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BARCELONA, Spain — Max Verstappen of Red Bull became Formula One's youngest race winner at age 18 with a victory at the Spanish Grand Prix after Mercedes teammates Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg crashed into each other on the first lap on Sunday.

Verstappen took advantage of the early crash involving the favourites and held on for the victory only a few days after moving up from feeder team Toro Rosso in a controversial driver switch with Daniil Kvyat.

Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen was second and teammate Sebastian Vettel third. Verstappen's teammate, Daniel Ricciardo, finished fourth.

Hamilton was in pole position but was overtaken by Rosberg at the start, and when the British driver tried to regain the lead, he appeared to be blocked by his teammate and both cars touched going into Turn 4, spinning across the track and into the gravel at the runoff area. The crash prompted the safety car to be deployed and forced both drivers to retire.

Verstappen, son of former F1 driver Jos Verstappen, became the first Dutchman to win a Formula One race.

He was second behind Ricciardo after the Mercedes crash, but moved to the front after a round of pit stops and stayed there until the end despite a late challenge by Raikkonen, who finished less than a second behind.

It was a wild start at the Barcelona track.

"Completely unnecessary," former driver Niki Lauda, Mercedes' non-executive chairman, said from the pit lane. "That both Mercedes are out after two corners is for me unacceptable. Lewis was too aggressive, why should Nico give him room? He's in the lead. I blame Lewis more than I blame Nico."

Toto Wolff, head of Mercedes motorsport, didn't want to singularly blame one of the drivers.

"A very difficult situation for the team, we lost points," Wolff said. "We let the drivers race and sometimes this is what happens. In our opinion, there is not one to blame entirely. They are both pretty upset because they know about the effort. We need to look at the pictures, look at the data and avoid this in the future."

It was the latest setback for Hamilton, who is yet to win a race in a season in which he has been plagued by mechanical issues and unfortunate incidents. He hasn't won since the United States GP in October.

The crash also ended Rosberg's chance of winning his eighth straight race. He had already won the first four this year and could have become the first driver to win five in a row to start the season since Michael Schumacher with Ferrari in 2004. Nigel Mansell also won the first five races with Williams in 1992.

After another poor start, Hamilton got a good run off Turn 2 and was faster than Rosberg, who moved to the inside to defend his position and squeezed the three-time world champion onto the grass. Hamilton lost control and spun, collecting Rosberg's car in the process entering Turn 4.

Both cars came to a stop in the gravel and could not continue. Hamilton, yet to lead after Turn 1 this season, was visibly upset and threw his steering wheel from the car.

With their helmets still on, Rosberg and Hamilton entered the Mercedes offices to discuss the incident. A little later they were joined by Wolff and Lauda.

Stewards said they would investigate the incident.

MEXICO CITY — It’s taken less than 80 days for Gianni Infantino’s claim to be leading FIFA into a new era to be publicly undermined. 

Infantino was plunged into damage limitation mode on Saturday after a significant figure behind the clean-up of FIFA — independent compliance and audit chief Domenico Scala — quit with a stinging rebuke about the president’s conduct. 

It left Friday’s bold declaration by Infantino that FIFA’s crisis had ended looking like his own premature “Mission accomplished” moment. 

It was little wonder Infantino looked so elated when he told delegates “I can officially inform you here, the crisis is over.” That claim came after the previous year’s FIFA Congress was rocked by the arrests of high-ranking executives. 

Infantino had sprung two unexpected moves on the membership that gave the impression of shoring up his fledgling presidency. 

While relaxed and preparing to fly home after days of generous hospitality, delegates were potentially blindsided by being asked to approve a change to the statutes that effectively saw Infantino seize control of FIFA’s ethics organs. 

Only one member association voted against handing FIFA’s ruling council the power — if needed — to fire Scala, ethics judge Hans-Joachim Eckert and investigator Cornel Borbely. Despite Eckert and Borbely only discovering the clandestine action when it appeared on congress screens, they do not expect it to impact their work. 

But Scala believes the council headed by Infantino could now impede investigations with the threat of dismissal hanging over ethics officials. 

In his resignation statement, Scala said Infantino’s move “undermines a central pillar of the good governance of FIFA, and it destroys a substantial achievement of the reforms”. FIFA dismissed the rebuke as “unfounded”.

The independence of the oversight bodies is widely seen as essential for FIFA to reassure external investigators that it can weed out offenders. They helped to ban both FIFA’s president, Sepp Blatter, and the secretary general, Jerome Valcke, in the last six months. 

Valcke’s replacement as FIFA’s top administrator was another disclosure bounced on the congress. 

Fatma Samoura initially appeared to be a savvy choice for its secretary general in a job that had never been previously filled by a woman or non-European. But it quickly became clear that the Senegalese United Nations veteran had not emerged from an open recruitment process and lacks the business background seen as even more essential in the reshaped post, following reforms which Infantino helped to mould last year. 

Although Samoura seems well qualified to overhaul the development division, Infantino has the experience required to lead on television contracts and sponsorship negotiations after almost a decade as UEFA general secretary. 

Samoura’s knowledge of the football world also came under question when she told French media on Saturday that, when she first met Infantino in November, he was still campaigning for Michel Platini. Platini had in fact been suspended by FIFA the previous month in one of the organisation’s most high-profile disciplinary decisions and Infantino was already a presidential candidate. 

By appointing Samoura for the CEO-like job, Infantino could be better placed to retain some executive functions which were meant to have been stripped from the president to prevent a leader enjoying a power base like Blatter’s. 

Although Infantino has been in the job for more than two months, he does not appear to have been paid yet. 

“My pay is not yet fixed as far as I am concerned,” making it difficult to give a figure, Infantino said while laughing when asked about his salary on Friday. 

But the remuneration committee headed by Scala agreed Infantino’s salary before the February 26 election and decided the new secretary general would now be paid more than the president. 

Former FIFA anti-corruption adviser Mark Pieth, who is close to Scala, said that the rift between Infantino and Scala is partly because the president “wants more than the 2 million (Swiss francs; $2 million) that Domenico is offering him”.

In his first week in the job, Infantino said he didn’t seek the presidency “for money”.

Having campaigned on a pledge to make FIFA more open and transparent, Infantino has struggled to make an immediate impact. 

The 45-year-old Swiss-Italian and his council members stayed in the high-end Four Seasons Hotel in Mexico while the rest of FIFA staff were in the more moderately priced 5-star InterContinental, albeit following long-standing bookings. 

When Infantino toured the hotels used by regional confederations he was surrounded by several security guards and he didn’t appear to meet regular football fans or escape the FIFA bubble during a week in Mexico. 

One of FIFA’s greatest challenges in the last year has been convincing the world’s media that it can be trusted to clean up its act and is now more transparent. 

But FIFA was admonished in Britain’s Daily Mail newspaper for scoring a “spectacular PR own goal” by putting media behind barbed wire to glimpse down on a lavish dinner for delegates on half of the Azteca Stadium pitch on Wednesday. 

The other half of the 1970 and 1986 World Cup final field was used for a game featuring FIFA’s new “legends” team — Infantino’s attempt to bring stars of the game closer to its governing body. 

FIFA said the veterans, including Brazil great Ronaldinho, were not paid to be in Mexico. Member associations, though, could claim $1,000 each for three delegates just for attending a few days in Mexico. 

“We don’t take the 1,000 — we think it is outrageous,” English Football Association Chief Executive Martin Glenn said. “It costs you nothing to come here, you have got no expenses when you are here so I don’t understand the logic of it.” 

Infantino said the future of the handouts “can be looked at” but Glenn described FIFA as “old-school” when it comes to spending that could be better invested in football projects. 

“If you were a major US multinational you wouldn’t be running things quite in this way,” Glenn reflected on the congress. 

After more than two months with Infantino at the helm, FIFA still resembles the remote and detached institution of the Blatter era. 

And with Friday’s congress being seen as a power grab by Infantino, the president faces an immediate challenge to recapture the optimism that greeted his election win.

BARCELONA — Barcelona won their second straight Spanish league title after defeating Granada 3-0 on Saturday with a hat trick by Luis Suarez in the final round.

The result capped a five-game winning streak that allowed the Catalan club to finish one point ahead of Real Madrid, which fell short despite winning their last 12 league games.

Madrid defeated Deportivo 2-0 in La Coruna with two goals by Cristiano Ronaldo, but it needed Barcelona to stumble in order to clinch their first title since 2012.

After the final whistle in Granada, Barcelona players formed a circle near the benches and jumped up and down while chanting “Campeones, Campeones.”

Several hundred fans from both teams invaded the pitch as players struggled to find their way off the pitch.

Thousands of Barcelona fans gathered in the city to celebrate, although the club said the official festivities will take place on Sunday evening.

Barcelona, who finished with 91 points, have won six of the last eight Spanish league titles, and eight of the last 12. Barcelona have 24 titles in total, eight less than Real Madrid, the league’s most successful club.

“Six titles in eight seasons says a lot about this generation,” said Barcelona midfielder Andres Iniesta, who now has eight Spanish league titles along with Lionel Messi and former player Xavi Hernandez.

Saturday’s win helped Barcelona avoid what would have been a disastrous title loss after they led Madrid by 12 points with nine rounds to go.

It also guaranteed that Barcelona will win at least one trophy in a season in which it started brilliantly but struggled at the end. The team’s hopes of repeating their treble from a year ago ended when they were eliminated by Atletico Madrid in the quarterfinals of the Champions League. They can still win the Copa del Rey in next weekend’s final against Sevilla.

“It is a well-deserved title,” Barcelona coach Luis Enrique said. “The league is a tournament that rewards regularity, and we were in the lead for several weeks, playing very good football.”

The team was cruising until enduring a four-game winless streak which allowed Atletico and Real Madrid to rejoin the title race. But Barcelona picked up the pace again just in time, pulling off victories in their last five games to successfully defend the title.

Atletico, who challenged Barcelona for most of the season, dropped out of contention after a surprise loss to last-place Levante in the previous round.

Real Madrid and Atletico will still play the Champions League final on May 28 in Milan.

Barcelona didn’t have any trouble securing its victory at Granada, which had already escaped relegation and had little to play for in the final round.

Suarez opened the scoring from close range in the 22nd minute after a pass by Jordi Alba, added to the lead with a header in the 38th off a cross by Dani Alves, and netted his third after a set up by Neymar inside the area in the 86th.

Suarez, who has scored 14 goals in the last five games, finished the league as the top scorer with 40 goals, five more than Ronaldo. Lionel Messi was third with 26.

Ronaldo scored in the seventh and 25th minutes to leave Madrid optimistic in La Coruna, but as Barcelona increased its lead in Granada, it became clear that Zinedine Zidane’s team would fall short of the title.

“We are all disappointed,” Zidane said. “But we did what we had to do. I’m proud of this team, the players fought until the end.”

There was a moment of silence before the match in La Coruna in memory of Madrid fans who died in an attack in Iraq on Friday.

Madrid has won the league only once in the last eight seasons.

It was the eighth occasion that Barcelona and Madrid had arrived at the final round fighting each other for the title, with Barcelona winning seven times.

PARIS — The French league will be missing its most charismatic player next season after Zlatan Ibrahimovic announced on Friday that he will leave Paris Saint-Germain.

The Sweden international, whose contract expires in June, said that he will be playing his final match at PSG’s home ground on Saturday against Nantes.

“My last game tomorrow at the Parc des Princes. I came like a king, left like a legend,” Ibrahimovic said in his trademark arrogant style.

Saturday’s match will not be the last in a PSG jersey for Ibrahimovic, who is also expected to play in the French Cup final against Marseille at the Stade de France on May 21.

Ibrahimovic reportedly pushed for a one-year extension but PSG said the club and the player decided mutually not to renew their contract.

“They agreed as well that once the player ends his active football career he would be back in the club in a managerial capacity,” PSG said in a statement.

At 34, Ibrahimovic played one of the best seasons of his career. Although he failed again in his task of delivering the Champions League to the Qatari-owned club, he was named last week the French league’s best player for the third time in four seasons.

“Ibra will have widely contributed to transform Paris Saint-Germain in one of the biggest clubs in Europe,” PSG said.

Playing tremendous football for most of the season, the imposing striker became PSG’s all-time leading goal scorer as the Parisian club won a fourth consecutive French league title. Earlier this week, he moved to within one goal of Carlos Bianchi’s record for a French league season after scoring his 36th in a 1-1 draw at Bordeaux. He is the first player to score more than 30 in a season in France’s top division since Bianchi managed 37 in 1977-78.

“I am very proud of the last four years,” Ibrahimovic said in the statement issued by PSG. “I loved every day I spent here. The Paris Saint-Germain has become a star club in the world and I played a key role moving it forward. It is now the right time for me to take a different path.”

A big fan of Ibrahimovic, PSG coach Laurent Blanc said the striker was a driving force behind PSG’s development as major European force over the past four years.

“Not only on the pitch but also in terms of image and charisma, he’s a player who does not leave one indifferent,” Blanc said. “He contributed to make PSG’s project a reality and maybe exceeded expectations from the owners.”

Ibrahimovic, who has previously expressed his interest for an experience across the Atlantic in MLS, has yet to announce where he is headed.

After leading Sweden during the European Championship starting June 10 in France, he could also cross the English Channel to play in the Premier League. The much-travelled Ibrahimovic, who played one season for Barcelona, has also been linked with a move to Real Madrid, where he is thought to be interested in working with coach Zinedine Zidane.

OAKLAND, California — Golden State booked their passage to the NBA Western Conference finals for a second straight year by beating Portland 125-121 on Wednesday, with newly crowned league MVP Stephen Curry hitting the sealing 3-pointer to complete a 4-1 series victory.

Klay Thompson scored 33 points with six 3-pointers, while Curry added 29 a day after becoming the first unanimous MVP in NBA history. He also added 11 assists after returning to the starting line-up for the first time all series following a sprained knee.

“West finals two years in a row, it’s been a special, special season,” Thompson said.

In the Eastern Conference, Toronto moved within one win of a place in the finals by defeating Miami 99-91, led by a play-off high 34 points from DeMar DeRozan.

The Warriors got past Portland in the series despite playing without Curry for the first three games.

“We know what it takes to win in the play-offs,” Thompson said. “That might be the closest five-game series of all-time.”

Draymond Green, who had his left ankle re-taped in the fourth quarter, had 13 points, 11 rebounds and six assists while Portland’s Damian Lillard scored 28 points and C.J. McCollum had 27.

Now, Golden State will wait for the conclusion of the Oklahoma City-San Antonio series, led 3-2 by the Thunder. And the banged-up Warriors could use the time to get healthy.

They lost 2.1-metre centre Andrew Bogut for the second half because of a right leg injury.

Thompson shot 13 for 17 and became the first player to have at least five 3s in seven straight games, also recording his fourth 30-point game this postseason.

“Klay’s shooting was incredible tonight,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “Then the way Steph finished the game, that step-back shot to put it to a five-point lead was probably a shot only he can make. A gutty effort from a lot of guys. It wasn’t our best stuff, but we got it done.”

The Trail Blazers were 16 of 36 on 3-pointers.

Lillard, an Oakland native, was 7-for-24 shooting in his final game of the season back home in the East Bay.

“We should be proud of the way we pushed them,” Lillard said. “It could easily have been a seven-game series.”

At Toronto, DeRozan’s 34 points was complemented by Kyle Lowry (25 points) and Bismack Biyombo (10 points) as the Raptors positioned themselves to clinch their first conference finals berth with a win in Game 6 in Miami on Friday.

It was DeRozan’s franchise-best 13th 20-point game in the play-offs and his sixth this postseason.

Dwyane Wade scored 20 for Miami, Goran Dragic and Josh Richardson each had 13 and Joe Johnson 11.

Toronto led by 20 in the first half and by 13 to start the fourth quarter before its lead shrunk to 88-87 when Wade made a pair of free throws with 1:54 left. DeRozan made a pair of free throws and, after a Miami turnover, Lowry made a long 3-pointer to put Toronto up 93-87 with 52 seconds left.

DeRozan sealed it by going 4 for 4 on his free throws in the final 21 seconds.

DeRozan jammed his sore right thumb while fouling Miami’s Tyler Johnson with 8:19 remaining in the fourth. He headed to the locker room for treatment but returned four minutes later.

Lowry and DeRozan scored 19 between them in the first quarter as the Raptors raced out to a 28-18 lead. Wade was the only Miami starter to make a field goal in the first as the Heat had more fouls (eight) than made baskets (six).

Biyombo had eight points in the second, electrifying the crowd by sandwiching a pair of dunks around a huge block on Wade. Toronto led 55-35 with 3:39 left but Dragic scored eight points as the Heat used a 10-0 run to cut the deficit to 55-45 at halftime.

Miami’s Luol Deng left midway through the third with a sore left wrist and did not return. The Heat said X-rays were inconclusive. Deng scored four points and missed all eight of his field goal attempts.

Shortly after, Toronto’s DeMarre Carroll injured his left wrist after being called for a charge, ending his night. The Raptors said X-rays were negative.

Wade scored seven in the third but DeRozan had 11 as the Raptors took a 75-62 lead into the fourth.

BARCELONA — Nico Rosberg will have Formula One history in his sights in Spain this weekend, even if Dutch teenager Max Verstappen seizes his share of the limelight.

The championship leader has won seven races in a row, including the last three of 2015, and can join fellow-German Michael Schumacher (2004) and Britain’s Nigel Mansell (1992) as the only drivers to start a season with five successive victories.

The chances of that happening looked remote this time last year, when Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton had won three of the first four and was heading for a third title, but Rosberg is now 43 points clear of the Briton.

As 18-year-old Verstappen would agree, after his rapid promotion from Toro Rosso in a swap with demoted Russian Daniil Kvyat, Formula One moves fast off the track as well as on it.

“I’m just enjoying the moment and the form I’m in, doing my best to keep it going and hoping I can carry it through to the end of the season,” said Rosberg, 11/10 at bookmakers’ William Hill with Hamilton at 5/4.

Another triumph for Mercedes would equal McLaren’s run of 11 in a row from 1988, and that looks more than likely given that the champions have won 36 of the last 42 races.

Rosberg will pick up plenty of good vibes at a circuit where he won from pole last year, his first victory of that season, but he has plenty of rivals for attention.

Hamilton, who went from 10th to second at Sochi after his second successive power unit failure pushed him down the grid, will be even more determined to turn the tide while McLaren’s Fernando Alonso can count on strong home support.

“I’m confident they’ll get to the bottom of the problems we’ve been having. I know I’m still quick,” said Hamilton.

“I’ve known that since day one in testing and, when I’ve had clean air and a damage-free car this season, I’ve shown it on track.”

Barcelona marks the real start of the European season, the sport’s historic heartland, even if Russia preceded Spain this year for the first time.

A circuit where teams test pre-season, it is both predictable and surprising — there have been nine different winners in the last nine years yet all but two of the last 15 pole-setters have won.

The paddock “motorhomes”, the palatial hospitality units used only at European races, will gleam in the sunshine with teams bringing major upgrades to the track and hoping for a change of fortunes.

A good result in Spain bodes well for the rest of the year.

“Barcelona is a very good indication of where you are with the car,” said Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, whose team is hoping for a clean weekend to show their real potential after a nightmarish string of mishaps and failures.

Renault, who took their first points of the campaign in Sochi, have said already that Barcelona and the first in-season test that follows will mark the start of their real development programme.

“We look at this race as a marker in the sand: the exit point of our recovery from the takeover [of Lotus] and the first race as ‘our’ team,” said Renault F1 Managing Director Cyril Abiteboul.

“It will start small but I’m confident we will gain momentum as we go forward.”

SAN ANTONIO — Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook finished just one assist short of a triple double as he led the Thunder to a come-from-behind 95-91 win at San Antonio on Tuesday, taking a 3-2 lead in their NBA Western Conference semifinal series.

Westbrook had 35 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists to steer the team to an impressive road victory that meant they can now close out the series with a win at home on Thursday.

“Russ was a maniac tonight, keeping us in it,” Oklahoma City forward Kevin Durant said.

Durant added 23 points as the Thunder won for the second time in San Antonio in the series, and the Spurs had lost only once at home throughout the regular season.

The Spurs have rallied from a 3-2 deficit only once in their prolific playoff history, winning the final two games in 2008 to defeat the then New Orleans Hornets.

“I hope we respond a little angry with a chip on our shoulder,” Spurs guard Danny Green said. “If you want to be a championship team you have to win on the road. Simple as that.”

There were a couple of referee calls the Spurs felt did not go their way in the final minutes, but it was Westbrook who left no question of the outcome.

He sealed the victory with a three-point play with 6.3 seconds remaining, scoring after Kawhi Leonard was not able to foul him intentionally, enabling him to drive for a lay-up while being fouled by LaMarcus Aldridge. Leonard said he “definitely fouled him” on the initial attempt, but Westbrook continued turning the corner and attacking the rim.

“He got away, attacked the rim and got an and-one,” Spurs guard Manu Ginobili said. “Very tough outcome. I didn’t watch the replay. I don’t know how emphatic the foul was, but it’s not the point. We should have arrived to that point in a better situation. For most of the game we were up. We had couple of opportunities to get a good lead. They made some tough shots and we couldn’t capitalise.”

San Antonio led 88-82 with 4 minutes remaining when Westbrook took over. He had seven points, two rebounds and an assist in the final 4 minutes.

“He dictated how we wanted to play,” Durant said. “He was getting to the rim, knocking down the jump shot, knocking down the 3. So he had all levels working tonight. Once he does that, he’s too dangerous because they play back on him not wanting him to get to the rim and he’s knocking the jump shot down.”

The Thunder took a 92-90 lead with 54 seconds remaining on a pair of free throws by Durant after Green fell into his legs when he appeared to be tripped on an attempted screen.

Oklahoma City outrebounded San Antonio 54-36.

“The key was physicality,” Thunder forward Enes Kanter said. “Me and Steven just went and tried to get every rebound. It worked out well for both of us.”

Westbrook settled in after an erratic first half in which he committed six of the Thunder’s 13 first-half turnovers. He only had two turnovers after half-time.

“I was overthinking the first half, overpassing trying to find ways to get my guys involved, making some bad mistakes,” Westbrook said. “In the second half I was trying to do a better job of taking care of the basketball, especially with the game on the line.”

Besides scoring at least 28 points for the fourth time in the series, the electrifying point guard had four offensive rebounds and two steals in 39 minutes.

VALENCIA, Spain — Almost everything Lionel Messi does looks effortless but the Barcelona forward insists a lot of practice goes into trying to perfect the free-kicks, which have contributed a sizeable chunk of his goals this season.

The 28-year-old Argentine has scored seven goals from direct free-kicks in this year’s La Liga, the latest in Sunday’s 5-0 triumph over Espanyol.

Messi now has 23 goals from free-kicks in his career at the club, equalling the previous record of former Barcelona star Ronald Koeman.

“Yes, the truth is that we train for this,” he said in an interview with ESPN.

“We work on how to move so that the ball goes to the right place and also you learn things over the course of your career.”

Messi had to wait until the 2008-09 campaign to take his first attempt from a direct free-kick for Barca, where Ronaldinho, Thierry Henry and Xavi Hernandez used to take set pieces.

Koeman’s thunderous right-footed free-kick gave Barcelona a win over Sampdoria for their first European title in 1992, but while the Dutchman focused on power, Messi is more about accuracy.

“To be honest, I like to hit the ball over the players’ wall but from time to time I like to mix it up a little bit so that the goalkeeper doesn’t know where I’m going and I want to keep him confused until I kick,” Messi said.

“I think for that reason, I like to keep the goalkeeper in doubt.”

Messi has scored 37 goals in 43 games in all competitions this season for Barca and the tally can further swell.

La Liga leaders Barca will attempt to clinch the title on Saturday at Granada and will then play in the Copa del Rey final against Sevilla on May 22.

Goal-machine Suarez

Luis Suarez could become Barcelona’s highest scoring Uruguayan in Saturday’s La Liga match at Granada, having equalled in only two seasons what compatriot Ramon Alberto Villaverde Vazquez aggregated in his decade-long stint with the club.

The 29-year-old’s brace against Espanyol in Barca’s 5-0 triumph last Sunday saw him reach 81 goals for the Catalans to equal the record of Villaverde Vazquez who had joined the club in 1954 and played 10 seasons, scoring 81 goals in 224 games.

In only his second season at Barcelona, Suarez has struck 50 goals in all competitions this season to help the team remain in contention for a domestic double, overtaking his previous record of 49 for Ajax in the 2009-2010 campaign.

“He is very intelligent,” Barca coach Luis Enrique said on the club website.

“Sometimes relying too much on one player can hurt you, but if the team plays its game, Luis — who is lethal in the area — will have plenty of chances to score goals. It’s not just the goals, it’s the way the team plays that lets him score.”

More goals are expected from Suarez, who has found the back of the net in four successive league games, netting 11 goals while setting up four more in that spell.

With 37 goals scored so far, four more than Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo, and with one La Liga game remaining, Suarez is on the verge of clinching the Pichichi award as the top scorer in La Liga.

Since the 2008-2009 season, when Diego Forlan won it for Atletico Madrid, the award has gone to either Ronaldo or Messi.

If Leicester’s rise to the top of English football is the most bewildering aspect of this chaotic season in the Premier League, then the implosion of Chelsea runs a close second.

A 3-2 loss to Sunderland on Saturday made it official: Chelsea will end the season with the worst title defence in the 24-year history of the Premier League.

The Blues can finish no higher than ninth place and could still drop as low as 11th.

That’s much worse than Manchester United’s seventh-place finish under David Moyes in his woeful 10 months in charge in 2013-14, which is some achievement in itself.

And there’s still one ignominy left in this sorry campaign for Chelsea: On Sunday, the team will give a guard of honour to Leicester manager Claudio Ranieri and his players when the new champions come to Stamford Bridge on the final day of the season.

Ranieri was the coach fired by Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich in 2004 as he chased the signature of Jose Mourinho.

Chelsea started as the runaway champions from the previous season, with a squad to envy and a manager widely regarded as one of the world’s best. It’s turned into an absolute mess.

There’s the Eva Carneiro saga from the opening day of the season that left the club in a bad light and will drag on into June in the courts; the firing of Mourinho in December; the fall from grace of top players like Eden Hazard, Nemanja Matic and sulky striker Diego Costa; relinquishing the league title with barely a whimper; and on Saturday, the sight of long-time captain John Terry trudging to the dressing room after being sent off late against Sunderland in what likely was his 703rd and final match for Chelsea.

The 35-year-old Terry, who has been at Chelsea since he was 14, hasn’t been offered a new deal.

“Captain. Leader. Legend” reads the banner about Terry draped across one of the stands at Stamford Bridge.

“We know what he has done for this club and what he has won,” Matic said of Terry. “All of us in the team wish him all the best for the future and of course this is not a good way to finish in a club.”

Stamford Bridge is going to be a very different place next season. With Terry set to leave — it’s unclear whether for the United States, China or another English club — the last member of Chelsea’s old guard and spine (Petr Cech, Terry, Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba) disappears. Losing all that experience and winning mentality leaves a massive hole in the team.

There’ll be no Champions League football at Chelsea for the first time since the 2002-03 season.

And there’ll be another new manager in situ — current Italy coach Antonio Conte.

Where to start on Conte’s to-do list. Replace Terry; attempt to keep hold of Hazard; decide whether Diego Costa is worth the effort and strengthen the forward line; try to attract players to a club no longer in Europe’s elite; and assess how big a role youngsters like Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Kenedy and Bertrand Traore should have next season.

If Italy reaches the European Championship final on July 10, Conte will have barely a month before the new English season starts. Planning is surely under way already, but he’s still got precious little time to get his feet under the table at the club’s training base at Cobham.

A huge rebuilding job appears necessary at Chelsea but will Conte get the funds from Abramovich to do so? Mourinho didn’t last year, perhaps precipitating his decline. And for Chelsea to get top stars without the lure of the Champions League, it might have to spend extra for players.

With Manchester City, Liverpool and Manchester United also likely to be in the market for world-class players this offseason, Conte will have to be astute and could end up turning to Italian players in the transfer market. And there’s no knowing how that will turn out.

The soap opera that is Chelsea Football Club has always guaranteed drama and headlines in the Abramovich era, but also a regular supply of silverware and European football.

Maybe no more.

PORTLAND, Oregon — Golden State’s Stephen Curry returned from a sprained right knee to score an NBA-record 17 points in overtime, finishing with 40 as the Warriors won 132-125 at Portland on Monday to take a 3-1 lead in their second-round playoff series.

The day’s other game also went to overtime, with Miami downing Toronto to square that series at two games apiece.

Curry, playing for the first time since he was injured in the first-round series against Houston, was rusty for three quarters but sensational in the closing stages as the Warriors came from 16 points down to force overtime.

Originally expected to play about 25 minutes off the bench, Curry picked up a heavier workload in the second half after Shaun Livingston, who had been starting in his absence, was ejected in the second quarter after arguing a call and picking up two technical fouls.

His victorious return came hours after a person with knowledge of the award told The Associated Press that Curry would repeat as NBA MVP, with the announcement coming as early as Tuesday.

The Warriors can win the series Wednesday at home in Game 5.

Damian Lillard finished with 36 points and 10 assists for Portland.

Curry’s fast-break lay-up gave the defending NBA champions a 120-118 lead with 2:21 left in the extra period, and he followed with a 3-pointer.

Harrison Barnes’ lay-up extended the lead to 125-118 and Portland couldn’t catch up. Klay Thompson finished with 23.

In the fourth quarter, Draymond Green dunked to keep Golden State within 109-108. Mason Plumlee’s finger-roll layup extended Portland’s margin but Barnes tied it with a 3-pointer for Golden State with 51 seconds left, and both Lillard and Curry missed to force the OT.

Curry led the Warriors to an NBA-record 73 wins in the regular season, a year after leading the team to their first NBA championship in 40 years. He averaged just over 30 points per game this season.

The Blazers started strongly and led 16-2 when Curry came off the bench with 5:56 left in the first quarter.

Portland led 67-57 at half-time, scoring a franchise play-off record 41 points in the second quarter alone.

Miami’s Dwyane Wade saved the Heat in regulation, then finished off overtime with an emphatic dunk as the hosts beat Toronto 94-87 on Monday to tie their NBA second-round play-off series at 2-2.

Wade scored 30 points and Goran Dragic had a huge three-point play with 22.4 seconds left in overtime.

Dragic and Joe Johnson each scored 15 for the Heat, who rallied from a nine-point deficit in the fourth quarter. Game 5 is in Toronto on Wednesday.

Terrence Ross and Cory Joseph each scored 14 for Toronto, which shot 39 per cent. Bismack Biyombo and DeMarre Carroll added 13 apiece, while starting guards DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry combined for 19 points on 6-for-28 shooting.

Miami was down 77-68 midway through the fourth quarter, and still trailed 79-72 with 5 minutes left.

Wade scored the next five points for Miami, getting the Heat within 79-77. The deficit was still two when Toronto’s Lowry fouled out with 1:58 left. The Heat finally got the equaliser with 12.6 seconds left.

Joseph missed a jumper to end regulation and the Raptors scored a mere four points in the extra session.

Wade tried a scoop shot from the right side of the lane in overtime. The ball bounced on the rim a few times, and stayed there, resulting in a jump ball that Toronto won with 58 seconds remaining. DeRozan scored on that possession to get Toronto within two, but the Raptors would not score again.

Heat rally

Miami’s Dwyane Wade saved the Heat in regulation, then finished off overtime with an emphatic dunk as the hosts beat Toronto 94-87 on Monday to tie their NBA second-round play-off series at 2-2.

Wade scored 30 points and Goran Dragic had a huge three-point play with 22.4 seconds left in overtime.

Dragic and Joe Johnson each scored 15 for the Heat, who rallied from a nine-point deficit in the fourth quarter. Game 5 is in Toronto on Wednesday.