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No complaints says Terry after red card




Chelsea captain John Terry said he deserved his red card in Tuesday's 2-2 draw at Barcelona which eliminated the holders and booked the Premier League side's place in next month's Champions League final.

Defender Terry was shown a straight red card by Turkish referee Cuneyt Cakir in the 37th minute for kneeing Alexis Sanchez in the back and will miss the final against either Real Madrid or Bayern Munich on May 19.

"It does look bad on the replay. I raised my knee which in hindsight I shouldn't have done. No complaints from the replay," the Englishman told Sky Sports after his team went through 3-2 on aggregate.

"Sanchez darted in behind me. At the time I was bewildered. I feel like I've let the lads down," added Terry, whose missed penalty cost Chelsea the 2008 title against Manchester United in Moscow.

Chelsea will also be without the suspended Branislav Ivanovic in the Munich final while fellow defender Gary Cahill was injured during Tuesday's match and David Luiz missed the game.

Terry said he was not surprised at Chelsea's stunning upset.

"This is what this football club deserves. It's massive."

Caretaker coach Roberto Di Matteo said: "He's a fantastic leader of this group. Everybody can make a mistake in life. We're just happy to go through. We're all human beings. They're under huge pressure these players."

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Bolton fight back to beat Villa



Aston Villa's Stephen Warnock
Bolton Wanderers fought back from a goal down to beat Aston Villa 2-1 on Tuesday and boost their chances of Premier League survival.

Villa took the lead through Stephen Warnock after 61 minutes but Bolton hit back immediately with a penalty by Martin Petrov and David N'Gog grabbed the winner a minute later. 

Bolton climbed above Blackburn Rovers into 18th place in the 20-team standings, a point behind Wigan Athletic and Queens Park Rangers with a game in hand.

Villa remained in serious danger of going down on 36 points, just two ahead of Wigan and QPR with three matches left. 
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Pique taken to hospital with concussion



Barcelona's Gerard Pique (C) collides with team-mate Victor Valdes
Barcelona defender Gerard Pique was taken to hospital as a precaution after suffering concussion following a clash during their Champions League semi-final, second leg against Chelsea on Tuesday.

"Pique has been taken to hospital for tests. the player suffered a slight concussion," Barca said on their Twitter feed.
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Resolute Chelsea hold out to down Barca


Barcelona 's Carles Puyol
Chelsea pulled off a major shock on Wednesday night, beating Barcelona 1-0 at Stamford Bridge in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final. Didier Drogba got the only goal of the game, turning in Ramires’s cross at the back post in the second minute of first-half injury time. Barcelona had chance after chance, but were thwarted by a superb defensive display. Ashley Cole produced a performance probably the equal of his exceptional display for England against Portugal in Euro 2004, Ramires stifled Dani Alves and even the often-maligned Mikel Jon Obi gave a performance of great discipline and focus. Barcelona struck the bar as early as the ninth minute, Andres Iniesta exchanging passes with Lionel Messi and then dinking a ball over the top for Alexis Sanchez, whose lob beat Petr Cech but came back off the crossbar. With Mikel providing a defensive shield in front of the back four, Messi rarely had the opportunity to run at Chelsea’s defence, but when he did, he caused problems. After 17 minutes it was his dart and pass that found Iniesta on the left side of the box. His cross shot was parried by Cech and Cesc Fabregas, surprisingly, he miskicked with the goal gaping. Fabregas spurned another fine chance two minutes before half-time as he ran on to a Messi pass and flicked the ball over Cech. There was little pace on the shot, though, and Ashley Cole was able to hook clear a yard from the line. There were passages in which Chelsea barely saw the ball, but they did occasionally threaten with long balls. A long throw-in after 11 minutes almost fell for John Terry, but that was as close as they came until the second minute of first-half injury-time. Messi was caught in possession by Frank Lampard, who clipped a diagonal over the top for Ramires. The Brazilian took the ball in his stride, advanced into the box and squared for Drogba to slam home at the back post. The second half followed a similar pattern. In terms of possession, Barcelona were dominant, and they created enough chances to have won the game comfortably, but they were wasteful in front of goal. Adriano cut in and saw a curler saved by Cech, Alexis played a superb one-two with Fabregas but shovelled wide as the ball become caught between his feet. The longer the game went on, though, the more comfortable Chelsea seemed. Cech made one sprawling late save to keep out a Puyol header and Pedro hit the post in the last minute, but Barca, for once, seemed short of inspiration. The second leg will be played at the Camp Nou next Tuesday.
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Play underway in test after power delay


© Reuters

Australia's captain Michael Clarke
A power outage at Queen's Park Oval in Trinidad led to a bizarre delay to the start of the third day's play in the second test between West Indies and Australia on Tuesday.

The two teams walked on to the field ready to play as scheduled but quickly retreated back to the dressing room before a ball was bowled because there was no live television footage.

Officials initially said the Australian captain Michael Clarke wanted to delay the start because the decision review system (DRS) was not working.

But a team spokesman later confirmed the decision to delay the start was made by match referee Jeff Crowe, partly because the DRS was unavailable but also because the start could not be broadcast to television viewers.

Play eventually started about 20 minutes later with West Indies resuming their first innings on 49 for three in reply to Australia's 311.
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Djokovic, Nadal strike clay success with opening wins



Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal established early-season clay superiority after months away from the surface with the top two in the world both advancing in opening matches on Wednesday at the Monte Carlo Masters. Top seed Djokovic won his seventh match without a loss against Andrea Seppi as he punished the Italian 6-1, 6-4. Nadal, playing on a recently treated left knee, got past Finn Jarkko Nieminen 6-4, 6-3. The Spanish king of clay, who last touched the surface during the December Davis Cup finals win over Argentina, is searching for an unprecedented eighth title at the iconic tournament sited on a cliff overlooking the Mediterranean. Nadal improved to 40-1 in the principality, with his only loss occurring in 2003. He lost his only match at the venue in 2003 and has now won 38 in a row. "I played a really normal match, nothing special," said the second seed, who added: "Nothing very bad, but nothing very good. "It was the first match on clay after a long time, and the first match after 15 days without touching a racquet. The important thing was that I won in straight sets." Nieminen, winner of the Sydney title in January, broke Nadal as the Spaniard served for victory but lost his own serve a game later to end it on a agonizing double-fault. Nadal had gone to the court unsure of his physical status after not playing for almost three weeks and worried over the painful knee which forced him to skip a Miami semi-final against Andy Murray. Djokovic had not played clay since losing a French Open semi to Roger Federer on June 3. He missed the tournament at his Monte Carlo home base in 2011 due to fatigue but benefited from a two-week window between his title in Miami and the clay start to rest and prepare well. "I was really focused first set and played it well against a tough, quality opponent who plays good on clay. For the first official match since Roland Garros last year, it was satisfying," said the Serb. "I served really well when I needed to. That's encouraging for the clay, it's good to have a couple of free points there. "But it takes at least a week to adjust to the movement on clay, to switch the style of the game. You have to make adjustments and be a little bit more patient in your rallies. "With the way I played today I'm happy. I cannot be happier for the first official match after, what, eight, nine months. I'm looking forward to the next one." Djokovic will face off on Thursday in the third round against Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov, the 16th seed who beat Australian Bernard Tomic 6-2, 5-7, 6-1. "He's a very talented player, comes up with some shots that are not really typical," said Djokovic. "He changes the pace and is very dangerous on clay. I need to be aware and disciplined on the court." Spain's fifth seed David Ferrer went down in a 6-3, 6-2 surprise to Brazil's Thomaz Bellucci while Czech sixth seed Tomas Berdych beat Marin Cilic 7-6 (7-3), 6-1. Other seeded winners included Serb seventh seed Janko Tipsarevic, who put out Spain's Albert Montanes 6-2, 6-3 and number eight Nicolas Almagro, who beat Italian Potito Starace 7-6 (7-3), 6-1.
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Raul to leave Schalke 04 at end of season



File picture shows Raul of Schalke 04
Schalke 04 forward Raul is to leave at the end of the season when his contract expires, the Bundesliga club said on Thursday.

The 34-year-old former Real Madrid and Spain striker has been at the Gelsenkirchen club for two seasons, scoring 27 Bundesliga goals in 63 matches.

"?He will explain his reasons for the move ... and his plans for the future in due course," said the club in a statement.

German media reported that Raul could continue his career in Qatar.
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Barcelona's coach Pep Guardiola
Lady luck was not smiling on profligate Barcelona in Wednesday's 1-0 Champions League defeat at Chelsea but the holders expressed confidence they could turn the semi-final around in the second leg at their daunting Nou Camp arena on Tuesday.

The English Premier League side turned in a gritty performance to deny the Spanish champions and managed to keep World Player of the Year and competition top scorer Lionel Messi quiet to boost their chances of making next month's final.

A large slice of good fortune also helped inflict only a third defeat this season on Barca, who dominated possession, hit the bar and the post and had a Cesc Fabregas effort cleared off the line by Ashley Cole.

Barca coach Pep Guardiola, whose side host bitter rivals and fellow Champions League semi-finalists Real Madrid in La Liga on Saturday, acknowledged that Chelsea, chasing a first European crown, were now favourites to progress.

However, he said recovering from the one-goal deficit and eliminating the Londoners was a "great challenge" he and his players were happy to accept.

"I don't expect Chelsea to attack or pressure us high up the pitch but to deploy 10 players in their half and look to counter attack," Guardiola, bidding to lead the Catalan club to a third Champions League title in four years, told a news conference.

"They will probably hold back and try to look for their chance," the former Barca and Spain midfielder added.

"We must not forget that Chelsea, with very little, can be an extremely dangerous opponent and they do what they do exceptionally well.

"We just need to find a way of creating goals."

Barca had 72 percent of possession and 19 attempts on goal at Stamford Bridge compared to four for Chelsea but striker Didier Drogba proved more clinical than the visitors' forwards when he slipped away from his marker and fired low past goalkeeper Victor Valdes moments before halftime.

Playmaker Andres Iniesta, who had a claim for a penalty waved away by the referee in the first half, said Barca would seek to be more effective in front of goal on Tuesday.

"We have the feeling that we created a lot of clear chances but we were just lacking the goal," he told reporters.

"We were on the wrong end of a defeat and we need to up our game significantly," added the Spain international, who scored the dramatic late goal that knocked Chelsea out on away goals in the 2009 semi-finals.

"The team is capable of doing that. It's not just a matter of luck."
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Fifa threatens to sanction Kenya's Auxerre player Oliech

Auxerre's Jean Dennis Oliech (L) celebrates with team
World soccer's ruling body FIFA has threatened to sanction Kenya's top player Dennis Oliech over his decision to pull out of the national team.

Oliech, who plays for French Ligue 1 side AJ Auxerre and is the captain of the east African country's national team, Harambee Stars, pulled out of the team preparing for a World Cup qualifier against Togo on June 16.

Oliech is demanding an unspecified amount of money because his picture was used by sponsors of the local federation in a billboard advertisement.

The sponsors, East African Breweries Limited, and the Football Kenya Federation (FKF) have said the player is not entitled to any payment as the terms of the sponsorship did not include that provision.

"The contract allowed the sponsors to use the national team pictures for promotional purposes. But we are now renegotiating to come up with a win-win situation for the players and the sponsors," said FKF Chairman Sam Nyamweya.

FIFA's Director of Legal Affairs, Marco Villiger, said in a statement to FKF that the player was liable for disciplinary action if he snubbed a national team call-up.

"As a general rule, every player registered with a club is obliged to respond affirmatively when called up by the association he is eligible to represent on the basis of his nationality to play for one of its representative teams," Villiger said in a statement on Wednesday.

"Violations of the provisions set forth in Annexe 1 of the FIFA rule may lead to the imposition of disciplinary measures."

Another Kenyan top player MacDonald Mariga, who plays for Italian Serie A side Parma, has fallen out with the Kenyan federation over the unpaid reimbursement of more than one million shillings for air travel he used to join up with the national side
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Arsenal midfielder Arteta out for the season - reports

Mikel Arteta will miss the rest of Arsenal's season with an ankle ligament injury, British media reported on Thursday.

The Spanish midfielder, who has played an influential role in Arsenal's improved form in recent weeks, hurt his ankle while attempting a cross in the early stages of Monday's 2-1 defeat to Wigan Athletic at the Emirates Stadium.

Arteta received treatment off the pitch - during which time Wigan scored their second goal - but he could not continue. Scans showed the ankle was not broken but the ligament damage was bad enough to keep him out for Arsenal's final four Premier League matches.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, whose side face Chelsea at home in the league on Saturday, now has a gap to fill in midfield as he is without long-term absentee Jack Wilshere and Abou Diaby, who is not match fit.

Yossi Benayoun, on loan from Chelsea, is ineligible to play against his parent club.

Arsenal are third, five points ahead of their arch-rivals Tottenham Hotspur who have a game in hand.

After facing Chelsea this weekend, Arsenal go to Stoke City, then play Norwich City at home before ending their campaign at West Bromwich Albion.

Arsenal's Mikel Arteta

Arsenal's Mikel Arteta
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