D Thursday, April 22, 2010 SPORT 35 CHAMPIONS LEAGUE SEMI-FINAL FIRST LEG Bayern Munich.........1 Lyon......................0 Robben 69 Att 68,000 BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE Hull ...........................0 Aston Villa............2 Att 23,842 Agbonlahor 13 Milner 76 P W D L F A Pts Chelsea 35 24 5 6 86 32 77 Man Utd 35 24 4 7 78 27 76 Arsenal 35 22 5 8 78 39 71 Tottenham 34 19 7 8 62 34 64 Man City 34 17 11 6 69 42 62 Aston Villa 35 16 13 6 50 35 61 Liverpool 35 17 8 10 57 33 59 Everton 35 14 12 9 57 48 54 Birmingham 35 12 11 12 35 43 47 Fulham 34 11 10 13 35 37 43 Stoke 34 10 13 11 33 37 43 Blackburn 35 11 10 14 37 53 43 Sunderland 35 10 11 14 46 53 41 Bolton 35 9 8 18 38 63 35 Wigan 35 9 8 18 33 66 35 Wolverhampton35 8 10 17 28 51 34 West Ham 35 7 10 18 41 60 31 Hull 35 6 10 19 32 72 28 Burnley 35 7 6 22 37 74 27 Portsmouth (R) 35 6 6 23 29 62 15 RUGBY MAGNERS LEAGUE Connacht ...............27 Leinster..............13 P W D L F A Pts Leinster 16 12 0 4 316 237 50 Ospreys 16 9 1 6 327 277 43 Glasgow 16 9 2 5 323 283 42 Munster 15 8 0 7 278 242 39 Edinburgh 15 8 0 7 304 268 39 Cardiff Blues 16 8 0 8 316 289 36 Newport-Gw 15 7 1 7 260 288 33 Ulster 16 5 1 10 279 335 26 Connacht 15 5 1 9 222 342 26 Scarlets 16 4 0 12 271 335 23 SNOOKER WORLD SNOOKER CHAMPIONSHIP (The Crucible Theatre, Sheffield) Rd 1: Ding Junhui (Chn) bt Stuart Pettman (Eng) 10-1, Mark Davis (Eng) bt Ryan Day (Wal) 10-8, Neil Robertson (Aus) bt Fergal OBrien (Irl) 10-5. RESULTS SOCCER Uefa Europa League Semi-Final First Leg Atletico Madrid v Liverpool.........(8.05pm) TV 3e Hamburg v Fulham.....................(8.05pm) TV Setanta Ireland Airtricity League Premier Division UCD v Sporting Fingal.......................(7.45pm) GOLF (until Sunday) European Tour: Ballantines Championship (Pinx GC, Jeju Island, South Korea) USPGA Tour: Zurich Classic of New Orleans (Avondale, La. United States) HORSE RACING Beverley, Southwell, Fontwell Park, Perth, Uttoxeter, Punchestown FIXTURES Bayern win but riled Ribery sees red BAYERN MUNICH will take a deserved 1-0 lead into the second leg of their Champions League semi-final against Lyon thanks to Arjen Robbens 69th-minute strike at the Allianz Arena last night. Bayern enjoyed the better of a game, which both sides ended with just ten men, but they were only rewarded with a slender advantage to take with them to the Stade Gerland next Tuesday. Franck Ribery was shown a straight red card by Italian referee Robert Rosetti for lunging in on Lisandro for the hosts in the 37th minute before Jeremy Toulalan quickly collected two yellows early in the second half. But it was Robben who stole the headlines, following up the deciding goal in the quarter-final against Manchester United with a deflected shot to put Bayern marginally ahead in a finely poised tie. Robben almost set up a second for Mario Gomez in the 85th minute before being substituted by Louis van Gaal, who had to placate his compatriot who was unhappy to have been removed. BAYERN MUNICH................. 1 LYON.............................................. 0 Mourinho vents anger at Barca and Balotelli By Mark Curtis JOSE MOURINHO thanked a volca- no, castigated one of his own players and declared his love for an opponent after watching his Inter Milan team puncture Barcelonas aura of invinci- bility. The Italians stole the headlines with Tuesdays fine 3-1 win against the European champions in their semi-fi- nal, first leg at the San Siro, but their flamboyant coach returned to centre stage after the final whistle. Mourinho denied Barcas arduous journey they travelled to Milan by coach after being grounded by the Icelandic volcano was to blame for their defeat, insisting: The way they [Barcelona] are, tomorrow we will probably read I am to blame for the volcano. Maybe I have a friend in the volcano in Iceland. The former Chelsea boss also did little to dispel rumours he argued with Xavi after allegedly seeing the Barca playmaker confront the referee after the game. I think it is very hard to lose, espe- cially for somebody who is not used to losing, he added. Even I am like this. But I love Xavi and can never have any problems with him. Ive known him for so long and love him. The harshest words from Mourinho were reserved for Mario Balotelli, af- ter the substitute infuriated Inter fans by throwing his shirt to the ground at full-time. Mourinho said: I can understand them [the fans] because they saw the same as me. Balotellis team-mate Dejan Stank- ovic was even more scathing, adding: He is like a child. We need to see whats going on in his head. SOCCER CHAMPIONS LEAGUE Villa leave Hull with real fight to stay up HULL plunged ever closer to a return to the Championship as Aston Villa reignited their claims for a Champions League spot at the KC Stadium last night. Gabriel Agbonlahor benefited from some typically slapstick Tigers defending to fire an early opener on 13 minutes. And Iain Dowies men offered very little in way of response as they failed to score for the third time in their last four outings. Hull should have levelled when Brad Friedel saved from Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink, who was later stretchered off with a nasty head injury. And the hosts were punished for their own lack of goals when Villa added a second through a James Milner penalty after the break. PREMIER LEAGUE HULL ................................... 0 ASTON VILLA................ 2 Maybe Ive a friend in the volcano in Iceland EUROPA LEAGUE WORLD CUP COUNTDOWN 50 BRAZIL wore a white shirt for the final time in the 1950 World Cup. The country was so stunned by their 2-1 loss to Uruguay in that competition the national association changed the teams shirt colours to wipe out the memory and the famous yellow top was born. days to go to South Africa Scharzer: We wont be driven to distraction MARK SCHWARZER is afraid that Fulham face a daunting task tonight in Hamburg after their 27-hour trek to the German city. The Cottagers arrived in Hamburg at 4pm yesterday for tonights Europa League semi-final, first leg after an arduous coach trip which began at their training ground on Tuesday afternoon. After abandoning their planned flight aboard a private jet owing to the volcanic ash cloud, the squad crossed under the channel aboard two luxury coaches on the Euro tunnel before driving to the German city of Munster, where they stopped for the night. But yesterday morning they were left at a standstill for three hours as they continued their journey thanks to a lorry crash on the autobahn they were travelling on. The squad finally arrived at their hotel before heading off to take part in a training session at the Hamburg Arena, where they will begin their bid to make their first ever European final. The squad took breaks throughout their trip in a bid to keep fit ahead of the game, which is arguably the biggest in their 141-year history. Schwarzer said: Were fighting an uphill battle, with the trip that weve made, so its going to be really tough for us. Hamburg are expected to get to the final now. They are the favourites to get through, even more so with the circumstances that have come about. Wary Rafa refusing to write off rivals LIVERPOOL boss Rafael Benitez has warned against disregarding Europa League semi-final opponents Atletico Madrid because of their poor recent La Liga form. Quique Sanchez Flores men have lost four of their last five league matches but Benitez said: They may seem [inconsistent] looking at their results but we are talking about a cup competition and this will be dangerous for us. Franck you card: Ribery, far right, is shown red by referee Roberto Rosetti index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html24.html25.html26.html27.html28.html29.html30.html31.html32.html33.html34.html35.html