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Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur seek to salvage tough domestic seasons in Europa League final

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Both Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur continued to live in their own parallel worlds as both English teams reached the Europa League final on Thursday.

The pair will meet in Bilbao, Spain, on May 21 in the hope of salvaging their seasons, with both suffering staggeringly bad form in the Premier league.

Tottenham currently sits 16th in the table having lost 19 times this season, while Manchester United is in 15th having won just four league games since the turn of the year.

Europe, then, has provided sanctuary for the otherwise beleaguered clubs and offers both a chance to lift the Champions League trophy next year – the winner of the Europa League qualifies for the continent’s top club competition.

Along with the prestige of playing in the Champions League, participating in next year’s tournament will also provide both clubs with a big financial boost and help attract the world’s best players to help bolster their squads.

It’s a prize, then, that neither can afford to miss out on.

In truth, both teams breezed into the final having each won their semifinal first legs last week, meaning the return fixtures on Thursday were relatively routine.

Manchester United, which held a 3-0 lead, did initially go behind at Old Trafford through Mikel Jauregizar’s wonderful strike but recovered well to win 4-1 on the night, courtesy of goals from Casemiro, Rasmus Højlund and a brace from the impressive Mason Mount.

“It’s a different competition and the opponents are different, the physicality I think is important. We are more comfortable in this kind of game,” Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim told reporters after the game, trying to explain why his team’s form is so much better in the Europa League.

“I do think the games are completely different … when we arrived at the beginning in our club, I think it was more the physicality and the speed of the game, so we were more comfortable to play in the Europa League.”

Manchester United players celebrate with teammates Mason Mount after the midfielder completed the 4-1 win.

Meanwhile, Tottenham traveled to the Arctic Circle to play Norweigan side Bodø/Glimt, looking to protect its 3-1 first-leg lead.

It dealt with the unusual surroundings well on Thursday to win 2-0 on the night, with goals from Dominic Solanke and Pedro Porro ensuring safe passage to the final.

For Spurs, there is the added pressure of winning the club’s first trophy since 2008 and first continental silverware since the 1983-84 season. The north London club has struggled to shake off the reputation of being “nearly good enough” over the last decade and has another chance to right that wrong in the final.

Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou will also want to back up his claim that he always wins a trophy in the second season after joining a new club.

“It’s exciting. It’s brilliant. We know, irrespective of which club you’re at, you don’t get these opportunities too often, so you want to make the most of them,” Postecoglou said to reporters after Thursday’s win.

“We’ve a couple of weeks to prepare for it, it should be a great game, and obviously, it gives our supporters some hope now that we can do something special this year.”

Before this tournament kicked off, many had predicted both teams would have made the final given their superiority over most of the other teams in Europe’s second tier competition.

But given how unfathomably poor their league forms have been, it’s quite incredible that teams positioned so low in the Premier League table are competing in a European final.

The hope, for both sets of players, is that victory in Bilbao can be the ultimate distraction from their misgivings in the league, and give their respective fans something to cheer about in an otherwise chastening season.



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Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray end coaching partnership after six months

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Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray have ended their coaching relationship after six months as the 24-time grand slam singles champion continues to struggle for form in 2025.

“Thank you, coach Andy, for all the hard work, fun & support over last six months on & off the court,” Djokovic wrote on his social media channels. “I really enjoyed deepening our friendship together.”

The longtime rivals, who faced off in several all-time classic encounters on the court, announced in November that Murray would be joining Djokovic’s coaching team.

The partnership got off to a promising start as Djokovic reached the semifinals of January’s Australian Open after beating Carlos Alcaraz in a four-set epic in the quarterfinals, only for an injury to cut his last-four match against Alexander Zverev short.

However, Djokovic and Murray have failed to rekindle anything close to that kind of form in the months since.

“Thanks to Novak for the unbelievable opportunity to work together and thanks to his team for all their hard work over the past six months,” Murray said in a statement. “I wish Novak all the best for the rest of the season.”

Djokovic’s best performance this year came in reaching the final of the Miami Open, where he lost to unseeded teenager Jakub Menšík. The 24-time grand slam champion lost in the first round at the Qatar Open and Indian Wells before Miami, and in the first round of the Monte-Carlo Masters and Madrid Open since.

As recently as March, Djokovic said he hoped Murray would be his coach through the French Open and Wimbledon.

The 37-year-old pulled out of the ongoing Italian Open at the end of April, and this week accepted a wildcard into the Geneva Open which begins on May 18.



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Jayson Tatum: Boston loses star to leg injury as Knicks come up huge at home to take 3-1 lead over Celtics

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Jayson Tatum will have an MRI on the lower leg injury he suffered during the Boston Celtics’ 121-113 Game 4 defeat against the New York Knicks on Monday.

Late in the fourth quarter, the Celtics forward went down with an apparent non-contact injury as he tried to go after a loose ball. He quickly grabbed his right ankle and appeared to be in a lot of pain.

Tatum was helped off the court as he couldn’t put any pressure on his right leg and was taken through the tunnel in New York’s Madison Square Garden in a wheelchair.

Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla said after the game Tatum suffered a “lower body injury” and will have the scan on Tuesday.

“You are always worried about someone’s health,” Mazzulla told reporters. “He’s the type of guy that gets right up. He didn’t and we’ll know tomorrow exactly what it is. It’s tough to watch a guy like him getting carried off like that.”

To make matters worse, Monday’s defeat means the Boston Celtics now trail 3-1 in the series and face elimination in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Trainers check on Boston Celtics' Jayson Tatum after he was injured late in the fourth quarter.

Down by as many as 14 points in the third quarter, New York ended the period on a 12-2 run to take an 88-85 lead into the fourth.

With less than six minutes remaining in regulation of a tied 102-102 game, OG Anunoby drained a three-pointer to give the Knicks a 105-102 lead, which New York would not relinquish.

Four Knicks players scored at least 20 points with Jalen Brunson leading the way with 39 points, 12 assists and five rebounds. Mikal Bridges and Karl-Anthony Towns each had 23 points and Anunoby added 20.

After the victory, Brunson discussed the comeback win and extending the series lead.

“It means a lot. It’s a big game for us, just the way we responded, is what I’m most proud of, sticking together and making sure we are not quitting,” Brunson said at the postgame news conference.

“That’s a tough team over there. Obviously, we want to get off to better starts, but they got experience. They’re the defending champs for a reason.”

Tatum finished with a game-high 42 points, tying Celtics legends Larry Bird and John Havlicek for the most 40-point postseason games in franchise history. Tatum also had eight rebounds, four assists, four steals and two blocks in 40 minutes.

“That’s our brother, hate to see him go down. We know the type of guy he is. It’s tough to see him go down,” Celtics guard Derrick White, who scored 23 points in the loss, said after the game. “We just have to find a way to win Game 5.”

Boston guard Jaylen Brown, who finished with 20 points and seven rebounds, said it was “tough” seeing Tatum go down.

Tatum is set to undergo an MRI Tuesday.

“Tonight is tough. I think everybody is kind of at a loss of words just because, one losing a game, but obviously, the concern with JT. But we pick our heads back up tomorrow and go from there,” Brown said.

Brunson said he’s “praying for the best” for Tatum.

“We want to go out there and compete, but when a player of his caliber goes down and he’s rolling in pain like that, you know something is wrong, so that why I gave my thoughts and prayers because you never want to see something like that ever. ”

The Knicks will look to eliminate the defending NBA champion Celtics on Wednesday in Boston.



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Coco Gauff makes history with dominant victory over Emma Raducanu to advance to Italian Open quarterfinals

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American tennis star Coco Gauff put on a dominant display as she eased past Emma Raducanu on Monday to book her spot in the Italian Open quarterfinals.

The No. 4 seed dropped just three games in her convincing 6-1, 6-2 win over her British opponent in Rome, needing just 79 minutes to secure victory.

In reaching the quarterfinals, the 21-year-old becomes the youngest player to reach four quarterfinals in WTA 1000 clay tournaments since the top-level events were introduced in 2009.

Gauff will face world No. 7 Mirra Andreeva in the final eight on Wednesday after the 18-year-old came back to beat Clara Tauson in three sets.

Gauff is showing impressive form on clay at the right time with the French Open just around the corner.

The American has won eight of her last nine matches on the surface, with her only loss coming in the final of the Madrid Open to world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka.

Gauff revealed after her victory over Raducanu that she has been focusing on her footwork over the last two weeks in preparation for playing at Roland Garros, and highlighted her forehand – which has been inconsistent of late – as a key factor in her win on Monday.

“I think, today, (it) was the reason why I won the match,” Gauff told reporters. “Especially on this surface, I think I can do a lot with it.”

Gauff was in control from the outset against Raducanu on Campo Centrale and never let up. She won 39 of her 59 service points and broke Raducanu’s serve four times.

Gauff has now won both of her matches against Raducanu during her career.

She admitted that it has taken some time to get adjusted to playing on a different surface in Italy but feels good about where she is now.

“It still feels so slow compared to Madrid,” Gauff said, “but I’m getting used to it with each match. I feel really happy with how I played. I think I really was the one dictating the match for the most part.”

Elsewhere on Monday, Sabalenka held of a stiff challenge from Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk to book her spot in the quarterfinals, winning 6-1, 7-6 (8) in two hours and five minutes.



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