LA LIGA
Barcelona register signings
Barcelona on Friday registered new signings Robert Lewandowski, Franck Kessie, Andreas Christensen and Raphinha in time for their opener against Rayo Vallecano, which was to be played after press time last night. However, French defender Jules Kounde remains unregistered with La Liga. Barcelona have spent 153 million euros (US$157 million) on transfer fees alone to bolster their squad, with Lewandowski the most notable new arrival from Bayern Munich. Faced with severe limits on spending to comply with La Liga’s financial controls, Barcelona needed to raise money quickly to be able to invest in signings and, crucially, to register new players. Earlier on Friday, Barcelona sold another part of their media production unit, Barca Studios, for 100 million euros to Orpheus Media. Spanish daily Marca reported that Kounde can only be registered if the club reduces its payroll. “So in the next few days, players in the squad will have to leave,” the newspaper said. On the field, CA Osasuna beat Sevilla 2-1 at home in the first game of the new season, with Chimy Avila scoring the first goal of the 2022-2023 season in the ninth minute when he smashed a powerhouse header off goalkeeper Yassine Bounou and into the net.
BUNDESLIGA
Teens help Dortmund
Two teenagers on Friday helped Borussia Dortmund come from behind with late goals to beat host SC Freiburg 3-1. Dortmund coach Edin Terzic’s substitutions all paid off as 18-year-old Jamie Bynoe-Gittens equalized in the 77th minute and 17-year-old Youssoufa Moukoko made it 2-1, four minutes before he set up Marius Wolf — yet another substitute — to seal the result in the 88th minute. Michael Gregoritsch had given the home team a 35th-minute lead.
LIGUE 1
Ismaily scores on debut
Brazilian defender Ismaily on Friday scored on his debut for OSC Lille in a 1-1 draw against Nantes. The 32-year-old Ismaily, who joined Lille from Ukrainian team Shakhtar Donetsk last week, scored in the 77th minute to maintain his new team’s unbeaten start to the league. Ismaily came on as a halftime substitute, where Moses Simon had given the home team a 28th-minute lead.
ARGENTINA
Players’ cars burned
Vehicles owned by players from Argentine first-division team Aldosivi were set on fire on Thursday after a 2-0 defeat against rival Godoy Cruz in Mar del Plata, 400km south of Buenos Aires. The vehicles were in the club’s training ground parking lot. Aldosivi players, who face growing risk of relegation in Argentina’s top-flight division, had left their vehicles at the parking lot before they traveled to regional Mendoza for the match. Aldosivi are 27th and second-from-bottom in the championship with eight points after 13 rounds. “I never experienced anything like this,” Uruguayan striker Santiago Silva said at the Jorge Newbery airport in Buenos Aires, where players landed before taking their bus to Mar del Plata. “We can’t get used to things like this.” Five vehicles that belonged to players and coaching staffer Leandro Somoza were set ablaze, the city’s fire department said.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
HSIEH MAKES QUARTERS: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium won in the women’s doubles and face Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin of the US Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Coco Gauff were knocked out of the women’s singles at the Miami Open on Monday, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced in the women’s doubles. Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2, hours after third seed Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarter-finals. Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since. “We played quite