SOCCER
Leverkusen make history
The Bundesliga season had only half an hour left on Saturday, and Bayer 04 Leverkusen were nervous. Middle-of-the-table visitors Augsburg cut Leverkusen’s lead in half. Leverkusen’s undefeated streak in the Bundesliga was on the line. They made late winning goals a trademark this season, but appeared vulnerable to a comeback. However, Leverkusen held on to win 2-1 and complete a historic season, becoming the first team ever to finish an entire Bundesliga undefeated with 28 wins, six draws and no losses. A choral Hallelujah played over BayArena’s public address system at the final whistle and a plane trailed a “German Champion” banner over the stadium as fans sang the players’ praises. The sellout crowd of 30,000 was on its feet as Leverkusen’s players received the club’s first ever league winners medals. Manager Xabi Alonso, who took over in October 2022 with Leverkusen in the relegation zone, punched the air to a roar from the crowd as he received his medal. “It’s an exceptional season that we’ve made, not just in Germany, but I think in Europe,” Alonso said.
FORMULA ONE
Verstappen matches Senna
On a weekend commemorating Ayrton Senna, Max Verstappen matched the late Brazilian’s record for consecutive pole positions in Formula One at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in Imola, Italy. Verstappen made it eight in a row — seven this year — when his Red Bull topped qualifying on Saturday. “It’s 30 years since he passed away, so it is very special, and I am very pleased to get pole, and in a way it’s a nice memory to him,” Verstappen said. “He was an incredible F1 driver, especially in qualifying. A great day for me, a great day for the team. I’m very, very happy.” Senna’s record has stood for 35 years. His streak ran from the final three races of the 1988 season through the first five of the following year. Senna died in a crash at Imola during the 1994 race and there was a memorial for him on Thursday.
SOCCER
Chelsea give Hayes last win
Chelsea were on Saturday crowned Women’s Super League champions for a fifth successive season as manager Emma Hayes bowed out in style with a title-clinching 6-0 rout of Manchester United. Hayes’ side went into the last day of the season ahead of second-placed Manchester City on goal difference in a thrilling finish to the title race. Chelsea raced into a four-goal lead by halftime at Old Trafford and, with City unable to match that spree in their 2-1 win at Aston Villa, the silverware was destined for Stamford Bridge once again. Level on points with City, the Blues finished on top with a +53 goal difference compared with City’s +46. “What a wonderful performance. The hardest thing to do is five in a row, because people take their eye off the ball,” Hayes said. “I can’t say it’s my most enjoyable title. It’s definitely been the toughest without doubt, for that reason probably the sweetest.” It was a fitting finale for Hayes, who was saying farewell to the club she has brought so much success during 12 years in charge. Hayes is leaving to take over as US women’s boss after winning seven Super League titles, five Women’s FA Cups and two FA League Women’s Cups.
The qualifying round of the World Baseball Classic (WBC) is to be held at the Taipei Dome between Feb. 21 and 25, Major League Baseball (MLB) announced today. Taiwan’s group also includes Spain, Nicaragua and South Africa, with two of the four teams advancing onto the 2026 WBC. Taiwan, currently ranked second in the world in the World Baseball Softball Confederation rankings, are favorites to come out of the group, the MLB said in an article announcing the matchups. Last year, Taiwan finished in a five-way tie in their group with two wins and two losses, but finished last on tiebreakers after giving
North Korea’s FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup-winning team on Saturday received a heroes’ welcome back in the capital, Pyongyang, with hundreds of people on the streets to celebrate their success. They had defeated Spain on penalties after a 1-1 draw in the U17 World Cup final in the Dominican Republic on Nov. 3. It was the second global title in two months for secretive North Korea — largely closed off to the outside world; they also lifted the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup in September. Officials and players’ families gathered at Pyongyang International Airport to wave flowers and North Korea flags as the
For King Faisal, a 20-year-old winger from Ghana, the invitation to move to Brazil to play soccer “was a dream.” “I believed when I came here, it would help me change the life of my family and many other people,” he said in Sao Paulo. For the past year and a half, he has been playing on the under-20s squad for Sao Paulo FC, one of South America’s most prominent clubs. He and a small number of other Africans are tearing across pitches in a country known as the biggest producer and exporter of soccer stars in the world, from Pele to Neymar. For
Coco Gauff of the US on Friday defeated top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka 7-6 (7/4), 6-3 to set up a showdown with Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen in the final of the WTA Finals, while in the doubles, Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching was eliminated. Gauff generated six break points to Belarusian Sabalenka’s four and built on early momentum in the opening set’s tiebreak that she carried through to the second set. She is the youngest player at 20 to make the final at the WTA Finals since Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki in 2010. Zheng earlier defeated Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 7-5 to book
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