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Bale has featured for Madrid in every league game since recovering from injury to feature in the Clasico defeat to Barcelona in December and started each of their last four matches. However, just as in both ties against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League, the Welshman has been left out of the first-team as Zinedine Zidane’s side host seventh placed Girona. Instead, Benzema will partner Cristiano Ronaldo up front for the Champions League holders, while Lucas Vazquez and Marco Asensio will line up on the wings....

Bale began the season in a central role under Rafa Benitez but returned to the wing under Zinedine Zidane and was Madrid’s standout performer in both legs of the Champions League semi-final against Manchester City, forcing the own goal from Fernando that sealed passage to the showpiece in Milan. At San Siro, he ended up a hero by netting a penalty in the shootout even though he had been playing virtually on one leg in extra time....

In case you didn’t know… Van Dijk has been associated with football’s most prestigious award all season following a string of tenacious and consistent performances for Liverpool. The former Southampton defender has established himself as a commanding presence in Jurgen Klopp’s Champions League-winning team, helping them maintain one of the meanest defences in Europe alongside the likes of Alisson Becker, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson. The Dutchman was instrumental in Liverpool’s evolution as one of the best sides in the continent and played a key role in their incredible 97-point haul in the Premier League....

Several early contenders for the Ballon d’Or this year Lionel Messi won a record seventh Ballon d’Or last year. He beat the likes of Robert Lewandowski, Jorginho and Karim Benzema to the award. It was an open race and it was difficult to ascertain which way it was going to go. The Ballon d’Or is decided on the basis of a combination of votes from national team captains, coaches and media representatives....

The domestic Football Leagues and various domestic football tournaments gave people heart filled joy. There was no space for cricket in Bangladesh. As a matter of fact, Bangladesh tasted the beauty of Test cricket during the East Pakistan era. Teams like England, Australia, New Zealand and West Indies played Test matches in the Bangabandhu National Stadium. But after independence, cricket’s charm was devoured by the sky-high popularity of soccer....

“It’s a huge thing,” Chalabi told NEWSWEEK. “Some of the files are very damning.” And some of the most incriminating, Chalabi implies, could tell a lot about the royal family–in neighboring Jordan. That is where Chalabi built and lost a banking empire in the 1980s, before he was forced to flee and convicted in absentia of fraud and embezzlement. King Abdullah, who has ruled Jordan since 1999, “is worried about his relationship with Saddam,” says Chalabi....

How The Ban Was Lifted? iPhone 7 and iPhone 8 will be available for sale in Germany, however, there is a twist to the story. Now, these models will come with Qualcomm chips. On 14th February, Apple announced that the company will now start the sales of its older iPhone models at Apple’s German stores. From now on, Apple will not use Intel chips in older devices to obey the German court decision....

In the third week of his post-presidential life, the 44th president of the United States learned how to kitesurf while on vacation with billionaire businessman Richard Branson. MORE: Stephen Curry’s MLK sneakers honor President Obama Wearing a helmet, dark sunglasses and a pair of swim trunks, Obama took on the open ocean in a friendly competition with Branson. Obama won the competition, Branson said. The former president is clearly enjoying his post-White House life....

It includes artists such as Bob Dylan, Rihanna, Louis Armstrong and Jay-Z. The 44th president listed his favorite singers and songs he has been listening to this summer, to inspire his followers. He tweeted: “With so many folks getting together with family and friends, there’s a lot to celebrate this summer. “Here’s a playlist of songs I’ve been listening to lately—it’s a mix of old and new, household names and emerging artists, and a whole lot in between....

The Catalan club were crowned champions of La Liga last weekend with four games still left to play, after beating Deportivo La Coruna 4-2 in Galicia. Ernesto Valverde’s side are still unbeaten in the Primera Division and will be looking to become the first side since the 1930s in Spain to finish the season without a single league loss. But Madrid, into the Champions League final after edging out Bayern Munich 4-3 on aggregate on Tuesday, will have other ideas and here, Goal takes a look at everything you need to know ahead of Sunday’s Clasico clash at Camp Nou....

The Spain international marked a rare start with his first top-flight goal in 11 appearances for the champions before Lionel Messi’s free-kick and an Aleix Vidal strike settled matters against Ernesto Valverde’s side. Barca were fortunate to escape with a point from their last league outing against Real Betis and they were caused plenty of problems early on by a hard-working Athletic side, although Alcacer’s well-taken finish in the 18th minute sapped some of their early confidence....

They comfortably dispatched German heavyweights Borussia Dortmund in their last match in the UEFA Champions League at Camp Nou, with Lionel Messi, Antoine Griezmann and Luis Suarez getting in among the goals. On the other hand, Atletico Madrid have had a lukewarm campaign so far as they lie in fourth place, three points behind Barcelona. They have won only two of their last five games in the league, and their last game ended in defeat to Juventus in the Champions League on Tuesday....

Coming to the match, during the early parts of the first half, both the teams were looking equally likely to open the scoring as Jordi Alba hit the post around the 14th minute mark after he was played through by Messi with a peach of a pass and Diego Costa saw his headed effort go just over the crossbar. But around the 30th-minute mark, Costa was sent off for misbehaving with the referee and it was a very immature display from the Spaniard in getting that card....

The goals scored also saw Suarez and Messi become joint top scorers in the history of the competition. It was a game in which both Messi and Neymar played after there were concerns that they would miss the final to recover from a thigh injury and renal colic respectively. Messi scored the opening goal in the 36th minute when he combined with Neymar and Dani Alves. The Brazilian forward found Messi who passed the ball to Alves on the right....

Madrid drew home and away against Las Palmas last season in La Liga. This term, though, the Canary Islanders find themselves in a perilous position in the table and started the weekend in the relegation zone, six points adrift of 17th-placed Levante. For Real, 15 points behind Barcelona with nine fixtures remaining, winning the Primera Division is impossible now. So the Champions League takes priority and with a trip to Turin to face Juventus in the quarter-finals on Tuesday, Zidane made his intentions clear with sweeping changes to his line-up....

Demaci’s refusal upset the key U.S. strategy at the Rambouillet talks. A Kosovar “yes” would have shifted the pressure to Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic, who was resisting the idea of NATO troops as guarantors of Kosovo’s autonomy. But the best Albright could achieve was a vague rebel pledge to sign by March 15. The true winner was Milosevic, who in the interim has a free hand to terrorize Kosovo’s population and harass Western truce monitors there....

In case you didn’t know… The Ballon d’Or winner was announced last night in a grand ceremony in the historic Grand Palais in Paris. Croatia and Los Blancos star Luka Modric took home the grand prize, thereby breaking Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo’s decade-long stronghold over the award. The midfielder was the clear favourite from the start, having already won the UEFA Best Player of the Year award and The Best FIFA Men’s Player award early in the year....

Pep Guardiola’s Premier League leaders prevailed 4-3 but will rue leaving Madrid in with a chance of completing another famous Champions League Remontada at the Santiago Bernabeu next week. Kevin De Bruyne and Gabriel Jesus put City 2-0 up inside 11 minutes but the indomitable Karim Benzema reduced the arrears. Phil Foden and Bernardo Silva scored either side of a Vinicius Jr. solo effort as each side refused to relent during a sensational second half, with Benzema claiming his second of the night from the penalty spot to leave the semi-final up for grabs....

What Is Balloon Angioplasty? Balloon angioplasty is an interventional technique in which a specially equipped catheter is inserted into a blood vessel and inflated to widen it and restore blood flow. Once inflated, an expandable mesh tube (called a stent) can be inserted to keep the vessel open. Balloon angioplasty is also sometimes used in emergency situations, such as during a heart attack, where it is performed under general anesthesia. On occasion, regional anesthesia, including nerve blocks, may be used if there is a vascular obstruction in the legs....

Balotelli hit 33 Ligue 1 goals in his first two seasons at Nice but fell out with new boss Vieira amid fitness issues and his failure to score in 10 league appearances at the start of this term. A January switch to Marseille has got Balotelli back on track, though, with the Italy international hitting four goals in six league starts for his new club. Balotelli has rediscovered his mojo and celebrated his scissor-kick opening goal in last weekend’s 2-0 home win over Saint-Etienne by posting a live celebration video on Instagram....