Sports

AMMAN  — Fuheis Club host the 4th West Asian Women’s Basketball Champions Cup which tips off Monday in Amman.

The championship which runs up to March 25 hosts teams from three countries: Lebanon’s Riyadi and Homenetmen, Palestine’s Sariet Ramallah and Jordan’s Orthodoxi and Fuheis.

Fuheis President Ayman Samawi noted the Jordan Basketball Federations and Orthodox Club had cooperated with his club to make the tournament a success. “Everyone’s efforts are needed to help advance women’s basketball. We hope fans will come and enjoy some regional matches and boost the game.”

In 2015, Lebanon’s Riyadi took the title after beating Syria’s Wihda who came in second while Orthodoxi came in third. Fuheis were fourth and Sariet Ramallah finished fifth.

Wihda’s Elissa Magarian was chosen the tournament’s best player and top scorer averaging 24 points per game.

Lebanon’s Antranik Club had won the title before.

In 2014, Orthodoxi finished 4th at the 16th Arab Clubs Basketball Championship for Women in Egypt when Lebanon’s Riyadi retained the title.

In the men’s championship, Orthodoxi hosted the 16th West Asian Clubs Championship earlier this year which qualifies teams to the Asian Basketball Confederation (ABC) Champions Cup.

Iran’s Petroshemi, Lebanon’s Riyadi and Iraq’s Shurta advanced from the zonal qualifiers as Orthodoxi appeared below form and lost all four matches. The West Asian Clubs Championship has been dominated by Lebanese and Iranian teams since it started in 1998. Orthodoxi were the only Jordanian team to win the title in 1999.

Jordanian runners-up to the event were Jazira (currently Riyadi’s team) in 1998, Orthodoxi in 2001 and 2002, Arena in 2003 and Zain in 2009.

DALLAS — Stephen Curry had several dazzling plays on his way to 31 points, fellow “Splash Brother” Klay Thompson scored 39 and the Golden State Warriors tuned up for a showdown in San Antonio with a 130-112 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Friday.

Among a number of displays that drew roars from the Dallas crowd, Curry stole the ball from Dirk Nowitzki near midcourt before hitting a 35-footer over him at the first-quarter buzzer. He then glanced a 3-pointer off the glass from the corner with Nowitzki in his face again in the second quarter.

The Warriors made 14 of their first 17 from long range, finished 22 of 38 and won their seventh straight. Now they try to tackle the NBA’s longest losing streak on another team’s court — 32 straight at the Spurs going back to February 14, 1997.

The Warriors (62-6) have won seven straight and are now two games ahead of Chicago’s pace when the Bulls set the NBA record with 72 wins in 1995-96, while the Spurs (58-10) have won 43 straight on their home floor.

“Right now, by NBA standards, this is bigger than the Rolling Stones on tour,” Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said. “Wherever they go, there’s a mass of people and a huge following.”

In other games, Kyrie Irving scored 26 points and LeBron James had 18, including a lay-up and pair of free throws down the stretch, to help Cleveland hold off Orlando 109-103 and clinch a play-off spot.

Channing Frye came off the bench to make four 3-pointers and score 14 against his former team as the Cavs beat the Magic for the 14th consecutive time. A rested James returned to the line-up after taking off Wednesday’s home victory over Dallas and finished 6-of-15 shooting with eight assists and seven rebounds.

Victor Oladipo had a career-high 45 points for Orlando, but only scored six in the fourth quarter.

Russell Westbrook recorded his league-leading 13th triple-double with 20 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists, and Kevin Durant had 26 points and 13 boards to lead Oklahoma City to a 111-97 victory over Philadelphia.

Westbrook’s 13 triple-doubles tie Grant Hill (1996-97) and Jason Kidd (2007-08) for the most in a season over the last 25 years.

Enes Kanter contributed 16 points for the Thunder, who also clinched a play-off spot with the win.

In Toronto, Kyle Lowry scored 32 points and Luis Scola had all of his 17 in the first quarter as the Raptors beat Boston 105-91.

Lowry was 9 for 14 from the field, including 5 for 8 from 3-point range, and Toronto led the entire way in their third straight victory.

Isaiah Thomas scored 20 points for Boston, who matched a season worst with their fourth straight loss.

Damian Lillard was knocked to the floor by a vicious Kendrick Perkins forearm, but recovered to score 33 points and lead Portland to a 117-112 victory over New Orleans.

Perkins’ hit put Lillard flat on his back and resulted in some brief shoving, as well as Perkins’ ejection. The dust-up enlivened the Pelicans, who fought back from a 20-point deficit and briefly held slim leads in the final minutes until C.J. McCollum, who had 30 points, hit a 3 to put Portland ahead for good with a minute left.

New Orleans’ Anthony Davis sat out the second half with a left knee injury, the severity of which was unclear.

Elsewhere, Detroit pulled into a virtual tie with Chicago for the last play-off spot in the Eastern Conference by beating Sacramento at home 115-108. Marcus Morris scored 20 of his 24 points in the first half.

James Harden had 29 points and 14 assists as Houston beat Minnesota 116-111, and Phoenix held on for a 95-90 win over the Los Angeles Lakers after nearly blowing a 19-point lead.

MELBOURNE — Formula One’s new qualifying system faces an immediate revision after a woeful debut at the Australian Grand Prix on Saturday that failed to deliver the promised shake-up of the established order and was panned by drivers and abandoned by fans who walked out on the anti-climactic event.

Reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton claimed pole position with a time of 1 minute, 23.837 at the Albert Park circuit, three-tenths of a second faster than Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg, with third and fourth place filled by the Ferraris of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen.

The new format of rolling eliminations every 90 seconds produced plenty of action, and some confusion, in the first qualifying session, but in the third segment, which decided the top end of the grid for Sunday’s race, most drivers elected not to go out on the track and instead saved their tyres for the race.

With three minutes remaining on the clock, the leading drivers were out of their cars and fans were streaming out of the grandstands.

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff, a key player on the F1 strategy group that voted in favour of the new qualifying format despite warnings of such a possible anti-climactic finish, admitted it needed immediate review.

“The new qualifying format was pretty rubbish,” Wolff said. “Everyone is trying to do their best to improve the show, but when you find out you have not improved the show but made it worse, then you need to sit down and say what can be done, can you come back, and that discussion is going to take place.

“The solution is not good and that is why we have to come back and do it again.”

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner backed that call for a revision, which may take place before the next race in Bahrain.

“First of all, we should apologise,” Horner said. “The intentions were well-meant but we have got it wrong. We need to address it immediately. What we saw today wasn’t good for Formula One.”

Hamilton was enthusiastic about the smooth performance of his car, saying he was able to post some “sexy laps” that made him “feel like James Brown”, but he also slammed the new format.

“To improve, you have to make mistakes, you can’t just improve all the time,” Hamilton said. “This is perhaps a step in the wrong direction, but I wouldn’t say go back to the old way because we have had it for years. Let’s try and take a step back and figure out another route that is even more exciting.”

Toro Rosso lived up to expectations of a strong start to the season and outperformed the senior Red Bull team, with Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz Jr qualifying fifth and seventh respectively, separated by Williams veteran Felipe Massa.

Local favourite Daniel Ricciardo of Red Bull qualified eighth, with the Force India pair of Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg completing the top 10.

After a rainy Friday that made meaningful car set-up preparations impossible, Saturday was cool and dry at the Albert Park circuit, and the same conditions were forecast for the race.

Vettel said Mercedes’ continued dominance in qualifying was expected, but believes the Ferraris can match their long-run pace, saying “tomorrow we expect to be quite a lot closer”.

Manor driver Rio Haryanto had a bad start to his F1 career, being hit with a three-place grid penalty after colliding with the Haas of Romain Grosjean in pitlane as they exited their garages to being the pre-qualifying practice. The collision cost Grosjean about half the session as his car underwent repairs.

Haas outperformed Manor in qualifying, with Grosjean and Esteban Gutierrez to fill the second-to-last row of the grid ahead of the Manors at the back.

There were also promising performances by Renault in its first race back as a team owner, with both drivers making into the second qualifying session. McLaren drivers Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button also made the second session and will start 12th and 13th, respectively, on Sunday.

MUNICH — Thomas Mueller equalised in the first minute of injury time and Bayern Munich scored two more goals in extra time to complete a thrilling 4-2 victory over Juventus on Wednesday that sent the German powerhouse into the Champions League quarter-finals.

Thiago Alcantara scored in the 108th minute to put Bayern ahead for good in the second leg match of the last 16 and Kingsley Coman, on loan from Juventus, added the hosts’ fourth goal just two minutes later to seal a 6-4 victory on aggregate.

Bayern trailed 2-0 at half-time after goals from Paul Pogba and Juan Cuadrado put Juventus firmly in charge. The home side looked to be on the way out until Robert Lewandowski scored in the 73rd minute and Mueller’s late header changed everything.

“To score four goals against an Italian side, wow, compliments to my team,” Bayern coach Pep Guardiola said.

The match, at least in regulation time, was nearly a replica of the first leg in Turin, where Bayern dominated and led 2-0 before Juventus struck back with two late goals to salvage a draw.

Juventus, last season’s runner-up, produced a clever tactical display, defending smartly and relying on dangerous counterattacks. And it was seconds away from success.

“It’s disappointing, because we were so close,” Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri said.

Guardiola’s team, a five-time winner, is in their fifth straight quarter-final.

“After our first goal, we saw that Juventus was not counterattacking any more. It’s that German mentality to try until the end,” Guardiola said.

In the other match on Wednesday, Barcelona’s big three of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar all scored to beat Arsenal 3-1, sending the defending champions into the Champions League quarter-finals for a ninth consecutive season with a 5-1 victory on aggregate.

With Bayern besieging the Italians’ goal, Douglas Costa sent a cross from the right corner and Lewandowski headed home at the far post from close range to put Bayern back into the match.

Bayern’s perseverance paid off in the first minute of added time. Patrice Evra lost the ball near the penalty area and Coman crossed to the far post for Mueller to head home and send the 71,000 at the Allianz arena into frenzied celebrations.

Alcantara, a substitute in extra time for Franck Ribery, swapped passes and beat Gianluigi Buffon, before Coman, also a substitute, made sure of victory by curling a shot past the Italian keeper.

Juventus may have taken Bayern by surprise with their pressing deep inside Bayern’s half from the opening whistle and the Italian side got their dividend early when Pogba scored his first Champions League goal since November 2014.

Sami Khedira sent a long ball down the right and David Alaba missed his clearance attempt. With Manuel Neuer also mistiming his exit from the goal, Stephan Liechtensteiner was able to square the ball to Pogba, who slotted home from the edge of the penalty area into the empty net.

Juventus pulled back a little after the goal, but always looked dangerous and doubled the lead in the 28th minute after a great run by Morata.

The forward picked up the ball in his half and slalomed past four defenders before passing to Cuadrado, who fired inside the near post over Neuer.

Buffon parried an effort from Mueller in the 42nd minute and the attempted clearance by the Juventus defence bounced off Lewandowski and flew just wide.

Immediately after, Neuer did well to save a close-range shot by Cuadrado.

Juventus had former Bayern forward Mario Mandzukic on the bench, while Bayern were without winger Arjen Robben because of a groin problem.

The Italians were already without midfielder Claudio Marchisio, defender Giorgio Chiellini and striker Paulo Dybala, all injured.

Morata had two chances early in the second half after counterattacks but finished poorly. Mandzukic came in for Morata in the 71st minute but Juventus missed Morata’s speed.

Friday’s draw will feature Atletico Madrid, Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Benfica, Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid and Wolfsburg. Teams from the same country can be drawn together.

This weekend’s Formula One season-opening Grand Prix in Australia should, in theory, be an unpredictable affair.

Along with the standard first-race technical glitches with new components, the usual churn of rule changes, and drivers becoming reacquainted with racing, this year will also add a new qualifying system and reduced aid to drivers from the pit wall.

The race at Melbourne’s Albert Park Street Circuit usually is also a high attrition contest that has produced some unlikely winners.

However, putting the race result to one side and looking at the more pure measure of speed from qualifying, Melbourne is a near faultless guide to who will win the drivers’ championship.

Eight of the past nine drivers to have won pole position in Melbourne went on to win that year’s title, with Lewis Hamilton in 2012 — then driving for McLaren — being the only exception.

So the wise investments on who will take the 2016 title should be based upon what happens in Melbourne on late Saturday afternoon. Or should it?

Dismayed by the predictability of modern F1, the sport’s commercial chief Bernie Ecclestone led the way in introducing a new qualifying system which will, after much debate and opposition from the top teams and drivers, be in place this weekend.

There will be the same three segments of qualifying, but instead of cutting the slowest cars at the end of Q1 and Q2 and deciding the top grid spots at the end of Q3, the cars will be eliminated one by one every 90 seconds.

Each car will have a few minutes in each session to set a lap time before the regular eliminations begin in a system already dubbed “musical chairs”.

It reduces the margin for error, and eliminates the luxury of the top drivers spending most of the time in the garage in Q1 and Q2, simply doing one lap in each of the first two sessions and thereby keeping fresh sets of tyres for the race. Instead they’ll have to be out there from the start on dirty, unrubbered tracks.

The change is designed to shake up the qualifying order, and perhaps put a spanner in the works of Mercedes, which has been the utterly dominant force of the past two seasons. But few critics suspect it will be enough.

Hamilton is a favourite to win a third straight drivers’ championship, and notwithstanding a controversial pre-race trip to New Zealand in which he publicly criticised a casino and drew the attention of local law enforcement for apparently taking a selfie while riding a motorcycle, he should be primed for another strong start in Australia.

“The car feels even better than last year’s from both a performance and reliability perspective, which is saying something,” Hamilton said earlier this week.

“People keep asking me about motivation, but I just have to look at the faces of all those people [at the team’s technical headquarters] to know what I’m fighting for.”

His biggest challenge again shapes as teammate Nico Rosberg, who finished the 2015 season with three successive wins — after Hamilton had the title secured.

“I’ve had a great winter and done a few things differently for this year,” Rosberg said. “I’ve never felt more ready to go. It’s going to be a great battle.”

The only team seemingly capable of challenging are Ferrari, who had strong times in testing, and possesses two experienced champion drivers: the reliable and consistent Sebastian Vettel and the enigmatic but occasionally brilliant Kimi Raikkonen.

Down the field, there will be much to watch at the season opener.

The American-backed Haas team will make their first F1 appearance, and as a fledgling outfit they will be aiming for some reliable running and times that show they can be competitive with the other independent, non-manufacturer teams.

Manor will be an intriguing team, after the addition of Mercedes engines and with their rookie driver pairing of Pascal Wehrlein — earmarked as next in line for the Mercedes team — and Rio Haryanto as the first Indonesian driver in the sport.

So too will Renault, who step up from engine supplier to be a team in their own right — taking over the former Lotus ownership — some 10 years after winning its most recent title.

The new qualifying system may turn out to be more sizzle than steak, but all the same, history tells us that Saturday’s qualifying could well be the most significant hour of the season.

MANCHESTER, England — Manchester City’s players trudged off the field. Many fans left early. The final whistle was greeted with only a smattering of cheers.

It was hardly the way the English club envisaged marking progress to the Champions League quarter-finals for the first time in its history.

Another landmark feat for Abu Dhabi-owned City was achieved on Tuesday thanks to a lackluster 0-0 draw with Dynamo Kiev at Etihad Stadium, which sealed a 3-1 victory on aggregate. Progress came with little fanfare and at a cost, with captain Vincent Kompany hobbling off in the fifth minute with a recurrence of his long-standing calf problems that could keep him out for a month.

“It was really satisfying to make history for this club,” City defender Pablo Zabaleta, although it was hard to tell by the end.

Injuries to Kompany and fellow centre back Nicolas Otamendi, who hobbled off in the 23rd after a clash of knees, were the major incidents in a soporific match as City advanced with the minimum of concern but without impressing, either.

Kiev, seeking a first Champions League quarter-final berth since 1999, needed to score three goals to stand a chance of advancing but barely threatened until creating a couple of opportunities in the final minutes. City’s reorganized defence stayed relatively solid and the team took few risks, with winger Jesus Navas striking a 61st minute shot against the post for City’s best chance.

“Unfortunately we have lost our match in Kiev,” Dynamo coach Sergei Rebrov said.

Atletico Madrid beat PSV Eindhoven 8-7 on penalties to advance after the night’s other match finished 0-0 after both legs and extra time.

City’s ownership in the Middle East has had tangible reward for their influx of cash since 2008 in the shape of five domestic trophies, including two Premier League titles. Yet, progress beyond the last 16 in five seasons in the Champions League has eluded them — until now.

City will be hoping to avoid the likes of Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Barcelona — should the Spanish champion advance, as expected — as likely the only English club in Friday’s draw for the quarter-finals.

“When you are at this stage, all the teams are difficult,” Pellegrini said. “I keep having in my mind that the team that it is better than all the other teams is Barcelona. I think all the other teams are at a similar level.”

Aside from possibly Sergio Aguero, Kompany was the last person Pellegrini would have wanted to see come off injured given his importance to the team and the assuredness he brings to an often shaky defence.

The Belgium international appeared to get hurt over-reaching as he turned to retrieve the ball under pressure. He immediately kicked the ball out before signalling to the bench and slumping to the ground.

As he stared glumly in anticipation of a third injury lay-off this season, the Etihad fell silent and groans were heard.

City’s problems exacerbated when Otamendi indicated to come off in the 23rd as he thumped a clearance downfield. Minutes earlier, he had come off worse after a clash of knees with Vitaliy Buyalskiy and had been hobbling around.

City, fortunately, had two centre backs on the bench in Eliaquim Mangala and Martin Demichelis, who dealt adequately with Dynamo’s sporadic attacks.

“We knew before the game that Dynamo had to score three goals to qualify,” Pellegrini said. “We didn’t want to force the game. Dynamo didn’t take any risks, also. But so many times I think this team receives criticism that we don’t know how to defend. I think we defended today without any problems.”

Paul George had 25 points as the Indiana Pacers finished with a strong fourth quarter to beat the Boston Celtics 103-98 on Tuesday.

Monta Ellis added 16 points with six assists, and Jordan Hill scored 15 for Indiana.

Isaiah Thomas had 21 points, eight assists and six rebounds for Boston.

The score was tied at 77 with about 7 minutes remaining before the Pacers put together a 15-4 run that gave them enough breathing room to withstand a late Boston surge. Avery Bradley’s jumper pulled the Celtics to 84-81 with about 4 1/2 minutes to go, but they got no closer after that.

In San Antonio, Kawhi Leonard had 20 points to help the Spurs wear down the short-handed Los Angeles Clippers 108-87 and match the second-longest home winning streak to open a season in NBA history.

San Antonio won their 33rd straight home game this season, tying Orlando’s start to the 1995-1996 season. Chicago holds the record at 37 games in ‘95-96 on the way to a record 72 wins overall.

LaMarcus Aldridge had 17 points and reserve guards Patty Mills and Manu Ginobili added 15 and 13, respectively, for the Spurs (57-10).

Kyle Lowry scored 25 points as Toronto, despite resting leading scorer DeMar DeRozan, had no trouble winning 107-89 at Milwaukee.

Giannis Antetokounmpo had 18 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists in 35 minutes for the Bucks, just missing a triple-double.

DeRozan, who averages 23.8 points per game, was in uniform but didn’t play after starting each of the team’s first 65 games and playing 39 minutes in a loss to Chicago on Monday night.

In Orlando, Evan Fournier scored 30 points and Jason Smith had 25 points and 13 rebounds off the bench to help the Magic beat Denver 116-110.

Victor Oladipo scored 23 for the Magic, who led by 18 in the third quarter before fending off Denver’s second-half rally. Brandon Jennings added 12 points and 11 assists in his first start for Orlando.

Bojan Bogdanovic scored a career-best 44 points to help Brooklyn set a season high for points against Philadelphia, winning 131-114 at home.

Sean Kilpatrick had 19 points, Brook Lopez added 18 points and 10 rebounds, and Thaddeus Young finished with 14 points and 16 rebounds for the Nets.

Bogdanovic’s previous career high was 28 points against Orlando last April 15. His total was the most for a Nets player since Deron Williams scored 57 on March 4, 2012.

Darren Collison had 22 points in his ninth start of the season and DeMarcus Cousins also scored 22 as the Sacramento Kings completed a four-game season sweep of the Lakers with a 106-98 victory in Los Angeles.

The Lakers, who trailed by as many as 23, got as close as 97-91 on a pair of free throws by Julius Randle that capped a 15-5 run with 3:14 to play. Rudy Gay clinched it for the Kings by scoring seven of his 20 points in the final 2:57.

This was the first time the Kings went an entire season without losing to the Lakers during the franchise’s 68-year history. Sacramento has won eight of the last nine meetings, after losing 16 of the previous 21.

Harry Redknapp has agreed to take over as manager of the Jordan national team for World Cup qualifiers against Bangladesh and Australia this month, the former Tottenham Hotspur manager told British media.

The 69-year-old takes up a mentoring role with championship side Derby on Wednesday and will combine that post with helping out Jordan, leaving Britain for the Middle East after the local derby against Nottingham Forest on Saturday.

Redknapp said he had agreed to help out at the behest of the president of the Jordan Football Association, HRH Prince Ali, who lost the FIFA presidential election to Swiss Gianni Infantino last month.

“It’s going to be a tough couple of weeks, that’s for sure,” he told the Sun newspaper.

“I’m friend with Prince Ali and wanted him to take over from Sepp Blatter. He asked me if I’d manage the team for a couple of matches and I agreed.

“I’ll go to the Forest game and then go straight to London and fly to Jordan. It’s a busy time but I’ve missed the buzz of being involved in football.”

The Kingdom, currently led by caretaker manager Abdullah Abu Zema, plays Bangladesh in Amman on March 24 and the Socceroos in Sydney five days later.

Jordan trails Australia by two points in Group B in the second round of Asian qualifying for the 2018 World Cup with the top two from each group going through to the third round, when four berths in Russia will be at stake.

Redknapp’s fellow former Queens Park Rangers manager Ray Wilkins last year led Jordan to the Asian Cup in Australia, where they were eliminated in the group stage. 

Arsenal manager, Arsene Wenger, admitted his side face an almost impossible task when they travel to face a red-hot Barcelona on Wednesday looking to overturn a 2-0 first-leg deficit to reach the Champions League quarter-finals for the first time in six years.

As so often in the second half of Wenger’s 20-year reign, Arsenal will travel to the Camp Nou with a sense of what might have been.

They had their chances to lead at the Emirates three weeks ago before Barca’s brilliant forward triumvirate of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez cut through them with an unerring ease they have made routine.

Messi, Neymar and Suarez have scored a combined 103 goals this season, Arsenal’s entire squad a mere 71.

Top of the list of Wenger’s detractors has been his inability or unwillingness to splash out on the top-class striker needed to turn Arsenal from perennial pretenders into winners.

Yet, he tried to land Suarez whilst the Uruguayan was still at Liverpool in 2013.

In a tale of Arsenal’s penny-pinch culture under Wenger, they infuriated Liverpool by launching a bid £1 over Suarez’s reported £40 million buyout clause.

Suarez bit Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini at the 2014 World Cup, the third time he had bitten an opponent in his career, sparking widespread condemnation and a four-month ban.

Yet, whilst others dithered, Barca pounced, eying exactly Suarez’s aggression as the tonic to revitalise the squad already blessed with the talents of Messi and Neymar.

Arsenal benefited in their own way from Suarez’s move as they snapped up Alexis Sanchez as Barca sold the Chilean to balance the books.

Yet, by swapping Sanchez for Suarez, Barca again demonstrated that they shop in a different market to Arsenal and haven’t looked back since.

Sanchez won two major trophies in three years at Barca, coinciding with the Catalans only three-year drought in winning Champions League in the past decade.

His 47 goals in 141 games were a respectable return, but Suarez has already struck 67 in 84 appearances, won a treble and has Barca on course to repeat that feat this season.

“Suarez gives Barca the aggression that is so important in the attacking third,” Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone said after seeing his impressive record against Barca turned upside down since Suarez’s arrival.

Most importantly of all, Suarez has managed to succeed where other great strikers like Zlatan Ibrahimovic and David Villa have failed in dovetailing perfectly with Messi.

Yet, on goalscoring terms at least, Suarez has surpassed Messi this season with 42 in 41 games to the Argentine’s 36 in 36.

Stopping one is difficult, stopping all three of the South American trio has been an impossible task in the past 18 months.

Arsenal could have had Suarez on their side. Instead, when they line-up on Wednesday, they will likely be made to suffer and wonder what could have been once more.

Confident Bayern

Bayern Munich are confident they have overcome a mini-crisis just in time for their Champions League round of 16 second leg against Juventus on Wednesday as they chase a treble of titles this season.

After conceding two second-half goals to draw 2-2 in Turin last month, Bayern’s near flawless season stuttered again after managing just one point from their previous two league games.

They returned to form, however, on Saturday when they crushed Werder Bremen 5-0.

“I think we showed that we are in a very good form. I would say that we are looking towards Wednesday with optimism,” Bayern CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said.

Bayern, chasing a record fourth consecutive Bundesliga title as well as the German Cup in what is coach Pep Guardiola’s last season in charge, are in the driving seat, having scored twice in Italy and Juve need a win or a draw with three goals or more to advance.

Bayern have a perfect home record in the competition this season, having beaten Dinamo Zagreb, Arsenal and Olympiakos with an aggregate score of 14-1.

Until their shock 2-1 loss to Mainz 05 two weeks ago, Bayern had won 17 consecutive home games dating back to May, 2015.

With Mario Goetze making his comeback on Saturday after almost five months out and winger Franck Ribery getting much needed match practice after his own long injury break, Bayern will have more depth than in the first game in Turin.

But Guardiola warned qualification will not be easy against the Italians, last season’s Champions League finalists, and also on course for a treble.

“We are playing against one of the best teams in Europe,” the
Spaniard said.

“They have not conceded a goal in their last 10 league games so expect a very complicated and uncomfortable game.”

Juventus are in equally scintillating form, unbeaten in the league since October and having won 18 of their 19 league games since then.

Remarkably the Bianconeri have let in only one goal in their 12 Serie A matches this year and kept an unprecedented 10th successive clean sheet in the 1-0 win over Sassuolo Calcio last week.

“It will be a tremendous battle and we go to Munich full of enthusiasm and determination to reach the next round,” defender Leonardo Bonucci said.

“We are fully aware of how strong Bayern are, but they also possess a few weak points which we will look to exploit.”

It is those weaknesses that Juve coach Massimiliano Allegri will want to exploit with his team looking for their first win in Munich since 2004.

“When we play Bayern, we know we’re going to have to run hard for 90 minutes,” Allegri said.

“But it is our intention to go there looking for the win to seal our passage.”

AMMAN — Wihdat and Faisali both drew in their stage 3 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup matches in Groups A and B respectively on Tuesday.

Wihdat and Turkmenistan’s Altyn Asyr drew 1-1 in their home game at the Amman International Stadium, while Faisali tied with Lebanon’s Tripoli 1-1 in their away match. On April 12, Wihdat face Altyn Asyr in an away match, and Faisali take on Tripoli at home.