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MADRID — Real Madrid had to accept responsibility for failing to take their chances after a chastening 3-0 defeat to Barcelona in a Copa del Rey semifinal second leg on Wednesday, according to coach Santiago Solari.

With Vinicius Jr their chief creator, Madrid produced a dominant display at the Santiago Bernabeu but a goal eluded them and they exited the competition staring at a harsh 4-1 aggregate defeat.

“Football is also about how clinical you are, and while we were committed and played with energy we did not take our chances,” Solari told a news conference.

“We fell with honour, but it’s difficult to talk about fairness or injustice in football.” 

In contrast, Barca were ruthless down the other end, taking the lead against the run of play early in the second half with a strike from Luis Suarez, then doubling their advantage with an own goal from Raphael Varane.

Uruguayan striker Suarez then rounded off Barca’s victory in style by scoring again with a ‘‘Panenka’’ penalty.

“They scored with their first shot, their second was an own goal, and we couldn’t score with our attempts. There’s nothing else to add,” added the Argentine coach. 

“We gave everything and we played with heart and creativity but we go home feeling sad because we are not going to the final.” 

Madrid have barely any time to dwell on the defeat, as they host the La Liga leaders again on Saturday in what is their last realistic attempt to get back into the title race, as they currently sit third, nine points adrift of the Catalans.

“We hope that some of the shots we missed today go in on Saturday,” Solari added. 

“In football you have to get back on your feet immediately because the next game is going to cause us problems too.”

MANCHESTER — Ole Gunnar Solskjaer believes the privilege of playing for Manchester United should be about the “survival of the fittest” as he deals with a mounting injury crisis.

Solskjaer had to make three first-half substitutions during Sunday’s 0-0 draw with Liverpool as Ander Herrera, Juan Mata and Jesse Lingard all hobbled off injured.

The Norwegian acknowledged that at least some of the muscle problems suffered by his squad may be a result of the rising physical demands he is placing on them.

United’s running statistics have increased significantly since Solskjaer replaced Jose Mourinho in December.

That has been a factor in a huge upturn in results, with 14 matches under Solskjaer bringing 11 wins and just one defeat.

“It’s probably linked, yes,” said Solskjaer. “But when do you make that change? Do you wait until pre-season and think you will change results by just not asking them to run?

“Or do we start now and show them demands of intensity and how we want to play?”

The caretaker manager has made a point of getting United to play the fast-paced attacking game for which they were renowned during much of Alex Ferguson’s 26-and-a-half years in charge at Old Trafford.

“You have seen what I have chosen,” he added. “We need to play as a Manchester United team. If you want to be a part of Manchester United, it’s a survival of the fittest isn’t it?”

Solskjaer acknowledged that the physical demands of a hard-running style may take its toll on some of the more experienced members of his squad.

But he stressed the importance of professionalism off the pitch, saying his players could prolong their careers.

“They are getting older aren’t they, Juan, Nemanja [Matic], Ander. So it’s about the preparation, the standards that you have to live up to on and off the pitch as a Manchester United player, and as a professional player in the Premier League.

“It’s not just turning up, playing and training and then going home and doing all these little out-of-football activities that we have all seen too many players doing.

“I’m pleased with the way my lads have responded in that way, that we don’t see too much of them outside football.

“That was a big part of my career –- as long as you are a footballer and you play in the Premier League, make the most of it because suddenly you get these injuries and you are done.”

‘We’ll get Lukaku scoring’

Solskjaer, meanwhile, is confident that Romelu Lukaku will get himself into the right shape to rediscover his best form.

The striker, who has gone 10 games without scoring, admitted in December that the muscle mass he put on to help Belgium finish third at last year’s World Cup has hampered his form at club level.

“I can understand why, when you go to a World Cup and see the teams you play, the physicality might take over in terms of your preparation.

“We ask our forwards to work at a higher intensity, to run in behind, but that’s what he likes, so I’m sure he’ll be fine.

“Muscle is not so difficult to get rid of. He’s lean, but he’s muscly. We’ll get him in the box and scoring us goals, that’ll be his job.”

MANCHESTER — Manchester City bagged the first silverware of the season by winning the League Cup final against Chelsea but manager Pep Guardiola will be cautious about the midweek league encounter with his predecessor Manuel Pellegrini.

Mid-table West Ham are the visitors to the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday as City return to league action following their penalty shootout win at Wembley.

But celebrations after a highly satisfactory Sunday afternoon for Guardiola, with title rivals Liverpool only managing to pick up a point in a draw at Manchester United, were muted by the post-match news from the City dressing room.

Brazilian midfielder Fernandinho (groin) and central defender Aymeric Laporte (hamstring) both collected injuries at Wembley that Guardiola said would sideline them for several weeks.

Even allowing for the depth of a City squad assembled for vast sums, it would be hard to pick two less replaceable performers for the manager to lose at such a pivotal stage of the campaign, with his side chasing an unprecedented quadruple.

Fernandinho, in particular, has become one of Guardiola’s most dependable lieutenants at the Etihad, one of the few players whose name is guaranteed to be in City’s starting XI every week.

Since his arrival in 2013, City have won more than 70 per cent of the games in which he has played, a percentage that drops below 60 in his absence.

Most recently, when City suffered shock consecutive defeats against Crystal Palace and Leicester, Fernandinho, 33, was absent.

Ilkay Gundogan and Fabian Delph are logical potential replacements in the defensive midfield role but, despite their status as international players, they cannot match Fernandinho’s poise and tackling ability .

Danilo played in that role with Real Madrid and is another potential replacement while Guardiola has even spoken about playmaker Kevin De Bruyne playing in a deeper position.

Fernandinho factor

Fernandinho’s all-round excellence even saw him selected at centre-half by Guardiola for the recent home win over Arsenal and the loss of Laporte adds to the manager’s concerns in that department.

Veteran Vincent Kompany has struggled for fitness and form for much of the season although John Stones is close to returning from his own injury lay-off.

The fixture list before the international break in mid-March looks benign, with City facing Bournemouth, Watford and German side Schalke after Wednesday’s visit of West Ham.

Yet, with City still active in so many high-stakes games at this stage of the season, Guardiola can scarcely afford any more injury concerns.

De Bruyne described the relentless demands on the players.

“I feel all right, you know. It’s tough but it’s tough for everybody with the amount of games coming up,” said the Belgian.

“It’s unbelievable. They say the winter period is tough but from the moment we started in September in Europe it hasn’t stopped for us.

“The schedule this week doesn’t help us in a way but we’ll take it as it goes. In the end we don’t decide when we’re playing, we just go and play and do the best possible.”

LONDON — Manchester City retained the English League Cup in a shootout after Chelsea Manager Maurizio Sarri’s hopes of a long-awaited first trophy ended in bizarre fashion on Sunday with his keeper Kepa Arrizabalaga openly disobeying orders.

Raheem Sterling smashed home the decisive spot kick as City clinched the English season’s first silverware 4-3 on penalties, with the Wembley showpiece having ended 0-0 after extra time.

The clash, the first between the clubs in a major final, had slowly warmed up, but took the most unlikely of twists deep into the extra period when Arrizabalaga saved from Sergio Aguero.

It appeared the young Spanish keeper had injured himself and Sarri immediately told substitute Willy Caballero to get ready to come on for the closing seconds as penalties loomed.

With his number being held up, Arrizabalaga refused to obey the call to depart, leaving Sarri fuming in the technical area.

At one point the raging Italian coach appeared to walk down the tunnel, before returning to brief his players for penalties.

Caballero still looked poised to take over but it was Arrizabalaga who stood guard in front of the Chelsea fans.

The Spaniard allowed Sergio Aguero’s weak penalty to creep under his body into the net but then redeemed himself with a brilliant save from Leroy Sane leaving the shootout at 2-2.

Chelsea’s David Luiz thumped his penalty against the post, however, to hand the advantage back to the Manchester side and, although Hazard scored, Sterling smashed his kick high past Arrizabalaga to send City’s fans into delirium.

Under pressure

Sarri began the match under pressure with his inconsistent side having lost five of their last 11 games, including a 6-0 thrashing at City in the Premier League and a 2-0 home loss to Manchester United in the FA Cup fifth round.

The United defeat provoked fury from Chelsea fans who have lost patience with the former Napoli manager’s tactics.

A fortnight after the humiliation by Pep Guardiola’s side’s, Sarri’s tactics were spot on as Chelsea stifled City’s much-vaunted attack and created the better chances.

Had N’Golo Kante not blazed over after being teed up by Hazard’s brilliant run midway through the second half, the headlines could have been about Sarri winning his first silverware after 29 years as a manager.

Instead, he was left answering questions about what looked like a blatant case of a player undermining his authority.

“I misunderstood the problem and only realised the situation when the doctor arrived at the bench,” he said later.

“It was a big misunderstanding because I understood the keeper had cramp and was unable to go to the penalties. But it was not cramp and he could go to the penalties.”

Hard work

City have now won the League Cup four times in six seasons and are second on the all-time list, with six titles, behind title rivals Liverpool who have won eight.

They had to work hard for it, though, with Guardiola correctly predicting before the match that Chelsea would be desperate to avenge their demolition at the Etihad.

“Chelsea have incredible quality and after the result two weeks ago we knew it would be more difficult,” said Guardiola, who picked up his third major trophy for City and the 25th of a managerial career spanning three countries.

Asked if his side could claim four trophies this season, and surpass the treble he achieved with Barcelona in 2008-09, Guardiola added: “what we did in Barcelona is unique. This is new players, new club, now we will see how far we can go.”

City dominated possession in the first half but only had a couple of Aguero attempts to show for it.

Chelsea were rejuvenated after that with Hazard coming to the fore against an increasingly uneasy City side.

Aguero did have a goal ruled offside and also had chances in extra time, but Chelsea had looked the more likely winners.

AMMAN — Wihdat and Jazira kick off the 16th Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup when they play in Groups A and B of the second-tier Asian club competition kicking off around the continent on Monday.

Wihdat will host Lebanon’s Nijmeh in Group A, which also includes Palestine’s Hilal Quds and Syria’s Jeish while Jazira play Bahrain’s Nijmeh in an away match in Group B which includes AFC Cup titleholders Kuwait Club and Syria’s Ittihad.

The top teams from the three competing Asian groups in addition to the best second placed team will move to the semifinal round of the zone with the winner advancing to the eventual competition final.

The AFC Cup was previously won three times by Jordanian teams: Faisali won back-to-back titles in 2005 and 2006, and Shabab Urdun in 2007. Other Jordanian teams competing in previous editions include Ramtha, Hussein, That Ras and Ahli. Kuwait SC and the Iraqi Air Force Club are AFC Cup record winners having been crowned champs three times each.

Earlier this year, reigning Jordan League champs Wihdat lost to Kuwait Club in the 2018/19 AFC Champions League. Jordanian teams have never before made it past the ACL preliminary round. In the 2017/18 edition, Faisali were eliminated, while Wihdat were also knocked out in 2017, 2016 and 2015, and Shabab Urdun in 2014.

Last season, Jazira were eliminated from AFC Cup West Asia zone final and failed to reach the continent’s final while Faisali bowed out earlier in the event’s semifinals. Likewise, Ramtha were eliminated by Tunisia’s Etoile Sportive Du Sahel in the preliminary round of the Arab Club Champions Cup. In the AFC Champions League Faisali was eliminated by Uzbekistan’s Nasaf Qarshi and failed to reach the group stages of Asia’s elite club competition.

In 2017, Jordanian league champs Faisali finished runner up to Tunisia’s Tarajji in the Arab Clubs Championships after an impressive performance, which included two wins over Egyptian veterans Ahli. Ahli played the AFC Cup for the first time and Wihdat reached the West Asia zone semifinals.

The local 2018/19 football season saw Wihdat beating Jordan Cup champs Jazira in the 36th Jordan Super Cup. The league is still under way with five teams in possible contention for the title.

AFC Cup Champions list

2004 Jeish (Syria)

2005 Faisali (Jordan)

2006 Faisali (Jordan)

2007 Shabab Urdun (Jordan)

2008 Muharraq (Bahrain)

2009 Kuwait SC (Kuwait)

2010 Ittihad Aleppo (Syria)

2011 Nasaf Qarshi (Uzb)

2012 Kuwait SC (Kuwait)

2013 Kuwait SC (Kuwait)

2014 Qadissieh (Kuwait)

2015 Johor Darol Tazim (Malaysia)

2016 Air Force Club (Iraq)

2017 Air Force Club (Iraq)

2018 Air Force Club (Iraq)

LONDON — On and off the field Chelsea will have their backs well and truly against the wall when they take on an irrepressible Manchester City side in the League Cup final on Sunday.

Thursday night’s 3-0 home win against Malmo in the Europa League offered some brief respite for under-fire, manager Maurizio Sarri, but he remains favourite for the chop.

A 6-0 hammering by Manchester City in their last Premier League outing left Chelsea sixth in the table and struggling to claim a Champions League spot via a top-four finish.

Last weekend’s 2-0 home defeat in the FA Cup fifth round by Manchester United saw some of the Stamford Bridge faithful turn on the Italian who admitted afterwards some of his players still do not understand his so-called “Sarri-ball” tactics.

As if poor form on the pitch was not enough, Friday’s announcement that the club was banned from the next two transfer windows because of breaches of FIFA’s rules relating to the international transfers of minors, deepened the gloom.

The week could still end well, however, if Chelsea upset a rampant City and claim the season’s first domestic silverware in what will be the first major final between the clubs.

Should that happen it would be Sarri’s first trophy as a coach compared to the 20 major honours collected by City manager Pep Guardiola who opened his account in England by winning the League Cup last season against Arsenal.

City will be on a high after Wednesday’s 3-2 Champions League win away to Schalke — their 13th victory in 14 matches in all competitions.

Guardiola concerned

While that is a stark contrast to Chelsea’s stuttering run, during which they lost five of their 10 matches before the win over Malmo, Guardiola is concerned that the London club will be stung into action by their mauling at the Etihad.

“I don’t like to play in a short period of time against one team when you have beaten them,” Guardiola, whose side top the Premier League on goal difference from Liverpool, told reporters as a news conference on Friday.

“[Chelsea] are incredible professional players, they are proud and they will do extra [on Sunday].

“In the moment, I was so happy but today, I wish we hadn’t beaten them 6-0!”

City midfielder David Silva will be seeking an eighth major domestic title since joining the club in 2010 and says it is always beautiful to play at Wembley.

“It’s another chance to win a title,” Spaniard Silva, who scored in the 3-0 defeat of Arsenal in last season’s League Cup final, said. “It’ll be tough. They have a lot of quality players up front, so we should take care.”

Guardiola has injury concerns over Gabriel Jesus, John Stones and Fabian Delph, who all missed the victory over Schalke, while he said he is yet to decide whether goalkeeper Aro Muric, who has played throughout the League Cup run, will retain his place ahead of Ederson for the final.

Both clubs will be looking for their sixth League Cup titles on Sunday — a total only bettered by Liverpool.

Guardiola was “lucky” to be given adequate time to adapt to English football and imprint his philosophy on the club before leading them to titles, Sarri said.

Guardiola took charge at City in 2016 and finished his debut season without a trophy for the first time in his managerial career before leading City to a record points haul last season in their league triumph.

“He [Guardiola] was lucky. I think that, if you choose Guardiola, you have to wait because the club knows very well that Guardiola needs time,” Sarri told reporters ahead of the final.

“It is not really very easy for an English team to play that kind of football, so it’s normal.”

Sarri said he did not know if his job at the club was under threat and stressed on getting a result in what is the first final of the season.

“In the end, the most important things are the results. In my job, I need the result, nothing else. I don’t know if I am under pressure from my club,” Sarri said.

“It’s important to win the final, otherwise you are second. I think it’s very important for us because we have to find the confidence.”

AMMAN — Jordan hosts China on Friday and New Zealand on Sunday in their final two matches in Round 2 Asian Group E qualifiers for the FIBA World Cup 2019.

Jordan must win to keep chances alive for a berth in the World Cup to be able to edge Lebanon into the group’s third- or best fourth-placed team. 

The squad’s final matches put them in a tough spot as they lost 86-75 to South Korea and 96-69 to New Zealand when incoming coach Joe Stiebing faced the hurdle of an incomplete line-up since team leader Zeid Abbas sustained an injury, while the FIBA paperwork for naturalised players was not completed in time.

That followed previous Round 2 matches, in which Jordan lost 88-79 to China and 86-75 to South Korea. 

As the standings are now, Jordanian basketball fans are disappointed and apprehensive of qualification chances after the national team dropped to fifth behind New Zealand, South Korea, China and Lebanon. 

The team just returned from Dubai where they lost four matches in the friendly tourney followed by two losses in friendly matches against Iran.

Team captain Zeid Abbas was quoted by FIBA Basketball as saying the team needs fans to come out in full force and throw their all-out support behind the squad.

“Our fans give us big support and have been with us in every game. We have had full house for all home games, and we want our fans to believe in us and be there so we can do it together,” he added.

Seven teams (the top 3 teams from each group and the best 4th) in addition to host China will move to the FIBA World Cup finals set for August 31, which will include 32 teams.

Round 1 results, in which Jordan topped Group C after they beat India 102-88, Lebanon 87-83 and Syria 109-72 were carried over to Round 2.

In Group F, Australia booked their qualifying spot, followed in the standings by Iran, Japan, the Philippines, Kazakhstan and Qatar. 

Fans were hopeful the Jordanian squad would return to of competitive form after discord among the governing body of the game ended with the resignation of the Jordan Basketball Federation Board and a transitional care-taking body of former players and marketing experts has taken over until a new board is elected.

Support for Jordan’s second most popular game is seen as below par by most observers, leading to a decline in the game locally and less competitive advantage on the regional scene although the basketball squad was the only Jordanian team to actually reach a World Championship in a team sport in 2010 alongside the Junior team in 1995.

Jordan played the 2010 World Cup against Serbia, Germany, Argentina, Australia and Angola, but finished winless at 23rd at the World Cup.

Apart from the 2010 milestone, Jordan’s national basketball team won the West Asia title in 2002 and repeated it in 2014, when Jordan managed to win the West Asian Basketball Association (WABA) title for the second time in the absence of both the Lebanese and senior Iranian teams.

In 2017, Jordan took third place in WABA as Lebanon were crowned champs. The top four qualifiers then played at the 29th FIBA Asia Cup, Jordan finishing eighth.

AMMAN — With leading teams settling for ties last week, five teams are now in contention for the lead ahead of Week 14 of the Jordan Professional Football League.

Shabab Urdun, who top the standings as the league restarted, drew Ramtha 2-2 ahead of their next match against third-placed Salt, who also held Sarih 0-0.

Jazira remained second after they were held 1-1 by Baqaa ahead of their match against Hussein, who lost 4-0 to Wihdat.

The latter remained fifth ahead of their match against Sarih, while Faisali boosted their lead and edged closer to the top four after they beat That Ras 2-1 ahead of their match against Ramtha who are 11th.

Aqaba remained 7th although they beat Ahli 3-0 as the latter dropped to 10th, before facing That Ras this week while Aqaba will play ninth-placed Baqa’a.

In the past two seasons, Jazira maintained their lead ahead of usual champs Wihdat and Faisali, however, Wihdat later took over and won the league for 16th time. Jazira lost two competition finals conceding the 35th Jordan Super Cup to Faisali and the Jordan Football Association  Shield final to Wihdat. Jazira finished runner-up in the league but made club history by winning the 38th Jordan Cup final after they last won the Jordan Cup in 1984. 

The 2018/19 football season kicked off with league champs Wihdat beating Jordan Cup champs Jazira in the 36th Jordan Super Cup. 

Regionally, Wihdat lost to Kuwait Club 3-2 in the 2018/19 AFC Champions League.