Manchester clubs shocked in Europa League

If the Manchester clubs expected things to come much easier after dropping out of the Champions League, they were in for a real shock on Thursday. England s two leading teams face a battle to reach the quarterfinals of the Europa League, the continent s second-tier club competition, after United was outclassed in a 3-2 home loss to Athletic Bilbao and City slumped to a 1-0 loss at Sporting Lisbon in the first legs of their last-16 matches. One of the dominant forces in European club football, England could yet have no representatives in the last eight of either the Champions League or the Europa League this season. Chelsea is its one remaining team left in the Champions League, but is 3-1 down to Napoli heading into the second leg of their last-16 match. United will be thankful it is still alive against Bilbao, which could have won by a bigger margin at Old Trafford after running the English champions ragged for large spells with its fluid movement and passing. After Wayne Rooney put United ahead with the first of his two goals, Fernando Llorente, Oscar de Marcos and Iker Muniain scored for Bilbao, which has been rejuvenated by veteran Argentine coach Marcelo Bielsa and the emergence of a golden crop of youngsters. "We were well beaten. They were the better team," said United manager Alex Ferguson, who saw Rooney convert a stoppage-time penalty to give the team hope for the second leg at San Mames next Thursday. An impudent back-heeled goal by Brazilian defender Xandao consigned City to defeat in Lisbon, but the Premier League leaders at least have the return leg at home to come. It was a successful night for Spanish clubs with Valencia beating PSV Eindhoven 4-2 and Atletico Madrid winning 3-1 against Besiktas. But the night belonged to Bilbao, which gave United one of their most difficult evenings at home for years. Bilbao has climbed to fifth place in the Spanish league with its attractive, energetic style of play, yet no one could have expected it to dominate so heavily at Old Trafford. A handful in attack all night, Llorente stooped to head the equalizer in the 44th minute to cancel out Rooney s close-range opener. Bilbao poured forward with wave after wave of attacks, United goalkeeper David De Gea denying Llorente twice and then Muniain. De Marcos, however, finished a classy move full of one-touch passing by volleying home a scooped pass by Ander Herrera. Muniain capitalized on hesitant defending by Rafael to slam home the third from close range, sealing back-to-back home losses for United in Europe for the first time in 16 years. United was defeated 2-1 by Ajax in the last 32. "We can win the game over there," Ferguson said. "We ve shown we can create chances, but we will need to defend better." Like its fierce local rival, City also dropped into the Europa League after finishing third in its Champions league group. But having dispatched reigning champion FC Porto with ease in the last 32, City came unstuck against another Portuguese team. It took a moment of class to settle the game, Xandao pouncing in the 51st minute after City goalkeeper Joe Hart had failed to palm Matias Fernandez s free kick to safety. Mario Balotelli, on as a substitute, hit the crossbar with a header as City rallied late on. "I m not worried. We will go through," City manager Roberto Mancini said. City s misery was compounded by an injury to captain Vincent Kompany, who limped off with a calf injury after seven minutes. Fresh off a hat trick for Spain in a friendly against Venezuela last week, Roberto Soldado scored twice for Valencia. Victor Ruiz and Pablo Piatti helped put the Spaniards 4-0 up at the Mestalla. Goals in the final seven minutes by Ola Toivonen and Georginio Wijnaldum reduced the deficit for PSV, a former European champion. Atletico, winner of the competition in 2010, will take a healthy cushion into the second leg against Besiktas after a superb first-half showing at Vicente Calderon stadium. Argentina winger Eduardo Silvio scored in the 24th and 27th minutes, and Adrian Lopez made it 3-0 with a stunning individual effort eight minutes before halftime. Besiktas will take a glimmer of hope into the return leg thanks to a powerful strike by Portuguese winger Simao Sabrosa, who started the 2010 final for Atletico. Dutch side FC Twente beat 2011 Champions League semifinalist Schalke 1-0 from Luuk de Jong s second-half goal. David Fuster s 50th-minute goal earned Olympiakos a 1-0 win at Metalist Kharkiv, which had Edmar sent off eight minutes from time. Standard Liege drew 2-2 at home to Hannover and AZ Alkmaar scored two second-half goals to beat Udinese 2-0 at home.

Scott, Dufner share lead after opening round

Australia's Adam Scott and American Jason Dufner produced smart golf to share the lead at six-under after the first round of the WGC-Cadillac Championship on Thursday (March 8) while the big names struggled in windy conditions. Newly-crowned world number one Rory McIlroy struggled to a one-over-par 73 while Tiger Woods, who shot the best final-round of his life last Sunday, ended even-par after mixing four bogeys with three birdies and an eagle on his opening hole. Scott, who tied for second at last year s Masters, made four birdies on the back nine, where he started, before an eagle on the par-five first and a birdie on the second. His only blemish was a bogey on the sixth which allowed Dufner, who finished second at the PGA Championship last year, to grab a share of the lead with a birdie on his last hole - the par-three ninth for a 66. Denmark s Thomas Bjorn and Masters champion Charl Schwartzel of South Africa were both two shots off the pace after shooting four-under 68s. Spain s Sergio Garcia (75) had a bizarre round as he was five-under at turn after mixing six birdies with one bogey before falling apart on the back nine with a birdie, six bogeys and a triple-bogey on the 18th where he found the water twice.

No fixation to end Djokovic dominance, says Nadal

 Rafael Nadal has lost his last seven matches against world number one Novak Djokovic but the Spaniard denies that he has a burning obsession to beat the Serb. 

The pair last met in January's Australian Open final when Djokovic clinched the title for a third time with an epic 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7, 7-5 victory that lasted almost six hours. 

While Nadal enjoys a 16-14 career advantage over the Serb, he has been beaten on all types of surfaces in their past seven encounters, all of them in finals. 

"I say it always the same, I want to improve for me," world number two Nadal told reporters on Thursday while preparing for the Indian Wells ATP tournament in the California desert. 

"I don't want to improve to beat Novak, to beat Roger (Federer) or to beat nobody. I try my best every day to improve my level of tennis, to be a better player year by year. 

"And if that's enough to beat Novak, fantastic. If not, I'm gonna keep working. When I wake up every morning and I go on court for practice, I don't think about Novak. I think about the things I need to keep improving, I think about myself." 

Nadal, a 10-time Grand Slam champion, said he had maintained the same strategy throughout his career, both before and after he eclipsed Federer as the game's top player. 

"It's worked well all this time, maybe now it's not working any more as well but hopefully yes," the Spanish left-hander added with a smile. "But that's my way and that's the way that my mind works. 

"I don't have the spirit of revenge, I don't have the spirit of obsession with another player. My spirit is to try and be a better player every day for myself. That's my satisfaction." 

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Asked whether he felt the sport's number one player would always lift the game of his closest rivals, Nadal replied: "To have somebody in front always helps to have a reference in what you have to improve. 

"When you are behind somebody, it is sometimes a little bit easier than when you are on the top. At the same time, I prefer to be in front." 

While Djokovic clinched his fifth Grand Slam title at Melbourne Park in January to continue his recent domination over the Spaniard, Nadal was largely happy with how he had performed against the Serb. 

"I accept very well the losses, I think I accept well the victories too," the Spaniard smiled. "I came back home very happy about my tournament in Australia, the way that I played, the way that I played lots of moments in the final. 

"I am not happy about my second and third sets but for the rest of the match, I am happy with how I did. In general, it was a very positive tournament for me. 

"I don't know if I want to be the one that will improve Djokovic. I am happy with how I did and I am going to keep working hard every day to try to keep having chances to compete against everybody with good chances of success. The periods of victories for everybody have an end and that's part of life." 

Nadal has spent the last month relaxing at home with his family and friends in Mallorca, and practicing "a little bit" for the first Masters Series event of the year. 

"It is important to have periods off to try to work on the things that you really need to improve," said the Spaniard, who will play either Colombian Alejandro Falla or Argentine Leonardo Mayer in the second round at Indian Wells after enjoying a first-round bye. 

"You can do a lot of things really well in practice but you need to adapt these things in the game later, and that needs time and matches. 

"This is the most important part of the season for me, from here until Wimbledon, and this year is an Olympic year too so that's the moment where I have to be ready for everything."

Euro 2012 managers tip Spain, Germany

Fellow managers on Friday tipped defending European champions Spain and Euro 2008 second-placers Germany as hot favorites to win this year’s tournament. After wrapping up a two-day meeting of all 16 Euro 2012 qualifier nations in tournament co-hosts Poland, managers were pressed by reporters to give their forecasts for the final outcome. “I think everyone knows who the favorites are. For me, they are Germany and Spain,” Poland manager Franciszek Smuda said. Even Germany boss Joachim Loew said the 2008 victors were the team to beat. “It’s Spain, in any event. The other nations come in their wake,” Loew said, adding: “Our own minimum target is to clear the first round. Then we will see. Our group is very difficult of course, with Portugal, the Netherlands and Denmark. “Of course we can have the confidence to say that our aim is to go to the quarter-finals.” France’s Laurent Blanc, meanwhile, said his favourites were Spain, Germany and Holland. Ireland’s Italian manager, Giovanni Trappatoni, also agreed that the Spanish were top of the tree but warned that surprises could not be ruled out. “There’s a team that’s very strong, a famous team, and that is Spain, but then also England, Holland, Germany. Usually these four. But I remember when Greece won (Euro 2004). So in football, all is possible,” Trappatoni said. “I think every manager, every country, has the possibility to dream,” he added. Croatia’s Slaven Bilic echoed Trappatoni that Spain were the favourites. “But in my view, there’s also Germany, Holland and other countries with a big tradition, such as Italy or England,” he said. “Every team has a chance and we’re hoping, too, that with a little luck and if we play well, we can do well too.”

“The little hand of God”

Lionel Messi gave a new meaning to the phrase ‘Hand of God’ when he netted a Champions League record five goals in Barcelona’s 7-1 demolition of Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday. The Argentina forward has always had to endure comparisons with his compatriot Diego Maradona, who coined the famous phrase after using his fist to score a goal that helped knock England out of the 1986 World Cup. “La manita de Dios” (the little hand of God) was the front page headline on sports dailies Marca and Mundo Deportivo on Thursday, as local media scrambled to find new ways to describe the 24-year-old’s latest goal-scoring feat. World Player of the Year Messi netted five and youth team winger Tello added two more as the holders crushed the German side 10-2 on aggregate to sweep into their fifth consecutive Champions League quarter-final. At the end of the match at the Nou Camp, Barca fans waved one hand aloft, open with all the fingers spread wide, in the sign of ‘la manita’ while they chanted his name. “The 75,632 spectators that saw it live will be able to say ‘I was there’,” sports daily AS wrote. “Like when Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points in a (NBA) game, when Muhammad Ali beat Sonny Liston, or when Bob Beamon flew (in the long jump) at the Mexico Olympics.” Speaking at the Global Sports Forum in Barcelona on Thursday, former France and Manchester United striker Eric Cantona was asked about Messi’s performance. “I have always thought that Barca’s play was incredible but Messi is exceptional,” Cantona said. “He retains an almost childlike enthusiasm for the game and you can see that when he is playing in front of thousands of people there are moments when he feels like a great star. “The great players are those who retain the ingenuity of the child.” Both coaches, Barca’s Pep Guardiola and Leverkusen’s Robin Dutt showered praise on Messi’s display as did his team mates. “It’s not only that he scored goals, but they weren’t easy either. They were fantastic goals and that’s what makes it even more special,” Spain and Barca midfielder Cesc Fabregas told reporters. On Twitter, Atletico Madrid’s Columbia striker Radamel Falcao said: “Was it a Champions League game or one on Playstation? If he scored six would he get two match balls?” England and Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney wrote: “Messi is a joke. For me the best ever.”

Djokovic, Wozniacki defend Indian Wells crowns

 World No.1 Novak Djokovic and fourth-ranked Caroline Wozniacki will defend their titles at the $11 million Indian Wells ATP and WTA hardcourt event that begins on Wednesday. 

The record prize purse for ATP-WTA events outside majors includes $1 million for both the men's and women's singles champion. Women's main draw matches begin on Wednesday. The men open Thursday. High seeds have first-round byes. 

Serbian star Djokovic captured Indian Wells as part of a stunning 2011 start of 41 match wins in a row. Djokovic began 2012 by winning the Australian Open crown but he lost to Britain's Andy Murray in last week's Dubai Open semifinals. 

"Last year was amazing, definitely the best year of my career," Djokovic said. 

"If you ask me if I can repeat it, I don't know. It's going to be very, very hard obviously. It's a new year for me. I look forward to Indian Wells. Events coming up are really important and I need to get ready." 

Djokovic, a five-time Grand Slam champion who could claim his fourth Slam title in a row by winning the French Open in June, beat Spanish World No. 2 Rafael Nadal in the 2011 Indian Wells final and also took the trophy in 2008. 

Nadal, the 2007 and 2009 Indian Wells champion, will threaten again, as will three-time Indian Wells winner Roger Federer, the Swiss legend who has won 33 of his past 35 matches and five titles, and Murray. 

World No. 3 Federer, who has won a record 16 Grand Slam titles, beat World No. 4 Murray in last week's Dubai Open final and hopes to bring that momentum to the California desert. 

"It's nice to win a tournament outdoors now," Federer said. "That gives me hope that I can carry it over to Indian Wells and Miami." 

Murray hopes slower courts at US events in March at Indian Wells and Miami will give him an edge. 

"Conditions over in Indian Wells and Miami are going to be very, very different," Murray said. "Much slower courts, which hopefully will suit my game a little bit better." 

Denmark's Wozniacki has lost her World No. 1 ranking and defends full points at Indian Wells, but is more concerned about form than jumping back up the list and said she does not feel extra pressure defending the crown. 

"Everyone has things to defend or not to defend. It's just about playing," she said. "You will have more points at some tournaments, a little bit less at some, so it evens out in the end." 

Venus and Serena Williams will be absent as usual. They have skipped Indian Wells since 2001, when fans booed the US sisters after an injured Venus pulled out of a scheduled final against Serena with tendinitis. 

Four-time Grand Slam champion Kim Clijsters of Belgium will miss the event with a left ankle injury suffered at the Australian Open. 

Reigning Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka of Belarus was forced out of last year's Indian Wells quarterfinal against Wozniacki with an injury and the World No. 1 withdrew from last month's Dubai Open. 

"Health is the most important thing," Azarenka said. "If I'm healthy I can produce good tennis." 

World No. 2 Maria Sharapova, a three-time Grand Slam champion coming off a runner-up effort at the Australian Open, won the 2006 Indian Wells title and reached last year's semifinals before falling to Wozniacki. Other contenders include reigning Wimbledon champion and World No. 3 Petra Kvitova, a Czech left-hander; sixth-ranked reigning US Open champion Samantha Stosur of Australia and China's eighth-ranked Li Na, the 2011 French Open winner.

Winning solves everything, says Federer

At his post-championship media conference, following his artful performance in the final of the Dubai Duty Free ATP Tour tennis tournament, Roger Federer was asked why he had refused to play an exhibition match against rival Rafael Nadal in Spain later in the summer. Federer didn't like the question, not for its sticky content, but for the message it conveyed to fans, particularly those in Spain. 

The world no. 3, who had stopped Briton Andy Murray in the title clash only half-an-hour earlier, shook his head and was ready to tee-off even before the reporter could complete his question. "I didn't refuse," he snapped, "Don't put words in my mouth. I don't want that going around Spain. I was excited about the idea, I mentioned dates I could do it. It was difficult to find the right dates. I don't know the latest. It might or might not happen. They were looking at a date between Wimbledon and the Olympics. I just felt it was a tough date and it was the only one he gave me. It still might or might not happen." 

The 30-year-old Swiss, winner of a record sixteen Grand Slam singles titles, is aware of the power that comes with the position he holds in a sport where he is both genius and great. 

The former world no. 1, who won his fifth title in Dubai on Saturday, is taking it one week at a time, looking at Masters events in Indian Wells and Miami rather than the summer of tests, which begins with the French Open in May and is followed by Wimbledon, the Olympic Games and finally the US Open in late August. 

The Swiss superstar, with artistic footwork and enviable range, has won five of the last seven ATP events he played in, the last of those titles coming in an week where he didn't drop a set, and where eight of the top-ten players made the starting line-up. "In a way," Federer said laughing, "winning solves everything. There is no substitute to confidence. I've played great. It's not just that I've taken my chances. I really thought I played a good tournament here (in Dubai). I played a great tournament in Rotterdam (the week before)."

Barcelona, Valencia to alternate F1 races from 2013

Barcelona and Valencia have agreed in principle to alternate their Grand Prix races so there is only one event in Spain each year from 2013, Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone has said. 

The world economic crisis has bitten hard in Spain, where local administrations are under pressure to make deep budget cuts as part of a new central government austerity drive. 

"Barcelona and Valencia have agreed that the best thing is to alternate and now we are trying to decide on the dates," Ecclestone told Spanish radio station Cadena Ser. 

"It's simply a way for us to try and help Valencia and if by alternating with Barcelona it helps them, then it's a good solution. 

"Obviously, the year Valencia does not host the event it would not have to pay anything." 

Local media reported Valencia had been the most reluctant to agree the changes and Vicente Aguilera, the president of Barcelona's Montmelo circuit, said negotiations were ongoing. 

"We are negotiating and we have a positive attitude," he told sports daily Marca. 

"In part because Bernie thinks it is a good idea, and also because we have to find something that is sustainable for the country. 

"At this moment nothing is agreed. We are negotiating and there has to be a three-way agreement." 

Ecclestone assured that this year's Spanish Grand Prix on May 13 in Barcelona and Valencia's European Grand Prix on June 24th would go ahead as scheduled.