Gabriel Martinelli was ecstatic to follow in the footsteps of Arsenal legend Thierry Henry by scoring at the Bernabeú stadium in Wednesday's 2-1 win at Real Madrid in the Champions League.

The Brazilian striker struck a late winner as Arsenal eliminated holders Madrid 5-1 on aggregate to reach the semifinals of the competition for the first time since 2009.

"It's a dream to be experiencing this, to score here," a proud Martinelli told TNT Sports.

Arsenal's all-time leading scorer Henry scored the only goal at the Bernabeú in the round-of-16 tie between Arsenal and Madrid in 2006.

Wednesday's goal was Martinelli's second in the Champions League this season. Like his manager Mikel Arteta, Martinelli said knocking out 15-time winners Madrid was special.

"It's one of those nights that will stay with us forever," he added.

"We know the opponents we're up against, their history and tradition in the Champions League, and that makes what we've done even more valuable. Beating Real Madrid in one of the knockout games is something for very few people, and it shows the size of our shirt.

"We know the responsibility of representing Arsenal, and we were able to put that into practice to qualify.

"I'm very happy for the goal, for scoring it in the Bernabéu, which is a temple of football, and it's certainly one of the most memorable chapters of my career... Henry also scored [at the Bernabéu] in his day, [Bukayo] Saka and I scored today.

"We came here with a mentality, we didn't come here to hold on to the game. We had to stay calm at times, because of the pressure, how their team plays, to calm down a bit. But we came to win the game."

Arsenal take on Paris Saint-Germain in the semifinals with the opening leg on April 29 at the Emirates Stadium.

PSG beat Aston Villa 5-4 on aggregate to reach the last four.

Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk has signed a new contract at Anfield, the club announced on Thursday, ending months of speculation over his future.

Sources have told ESPN that the deal is two years in length, keeping him at the club until July 2027.

Van Dijk's previous deal was set to expire this summer. Negotiations, led by sporting director Richard Hughes, have been taking place with Van Dijk's representative, Neil Fewings, for several months.

Sources have told ESPN that from the outset of those negotiations, it was abundantly clear that the desire of both parties was to extend Van Dijk's stay at Anfield.

Having also renewed Mohamed Salah's contract, Liverpool believe the retention Van Dijk, represents a huge statement of intent as the club seek to build on the success of Arne Slot's debut season.

"I'm very happy, very proud," Van Dijk said in a statement. "There are so many emotions obviously that go through my head right now speaking about it.

"It's a proud feeling, it's a feeling of joy. It's just incredible. The journey I've had so far in my career, to be able to extend it with another two years at this club is amazing and I'm so happy."

Van Dijk joined Liverpool from Southampton in January 2018 and has since cemented himself as one of the best central defenders in world football.

The show goes on. pic.twitter.com/kpuiXOt7GZ

Liverpool FC (@LFC) April 17, 2025

He has made more than 300 appearances for the club, winning seven major honours including the Premier League and the Champions League.

The Netherlands international has been in typically commanding form this season, with Liverpool on course to win the club's 20th league title.

Van Dijk is the second of Liverpool's three out-of-contract players to sign a new deal, withSalah committing to a new two-year contract earlier this month.

Trent Alexander-Arnold's future is yet to be decided amid continued links to Real Madrid.

"It was always Liverpool. That was the case. It was always in my head, it was always the plan and it was always Liverpool," Van Dijk added.

"There wasn't any doubt in my head that this is the place to be for me and my family. I'm one of Liverpool.

"Someone called me the other day an adopted Scouser -- I'm really proud to hear these things, it gives me a great feeling."

American great Serena Williams says she would have been banned for 20 years and stripped of her Grand Slam titles had she failed drug tests like men's world No. 1 Jannik Sinner did last year.

Sinner accepted a three-month ban in February following an agreement with the World Anti-Doping Agency, which had challenged an independent tribunal's decision to clear him of wrongdoing after two positive tests for the anabolic agent clostebol.

"I love the guy, love this game," Williams, the 23-time Grand Slam winner, told Time Magazine after being named as part of the Time100 list of most influential people. "He's great for the sport. I've been put down so much, I don't want to bring anyone down. Men's tennis needs him.

"[But] if I did that, I would have gotten 20 years. Let's be honest. I would have gotten Grand Slams taken away from me."

Williams, 43, said she took extra care with what she put into her body during her career in case she ingested something that could get her in trouble. She joked that a PED scandal would have landed her "in jail."

"You would have heard about it in another multiverse," she said.

Reigning Australian Open and US Open champion Sinner, whose ban will end May 4, has maintained his innocence, saying the trace amounts of clostebol in his doping sample were due to a massage from a trainer who used the substance after cutting his own finger. His case, however, has raised questions about whether he received preferential treatment from the authorities.

Iga Swiatek's case also caused some surprise, with the women's world No. 2 accepting a one-month suspension in November after testing positive for the banned substance trimetazidine.

Former world No. 1 Simona Halep was also banned despite denying knowingly taking the banned drug roxadustat, and her four-year suspension was cut to nine months in 2024 after an appeal at sport's highest court.

Williams, who last played at the 2022 US Open, told Time that she misses playing tennis.

"I miss it a lot, with all my heart. I miss it because I'm healthy," Williams said. "If I couldn't walk, or if I was so out of it, I wouldn't miss it as much."

Reuters contributed to this report.

Evans is going to need every ounce of that energy as Wales face a resurgent Ireland who arrive in Newport as the fifth best side in the world.

Ireland pushed France all the way in their opening-round defeat, before a convincing victory over Italy. They also made England work hard for their win last weekend.

The last time Wales played Ireland, they were on the wrong end of a 36-5 scoreline.

"We were very much humbled last year in Cork, it wasn't what we expected at all," said Evans.

"It still sits in a lot of our heads, a lot of us were involved in that game. I think it is time to give them one back and they're coming to our home patch, so what better place."

Evans is a big fan of new head coach Sean Lynn, who led Gloucester-Hartpury to victory over her Saracens side in March.

"Every single individual knows their job, their role, but also is not afraid to take the shackles off and do what they're good at," she said.

"We've been given a licence to go out and play and it's exciting.

"We've shown in patches that we can attack really well, we've shown that we can score, we've shown that we can defend for a long period of time, but this weekend we want to put it all together and we want to make sure that that performance is 80 minutes, consistent and fun to watch."

Monte McNair is out as general manager of the Sacramento Kings, sources told ESPN.

The decision was made after the two sides reached a mutual agreement, sources said.

The Kings' season ended Wednesday night in a 120-106 home loss to the Dallas Mavericks in the No. 9 versus No. 10 play-in tournament game.

McNair spent five seasons running the Kings, winning NBA executive of the year in 2023 when Sacramento went 48-34 and ended an NBA record 16-year playoff drought.

The Kings have won 40 or more games in three straight seasons under McNair's leadership. Before this streak, they had not won 40 games in any season since 2005-06.

The Kings had a .488 win percentage under McNair -- from 2006-07 to before McNair took over, the franchise had a .362 win percentage, second worst in the NBA during that span.

McNair's departure comes three weeks after assistant GM Wes Wilcox left to become general manager of the University of Utah's men's basketball team. Wilcox also spent five seasons in Sacramento's front office.

SACRAMENTO -- As hard as he tried not to think about last season's play-in dud, when he was wearing a different uniform but playing on the same Golden 1 Center court, Klay Thompson couldn't keep it from occasionally creeping into his mind.

That was especially true after a scoreless first quarter Wednesday, so it felt like quite a relief when Thompson's first shot of the second quarter bounced high off the rim and rattled in.

"That kind of lifted the lid off the rim for me," Thompson said. "So that was nice."

Thompson provided a vintage performance for the rest of the Dallas Mavericks' 120-106 win over the Sacramento Kings. He finished with 23 points on 8-of-11 shooting, including 5-of-7 from 3-point range, a stark contrast to his 0-of-10 misery when the Kings eliminated the Golden State Warriors in the four-time champion's final game with his original franchise.

"It did feel good to exorcise those demons in here. Man!" Thompson said during his on-court postgame video interview with Scott Van Pelt on ESPN's "SportsCenter."

Thompson, who averaged 14.0 points and shot 39.1% from 3-point range in his first season for the Mavs, didn't mention anything to his Dallas teammates about his rough experience in the previous year's 9 vs. 10 play-in round in Sacramento. He didn't have to.

"We know," said Mavs power forward Anthony Davis, who finished with 27 points, 9 rebounds, 3 blocks and 4 stitches in his bloodied upper lip. "We all watch basketball, and we know how tough it was for him losing here the last time as a Warrior. The way he played tonight, you can tell it was a lot of emotion for him and wanted to get this win. We wanted to get the win for him, so I'm glad he played well and glad we got the win."

With the win, the Mavs earned the right to travel to Memphis with a chance to claim the Western Conference's final playoff berth. The Mavs and Memphis Grizzlies play Friday night for the West's 8-seed.

"I'm still alive. I'm excited," Thompson said. "I get to go to Memphis. It was really fun tonight because you could just be fully immersed in the experience, and we've had a tumultuous season, to say the least. The injury bug has struck us like I've never seen before, but we're still here playing postseason basketball."

Thompson has acknowledged on multiple occasions that the final season of his 13-year tenure with the Warriors was mentally taxing for a variety of reasons, including the feeling of not being prioritized by the Golden State front office. Going scoreless in his Warriors finale will always be a bitter memory for Stephen Curry's "Splash Brother."

But Thompson was determined to "play free" in his next crack at the Kings in a play-in game, not allowing last year's disappointment to haunt him.

"I wasn't going to define myself off one bad shooting night," said Thompson, who ranks fifth in NBA history with 2,697 made 3-pointers. "I mean, I've had some of the greatest shooting nights in the history of the game. So even someone in my caliber can go 0-for. ... I try to not even think about that, but at times you do because you're human. But you just keep going out there and do what you love."

Dallas forward Jason Robertson sustained a lower-body injury during the Stars' regular-season finale at Nashville on Wednesday and left the game.

Robertson, the Stars' second-leading points producer with 80 (35 goals, 45 assists) this season, was apparently injured in the second period. The Stars announced he would not return to the contest.

Dallas, which went on to lose 5-1, is locked into second place in the Central Division and will host the Colorado Avalanche in the first round of the playoffs. However, the Stars are mired in a season-worst 0-5-2 slide.

Robertson, the Stars' second-round draft pick in 2017, is in his sixth season with Dallas, having recorded 79 or more points in each of the past four campaigns.

Field Level Media contributed to this report.

MONTREAL -- Kaiden Guhle scored twice and the Montreal Canadiens wrapped up the last Eastern Conference playoff spot with a 4-2 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes on Wednesday night in their regular-season finale.

The Canadiens needed at least a point to eliminate Columbus from playoff contention. They will face Washington in the first round.

Nick Suzuki broke a tie late in the second period with his 30th goal and also had an assist, Jake Evans had an empty-net goal and Sam Montembeault made 27 saves to help Montreal finish 40-31-11 and reach the playoffs for the first time since 2021.

It capped a remarkable turnaround for the Canadiens, who were next-to-last in the overall standings on Dec. 1 at 8-13-3.

Taylor Hall and Tyson Jost scored for Carolina, and Pyotr Kochetkov stopped 17 shots. Playoff-bound Carolina rested several key players. The Hurricanes will face New Jersey in the first round.

Montreal missed opportunities to wrap up the playoff spot in its three previous games. The Canadiens lost in regulation to Ottawa before falling in overtime to Toronto and a shootout against Chicago.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.