RUGBY UNION
La Rochelle shock in final
La Rochelle pulled off one of the great European Rugby Champions Cup comebacks on Saturday when they overhauled home-based Leinster and a 17-0 deficit to win their final 27-26 at Lansdowne Road. The French side did not lead until 8 minutes to go, after Antoine Hastoy coolly converted Georges-Henri Colombe’s try off a close-in ruck. Yellow cards reduced both sides to 14 men. La Rochelle were desperately defending their try line in the 79th minute when Leinster’s Michael Ala’alatoa charged into the head of Colombe in a ruck and was sent off, while Colombe was carried off. The French visitors cleared their line and moments later were celebrating their European crown in front of a stunned Leinster and its supporters. “They said we couldn’t do it, come to Leinster and win, but we did,” La Rochelle lock Will Skelton said. “Leinster are a world-class team and we had to dig deep. At 17-0 down, we still had the belief.”
SOCCER
Barca fans fixate on Messi
With the La Liga title in hand, Barcelona’s fans quickly moved on to what they want next: The return of their all-time favorite player. “Messi! Messi! Messi!” resounded at the Camp Nou — during minute 10 for Lionel Messi’s old No. 10 shirt — during Saturday’s game against Real Sociedad that ended with a rare 2-1 loss to the Basque visitors. The loss did little to dampen the festive atmosphere after the final whistle when Sergio Busquets as team captain received the Spanish league trophy and presented it to the crowd with his teammates. It was Busquets’ 32nd and last title before the midfielder leaves Barcelona this summer.
HORSE RACING
Baffert wins Preakness
National Treasure on Saturday fought off Blazing Sevens in the final strides to win the Preakness Stakes, taking trainer Bob Baffert from grief to glory hours after one of his horses was euthanized. Baffert claimed his eighth Preakness win, breaking a tie with 19th-century trainer Robert Wyndham Walden for most by a trainer, but that seemed far from his mind as he contemplated the day’s earlier grim events in the 148th running of the middle jewel in US flat racing’s Triple Crown. Baffert-trained Havnameltdown suffered a catastrophic front left leg injury during the sixth race of the day and had to be euthanized on the track at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore. “There’s so many responsibilities a trainer has: employees, horses, jockey safety,” Baffert said, his voice breaking in a post-race television interview. “And then to win this... losing that horse today really hurt.”
MOUNTAINEERING
Amputee summits Everest
Gurkha veteran Hari Budha Magar, who was almost killed serving with the British army in Afghanistan, has become the first double above-the-knee amputee to climb Everest, a member of his team said yesterday. “He reached the top of Sagarmatha at around 3 PM [Nepali time] on Friday. After summiting the peak, he has now descended to the base camp,” Him Bista said, using the Nepali name for Everest. Two below-the-knee amputees have reached the peak in the past — New Zealander Mark Inglis in 2006 and China’s Xia Boyu (夏伯渝) in 2018.
Manchester City have reached do-or-die territory in the UEFA Champions League earlier than expected ahead of what Pep Guardiola has described as a “final” against Club Brugge today. City have disproved the suggestion a new format to Europe’s top club competition would remove any jeopardy for the top clubs as Guardiola stares down the barrel of failing to make the Champions League knockout stages for the first time in his career. The English champions have endured a torrid season both in their English Premier League title defense and on the continent. A run of one win in 13 games, which included Champions League
BACK-TO-BACK: The League One club, which is owned by stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, is sparing no expense to clinch promotion to the Championship Hollywood endings are pricey, even in England’s third division. In pursuit of their third straight promotion, Wrexham AFC splashed some cash at League One rival Reading to secure the services of striker Sam Smith. The Welsh club owned by actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney confirmed the signing of the 26-year-old Smith on Friday. He is one of the top scorers in the third division. The transfer fee was not disclosed, but British media widely reported it to be about ￡2 million (US$2.48 million) — not extravagant, but a hefty price at this level and it would be about the same figure that
Less than a week after splashing out a world-record fee for Naomi Girma, Chelsea has spent big again to bring England midfielder Keira Walsh back to the English Women’s Super League. Walsh left European champions Barcelona after more than two years to join Chelsea for a reported ￡400,000 (US$496,000) on Friday. Walsh was the world’s most expensive player for two years after moving to Barcelona from Manchester City for a reported ￡400,000 in 2022. That status now belongs to Girma, the US defender who cost Chelsea a reported ￡900,000 to sign from the San Diego Wave. Still, it means 27-year-old Walsh — a technically
Ousmane Dembele on Wednesday scored a hat-trick as Paris Saint-Germain romped to a 4-1 win at VfB Stuttgart and qualified for the UEFA Champions League knockout stages. PSG were at risk of elimination after a disappointing league stage, with three losses and a draw, but were utterly dominant against an outclassed Stuttgart side as they confirmed their place in the playoffs. With six minutes gone, Bradley Barcola headed PSG in front after Desire Doue stood a cross up at the back post following a corner. Stuttgart probed for an equalizer, but PSG hit on the counterattack, Dembele tapping a Barcola pass into an
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