United News of Bangladesh

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

Barcelona is on course for a hat trick of European titles after beating Trabzonspor 4-1 in the UEFA Youth League final on Monday. It was won the day after Barcelona reached the Women’s Champions League final and two days before the men’s team hosts Inter Milan in the first leg of the Champions League semifinals. Leading from the 11th minute, on the first of two precise left-foot strikes by Mali youth international Ibrahim Diarra, Barcelona was rarely tested to claim a record third European youth title. Trabzonspor got a deserved goal in the 88th. No club has swept European titles at each level since the Youth League started in the 2013-14 season. Barcelona won the inaugural edition and also lifted the trophy in 2018. Barcelona’s youth system is so strong that first-team players Lamine Yamal and Pau Cubarsi were still eligible for the under-19 team that plays in the UEFA Youth League. The starting lineup on Monday had 10 players older than superstar winger Yamal, who turned 17 last July on the eve of helping Spain win the European Championship final against England. Barcelona was too strong for Trabzonspor, the first Turkish team to reach even the round of 16 in the competition. Hundreds of its noisy claret-and-blue fans outnumbered Barcelona’s support in the small stadium next to UEFA headquarters. Champions League semifinals: Barcelona-Inter rekindle memories of 2010 classic Diarra’s opening goal was added to in the 18th when defender Andres Cuenca tapped in a loose ball after goalkeeper Erol Can Çolak pushed away a powerful header by Landry Farré. Barcelona captain Hugo Alba placed a rising shot in the 57th and Diarra again found the bottom corner of the net in the 68th. A late header by Trabzonspor defender Bican Tibukoğlu hardly dimmed the celebrations for Barcelona, which could have a stellar end to the season. The La Liga-leading men’s team must get past Inter over two legs to earn a Champions League final on May 31 in Munich against Paris Saint-Germain or Arsenal. The women’s team faces Arsenal in their Champions League final on May 24 in Lisbon. The youth team coached by Juliano Belletti — who scored a Champions League-winning goal for Barcelona against Arsenal in 2006 — did its part on Monday.

The Champions League semifinals bring a familiar clash as Barcelona’s dynamic attack meets Inter Milan’s resilient defense. Sound familiar? It harks back to 2010 — when Lamine Yamal was not yet three years old and Lionel Messi was approaching his peak — as Camp Nou staged one of the most iconic matches in tournament history. That night, Inter, managed by Jose Mourinho, protected a 3-1 first-leg advantage with a defensive masterclass, surviving more than an hour with 10 men to lose only 1-0 and reach the final. As Barcelona and Inter prepare to meet again on Wednesday, memories of that gripping encounter will resurface — with both teams displaying similar characteristics to those from 15 years ago. Barcelona has returned to the Champions League semifinals for the first time since 2018-19, powered by the competition’s most potent attack in the expanded 36-team group stage. Led by Yamal, Raphinha, and Robert Lewandowski, Barca scored 28 goals in eight games and added nine more in knockout wins over Benfica and Borussia Dortmund. Meanwhile, Serie A champion Inter has maintained its defensive steel, conceding just once in the group stage and edging Bayern Munich in a gritty quarterfinal. Inter’s run carries echoes of its 2010 triumph, when it captured its third European Cup title by defeating Bayern in the final. Arsenal vs. Paris Saint-Germain While Barcelona-Inter offers a rich history, the semifinal between Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain feels much fresher. The two sides have met only three times in the Champions League and never in the knockout rounds. One of those meetings was earlier this season, with Arsenal claiming a 2-0 victory at Emirates Stadium. Arsenal will host the first leg on Tuesday, aiming to build on the momentum from their impressive quarterfinal wins over reigning champion Real Madrid. PSG, on the other hand, are looking to eliminate a third consecutive English opponent after knocking out Liverpool and Aston Villa — though the latter less convincingly. With former stars Kylian Mbappe, Neymar, and Messi gone, PSG is pursuing its first Champions League title with a new generation of rising talents. Arsenal is also seeking a historic first European crown, having last reached the semifinals in 2009.  

Real Madrid defender Antonio Rüdiger has issued an apology following his angry reaction toward the referee after his team’s Copa del Rey final loss to Barcelona. The German international lost his temper when teammate Kylian Mbappé was fouled late in extra time, denying a potential goal-scoring opportunity, during Madrid’s 3-2 defeat early Sunday. Rüdiger, who had to be restrained by teammates and staff, was seen throwing a small ice bag onto the field and yelling at the referee. “There’s no excuse for my behavior last night,” Rüdiger posted on Instagram on Sunday. “I sincerely apologize. From the second half onward, we played a very good game.” Rüdiger, whose legs were bandaged during the match, was substituted midway through the second half of extra time. “After 111 minutes, I could no longer help my team, and before the final whistle, I made a mistake,” he added. “Apologies again to the referee and to everyone I let down last night.” Referee Ricardo de Burgos Bengoechea also issued red cards to Jude Bellingham and Lucas Vázquez for their protests. Argentina's San Lorenzo club pays tribute to Pope Francis during match In his match report, De Burgos noted that Rüdiger "threw an object from the coaching area that didn’t reach me" and described his behavior as "aggressive." Rüdiger could now face a multi-match suspension, while Bellingham and Vázquez are expected to receive lighter punishments. A day before the final, De Burgos had criticized what he called a smear campaign against him by Real Madrid’s official television channel.

Argentine soccer club San Lorenzo paid tributes to its fan Pope Francis during a national league home match on Saturday. The pontiff, who died last Monday at age 88, was buried in Rome before the game. San Lorenzo players wore a patch on their shirts with an image of Jorge Mario Bergoglio smiling and wearing his papal robes, accompanied by the phrase “Together for Eternity.” Visiting side Rosario Central won 1-0 thanks to an injury time goal. Before the match, children from an initiative promoted by Bergoglio paraded with San Lorenzo's youth team at Nuevo Gasómetro Stadium. The club's blue and red colors were mixed in the stands with the yellow and white of the Vatican flag in the form of smoke, ribbons and flags, some of them featuring the pope's face. Fans gave Francis a standing ovation only hours after he was buried in Rome. Pope Francis laid to rest as world leaders mourn San Lorenzo’s stadium is in the Bajo Flores neighborhood, close to Bergoglio’s birthplace. The pontiff was the club's 88,235th member. A club founded by Catholic priest Lorenzo Massa, San Lorenzo is expected to return to the neighborhood of the same name in Buenos Aires by the construction of a new stadium, which will be named “Pope Francis.”

Barcelona has launched its bid for a treble after edging Real Madrid 3-2 in a thrilling Copa del Rey final with Jules Koundé scoring an extra-time winner on Saturday. Right back Koundé pounced on a pass by Luka Modric and fired into the low corner of Thibaut Courtois’ net for the 116th-minute decider. Barcelona will carry momentum from its record-extending 32nd Copa del Rey title into Wednesday’s start of its Champions League semifinal series against Inter Milan. It also leads La Liga by four points over Madrid. Pedri González dictated the game for Barcelona from midfield and scored from long range to take a 28th minute-lead at La Cartuja Stadium. Madrid rallied with two second-half goals, with Kylian Mbappé coming off the bench at halftime and scoring from a free kick in the 70th and midfielder Aurélien Tchouaméni's header in the 77th making it 2-1. Ferran Torres leveled in the 84th to force extra time. Barcelona has beaten Madrid in all three of the clasicos this season, including a 5-2 rout in the Spanish Super Cup final in January after winning 4-0 at Madrid in the league in October. “This was such a physically demanding game, but we showed that we are a great team that never gives up,” said Torres, who filled in perfectly for the injured Robert Lewandowski. BPL Football: Mohammedan- Abahani top of the table clash ends in goalless draw The loss to its fierce rival was another blow to Madrid after it was knocked out of the Champions League quarterfinals by Arsenal. This could have been its last title decider with Carlo Ancelotti in charge. The Italian coach said he will decide his future this summer amid speculation he is bound to take over Brazil. Ancelotti, when asked about his future, said: “As I have said, I can continue, I can stop, it will be a topic for the coming weeks.” While Ancelotti’s second stint in Madrid appears to be coming to an end, Hansi Flick has only added to his superb first season with Barcelona. The German coach has invigorated a group of players who seemed spent under Xavi Hernández and helped young players such as Lamine Yamal and Pau Cubarsí continue to grow into stars. “I have to say thanks to the team because they had an unbelievable performance,” Flick said. “A huge win in the Copa final is great for everyone and it gives us confidence for more." King Felipe VI awarded the trophy to Barcelona captains Ronald Araujo and Marc-Andre ter Stegen, after the monarch returned to Spain following his attendance at the funeral of Pope Francis. The trophy is the first piece needed to repeat a treble that Barcelona won under Pep Guardiola in 2009 and Luis Enrique in 2015. Red for Rudiger on bench Madrid's Antonio Rudiger was shown a red card by the referee in the final moments when he apparently threw wice at the referee and shouted aggressively. Jude Bellingham and Lucas Vázquez were also shown red cards for protesting. Barcelona dominates first half One of the biggest rivalries in global soccer was again a tale of two halves – until Torres scored the late equalizer against the flow of play to renew Barcelona's prospects. Barcelona dominated the first half with its ball control and a pressure defense that was quick to recover the ball. The only semblance of a Madrid attack came when Bellingham was able to spin away from his marker. But a Bellingham pass intercepted by Cubarsí cued Barcelona’s opener. Pedri lobbed forward for Yamal, breaking down the flank. The 17-year-old phenom – sporting a new dyed-blond hairdo – threaded a pass back to the top of the box, where Pedri arrived to blast it home. Mbappé sparks Madrid fightback Mbappé started the game on the bench after injuring his ankle last week. But Ancelotti sent his striker on at halftime to replace Rodrygo. Modric and playmaker Arda Guler soon followed. The changes helped Madrid click, and the game became a back-and-forth contest with both teams creating scoring chances. Wojciech Szczesny had to protect Barcelona’s lead with three saves to deny Vinícius Júnior and Mbappé. The goalkeeper could do nothing, however, to stop Mbappe after he earned a foul and fired a free kick low and just inside the post. Copa del Rey referee denounces Real Madrid video discrediting him before final Tchouaméni rose up to head in a corner kick that Guler curled into to the edge of the six-yard box. Barcelona finishes it off “I told Ronald (Araujo) that it doesn’t matter if they score one goal, it doesn’t matter if they score two goals. They can’t hang with us,” Yamal said after his two-assist performance. Turns out, he was right. Yamal put a long ball behind the defense and Courtois mistimed his run out to intercept it, leaving Torres with an open net to tie it up. Raphinha thought he had a penalty in the final minute of injury time after contact with Raúl Asencio. But the referee, who the day before the final denounced a campaign to discredit him by Real Madrid’s official club television, waived off his initial decision after consulting video. With several players clearly exhausted in extra time the game appeared destined to finish in a penalty shootout. But that was when Koundé became the hero for the Catalan club.