World Sports News in Brief

Football: Real Madrid's Vinicius at the double to rattle Liverpool

Real Madrid forward Vinicius Jr came of age to score twice as his side punished a sloppy Liverpool to win 3-1 at home in Tuesday's (Apr 6) Champions League quarter-final first leg.

Real Madrid's Vinicius Junior celebrates scoring their third goal. (Photo: Reuters)
Real Madrid's Vinicius Junior celebrates scoring their third goal. (Photo: Reuters)

The 20-year-old Brazilian fired the 13-times European champions into the lead in the 27th minute at the Alfredo di Stefano stadium after controlling a long diagonal pass from Toni Kroos from his own half which flummoxed the Liverpool defence.

* Manchester City's Phil Foden grabbed a last-minute winner as they beat Borussia Dortmund 2-1 in their Champions League quarter-final first leg on Tuesday after Marco Reus netted a late equaliser for the Germans at The Etihad.

* Norwich City moved within striking distance of promotion back to the Premier League after one season when they thrashed woeful Huddersfield Town 7-0 helped by a Teemu Pukki hat-trick to move eight points clear at the top of the Championship on Tuesday.

* Scotland will play international friendlies against Luxembourg and the Netherlands in the build-up to this year's European Championship, the country's soccer federation said on Tuesday. Steve Clarke's side will face Netherlands on June 2 in Algarve, Portugal, before meeting Luxembourg on June 6.

* Manchester City posted net losses of £126 million (US$175 million) for the 2019-20 season after their finances took a huge hit from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Premier League club said on Tuesday (Apr 6). Revenue dropped 11 per cent to 478.4 million pounds during the 2019-20 campaign, which was halted in March and resumed behind closed doors three months later.

* Struggling La Liga side Alaves said on Tuesday they have appointed Javi Calleja as their new coach, and will be hoping the veteran of relegation battles can lift their club out of the drop-zone. The Basque side sacked coach Abelardo Fernandez on Monday, a day after losing 3-1 at home to Celta Vigo to slip to the bottom of the standings.

* Barcelona midfielder Philippe Coutinho has had surgery on his left knee for an injury sustained during their 1-1 La Liga draw with Eibar in December, the Spanish club said. The Brazilian has played only 14 games this season in all competitions scoring three goals and is likely to miss the rest of the campaign.

* The UK will be without their top-ranked player, Johanna Konta, for their Billie Jean King Cup play-off tie against Mexico as she continues to manage a knee problem, with Jodie Burrage selected in the squad for the first time. World number 18 Konta, who retired from this year's Australian Open due to an abdominal injury, said last week that she would not be part of the as she gives her problematic knee time to adjust ahead of the clay-court season.

Reuters