* Villarreal held out for a 0-0 draw on a nerve-jangling night at Arsenal on Thursday to reach the Europa League final 2-1 on aggregate as visiting manager Unai Emery returned to haunt the London club that sacked him in 2019.
* Pfizer Inc and its German partner BioNTech SE said on Thursday they would donate doses of their COVID-19 vaccine to help vaccinate athletes and their delegations participating in the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games. The companies said initial doses are expected to be delivered to participating delegations at the end of May with the goal of ensuring the delegations receive second doses ahead of arrivals in Tokyo.
* Italy's Serie A soccer league and Crypto.com have signed a deal whereby the cryptocurrency platform will release digital collectibles known as NFTs to commemorate the Coppa Italia final. The deal, which Serie A described on Thursday as the first of its kind for a soccer league, also includes a sponsorship element, with Hong Kong-based Crypto.com designated the "official cryptocurrency and NFT sponsor" of the final.
* Porto came from behind to earn a 1-1 draw at rivals Benfica on Thursday as they were spared defeat by a late VAR review, although the result saw the Portuguese title slip further from their grasp and towards the hands of Sporting. Sporting, who won 2-0 at Rio Ave on Wednesday, lead the standings with 79 points with three games to go, while reigning champions Porto are second with 71 and Benfica third on 67.
* Hertha Berlin struck twice in nine minutes to beat Freiburg 3-0 on Thursday and earn a key victory in their battle to avoid relegation, in their second match back following a two-week quarantine due to the coronavirus. Krzysztof Piatek fired in from a tight angle in the 13th minute and 34-year-old veteran Peter Pekarik scored their second with a header to lift their club, out of the relegation spots and into 14th place with a game still in hand.
* Two rounds of South American 2022 World Cup qualifiers will be played in early June in the 10 days before the start of this year’s Copa America, the South American Football Confederation said on Thursday. Games in March were cancelled because of a COVID-19 surge across the region so CONMEBOL has opted to squeeze in one round of games on June 3 and 4 and another on June 8.
* Spain's Rafa Nadal was named the 2021 Laureus Sportsman of the year on Thursday, while fellow tennis player Naomi Osaka won the top women's honour. Japan's Osaka won her second US Open title last year, while Nadal equalled Roger Federer's record of 20 Grand Slam titles by claiming his 13th French Open crown.
* Rafael Nadal swept into the Madrid Open quarter-finals on Thursday (May 6) with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Alexei Popyrin, while Ashleigh Barty booked her spot in the women's final by ending the run of wildcard Paula Badosa (6-4, 6-3).
