Sports
Bellingham brace helps leaders Madrid crush title rivals Girona

Jude Bellingham struck twice as leaders Real Madrid took control of La Liga with a punishing 4-0 win over second-placed Girona on Saturday, opening up a five-point cushion.
Vinicius Junior drove home the opener and then set up Bellingham for the second as Carlo Ancelotti’s side dominated the Catalan minnows, leaving the surprise title contenders reeling.
Bellingham tapped in the third after the break from close range but limped off with an ankle problem early in the second half.
Rodrygo kept the goals flowing with a fine individual effort as the record 35-time Spanish champions taught Girona, in the top flight for only the fourth year in their history, a compelling lesson.
Victory leaves Madrid 11 points clear of champions Barcelona, third, who host Granada on Sunday.
Madrid’s victory was convincing, with swagger at times but also sweat to keep the league’s top goalscoring side quiet, despite significant injury absences.
Carlo Ancelotti started with a makeshift central defensive pairing of Dani Carvajal and Aurelien Tchouameni, with all four of the club’s specialists in the position out.
Girona were without the suspended Daley Blind and Yangel Herrera, as well as coach Michel Sanchez, watching on helplessly from a high vantage point as his team were dismantled.
They started well against Madrid but conceded early in a thorough 3-0 home defeat earlier in the season and committed the same mistake again at the Santiago Bernabeu.
This time Vinicius broke the deadlock in only the sixth minute, cutting in from the left and bending a vicious strike beyond Paulo Gazzaniga and in at the far post.
Back in the team after missing the Madrid derby with a neck problem, Vinicius’ drive was his seventh league goal of a season disrupted by injury.
Eduardo Camavinga, skipping forward from midfield, was shoved over by Juanpe on the edge of the box as Madrid pushed for a second, with Gazzaniga saving Fede Valverde’s low free-kick.
Bellingham, who started the match level with Girona’s Artem Dovbyk on 14 goals as the league’s joint top scorer, doubled Madrid’s lead.
The England international rounded Gazzaniga and then stroked home from a tight angle after a superb Vinicius pass sent him hurtling in on goal.
It ended a run of just one goal in eight games for Bellingham, who had scored freely at the start of the season as he hit the ground running following his move from Borussia Dortmund.
– Bellingham brace –
Bellingham tapped in his 16th of the season in La Liga early in the second half after Gazzaniga could only tip Vinicius’ shot into his path.
It was his last contribution, Ancelotti quickly withdrawing him afterwards for an ankle injury which he iced.
Bellingham might have sustained it when challenged by Pablo Torre, or slipping on it and colliding with Eric Garcia, both in the first half.
Madrid face RB Leipzig in the Champions League on Tuesday and will hope he is fit, after Bellingham reached 20 goals in 29 games across all competitions.
However Los Blancos have plenty of other firepower if he needs to rest.
Rodrygo rattled in the fourth after darting into the area as Girona collapsed — and perhaps their unlikely title bid has too.
Brahim Diaz curled inches wide and Joselu hit the post with a penalty after Yan Couto fouled Arda Guler as Madrid dominated from start to finish.
AFP
Sports
Osimhen Nets €75 M Galatasaray Move After Scoring Spree in Turkey

Napoli star Victor Osimhen, fresh off a sensational loan season with Galatasaray—where he notched 37 goals in 41 appearances and claimed a Turkish league and cup double—has now secured a permanent switch to the Turkish giants. Galatasaray met Napoli’s €75 million release clause, offering Osimhen a four-year contract at around €16 million net per season, plus bonuses .
Key facts:
Loan success: 2024–25 loan spell saw Osimhen lead the Süper Lig with 26 goals in 30 games, driving Galatasaray to domestic glory .
Age & record: At 26, Nigeria’s powerhouse striker departs Napoli—where he scored 76 times in 133 games—bringing elite pedigree to the Turkish side .
Deal structure: Galatasaray is finalizing payment matching the €75 m clause, reportedly via installments over five years, pending Napoli receiving full financial guarantees .
Personal terms: Osimhen penned a deal worth approximately €16 million per year net, solidifying a top-tier contract in Turkish football .
This signals a major statement of intent from Galatasaray, snagging one of Europe’s most feared strikers after a record-breaking loan season. It’s a game-changer in the Süper Lig.
Sports
Chelsea thrash PSG 3-0 to win FIFA Club World Cup

Cole Palmer scored two goals and made another as Chelsea stunned Paris Saint-Germain in the final of the Club World Cup on Sunday, beating the European champions 3-0 at the MetLife Stadium to win the first edition of FIFA’s new competition.
PSG were the favourites for a game attended by Donald Trump after coming to the United States fresh from winning the UEFA Champions League and having destroyed Real Madrid 4-0 in the semi-finals.
But having been three goals ahead midway through the first half in the semis, this time the roles were reversed as PSG found themselves 3-0 down by the break.
Palmer opened the scoring midway through the first half and struck again to make it two on the half-hour mark, before taking advantage of passive defending to set up Joao Pedro for the third on 43 minutes.
A bad day for PSG was summed up when Joao Neves was shown red following a VAR review four minutes from the end for pulling Marc Cucurella by the hair off the ball.
It was a scoreline that few could have predicted as Chelsea capped what has been a long but memorable season — they are the first ever winners of the 32-team Club World Cup having also won the UEFA Conference League and finished fourth in the Premier League.
They will also take away around $125 million in prize money, meaning the prospect of a drastically curtailed summer break before returning for next season will surely feel worth it.
For PSG, meanwhile, the financial rewards are similar but there will be genuine disappointment at falling short of adding this title to their Champions League triumph and French league and cup double.
Nevertheless, conquering Europe was always the main aim this season for Luis Enrique’s team, who now have exactly a month to digest this and take a holiday before returning to action in the UEFA Super Cup against Tottenham Hotspur.
– Trump in attendance –
There was a real sense of occasion at the MetLife Stadium, with the backdrop of the Manhattan skyline and with President Trump in attendance along with First Lady Melania Trump in a crowd of 81,118.
There was even the first-ever half-time show at a FIFA tournament, adding a Super Bowl feel to a final played at the home of NFL sides the New York Giants and New York Jets.
As for the football, for the second time in six weeks PSG found themselves involved in a final that quickly turned into a one-sided affair.
The club claimed a historic 5-0 win over Inter Milan in the Champions League final, but here they were ripped apart by Chelsea on another hot afternoon.
Palmer almost put Chelsea ahead inside the opening 10 minutes, before PSG should have scored at the other end only for Desire Doue to try to pass to Achraf Hakimi rather than shoot inside the box, allowing Cucurella to block.
It was Chelsea who struck in the 22nd minute as Malo Gusto got the better of Nuno Mendes down the right before seeing his shot blocked by Lucas Beraldo. The ball came back to Gusto and he teed up Palmer to finish into the bottom-left corner.
Palmer has been the face of Chelsea on billboards in the United States during the tournament and he lived up to his star billing by scoring again on the half-hour.
Released on the right with PSG left-back Mendes out of position, Palmer advanced towards the box before stroking a low shot into the same corner.
Joao Pedro played a part in the build-up to that goal and the Brazilian, signed during the tournament from Brighton, then got his name on the scoresheet to make it 3-0.
Scorer of both goals against Fluminense in the semi-finals, he clipped a shot past Gianluigi Donnarumma after being supplied by Palmer.
PSG had conceded a single goal in their previous eight matches and they never really looked like producing a comeback, even if Neves headed just wide in first-half stoppage time.
Substitute Liam Delap almost got a fourth for Chelsea midway through the second half, before Neves was shown red to complete a bad day for PSG.
Sports
UEFA demote Crystal Palace to Conference league

UEFA have demoted FA Cup champions Crystal Palace to the Conference League, with Nottingham Forest to take their Europa League slot.
According to UEFA, Palace were sanctioned after breaching its rules on multi-club ownership.
The rule states that clubs with the same owner are barred from competing in the same UEFA competition if an individual or ownership group is considered to have a decisive influence over more than one of those teams.
Nottingham Forest are expected to replace them in the tournament, although the Court of Arbitration for Sport have yet to decide.
John Textor, Crystal Palace’s largest shareholder and the owner of Lyon. had till March 1 to resolve the multi-club ownership issues.
However, Textor recently agreed a deal to sell his Palace shares to the US billionaire Woody Johnson, but the move has not been completed and was deemed to have come too late.
Lyon were also expected to face similar sanctions but won their appeal against relegation to Ligue 2 this week, clearing them to take their place in the tournament.
The Crystal Palace officials have revealed that they will appeal the demotion at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
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