McKay five-for delivers title

Clint McKay takes a stump and a ball as a souvenir after his five-for in the third final helped Australia win the CB series

Australia 231 (Wade 49, Warner 48, Herath 3-36, Maharoof 3-40) beat Sri Lanka 215 (Tharanga 71, McKay 5-28) by 16 runs

Unwavering spells from Clint McKay and the stand-in captain Shane Watson delivered the triangular series trophy to Australia in a fittingly tense third final against a doughty Sri Lanka at Adelaide Oval.As the injured captain Michael Clarke watched intently from the boundary's edge, Brett Lee and McKay nipped out Sri Lanka's top four batsmen inside the first 10 overs, after the visitors had threatened to repeat the runaway start they had made in Tuesday's second match.Upul Tharanga and Lahiru Thirimanne threatened a recovery, but Watson was stinginess itself in the middle overs and McKay returned to help round up the Sri Lankans 16 runs short, the fitting final chapter of a compelling limited-overs tournament. The visitors' contribution to the summer was underlined by Tillakaratne Dilshan's selection as player of the series.McKay's figures were his best in international cricket, and followed a critical 28 at the tail-end of Australia's innings. Watson will now take a weary but happy team to the West Indies for the ODI portion of the tour, having delivered the first triangular series contested in Australia since 2008.Australia's fielding and bowling effort was its best for some weeks, and needed to be after the batsmen had cobbled only 231 on a slowing pitch. Led adroitly in the field by Mahela Jayawardene, the visitors had not been perturbed by an opening stand of 75 at better than five runs an over between David Warner and Matthew Wade, and chipped away diligently at the hosts with a combination of spin and reverse swing. No Australian batsman passed 50 as they were bowled out in the final over.Rangana Herath and Farveez Maharoof shared six wickets, while Nuwan Kulasekara also contributed to a tidy ensemble, of which only Lasith Malinga struggled to contain.Herath bowled his best and most incisive spell of the tournament to return 3-36, helped by the use of the same pitch that had hosted Tuesday's second final. As he had done in that match, Dilshan took the new ball and bowled his overs with thrift and direction.Taking Sri Lanka's lead, Watson opened up with the spin of Xavier Doherty at the other end to Lee, but the initial gambit did not work. Dilshan and Jayawardene capitalised on Doherty's errors of line and length, collecting four boundaries from his first two overs as they swept to 0 for 33 from the first four overs.Lee was also slipping in a final effort for the home summer, and he gained a critical break when Dilshan tried to work a lifting delivery to the leg side and managed only to loop a catch to cover from the front-edge of his bat. Kumar Sangakkara looked in truly sparkling touch upon his arrival, and had sprinted to 19 from eight balls when Lee coaxed an edge from his ninth - the high chance very well held by Watson.McKay had replaced Doherty, and was soon settled into a precise spell that exploited the vagaries of a wearing surface to the maximum. Dinesh Chandimal was pinned lbw by a delivery that whirred in at middle stump, before Jayawardene was undone by another that seamed back just enough to beat his forward press and graze off stump.Extremely unsteady at 4 for 53, Thirimanne and Tharanga fought to keep the chase afloat, but the caution forced by the loss of early wickets forced the required rate back up into awkward territory against the older ball. Watson, Nathan Lyon and Daniel Christian bowled intelligently without a wicket, as the match and series edged towards a nervous finish.Thirimanne had added 60 with Tharanga and the Australians had grown tense by the time Watson found a way to eke out a wicket. Angling across Thirimanne, he coaxed a sliced drive that flew low into Warner's safe hands at backward point. Kapugedera could manage only 7 before he edged another McKay delivery, the deflection held by a diving Wade.Kulasekara threatened a repeat of his Gabba heroics, cracking two boundaries in a brief stay, before Lee followed the batsman's retreat outside leg stump to cramp his room and prompt a catch to mid-on. Maharoof had been held back to No. 9, and he would provide a calming presence alongside Tharanga as the target was whittled down.Watson had led his side well in testing circumstances, but he perhaps erred in his judgement to let Sri Lanka sneak closer. Having bowled five searching overs for only eight runs, Watson nonetheless preferred two overs of Doherty's spin, costing 16 runs. By the time he recalled himself to the attack, Watson had only 30 runs to defend from the final five overs.This all made Watson's sixth over, the 46th of the innings, crucial. He responded in the best possible fashion, conceding only two runs and finding Tharanga's outside edge. Next over McKay found a way through Herath, and 17 were still required when he yorked Malinga.In the afternoon, Warner and Wade were conscious of the need for greater impetus at the top of the innings and played their shots early on, though taking more liberties against the pacemen than Dilshan's part-time spin.Warner cleared the boundary once and looked rather more fluent than he had during most of his century on Tuesday, but on 48 he edged a bouncing delivery from Maharoof to Kumar Sangakkara.Wade had been struggling physically, vomiting at one point in what appeared an attack of gastro, but it was a surprise when a punchy Watson picked out Herath on the leg-side boundary off Dilshan's bowling, the fielder clasping the sharp chance to his chest.Michael Hussey's stay was brief, Dilshan's swift gather and throw from short third man finding him short of his ground after he had called Wade through for a single. Sri Lanka's sense of momentum only grew when Wade's dogged stay was ended by Herath, who coaxed an edge that Sangakkara held with a juggle.Forrest could make only 3 before misreading Herath's length and being bowled by a delivery that straightened just enough to beat his defensive blade and flick off stump. David Hussey was given lbw to a ball that would have passed over the top of the stumps, while Christian was undone by a Maharoof slower ball that he could only punch to mid off.McKay and Lee did their best to swell the total in the closing overs, and their contributions were ultimately vital to a fighting victory.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kqJf634AzY

Benfica fight back to go through

Benfica produced a dynamic performance to overturn a first-leg deficit against Zenit St Petersburg and earn a place in the last eight of the Champions League with a 2-0 win (4-3 on aggregate).

The Portuguese team trailed 3-2 from the first match, which was played in freezing conditions at the Stadion Petrovskiy, with Roman Shirokov scoring his second goal of the night to win the game after Oscar Cardozo had levelled late on.

But they attacked the Russian outfit from the off tonight and, even when Maxi Pereira's goal in first-half injury-time put them on course to win on away goals, the Eagles pushed on until Nelson Oliveira secured the outright win in the 92nd minute.

A quiet opening to the clash saw Nicolas Gaitan's shot the only moment of interest, as the Benfica midfielder's drilled left-footed effort from the edge of the box was blocked by Nicolas Lombaerts.

In the 25th minute Javi Garcia was next to see an effort stopped by the all-action Lombaerts, who kept putting his body on the line for the Russians' cause.

Tomas Hubocan had Zenit's first shot in the 43rd minute but failed to beat Artur Moraes, who saved comfortably, before Axel Witsel wasted arguably Benfica's best chance in first-half added time when he saw his shot from close range saved by Viacheslav Malafeev.

Zenit failed to heed the warning, though, and it was 1-0 on the night less than a minute later. Witsel sent the ball in from the right and Pereira arrived to guide the ball from from inside the six-yard box.

Oscar Cardozo wasted two shots for the hosts but got a third on target, while Jardel headed wide with less than 10 minutes to go.

Former Porto defender Bruno Alves saw a speculative effort easily caught by Benfica stopper Artur.

Nelson Oliveira was off target but, after Viktor Faitzulin's poor effort at the other end, the substitute secured the aggregate win two minutes into added time by getting on the end of Bruno Cesar's clever pass from the right and firing home a slightly deflected effort from 12 yards.

The English lads run Chelsea, says Szczesny

Arsenal keeper mocks player power at Bridge, as Wenger is charged by Uefa for tantrum

The English players at Chelsea run the club, according to Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny. With yet another Chelsea manager sacked last weekend, having fallen out with senior players, Szczesny suggested the power was misplaced at Stamford Bridge.

"I think some of the English lads at Chelsea run the club, pretty much," Szczesny said. "You know, they've had 10 different managers in the last few years." The situation, Szczesny said, was "a little different" from that at Arsenal, where the players were all behind Arsène Wenger. The Arsenal manager, though, was yesterday charged by Uefa with "improper conduct" for comments he made about referee Damir Skomina after Tuesday's Champions League exit to Milan.

Szczesny believes that Chelsea will recover and hopes that they will relegate Tottenham Hotspur into the Europa League positions: "I'm sure Chelsea will pick themselves up sooner or later, but hopefully not soon enough to get in front of Arsenal. It's all in our hands now. We don't really look at any other teams. We're three points clear of Chelsea, if we don't drop any points, simply we'll keep the fourth spot, hopefully challenge Tottenham for the third spot. Ideally, we'd finish third and Chelsea would finish fourth."

Szczesny said that he was pleased to play for a club where the manager was obviously in control. "We have a fantastic manager who knows how to run the club," he said. "We have the boss, and we know who is the boss in the dressing room, and that's Arsène Wenger obviously, and the skipper Robin van Persie, who is the leader in the team."

Arsenal's recent improved form – they have won four consecutive league games – Szczesny put down to their faith in Wenger. "All the players believe in what he's doing," he said. "Sometimes things don't go our way, but we believe in the way the manager runs the club, the way we want to play football, and we know that even if things are wrong we're going to turn it around and win games, and that's what we've done in the last few weeks."

After describing the dressing-room mood as "heartbroken" after their Champions League defeat by Milan, Szczesny said that Arsenal would flourish in the league if they could replicate that performance. "I think we should look at the positives from the game," he said of the 3-0 second-leg win. "We had a great performance, kept a clean sheet, scored three goals against one of the best sides in Europe. If we can take that into the Premier League, I think teams are going to struggle against us."

Arsenal's next match is a league game at home to Newcastle United on Monday, and Szczesny was confident about their last 11 matches. "We are in a spot that gives us Champions League football next season," he said. "We shouldn't really look at the form of other teams. We should just try to win every game."

Kieran Gibbs also believes the confidence has returned to Arsenal. "We had a difficult period with lots of players out," he said. "Everyone has come together. Now we have a bigger squad, which means we can rotate more and players won't be so tired and the team looks forward."

The priority, from here, is to ensure that Arsenal are in next season's Champions League. Gibbs said that "of course" requalifying for Europe's elite tournament would help with keeping Arsenal's best players. Gibbs paid tribute to Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who was brilliant in midfield in the first half on Tuesday, but tired afterwards. "He didn't look out of place in midfield," Gibbs said. "He is a fantastic player. He's a great talent and is going to be an important player for us. A lot of players played their part but we just fell short."

Gibbs claimed it was only tiredness which prevented Arsenal from overturning Milan and reaching the quarter-finals.

AC Milan pondering summer move for Manchester City striker Tevez - report

The San Siro outfit are still keen to bolster their attack and have renewed their interest in the Argentine striker, who returned to training last month with the Citizens

AC Milan are weighing up the options of a summer bid for Manchester City striker Carlos Tevez, La Gazzetta dello Sport claims.

The Serie A champions were very close to signing the Argentine on loan in January, but a move failed to materialise as the two clubs could not reach an agreement.

After an exile in Argentina as a result of a much-publicised fall-out with manager Roberto Mancini, Tevez returned to training with City last month and is believed to be close to reaching match fitness.

Milan CEO Adriano Galliani claimed in January that the club would open discussions with City again in June if they failed to secure Tevez's services for the second half of 2011-12.

The Rossoneri are interested in adding to their attacking options, and the Argentina international reportedly remains at the top of their wishlist.

Alexandre Pato's future at San Siro is still up in the air following a series of disappointing performances this season, while Robin van Persie, who has not yet decided whether he will sign a new Arsenal contract, is understood to be Milan's main target.

AC Milan still in shock from Arsenal fightback

ROME: AC Milan were still in shock a day after their 3-0 humbling by Arsenal in the Champions League despite the Londoners' fightback failing to halt the Italians' passage into the quarterfinals. 

Sweden striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic claimed the performance at the Emirates was not worthy of the seven-time European champions who made the last eight courtesy of their 4-0 win in the first leg of the last 16 tie. 

"If you play for a big club like Milan that can't happen," Ibrahimovic told Swedish journalists. 

"You can lose in many ways but it's not acceptable to lose the way we did this time. We're Milan and we should be better and more stable than that." 

The big striker also said he felt uneasy with the 4-3-3 formation coach Massimiliano Allegri had opted for at kick-off, although he blamed the performance on careless mistakes. 

"We tried to calm ourselves down but it wasn't a simple situation. We made too many stupid mistakes, I think we were thinking too much about the big first leg lead. 

"We were too cautious and we didn't try to play our match. Throughout the whole period of playing three up top I felt out of position." 

Ibrahimovic also admitted that during the game he feared they would lose the tie. 

"Arsenal took an early lead and then found the second and third goals, and all this in the first half," he said. 

"Then after the break they had many chances to score a fourth or fifth goal but luckily they didn't manage it. 

"Every time they attacked I was thinking: 'what happens if they score the fourth?' 

"The final whistle was a relief, we need to learn from the mistakes we made." 

Chief executive Adriano Galliani said he feared a defeat would have hit their league hopes as well. 

"If we had been eliminated it would have had a huge knock-on effect in the championship," he told AC Milan's official TV station. 

"It's the 12th time we're in the top eight teams in Europe ... but I think we should always be in the top eight." 

Galliani insisted Milan's previous Champions League meltdowns never entered into his thinking. 

In 2005 Milan led Liverpool 3-0 at half-time in the Istanbul final before losing on penalties. 

And the year before they beat Deportivo La Coruna 4-1 in the quarter-finals first leg at the San Siro before a 4-0 defeat in Galicia saw them sent packing. 

"The Istanbul comeback and the one in La Coruna never entered my mind," said Galliani, who praised goalkeeper Christian Abbiati for a miraculous double save to prevent Arsenal scoring a fourth. 

"I was thinking about Abbiati's three saves, the one against (Cristian) Bucchi to decide the 1999 title, then the one with his calf to deny (Mohamed) Kallon and Inter in the 2003 Champions League semi-final, and then the one on (Robin) van Persie. 

"These three interventions will remain a part of our history."

Barcelona's Pep Guardiola plays down talk of stepping in at Chelsea

Chelsea's hopes of securing Pep Guardiola as André Villas-Boas's replacement appear even slimmer after it emerged the Barcelona manager may opt to take a year-long sabbatical if he leaves Camp Nou at the end of this season.

Guardiola's glittering spell in charge at the Catalan club has made him Roman Abramovich's favoured candidate to succeed the Portuguese, who was dismissed on Sunday eight months into a three-year contract. Although Chelsea's pursuit of the 41-year-old had always appeared somewhat optimistic, advisers to the oligarch had suggested that, alongside José Mourinho, the Barça coach should be considered a realistic target.

Their conviction had been fuelled by the uncertainty in Spain over whether Guardiola will accept a contract extension to remain at the European champions, with his deal set to expire at the end of the season. The Barcelona coach – who has won 13 of the 16 trophies he has contested since taking over at his home club in 2008, including the European Cup twice – has tended to sign one-year contract extensions early in the new year and although he is happy at Camp Nou, he has spoken more recently of his fears of burnout.

Guardiola and his assistant, Tito Vilanova, met the Barça president, Sandro Rosell, last week but did not reach an agreement over an extension – the club would like him to sign a two-year deal this time round – with reports in Spain suggesting he will seek a break from the game if he decides to leave in the summer. The Barcelona coach laughed off questions on the vacant Chelsea position on Tuesday. Asked if he had spoken to the club about the position he joked "every day, every day", though there was some sympathy for Villas-Boas.

The Portuguese had dedicated last season's Europa League success with Porto to Guardiola, whom he had sought out for advice earlier in his fledgling coaching career and greatly admires, and the late Sir Bobby Robson. "I think he is a fantastic coach but we all know that in this business everything depends on results and not on our own capacity as a coach," said Guardiola. "Time is not something you get, but when you do this job you know that. I can't comment any more because I don't know the situation at Chelsea, but the results never came."

Other potential candidates distanced themselves from the position, with Harry Redknapp – a leading contender for the vacant England manager's role ahead of the summer's European Championship – claiming that although Chelsea should be considered "a dream job", he is not interested.

"It would be difficult," said the Tottenham Hotspur manager. "I wouldn't be able to come back to north London. So no, I will pass on that one."

The highly rated Swansea City manager Brendan Rodgers, a former reserve-team coach at Stamford Bridge, offered a starker assessment of what awaits Villas-Boas's successor by claiming he is looking to build a career and "not destroy it".

He added: "The transition that is needed at the club is very much evident and it's a job that requires sensitivity about where the club is at. It's about understanding and respecting what the players have done there and also having that ruthless streak to manage the club. If any of our fans are wondering about me and Chelsea, they need not panic. I am trying to build my career and not destroy it."

The Germany coach, Joachim Löw, was more coy when questioned about the vacancy but is unlikely to seek a move away from the national federation. "I have a contract as national team coach until 2014," he said.

"The European Championships start in three months' time and everyone knows my goal. I see no reason for me to comment on media speculation."

Rafael Benítez, the former Liverpool manager, expressed a desire to be considered by Abramovich this week as he seeks a return to management 14 months after being sacked at Internazionale. The Spaniard had been sounded out over the possibility of taking over until the end of the season at Stamford Bridge but indicated he would consider only a longer-term arrangement until the summer of 2013.

Chelsea's supporters, who had endured a torrid relationship with Benítez's Liverpool, made their feelings clear before kick-off at Tuesday night's FA Cup fifth-round replay against Birmingham City by chanting against the Spaniard's candidacy and bellowing Mourinho's name.Copy ends

Lionel Messi makes Champions League history with five goals as Barcelona thrash Bayer Leverkusen at Nou Camp

Lionel Messi became the first player to score five goals in one Champions League game last night and moved to within seven goals of becoming the highest goalscorer in Barcelona’s history at the age of just 24.

Lional Messi became the first player to score five goals in one Champions League game last night and moved to within seven goals of becoming the highest goalscorer in Barcelona’s history at the age of just 24.

In keeping with the extraordinary nature of his record-breaking career the player had complained of a headache before the one-man demolition of the team that just four days earlier had beaten Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga.

“It’s not easy to score five goals in one game. I can say that because I only scored 11 in my entire career. Give him another game and he will equal me,” said manager Pep Guardiola after the game.

Bayer Leverkusen coach Robin Dutt said: “There are no words for Messi and with him in the side Barça are from another galaxy.”

Messi’s five goals mean for Barcelona and Argentina he has now scored 250 goals in 378 games, 49 in 53 games this season. His tally in European matches is now 54.

He has 49 goals in the Champions League 12 this season — that is twice more than the second highest scorer Mario Gómez’s six goal tally.

To put the records in context, Raúl was 27 when he reached the 49-goal mark in the Champions League. Messi is three years his junior. He draws level with Alfredo Di Stéfano as the sixth highest goalscorer in the competition’s history.

Guadiola said: “He is the best in the world and I am lucky to say that I have coached him. He is unique in terms of talent but also in terms of his competitiveness.

“He does not think about the big records. He scores one and tries to score the second; he gets the second; and he wants the third; that is how he thinks.

“He is among the greatest of all time. When Di Stefano played they said there would never be another and along came Johan Cruyff; they said there would never be another and along came Maradona; now we have Messi.

"And I should include Pelé or he will get upset.”

The Barcelona manager was beaming not just with Messi’s incredible performance but with his team’s annihilation of Bayer Leverkusen.

One year ago today they scraped past Arsenal at this stage of the competition with a 3-1 home win that gave them a 4-3 aggregate advantage.

This time the final score read 10-2, making a mockery of any suggestions they are slipping after 13 trophies in the last four years. Guardiola

admitted he used Arsenal’s courageous performance against Milan the night before to warn his players against complacency.

He said: “Arsenal had nothing to lose in the first half and they scored three but in the second half suddenly there were expectations and pressure on them to complete the comeback and it was not so easy.

"Milan were too relaxed in the first half and in the second half they had to fight to get through. We did not want to repeat that.”

Messi opened the scoring on 25 minutes from a Xavi Hernandez pass. He got the second from a Cesc

Fabregas pass just before the break and in the second half with Barcelona already safely into the quarter-final draw he went into overdrive.

He scored from Andrés Iniesta’s pass four minutes into the second period, and again after 58 and 84 minutes.

Cristian Tello also scored two goals and on any other night the 20 year-old would have been the story, but there was no overshadowing the little man who is beginning to dwarf so many of the game’s greats.

There was a fight between Bayer Leverkusen players after the first leg as to who would take his shirt — this time he kept it on as he picked up the match ball and made for the tunnel.

“It’s nice to score five goals, I don’t recall having done it before in my career, I’m very happy,” he said.

Guardiola had given him a week off after after a fifth yellow card in La Liga ruled him out of last weekend’s league game. The rest appeared to have done him the world of good.

Match details:

Barcelona: Valdes, Dani Alves, Pique, Mascherano, Adriano (Muniesa 63), Xavi (Keita 53), Busquets, Iniesta (Tello 53), Fabregas, Pedro, Messi. 

Subs: Pinto, Cuenca, Roberto, Bartra.

Bayer Leverkusen: Leno, Castro, Schwaab, Toprak, Kadlec, Reinartz, Bender (Schurrle 55), Rolfes, Renato Augusto (Oczipka 67), Kiessling, Derdiyok (Bellarabi 55). 

Subs: Giefer, Friedrich, Ortega, Zenga. 

Booked: Rolfes,Castro.

Referee: S Oddvar Moen (Norway).