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Koke defends Atleti antics

Atletico Madrid captain Koke has defended his side’s antics during their Champions League quarter-final exit to Manchester City and pointed the blame towards Pep Guardiola’s men.

The Citizens progressed to the semi-final with a 1-0 aggregate victory following a goalless draw at the Wanda Metropolitano which descended into chaos during the closing stages. 

Both sets of players were involved in a mass scuffle during stoppage time following a foul on Phil Foden by Atleti defender Felipe, who was eventually sent off for a second bookable offence.

Team-mate Stefan Savic angrily tried to pick Foden off the ground before later appearing to headbutt Raheem Sterling and pull unused substitute Jack Grealish’s hair.

But Koke stood by his team-mates' actions and suggested they were the result of time-wasting tactics by the Premier League outfit.

The skipper said post-match: "The match takes you to that madness when you see that you have chances and they drop to the ground and waste time.

"Many times we are criticised for this situation, but today it was them. Let's see what people think of this. Today it has been seen, we are Atletico de Madrid and I am proud of this team.

"I'm proud of my team-mates for the effort. I have nothing to reproach the team with. I'm proud of everyone and the fans, who have lost, stayed to applaud us after the game. This is Atletico."

Scotland and Wales learn play-off dates

Scotland will face Ukraine in their rearranged World Cup play-off semi-final on June 1, with the winner facing Wales four days later.

The pair’s game in Path A of the qualifying play-offs for Qatar 2022 was due to take place last month but was postponed following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The two teams will now play for a chance to face Wales on June 5, when a place at November’s World Cup is up for grabs.

The Dragons earned progression with a 2-1 victory over Austria in Cardiff thanks to Gareth Bale scoring both goals.

The country who secure qualification will face England in Qatar after being drawn with the Three Lions in Group B alongside United States and Iran.

Rodgers wants to make history

Brendan Rodgers has urged Leicester to create more history for the club by reaching their first ever European semi-final with a win against PSV tonight.

The Northern Irishman guided the Foxes to their first ever FA Cup win last season, adding to their fairytale Premier League triumph in the 2015-16 campaign under Claudio Ranieri.

They head to the Netherlands for the second leg of their Europa Conference League quarter-final with the tie level following goalless draw last week.

Before the clash, Rodgers said: "To be the first to do anything is always nice.

"We had that feeling with the FA Cup. We're a club unlike PSV, who've qualified for 48 European competitions on the trot. We're very inexperienced, but we'll grow by achieving.

"We're ready to grasp it. The first leg gives us great motivation you can do that. We'll fight and do everything we can to go through."

Antonio expecting nervy contest

West Ham striker Michail Antonio is expecting an "edgy" Europa League clash at Lyon tonight but has warned their French opponents that the Hammers aim to go all the way in the competition.

Their quarter-final second leg at the Groupama Stadium is tightly poised following a 1-1 draw in West London last week.

Antonio and Co did well to keep the scores level after spending the whole second half down to 10-men following Aaron Cresswell’s sending off — and the 32-year-old thinks they will need to show similar resolve tonight.

He said: "'It's a dream come true to get this far and we're not going to let anyone take it from us.

"We've been quite resilient and when we've had knock backs we've always come back from them. Last week we went down to 10 men and showed our resilience and we've come to this game at 1-1.

"We believe that we can come and win any game and that's what the plan is — to come here and win the game.

"The game has to end tomorrow anyway so we know we have to go out there and win the game. Even before what happened last week, today was going to be edgy, tomorrow's going to be edgy."

Mitro chasing Championship award

Aleksandar Mitrovic, Harry Wilson and Dominic Solanke are in the running to be named the Championship Player of the Season.

Fulham striker Mitrovic has hit a remarkable 38 goals for the runaway Championship leaders, already smashing Ivan Toney’s previous second-tier record of 31 with six games still left to play.

Cottagers team-mate Wilson has been similarly impressive with the winger registering 10 strikes and 14 assists in the league this term.

Hoping to pip them to the award is Bournemouth striker Solanke, who has hit 24 goals for the second-placed Cherries.

Fulham starlet Fabio Carvalho and Nottingham Forest duo Brennan Johnson and Djed Spence will battle it out for the Championship Young Player of the Season prize.

The winners will be announced at the EFL Awards on Sunday, April 24.

Guardiola: City in big trouble with injuries

City boss Guardiola says his City side are in "big trouble" as a result of the injuries suffered during last night’s quarter-final second leg.

Both Kevin De Bruyne and Kyle Walker were forced off during City’s resolute display in Madrid, an encounter which came just three days after a pulsating 2-2 draw with title challengers Liverpool in the Premier League.

And while delighted to seal a place in the Champions League semi-finals for the second season running, the Spaniard expressed concern over the fitness of his players as a result of the bruising encounter.

The 51-year-old said: "Today we celebrate because it is the third time in Manchester City's history we are in the Champions League semi-finals.

"But we can't forget we played three days ago, travelled, came here, have a lot of injuries now and I don't know what will happen in the next weeks.

"We cannot play all the time and score four or five goals, we are human beings — we come from a difficult game against Liverpool. We are in big trouble."

City now have just three days of recovery before facing the Reds once again in an FA Cup semi-final at Wembley.

Former Colombia captain Rincon dies

Former Colombia captain Freddy Rincon has died after suffering severe head injuries in a car crash.

The 55-year-old was driving a car that collided with a bus on Monday morning in the Colombian city of Cali.

The former Real Madrid midfielder made 84 appearances for his country, scoring 17 goals and playing at three World Cups between 1990 and 1998.

He shares the record for the most games played at a World Cup for Colombia (10) with fellow great Carlos Valderrama.

A tribute from the Colombian Football Federation (FCF) read: "We will miss him and remember him with great affection, appreciation, respect and admiration.

"We send strength, support and our condolences to his family, hoping they can bear this sad and painful loss."