrigue.
Elsewhere, Paris Saint-Germain versus Barcelona is another clash of heavyweights, with Kylian Mbappe aiming to finally lead the French champions to European club soccer's elite trophy before walking away at the end of the season.
Premier League title-chasing Arsenal takes on a Bayern Munich team that is limping towards the end of a miserable campaign in the German league, while Atletico Madrid faces Borussia Dortmund.
REAL DEAL?
Madrid has all its attacking players clicking.
Bellingham has struck 20 goals in 32 games this season, including four in the Champions League. Vinícius Júnior is peaking just in time to face City with five goals in his last three appearances. Brahim Díaz provides a spark off the bench. And Rodyrgo ended a six-week scoring drought in Madrid’s last game, a 2-0 win over Athletic Bilbao, to keep it on course for winning the domestic league title.
Madrid is on a 27-game unbeaten run at its Santiago Bernabeu Stadium across all competitions dating back to last April.
City has found its scoring form over the past week after hitting four goals in each of its games against Aston Villa and Crystal Palace to stay on the heels of title rivals Liverpool and Arsenal.
ENRIQUE REUNION
After a difficult start to his coaching career at PSG, when he had to put up with Mbappe’s bitter contract saga, Luis Enrique has steadily won over fans and the French media - even if it meant dropping Mbappe or taking him off in games.
Enrique won the treble as Barcelona coach in 2015 with Lionel Messi in his team and is still in contention to do the same at PSG with Mbappe.
Losing has become a distant memory for PSG, which is undefeated in 27 matches since a loss away to AC Milan in November during the Champions League group stage. But playing a rested Barcelona side could be the toughest test of the season.
Xavi Hernández attempted to shock his team into getting its act together by saying he would quit at the end of the season, something that has coincided with a certain improvement.
Barcelona has gone unbeaten in 11 straight games since Xavi said in late January that he was renouncing the final year of his contract.
Robert Lewandowski, teenager Lamine Yamal and Raphinha are all playing well of late, but the midfield is a big question mark due to injury concerns.
TUCHEL TROUBLE
Bayern Coach Thomas Tuchel wants to end a “frustrating” season, and his tenure, on a high with a trip to Wembley for the Champions League final. But its preparation for Arsenal could hardly have been worse after its latest defeat, this time to Heidenheim on Saturday after leading 2-0.
“There’s still the goal of going to Wembley,” Tuchel said Friday. “Everything is being put toward this target. It can’t happen that we ease off even 1% in our conviction or in our ambition.”
The mood at Arsenal is very different with Mikel Arteta's team looking better equipped to last the course in the race for the title this year after a late collapse last season.
The Champions League run feels like an unexpected bonus, but victory against Bayern will strengthen belief that a trophy double could be on.
ATLETICO SLUMP
Atletico has slumped in recent weeks, with six losses and only four wins in its last 12 games overall, as it missed the goals and creativity of Antoine Griezmann. The France forward is now back playing and will be looking for his first goal since Jan. 18.
Diego Simeone’s side was enjoying a 25-game unbeaten run at its Metropolitano Stadium until Barcelona delivered a 3-0 rout at Atletico on March 27.
Dortmund has generally saved its best for the Champions League this season. It isn’t a Bundesliga contender this year, but wins over Newcastle, AC Milan and most recently PSV Eindhoven have shown it means business in Europe.
BPL Football : Dhaka Mohammedan SC maintain unbeaten run defeating Sheikh Russel KC 3-1
Federation Cup champions Dhaka Mohammedan SC maintained their unbeaten record as the lone team in the ABG Bashundhara Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) Football 2023-24, beating former champions Sheikh Russel KC by 3-1 goals at the Bashundhara Kings Arena in Dhaka on Saturday.
Despite the day's well merited win, Mohammedan SC remained at the 2nd slot in the league table securing 23 points from eleven matches while Sheikh Russell KC was at the 7th slot bagging 11 points from eleven encounters.
Bashundhara Kings comfortably dominated the league table securing 28 points from eleven matches while another former champion Dhaka Abahani Ltd were in distant 3rd with 19 points from eleven ties.
BPL Football: Bashundhara Kings thrash Ctg. Abahani 5-0
In the day's match, long serving Malian forward Souleymane Diabate scored first for the traditional black and whites Mohammedan in the 37th minute from a penalty (1-0).
Serbian left winger Vojislav Balabanovic leveled the margin for Sheikh Russel KC in the added time of the first half (45+7 minute) also from a penalty (1-1).
Uzbek midfielder Mozaffarov put Mohammedan ahead again in the 72nd minute (2-1) while local forward Jafar Iqbal sealed the fate of the match scoring the 3rd goal for Mohammedan in the 77th minute (3-1).
Sheikh Russell KC were reduced to 10-man as their Guinea foward Sekou Sylla got marching order in the 80th minute after receiving direct red card alongwith his coach.
Today (Saturday) is an exceptionally lucky day for Dhaka Mohammedan SC in the sports arena as their cricket team and hockey team also won their respective matches in top level.
Federation Cup Football: Holders Mohammedan SC reach semifinal eliminating Sheikh Russel
Mohammedan beat Gazi Tyres by nine wickets in the Premier Cricket League and they earned 6-3 goals victory over Police SC in the Premier Hockey League on Saturday.
However, in the day's other BPL match, former champions Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club played to 2-2 draw with formidable Bangladesh Police FC at the Sheikh Fazlul Haque Moni Stadium in Gopalganj on Saturday.
E E Morillo Jimenez and Al Amin scored one each for Police FC while Senegalese forward Abou Toure netted both the goals for Sheikh Jamal DC.
BPL Football: Bashundhara Kings, Dhaka Abahani Ltd earn convincing win
With the day's feat, Sheikh Jamal DC advanced to the 4th slot in the league table collecting 15 points while Police FC remained at the 5th place with 14 points, playing eleven matches.each.
BPL Football: Bashundhara Kings thrash Ctg. Abahani 5-0
Defending champions Bashundhara Kings earned a convincing 5-0 victory over Chittagong Abahani Ltd in the ABG Bashundhara Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) Football 2023-24' at the Bir Shreshta Fl.Lt Matiur Rahman Stadium in Munshigani on Friday.
With the day's feat, Bashundhara Kings further consolidated their top slot to clinch the league crown securing 28 points from eleven matches while Chittagong Abahani Ltd went down to the 9th slot with 10 points from eleven encounters.
In the day's match, local forward Rakib Hossain struck twice in the 19th and 53rd minutes, Brazilian forward Dorielton Gomes, Robson Robinho and Uzbek medio Asror Gafurov scored one goal each for the Kings in the 2nd, 13th and 45+2 minute respectively.
FIFA World Ranking: Bangladesh drops to 184th
In the day's other match, Dhaka Abahani Limited shared points middle rated Fortis FC as their crucial encounter ended in a 1-1 draw at the Sheikh Fazlul Haque Moni Stadium in Gopalganj on Friday.
After a barren first half, Ukrainian footballer V Gryshyn put Fortis FC ahead in the 61st minute (1-0) with the frustration of Abahani fans.
When the match was almost heading for Abahani's 3rd defeat in the league, then Saint Vincent booter Cornelius Stewart made the face-saving equaliser for sky-blue Dhanmondi outfit Abahani in the 6th minute of the stoppage time (90+6) minute (1-1)
After the day's match, Dhaka Abahani Ltd remained in the 3rd place in the league table with 19 points from eleven league outings while Fortis SC went down to the 6th slot with 13 points from eleven matches.
BPL Football: Bashundhara Kings, Dhaka Abahani Ltd earn convincing win
In a battle of two lowly teams at the Muktijoddha Smriti Stadium in Rajshahi, Rahmatganj MFS beat bottom-ranked Brothers Union Club by 1-0 goal Friday afternoon.
Rahmatganj MFS moved up to the 8th place in the league table earning ten points from eleven ties while Brothers Union remained at bottom with three points from eleven matches.
M Kahraba scored the all important goal for the old Dhaka outfit Rahmatganj in the 44th minute of the match.
Six-team hockey super league begins Friday
The six- team super league of the Green Delta Insurance Premier Division Hockey will begin on Friday at the Moulana Bhasani National Hockey Stadium in Dhaka.
Dhaka Abahani Limited will play Bangladesh Police SC in the opening match at 2:00 pm while league leader Dhaka Mohammedan SC will face Ajax SC at 4:00 pm in the other opening day's fixture.
Premier Div Hockey: Usha KC share top slot with Abahani beating Victoria SC by 7-1 goals
On the following day (Saturday), Usha KC will meet Club Cup Champions Dhaka Mariner Youngs Club at 1:30 pm while Dhaka Mohammedan SC will encounter Bangladesh Police SC at 3:30 pm at the same venue.
On the completion of the eleven-team first phase matches on Wednesday, Dhaka Mohammedan SC clinched the top slot as the lone unbeaten team in the league, securing 26 points from all ten matches.
Premier Div Hockey: Mohammedan advance to 2nd slot beating holders Mariner Youngs
Dhaka Abahani Limited and Usha KC followed the leader neck and neck, securing 25 points each, while Dhaka Mariner Youngs Club bagged 22 points from all eleven league outings.
Bangladesh Police SC and Ajax SC finished 5th and 6th to qualify for the Super Six stage of the league collecting 17 and 14 points, respectively.
Premier Div Hockey: Hattricks by Deepok, Rahul help Police rout Azad SC
FIFA World Ranking: Bangladesh drops to 184th
Current World Cup Champions Leonel Messi's Argentina remained on top while Bangladesh by one step to 184th in the latest FIFA World Ranking published by the World's apex body on Thursday (Apr 4).
Argentina, which clinched the top position in the FIFA World Ranking dethroning their arch-rival Brazil in April last year, maintained their hot seat intact for one year.
Bangladesh ranked 183rd in October last, went down by one step to settle for 184th place after six months following their two back to back defeats against war-torn Arabian nation Palestine in the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers last month.
Bangladesh suffered their biggest 0-5 goal defeat against Palestine in their away match in Kuwait on March 21 and conceded 0-1 goal defeat in their home match at the Bashundhara Kings Arena in Dhaka on March 26.
Besides, two major changes were also held in top ten positions.
Belgium advanced to the 3rd slot toppling England while Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal moved one step up to settle for the 6th place.
In other top ten FIFA rankings, France ranked 2nd, England 4th, Brazil 5th, Netherlands 7th, Spain 8th, Italy 9th and Croatia 10th .
Women's Cricket: Bangladesh suffer yet another big defeat to Australia
They came to this series accepting the reality that their Australian counterparts were far superior in every aspect of the game. And when the series ended, they faced the hard reality, losing all six matches without offering any kind of resistance.
On Thursday, Bangladesh lost the third and final T20I of the three-match series by a big margin of 77 runs at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium.
Australia batted first in this match and posted 156 for six, with Alyssa Healy scoring 45 and Tahlia McGrath hitting 43. Nahida Akter took three wickets for Bangladesh. However, her performance did not help the team contain Australia's scoring rate.
In reply, Bangladesh were never in a position to pose even a bit of a challenge to Australia. They tumbled to only 78 in 18.1 overs. Captain Nigar Sultana scored 32, the highest for her team. Bangladesh lost wickets at regular intervals, ultimately handing them a big defeat.
Bangladesh will take on India in another series later this month at home. This will be an important series considering that Bangladesh will host this year's T20 World Cup.
Women’s Cricket: India to travel Bangladesh this month
The Indian women's cricket team will travel to Bangladesh this month to play a five-match T20I series, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) confirmed on Wednesday.
The series will kick off on April 28, with the other matches will be played on April 30, and May 2, 6, and 9. While the first two and last matches will be played at the Sylhet International Stadium, the third and fourth matches will take place at the Sylhet International Stadium Outer field.
Chattogram Test: Sri Lanka near victory as Bangladeshi batters falter
India traveled to Bangladesh last year when Bangladesh won their first-ever ODI against them.
Bangladesh are currently busy playing a series against Australia, which will end on Apr 4 with the last T20I of the three-match series. Bangladesh has failed to win any of the five matches they have played so far in the ongoing contest.
Chattogram Test: Sri Lanka win to sweep series over Bangladesh
Sri Lanka secured a decisive 192-run victory over Bangladesh in the second Test match, with fast bowler Lahiru Kumara taking four wickets for 50 runs.
This win completed a series sweep for Sri Lanka, maintaining their record of never losing a Test match in Bangladesh. Prior to this, Sri Lanka also won the three-match T20 series 2-1 but lost the ODI series by the same margin.
“We’re very satisfied with the (Test) win,” Sri Lanka captain Dhananjaya de Silva said. There are many areas for us to improve, and I’ve talked about those with the team and the coaches are working towards that. If we can learn day by day and raise our game by 1%, we can make winning a habit.”
Resuming Day 5 at 268-7 and needing 243 runs for an unlikely victory, Bangladesh was bowled out for 318 with Mehidy Hasan Miraz staying unbeaten on 81.
Occasional bowler Kamindu Mendis, who took 3-32, got the breakthrough for the visitors in the fourth over of the day when he dismissed Taijul Islam, caught by Nishan Madushka at gully.
But Mehidy raised his sixth Test 50 off 62 balls, hitting Kamindu for a boundary. He batted aggressively to raise the prospect of his only second century but Hasan Mahmud and Syed Khaled Ahmed failed to give him support.
Both of the batters were dismissed by Kumara, leaving Mehidy 19 runs short of his century. He played 110 balls for his 81, including 14 fours.
“After the team does badly, the players feel bad. They always want to improve. They communicate with each other. We don’t think about Test match fees,” Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto said. “We are looking for improvement even when we are doing well. Everyone feels bad when we lose, but we prepare very well. We practice very hard.
“This is a very young team. We don’t have much experience. Every player has the desire to improve. Give it more time, the team will make better decisions.”
Sri Lanka posted 531 in its first innings with six batters getting past half-century marks, making it the highest total without any batters scoring a century.
It then dismissed Bangladesh for 178 runs, and took a 353-run lead but the visitors decided against the follow-on. Despite a batting collapse in the second innings, Sri Lanka was able to leave Bangladesh a record chase of 511 after declaring on 157-7.
“The bowlers did their basics on this wicket, and the batters did their job as well,” Dhananjaya said. “The batters were a bit disappointed about not getting runs in the first Test, but we have experienced players. I was confident they would get runs.”
Federation Cup Football: Holders Mohammedan SC reach semifinal eliminating Sheikh Russel
Coming from behind, defending champions Dhaka Mohammedan SC reached the semifinal of the Federation Cup Football Tournament as the first team eliminating Sheikh Russel KC by 2-1 goals in the first quarter final at the Sheikh Fazlul Haque Moni Stadium in Gopalganj on Tuesday.
Guinea forward Sekou Sylla put Sheikh Russell KC ahead twinkling of an eye in the very first minute of the match silencing the Mohammedans fans (1-0).
Federation Cup Football: Mohammedan SC, Dhaka Abahani reach quarterfinals
The traditional black and whites Mohammedan SC had to wait till 71st minute to make equaliser by Uzbek medio Muzaffarov (1-1).
Finally, local striker Jafar Iqbal scored the match winning goal for Mohammedan SC in the first minute of the added time (90+1 minute) of the match (2-1).
Federation Cup Football: Sheikh Jamal DC assure knock out stage outplaying Rahmatganj MFS 4-1
League champions and star -studded Bashundhara Kings will play old Dhaka outfit Rahmatganj MFS in the 2nd quarterfinal on April 16 at the same venue.
Federation Cup Football: Holders Mohammedan SC, runners-up Dhaka Abahani make good start
Premier Div Hockey: Usha KC share top slot with Abahani beating Victoria SC by 7-1 goals
Former champions Usha KC shared the top slot in the 11-team Green Delta Insurance Premier Division Hockey League, with Abahani Limited beating Victoria SC by 7-1 goals.
at the Moulana Bhasani National Hockey Stadium here on Tuesday.
Premier Div Hockey: Mohammedan advance to 2nd slot beating holders Mariner Youngs
After the day's match, the old Dhaka outfit Usha KC secured 25 points from all the 10 first phase matches to share the top with Abahani Ltd, which also bagged 25 points from nine matches, playing one match less than Usha KC.
Mohammedan SC remained at the 2nd slot in the league table, securing 23 points from nine matches.
While holders Mariner Youngs Club is in third place with 19 points from nine matches.
Premier Div Hockey: Hattricks by Deepok, Rahul help Police rout Azad SC
In the remaining first phase matches, Mohammedan SC will play lowly Bangladesh Sporting Club while Abahani Limited will face holders Dhaka Mariner Youngs Club.
In Tuesday's match, Mahbub Hossain scored a hat-trick, scoring three goals, and Hasan Jubair Niloy, Arshad, and Indian recruits Shariq and Nikhil scored one each for Usha KC.
Premier Div Hockey: Ashraful's hattrick guides Dhaka Abahani Ltd to bag 8th successive win
After trailing by 0-7 goals, Shafiqul Islam Anik scored the consolation goal for Victoria SC (7-1).
In the day's other match, Ajax SC assured the super six berth in the league, beating Dilkusha SC by 6-4 goals at the same venue on Tuesday afternoon.