Tottenham and Ajax’s Champions League success serves as a reminder that there is more to football than money April 29, 2019 It is the semi-final that no one saw coming. Two teams with limited financial resources who were supposed to struggle to make it out of their Champions League group. Instead, Tottenham and Ajax have claimed some of Europe's biggest scalps on their path to a final-four clash that will see two of the competition's surprise [...]
Day in the life: Ultra-runner and Marathon des Sables champion Ragna Debats on juggling family life with a training regime April 29, 2019 I started trail running by coincidence. I stopped training horses and two years later started running because, just like riding horses, I liked the feeling of freedom it gave me. I love the mountains and forest around where I live in Terrassa, near Barcelona, and in three minutes from my house I can be off-road [...]
London Marathon 2019: What next for Eliud Kipchoge after Kenyan set yet more records over 26.2 miles? April 28, 2019 Blink and you’ll miss him. Thousands of people packed the streets of London to soak up the marathon atmosphere, watch the elite athletes and cheer on friends, but the man who completed the 26.2 miles in the fastest time didn’t stick around for long to revel in the adulation. That’s because Eliud Kipchoge was busy travelling [...]
Manchester United 1-1 Chelsea: The race nobody wants to win, De Gea’s errors mounting and Blues’ over-reliance on Hazard April 28, 2019 It’s the race nobody seems to want to win. With Manchester City and Liverpool streaking away at top speed in the Premier League, the efforts of those below them to finish in the Champions League spots is one being defined by the bad, rather than the good. While Chelsea looked more than happy to take [...]
Avengers: Endgame review: A fitting finale to the most ambitious series in cinematic history April 25, 2019 Reviewing Avengers: Endgame is hard, because it’s not really a film, it’s more of a ridiculous fairground ride without the boring uphill bits. You could argue that the slow upwards climb for Endgame has been the 21 films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe that preceded it, and which you need to have watched so that [...]
Relentless excellence of Manchester City and Liverpool makes this the best ever Premier League title race April 25, 2019 This is by no means the first close title race of the Premier League era. Blackburn set an early benchmark when they pipped Manchester United by a solitary point in 1995, and Arsenal, United – twice – and Chelsea have all done the same since, while nothing has yet matched the drama of Sergio Aguero’s [...]
Ollie Phillips: Newcastle face do or die fixture against Northampton in bid to beat the Premiership drop April 25, 2019 What a difference a year makes. Last season Newcastle were toasting a Premiership semi-final place; this time they are staring down the barrel of relegation. It has reached do or die time for the Falcons, who are bottom of the table, seven points behind 11th-placed Worcester with just three matches remaining. Newcastle still have their [...]
Raheem Sterling may miss out on Player of the Year, but he deserves recognition for his contribution to the game this season April 25, 2019 Raheem Sterling may seemingly have missed out on the PFA Player of the Year award to Virgil van Dijk, but no one can take away what the England and Manchester City forward has achieved on and off the pitch this season. The 24-year-old has encapsulated everything that a footballer should be: a competitor on the [...]
London Irish will return from exile with move back to the capital as they bid to secure their Premiership status April 25, 2019 After 20 years in exile, London Irish are returning to their roots. The club bounced back into the Premiership at the first time of asking at the weekend with a 46-7 Good Friday win against Richmond, and after a difficult few years they are looking to their past for inspiration as they build for the [...]
Premier League given profit warning as rising wage bills eat into margins despite record revenue April 25, 2019 The Premier League may be experiencing a vintage season on the pitch, with a title race for the ages, most key positions in the table still undecided and English clubs dominating in Europe once more. But off the field the picture appears to be taking a turn for the worse, with top-flight teams’ most recent [...]