Sports
Can Barça contain Sørloth, Atlético’s Jack Reacher-like striker, in huge LaLiga clash?
There has been understandable consternation from those who are either of an Barcelona persuasion or who simply like and respect Hansi Flick when they saw the state of the German coach on Saturday. The Spanish champions had beaten Alavés 3-1 at home to go clear at the top of LaLiga despite the visitors taking the lead after 44 seconds.
Flick was back on the touchline of the club’s beloved Camp Nou for only the second time since its reopening, following a long period of extensive renovations. And yet the Barça boss looked like a man who’d won the lottery jackpot, but lost the ticket: slumped in his seat long after the final whistle, looking like there were tears in his eyes, wearing a blank thousand-yard stare, with a metaphorical black cloud over his head. One of his players, Raphinha, was standing over him protectively, looking to all the world as if he were counselling his boss. And this after a victory.
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Barcelona said that their coach was frustrated at not being able to communicate with the fourth official, but nobody believed the party line. Many who follow the club interpreted his demeanor as due to the repeated lackadaisical flaws he sees in a team he keeps promising will improve, but instead keeps on churning up the same errors and, frankly, the same air of complacency where they are supposed to be breathing fire and brimming with intensity. Not to ignore his disappointment at two of his assistants, Markus Sorg and José Ramon De La Fuente, incurring red cards. But there’s another potential explanation.
Flick had watched his team struggle to contain a nomadic striker named Lucas Boyé, and his heart sunk in the knowledge that the genuine article, a guy who makes Boyé look like a docile lightweight, is coming to town.
That man is Atlético Madrid striker Alexander Sørloth. He’s a dead ringer for Alan Ritchson, who plays Jack Reacher in the TV series, and some of his solutions to scoring and winning are Reacher-esque in that nobody who stands in his path comes away without bruises — at least to their ego.
The big center forward is, along with Erling Haaland, part of the reason that Norway are going to the FIFA World Cup for the first time this century. He’s also one of the many reasons why, for the umpteenth time in recent years, even the cynics might be tempted to tip Atlético Madrid as potential title winners.
Atlético coach Diego Simeone and his Colchoneros are at Camp Nou on Tuesday, somewhere they’ve still not won for almost 20 years (last December’s away win was at the Olympic Stadium). Whether Sørloth starts or attempts to do damage off the bench, there’s no escaping the fact that when he sees Blaugrana shirts he gets the whiff of mustard in his nostrils and prepares to dish out pain.
He’s won against Barça in Barcelona for Real Sociedad in 2023 when La Real beat Barça away for the first time in 32 years; for Villarreal in January last year, netting the decisive goal in a wild 5-3 game that effectively marked the end for Flick’s predecessor, Xavi Hernández; and he scored the winner against Flick’s team almost exactly a year ago as Atleti won 2-1 in Catalonia for the first time since 2006. Back then, Fernando Torres was the big, menacing blond fella up front. It’s a role Sørloth has adopted with gleeful menace.
Might that be why Flick was looking so morose despite winning on Saturday? A flight of fancy, maybe, but look at the stats.
The 6-foot-5 forward has faced Barça nine times, scoring six and producing three assists — his best record against any of the 238 club and international opponents he’s faced in his 14-year career. And the vast majority of those Reacher-style, hard-impact moments against Spain’s reigning champions have come away from home: either at Camp Nou or Montjuic.
Simeone doesn’t always pair Sørloth with Julián Álvarez when selecting his ‘best’ Atleti XI. And there was a stage last season when the two strikers didn’t quite seem on the same wavelength. But the coach would be utterly mad not to do so here.
Last season Sørloth outstripped the much more expensive, better-paid and, admittedly, World Cup-winning Alvarez. The Norwegian notched 24 goals and two assists in 2,145 competitive minutes for Atleti in LaLiga, the UEFA Champions League and Copa del Rey: a goal contribution every 82.5 minutes. This season? Four goals, but in just seven starts out of a possible 19. It’s a records that positively screams “nemesis.”
In case you’re wondering what caused him to become this Barça-kryptonite it’s partly because, as a kid, he was a huge fan of Didier Drogba — the former Chelsea striker who twice scored the winner against Barça and twice eliminated them from the Champions League.
“I was a Chelsea fan growing up, so he was by far my favorite striker,” Sørloth told FIFA earlier this year. “I liked the physicality of his play. Players could kick 50-meter long balls to him, with snow on them, and he would still get it down and be dangerous.”
It’s also because young Sørloth was a national champion at ice hockey and handball — he reckons that taught him toughness, flexibility and competitive ‘smarts’. About his own warrior status, he added: “I like the physical battles and the fight with the defenders. I actually prefer to play against the big ones. If I play against small ones, I get more free kicks against me!”
Tuesday’s game could well be pivotal in this season’s title race. Last season the four Barça-Atleti matches gifted us 18 goals, Barça trailed in three of those games but only lost once and. With Real Madrid stuttering, most recently in Sunday’s 1-1 draw at Girona, whoever wins at Camp Nou this is guaranteed to end the night top of LaLiga.
But when you watch, keep an eye on poor old Flick. He’ll be a bit more solitary in his Barça dugout given that those two staff members, No. 2 Sorg and goalkeeping coach De La Fuente, will be banned after being sent off against Alavés. And, although his team have an identical points haul (34) after 14 matches as at the same stage last season’s title-winning campaign, he’s hugely underwhelmed with them, even admitting: “We don’t have the control and intensity we had last season”
That will be music to the ears of Atleti’s hulking great Jack Reacher lookalike. Look out Barça: here comes Sørloth.
Play at the India Open badminton tournament was halted twice on Thursday after bird droppings were spotted on Court 1 during Indian HS Prannoy’s match against Singapore’s Loh Kean Yew, Indian media reported.
The incident kept the spotlight on conditions at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium for a third straight day and added to questions over the venue’s preparedness for the World Championships in August.
Play was first stopped in the opening game when officials rushed in with tissues to clean the floor, and was halted again in the third after fresh droppings were spotted.
“I think it was bird poop,” Prannoy said after the match.
The disruption followed other incidents reported at the venue in recent days, including birds flying around on the practice courts and a monkey being seen in the stands.
While the Badminton Association of India (BAI) has defended the conditions and arrangements so far, Indian media said Thursday’s episode adds to a growing list of embarrassments for organisers and points of review for the Badminton World Federation (BWF), which is monitoring the venue.
Players have also raised concerns over the city’s pollution and weather conditions, with Loh adding to the issues flagged during the tournament.
Earlier this week, Danish player Blichfeldt raised concerns about what she described as “dirty and unhealthy” conditions, calling on the BWF to intervene, a significant allegation given the same venue will host the World Championships scheduled to be held in August, with India set to host the global showpiece for the first time in 16 years.
Last year’s India Open was held at the smaller KD Jadhav Arena before being moved this season to the larger Indira Gandhi Stadium, while training sessions continue to take place at the KD Jadhav Stadium located around 250-300 metres from the main arena.
Blichfeldt had reiterated her concerns this week, specifically referring to the warm-up halls, saying players were forced to wear multiple layers due to cold conditions and describing the environment as unfit for elite preparation.
She also raised health concerns after claiming to have seen birds inside the warm-up area, including instances of droppings on court surfaces.
“That’s clearly unhealthy and not normal,” she said, adding that falling sick or getting injured due to such conditions would be unfair to players.
While acknowledging organisers’ efforts, she maintained improvements were still needed and urged tournament authorities and the BWF to ensure professional standards are met.
Sports
State Department lists major sporting events in addition to World Cup, Olympics exempt from Trump’s visa ban
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The Trump administration has revealed various “major sporting events” in addition to the 2026 World Cup and the 2028 Olympic Games in which athletes and coaches will be exempt from a broad visa ban on nearly 40 countries, allowing them to travel to the U.S. to compete.
In a cable sent Wednesday to all U.S. embassies and consulates, the State Department said athletes, coaches and support staff for the World Cup, the Olympics and events endorsed or run by a lengthy list of collegiate and professional sporting leagues and associations would be excluded from the full and partial travel bans subject to citizens of 39 countries and the Palestinian Authority.
But foreign spectators, media and corporate sponsors who wish to attend the events would still be impacted by the ban unless they qualify for another exemption.
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The Trump administration has revealed the “major sporting events” in addition to the 2026 World Cup and the 2028 Olympic Games in which athletes and coaches will be exempt from a broad visa ban. (Brad Smith/ISI Photos/ISI Photos via Getty Images)
“Only a small subset of travelers for the World Cup, Olympics and Paralympics, and other major sporting events will qualify for the exception,” the message said.
The federal government has issued several immigration and travel bans as well as other visa restrictions as part of President Donald Trump’s efforts to curb immigration, although the administration still wants athletes, coaches and fans to be able to attend major sporting events in the U.S.
Trump’s proclamation last month banning the issuance of visas to the 39 countries and the Palestinian Authority had included an exception for athletes and staff competing in some sporting events such as the World Cup and the Olympics, and a decision on the other sporting events that would be covered would be made by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
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Foreign spectators, media and corporate sponsors who wish to attend the events would still be impacted by the ban unless they qualify for another exemption. (Dan Mullan/Getty Images)
The events covered, according to the cable, include all competitions and qualifying events for the Olympic Games, Paralympic Games, Pan American Games and Parapan American Games; events hosted, sanctioned or recognized by a U.S. National Governing Body; all competitions and qualifying events for the Special Olympics; and official events and competitions hosted or endorsed by FIFA or its confederations.
Official events and competitions hosted by the International Military Sports Council, the International University Sports Federation and the National Collegiate Athletic Association as well as those hosted or endorsed by U.S. professional sports leagues such as the National Football League, the National Basketball Association and Women’s National Basketball Association, Major League Baseball and Little League, National Hockey League, Professional Women’s Hockey League, NASCAR, Formula 1, the Professional Golf Association, Ladies Professional Golf Association, LIV Golf, Major League Rugby, Major League Soccer, World Wrestling Entertainment, Ultimate Fighting Championship and All Elite Wrestling are also covered under the exemption.
Other events and leagues could be added to the list in the future, the cable said.
Other events and leagues could be added to the list in the future. (Saul Loeb / AFP via Getty Images)
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Under the new visa restrictions, a full travel ban covers citizens of Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Laos, Libya, Mali, Myanmar, Niger, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, Syria, Yemen and individuals holding Palestinian Authority–issued passports.
A partial ban applies to citizens of Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Burundi, Cuba, Dominica, Gabon, Gambia, Ivory Coast, Malawi, Mauritania, Senegal, Tanzania, Tonga, Togo, Venezuela, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Former Chicago Cubs and Houston Astros star outfielder Kyle Tucker has agreed to a $240 million, four-year contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers, per multiple reports.
Tucker’s $60 million average annual value would be the second-highest in baseball history, not factoring discounting, behind Shohei Ohtani’s $70 million in his 10-year deal with the Dodgers that runs through 2033.
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Kyle Tucker #30 of the Houston Astros runs to third base during the first inning against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field on September 28, 2024, in Cleveland, Ohio. (Nick Cammett/Diamond Images via Getty Images)
When healthy, Tucker is among the best all-around players in the majors. But the outfielder has played in just 214 regular-season games over the past two years.
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Jeremy Pena #3, Kyle Tucker #30, and Alex Bregman #2 of the Houston Astros celebrate after Tucker hit a home run in the third inning against the Philadelphia Phillies in Game One of the 2022 World Series at Minute Maid Park on October 28, 2022, in Houston, Texas. (Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
He batted .266 with 22 homers and 73 RBIs with the Chicago Cubs last season. He was acquired in a blockbuster trade with Houston in December 2024 that moved slugging prospect Cam Smith to the Astros.
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Kyle Tucker #30 of the Chicago Cubs swings the bat in the third inning during game five of the National League Division Series against the Milwaukee Brewers at American Family Field on October 11, 2025 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Brandon Sloter/Chicago Cubs/Getty Images)
Tucker was slowed by a pair of injuries in his lone season with the Cubs. He sustained a small fracture in his right hand on an awkward slide against Cincinnati on June 1. He also strained his left calf against Atlanta on Sept. 2.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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