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A goal from striker Luis Suarez inside the first minute and another from forward Lionel Messi with the last kick of the game let the Catalan side maintain their two-point cushion at the top. But Barcelona were made to struggle, especially in the first half by Valencia. Valencia pinned the home team back and saw midfielder Dani Parejo’s weak penalty saved by goalkeeper Claudio Bravo, while striker Paco Alcacer hit the post as they spurned a host of first-half chances....

Tottenham Hotspur lost Jermain Defoe to injury but won 1-0 at West Bromwich Albion through a fine Gareth Bale goal to bolster their push for Champions League qualification on Sunday. Emmanuel Adebayor’s commitments with Togo at the Africa Cup of Nations have left Defoe as Spurs’ only senior striker, but the England international had to go off in the 39th minute at The Hawthorns after appearing to twist his ankle....

Madrid or Man United: Who will get more league points? Red Devils boss Jose Mourinho had hinted in the build-up to the match that he would be interested in signing Bale if he was surplurs to requirements for Madrid this season. Reports have linked the Blancos with Kylian Mbappe, and Mourinho suggested that Bale’s potential absence in Skopje would be sign that he may be allowed to leave this summer....

Bale, 28, is set to miss another month after confirmation of a strained adductor muscle. Real 11/2 with dabblebet to win UCL The star attacker has played just nine games in all competitions this season, with the last of those coming in September. Coleman said he was unsure about the severity of Bale’s latest setback, but he knows the Wales international will be shattered. “I don’t know the full extent of it....

NEWSWEEK, you have done a good job covering the war in Yugoslavia (“Mission: Uncertain,” Europe, April 5). I think, however, that the United States and NATO went a step too far by going to war against Slobodan Milosevic. The rest of the world is slowly realizing this. Predrag Maksimovich Bulawayo, Zimbabwe The conflict in Kosovo is hopefully Europe’s last colonial war. While in the rest of Europe many people have been freed from domination and have achieved democratic rights, the Serbs in Yugoslavia still believe they can dominate the Albanian Kosovars by force....

England were unable to follow up their 211-run win over the Proteas in the first Test at Lord’s, suffering a thumping 340-run loss in the second match at Trent Bridge. The hosts got nowhere near their target of 474 as they paid the price for giving away cheap wickets on day four, with only former skipper Alastair Cook offering a form of resistance as Joe Root suffered his first defeat since becoming Test captain....

Record seven-time winner Lionel Messi and his teammate Neymar were not on the list. The ceremony announcing the winners will be held October 17. PSG’s Argentine star controversially won the award last year, but he was not among the 30 players who will be up for the men’s Ballon d’Or this time. Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema is seen as the popular favorite given his exploits with his club in winning La Liga and the UEFA Champions League....

Several factors make this run-chase special. Skipper Jason Holder was among several first-choice players that had pulled out of this tour of Bangladesh. Additionally, the hosts have been quite formidable in home conditions recently. Bangladesh dominated the match for the first four days, setting their opponents a 395-run target. West Indies were expected to capitulate on a fifth-day turner, but Kyle Mayers had other plans. His knock helped West Indies to complete the highest successful run-chase in Asia and the fifth-highest run-chase ever....

Count us as big fans of college football’s marching bands. In fact, at some particularly football-deficient schools, the bands can be the main attraction on Saturdays. Do not, however, count Jim Rome in that camp. He wasn’t particularly impressed with the bands on New Year’s Day. (Who didn’t enjoy a little Beyonce from the FSU band? Also, a lone bright spot on a bad day.) MORE: Band forms Kermit meme | Ohio State’s amazing rock tribute | Best bands...

Just what kind of a would-be summer blockbuster is this? The concept, as old as Buster Keaton’s silent masterpiece “Sherlock, Jr.” (or Woody Allen’s more recent “The Purple Rose of Cairo”), is that a moviemad kid named Danny (Austin O’Brien), entrusted with a “magic ticket,” is transported from the audience into an Arnold Schwarzenegger movie. The thing is, the character Arnold’s playing, Jack Slater, doesn’t know he’s fictional, and Danny can’t convince him....

Bangar was previously employed as batting coach of the national team, but steps up to become new head coach Ravi Shastri’s number two. Shastri recommended Arun to take over as bowling coach and it was confirmed on Tuesday he has got his wish. Bangar and Arun have followed Shastri in signing two-year contracts, which will run until the end of the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup in England and Wales....

This year’s BPL season features the biggest names in Bangladesh cricket as well as some top cricketers from Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Netherlands, USA, Ireland and Afghanistan. The competition will take place between January 6 and February 16. Former India U-19 captain Unmukt Chand, who has now shifted to America, is also a part of BPL 2023. He made his debut for Chattogram Challengers earlier today, scoring five runs against the Sylhe Strikers....

Mashrafe Mortaza’s side need to win their last two group games and hope for favourable results elsewhere in order to extend their tournament. India stand in their way in Birmingham, where Virat Kohli’s men lost their unblemished record in a 31-run loss to hosts England on Sunday. While Bangladesh will certainly be the underdogs, a dominant win over an Afghanistan side who ran India and Pakistan close will give them confidence, though Mortaza knows they must play to their full potential....

Rain is forecast in Bristol a day after the clash between West Indies and South Africa was abandoned, with just 7.3 overs bowled at the Rose Bowl. Sri Lanka’s match against Pakistan last Friday was washed out at the County Ground and the rain may ruin things once more for two sides in need of some sort of contest as they look to defy the odds and reach the semi-finals....

But before you send them your money, do some homework. Are the rates permanent or just introductory? Is it a legitimate bank? Check to make sure it’s covered at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. at www2.fdic.gov/idasp/main_bankfind.asp. If you’re an ATM devotee, make sure your online bank will refund fees for withdrawals. And you’ll probably want to transfer money between your online and neighborhood banks and your brokerage accounts, so stick to banks that will process the transfer instantly....

Disgraced former Pakistan captain Salman Butt on Friday said he hoped the Court of Arbitration for Sport would overturn his ban imposed for spot-fixing and let him return to the game he loves. “I am grateful to the CAS that they have allowed me this opportunity to appeal this sentence,” Butt said in a statement released after a day-long hearing at the Swiss-based court. “Since September 2010, until now, I have not been able to play any meaningful game of cricket: to coach or to even be involved in the administration of the game,” he said....

Last Friday’s 0-0 draw saw Real Madrid star Bale booked for a high tackle on O’Shea, earning him a suspension for his country’s game against Serbia in June, shortly before Neil Taylor was shown a red card for a challenge which broke Seamus Coleman’s leg. The forward protested his booking on the pitch and after the match but Ireland defender O’Shea was critical, insisting he had been lucky to avoid a more serious injury than the stitches required to his shin....

There have been a lot of concerns from various quarters surrounding how this novelty will be played out, but most doubts as to how the pink ball will behave have been laid to rest. Contrasting with what had been feared, the pink ball does not show any excessive wear at all, and lasts as long as the red ball. The ball, however, did not spin much, the players and the umpires agreed....

Was it merely a popularity contest among media members spread around the world? Did all those media members deserve to have a vote? What criteria were they using when selecting players for their ballots? French publication France Football, the original creators and organizers of the annual award, revisited the entire process from nomination to the final vote and made some changes to ensure the honor remains merit-based. Here we run down the changes made and how the global voting operates today....

Balotelli was tipped to depart in the transfer window and was linked with French rivals Marseille, with head coach Patrick Vieira revealing it was “unlikely” the Italy international forward would remain at the Allianz Riviera. However, the 28-year-old - who has missed the opening two games of the new season through suspension - will remain with Nice, where he has scored 33 league goals since arriving from Liverpool in 2016....