Sports

BARCELONA/LONDON — Real Madrid are determined to create an intimidating atmosphere for visitors VfL Wolfsburg as they try to overturn a two-goal deficit in Tuesday’s Champions League quarter-final second leg at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.

“Tuesday will be like a war, with 80,000 spectators; we are going to try and walk all over Wolfsburg,” said defender Dani Carvajal.

“We’re going to play to the death and with 80,000 souls behind us we will do it,” added winger Lucas Vazquez.

Forward Cristiano Ronaldo told the club website: “We need to have cold hearts and play with patience and know how to suffer. Getting through is our big objective, it’s the only thing that will let the players and fans leave the stadium happy.”

Madrid are third in La Liga and enjoyed a 4-0 win over Eibar on Saturday to close the gap with leaders Barcelona to four points, lifting their confidence after the shock 2-0 defeat at Wolfsburg last Wednesday.

The German side are eighth in the Bundesliga and were held 1-1 by Mainz on Saturday. Coach Dieter Hecking made four changes from the team that beat Madrid and was without Mario Draxler, the outstanding player last week, through suspension.

Real, 10 times European champions, have a history littered with great comebacks at the Bernabeu, beginning with a 5-1 win over Derby County in the 1975 European Cup after they had lost 4-1 in England.

Madrid beat Inter Milan 3-0 to reach the final of the 1985 UEFA Cup after losing the semifinal first leg 2-0, when midfielder Juanito famously warned Inter: “Ninety minutes in the Bernabeu is a very long time.”

Madrid also staged successful second-leg comebacks against Celtic, Anderlecht, Red Star Belgrade and Borussia Moenchengladbach but their reputation as miracle workers is waning and they last overturned a deficit in 2002 when they beat Bayern Munich 2-0 at the Bernabeu in a quarter-final second leg on their way to winning the trophy.

Since then, Madrid have lost eight first-leg games in the Champions League knockout stages and failed to progress every time, exiting last season’s tournament to Juventus 3-2 on aggregate and managing only a 2-0 win over Borussia Dortmund in the 2013 semi-finals after losing the first leg 4-1.

Yet, Madrid’s self-belief remains strong.

“We’re going to turn it around because everyone who comes to the stadium and follows us deserves it, our badge deserves it and we work all year for those big nights,” said defender Nacho.

“Real Madrid’s history was written on nights like these and I hope we can do it again on Tuesday,” added director and former striker Emilio Butragueno, who played in the famous comebacks against Inter, Anderlecht and Gladbach.

Wolfsburg, though, are equally determined. “On Tuesday, we’ll be at 100 million per cent, we’re going to run as if our lives depended on it,” forward Andre Schurrle told German news agency DPA.

“Since we beat Real Madrid the entire city has been talking about that game and the second leg. It won’t be easy.”

Madrid striker Karim Benzema and Raphael Varane were injured against Eibar but trained on Sunday and are expected to return to face Wolfsburg.

Transformation

Manchester City look to take an important step in their transformation into one of the world’s leading clubs on Tuesday by reaching the Champions League semifinals for the first time.

To do so England’s last survivors need a win or a 0-0 or 1-1 draw at home to Paris St Germain after holding the Ligue 1 champions 2-2 at the Stade de France last week.

For three successive seasons since first qualifying for Europe’s premier club competition, City were frustrated in their attempts to make significant progress.

They failed to come out of the group stage in 2012-13 and then lost in the last 16 in the following two years.

This time City won Group D ahead of Juventus before knocking out Dinamo Kiev 3-1 on aggregate.

Goals by Kevin de Bruyne and Fernandinho in Paris mean that Manuel Pellegrini’s men have an excellent chance of qualifying for the last four.

Their hopes were boosted when coach Pellegrini said leading scorer Sergio Aguero would be fit despite limping off in the 2-1 Premier League win over West Bromwich Albion on Saturday.

“He had just a kick, it’s not a problem,” the Chilean told reporters.

Pellegrini must decide whether to gamble on the fitness of captain and centre half Vincent Kompany after the defence looked shaky in Paris.

France midfielder Samir Nasri returned for the West Brom game but is not in the Champions League squad because of the lengthy thigh injury he suffered in October.

PSG coach Laurent Blanc was dismayed at conceding a scrappy second goal in the first leg and at losing defender David Luiz and midfielder Blaise Matuidi through suspension.

One bonus could be the return of Marco Verratti who is recovering faster than expected from a groin injury.

Blanc made nine changes, resting a number of players including striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, for their 2-0 victory over Guingamp in Ligue 1 on Saturday.

Defender Marquinhos was included and then said he was fit to act as a possible replacement for Luiz on Tuesday.

The French club won 2-1 in England in the last round to knock out Chelsea and reach their fourth successive quarter-final.

PSG need a similar result to go one step further this time. 

AMMAN — Jordan’s Wihdat and Faisali will start their return leg matches in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup on Tuesday with both teams needing wins to maintain chances in Groups A and B respectively.

Wihdat face Turkmenistan’s Altyn Asyr and need to jump back and advance as they are now third in Group A after a 1-1 draw with Altyn Asyr at home. The Jordan Professional League champs earlier lost an away match against Lebanon’s Al Ahd 3-2 after their opening 2-0 win over Bahrain’s Hidd. 

In Group B, Faisali play Lebanon’s Tripoli. They are now second after they were held 1-1 with Tripoli in Beirut in Leg 1. Earlier they beat Iraq’s Naft Al Wasat 2-1 after their opening 0-0 draw with Turkmenistan’s Istiklol Dushanbe. 

A two-time AFC Cup winner, Faisali have had a good season locally and aim to return to the forefront of competitions this year. Wihdat hope the AFC will make up for elimination from the Asian Champions League — the premier Asian competition — where they lost 2-1 to Saudi Arabia’s Ittihad Jeddah.  Wihdat have never won an Asian title, yet. Wihdat have been league champs for the past two seasons. This year, they conceded the season opening 33rd Super Cup to rival Faisali. After elimination from the Jordan Cup, now are leading the league with five matches remaining after they beat rival Faisali 1-0.

The 14th AFC Cup has 40 clubs from across the continent competing in eight groups with the top two from each group going on to the Round of 16 when Round 1 ends on May 24. The second tier Asian club competition has been won three times by Jordanian teams; Faisali won titles in 2005 and 2006, and Shabab Urdun in 2007.

Jordanian clubs hope to win back the title this season after record winning Kuwaiti teams were suspended by FIFA. Prize money includes $1 million for the champ, $500,000 for the runner-up, $40,000 for semifinalists, $25,000 for quarter-finalists and $15,000 for teams reaching the Round of 16.

In 2015, Jordanian teams were absent from advanced stages of Asian competitions as Wihdat and Jazira were knocked out of the AFC Cup Round of 16. While it was the first time for Jazira, who finished runner-up in the league and participated in the event after two-time AFC Cup champs and Faisali declined, Wihdat were hoping to advance and win the AFC Cup for the first time after taking part eight times.  

In 2014, Jordan Cup champs That Ras exited the Round of 16 in their inaugural AFC participation while former AFC Cup champs Shabab Urdun exited in Round 1.

SAN ANTONIO — Stephen Curry had 37 points as the Golden State Warriors beat the San Antonio Spurs 92-86 on Sunday night for their 72nd victory, equalling the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls for the season record.

The Warriors will finish the regular season at home against Memphis on Wednesday night.

The Spurs had won 48 consecutive regular-season games at home, including an NBA-record 39 straight to begin this season. Golden State ended a 33-game skid in San Antonio that dated to 1997.

Golden State dominated the fourth quarter. Curry controlled the action with a series of layups when San Antonio’s defence attempted to run him off the 3-point line.

LaMarcus Aldridge had 24 points for San Antonio. The Spurs had not lost at home since March 2015.

Pacers 129, Nets 105

Myles Turner had 28 points and 10 rebounds, helping Indiana beat Brooklyn to clinch a play-off berth.

Solomon Hill had 13 points and 12 rebounds, George Hill had 18 points, Ian Mahinmi 16 and Paul George 15. The Pacers jumped ahead 17-5 in the first quarter and led by as many as 42 points.

Sean Kilpatrick led the Nets with 26 points. Markel Brown had 18 points and 11 rebounds.

The Pacers have two games left and can still finish as high as seventh in the Eastern Conference if they finish with the same record as Detroit.

Clippers 98, Mavericks 91

Jamal Crawford scored 22 points and Los Angeles beat Dallas, snapping the Mavericks’ six-game winning streak and preventing them from clinching a play-off berth.

J.J. Redick added 20 points and Blake Griffin had 17 points and 11 rebounds in his best game since returning a week ago from a three-month absence to help the playoff-bound Clippers win their fifth in a row.

The loss kept the Mavs (41-39) in seventh place in the Western Conference, a game behind Memphis with two games to play. Dallas needs either a victory or a Houston loss to clinch a play-off berth for the 15th time in 16 years. The Rockets beat the Lakers 130-110 on Sunday.

Jazz 100, Nuggets 84

Trey Lyles scored a career-high 22 points in an unexpected start, Gordon Hayward helped fuel a 24-0 third-quarter run and Utah beat Denver to maintain its one-game lead over Houston for the last Western Conference play-off spot.

Lyles got the start when Derrick Favours was a late scratch because of right knee soreness. Hayward scored 10 of his 22 points in a pivotal third quarter that saw Utah turn the game into a rout.

Nikola Jokic and Emmanuel Mudiay each had 19 points for Nuggets.

Rockets 130, Lakers 110

James Harden scored 20 of his 40 points in the fourth quarter, and Houston kept their play-off hopes alive with a victory over Los Angeles.

Harden also had 13 assists. Trevor Ariza and Patrick Beverley each 19 points for the Rockets.

Kobe Bryant, who has just two games left before his retirement, had 35 points for Los Angeles. Jordan Clarkson had 21 points and eight rebounds.

Wizards 113, Hornets 98

Marcin Gortat had 21 points and 13 rebounds and Washington beat Charlotte, damaging the Hornets’ chances to secure home-court advantage in the first round of the play-offs.

Marcus Thornton added 16 points for the Wizards and Ramon Sessions had 15 points and 11 assists.

Frank Kaminsky had 18 points and 11 rebounds for the Hornets.

Heat 118, Magic 96

Luol Deng scored 20 points, Hassan Whiteside added 18 points and 15 rebounds in his first start since January 20, and Miami beat Orlando.

Goran Dragic had 19 points for the Heat, and Dwyane Wade had 17 on 7-of-9 shooting in 24 highly efficient minutes. Gerald Green added 15 for Miami, which outscored Orlando 60-38 in the paint.

Evan Fournier scored 21 points for the Magic, with Nik Vucevic adding 19 points.

Bucks 109, 76ers 108, OT

Khris Middleton scored 36 points and John Henson had 18 points and 10 rebounds to lead Milwaukee past Philadelphia.

Jabari Parker added 15 points and Giannis Antetokounmpo had 14 for the Bucks. Ish Smith led the 76ers with 22 points and Nerlens Noel had 18 points and 13 rebounds.

MEMPHIS, Tennessee — Draymond Green scored on a tip-in with 1 minute left, and the Warriors rallied from 10 points down early in the fourth quarter and beat the Memphis Grizzlies 100-99 on Saturday night to tie at least one NBA record held by the 1995-96 Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls.

Golden State now have 33 road wins, tying those Bulls, who went 33-8 away from Chicago. The Warriors (71-9) visit the Spurs on Sunday night, and their next win will tie the Bulls’ NBA single-season record of 72 victories — but the Warriors have lost 33 straight in San Antonio.

Green finished with 23 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, Klay Thompson had 20 points and Stephen Curry 17.

Memphis’ Lance Stephenson missed two shots in the final seconds on a drive and again on a flip towards the basket. Officials reviewed the play and gave the ball to the Warriors with 0.8 seconds to finish off the comeback. Matt Barnes scored 24 points and grabbed 15 rebounds for Memphis.

Bulls 105, Cavaliers 102

Jimmy Butler scored 21 points, rookie Cristiano Felicio added a career-high 16 and the Chicago Bulls kept their play-off hopes alive with a victory over LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Chicago took the lead with a 15-0 run early in the fourth quarter and hung for the win when JR Smith missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer, preventing Cleveland from clinching the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference even though James scored 33. The Bulls still need to win their final two games and hope Indiana drops their remaining three in order to avoid missing the playoffs for the first time since 2008.

James had a huge game for Cleveland, hitting 13 of 17 shots — 4 of 5 3-pointers. The four-time MVP also grabbed seven rebounds. Smith hit seven 3s and scored 24 points, and Kevin Love added 20 points and 13 rebounds.

Hawks 118, Celtics 107

Paul Millsap had a season-high 31 points and 16 rebounds, Jeff Teague added 24 points and the Atlanta Hawks beat the Boston Celtics.

Kent Bazemore finished with 21 points for Atlanta, which moved one game ahead of Boston to take sole possession of third place in the Eastern Conference.

With two regular-season games left for both teams, the Hawks moved 1½ games ahead of Southeast Division rivals Miami and Charlotte while Boston has just a half-game lead over the Heat and Hornets.

Marcus Smart finished with 19 points and Jae Crowder and Isaiah Thomas each scored 16 for the Celtics, whose four-game winning streak ended.

Suns 121, Pelicans 100

Archie Goodwin scored 24 points and Mizra Teletovic added 22 to lead the Phoenix Suns past the New Orleans Pelicans.

The victory was the second straight for Phoenix (22-58), which snapped a seven-game losing streak on Thursday with a 124-115 win at Houston.

Toney Douglas had 23 points to lead New Orleans (30-50), which suffered their largest margin of defeat at home this season.

Kings 114, Thunder 112

Rudy Gay scored 24 points, including two free throws with 1 second left, for the Sacramento Kings, who celebrated the final game at Sleep Train Arena with a victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Darren Collison had 27 points for the Kings, who have played at the ageing arena for 28 years. Next season, the team will move to $519 million Golden 1 Centre, which is located in downtown Sacramento.

Kevin Durant had 31 points and eight assists for the Thunder, who have a division title and the Western Division’s No. 3 seed locked up. Durant has scored at least 20 points in 63 straight games, tying Kobe Bryant (2005-07) for the longest such streak. Russell Westbrook had 24 points and 10 assists, Serge Ibaka scored 14 points.

Timberwolves 106, Trail Blazers 105

Karl-Anthony Towns hit a turnaround hook shot with 1.8 seconds left and the Minnesota Timberwolves held off a furious rally by the Portland Trail Blazers.

After Zach LaVine’s free throws for the Timberwolves, Damian Lillard made a 3-pointer and was fouled with 3.5 seconds left to pull the Blazers in front for a 105-104 lead. Towns’ winning shot gave him 27 points, and the Timberwolves snapped an eight-game losing streak in Portland. Andrew Wiggins added 23 points.

Lillard had 31 points for the Blazers, whose eight-game winning streak at home was snapped.

AMMAN — Twelve-time regional rally champion Nasser Al Attiyah — one of the Arab world’s most iconic sporting figures, and the biggest motorsport name to ever come out of the region — has confirmed that he will be taking part in the Jordan Rally from May 5-7, according to the Jordan Rally Media Service.

Attiyah just won the UAE Desert Challenge, and is preparing to represent Qatar in shooting at the Olympic Games in Rio this summer, but he is one of the first drivers to confirm his defence of the Jordan Rally title, which is the third round of the FIA Middle East Rally Championship.

“Jordan is a special place for me and I am looking forward to coming back once again,” Attiyah was quoted as saying in the statement. Drivers have until April 19 to get their entries in and the signs are that there will be a strong regional and local flavour to the event.

May 6 will see drivers tackle 10 special timed stages covering 115.5 kilometres while May 7 presents eight more tricky stages covering 105.54km through the Dead Sea and Jordan Valley areas.

BUFFALO, New York — Buffalo Bills linebacker A.J. Tarpley is retiring from football after just one season rather than risk suffering another concussion.

Not even one last visit to his locker stall at the Bills’ facility could change his mind.

Tarpley’s agent, Ryan Downey, confirmed his client’s decision on Thursday, a day after Tarpley announced the news on his Instagram account.

“After months of introspection, I am retiring from football,” Tarpley wrote. “I suffered the 3rd and 4th concussions of my career this past season and I am walking away from the game I love to preserve my future health.”

Tarpley became the latest player to walk away from the game because of concussion concerns.

Last year, San Francisco 49ers rookie linebacker Chris Borland retired at the age of 24 by saying he wants to do “what’s best for my health”. Last week, Kansas City Chiefs safety Husain Abdullah cited health concerns in electing to retire after seven seasons, and after suffering his fifth concussion last year.

Tarpley signed with Buffalo as an undrafted rookie free agent out of Stanford. He had a sack and two interceptions in 15 games, including two starts, last season.

He was listed on the Bills’ injury report for having a concussion just once in early November after he was hurt in a 34-31 loss to Jacksonville in a game played at London. Following the team’s bye week off, Tarpley returned to play the next game.

“This is the hardest decision I’ve made yet, but after much research and contemplation I believe it’s what is best for me going forward,” Tarpley wrote, before thanking his family, teammates, former coaches, the Bills and their fans.

The Bills issued a statement saying Tarpley informed coach Rex Ryan about his plans to retire, but the team didn’t know whether the player formally submitted the required paperwork to the NFL.

“He has expressed how difficult the decision was, and we certainly respect his decision,” the Bills statement added. “We enjoyed having A. J. as a valued member of our team last year and wish him the best of luck in his future endeavours.”

Tarpley is retiring despite knowing he had a chance to compete for more playing time in Buffalo after the team failed to re-sign starter Nigel Bradham and back-up Ty Powell this offseason.

Downey, who helped his client write the four-paragraph message, said he and Tarpley’s parents had been informed of the decision last weekend. Though Tarpley had been contemplating retirement since the end last season, Downey said the player didn’t reach a conclusion until after he visited the Bills’ facility in Orchard Park last week.

“He returned to Buffalo and was prepared to compete for playing time,” Downey told The Associated Press. “He walked into the locker room and it wasn’t enough to convince him.”

At that point, Downey said Tarpley informed Ryan and his staff that he was not going to return to play.

“My first thought was kind of a shock,” Downey said. “But my first reaction was for his safety and health, and making sure this is what he wanted. ...He was adamant that he gave it enough thought.”

AUBURN HILLS, Michigan — Detroit clinched an NBA play-off berth for the first time in seven years by beating Washington 112-99 on Friday, led by 39 points from Reggie Jackson.

The Pistons became the seventh team in the Eastern Conference to clinch a play-off spot, while eighth-placed Indiana will have to wait a little longer after losing at Toronto.

Elsewhere, Denver defeated a second-string San Antonio team to complete the unique feat of beating both the league’s top two teams — the Spurs and Golden State — and a Jamal Crawford shot with two tenths of a second left in overtime gave the Los Angeles Clippers victory over Utah.

Detroit’s last play-off berth came in 2009 when it was swept in the first round by LeBron James and Cleveland. The Pistons are likely to face the same opponents this year.

Denver ended a run of 10 straight losses to San Antonio — dating back to 2013 — by downing the Spurs 102-98.

Tim Duncan was the only regular starter to play for the Spurs, and finished with a season-high 21 points. Coming off a loss to Golden State, they dropped two straight for the first time this season.

Toronto rookie Norman Powell scored a season-high 27 points as the Raptors beat Indiana 111-98, delaying the Pacers’ bid for a play-off berth.

The Pacers need one more win or a Chicago loss to qualify for the postseason. They will clinch if the Bulls lose to Cleveland on Saturday, or by beating Brooklyn on Sunday.

Another rookie in Delon Wright added 19 points for the Raptors, who rested usual starters DeMar DeRozan, Kyle Lowry and Luis Scola but still brought up the franchise record for home wins with 31.

The Clippers rested four starters at Utah, and needed the last-gasp 3-pointer from Crawford to snatch a 102-99 win.

Crawford finished with 30 points and Cole Aldrich added 21 points and 18 rebounds — both season highs — for Los Angeles, which have won eight of their past nine games.

Gordon Hayward had 24 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Jazz, for whom defeat complicated their push for a play-off spot.

Dallas closed in on another play-off spot by beating Memphis 103-93.

The Mavericks, who had already slowed their pace considerably because of injuries, had to reconfigure their offence again when J.J. Barea left with a right groin strain in the first half.

The Mavericks matched a season best with a sixth straight win. The Mavericks will make the postseason for the 15th time in 16 seasons with a win or Houston loss in the final three games.

Tony Allen scored 25 points to lead injury-riddled Memphis. They lost for the seventh time in eight games, a night after clinching a play-off spot.

Orlando put a dent in Miami’s push for a top-four spot in the East play-offs by beating the Heat 112-109, with Nikola Vucevic scoring the go-ahead basket in the closing seconds on his way to 29 points.

Boston continued its play-off charge with a 124-109 win against Milwaukee, as Tyler Zeller tied his career high with 26 points.

Charlotte completed a four-game season sweep of Brooklyn by downing the Nets 113-99.

New Orleans dominated Los Angeles in retiring Lakers star Kobe Bryant’s final game in the Big Easy, winning 110-102.

New York also completed a four-game sweep of Philadelphia — for the first time in 21 years — as Robin Lopez had 24 points and 15 rebounds in a 109-102 win.

LONDON — Formula One will revert to its 2015 qualifying format at next week’s Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai and for the remainder of the season, the governing International Automobile Federation (FIA) said in a statement on Thursday after backing down in the face of opposition from teams.

The change will be put to the F1 Commission and World Motor Sport Council to be rubber-stamped, bringing an end to a failed experiment to shake up starting grids with elimination qualifying.

The statement said FIA President Jean Todt and the sport’s commercial supremo Bernie Ecclestone had accepted the move “in the interests of the Championship”.

The teams had earlier shown their unity in a letter to Ecclestone and Todt, calling for the 2015 system to be reinstated and rejecting an aggregate qualifying proposal put forward by the FIA.

With unanimity needed for any change to the 2016 regulations, the apparent impasse had threatened to ensure the unpopular new format continued in China for a third successive race unless one side backed down.

The 26-member F1 commission groups the 11 teams, commercial rights holder and governing body as well as other stakeholders.

This year’s qualifying system, which saw drivers knocked out at timed intervals during the three sessions, was approved hurriedly before the start of the season to add excitement.

However, drivers were eliminated while sitting in the garages in the final stage rather than battling for pole on track as in the past, triggering a backlash on social media.

Todt and Ecclestone had ruled out going back to the old system at a meeting with the teams in Bahrain last weekend.

Williams deputy principal, Claire Williams, said then that both bosses believed “going back to 2015 would create more confusion than is necessary”.

Teams agreed at the Bahrain Grand Prix to vote by Thursday on a compromise solution, which would have seen each driver do at least two laps in each of the three phases of qualifying with the times aggregated.

The argument was about more than finding the best way to line up 22 cars on the starting grid, however.

In a sport that can crunch vast amounts of data in milliseconds, it comes down to power and who really calls the shots, the teams or the FIA and Ecclestone.

World champions Mercedes and Ferrari supply eight of the 11 teams, giving them more muscle in decision-making.

Dominant Mercedes have won 34 of the last 40 grands prix and eight in a row. 

WOLFSBURG/ PARIS — Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane urged his side to remain calm after their Champions League hopes suffered a setback with a shock 2-0 loss at VfL Wolfsburg in the first leg of their quarter-final tie on Wednesday.

The Frenchman, who took over from the sacked Rafael Benitez in January, said the 10 times European Cup winners could still turn the tie around in Madrid next week against Wolfsburg, who are playing in their first quarter-final.

“It is always disappointing to lose a Champions League game, especially the way we lost it,” he told reporters. “But we need to remain calm and united.

“We won’t go crazy now. We have to believe and know that we have a difficult game and see if we can turn it around. That is what happens when you don’t play with intensity.

“We have to rest and think about the return leg because we have the chance to change everything,” added Zidane, who won the title with the Spanish club as a player in 2002.

Real went into the game buoyed by their 2-1 victory over Barcelona in the “Clasico” on Saturday and knowing the Champions League remains their best hope of silverware this season.

Zidane had seemingly turned Real’s season around after winning six successive matches in all competitions before Wednesday, but despite a strong start to the game, they suffered their first defeat in the competition this season.

Two goals in seven minutes from Ricardo Rodriguez and Maximilian Arnold gave the hosts a two-goal cushion after Real had pegged the Germans back early in the first half.

“I think it was the first half that caused us problems,” Zidane said. “We were missing concentration at times, just things that happen in football, mistakes that you end up regretting.

“We did it better in the second half. Before the game the chances were 50-50 but now we must use all opportunities to turn things around and make everything well in the return leg.

“We lost this first leg, we are aware of that. But we have the chance to turn it around next week. We have 90 minutes and we will be prepared well to take on that task.”

Ibrahimovic rues missed chances 

Nothing usually fazes an ice cool Zlatan Ibrahimovic but the Sweden striker was taken aback when he failed to score a penalty during Paris St Germain’s 2-2 draw with Manchester City in their Champions League quarter-final first leg on Wednesday.

According to statistics published last year by French sports daily L’Equipe, Ibrahimovic, along with Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo, has the best success rate from the spot over the last 10 years in the five big leagues.

Hence when the Swede’s 14th minute penalty strike was denied by Joe Hart, the keeper he beat four times in 2012 when Sweden tamed England 4-2 in a friendly, he was not amused.

“We made avoidable mistakes,” Ibrahimovic told reporters.

“There was this penalty that I missed, that’s the way it is.”

Ibrahimovic somehow made up for his error when he equalised four minutes before the break but he also missed a great chance.

The forward was not the sole culprit as PSG failed to dominate the way they usually do, which came as another surprise to Ibrahimovic.

“We felt attacked like rarely in the past,” he conceded.

A first semifinal since 1995 still looks possible for PSG but they will have to do much better.

“We still have hope, we always have hope,” said Ibrahimovic.

“We are strong and confident but we will have to do better, much better in the second leg.”

PSG have failed to make it past the last eight of the Champions League in the last three seasons. 

AMMAN — Wihdat face Ahli when Week 19 of the 64th Jordan Professional League kicks off on Friday.

After three matches ended in draws, Wihdat maintain a slim two-point lead after they were held 0-0 with Sarih. Rivals Faisali were also held 1-1 by That Ras and next play Jazira. Ahli are third after they lost 1-0 to Baqa’a.

Shabab Urdun are fourth after another 0-0 draw with Jazira ahead of their next match against Kufrsoum who managed a 2-1 win over Asala.

Ramtha, who lost 2-1 to Hussein, are now fifth and next play Baqa’a while Sarih play That Ras and Hussein face Asala.

Faisali and Wihdat are also gearing up to resume Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup next week. Wihdat are third in Group A after a 1-1 draw at home with Turkmenistan’s Altyn Asyr. The Jordanian champs lost an away match against Lebanon’s Al Ahd 3-2 after their opening 2-0 win over Bahrain’s Hidd.  

In Group B, Faisali are second after they were also held 1-1 with Lebanon’s Tripoli. Earlier they beat Iraq’s Naft Al Wasat 2-1 after their opening 0-0 draw with Turkmenistan’s Istiklol Dushanbe. 

Standings
(Previous position in parenthesis)