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Carlo Ancelotti ruled out Arda Güler leaving Real Madrid on loan next season after the teenage playmaker scored the winning goal in the league leaders' 1-0 win at Real Sociedad on Friday.
Güler, 19, struck in the 29th minute -- guiding Dani Carvajal's cross through the legs of goalkeeper Álex Remiro -- to give Madrid a win that extends their lead at the top of the LaLiga table to 14 points, with second-placed Barcelona not playing until Monday.
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Güler has had a difficult first season at Madrid, making just six league appearances --- Friday's game at the Reale Arena was his first start -- leading to some suggestions that he could depart on loan this summer.
"Arda will be a very important player for us in the future," Ancelotti said, when asked about the Turkey international. "There's no doubt that he stays here next year."
Güler joined Madrid from Fenerbahce last July, but suffered a meniscus injury in pre-season that required surgery, followed by two muscular problems as he raced to regain match fitness.
He has now scored twice in LaLiga -- against La Real on Friday and against Celta Vigo in March -- in 99 minutes on the pitch.
"[Güler] has extraordinary quality," Ancelotti said. "He has talent, he has a gift. He's worked hard ... he's training very well, but he's very young.
"Little by little he'll be more involved in this squad. He's scored the most goals per minutes played, that's the gift he has."
Éder Militão made his first start for Madrid since August, after recovering from an ACL tear, putting the Brazil international in contention to start against Bayern Munich in the Champions League next week.
"I have to look at the starting line-up [against Bayern]," Ancelotti said. "Militão is back and started for the first time. He played very well in my opinion.
"I'll evaluate it in the next few days ... The important thing is that Militão has shown that he's getting back to his best level."
Leicester City have been promoted back to the Premier League from the Championship after second-placed Leeds United lost 4-0 to Queens Park Rangers on Friday.
Leeds' defeat means that they are four points behind Leicester with only one match left to play, thereby ensuring that they can no longer overtake the midlands club for one of the two automatic promotion places.
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Third-placed Ipswich Town could still catch Leicester, but even if they were to win their three remaining matches, Leicester would need just four points from their two remaining games to win the title.
Leicester, whose nine-year Premier League stay was ended by relegation last season, had seemed almost certain of a return to the top flight when they opened up a 14-point gap between themselves and third place in February. But they saw that lead quickly shrink after a poor run of form that left them needing to pick up some vital points toward the end of the season.
After back-to-back defeats, Leicester beat West Brom and thrashed Southampton 5-0 in their last two matches to put them back in pole position for promotion.
Enzo Maresca was appointed as the club's head coach at the end of the last campaign, and he has implemented an attractive. possession-based style that has seen his team excel this season.
Leicester famously shocked the sporting world by winning the Premier League in 2016 before sliding down the table in the following years and suffering relegation to the Championship in May 2023.
However, Leicester could face a points deduction for next season after the Premier League referred them to an independent commission in March over alleged breaches of the league's profit and sustainability rules.
Leicester face Preston North End at Deepdale on Monday.
Liverpool have moved a step closer to appointing Arne Slot as manager at Anfield after reaching an agreement with Dutch club Feyenoord for the highly rated coach, sources confirmed to ESPN.
Slot, 45, confirmed on Thursday that he was keen to move to Liverpool after being identified as the Premier League team's preferred candidate to replace Jurgen Klopp, who is stepping down at the end of the season after 8 years in charge.
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And sources have said that the two clubs have now sealed a compensation deal for Slot, who has two years left to run on his contract with the Eredivisie side.
Feyenoord had been holding out for a 9 million ($11.25m) deal for Slot and, although a figure has yet to be confirmed publicly, a settlement has been reached, leaving Liverpool free to negotiate a contract with Slot.
Liverpool opened talks with Feyenoord on Wednesday for Slot, who signed a three-year contract last year after guiding the Rotterdam-based club to the Eredivisie title. The former AZ Alkmaar coach rejected offers from Leeds United and Tottenham Hotspur to commit his future to Feyenoord.
But speaking to ESPN Netherlands ahead of Thursday's Eredivisie game against Go Ahead Eagles, Slot said he wanted to take the opportunity to move to the Premier League with Liverpool.
"The only thing I can say about it is that the clubs are in negotiations," Slot said. "And then you sit in the waiting room and wait for what will come out.
"It seems clear to me that I would like to go to Liverpool. Now I'm waiting to see whether the clubs reach an agreement. I'm very confident in that."
Slot emerged as the leading contender for the Liverpool job after Xabi Alonso's decision to remain at Bayer Leverkusen and a cooling in the Premier League club's interest in Sporting CP coach Rúben Amorim.
Asked about his potential successor on Friday, Klopp was full of praise for Slot.
"I like the way his team play football," he told a news conference. "All the things I heard about him as a guy, a good guy, some people I know know him; I don't know him yet, but some people tell me that he's a really good guy, and I like that a lot.
"Good coach, good guy -- looking forward for the club if he is the solution."
Bairstow bests Narine as Punjab Kings pull off record T20 chase
Punjab Kings 262 for 2 (Bairstow 108*, Shashank 68*, Prabhsimran 54, Narine 1-24) beat Kolkata Knight Riders 261 for 6 (Salt 75, Narine 71, Arshdeep 2-45) by eight wickets
Like temperatures across the whole of India, run-scoring and six-hitting in IPL 2024 are going only one way - up. In an unbelievably ruthless display of batting, Punjab Kings hunted down 262 against Kolkata Knight Riders to record the highest successful chase in all of T20 history, and got there with eight balls to spare. They hit 24 sixes, six more than what KKR managed, and the two teams together set the record for the most sixes in any T20 game.
Prabhsimran dominates the powerplay
Bairstow then went 4, 6, 4, 4, 6 off Anukul Roy in the sixth over, before Prabhsimran, responding to the call for a quick single from the non-striker's end, was run out off the last ball of the powerplay.
Bairstow carts KKR all around
Bairstow was dropped by PBKS after managing just 96 runs in his first six innings this season. And he took his time finding his feet in his return game, scoring just 12 off his first 10 balls. But his assault on Roy gave a hint of what was to come. He found a bit of help in the ninth over, though, when Roy dropped him while flinging himself to his left at long-off, and failed to prevent the ball from going for six. That shot off Varun Chakravarthy brought up Bairstow's fifty, off 23 balls.
Bairstow went after Varun again in the 11th over, launching him for a six over long-off, chipping a four over the bowler's head, and swat-pulling him for another six. When Bairstow got to his hundred off 45 balls to end the 16th over, PBKS needed 52 from 24.
Shashank helps PBKS sail through
Shashank came to the crease when Narine, who somehow conceded just two fours and a six in his four overs, dismissed Rilee Rossouw for a 16-ball 26 in the 13th over. It was the first time he had batted above No. 6 for PBKS, and he quickly made his liking for the promotion evident, hitting Varun for back-to-back leg-side sixes when he had just faced three balls.
The game was tilting PBKS' way when the last four overs began, and the 16th made them clear favourites, as Shashank thumped Chameera for three sixes - a swat, a scoop, and a pull - as PBKS' required rate fell to less than two runs per ball. The match ended in a hurry, as Shashank clattered three more sixes, off Harshit Rana and Ramandeep Singh, and the crowd began to disperse even before the result was officially confirmed. Shashank was batting on 25 when Bairstow reached his hundred; the match ended with Shashank on 68 and Bairstow on 108.
Salt, Narine set up daunting KKR total
PBKS dropped Salt twice and Narine once inside the first seven overs, and the two turbocharged openers ran away to 83 for no loss in that time. By the time KKR had reached the halfway point of their innings, they had added another 54 to their score. Narine reached his fifty in the eighth over, bringing it up 23 balls, and Salt got to his in the next over.
At the 10-over mark, ESPNcricinfo's Forecaster predicted a KKR total of 282.
PBKS finally separated the opening pair when Rahul Chahar got Narine to mishit a big shot and find Bairstow at long-on. Who knew then that Bairstow would have so much of a say later in the day?
KKR promoted Andre Russell up to No. 4, and he entered in the 13th over. Facing his second ball, he upper-cut Sam Curran for four to deep third. Chahar then bowled a quiet 14th over, conceding just seven runs, but it was only a temporary bit of respite, as Russell, Shreyas Iyer and Venkatesh Iyer - who hit Curran for 6, 4, 6, 6 to end the 19th over - joined hands to take 85 off the last six overs.
KKR's total of 261 for 6 would have been the second-highest in IPL history if it had been made before this season. As it happened, it was only the seventh-highest at the halfway point of this game, and the eighth highest by the time it was done.
Himanshu Agrawal is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo
Curran: 'Cricket is turning into baseball, isn't it?'
"Cricket is turning into baseball, isn't it? It was absolutely incredible," Curran mused at the post-match presentation. "Where do we [start]? Absolutely delighted with two points. Games like that are out of the world, but most importantly we've had a tough few weeks as a team [this was Kings' first win in five games] but we've really hung in there. We've taken teams down to the wire and, I think, forget about the scores... I thought we actually deserved victory."
"Yeah, I think loads of different things [have added up to this]," Curran said. "I think the way guys train is obviously huge and they can hit balls for a long period of time. I guess it's the confidence, coaches and the way we've been training. Let's be honest - small grounds with a bit of dew and the ball [gets wet] and sometimes you get a wide call. You think you've got a dot ball, you review it and then it's wide. Then an extra ball. So, yeah, not saying it's a batsman's game but it's showing... I'm sure everyone wants to keep seeing sixes. I think stats is definitely going out of the window. It's all about winning those small moments."
"Really pleased for Jonny. He's obviously been on tour for a really long time," Curran said. "A couple of games out of the side, he looked like he came back really eager to score runs for the team and showed what an amazing player that he is. So, I'm really pleased for him."
What was Bairstow's game plan when faced with a chase of 262 on his comeback? "Try to whack it as far as possible," Bairstow said with a smile. "I've never actually been in a game where 260 has been scored. Look, if it's in your area, you gotta' go. If you actually have a couple of quiet overs, which we actually did against Sunil [Narine, who finished with figures of 4-0-24-1]... [That was] because we know how important he is in their side and losing fewer wickets against someone like that is imperative to a chase like that."
"To be honest, both the teams played tremendously and I personally feel that this is one of those games where you have to go back to the drawing board and see to it that you introspect on the areas where you went wrong," Shreyas said. "Especially batting first and getting 260 on the board and then not being able to defend it hurts, but at the same time, it's a great lesson for all the players, especially the bowlers. We've got one more game over here and it's important we assess the conditions and come up with greater ideas."
Burns steady after Surrey bundle Hampshire out cheaply
Surrey 123 for 5 (Patel 41, Burns 39*) trail Hampshire 151 (Gubbins 45, Clark 3-29, Atkinson 3-40, Worrall 3-44) by 28 runs
Patel, coming in to join Burns with Surrey stuttering at 44 for 4, unfurled some regal strokes in his 41 from 94 balls while opener Burns dropped anchor in nuggety fashion against the moving ball to reach an unbeaten 39 in almost three and a half hours' batting. Together they put on 75 in 25 overs before Patel was bowled by one from Mohammad Abbas that kept wickedly low.
Hampshire, who finished third last season, have been one of Surrey's closest challengers as they have won successive titles in the past two years, but they have still struggled on this ground in recent times. After being put in, Hampshire would no doubt have been thinking of the three heavy defeats they have suffered previously at the Oval in April in 2021, 2022 and 2023.
Kyle Abbott plucked Dom Sibley's off stump out of the ground in the second over of Surrey's reply, the former England Test opener going for 4, and James Fuller then forced Ollie Pope to play on for 13 as he attempted to withdraw his bat from an outswinger.
Jamie Smith, keeping wicket in this game with Ben Foakes rested on England management orders, was bowled on the stroke of tea for 13 by another beauty, this time from Brad Wheal, and Abbott returned after the interval to have Dan Lawrence leg-before for 2 with a ball that shaped back into his pads.
At the start of the day, Surrey's first wicket took only eight balls to arrive, Fletcha Middleton edging Worrall to second slip immediately after nicking the bowler's first delivery of the match through the cordon for four, and for a while Ali Orr took the fight back to the champions with some lovely strokes against the new ball.
On 26, however, Orr flicked Clark's third ball to square leg and soon Hampshire's innings was in disarray as Worrall dismissed James Vince and Tom Prest with successive balls in the last over of a superb seven-over opening spell of 3 for 21.
Vince, undone by a leg-cutter that was pitched just a little bit shorter than the previous two deliveries that he had met with the middle of his bat, edged to second slip on 5 while Prest was caught at third slip as he pushed defensively at a perfect out-swinger.
Liam Dawson calmly punched Worrall's hat-trick ball through mid on for two but on 3 he was beaten by Atkinson's pace and bounce and edged to first slip.
Clark then surprised Ben Brown with some extra bounce, as he continued an eventual eight-over spell from the Pavilion End, and the Hampshire keeper's attempted pull merely resulted in a spliced easy return catch.
On 91 for 6 at the interval, Hampshire were happy to see Gubbins and Fuller steady the ship until the former was bowled for 45 by a fine inswinger from Kemar Roach, operating from around the wicket to the left-hander.
Then, eight runs later, Fuller was gone too for a punchy 39 from 55 balls when he uppercut Atkinson to deep cover where Roach ran in ten yards to take an excellent sprawling catch.
And, when Wheal edged Atkinson behind on 12 and Abbott mishit Clark to Roach at long on, Hampshire had been bowled out in 44.4 overs.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is mulling a future with 18 regular-season games, a Presidents Day weekend Super Bowl and a significant increase in international games.
Goodell, during an appearance on "The Pat McAfee Show" on Friday, shared his long-term vision, one that involves numerous changes to the season's current format.
Specifically, Goodell said he would embrace a schedule featuring 18 regular-season games and two preseason contests, a significant shift from the current 17 regular-season and three preseason games that was implemented in 2021.
"I think we're good at 17 now," Goodell said. "But, listen, we're looking at how we continue. I'm not a fan of the preseason." Then, gesturing toward a group of fans assembled nearby, Goodell said, "And I don't think these guys like it either." He continued: "The reality is, I'd rather replace a preseason game with a regular-season game any day. That's just picking quality. If we get to 18 and 2, that's not an unreasonable thing."
Adding an additional regular-season game could, theoretically, result in a second bye week being added, which would lengthen the regular season. But Goodell would welcome that, he said, as he envisions a Presidents Day weekend built around the Super Bowl on Sunday night.
"And then you have Monday off," Goodell said.
No steps toward any of the potential changes have been taken thus far. And it's important to note that changes to the length of the season would need to be collectively bargained with the NFL Players Association, as it was when the most recent labor deal was negotiated.
The move toward 17 games initially faced significant opposition from players, even after owners approved the deal. Prominent players such as New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers pushed back publicly. The CBA ultimately passed with a slim majority in player balloting, 51.5% voting in favor.
Goodell also spoke about a future increase to the number of games played internationally, saying he envisions as many as 16 regular-season games being played abroad, perhaps, within the next 10 years. The NFL is adding additional international markets, including Brazil this year and Spain next year.
As for whether a team or division will ever be based overseas, Goodell seemed less certain.
"Will a franchise ever happen or a division?" he said. "Maybe. I think that's beyond 10 years though."
NFL to allow Guardian Caps during regular season
The NFL has adjusted its rules to allow players the option of using Guardian Caps in regular-season games to enhance their protection against head injuries, the league confirmed Friday.
The padded headgear was mandated for players at certain positions during training camp in 2022 and 2023. Speaking earlier this year, NFL executive vice president Jeff Miller said that Guardian Caps have contributed to a nearly 50% reduction in concussions for the position groups that wore them during those time periods.
In a statement provided Friday to ESPN, Miller said: "We now have two years of data showing significant concussion reductions among players who wear Guardian Caps during practice, so players will be permitted to wear the cap during games this upcoming season. Additionally, there are new helmets this year that provide as much -- if not more -- protection than a different helmet model paired with a Guardian Cap. These developments represent substantial progress in our efforts to make the game safer for players."
The current plan is for the Guardian Caps to have team logos on them when worn during games.
The NFL will exempt players from having to use the Guardian Caps during the mandated portion of training camp if they wear one of six new helmet models that the league and the NFL Players Association have identified as providing equal or better protection.
Earlier this offseason, the NFL expanded the training camp mandate for wearing Guardian Caps to players at every position except quarterback and specialists. News of the NFL rule change for game days was first reported by Pro Football Talk.
Penix: I had 'good conversation' with Cousins
FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. -- Kirk Cousins and Michael Penix Jr. spoke on the phone Thursday night after the Atlanta Falcons stunningly took Penix with the No. 8 pick in the NFL draft.
Penix, who led the Washington Huskies to the national championship game last season, said that Cousins reached out to him and that the two quarterbacks had a "very good conversation," although he did not disclose specifics about what they spoke about.
"I'm going to keep it just between me and him right now," Penix said Friday at a news conference at the Falcons' facility. "But it was definitely a good conversation, and I'm super excited to work with him, and he said he's the same with me."
The Falcons signed Cousins last month to a four-year, $180 million contract that includes $100 million of guaranteed money. Atlanta's decision to draft a quarterback with its top-10 pick drew surprise, including from Cousins himself.
Cousins was not informed that the Falcons would take a quarterback until they called him while the team was on the clock Thursday night. Mike McCartney, Cousins' agent, told ESPN's Pete Thamel that there was frustration and confusion coming from Cousins' camp because Atlanta didn't use its first-round pick to make the team better in 2024. Instead, the Falcons used the selection on Cousins' apparent successor before Cousins had even played a down for the team.
McCartney said that Cousins understands the business of football and is ready to move on but that there was indeed surprise about the Falcons' decision.
"He got called on the clock, obviously because of the sensitive time with the issues of what you got going on," Falcons coach Raheem Morris said Thursday night. "It's never a right time to talk to a quarterback about those things, and reactions are always going to be private when it comes to those things, unless Kirk decides to tell you some of those things that are whatever they may be.
"But he's a competitor, just like us all. And you can always expect those things to go just like you kind of think."
Penix said he watched the "Quarterback" series on Netflix, which featured Cousins, whom he called an "amazing guy."
"I'm super blessed to be able to be in a room with him and to be able to work with him and learn from him and support him as he continues with his career," Penix said.
Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot said Thursday that when a team sees a quarterback it believes in, it cannot pass up the opportunity and that that was the mindset with taking Penix at No. 8 when Atlanta still had plenty of other needs to fill for 2024, including bolstering an anemic pass rush.
Fontenot and Morris painted Penix as the quarterback of the future, following Cousins.
"If you believe in a quarterback, you have to take him," Fontenot said. "And if he sits for four or five years, that's a great problem to have because we're doing so well at that position."
Penix said he's comfortable sitting and learning behind Cousins initially, but he added that he feels as if he was the best quarterback in the draft and will be ready to step in when needed. Only two quarterbacks have made their first professional start at 25 years or older in the common draft era -- Brandon Weeden and Chad Pennington. Penix turns 24 on May 8.
Penix led the FBS with 4,903 passing yards in 2023 and was second in the FBS in 2022 (4,641). He is the first player with 4,500 passing yards or more in two straight seasons since Patrick Mahomes did it in 2015 and 2016 for Texas Tech.
"If I'm not on the field right away, I'm learning," Penix said. "But at the same time, I'm still going to prepare like I'm going to be on that field, because you never know what can happen. You never know when your number is called, but you gotta be ready.
"So, for me, I'm going to do whatever I can to be ready at Day 1. ... I'm still going to put in the same work. I'm going to prepare, I'm going to work just as [much as if] I'm the starter."
Penix is a left-handed quarterback known for his big arm and his polished skills in the pocket. Many expected him to drop in the draft because of his age and his injury history, which includes four season-ending injuries in college. He was asked about the description of his selection at No. 8 as shocking and brushed it off.
"As far as, like, what anybody else feels about just the decision that was made, I had no control over that," Penix said. "All I can control is what I do and what I bring to this team. And for me, I know that I'm going to be a great leader, not just on but off the field as well. And I'm going to be a great person and great teammate as well."
Juwan Howard has agreed to a deal to become an assistant coach with the Brooklyn Nets, sources told ESPN on Friday.
Howard -- fired by Michigan in March after five seasons as coach -- joins new Nets coach Jordi Fernandez's staff.
Howard spent six seasons as an assistant under Erik Spoelstra with the Miami Heat upon his retirement from an NBA career that included 19 seasons, two championships and All-Star and All-NBA selections.
After his initial success as Wolverines coach, Howard was approached for some NBA head-coaching openings -- including with the Los Angeles Lakers -- but remained at Michigan, where he eventually coached his sons Jett and Jace. Howard led the Wolverines to a Sweet 16 and an Elite Eight in his time at his alma mater but struggled in the past two seasons, culminating with an 8-24 record that led to his dismissal.
Howard joins assistant Steve Hetzel, who left the Portland Trail Blazers after three seasons, as the newest members of Fernandez's coaching staff.
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