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Ruben Amorim has praised Alejandro Garnacho for his recent performances, claiming the winger has "changed everything" to get himself back in favour.
It is seven weeks since Garnacho and fellow academy graduate Marcus Rashford were surprisingly omitted from the United squad when they came back to beat Manchester City 2-1.
Since then, Rashford has been exiled from the following 11 squads and has dominated the headlines while Garnacho -- although linked with a move away -- has forced himself back into the lineup.
Garnacho impressed again after coming on as a substitute in the 2-0 Europa League win over Steaua Bucharest on Thursday and Amorim said the Argentina international deserves credit.
"I think he's not improving under me [because of me]. He changed right away from that game [against] City," the United boss said, with his comments in stark contrast to those about Rashford, who he has insisted "has to change."
"The way he understands things and understands that I just want to help him, I just want to win games. He changed in everything, the approach when I talk with him, the way he recovers.
"He understands sometimes that I'm a different coach, that I'm demanding in my way, sometimes it's hard the first impact. It's a different kind of coach and he understands that it's never in a bad way, it's always for him, but I'm a different person.
"I think all the merit is from Garnacho and he is improving, and we want to continue to improve with Garnacho. I think he's improving a lot."
Napoli and Chelsea have been linked with a move for Garnacho, who United were rumoured to be shopping due to profit and sustainability requirements. It was the same case for Kobbie Mainoo, who also shone on Thursday with a goal and an assist.
While it looks like Garnacho and Mainoo may now stay at the club in January, Amorim admitted he wants more academy players coming through to help on the pitch, and possibly off it through sales.
"I want players like Kobbie and Garnacho," Amorim added ahead of Sunday's Premier League match against Crystal Palace.
"You have to bring more [academy players through] because that is something that all the clubs in England have to take advantage [of]. The players that come from academy -- to play, to feel the shirt and also to sell."
Former Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) chief Luis Rubiales will stand trial beginning on Monday for his unsolicited kiss of national team player Jenni Hermoso.
Rubiales faces one count of sexual assault and one of coercion for his alleged actions in the aftermath of the kiss.
The offences carry prison terms of one year and 18 months, respectively.
Rubiales, 47, has denied the charges.
Rubiales grabbed Hermoso and kissed her on the lips during the awards ceremony in 2023 after Spain's victory in the women's World Cup in Sydney, making global headlines and causing a national debate in Spain about sexism.
Hermoso and her teammates said the kiss was unwanted and demeaning, but Rubiales argued it was consensual and denied any wrongdoing.
Alongside Rubiales, former women's national team coach Jorge Vilda, former RFEF sporting director Albert Luque and the RFEF's former head of marketing Rubén Rivera are also on trial for their suspected roles in pressuring Hermoso.
The prosecution is seeking 2 years' prison for Rubiales, although in Spain those handed sentences under two years can usually escape incarceration by paying damages instead if they do not have prior convictions.
Rubiales and his co-defendants will testify on or after Feb. 12 once the court has interviewed the rest of the witnesses.
After Spain beat England in Sydney on Aug. 20, 2023, Rubiales clutched his crotch in celebration on the final whistle while standing near Spain's Queen Letizia and her daughter Princess Sofía.
Later, during the medal presentation, he lifted Hermoso off her feet then grabbed her by the head and appeared to pull her toward him to kiss her on the lips in front of a packed stadium and enormous global TV audience.
Hermoso's first reaction was to tell teammates: "Hey, I didn't like it," according to locker room footage.
Prosecutors said she was pulled aside on the bus to the airport and asked to approve a statement in her name downplaying the incident, which she said she refused to do.
Vilda then approached Hermoso's brother Rafael on the plane back to Madrid and warned him that his sister's football career would suffer if she did not agree to record a video backing Rubiales' claim the kiss was consensual, according to prosecutors.
Rubiales initially called his critics "idiots" before later apologising, saying the brief kiss was "without bad faith at a time of maximum effusiveness." He has cast himself as a victim of a campaign by "false feminists."
Controversy grew, with public protests and Rubiales' mother going on hunger strike.
Hermoso's teammates said they would not play again until Rubiales was removed as head of the RFEF.
After Rubiales was forced to step down, his replacement and right-hand man Pedro Rocha was suspended for "very serious misconduct."
The Spanish Supreme Court on Wednesday will hear an appeal by Rafael Louzan, recently elected new football head, to determine if his malfeasance conviction, which bars him from holding public office for seven years, stands.
Rubiales and Rocha are under investigation for corruption in a separate case.
Rubiales lost his job after initially refusing to resign and in October 2023 was banned from all football-related activities for three years by world governing body FIFA.
Rubiales has called his daughters to testify while several of Hermoso's Spanish teammates will also provide evidence.
Hermoso, Spain's all-time top scorer who plays for Tigres UANL in Mexico, will take the stand on Monday.
Champions League playoff picks: Madrid over Man City, PSG and Bayern advance, more
Real Madrid and Manchester City now know the cost of failing to perform in the reshaped Champions League: a titanic win-or-bust clash between the past two European champions simply to claim a place in the round of 16. Welcome to the Champions League playoffs!
After the nail-biting conclusion of the competition's first league stage, some of Europe's biggest clubs have unexpectedly found themselves facing a two-legged knockout fixture to reach the round of 16.
And while Man City vs. Real is the undoubted tie of the round, fellow heavyweights Bayern Munich, Juventus, Borussia Dortmund and last season's Europa League winners Atalanta must also negotiate tricky ties to make it into the next round.
With UEFA adopting a new tennis-style draw that operates two separate paths (Silver and Blue) to the final, the bracket after the playoff draw has opened up a clear route to the Champions League final in Munich at the end of the season.
So what are the playoffs, and how will they play out?
SILVER PATH
Club Brugge vs. Atalanta
Club Brugge sealed their place in the playoffs with a game to spare after wins against Aston Villa and Sporting CP while also holding Juventus to a draw, but the Belgian club almost shocked Manchester City on Matchday 8 by taking the lead at the Etihad and going close to eliminating Pep Guardiola's team before eventually losing 3-1.
Brugge will be underdogs against Atalanta, however, with Gian Piero Gasperini's team becoming one of the most consistent teams in Europe. Their Europa League final win against Bayer Leverkusen last season underlined their quality and they are a team with plenty of goals from Ademola Lookman, Charles De Ketalaere and Mateo Retegui.
WINNERS: Atalanta
Manchester City vs. Real Madrid
It's the nightmare draw for both clubs: the Champions League winners of 2022 against the 2023 champions. On the past three occasions City and Real have met in the knockout stages, the winners of the tie have gone on to win that season's competition.
This is Erling Haaland vs. Kylian Mbappé, Pep Guardiola going against Carlo Ancelotti, and a tie that could be won by any of Phil Foden, Jude Bellingham, Vinícius Júnior or Kevin De Bruyne. It is an epic clash, but Real will go into the tie as favourites. They sit on top of La Liga and Mbappe is now beginning to hit top form, while City continue to underperform in the Premier League and seemingly can't keep a clean sheet against top opposition.
Expect fireworks!
WINNERS: Real Madrid
Juventus vs. PSV Eindhoven
Peter Bosz's PSV proved themselves to be a dangerous outsider during the league stage, winning four games including a Matchday 8 win against Liverpool that ended the Premier League leaders' 100% winning start to the Champions League season. The loss of leading scorer Ricardo Pepi to a knee injury that will rule the USMNT forward out of this tie could be decisive, however. PSV simply have to find a way to replace his goal threat.
Juventus have blown hot and cold so far, but their 2-0 win against Man City in December highlighted their threat on a night when Weston McKennie and Timothy Weah came off the bench to seal Juve's win.
WINNERS: Juventus
Brest vs. Paris Saint-Germain
Brest made a stunning start to their first European campaign by going unbeaten in the Champions League until a 3-0 defeat in Barcelona in November, but the wheels have started to fall off for Eric Roy's team. While their performances have taken a dive, PSG have found form and their qualification was down to two huge wins against Manchester City and Stuttgart in the final two games.
Over two legs, it's difficult to see anything but a comfortable win for PSG against their fellow French opponents, especially as Luis Enrique's team sit unbeaten at the top of Ligue 1 -- 19 points clear of eighth-place Brest, who have lost nine league games already this season.
WINNERS: Paris Saint-Germain
BLUE PATH
Sporting CP vs. Borussia Dortmund
Portuguese champions Sporting looked to be cruising towards a top-eight finish when a Viktor Gyökeres hat trick helped seal a 4-1 win against Manchester City on Matchday 4, but coach Ruben Amorim then left for Manchester United and Sporting slid down the table with three straight defeats until Conrad Harder's late equaliser against Bologna on Matchday 8 saved the team from elimination.
But while Sporting have struggled to overcome Amorim's departure, Dortmund are also in the midst of a crisis, with Niko Kovac becoming their third coach in less than 12 months after replacing the fired Nuri Sahin this week.
Dortmund reached last season's final before losing to Real Madrid, but they have been poor domestically this season. They will be favourites, but this tie could depend on the form of Gyokeres and Dortmund's leading scorer, Serhou Guirassy.
WINNERS: Borussia Dortmund
Celtic vs. Bayern Munich
Bayern will have breathed a huge sigh of relief after being paired with Celtic, knowing they could have faced either the Scottish champions or Manchester City.
By reaching the playoff round, Celtic have exceeded expectations and last October's 7-1 defeat against Borussia Dortmund at Signal Iduna Park will be a warning of what can go wrong for Brendan Rodgers and his team against Bayern.
Celtic can be a tough prospect at Celtic Park, but Bayern will be too strong; Harry Kane & Co. also have the added incentive of knowing that this season's final will be staged at the Allianz Arena, which could mean Celtic end up routed by the Bundesliga leaders.
WINNERS: Bayern Munich
Gab Marcotti and Julien Laurens debate whether the new Champions League format has improved the competition.
Feyenoord vs. AC Milan
Feyenoord have been one of the surprise teams of this season's competition, showing that they have successfully moved on from coach Arne Slot's departure for Liverpool last summer. But this tie could all depend on the outcome of Milan's attempts to sign Feyenoord's leading goal scorer Santiago Giménez, with talks at an advanced stage over the Mexico international's potential transfer.
Without Gimenez, Feyenoord might lack the firepower to beat Milan, but Brian Priske's team will still be tough to beat at the intimidating De Kuip Stadium. Milan are arguably the weakest of Italy's four remaining teams in the competition, so Feyenoord could yet pull of a shock.
WINNERS: Feyenoord
AS Monaco vs. Benfica
Monaco and Benfica finished midtable, one place apart and only separated by goal difference in favour of the Portuguese team, so this tie is as close as you could imagine. Adolf Hutter's Monaco are young and inconsistent, while Bruno Lage's Benfica are exciting but prone to defensive mistakes: just watch the highlights of their incredible 5-4 home defeat against Barcelona for evidence of their strengths and weaknesses.
The experience of World Cup winners Nicolás Otamendi and Angel di Maria is likely to give Benfica the edge in this tie, especially with the second-leg taking place at Estadio da Luz in Lisbon.
WINNERS: Benfica
Pressure mounts on ICC amid Afghanistan women's fundraising drive
Pressure is mounting on the ICC to act amid the announcement of fundraising efforts to support Afghanistan's exiled women's cricketers, who played their first match together this week.
Meanwhile, the MCC and MCC Foundation have set up the Global Refugee Cricket Fund to support refugees worldwide, backed by a 100,000 donation from the ECB and with an initial focus to raise money for Pitch Our Future.
The announcements follow pleas to the ICC to ring-fence funding for the players on the basis that Afghanistan remain full ICC members despite no longer being able to fulfil the requirement to field a women's team under its Taliban government.
The players wrote to the ICC last July asking for help in establishing themselves as a refugee team. In lieu of a response, they formed an Afghanistan Women's XI with the help of Jones and a team of dedicated volunteers, and played their first game on Thursday.
Jones was helped by Emma Staples, Cricket Victoria's Head of Diversity and Community, and Dr Catherine Ordway from the University of Canberra among others, whose efforts resulted in Thursday's T20 exhibition against a Cricket Without Borders XI.
Jones said that for their first couple of years in exile, the Afghan players feared for their safety if it became known that they were in Australia playing cricket for various club and community sides.
"Now, we want to build a really strong community and high-performance programme around these young women, so they can develop not only as players, but also as coaches and administrators, so that they can stay within the sport and progress," Jones said.
Pitch Our future aims to raise A$1.5 million for an initial three-year program which will also include education and life-skill support for the players, some of them not even 18 years old when they escaped and many of whom couldn't speak English when they arrived in Australia.
Meanwhile, the MCC and MCC Foundation have launched the Global Refugee Cricket Fund to support refugees worldwide and with an initial focus to raise money for Pitch Our Future.
The Global Refugee Cricket Fund aims to provide access to facilities, offer education and mentorship, promote advocacy and awareness and build high-performance and community programs for players, coaches and administrators.
Announcing the fund in a press release on Friday, MCC said an advisory board would be set up including representatives from the MCC Foundation, MCC, ECB, Pitch Our Future, refugee organisations, and community leaders such as Afghan women's advocates. "The ICC is also invited to participate in this effort," the statement added.
Aiming to raise 1 million initially, the fund was boosted by the ECB's donation.
Connor said: "The cricket community must take action, to support the brave Afghan women, and to give hope that cricket can be a sport for any woman or girl. We hope the launch of the Fund will inspire other cricketing organisations to support this cause, and to unlock cricket's power to unite communities around the globe."
Dr Sarah Fane, Director of the MCC Foundation, said: "With Pitch Our Future leading the way in Australia, we hope to amplify their efforts and inspire the global cricketing community to join us in making a difference."
Tendulkar to receive BCCI's lifetime achievement award; Bumrah, Mandhana win big
Tendulkar will be the 31st recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award, which was instituted in 1994 in honour of India's first captain CK Nayudu. Tendulkar retired from international cricket having played for more than two decades after debuting as a 16-year-old in a 1989 Test against Pakistan. His 200 Test and 463 ODI appearances are the highest by any player in history, as are his runs tally in both formats: 15,921 in Tests and 18,426 in ODIs. He also played one T20I, India's first ever, against South Africa in Johannesburg in 2006.
Bumrah, who was also named the ICC Cricketer of the Year earlier this month, was India's standout bowler in the assessment period, playing a pivotal role in India lifting the T20 World Cup in June. He picked up 15 wickets in eight games at an economy of 4.17 and was named the Player of the Tournament. Apart from that, he was also instrumental in India's Test series win against England at home.
Mandhana, who was named the ICC Women's ODI Cricketer of the Year for 2024, was India's best woman batter across formats. Apart from scoring 149 against South Africa in the one-off Test in Chennai, she notched up 117, 136 and 90 in successive ODIs against the same opponents.
Ashwin set to receive special award
Fakhar Zaman, Faheem Ashraf back in Pakistan squad for Champions Trophy
"Fakhar's opening partner could be either Babar Azam or Saud Shakeel, depending on various factors such as conditions, opposition and match strategy," a statement from Asad Shafiq, a member of the selection panel, said. "Both players are highly capable at the top of the order, with Babar being particularly seasoned in the role, regularly opening in T20Is and also excelling in the Cape Town Test by scoring two half-centuries in Saim Ayub's absence."
The squad also retains its pace-heavy element that saw Pakistan win three successive away ODI series towards the end of last year. Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf and Mohammad Hasnain are all part of the final 15, with only one specialist spinner in Abrar Ahmed. Neither Sufiyan Muqeem, who took four wickets on debut in the only ODI he played, nor Shadab Khan, who captained his side to Champions Cup glory in September, have made the final cut.
Irfan Khan, who was eyed by the selection committee as a key component of Pakistan's middle order and feted for his fielding, also drops out. Faheem's return comes off the back of limited ODI cricket, having had an indifferent Champions Cup in September. Strong showings with the bat in the President Cup in October, however, seem to have played a part in earning him what appeared an unlikely recall.
Pakistan's first game at the Champions Trophy comes against New Zealand in Karachi on February 19, following which they go to Dubai to play against India. They play their final group game against Bangladesh in Rawalpindi on February 27.
Pakistan squad for Champions Trophy 2025
Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam, Kamran Ghulam, Saud Shakeel, Tayyab Tahir, Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Rizwan (capt, wk), Khushdil Shah, Salman Agha, Usman Khan, Abrar Ahmed, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammad Hasnain, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah
Kohli lasts 15 balls on Ranji return; Saurashtra eye bonus-point win
They need 97 and have only five wickets in hand against Jharkhand, but a scenario has emerged wherein Tamil Nadu can qualify for the knockouts despite a defeat. That's because Chandigarh - who won three successive games outright in the first half - have now conceded the first-innings lead to Chhattisgarh in a game they needed to win with a bonus point. Tamil Nadu's hopes of pulling off the chase are pinned on Vijay Shankar, who is unbeaten on 33.
Silicon Valley consortium values London Spirit at 295 million in Hundred coup
English cricket has landed a multi-million pound windfall after a Silicon Valley tech consortium won a bidding war with Sanjiv Goenka for a 49% stake in London Spirit, the Hundred team based at Lord's.
The winning bid made by the consortium, headed by Nikesh Arora of Palo Alto Networks, valued the Spirit at 295 million, more than twice the price paid by Reliance Industries Limited for Oval Invincibles on Thursday. It means they will pay 144.55m for a 49% stake in the Spirit, with MCC intending to retain its position as majority shareholder.
The price is more than double the floor valuation set by London Spirit based on investors' indicative bids and represents a significant injection of funds into English cricket. The revenue raised in the sales process will be split between the 18 first-class counties, MCC and the recreational game and is designed to "future-proof" county cricket for the next 20 years.
The consortium comprises Sundar Pichai, Satya Nadella, Shantanu Narayen and Egon Durban, the CEOs of Google, Microsoft, Adobe and Silver Lake Management respectively, as well as Arora and Satyan Gajwani, who is one of the co-founders of the US-based Major League Cricket and vice-chairman of Times Internet, the Indian digital giant. It is understood that the consortium's bid was spearheaded by Arora and Gajwani, after they were among the last investors to enter the race.
Goenka, whose company RPSG Group run Lucknow Super Giants in the IPL, was considered the favourite to buy a stake in the Spirit but was beaten in a three-hour bidding war on Friday afternoon, which lasted so long that the start time for the same process at Welsh Fire was delayed by an hour. RPSG Group are now expected to refocus their attention to Manchester Originals next week.
Avram Glazer, the co-owner of Manchester United, and Cain International, who are run by Chelsea director Jonathan Goldstein, were also involved in the auction process on Friday afternoon but pulled out early on.
The consortium will now enter into a period of exclusive negotiations with Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), the host venue's owner, and complete an agreement in the eight-week window set by ECB from the completion of the final round of the bidding process. MCC has publicly maintained throughout that it intends to retain its 51% share in the Spirit.
The Spirit are defending champions in the women's Hundred, with England captain Heather Knight leading them to their inaugural title last year and India's Deepti Sharma hitting the winning runs. Their men's team, by contrast, have only won three games in the last two Hundred seasons, and finished bottom in 2024.
'Incredible': Vandy's Blakes scores SEC record 53
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Mikayla Blakes scored an SEC women's basketball record 53 points after making 16 field goals and 16 free throws to help No. 23 Vanderbilt beat Florida 99-86 on Thursday night.
Blakes' point total is also the second-most points by a freshman in Division I history behind Delaware's Elena Delle Donne, who scored 54 in a loss to James Madison as a redshirt freshman in 2010.
Blakes scored 33 in a win over then-No. 19 Alabama in her last game. Her previous season high was 36 against Georgia on Jan. 2.
Blakes is the only Division I player -- men's or women's -- to score at least 50 points in a game this season.
"I told the team in the locker room that Mikayla had one of the most incredible performances that I've ever seen as a coach, and I've coached a lot of really good players for a long time," Vanderbilt coach Shea Ralph said. "And that's not taking anything away from them. When you see player like her do what she did tonight, sometimes she makes things that are really, really hard to do look really easy. That's the sign of someone who is just gifted."
Blakes' 53 points also tied the Exactech Arena at O'Connell Center scoring record set by LSU men's basketball player Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf during the 1988-89 season. Blakes also becomes the first Commodore since 1999-2000 to have back-to-back games with 30-plus points.
Additionally, Blakes set the Vanderbilt women's basketball single-game scoring record, breaking Khamil Pierre's previous mark of 42 points, which was set on Dec. 17 vs. Evansville. Pierre scored only three points Thursday on 1-of-10 shooting but finished with 11 rebounds and three steals for Vanderbilt (18-4, 5-3 SEC).
Ra Shaya Kyle collected 23 points and 12 rebounds for Florida (11-11, 2-6).
Vanderbilt next plays host to Mississippi on Sunday. Florida will play Monday at Arkansas.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
Figure skaters to be honored at worlds in Boston
Figure skaters and others killed in the midair collision near Washington, D.C., on Wednesday will be honored when the world championships are staged in Boston in March.
International Skating Union president Jae Youl Kim held back tears Friday in making the announcement during the European championships in Tallinn, Estonia.
Skaters, coaches and family members on their way back from a national skating camp in Wichita, Kansas, were among those who died when a passenger jet approaching Ronald Reagan National Airport hit an Army helicopter. They included two teenage skaters, their mothers and two coaches who were part of the Skating Club of Boston.
In all, 14 members of the figure skating community were passengers on the airplane, according to Skating Club of Boston executive director Doug Zeghibe.
Among them were teenage skaters Jinna Han and Spencer Lane from the Boston club and youth figure skater Olivia Ter, who was 12.
Also killed were Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, who won the pairs title at the 1994 world championships and competed twice in the Olympics. They were listed as coaches at the Boston club.
"At the moment we want to focus on mourning those who lost their lives and also provide support for the ones who lost their loved ones. We'll take one step at a time," said Kim, who became visibly emotional and paused to fight back tears as he told The Associated Press about the effect of the crash on the skating community. "We will discuss with our counterparts in Boston what should be done to honor those who left us in this tragic way. One way to honor them is to make sure that we provide the greatest event, to show the respect."
The world championships will be held March 25-30 at TD Garden in Boston.
Police boats combed the banks of the Potomac River on Friday morning, moving slowly and scanning the shoreline as part of the investigation into the midair collision that killed 67 people in the United States' deadliest aviation disaster in almost a quarter century.
More than 40 bodies have been pulled from the river as the massive recovery effort continued, two law enforcement officials told the AP on condition of anonymity. Sources told ABC News that additional equipment was needed to find additional victims and that the recovery is expected to last through the weekend.
Investigators have recovered the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder of the American Airlines plane. Authorities were still looking for the helicopter's black box recorder, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told Fox News on Friday.
Officials are scrutinizing a range of factors in what National Transportation Safety Board chairwoman Jennifer Hommendy has called an "all-hands-on-deck event." Air crash investigations normally take 12 to 18 months, and investigators told reporters Thursday they would not speculate on the cause.
Kim said skaters including European champion Adam Siao Him Fa of France had dedicated programs at the European championships to the crash victims.
"We are all saddened, but this is also just bringing the solidarity of the figure skating community together," Kim said.
The figure skating world was also mourning Dick Button, the two-time Olympic gold medalist and broadcaster, who died Thursday at the age of 95.
"He left a great footstep in our lives, and not only in figure skating but in sports generally," Kim said of Button. "He was much, much greater than a great skater. He was an innovator, pioneer."
This is not the first time that the U.S. figure skating community has been rocked by an air tragedy. In February 1961, the 18-member U.S. figure skating team died in a plane crash en route to the world championships in Prague. Also killed were six U.S. coaches and four skating officials, along with some family members. The world championships were canceled that year out of respect for the American team killed in the crash.
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