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Little and England captain Leah Williamson were two of the Gunners best players in Portugal and they jointly lifted the trophy amid the celebrations on the pitch.

For Williamson, who held the Women’s Euros trophy aloft three years ago following England’s 2-1 win over Germany at Wembley, it was a special moment at the club she has always supported.

When Arsenal won the title in 2007, a 10-year-old Williamson had been one of the mascots for the second leg match against Swedish side Umea.

“Eighteen years is a long time to wait for something,” said the now 28-year-old. “I’ve won every domestic trophy with Arsenal now so on a personal level I’m proud of that.

“We turned up to try and do a job and we did it and we’re taking the trophy home. I have a rule not to look at the scoreboard and I broke it three times.”

Barcelona, who won the competition in each of the past two seasons, put Arsenal under pressure for large parts of the final.

However, the 67th-minute introduction of Beth Mead and Blackstenius proved crucial as the England forward set up the Swede to score the winning goal.

“A lot of happy tears,” said an emotional Mead, who celebrated with her family. “I’m proud of being able to do what we did and see my dad at the end.

“It’s been a rough few years, obviously missing my mum [who passed away in January 2023] and it’s the first time I’ve had a big final without her being here. She very much was watching over me.”

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Kelly Inouye-Perez was thinking about one pitch.

Even with her team three outs from elimination, needing at least three runs to stay alive in Game 2 of the Columbia Super Regional, she was still just thinking about one pitch.

Superstar slugger Jordan Woolery found it, hitting a walk-off home run to give UCLA an improbable 5-4 victory that set up a winner-take-all Game 3 on Sunday at Beckham Field.

“You never want to put yourself in a position to have a game feel like it’s out of your reach,” Inouye-Perez said. “It’s not about three outs or the bottom of the seventh or what the score is. Give us one pitch and anything can happen. And I think that’s the brilliance of our sport. It’s not a timed sport, you have an opportunity if you have one pitch.”

Just getting to the point where one pitch could win the game seemed improbable for most of the day. South Carolina (44-16) took the lead in the first inning and never gave it up until Woolery’s swing, leading 4-1 heading to the bottom of the seventh with Jori Heard on the mound.

Pinch hitter Taylor Stephens worked a lead-off walk and came around to score on Kaitlyn Terry’s one-out triple. That line drive into the gap made it 4-2 and brought the tying run to the plate, but Heard followed it up by striking out Jessica Clements.

South Carolina was one out from its first trip to the Women’s College World Series since 1997, but Savannah Pola kept the game alive with an RBI single.

With Woolery coming to the plate in a one-run game, South Carolina made a pitching change. Sam Gress, who started the game and allowed one run in four innings, reentered the circle.

Woolery was 0 for 2 against Gress earlier in the game, but the pitching change was a blessing in disguise.

“I was just happy to have more time to take some breaths in between, honestly,” Woolery said. “I was happy to take a little timeout, catch my breath and get in the right head space. Both pitchers did a great job the last two days, so I have a lot of respect for both of them.”

One pitch later, she crushed her 23rd home run of the season, one with more importance than the first 22 combined. Down to its last breath, Woolery kept UCLA’s season alive.

“Coach always says the game comes back around,” Woolery said. “I’ve had a rough two days, so it was just trusting that was eventually going to come through. I just wanted to have my teammates’ backs today.”

Woolery’s heroics ended the game, but pitcher Taylor Tinsley made it possible. Tinsley threw a 137-pitch complete game with four runs allowed, but pitched out of a couple of key jams to keep the Bruins afloat. Tinsley stranded runners on the corners in the first inning, got out of a bases-loaded jam in the sixth inning and held the deficit at 4-1 with two runners on base in the seventh.

The sixth-inning jam did feature one big break with a South Carolina base running blunder. Second baseman Karley Shelton grounded out to her counterpart Pola with the bases loaded, but thought the inning was over after Pola fired home to cut down the lead runner. In reality, there were only two outs, but Shelton trotted off the field like the inning was over. Once she hit the dugout, she was automatically out.

It was far from a conventional double play, but it was exactly what UCLA needed to stay within three runs.

“Credit to Taylor Tinsley,” Inouye-Perez said. “She has been just a leader, she has been tough, she has had success, she has had disappointment. But she has prepared for this moment and was so locked in.”

Still, it would have been a clutch performance in a losing effort if not for one final rally. The type of miracle comeback that will earn a place in UCLA’s steeped softball lore if the Bruins can come back to win tomorrow.

“One thing that I told the team was we were going to have an opportunity to get the last punch,” Inouye-Perez said. “And we have a thing. We believe in Bruin magic. And great things can happen when you come together and play as a team.”

Four runs to save the season, three of them down to the final out. Magic might be the only explanation.

“The Bruin magic is literally just the belief that we will win this game,” she continued. “That’s something that has been a big part of the history of this part of this program. We’ve seen it, we have experience in it. But to see this team do it in this big moment is a big part of why you come to UCLA.”

Game 3 of the series is scheduled for Sunday, with the start time and broadcast information to be revealed later Saturday night.

The Ferrari driven to victory by Formula One legend Michael Schumacher at the 2001 Monaco Grand Prix has been sold for 15.98m euros (£13.43m) at auction.

He also raced in the F2001 to win the Hungarian Grand Prix and clinch the fourth of his seven world titles in that year.

The car was sold by RM Sotheby’s before qualifying for this year’s Monaco Grand Prix and became the most expensive car driven by the German, 56, to be sold at auction.

It was also the fourth most expensive F1 car ever sold – the world record was set in February when a Mercedes ‘streamliner’ raced by Sir Stirling Moss and Juan Manuel Fangio went for £42.75m.

Previously, the most paid for a car driven by Schumacher was the £9.75m bid for his F2003 back in 2002.

Ferrari will hope to emulate Schumacher’s 2001 success in Monte Carlo with Charles Leclerc second, behind McLaren’s Lando Norris, on the grid for Sunday’s race.

On a field of dreams, Carson left-handed pitcher Anthony Dorado created a dream moment, throwing his glove toward the dugout after the final out at Dodger Stadium on Saturday afternoon to launch a joyous victory dogpile for the new City Section Division I baseball champions.

“It feels so good,” Dorado said. “A lot of people didn’t believe in us.”

When left fielder Xavier Allen made the catch for the third out in the bottom of the seventh, Carson’s 3-1 comeback win over Marine League rival Banning became official. It was an improbable path to become the school’s first City baseball champion after failing in eight previous attempts.

The team started the season 1-9.

“We told them we’re not going to give up on you; don’t give up on us,” coach Michael Kunipo-Aguirre said.

Carson (19-13) certainly didn’t give up Saturday despite being down 1-0 through six innings to Banning pitcher Anthony Camarena.

Then came a three-run rally in the top of the seventh that started with a one-out single and two-base error that left Kris Sinclair on third base. There were two plays at the plate in the inning, the first a tag the umpire ruled the runner safe to tie the score and the second the umpire ruled the runner out after an attempted squeeze bunt. That set the stage for Juno Carrillo to deliver the key blow, a two-run tie-breaking single.

Dorado struck out three and walked none. He had been shut down for several weeks to help his arm recover and Carson stuck to the plan despite having to go 11 innings on Wednesday in a semifinal victory that ended with a walk-off home run by Allen.

Fernando Barajas had a double and single for Carson and James Markel added two hits.

Banning catcher Matthew Gonzalez was impressive throughout, throwing out two runners trying to steal second base. Brandon Villarreal had a triple and single. Camarena struck out three and walked one in 6 2/3 innings.

Both schools are expected to participate in the Southern California regional playoffs that begin in two weeks.

Lando Norris said his pole position at the Monaco Grand Prix was a “step in the right direction” and “quite a big thing” after being unhappy with his form since the start of this season.

The McLaren driver trails team-mate Oscar Piastri by 13 points in the championship after the Australian’s four victories to Norris’ one.

The pole was Norris’ first since the Australian Grand Prix at the start of the season, while Piastri has taken three.

Norris said: “To classify it as a breakthrough, you also need consistency of results.

“I can look at it both ways. It’s a breakthrough that I had a good Saturday. For me it’s at least a step in the right direction, which I’m very, very happy about.

“But it’s one weekend. Consistency is a big part of it, too, and I will be happier if I know and can get to that point where I am confident into every session that I can perform like I did today, because I think my performance was at a very, very strong level.

“If I go into Barcelona and Canada and the next few races and I can perform at this level, that is my goal.

But certainly today is a step in the right direction, whether it’s a small step or big step, it’s a step and that’s all I need for now.”

Norris beat Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc by 0.109 seconds in an exciting session in Monaco, as pole swapped between Norris and the Monegasque over their runs.

Leclerc did one flying lap, while McLaren chose to do two, staying out on track but cooling their tyres in between. Norris took pole, Leclerc snatched it from him, before the Briton grabbed it back again.

Norris has been working hard on improving his qualifying performance this season, after explaining that he has been finding it difficult to trust the McLaren car enough to be able to take it consistently to the limit in qualifying.

Asked to explain his step forward, he said: “Things from the car, just it being Monaco and a very different layout, a very different kind of style of driving that’s needed here. It’s a lot more risk commitment rather than just absolute car balance, in a way.

“And also things that I’ve been working on to improve, to do a better job.

“Never because I’ve not had the pace – just more that I’ve never put it together come Q3. today was probably the first time since Australia that I’ve really put it all together.

“It’s not like I’m driving quicker, it’s I’m driving in a better way, in a smarter way.

“But there’s been a lot of work that’s gone on. For me, even if I was pole in any other track, I think it probably would have been the pole that’s meant the most to me.

“It probably means even more that’s in Monaco, but more because of what’s happened over the last couple of months. It may not seem like a lot, but for me, it’s quite a big thing. So, yeah, like I said, a very, very good moment.”

He said he always believed he would get on top of the problem.

“I don’t think I have ever doubted what I can do,” Norris said. “I have got frustrated. I have been unhappy, because that’s normal if you don’t win, don’t get pole, you’re not going to be happy, especially when it’s where you should be. It’s what the objective is.

“Of course I’ve had those moments but I have never certainly this year doubted what I am capable of doing and having a day like today backs all that up so I’m happy with that.”

CITY SECTION SOFTBALL PLAYOFFS

FRIDAY’S RESULTS

QUARTERFINALS

DIVISION I

#1 Port of Los Angeles 2, #8 Verdugo Hills 1

#5 Eagle Rock 3, #4 Chavez 0

#3 Garfield 5, #6 Chatsworth 3

#2 Legacy 4, #10 San Fernando 0

DIVISION II

#1 Marquez 10, #8 Harbor Teacher 0

#4 Northridge Academy 3, #5 Franklin 2

#6 Taft 17, #3 SOCES 4

#10 King/Drew 19, #15 Wilson 1

DIVISION III

#1 Lincoln 22, #8 University 3

#5 North Hollywood 5, #4 South East 0

#11 Huntington Park 29, #3 Jefferson 26

#2 Rancho Dominguez 26, #7 Community Charter 2

DIVISION IV

#1 Westchester d. #8 Lakeview Charter, forfeit

#4 Reseda 31, #5 Washington 5

#3 Animo De La Hoya 14, #6 Monroe 4

#7 LACES 19, #2 Van Nuys 4

WEDNESDAY’S SCHEDULE

(Games at 3 p.m. unless noted)

SEMIFINALS

OPEN DIVISION

#4 Venice at #1 Granada Hills

#3 Carson at #2 San Pedro

DIVISION I

#5 Eagle Rock at #1 Port of Los Angeles

#3 Garfield at #2 Legacy

DIVISION II

#4 Northridge Academy at #1 Marquez

#10 King/Drew at #6 Taft

DIVISION III

#5 North Hollywood at #1 Lincoln

#11 Huntington Park at #2 Rancho Dominguez

DIVISION IV

#4 Reseda at #1 Westchester

#7 LACES at #3 Animo De La Hoya

Note: Finals May 30-31 at 3 p.m. at Birmingham (Divisions III-IV); at 9 a.m. (Division II), 12:15 p.m. (Division I) and 3:30 p.m. (Open Division) at TBD.

Erik ten Hag is on the brink of agreeing a deal to replace Xabi Alonso as manager of Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen.

Ten Hag has been out of work since being sacked by Manchester United in October.

The Dutchman has received a number of offers but opted to stay out of the game until this summer.

Earlier this month sources close to Ten Hag told BBC Sport the former Ajax boss was preparing to return at the beginning of July and was willing to assess any suitable offer.

Alonso, who is expected to replace the outgoing Carlo Ancelotti as Real Madrid manager, has quit Leverkusen after leading the club to their first Bundesliga title in 2024 in an unbeaten league campaign.

Leverkusen also completed a domestic double last season, beating Kaiserslautern in the German Cup final.

Although the club has not been able to maintain the same high standards this season, they still managed to finish second to qualify for next season’s Champions League.

Ten Hag has experience of German football after spending two years in charge of Bayern Munich’s second team from 2013.

The 55-year-old won the FA Cup and League Cup in his two full seasons as United boss, finishing third in the Premier League in 2022-23.

However, although United kept faith with him after extended deliberation in the wake of last season’s surprise FA Cup final victory against Manchester City, he was sacked on 28 October following a 2-1 defeat at West Ham.

Although not an official rivalry steeped in tradition just yet, the competitiveness between California’s two WNBA teams suggests the start of one.

With the Sparks and Golden State Valkyries trying to jump start new eras for their respective franchises, the meeting marked the third clash between the teams in as many weeks — and it left the Sparks emotionally and physically bruised.

On their first road trip to Southern California on Friday, the expansion Valkyries exacted revenge on one of the WNBA’s charter members, holding off a late Sparks comeback in an 82-73 win.

The Sparks’ frustration was evident after the game. Coach Lynne Roberts looked displeased. Beside her, rookie Sarah Ashlee Barker sat stone-faced, a fresh shiner darkening the area beneath her right eye. Dearica Hamby rested her head in her hands, her responses to questions from the media brief and subdued.

“They beat us tonight,” Roberts said. “They were more connected. They played harder. They played with more intensity.”

What began as a back-and-forth battle quickly underscored how evenly matched the two teams are despite being at different stages. The final score suggested a close game, but for much of the night, it looked like it would be a Valkyries rout.

The Sparks surged to an early 20-9 lead behind strong play from Odyssey Sims, Kelsey Plum and Dearica Hamby. Sims hit three early three-pointers and Plum added six points fueled by defensive pressure and steals. Hamby anchored the interior with physical play.

But much like their previous two matchups, inconsistency quickly crept in for the Sparks (1-3). The Sparks’ struggles emerged after halftime in their last two games. This time, the unraveling came earlier.

“We stopped following the game plan,” Roberts said. “It’s bad — we’ve got to fix it. We need to put together a full 40 minutes. We haven’t done that yet.”

A second-quarter collapse — marked by defensive breakdowns and offensive stagnation — put L.A. in a hole too big to overcome. Entering the period with a two-point lead, Golden State went on an 18-0 run to take a 45-26 lead.

Golden State (2-1) shot 10 for 18 (55.6%) from the field in the second quarter, looking every bit like a team determined to avenge its two earlier losses — one in the preseason and the other in their season opener.

Meanwhile, the Sparks appeared far removed from the cohesion and toughness they showed in a loss to the Phoenix Mercury on Wednesday — the kind of progress coach Lynne Roberts pointed to as a sign of early-season growth. The Sparks didn’t register a field goal in the second quarter until the 2:36 mark.

L.A. trailed 49-35 at halftime after shooting just 2 for 16 from the field and scoring nine points in the second quarter.

From the start, the Valkyries’ game plan centered on containing Kelsey Plum, who erupted for 37 points against them on May 16. Golden State’s defense swarmed Plum with traps and forced the ball out of her hands, limiting her to 16 points on six-of-18 shooting, including two for 10 from beyond the arc. She also had four steals.

Golden State’s lead hovered around 15 points for much of the third quarter. The Sparks only began to chip away at the deficit in the fourth quarter.

A three-pointer from Plum cut the Valkyries’ lead to 73-63 with just under six minutes remaining. Moments later, Hamby powered to the rim through heavy contact, converting a tough layup and drawing the foul. Her successful free throw made it an eight-point game.

Hamby continued to take charge, shooting a three-pointer with 2:32 left to make it a five-point game.

“We definitely picked up the defensive energy,” Hamby said of the fourth-quarter effort. “We got some good hustle plays and tried to build momentum — but I want to win, so I’m willing to do whatever it takes.”

But that was as close as the Sparks would get after Hamby fouled Kayla Thornton on a three-point attempt. Thornton made all three of her free-throw attempts.

Robert liked what she saw from the Sparks in the fourth quarter, but she wants to see that urgency deployed earlier and throughout the game.

“We can’t wait,” Roberts said. “We did show toughness — we didn’t fold. They kept competing, and we made it a game. … But why does it take us 30 minutes to play like that?”

Hamby scored 10 of her 25 points in the fourth quarter. She also had six rebounds and three blocks. Sims finished with 13 points as the Sparks suffered their third consecutive loss. Carla Leite led Golden State with 19 points.

Golden State’s win marked a special homecoming for Anaheim native and Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase, who said she felt a wave of emotion as the team flew into L.A. Seeing familiar landmarks from the window of the plane — including her childhood homes — stirred memories of her father and the path that led her to becoming a WNBA coach. Nasake served as an assistant coach under Clippers coach Doc Rivers.

“It’s like seeing the ushers — a lot of them I’ve known for a long time, and they’re just saying congratulations and what an accomplishment,” said Nakase of the surreal feeling of winning at Crypto.com Arena. “It’s nice to see a lot of familiar faces.”

It would be nice if the Dodgers could schedule a special day to honor Austin Barnes and Chris Taylor, giving fans and teammates a chance to provide a proper farewell for this pair of beloved, true-blue Dodgers.

Anthony Moretti
Lomita

I’m sure Taylor and Barnes are nice guys, but they’ve been making millions of dollars and haven’t performed for years. I don’t think anyone has to feel sorry for them.

Mike Schaller
Temple City

Fans of ’70s-era sci-fi movies can see clear parallels between the classic “Logan’s Run” and the Dodgers’ front office behavior. Like the movie’s plot, the Dodgers have concluded that former impact players now over age 30 are expendable and must be immediately eliminated. The struggling Max Muncy, Kiké Hernández must be taking note.

Rob Fleishman
Placentia

In March, Still’s partner Emma Saunders, a presenter on Sky Sports who previously worked for BBC Sport, said she was recovering from encephalitis, which is an infection of the brain.

“For multiple reasons, the main reason behind my decision is that I need to go back home,” admitted Still.

He would be a permanent replacement at Southampton for Ivan Juric, who left in April after the club were relegated from the Premier League with a record seven games left to play.

Born in Belgium to English parents, Still built his football career at Lierse and Beerschot before moving to France, where he became the youngest coach in Europe’s top five leagues when appointed by Reims, aged 30, in October 2022.

He joined Lens in June, 2024, on a three-year deal and led them to an eighth-placed finish in Ligue 1.

Lens have yet to confirm Still’s departure.

Sheffield Wednesday manager Danny Rohl was previously linked with the Saints job, but the compensation package to move to a club within the same division was thought to be too expensive.

It’s the greatest gift to baseball players who attend schools in the City Section. Every season since 1969, except for two years during the pandemic of 2020 and 2021, the championship game has been played at Dodger Stadium.

The championships return to Dodger Stadium on Saturday. Marine League rivals Banning and Carson will face off at 10 a.m. for the Division I title, followed by El Camino Real taking on Venice at 1 p.m. for the Open Division championship. There’s free parking and tickets cost $15 for adults and $12 for students. Gates open at 9 a.m.

Three of the four semifinal games were decided on walk-off hits, showing the parity this season.

In the Open Division, El Camino Real has its top two pitchers ready to go. Devin Gonor will get the start and Luke Howe has four innings left to throw if needed. Venice has its ace, Noel Moreno (12-1) available.

As usual, handling the environment and dimensions of Dodger Stadium will be key, from catchers preventing balls in the dirt from going to the backstop to outfielders making catches in the sun.

Banning has beaten Carson two of three times this season. Carson is coming off a dramatic win in the semifinals over Taft in which Xavier Allen hit a walk-off, two-run home run in the 11th inning.

Canon King of Venice is coming off a five-for-five performance against Birmingham. El Camino Real has won nine City titles.

All the teams involved will be invited to play in the Southern California regionals that begin in two weeks.

This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email [email protected].

Spanish newspaper Marca, external reported last weekend that an unnamed Brazilian club had made an offer to Ronaldo.

Botafogo are one of four Brazilian teams to have qualified and their coach Renato Paiva was asked about Ronaldo, external last Sunday.

He laughed before saying: “Christmas is only in December. But if he came, you can’t say no to a star like that.

“I don’t know anything – I’m just answering the question. But, as I said, coaches always want the best. Ronaldo, even at his age, is still a goal-scoring machine. In a team that creates chance after chance, he would be good.”

Botafogo are owned by American businessman John Textor, who also holds a majority stake in Crystal Palace.

Ronaldo won the Champions League four times during nine seasons with Real Madrid before joining Juventus in 2018.

Real and Juve are among the 12 European clubs that have qualified, which includes Premier League teams Chelsea and Manchester City.

Between them either Ronaldo or Messi won the Ballon d’Or from 2008 to 2017, before Messi won it three more times to give the Argentine forward, 37, a record eight wins.

Messi’s Inter Miami are in the same group as Egypt’s Al Ahly, Portuguese side Porto and Brazilian club Palmeiras.

CITY SECTION BASEBALL PLAYOFFS

FRIDAY’S RESULTS

FINALS

At Stengel Field

DIVISION III

#2 University 8, #1 Jefferson 1

DIVISION II

#7 Port of Los Angeles 6, #4 Chavez 5

SATURDAY’S SCHEDULE

At Dodger Stadium

DIVISION I

#2 Carson vs. #1 Banning, 10 a.m.

OPEN DIVISION

#2 El Camino Real vs. #1 Venice, 1 p.m.

Top-order batter Shubman Gill has been named the new Test captain of the India men’s team.

The 25-year-old succeeds Rohit Sharma as captain, with the 38-year-old having retired from Test cricket earlier this month.

Gill, who has scored 1,893 runs in 32 Tests, will lead a depleted India team in a five-Test tour of England starting on 20 June.

Veteran seamer Mohammed Shami was left out of the squad following a late injury setback, although he played in the Indian Premier League.

Wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant has been named Gill’s deputy in the Test squad.

India Test squad: Shubman Gill (captain), Rishabh Pant (vice captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Druv Jurel , Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav.

Taylor Ward hit his 15th home run and the host Angels beat the Miami Marlins 7-4 on Friday night for their eighth straight win.

Ward’s solo homer in the second inning gave him seven, including two grand slams, in his past 11 games. Jorge Soler also hit his seventh homer giving the Angels (25-25) at least two homers in a club-record seven straight games. They have homered in 13 consecutive games, the longest active MLB streak.

Ward added a sacrifice fly and Logan O’Hoppe an RBI double for a 3-0 lead in the fourth.

Catcher’s interference, a hit-by-pitch and a sacrifice fly with the bases loaded made it 6-0 in the sixth.

Yusei Kikuchi (1-4) went 5 2/3 scoreless innings, giving up seven hits and four walks while striking out five. He picked up his first win in 11 starts this season. Kenley Jansen walked two in the ninth but got his 11th save in 11 opportunities.

Ward’s homer gave him an extra-base hit in nine straight games, tying Darin Erstad (1998) for the club record.

Sandy Alcantara (2-7) went 5 1/3 innings, giving up six runs, five earned, with two walks and six strikeouts for Miami (19-30).

Eric Wagaman had three hits including his fourth homer of the season in the seventh and a two-run single in the eighth.

Kyle Stowers had an RBI double among his three hits. He has a 20-game on-base streak and has hit safely in 10 straight.

Key moment: Hunter Strickland relieved Kikuchi with two outs and the bases loaded in the sixth. Liam Hicks hit a soft grounder that shortstop Zach Neto charged and threw to first to barely get Hicks.

Up next: Miami’s Cal Quantrill (3-4, 6.47 ERA) pitches against the Angels’ José Soriano (3-4, 3.57) on Saturday.

“He’s incredibly clear in his messaging of what he wants and how he wants it done.”

Rodgers joined Celtic in 2016 a few months after leaving Liverpool and won all six domestic competitions in his next two seasons.

A seventh, the League Cup, would follow in December 2018, but he would relinquish the opportunity of a third treble by leaving for Leicester two months later.

Celtic were eight points clear at the top of the Premiership at the time, with Neil Lennon completing the title win and adding the Scottish Cup, but now Rodgers has a second chance to surpass the legendary Jock Stein’s two trebles.

“It is no surprise to me that he has success wherever he goes because he provides the players with a platform to go and perform and that’s the mark of a great coach,” Schmeichel suggested.

“Football now is so detail orientated. You have to be so clear about every aspect you want. He is a very detail-orientated person and he likes things to be done a certain way.

“He demands certain standards wherever he goes and it’s up to players to rise up to those standards and to live by those standards and those values.”

Schmeichel said Rodgers was clear when he arrived at Leicester about what it meant to play for the club and that was heightened with Celtic as “he has the DNA of the club already within him” as a boyhood fan.

“He leaves you in no doubt what it means to be a Celtic player and the responsibility to bear that shirt,” the goalkeeper said.

“His methods are always evolving. He’s a very modern coach with traditional values and I think the best thing for a player – you are left in no doubt what is expected of you. There are no grey areas.

“He’s very clear about what he expects on the pitch and very clear what he expects of you off the pitch. That always creates an environment that players thrive in and that’s shown everywhere he’s been.”

Aberdeen, who finished fifth in the Premiership, have not beaten Celtic in 30 meetings since 2018 and November’s 6-0 thrashing in the League Cup final was just one of three heavy defeats by the Glasgow side for Jimmy Thelin’s side this season.

However, Schmeichel insists that it “would never enter our minds” that completing the treble is a foregone conclusion.

“We will be taking this very seriously, like any other game, with the utmost respect for the opposition and what they can do and their threats,” he added.

“If you take your foot off the peddle just a micro percent, any level, they’ll beat you – teams are that good now. There are no easy games any more.”

NEW YORK — The upcoming month was already going to be tough for the Dodgers.

A rainy Friday night in Queens made it that much tougher.

In the fourth game of a 29-game stretch against playoff-contending teams, the Dodgers beat the New York Mets in a marathon contest at Citi Field, overcoming a three-run ninth-inning blown save from closer Tanner Scott by prevailing 7-5 in the 13th inning.

But, their already shorthanded pitching staff endured more unexpected obstacles in the process. A one-hour, 38-minute rain delay in the top of the third limited starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw to just two innings. A seemingly never-ending game forced their overworked bullpen to combine for 11 more innings in which every reliever was used except one.

Navigating this difficult portion of the schedule — which began in earnest with a three-game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks this week — will be a test for a Dodgers pitching staff missing three of its five opening-day rotation members and many other important arms in the bullpen.

Because of that, manager Dave Roberts has emphasized in recent days the need to push his starters to take down as many innings as possible.

On Friday, Kershaw seemed to be on his way to a decent start, pitching two scoreless innings in which his only baserunner reached via a walk that was quickly erased by a double play.

Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw delivers in the second inning Friday against the Mets.

(Pamela Smith / Associated Press)

But then, with the Dodgers mounting a rally in the top of the third, the New York skies opened up for a late May downpour. For the next 98 minutes, fans scattered for shelter and watched the Knicks’ playoff game on the stadium scoreboard. Back in the visiting clubhouse, Roberts watched the clock tick and tick and tick, eventually to the point where keeping Kershaw in was no longer a viable option.

By the end of the night, that was the least of the Dodgers’ problems.

Despite holding a 5-2 lead after getting three innings of two-run ball from Matt Sauer, and three scoreless innings from Ben Casparius, Scott couldn’t get the game across the finish line.

Starling Marte led with a single. Pete Alonso drew a one-out walk. Jeff McNeil got them both home on a triple hit just high enough to evade a leaping Freddie Freeman at first base. Tyrone Taylor then completed Scott’s fourth blown save in 14 opportunities with an RBI single to left.

Somehow, the Dodgers (32-19) still managed to prevail.

Alex Vesia got the game to extras, stranding two runners aboard to end the ninth. Both teams then traded wasted opportunities from there, failing to score their automatic runners in the 10th (when the Dodgers had the bases loaded with no outs), the 11th (when Anthony Banda and Luis García combined to escape a bases-loaded threat) and the 12th (when the Dodgers turned an inning-ending double play while employing a five-man infield).

Finally, Teoscar Hernández put the Dodgers back in front in the 13th, hitting a leadoff RBI double before scoring on Andy Pages’ sacrifice fly.

García closed it out in the bottom half of the inning, completing a 2 ⅓ scoreless inning appearance just minutes shy of 1 a.m. local time.

It was a hard-fought win, but one that could come with future consequences for a pitching staff that was already running on fumes.

Grounds crew members cover the field during a rain delay at Citi Field on Friday night.

(Pamela Smith / Associated Press)

Two and a half months into his time with the team, Newey said: “There’s a lot of individually very, very good people. We just need to try to get them working together, perhaps in a slightly better organised way.

“That’s simply a result of the roots of the team at Jordan, that became Force India, that became Racing Point, and was as such always a small but slightly over-performing team, to now in a very short space of time a very big team that the truth is has been underperforming this year.”

Newey, who joins the team after an illustrious career with Williams, McLaren and Red Bull, said one of the factors he was looking forward to in Monaco was working for the first time at a live event with 2005 and 2006 world champion Fernando Alonso.

“Fernando, he’s such a cool character,” Newey said. “He’s been an enemy for many years, along with Lewis (Hamilton), and I think I’ve said before that you can only work with so many drivers, but two drivers I always wanted that I felt I would enjoy working with, were Lewis and Fernando, and I couldn’t work with both, so at least I got one of them.

“It’s only when you get to the racetrack that you really start to develop that relationship, so I’m looking forward to that developing a little bit this season, but particularly next season.”

He added that he felt that Lance Stroll, the son of team owner Lawrence, “has an unfairly bad rap, on average”, adding: “Any driver who gets to Formula 1 is clearly very good, but I think Lance is much better than people who’ve been very poor.”

SOUTHERN SECTION BASEBALL PLAYOFFS

FRIDAY’S RESULTS

QUARTERFINALS

DIVISION 1

Corona 2, Norco 0

St. John Bosco 4, Villa Park 3

Santa Margarita 5, Los Alamitos 4

Crespi 3, Mira Costa 2

DIVISION 2

West Ranch 10, Sultana 0

Etiwanda 8, Servite 3

Fountain Valley 5, Torrance 2

Mater Dei 2, Foothill 0

DIVISION 3

San Dimas 5, Paraclete 0

Beckman 5, Arrowhead Christian 4

Temecula Valley 4, Castaic 1

Glendora 2, Costa Mesa 1

DIVISION 4

Thousand Oaks 6, Woodbridge 3

Dos Pueblos 11, Trinity Classical Academy 1

Ganesha 1, Saugus 0

South Torrance 3, Oxnard Pacifica 1

DIVISION 5

Northwood 1, Citrus Hill 0

St. Anthony 7, Hillcrest 2

Elsinore 5, Liberty 4

Camarillo 4, Long Beach Poly 3

DIVISION 6

Rancho Mirage 6, St. Monica 0

Estancia 4, Orange County Pacifica Christian 3

Marshall 1, Santa Fe 0

Heritage Christian 7, Montebello 3

DIVISION 7

Channel Islands 8, Norwalk 0

Mary Star of the Sea 8, Garden Grove 7

Grace 2, Don Bosco Tech 1

Riverside Notre Dame 8, Artesia 2

DIVISION 8

Colton 15, Duarte 5

Westminster La Quinta 3, Fillmore 2

Pioneer 12, Beverly Hills 1

Placenta Valencia 9, San Bernardino 3

DIVISION 9

Coastal Christian 9, Loma Linda Academy 4

Mountain View 4, Pomona 1

Academy for Academic Excellence 4, Twentynine Palms 3

Nuview Bridge 6, Santa Rosa Academy 3

TUESDAY’S SCHEDULE

(Games at 3:15 unless noted)

SEMIFINALS

DIVISION 1

Corona at St. John Bosco

Crespi at Santa Margarita

DIVISION 2

Etiwanda at West Ranch

Fountain Valley at Mater Dei

DIVISION 3

San Dimas at Beckman

Temecula Valley at Glendora

DIVISION 4

Thousand Oaks at Dos Pueblos

South Torrance at Ganesha

DIVISION 5

Northwood at St. Anthony

Camarillo at Elsinore

DIVISION 6

Rancho Mirage at Estancia

Heritage Christian at Marshall

DIVISION 7

Channel Islands at Mary Star of the Sea

Riverside Notre Dame at Grace

DIVISION 8

Fillmore at Colton

Placentia Valencia at Pioneer

DIVISION 9

Coastal Christian at Mountain View

Nuview Bridge at Academy for Academic Excellence

Note: Finals in all divisions May 30-31 at Cal State Fullerton & Cal State Long Beach (times TBD).