Luis Luis Enrique hits out at his critics after guiding Paris Saint-Germain to the Champions League semi-finals.

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Luis Enrique out at criticsPSG can win four titles this seasonWill face Lyon on Sunday in Ligue 1WHAT HAPPENED?

Luis Enrique's PSG overturned a one-goal deficit from the first leg to beat Barcelona 6-4 on aggregate to qualify for the Champions League semi-finals in midweek. As the French giants now gear up to take on rivals Lyon in a Ligue 1 clash on Sunday, the Spanish coach has hit out at his critics for attacking him on multiple ocassions in the past.

AdvertisementWHAT LUIS ENRIQUE SAID

Ahead of facing Lyon, Luis Enrique addressed the media in a pre-match press conference where he said, "It’s not that I read little (the press), it’s zero. I've been a coach for over 10 years, I've been attacked, vilified, ignored or criticized. It's not a problem, I like it."

GettyTHE BIGGER PICTURE

Les Parisiens have already won the French Super Cup title beating Toulouse in the final. They are currently leading the Ligue 1 title race by 10 points with only six games to go in the season. Luis Enrique's side have also reached the final of the Coupe de France where they will take on Lyon on May 25. In the Champions League last-four stage, the club will face Borussia Dortmund.

Getty ImagesWHAT NEXT FOR PSG?

If the reigning champions manage to beat Lyon on Sunday, they will need one more victory against Lorient on April 24 to seal yet another league title.

Scotland’s openers Coetzer and Cross finished the game with 280 balls to spare

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Feb-2019

Oman slumped to the fourth-lowest List-A score in cricket history, after they were bowled out by Scotland for only 24 runs in Al Amerat.Playing the first of three one-dayers, the hosts were all out inside 18 overs as Scotland’s Adrian Neill and Ruaidhri Smith shared four wickets each.In response, Scotland chased the target down in the fourth over, winning with 280 balls to spare. In all, only 20.3 overs were bowled in the match.Six Oman batsmen were out for ducks, while No. 3 Khawar Ali top-scored with 15. His boundary off Neill in the 12th over was the only four of Oman’s innings.It was Smith who did the early damage, taking three of Oman’s first six wickets to reduce them to 17 for 6. Thereafter, Neill took over, taking the last three wickets, without Oman adding a run as they slid from 24 for 7 to 24 all out. Oman’s eight-run partnership between Ajay Lalcheta (2) and Khawar – for the fifth wicket – was their highest.Kyle Coetzer and Matthew Cross hit four boundaries in Scotland’s innings – including a four to finish the match – which lasted only 20 deliveries. The teams face off again on Wednesday for the second one-dayer, while the final match is scheduled for Friday at the same venue.

Joe Root has warned his batsman that they must take personal responsibility for their failures in the Caribbean, after England collapsed in ignominious fashion once again in Antigua to hand West Indies a ten-wicket victory, and an unassailable 2-0 series lead, with two days to spare in the second Test.Root himself cannot be excused from such self-reflection, having made just 40 runs in four innings to date – albeit with some notable moments of misfortune, in particular the good-length snorter with which Alzarri Joseph dismissed him on the first day in Antigua.But, speaking at the end of a chastening day, he admitted that his team might be forced to “go about things slightly differently in the future”, after the policy of positive intent in adversity that had proved so successful in Sri Lanka before Christmas came unstuck in spectacular fashion against a committed, varied and aggressive four-man pace attack.”It’s very disappointing,” Root said. “We came here to win and to find ourselves out of it with a game to go is hard to take. We have been outplayed, outperformed and we have to take that on the chin.”England’s downfall was all the more damning given the manner in which West Indies grafted in their first – and only significant – innings. With Kraigg Brathwaite and Darren Bravo epitomising their determination – Bravo’s 215-ball half century was the slowest ever made by a West Indian in Test history – they ground out a priceless lead of 119 on a pitch that proved tricky for players on both sides, but on which England’s expansive strokeplayers had no answer.”We have to learn some lessons,” said Root. “The way they went about stuff in certain areas has been very skilled, especially how they batted yesterday against some very high skilled bowling. That was frustrating. We felt unlucky. It’s not an excuse, they managed to find a way to a good score on that surface.Asked if any players in England’s line-up would be capable of emulating Bravo’s sheet-anchor application, Root said: “I think a number of guys can, I’d like to think I can. I felt unfortunate not to make a big contribution and when experienced players aren’t making scores over fifty, it makes it very difficult for the rest of the guys around them.”With the match finishing two days early, it seems highly likely that England will be sent back to the nets in the coming days, with the influence of the head coach Trevor Bayliss and batting coach Mark Ramprakash sure to come under further scrutiny ahead of Saturday’s third Test in St Lucia. Having harboured ambitions of using this tour to enhance their claims to the Test No.1 status, England will enter that match facing the very real possibility of a 3-0 series defeat that would have echoes of the famous “Blackwash” series of the mid-1980s.”I think we have got to be better at what we do, or maybe do things slightly differently,” said Root. “The choice comes down to the individual. I can’t bat for 11 guys, neither can Trevor or Ramps. The responsibility is down to the individual. But we will stick together and work on it as a group and try and come back with a really strong response in St Lucia.”After being rolled aside for 77 in the first innings of the series in Barbados, England’s batting was arguably even more feeble on the third afternoon in Antigua, as they lost all ten wickets for 97 runs in the space of 30 overs – four bowled and three lbw, as West Indies’ quicks concentrated on line and length and waited for the errors to come.”There were a couple of disappointing dismissals that guys will have to look at individually,” said Root. “But on a surface like that you have to commit to whatever decision you make. As a side they tried to absorb pressure but, when they went to hit boundaries, they gave it everything. Having that balance is important.”I think they played better than us, exploited the surfaces and we haven’t scored enough runs. It’s very easy to sum us up and say we’re a bad side after two games, having played so well for a period. We have to make sure we respond quickly and finish this tour on a high.”

The controversial slogan associated with white supremacist groups was briefly unfurled on one of the stands

Tristan Lavalette25-Jan-2019Three men who unfurled an ‘It’s ok to be white’ banner during last night’s Big Bash match at Perth Stadium will receive a “first and final warning” from Cricket Australia.The banner was displayed for about five minutes over the railing on the top tier near the Justin Langer Stand during Perth Scorchers’ innings against Sydney Thunder. The men took down the banner shortly after reportedly being spotted by security and were issued move-on notices by police.Perth Stadium’s conditions of entry prohibits oversized banners and flags deemed to cause public nuisance.The slogan is affiliated with white supremacist groups and gained prominence in Australia last October when controversial senator Pauline Hanson put forward a motion declaring ‘it’s OK to be white’.

Idiots put this sign up at Perth Stadium #BBL08 pic.twitter.com/CD58PODN5T

— Tristan Lavalette (@trislavalette) January 24, 2019

Government senators originally supported the motion, before backing down and voted against it the second time around.A Western Australia police spokesperson said the incident was “currently under investigation by police”, with the trio involved aged 50, 38 and 24. Perth has a history of racial and religiously motivated banners appearing in public places. In 2016 a banner declaring “Go WCE, Stop the Mosques” was briefly unfurled at Subiaco Oval during an AFL fixture between West Coast Eagles and the Fremantle Dockers, following a similar banner displayed during another AFL match in Melbourne.Stadium management indicated at the time that the four spectators responsible for the banner would be banned from the stadium for life.Earlier this summer, numerous spectators were ejected from the MCG’s famous Bay 13 during the Boxing Day Test for repeatedly chanting “show us your visa” to Indian members of the crowd. Footage of the chant, obtained by ESPNcricinfo, was passed on to Cricket Australia, who in turn passed the video on to Victoria Police and stadium management.”Three people in question was immediately removed from the venue and they will be issued a first and final warning from Cricket Australia,” a CA spokesperson told ESPNcricinfo in relation to Friday’s incident. “Cricket Australia takes a zero-tolerance approach to anti-social behaviour at any of our matches, which includes racial vilification.”Our message to any fan attending a match is that if you display anti-social behaviour you will be removed and risk being banned from any cricket match across Australia, along with police action.”We encourage anybody who may witness this at one of our matches to report the matter to security or a member of staff immediately.”

Tim Paine hinted that Australia wouldn’t hold back on the bouncer with his view that it was underused against India, but with their top six shuffled again, Sri Lanka may be in with a chance

Andrew McGlashan23-Jan-2019No one has been able to breach the Gabba fortress since West Indies in 1988, and Sri Lanka’s winless record in Australia does not suggest they can be the team. The visiting captain Dinesh Chandimal, however, hopes for a “miracle” as he chases his dream of securing a Test victory in the country.Sri Lanka have lost 11 of their 13 Tests in Australia but the vibe around the team is that they will never have a better chance of breaking their duck against a vulnerable home side who have again shuffled their top six.”It will definitely be a challenge for us,” Chandimal said. “If we can take this challenge as a batter or bowler, if you can give your best shot…we can do some miracle here. That’s what we want to do as a team.”If Sri Lanka are to make history, they will have combat a pitch which has proved too much for most touring sides over the last 30 years. There was a good tinge of green the day before the match, and allied with the day-night factor, there could be some testing periods for batsmen, although the previous floodlit Test at the Gabba, against Pakistan in 2016, included totals of over 400 for each side.”I hope it’s nice and fast, the usual sort of Gabba wicket,” Tim Paine said. “Hopefully there’s plenty of bounce and it’s good to watch.”There was also a strong hint from Paine that Australia wouldn’t hold back on the short stuff, with his view that it was underused in the series against India. Australia’s bowling tactics often came under scrutiny, especially in the Melbourne and Sydney Tests, with them unable to gain a single lbw for the quicks in the four matches but Paine believed that smart use of the bouncer could also bring the stumps into play.”Clearly we need to be hitting the stumps a little bit more than we were and it’s been spoken about, but I also didn’t think we used our bouncer as much as we would like,” he said. “When you are using your bouncer a couple of times an over and then when you pitch up it’s a bit more effective. We know the majority of the time we want to be hitting the top of the stumps a bit more, but there’s also a way to set that up.While Chandimal expected his batsmen to have their techniques challenged by the Australia quick bowlers, he was confident he had the firepower to respond in kind. “When you look at the pitch you can see a lot of grass on the wicket, but we have got really good fast bowlers who can bowl over 140.”He also wanted his batsman to take a leaf out of Cheteshwar Pujara’s book and force Australia’s pacemen back for multiple spells. Whatever balance of side Australia select, they won’t have more than three pace-bowling options, although Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins were rested from the India ODIs with this series in mind.”Pujara made a difference, especially these days the weather is really hot here. They brought the Australian bowlers back for more spells. That’s what I think Pujara did, and after that it helped the other batters enjoy their batting in the middle. That’s one area I think we learned in the India-Australia series.”Chandimal drew on the memories of his Test debut against South Africa in 2011, when Sri Lanka secured their first victory in the country, in Durban. He scored two half-centuries in the match to play a key part in a 208-run win.”That was a really good memory. I made my Test debut against SA and we won that game and that was the first time we won a game in SA in their soil,” he said. “One of my dreams as a captain and player is to win a Test match here. But that’s not an easy thing coming here. You have to do a lot of hard work…that has to come from all 11 players for all five days. That’s what we are looking at as a team. It is a really good opportunity to make history and we just want to do that as a team.”

Lionel Messi bagged his eighth and ninth goals of the MLS season Saturday, leading the way in a win over the New England Revolution.

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• Miami thump Revs 4-1
• Messi bags goals No. 8 and 9
• Argentine in stunning form

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  WHAT HAPPENED?

  A brilliant first touch set the first goal up, with Finnish international Robert Taylor playing a delightful through ball to Messi, who finished in a calm and composed fashion. The second brought more of the same, with Mesi this time on the end of a Sergio Busquets to make it 2-1 on the day. He then chipped in a late assist, teeing up Luis Suarez to seal the 4-1 win.

  With his goals Saturday, he's now had a goal contribution in every match he's played this season.

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  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  After conceding just 40 seconds into the match. Miami responded well with a calm and composed half. Without Luis Suarez in the XI, Miami opted to roll out with Leonardo Campana and Robert Taylor in their XI up top alongside their Argentine goalscorer.

  Messi, though, made the difference, making MLS history with his fifth consecutive match with at least two goal contributions.

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  WHAT NEXT FOR INTER MIAMI

  The Herons will take on the New York Red Bulls next weekend. It will be a clash between two of MLS' elite sides in the East, as both look to continue their hot form.

The Catalan coach has tortured Los Merengues and been left traumatised by them in a fascinating odyssey of matches spanning 16 years

“It’s Madrid, it’s special," remarked Pep Guardiola after Manchester City's pulsating 3-3 draw with Los Merengues last week. And he would know. The Catalan has faced Real Madrid 22 times as a coach, with City, Bayern Munich and Barcelona, and many more as a player. He knows what it's like to win against Madrid and to lose to them. His sides have produced scintillating displays against the most glamorous club in European football, and his teams have also been thrashed and humiliated by them.

If it hadn't been for Guardiola, Madrid would have at least three more La Liga titles to their name. and potentially two extra Champion Leagues. And if it hadn't been for Madrid, the Catalan would be the undisputed best coach in the competition's history.

Guardiola grew up despising Madrid as an ardent Barcelona fan and then player, but there is also a deep sense of mutual respect between the coach and the 14-time European champions. "The king of the competition" is how Guardiola referred to Madrid when he learned City would be playing them for the third consecutive season after being drawn together in the quarter-finals. But is his side who currently wear the crown.

Madrid will be looking to dethrone City in Wednesday's second leg at the Etihad Stadium, which will be the latest chapter in an enthralling saga which has thrown up agonising eliminations, era-defining performances, breath-taking goals and someone getting poked in the eye. GOAL relives Guardiola's best ever matches against Real Madrid…

Getty Real Madrid 2-6 Barcelona, May 2009

This was the game when everyone stood up and took notice of Guardiola's powers as a coach. His Barca were already stunning onlookers in his debut season in charge and he had won his first Clasico at the Camp Nou. But Madrid were beginning to reel his side in under Juande Ramos, and a victory for Los Blancos at the Bernabeu would have put them right back in the title race.

Gonzalo Higuain gave Madrid the lead, but Barca came flying back at them, producing an utterly formidable performance. And it was all down to Guardiola's secret plan for Lionel Messi, who he fielded as a 'false nine' for the first time, with devastating consequences.

AdvertisementGetty Barcelona 5-0 Real Madrid, November 2010

Jose Mourinho was seen as the one man who could re-establish Madrid as the dominant force in Spain, especially after his Inter had knocked Barca out of the Champions League the previous season. But in his first Clasico as Blancos boss, the Portuguese's side were annihilated.

Xavi and Pedro got the ball rolling with early goals before David Villa struck twice and Jeffren completed the rout, leading to a gleeful Gerard Pique holding up his five fingers in celebration, one for every goal.

Getty Real Madrid 0-2 Barcelona, April 2011

It was one of the great press conference displays of all-time, followed by one of the greatest goals of all-time. Guardiola had been mocked by Mourinho earlier in the day in the aftermath of a bitter Copa del Rey final defeat just four days previously, and he marched into the press room at Santiago Bernabeu meaning business. He called Mourinho "the f*cking chief, the f*cking boss" when it came to dealing with the media, but said his side would do their talking on the pitch in the Champions League semi-final first leg.

They did exactly that. Mourinho devised an ultra-defensive tactical scheme with Pepe in midfield, which backfired when the Portuguese was sent off. Barca exploited the extra space and Messi broke the deadlock before scoring an extraordinary second, slaloming his way through the Madrid defence from the halfway line before scoring.

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Getty Barcelona 3-2 Real Madrid, August 2011

Even considering the long-running history of rivalry between Barcelona and Real Madrid, tensions between the two clubs were at an all-time high when they met in the Spanish Super Cup just three months after their unforgettable series of four matches within a two-week period.

The first leg at the Bernabeu had ended 2-2, and the return match at Camp Nou was another epic. Cristiano Ronaldo cancelled out Andres Iniesta's opener and then Karim Benzema levelled after Messi had restored Barca's lead. But Messi, typically, had the final say, at least on the pitch.

The Argentine genius scored in the 88th minute to clinch the trophy for Barca, but the game is remembered far more for Mourinho poking Guardiola's assistant Tito Vilanova in the eye in a furious clash between the two benches.

India A clinch two-match series after bowling the visitors out for 144 and 180

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Feb-2019After Navdeep Saini and Shahbaz Nadeem had led the demolition job in England Lions’ first innings, Mayank Markande took charge in the second, picking up five wickets to help India A stroll to an innings-and-68-run win inside three days in the second and final unofficial Test, in Mysore.The Lions, who had folded for 144 the first time out in reply to the Indians’ 392, did marginally better with Ben Duckett scoring quickly at the top, but once the opening batsman was dismissed for 50, they rolled over tamely enough.The day began with the Lions at 24 for no loss, still 224 runs in arrears, with Duckett and Max Holden in the middle. Holden fell soon after start of play, lbw to Jalaj Saxena, as the scoreboard read 40 for 1.ALSO READ: ‘People have opinions on me, and I understand why’ – Ben DuckettDuckett played aggressively, hitting four fours and two sixes, but didn’t last long enough to make a real difference. He became the second man to be dismissed, Saxena trapping him in front too, having faced 61 balls, and there was no resistance of note after that till late in the script, when No. 7 Lewis Gregory swung his bat around for a 49-ball 44.Markande got into the act with Ollie Pope’s wicket in the 26th over, and it was a freefall after that as all the Indian bowlers picked up at least one wicket. Markande was the star, sending back Steven Mullaney, Dom Bess and Zak Chappell before Gregory delayed the only result that seemed likely.Markande finished off the game with Gregory’s wicket, for excellent returns of 5 for 31 – his third five-for in a short first-class career.The win gave the Indians the series 1-0 after the first match, in Wayanad, had ended in a stalemate. India A had earlier won the five-match one-day series 4-1.

Mahmudullah admitted the batsman lacked a clarity of plan to counter Neil Wagner’s “bouncer theory”

Mohammad Isam in Wellington12-Mar-2019Neil Wagner’s sustained short-ball attack has dominated Bangladesh over the first two Tests of the series, with the tactic fetching the New Zealand quick 15 out of his 16 wickets so far. Batsman after batsman fell to Wagner’s short-ball persistence: Mahmudullah and Mohammad Mithun were dismissed by the bowler three times, while Liton Das, Mominul Haque and Mehidy Hasan each fell twice. Wagner’s short ball also claimed the wickets of Shadman Islam and Tamim Iqbal.Mahmudullah said that many of the Bangladesh batsmen, including himself, were caught in two minds against Wagner’s lines of attack. Often, their proclivity for attacking to counter Wagner landed them in more trouble. Tamim, Mahmudullah and Soumya Sarkar played Wagner well but apart from Soumya, the other two failed in their attempts to pull off the short length on four occasions.Mahmudullah conceded that the batsmen need to carry much of the blame for the Wellington defeat, where they were effectively bowled out in 117 overs in a match that was already restricted to a maximum of 315 overs, after two days were lost to rain.”In the first innings, Tamim and Shadman gave us a good start and even after Wagner started with his bouncer theory, we were handling him well but then we gave it away,” Mahmudullah said. “We have to bat with more guts for longer periods. A number of our batsmen are playing half-hearted shots, or we are not committed. We are in two minds whether to play a shot or not. You need to back yourself. If you want to attack, you should know how you want to cope with their bouncer theory.”They will probably have a fast wicket in Christchurch, so our batsmen have to be more responsible, particularly with three new bowlers in the side. I think it is the batsmen who should take more of the blame. We were bowled out twice inside two-and-a-half days.”Mahmudullah said that Wagner had had to pitch the ball very short in Hamilton where Mahmudullah and Soumya Sarkar staged a fightback on the fourth day. But in Wellington where the pitch had more bounce on offer, he could pitch the bouncer slightly further up.”We knew about him from the last time we were here. Now we are talking a lot about the Wagner factor,” Mahmudullah said. “There was certainly help in the pitches for both sets of pace bowlers but we couldn’t utilise it as well as they did. I believe that our batsmen have the skill level to handle their short-ball tactics.”Wagner had to pitch it really short in Hamilton while here he got bounce from a length slightly further up. It was easier to play or leave in Hamilton. Here there was a bit more in the pitch. He made use of it. He was successful to his credit.”Mahmudullah also regretted the reprieves to Ross Taylow, after he Shadman put down chances off Abu Jayed’s bowling when the New Zealand batsman was on 20. Ross was on 20 at the time and he went on to score 200 in quick time to take the game away from Bangladesh.But Mahmudullah also urged the bowlers to find ways to control the flow of boundaries. This was the first time that Bangladesh conceded 400-plus runs in an innings at more than five an over.”If we had captured those chances, we could have given better momentum to the bowlers. It may have brought us few more wickets. They were playing with seven batters and with the kind of help that this pitch produced for the bowlers, it would have helped our guys.”Jayed, Mustafizur and Taijul bowled quite well but we ended up conceding five runs an over. We have to find ways to bowl better in the next match,” he said.

Bayer Leverkusen defeated Roma at the Stadio Olimpico to make it 47-games unbeaten as they moved one step closer to the Europa League final.

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• Leverkusen beat Roma 2-0
• Alonso's side now unbeaten in 47 games
• Sit in pole position to reach Europa League final

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  Xabi Alonso's men would normally have arrived as outright favourites to win the clash, however, with the atmosphere of Roma fans at Stadio Olimpico and their new-found vigour under Daniele De Rossi, it seemed that the game was evenly matched. This proved to be the case until the 28th minute when Rick Karsdorp's mistake allowed Florian Wirtz to open the scoring for Die Werkself.

  After taking the lead, the Bundesliga champions cruised and barely allowed the Giallorossi chances to equalize. However, it wasn't until Robert Andrich's long-range shot stunned Mile Svilar that Alonso's side managed to double their lead on the night and give them a major boost in their hunt for a treble this season.

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  THE MVP

  Alejandro Grimaldo was impeccable once again for Alonso in all aspects of the match as he managed to keep Paulo Dybala quiet throughout the game and also kept Romelu Lukaku's wide runs under control as the Belgian tried to disrupt Die Werkself's defence. He also latched onto Karsdorp's loose ball and found Wirtz's late run with a well-thought cutback to claim an assist for the opener.

• THE BIG LOSER

  Karsdorp's mistake could looked upon as the major point in the semi-final tie with the match having been evenly poised up to that point. After Chris Smalling lost an aerial duel with Grimaldo the ball bounced to the Dutchman. Under pressure, the right-back mishit a pass to Svilar straight into the Spanish full-back's path. He passed it to Florian Wirtz, who managed to be in the right place at the right time to put Bayer 1-0 up.

• DID YOU KNOW?

  In the other Europa League semi-final between Marseille and Atalanta, the match ended 1-1 at the Orange Velodrome with Gianluca Scamacca's opener having been cancelled out by Chancel Mbemba's 20th-minute goal.