Sports
‘Untouchable’ Modric, Kroos can’t play every Real Madrid game – Ancelotti
Carlo Ancelotti said midfielders Luka Modric and Toni Kroos are “untouchable” at Real Madrid but “that doesn’t mean they play every game” with competition from youngsters Aurelien Tchouameni, Eduardo Camavinga and Federico Valverde.
Modric missed Thursday’s 3-2 Copa del Rey comeback win at Villarreal through injury, while Kroos was substituted at 2-0 down with replacement Dani Ceballos contributing to all three Madrid goals, scoring the 86th minute winner.
Madrid are facing a tough fixture list, with Sunday’s LaLiga trip to Athletic Club followed by a cup quarterfinal derby with Atletico Madrid next Thursday, and then hosting in-form Real Sociedad next weekend.
“The squad is untouchable,” Ancelotti said in a news conference on Saturday, when asked if managing the transition from one generation to another was his toughest job as coach.
“It’s not only [Modric and Kroos], it’s the others who come onto the pitch and give everything, like Ceballos and [Marco] Asensio did [at Villarreal]. Modric and Kroos are untouchable, but that doesn’t mean they have to play every game.
“They’re players who’ve made history at this club, they’re making history and they will make history. But that doesn’t mean they have to play every game.”
Madrid went into Thursday’s Copa del Rey round-of-16 game under pressure — after a loss to Villarreal in LaLiga and a defeat to Barcelona in the Spanish Supercopa final — and performed poorly, before a dramatic second-half turnaround.
“The reaction at Villarreal was very good,” Ancelotti added. “We made big mistakes in the first half. Over the last few days we’ve evaluated everything. We [don’t have time] to train, so we recover and watch videos. The mistakes were quite clear, let’s hope they’re not repeated… We can’t give away [goals] like in recent games.”
Ancelotti also dismissed reports of interest from Premier League leaders Arsenal in Camavinga — saying “Eduardo is untouchable, like Modric or Kroos” — and said he’d accepted Tchouameni’s apology for attending an NBA game between the Chicago Bulls and the Detroit Pistons in Paris while Madrid were playing in Villarreal.
“He’s apologised in public,” Ancelotti said. “He made a mistake, he’s a young boy who made one mistake and it’s over. Let’s hope he can be back [from injury] next week.” (ESPN)
Colombo Kaps defended 197 runs to win the 12th match of the Lanka Premier League by restricting Dambulla Sixers to 176/8 at the Dambulla International Cricket Stadium on Saturday [25] night.
SCORES:
Colombo Kaps 197/5 in 20 overs [Rubin Hermann 39, Sadeera Samarawickrema 16, Sharujan Shanmuganathan 12, Kamindu Mendis 88*, Ben McDermott 14, Janith Liyanage 17; Fazalhaq Farooki 1-41, Dushmantha Chameera 1-41, Ramesh Mendis 1-05, Gulabdin Naib 1-15]
Dambulla Sixers 176/8 in 20 overs [Pavan Rathnayake 50, Marques Ackerman 40, Gulabdin Naib 28, Maheesh Thhekshana 13; Shahnawaz Dahani 2-20, Wanuja Sahan 1-34, Mujeeb Ur Rahman 2-33, Malsha Tharupathi 1-26, Milan Rathnayake 1-26]
Kandy Royals’ bowlers led by Nuwan Thushara were able to defend their score of 165 to win the 11th match of the Lanka Premier League by defeating Galle Gallants by 11 runs at Dambulla on Saturday.
SCORES:
Kandy Royals 165/6 in 20 overs [Lahiru Udara 16, Dale Phillips 34, Wanidu Hasaranga 16, Moeen Ali 41, Angelo Mathews 28, Vijay Shankar 15; Pramod Madushan 2-41, Akif Javed 2-26, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth 2-36]
Galle Gallants 154/8 in 20 overs [Sam Harper 14, Charith Asalanka 14, Chamika Karunarathne 52, Dasun Shanaka 57*; Nuwan Thushara 3-33, Asitha Fernando 2-33, Moeen Ali 1-11, Wanidu Hasaranga 1-26]
Innovative Production Group (IPG), the tournament rights holder of the Lanka Premier League (LPL), in consultation with Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), has terminated the franchise agreement with Sports Commune, which was granted franchise rights of the Jaffna Kings.
The termination follows the franchisee’s inability to fulfil its financial obligations under the terms of the franchise agreement. As a result, all rights relating to the Jaffna Kings franchise have reverted to IPG, which, together with Sri Lanka Cricket, has assumed full operational control of the team.
IPG confirms that the 6th edition of the LPL will proceed as scheduled and Jaffna Kings will continue to participate in the tournament under the same nomenclature, with no changes to the squad, tournament format, or match schedule.
To ensure the uninterrupted operation of the franchise, IPG and Sri Lanka Cricket have taken complete responsibility for all player, coaching staff, and support staff contracts. The organizers also confirm that all logistical arrangements for the team have been secured, ensuring the squad is intact for the tournament.
Furthermore, approximately 90% of all player and staff payments have already been completed, with the remaining payments to be settled in accordance with contractual commitments.
IPG and Sri Lanka Cricket remain committed to delivering a successful sixth edition of the Lanka Premier League while upholding the highest standards of professionalism, integrity and transparency for players, teams, commercial partners, and fans.
Typhoon Noul makes landfall in China, with hundreds of thousands evacuated
Colombo Kaps down Dambulla Sixers by 21 runs
Kandy Royals win by 11 runs
Showers will occur in the Western, Sabaragamuwa and North-western provinces and in Galle, Matara, Kandy and Nuwara-Eliya districts
Govt. launches EPF, ETF shake-up
SLPI concerned over the proposed Chartered Institute of Media Professionals of Sri Lanka
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