In his latest BBC Sport column, Wales centre Hadleigh Parkes discusses their defeat by France, Six Nations uncertainty, the possible return of Liam Williams and his Scarlets coach Brad Mooar.
The France defeat was hard to take and I must emphasise how much we don't like losing, especially at home.
It was a tough Test match against a physical side who played very well. I thought we also played well.
We have to learn from it because it was a second game in a row where we had the opportunities and we might have had a different result had we converted them.
We must put that right and focus on what will be a tough Test against England at Twickenham.
There is a bit of doubt about the Six Nations finishing, with Ireland and Italy postponed because of the spread of coronavirus.
We are planning for business as usual, but we are aware this is just sport. People's health comes first and you don't want to put anyone at risk.
The right decision has been made about the Ireland v Italy game. We will find out what happens to the rest of the tournament in the coming days, but people's health and safety is paramount.
Super Sanjay
We will wait and see whether Liam Williams is fit for the match against England, but it's just great to see him back in training.
He is a good mate of mine and it is great to see he is joining us early for the Scarlets. He will be a good asset before the end of the season.
It is great for him and his partner, Sophie, to come back from London as he commits his future to Wales.
Scarlets fans will be excited and he was one of the crowd favourites when he was there before - people see that he wears his heart on his sleeve.
He is a good character to have in the squad and on the field. He is a lovely bloke and a nice, generous guy.
He is also a great competitor and wants to do well at the highest level. He is not afraid to voice his opinion in meetings, saying what he thinks and what he expects of others.
His return would be timely especially when you see Josh Adams has been ruled out of the rest of the tournament with an ankle problem.
Injuries are a part of this great game, but I am gutted for Josh who has had such a great couple of years and scored a lot of tries.
It is all about getting that ankle right for when he comes back with Cardiff Blues. Sometimes injuries can be a blessing.
You don't wish them on anyone, but they can help other parts of the body to recover so you can return firing on all cylinders.
Magnificent Mooar
One of the great things about Liam's return is that he will get to work with Scarlets head coach Brad Mooar for a few months.
They will get on well. Brad is coming into his last few months before he returns to New Zealand to become part of Ian Foster's All Blacks backroom staff.
Brad and I go back a long way. It was in 2006 when I moved to Christchurch, where he was a partner in a law firm, for university. He was also a coach at the team I ended up going to, Christchurch Football Club.
He was my coach there for three or four years, and we got on well from there. He actually became my agent when I was there and I always knew he had my best interests at heart.
He charged his fees as if he was a lawyer though! Seriously though, he was very good and had a lot of contacts.
I moved to Auckland and he was still my agent, but in my second year there he decided he wanted to become a full-time coach and he joined the Southern Kings in South Africa.
He passed me on to another agent and it turned out that both Gareth Anscombe and I were deemed surplus to requirements at the Blues the following year.
Gareth moved to the Chiefs and I went to South Africa to play for the Kings in their first year of Super Rugby.
I only trained in the rain four times in the 10 months I was there and only played four games because I broke my arm against the Hurricanes in Wellington.
I was gutted not to play, but the consolation was the injury helped me to enjoy South Africa for what it was and I had a great time.
My wife Suzy, who was then my partner, got a secondment to work in South Africa.
We were actually living in an outhouse to Brad's family's house, where he lived with his wife, Anna, and three children, Laura, Charlie and Sam.
They had a big pool and our back door led to it. We were also able to get to the beach every day and we had great tans and looked like surfers.
After Brad came home from training, I would end up having a few beers with him some nights.
We had a great time and we got on extremely well. We both then went our separate ways, but always kept in touch.
Then the Scarlets came job came around with Wayne Pivac moving to Wales.
Wayne and Brad had met a couple of times. Brad was over here on holiday when we had a pre-season game against Bath and he got in touch with me to ask if he could come in and talk to the coaches.
I set up that meeting and what came of that, I guess, was an introduction and a contact for him ahead of the job coming up.
He got the Scarlets role and I was accidentally the agent so he actually owes me now - I should charge him as much as he charged me!
Brad has done an outstanding job and the boys really like him at the Scarlets after he added to what was already here.
He is an extremely positive man and is so infectious. You can be feeling down going into training, but he will lift you with the environment he has created.
The opportunity of a lifetime has come up for him to coach the All Blacks.
I think he did consider staying at the Scarlets for a little bit longer, but coaching New Zealand is his dream and all the Scarlets squad are excited for him.
The All Blacks first game is against Wales at Eden Park, Auckland on Saturday, 4 July and we will wait and see whether we will be up against each other then.
But a lot has to happen before then, starting with next weekend's Six Nations match against England at Twickenham.
For the latest Welsh rugby union news follow @BBCScrumV on Twitter.
FREDERICKSBURG, Va. – DeCerbo Construction, an Ohio-based commercial construction company, will serve as the title sponsor of the PDRA’s inaugural All-American Doorslammer Challenge.
Racing engine component manufacturer Callies Performance Products has been named the presenting sponsor of the event, which takes place June 11-13 at Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio.
“Who better to support our first trip to Norwalk than two local Ohio companies,” said Will Smith, marketing director, PDRA. “[Switzer Dynamics Pro Nitrous racer] John DeCerbo wasted no time in supporting this event with his DeCerbo Construction firm when we added Norwalk to our 2020 schedule. Callies is back on board as an event sponsor for the second consecutive season. We’re glad to have both companies helping us enter this new market.”
DeCerbo has competed in select PDRA events for the past few seasons with his Switzer Dynamics-equipped ’68 Camaro. As the president of DeCerbo Construction, which builds hospitals, nursing homes, banks and other large projects involving carpentry, he doesn’t get to attend as many races as he’d like. However, he does hope to hit all eight PDRA races.
“I feel [PDRA] is the best place to race right now for our type of cars, Pro Nitrous,” DeCerbo said. “They have the best program. it’s run very professionally. It’s run by the Franklin family, and I have a lot of respect for them. I don’t mind helping somebody out who’s helping me out. We’re just very thankful to have the PDRA. We love the way they do things and we just want to help it grow.”
The All-American Doorslammer Challenge is DeCerbo’s new home race on the PDRA schedule, as his race team and business are located just east of Summit Motorsports Park in Canfield, Ohio. That was a major factor influencing his decision to support the event.
“It’s our home track, where we grew up and where we always race,” DeCerbo said. “My clients and my employees don’t get to see us race much. So it will be a nice place for everyone to come check it out and see how the program operates.”
Located in Fostoria, Ohio, Callies Performance Products designs and manufacturers a wide-ranging line of engine components, including crankshafts, connecting rods and camshafts. Callies products are used by a number of teams across the PDRA’s professional and sportsman categories, especially Pro Nitrous.
“We’re spoiled by the fact that Summit Motorsports Park is in our backyard, and I’m very glad the PDRA is going to have a race there,” said Brook Piper, sales & tech, Callies Performance Products. “Everyone at Callies follows Pro Mod racing because these racers are some of our biggest customers. We’re all excited to have these guys racing right down the road from us.”
Since Callies Performance Products’ manufacturing facility and headquarters are so close to Norwalk, the company is inviting racers to stop in during the race week. Callies’ sister company, Energy Manufacturing, is also nearby in Fremont. Both companies will also have a presence on the manufacturer’s midway during the race.
“We’re only about 50 miles from Norwalk, and we’d love to have racers stop by to come see the facilities and take a shop tour,” Piper said. “It’s an open-door policy. We’re also looking forward to getting out to the track and seeing everybody.”
The PDRA DeCerbo Construction All-American Doorslammer Challenge presented by Callies will feature professional racing in Penske Racing Shocks/PRS Pro Boost, Switzer Dynamics Pro Nitrous, Liberty’s Gears Extreme Pro Stock, $hameless Racing Pro Outlaw 632 and Drag 965 Pro Nitrous Motorcycle. The event will also include the PDRA’s sportsman stars in MagnaFuel Top Sportsman, Lucas Oil Top Dragster, Coolshirt Pro Jr. Dragster, Gilbert Motorsports Top Jr. Dragster and Edelbrock Bracket Bash.
DENVER, N.C. – On Point Motorsports has announced that Danny Bohn will partner with North American Motor Car and Sierra Delta to run five NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series races in the No. 30 Toyota Tundra.
Bohn’s Truck Series schedule starts at Atlanta Motor Speedway on March 14.
Following Atlanta, the other four designated races include Richmond (Va.) Raceway on April 18), North Carolina’s Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 15, Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway on Sept. 17 and Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway on Oct. 3.
“I’m excited to get back on the track in the No. 30 Toyota Tundra truck with On Point Motorsports,” said Bohn, who made his Truck Series debut for On Point with an eighth-place finish at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway on Oct. 26. “Sierra Delta sponsored us for the last two races in 2019, so to have them return alongside North American Motor Car for at least five races this season gives me the opportunity to gain further experience in the Truck Series.”
Before joining the Truck Series, the 31-year-old Bohn raced on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour. Bohn rose to prominence in 2012 when he earned NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour runner-up, Rookie of the Year and Most Popular Driver honors.
Bohn followed that up with the 2014 modified track championship at the famed Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, N.C.
"Iker Casillas came up to me and he said: 'Itu, I love you, but don't ever referee us again.'"
Eduardo Iturralde Gonzalez would have been tempted to take him up on that offer. The former referee laughs. "You know what we used to say the best thing about clasico weekend was? To get another game, any other game. That weekend, if you were doing another game, you knew you could make the biggest c--k-up of your life and no one would notice it; whatever you did, you wouldn't be in the papers, no one would be talking about you. Because the clasico eclipses everything."
A good time to bury bad news, you might say. Something like that, Iturralde agrees.
"If you get the clasico, the media attention is intense, the pressure's amazing. They're ringing you from everywhere. 'Hello, it's the University of Mexico student newspaper.' It's this lot, that lot, everyone's on the phone."
Of course, being a referee, you don't answer any of those calls and you never say a word. "Well, I did," Iturralde replies. "I was always a bit of a bit of a punk."
He was also Spain's best referee for other a decade, spending 17 years at the top. And yes, he was a talker. He's also got his own band, by the way, so that punk thing is thing is not so far off. In that time, he took charge of three clasicos: 1999, 2005 and 2010. It might have been more. When referees were chosen by random draw (or supposedly so), he never got a chance. "'Curiously' enough," he says. And, yes, those speech marks are his. When it was chosen by the refereeing committee, the best man selected for the job, he was chosen three times but even then, there was no guarantee. He missed out on a Copa del Rey final clasico because Real Madrid vetoed him, leaving Alberto Undiano Mallecano to do the game instead. Madrid won 1-0; they were also within their rights, he says.
"There was a system where they would choose a three-man list [of referees] and the clubs could say 'no, not that one.' I suppose they didn't like the way I refereed."
No one does, in reality. No one is ever happy. And there was a headline once -- typical in Spain, where results are offered up as definitive proof of refereeing "bias" when what is really being shown in the bias of the media saying so -- that said: "Iturralde, good for Barcelona."
"Yeah," he scoffs, "that's like going to the Premier League now and saying: 'Referee so-and-so, good for Liverpool.' Bah what you gonna do? Of course you're 'good for Barcelona' if you're there refereeing them in the Guardiola era."
That must make you angry though, right? "Nah, we're all so used to it."
When it comes to clasicos, Iturralde's games were good for Barcelona, it's true. He took charge of a 3-1 win, a 3-0 win and a 5-0 win. All about the referee, then. Not exactly tight results: Barca outscored Real 11-1 overall, which is a particularly historic scoreline in this fixture: it's the result of an (in)famous match in 1943 which is a whole history in itself, still disputed even now. Iturralde has been in the public eye, judged and criticised, his decisions pawed over, television footage stopped and started and analysed over and over. But whatever they see on the screen, whatever any of us do, it's just not the same, he says.
"I don't think you do enjoy it as such, no; you're too focused for that," he says. "When you get home, you see a load of things you didn't see during the game. But I tell you what: on the television there are loads and loads of things you don't see on the pitch. Above all, the speed is miles greater. It looks like slow motion on TV but it's incredible how fast it is, the way they move. There's no television camera in the world that can transmit that or fully capture it. Seriously: the TV is not a true reflection of what's happening, which is one of the problems with the VAR, of course. Down there the speed is diabolical. Physically and mentally they are so, so fast."
It means that referees have to be, too, and never is the scrutiny more intense than on a weekend like this one, with the two teams separated by just two points at the top of the table with 13 games remaining.
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'Predictable' Barcelona lucky to get a draw at Napoli
Ale Moreno says Barcelona were fortunate to score despite their lack of forward progress against Napoli.
"In the first clasico, I was only 28, I think, and I sent off Roberto Carlos. [Real Madrid defender Christian] Panucci ran across to me, swearing at me. 'You're too young for a game like this!'" Eleven years on, he took charge of that 5-0 at the Camp Nou. He was also the man in the middle when the Bernabeu stood to applaud Ronaldinho after he had put them to the sword.
"That was special. I went silent for a moment and then you see the clapping. I said to him after a while 'come on then, let's get back to the middle, restart this game' and he laughed and said: 'eh, you liked that one, didn't you?' Ronaldinho was different, always grinning, always laughing. You'd look at him and think 'bloody hell, this guy is loving this.'"
"Lionel Messi doesn't, though. You look at him and wonder if he is enjoying it. Maybe on the inside he is, he probably is. But he hardly ever smiles."
Never talks, either? "Not a word. Never. A lot of the great players don't. Zinedine Zidane never used to say anything; [same with] Ronaldo. Weirdly, look at the ones I got on well with and they were the 'worst' -- [Valery] Karpin, [Aleksandr] Mostovoi, the ones who came straight at you. I liked them; at least it was to your face. I never had a problem with Mourinho. Xavi was one who never stopped talking, and he was right next to you because of his position. All game long. I would talk back though. I've said to players 'and what if I have a go at you for misplacing a pass?'"
"Players don't protest because you got [a call] wrong; they protest so that you get it 'right' next time -- in their favour, in other words."
"I talked a lot, but on the players' level. I talked on their terms, in their way, not from a position of superiority. People say [Antonio] Mateu Lahoz is a referee who likes dialogue with players, for example, but he's not: he likes to talk, but he doesn't let players talk. That's not dialogue. Dialogue is both [sides] talking."
Nor is it dialogue when they ignore you. "Messi doesn't say anything and there's no point in talking to him the way I did with some. I remember one time he scored this brilliant goal. And I said to him: 'Eh, don't get cocky: I've scored loads like that. He looked at me and he's probably thinking 'what's this dickhead going on about?' but he didn't say a word. Didn't even smile."
Nor did Sergio Ramos when Iturralde sent him off for booting Messi in the air at the end of the 2010 clasico, which Barcelona won 5-0 at the Camp Nou. There was nothing he could say, he knew it was right, so he walked. Iturralde, meanwhile, knew it was coming. "It was one of those you can 'smell'. I saw him running towards Messi and I thought: 'he's going to whack him.' It's important to know players, systems and movements, to understand [them]. You can't just know the rules, you have to know the game. If I hadn't 'smelt' that I wouldn't have been in the right place to see it."
"Then there was this melee. Ramos confronts [Barcelona defender Carles] Puyol, Xavi is there, the two goalkeepers come over. Everyone's confronting each other. I tried to get in the middle of it, tried break it all up, but it was impossible: there were arms everywhere. The only one that's not in the middle of it all is [Andres] Iniesta. I say to him: 'bloody hell, what are you lot like?' And he says: 'ah, you love it.'"
Sunday, March 1 is filled with great soccer around Europe and the USA as the Carabao Cup is handed out to either Man City or Aston Villa (11:30 a.m. ET, ESPN+), Everton host Manchester United in the Premier League, and MLS has a pair of must-see matches as MLS Cup champions Seattle Sounders host Chicago Fire (3 p.m. ET, ESPN) and David Beckham's Inter Miami visit Carlos Vela and LAFC (5:30 p.m. ET, ESPN). But the biggest game of all is in Spain this weekend as Real Madrid host Barcelona in the second clasico of the season.
They're the two most successful teams in Spain, they've won eight of the last nine La Liga titles and based on this season so far, one of them is going to win it again in 2019-20. Barca hold a two-point lead over Real with 13 games remaining and a 10-point cushion between them and Atletico Madrid in third. So what are the big questions heading into the game? ESPN writers Graham Hunter (@BumperGraham) and Sid Lowe (@SidLowe) break it down.
Who holds the edge heading into Sunday?
Given that just two or three weeks ago I was sure Madrid would become champions, it might seem slightly contradictory to say that it's Barcelona, by an infinitesimal razor's edge. They aren't yet in dynamic, persuasive form but their playing trajectory, their mood and recent string of results are all gently positive. There's no escaping the barbs aimed recently by Sergio Busquets and Gerard Pique at the club's squad planning: it's barer than bare bones right now in terms of first-team resources and, in the long run, I think that may still count heavily in terms of which of the two horses crosses the line first in May. In terms of injuries and suspensions, they don't even have a millimetre of wriggle-room.
Madrid are a strange case. Suddenly, and without much warning, they are not the athletic behemoths they'd become for the middle chunk of the season. With a couple of exceptions -- Vinicius Jr., Ferland Mendy, Thibaut Courtois, Raphael Varane, Federico Valverde -- a cluster of Zidane's men are slower into every challenge, slower to take decisions, more easily brushed off the ball and more prone to making slightly erroneous positional decisions. Dani Carvajal, Sergio Ramos and Casemiro stand out but Luka Modric and Karim Benzema aren't exempt.
If there's an "edge," it's minor but is in Blaugrana colours. They have a points advantage, Lionel Messi keeps making goals, even when not in supreme form, and he suddenly found a scoring edge last week with four against Eibar. Marc-Andre ter Stegen is imperious, Arthur is back in the groove, Antoine Griezmann's work is absolutely tireless and -- no need to whisper it -- the arrival of Martin Braithwaite is a tonic for them. He's physical, fast, team-oriented and living out his dream.
Barcelona definitely have weaknesses, several of them and Junior Firpo is playing like a competition winner rather than a deserving participant right now. No question that this could easily be a home win for Real because the Clasico brings special things out of big players, but Barcelona approach with a slight edge. -- Graham Hunter
Who knows? Real Madrid legend Jorge Valdano called it a race between two cojos ("cripples"). Neither side entirely convinces right now. Barcelona have taken advantage of a five-point swing in a week to go back to the top, but back then Madrid seemed set to win the league easily. Now it looks different, but no-one would claim Barcelona will win it easily, either.
Neither side is doing anything easily at the moment. The Champions League brought very different results -- Barca's 1-1 away at Napoli is good, Real's 2-1 defeat at home to Manchester City is not -- but similar feelings of vulnerability. That two-point lead does perhaps give Barcelona the advantage of having a less pressing need to win, allowing them to seek control rather than attack. And the memories of last year, when Madrid lost it all in a week, have definitely not gone away. One paper even called it a "psychosis," and Ramos admitted that there is a certain tension and anxiety at the Bernabéu at the moment. Guardiola has been and gone; the last thing you need is Messi turning up next. And yet, it is still Real Madrid at home. -- Sid Lowe
Zinedine Zidane vs. Quique Setien: is it a fair fight between managers?
Who said football, never mind life, was supposed to be fair? And do you mean unfair to Zidane?
Setien may be in the biggest job of his life and under a more intense spotlight than ever before at Barcelona, but his record against Zidane-coached teams at the Bernabeu more than bears scrutiny. In fact, Setien has managed to unpick and outwit Los Blancos under Zizou in quite spectacular fashion. Over the past couple of seasons, and with significantly lower-grade resources at previous clubs Las Palmas and Betis, Setien has produced a 3-3 draw, a 1-0 win and a 2-0 win. So if your question was trying to send out a distress flare for Zizou's chances against his 61-year-old rival from Cantabria, then "Bravo!" If you were trying to put Setien and Zizou toe-to-to and portray it as David vs. Goliath, then just stop it. Both men were midfielders, the ball was their friend; in Zidane's cast, the ball was his friend, lover and trusted confidante. No contest there. But that doesn't mean that they are universes apart in terms of coaching wit or personal resources. -- Hunter
Three Champions League titles compared to one Champions League appearance would suggest not. Zidane has won it all, Setien has never won anything. The feeling lingers that he is the Barcelona manager almost by chance, from walking with cows one day to the Camp Nou the next because he was in the right place at the right time, ready to accept a role that others would not. Is Setien the coach because of what he says as much as what he does, not to mention his very public commitment to a Cruyffist philosophy? It doesn't really work like that and nor is it fair to frame it like that, as so many have. Just as it is not fair to assume, as so many have, that Zidane is just a man manager. As if managing these men was that easy, anyway.
Setien has not just turned up at the Camp Nou from nowhere: he has worked towards this and football is a vocation, something about which he thinks deeply. It's legitimate to ask if Zidane could have done with Lugo, Las Palmas and Betis what he did with Madrid. Just as it is legitimate to ask if Setien could do what Zidane did with Madrid. (The answer, as Pep Guardiola has said before, is that no-one could). Nor, either, is he just a purist. He is a competitor too - they both are.
It may or may not be fair, but it will be a fight, that's for sure. And Setién has beaten both these teams before, don't forget. -- Lowe
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Did Man City miss an opportunity in win at Real Madrid?
Craig Burley and Alejandro Moreno question if Man City's approach against Real Madrid was too conservative.
How can Barcelona's squad handle its increasing injury worries?
I think Gerard Pique plays despite limping off during Tuesday's Champions League game at Napoli. It's far from guaranteed, of course, but he's tough and the injury is minor. If he doesn't start, one boost for Setien is that Samuel Umtiti, albeit gradually, has really picked up match rhythm. Once back from his interminable knee problems, his mind told him to do what his body couldn't deliver -- particularly the conundrum of recognizing danger but being unable to reach it in time. Where Barcelona's injury problems hurt him can be put into three compartments. One: Junior Firpo at left-back looks lost, scared and vulnerable in this team. It's that clear-cut. He's an athlete, he'll occasionally make goals or score them, too -- defensively, and in terms of big-match nerve, he's floundering. Can Barca risk using Nelson Semedo at left-back and convert midfielder Ivan Rakitic to right-back? I would.
Two: resources are very thin, if they are hit with another injury or two either in training before Sunday night or at the Bernabeu, it won't be simple for Setien to conjure adequate solutions. Three: the message from Barcelona's senior players is that given the bad planning at the club, especially offloading Jean-Clair Todibo and Moussa Wague in January, too many of the squad members are being squeezed dry. There will come a time when age, overplaying and tiredness bite, and bite hard. -- Hunter
With very great difficulty. Barcelona have been unlucky -- you can't plan for Ousmane Dembele and Suarez getting long-term injuries -- but some of their problems are self-inflicted. And, in fact, yes, you can plan for those. And you must. But Barcelona and planning seem to not go hand in hand any more. Now it is down to Setien to manage this, seeking solutions and protecting players. Rotations may be necessary, but that's for another day, not the clásico. Expect their strongest possible side at the Bernabéu. If that means forcing players then they will, although the coaching staff at the Camp Nou think that the physical data shows that things are improving. Slowly, but they are. There will be seven days' rest after this, and they will need them. -- Lowe
If you had to pick one player (not Messi!) who could seize the spotlight on Sunday, who would it be and why?
Vinicius. I very much hope Zidane starts him. The kid might have some flaws of cold-blooded decision-making in absolute crucial moments, but they're flaws of experience and not a lack of talent. The individual tuition Zidane has regularly conducted with this 19-year-old Brazilian are yielding dividends. He's far, far shrewder in terms of when he risks, when he passes, how often he looks for an option rather than taking on his direct opponent. But what he undoubtedly possesses is a mixture of searing pace and exceptional ability on the ball.
Although his best position by far is on the left cutting in onto his right foot, which means lining him up against Junior Firpo might be counter-productive, Semedo defends so "narrow" on the other flank that there will be space down Madrid's left and Barcelona's right. What's more, the Bernabeu right now deeply needs a reason to "believe." They adored his effort and impact against Manchester City despite the shock defeat, and he left the pitch to a standing ovation. Let's hope Zidane sees things the same way come team-selection on Sunday. -- Hunter
This is the clásico. In theory, it could be anyone. There are so many good players on the pitch, after all. Although, are there really in terms of form? Is anyone really ready to take control of a game like? It does feel a little like there are few players ready to take centre-stage. And yet... look at the squads again.
Benzema, perhaps, who has only scored once in 2020, and who needs a big performance. He has the talent for sure. Vinicius excites, delights and exasperates in equal parts. Released, can he be redeemed? Speaking of redemption, what about Gareth Bale? It sometimes feels like everyone has given up on him. But he likes the big games, or so the assumption goes. Time, perhaps, for him to remind them that he's still around. With a goal, if not necessarily a game. Griezmann is an obvious candidate. A better player than many seem to think, if a worse player than he was before. -- Lowe
Will "emergency striker" Braithwaite be a factor?
No reason why he shouldn't be. I think his chances of starting have increased after last week's impactful debut and how tired Setien's team were after facing Napoli, but it's still a 40% shot he makes the XI.
What's important to understand about Braithwaite is that whether you think he's top-class or not, he possesses precisely the mix of positives that Barcelona were missing. Cometh the hour, cometh the handy Danish international.
Braithwaite's direct running stretches the pitch and can stretch it away from Messi, for whom space is heaven. He can play wide left or second striker, and he's selfless no matter where he plays. He thinks first of the team and first of the right option -- not personal glory. Unlike poor old Griezmann, he's got no burden of expectation on him, either: he's the shot to nothing that can be the shot heard all over the world. His physical impact, his pace, his directness and his talent for assists are things which are scarce in the current Barcelona squad and his fellow players already like his bright football mind plus a mega-positive character.
It's not a given that he'll find a clasico easy but he's already got a (winning) goal and an assist against Madrid sides coached by Santi Solari and Zidane. Whether you're Merengue or Cule, Braithwaite's is a heck of a story in the making. -- Hunter
Why not? He's bright, strong and fast, able to stretch a defence, prepared to work back too. Last weekend, he showed that he can be useful. And what a story it would be. Not that they'll be that keen to read it in Leganés, and who can blame them? -- Lowe
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'Predictable' Barcelona lucky to get a draw at Napoli
Ale Moreno says Barcelona were fortunate to score despite their lack of forward progress against Napoli.
Depends what you mean. Hazard is so special, capable of twisting opponents into such knots that even though he's been missing for much of the season, his absence isn't great for Madrid in a number of ways. Currently, Benzema looks very isolated. It's true he hasn't finished a couple of serviceable opportunities across the past three or four games but if we're honest, it's about the quality of the opportunities and their regularity. When the central core of Real's playing resources dips just a little, playing in different areas of the pitch, creating high quality openings less regularly, Benzema suffers.
Not only is Hazard special, but he's already shown that he and "King Karim" see football similarly. They boast similar technique, similar ideas about timing of runs, a little society down Madrid's left. That's a loss. Can they cope without him? Yes. That's a given. When they were at their most impactful this season, Madrid were still waiting for the garden to feature Eden. However time moves swiftly and remorselessly in elite football: nobody at Madrid will be wasting time lamenting what could have been. -- Hunter
Well, they already were. There's been no evidence yet that he is a key player for Madrid, although he may be one day. They've had to build without him, they've won games since Mallorca without him, going 15 unbeaten league games unbeaten until Levante came to town. Will they miss him? Yeah, probably. Do they lack something up front? Yes, absolutely. Could he have been useful? Could he have been the star? Of course. And the margin is so fine that his contribution might have been decisive. Their second top scorer is Ramos, a centre-back. No one has more than two since the turn of the year. But that's an inescapable reality with which they had to live and that run was built on contributions from the back: goals from Casemiro, Varane, Ramos. They must do so again. -- Lowe
Predictions time!
I think 3-2 Madrid. I think Jovic comes to the party. I think it's two teams eventually playing knock-down, all-in, slug-fest football. All-or-nothing attitudes. -- Hunter
You're joking, right? It's not worth it, never is. So, let's go for the safe bet, and one that comes off more than you might think. A 2-2 draw. -- Lowe
Lahore Qalandars have won the toss and as expected chose to field first in a rain-shortened affair to 12 overs, with further disruptions possible. The toss was delayed more than two hours due to poor weather in Rawalpindi before skies cleared to allow for a contest reduced by eight overs.
The pitch is the same one used from yesterday's contest between Islamabad United and Quetta Gladiators. A fresh strip had been initially prepared but became excessively damp from the rain, forcing the umpires to make a decision to revert to a previously used pitch.
Qalandars made three changes, one of them enforced as Haris Rauf picked up an injury in their loss to Islamabad United. Mohammad Faizan and Usman Shinwari have also been left out in exchange for Salman Irshad and the emerging youth pair of Dilbar Hussain and Maaz Khan.
Meanwhile Zalmi are looking to bounce back after getting hammered by Multan Sultans in their last match. Shoaib Malik is out injured and has been replaced in the lineup by Mohammad Mohsin while Liam Dawson has been dropped in favor of fellow Englishman Lewis Gregory.
Peshawar Zalmi XI: Tom Banton, Kamran Akmal (wk), Mohammad Mohsin, Haider Ali, Liam Livingstone, Darren Sammy (capt), Lewis Gregory, Wahab Riaz, Hasan Ali, Rahat Ali, Mohammad Amir Khan.
Lahore Qalandars XI: Chris Lynn, Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Hafeez, Dane Vilas (wk), David Wiese, Samit Patel, Sohail Akhtar (capt), Shaheen Afridi, Dilbar Hussain, Maaz Khan, Salman Irshad.
Kagiso Rabada has sustained a groin strain and will take no further part in the Australia tour to South Africa. He has been further ruled out of the team's subsequent tour to India starting early next month, and faces a race to get fit in time for Delhi Capitals' IPL opener on March 30.
Rabada suffered the injury during the recent T20I series against Australia, according to a Cricket South Africa press release. He played all three games, bowling 11 overs and conceding 114 runs, while taking two wickets. He is expected to be ruled out for around four weeks.
"Kagiso sustained a groin muscle strain in the T20 series against Australia," said Dr Shuaib Manjra, CSA's chief medical officer. "He was assessed by the medical staff, assisted by an MRI scan.
"The significant injury means that he will take approximately four weeks to heal, which effectively rules him out of both the Australia and India ODI series. The CSA medical staff will ensure his effective and expeditious recovery."
Delhi's opening game in this year's IPL is at home to Kings XI Punjab, and takes place on Monday, March 30. According to the suggested timeframe, his groin will likely have healed by that time, though it is by no means certain that he will have returned to match fitness in time to play. Last year, Rabada was the side's leading wicket-taker with 25.
Rabada's replacement has yet to be named. South Africa's three-match ODI series against Australia begins in Paarl on Saturday, while the series in India starts on March 12.
The narrative is spreading rapidly in the early days of spring training, told with a certain taste of glee. The Astros are getting hit by a lot of pitches! The cheaters are getting their comeuppance! They're already being targeted and it's not even the regular season! There are Twitter accounts with names like Astros* Bean Counter and 2020 Astros Shame Tour tracking all the hit batters. Non-sports sites are publishing videos on Facebook. The "Today" show did a segment on it Friday morning. My friend Dan tells me that even his mom mentioned to him that the Astros are getting hit a lot.
The narrative isn't completely wrong, but let's put this in some context. As always, context is important and hyperbole can be misleading.
Entering Friday's spring training games, the Astros have been hit by seven pitches. That's no longer the most; the Cardinals have been hit by eight pitches -- and they certainly are not being targeted for anything this spring. Four other teams have been hit by six pitches, including the Tigers, and nobody is purposely throwing at batters from a team that lost 114 games last season.
Also, consider the seven Astros who have been hit:
OK, so we do have Altuve and Bregman. But we also have three low-level minor leaguers; Garneau, who wasn't a member of the Astros until this season; and Diaz, who wasn't on the Astros in 2017 or 2018. Altuve and Bregman weren't even hit by fastballs. Altuve was hit on the foot with a breaking ball and Bregman hit in the back by Cardinals minor leaguer Ramon Santos, who pitched for Palm Beach in the Florida State League last season.
"It was a splitter. It just got away from him," Bregman said.
Indeed, check out the pitchers who have hit the Astros batters: Austin Voth (Nationals), Neil Ramirez (Tigers), Anthony Castro 2 (Tigers), Jose Urena (Marlins), Jorge Guzman (Marlins), Ramon Santos (Cardinals).
Of the six pitchers, only three pitched in the majors in 2019. With the exception of Urena, these are all pitchers fighting for jobs who are trying to impress the big league brass. They're not going to intentionally throw at batters. Castro is a Tigers minor leaguer who hit nine batters last season and 15 in 2018.
Urena did hit Diaz on the elbow with a fastball and he's the pitcher who purposely hit Ronald Acuna Jr. in 2018, but it's clear from Urena's reaction as he immediately screams in disgust at himself that he wasn't trying to hit Diaz. Plus, why would Urena be throwing at a guy who wasn't on the team in 2017?
So there really is nothing to what we've seen so far.
There is plenty to write about regarding the fallout from the cheating scandal without resorting to false narratives. Astros players are getting loudly booed during spring training games and we've seen the video of the Mets fan pounding a plastic garbage can in the left-field bleachers. Those boos will only get louder in the regular season. How the Astros deal with becoming baseball's Evil Empire will be a huge storyline once the season begins.
It's also certainly possible that once the regular season begins, we will see some pitchers throwing at Astros batters. The William Hill sportsbook put the over/under on Astros batters getting hit by a pitch at 83.5 -- they were hit 66 times last season -- but that's not an especially large total as Mets batters led the majors with 95 HBPs in 2019.
But let's wait and see if that actually happens. Because Anthony Castro hitting Jake Meyers has nothing to do with the Astros banging garbage cans in 2017.
But he was never able to get a foothold in his first match against 21-year-old Tsitsipas, who won in 81 minutes.
The Greek world number six will face either Serb Novak Djokovic or Gael Monfils of France in the final.
"I just managed to stay solid throughout the whole match," said Tsitsipas, who was runner-up to Roger Federer in Dubai last year.
"I didn't have massive breakdowns and just played a quality of tennis which I enjoyed. I am really impressed by the quality of my game today and I really hope to bring the same and possibly even better in the next round."
Tsitsipas won 90% of the points on his first serve and did not face a break point in the match, while unseeded world number 37 Evans was broken twice in each set as his hopes of making a first final in an ATP 500 event were dashed.
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