ive players in Spain’s top two divisions have tested positive for Covid-19, La Liga has confirmed.

The league has stepped up the testing of players and staff as the likes of champions and La Liga leaders Barcelona returned to their club’s facilities last week.

La Liga did not reveal the identity of the players or their clubs. It said the players would remain at their homes where they would continue individual training before being tested again “in the next few days” to determine whether they can return to their club’s training ground.

A La Liga statement read: “Among La Liga Santander and La Liga SmartBank (Segunda) clubs, five positive cases were detected in players, all of them asymptomatic and in the final phase of the disease.”

Many clubs have returned to individual training as part of the second stage of La Liga’s four-phase protocol for getting back to activity after Spain’s top two tiers were suspended in March due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“One of the objectives of these medical tests, according to the La Liga’s protocol for returning to training, according to recommendations of the CSD [Supreme Sports Council] and the Ministry of Health, was precisely to detect the denominated or asymptomatic, that is, those people who are infected and that, without presenting symptoms, they can infect other people,” the statement added.

“In this way, we guarantee everyone’s safety when returning to work according to the occupational risk regulations.”

The medical protocol for training is strict and includes players arriving already changed and at specific times to avoid contact with others. They wear masks and gloves, and have their temperatures taken before entering the premises. At the end of training, they take away a bag of fresh kit for the next day and shower at home.

Real Madrid are due to resume training for the first time in two months on Monday, while La Liga has said it hopes matches will resume, without spectators, by June.

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Germany’s plans to finish the season in their top two divisions remain unchanged despite the entire Dynamo Dresden squad being forced into quarantine.

Two players from the 2.Bundesliga club tested positive for coronavirus despite showing no symptoms, with the local health authority forcing all players to return to lockdown.

The club have now been forced to postpone their first two matches back against Hannover and Greuther Furth, but German football chief Christian Seifert says that for now those are the only two matches affected, and that the top two divisions will resume next weekend as planned.

“I found out about it this afternoon,” Seifert told ZDF on Saturday.

“It is precisely the idea that corona cases will be forwarded to the health department and they will then talk about the appropriate measures, and we have already said that we have to prepare for this.

“I have not spoken to any responsible person. It’s 14 days in quarantine and then we’ll have to see how we’re going to run the Dynamo Dresden games next week.”

Seifert added that the cases weren’t a surprise to him.

“The medical experts followed the recommendations of the Robert Koch Institute,” he said.

“And the sports ministers also advocated that quarantine should be announced in the event of positive cases. We always said: this is decided by the local health authorities.

“At the moment I wish it could have gone differently, of course, but it was clear that this could happen. For the second division it means that two games will be cancelled at the moment, but we are not changing the goal, the only plan is still to finish the season.

“It does not yet mean that the 2. Bundesliga cannot continue, because only two games have been affected so far, but it is clear that, if it happens enough, it would no longer be possible to end the season.”

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The most unique version of Money In The Bank pay-per-view will be taking place tonight, May 10. Since WWE can’t host the show with fans surrounding the arena, they decided to take the main attractions to the roof of their headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut.

Superstars will have to climb there starting from the ground floor in order to retrieve the hanging briefcase. Lineups for both the men and women’s division Money In The Bank ladder matches have been finalized.

Whereas six female names were declared last week, the sixth and final name from the male side was decided on this week’s edition of Monday Night Raw in the form of AJ Styles. He is also the most favorite one to be called Mr. Money In The Bank 2020.

Bet Online has published the betting odds for the 2020 Men’s MITB ladder match. Going by these,

AJ Styles is currently listed with 4/5 odds according to the source whereas Otis is the least likely winner with 14/1 odds. You can check the complete betting odds for the Men’s Money In The Bank match, as given below.

AJ Styles – 4/5

Aleister Black – 7/4

Daniel Bryan – 9/2

Baron Corbin – 6/1

Rey Mysterio – 10/1

Otis – 14/1

The betting odds changed big-time since Monday’s Raw following the return of The Phenomenal One. Money in the Bank could have been the most important night of the career of Aleister Black as the former NXT Champion was earlier topping the list with 7/1 odds. He was miles ahead of his opponents who are participating in this match.

Daniel Bryan stood at 10/1 odds whereas King Corbin had 17/2 odds. Rey Mysterio was sitting at the fourth position with 33/1 odds to win Money In The Bank ladder match.

Even, Apollo Crews had 80/1 odds who was later out of the equation due to a knee injury caused on this week’s Raw. His replacement declared via a Gauntlet match this past Monday, which AJ Styles won.

As for the women’s Money In The Bank ladder match, Shayna Baszler is the undisputed favorite to come up as the winner and reignite her feud against Becky Lynch. She was a split second away from capturing the Raw Women’s Championship at WrestleMania 36 but got pinned in an unfortunate manner.

Now, the briefcase guarantees her to become the champion in the future. Baszler is currently on top with 2/3 odds whereas Nia Jax is closely sitting behind her with 1/3 odds. Former two-time Money in the Bank winner Carmella is at number three with 10/1 odds. It is being reported that WWE has already filmed the main attraction ladder matches for Money In The Bank 2020 at the Headquarters in Stamford.

Apparently, these two matches were given cinematic presentation using WWE Studios present at the HQ. The creative team must have been inspired by the Boneyard Match at WrestleMania 36 which received the same treatment to become very successful.

Originally, Money In The Bank 2020 was scheduled to take place at the Royal Farms Arena in Baltimore, Maryland which was canceled due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

The general belief is that while the two ladder matches were taped from the HQ, the other scheduled matches will be filmed inside the closed-set of WWE Performance Center, although it’s not officially confirmed.

The post Who Is The Favorites to win 2020 Money in the Bank ladder matches tonight? appeared first on Sport Always.

Friday night marked the go-home edition of Smackdown for 2020 Money in the Bank which brought all the final hypes together for the PPV.

The Universal Champion and his challenger for the title were set for a confrontation. Three huge tag team matches were set from men and women’s division.

Jeff Hardy came back on the show, whereas two friend-turned-foes settled the score in their first-ever match on the show that took place at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida.

Here are the results:

SmackDown opened with the highly personal Mandy Rose vs Sonya Deville matchup that witnessed a brawl all around the ringside.

Rose was in control after hitting Deville with her pendant knee and then sending her face-first into the steel steps. Rose then missed the double underhook finisher when Deville rolled her up for the win.

The Forgotten Sons, John Morrison, and The Miz competed in a tag match against The New Day and Lucha House Party. Cutler and Blake neutralized both The New Day members by power-bombing Kofi on top of Big E. Inside the ring, Morrison got a spike in the head by Dorado after missing a Starship Pain.

But Miz received the tag and hit the Skull Crushing Finale on Dorado to secure the win.

Renee Young welcomed back Jeff Hardy on SmackDown conducting an interview with him.

Sheamus was unhappy about this as seen backstage and he decided to come out questioning Hardy’s status. Things got heated up between the two of them as they started a physical encounter.Hardy executed a Twist of Fate on Sheamus before landing a Swanton Bomb on him to stand tall.

Bray Wyatt had a confrontation with WWE Universal Champion Braun Strowman on SmackDown to urge him to re-form the Wyatt Family by joining his side. Wyatt even handed him a black sheep mask asking him to do right. Strowman denied to do so and left the ring warning Wyatt that they’ll meet again this Sunday for the title match before making the exit.

Lacey Evans and Tamina Snuka competed in the scheduled tag match on SmackDown against Sasha Banks and Bayley. Tamina missed a Frogsplash move off the top rope allowing Bayley to hit her with the Bayley-to-belly followed by an Elbow Drop.

But Tamina kicked out of the pinfall before Evans knocked out Sasha with a Women’s Right on the floor. Tamina then hit Bayley with a Superkick and Samoan Drop to pick up the win.

The six-person tag team match with the lineup of Daniel Bryan, Drew Gulak, and Otis (the Mystery Partner) vs. King Baron Corbin, Shinsuke Nakamura and Cesaro was the main event of last night’s SmackDown.

Cesaro sent Otis into the ring post to neutralize him but Bryan caught Cesaro with a Running Knee. Nakamura then landed a big knee on the back of Bryan’s head to put him down on the floor.

Back in the ring, Corbin caught Gulak with the Deep-Six to secure the win. Once the match was over, Otis, Corbin, and Bryan started brawling over the MITB briefcase.

On the end, Corbin shoved Bryan off a ladder and climbed through it to pose with the briefcase and end the show.

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This week, former Barcelona star Xavi Hernandez made an interesting claim about one of Liverpool’s most prominent players.

Talking to Diario AS, the former midfielder was asked about the type of players he thought the current Barcelona side lacked. He opined that the type of profile missing at the Camp Nou was a player who boasted great technical skills, but then surprisingly proceeded to name Sadio Mané as a player the Catalan side should avoid.

The suggestion from the current Al-Sadd coach was that Mané along with Arsenal’s Pierre-Emerick Aubemayang were players who are both fast and explosive, but not necessarily great technically. “Sadio Mané and Pierre-Emerick Aubemayang can kill you in open space. But Barcelona need players who know how to move in small spaces,” said the ex-midfielder.

These comments, on the surface at least, seems very harsh on the Liverpool attacker. Whilst Xavi is correct in that the Senegal international will kill you in open space due to the fact he is an explosive speedster possessing both dynamic dancing feet and imposing upper body strength which when combined together make him an often immovable object in full stride – it doesn’t mean you can sleep on his technical abilities.

Technical skill can be tougher to quantity in Mané, but the reason for this is largely down to both Liverpool’s system and his role within the same. Across the course of Mané ’s time at Anfield, Jurgen Klopp’s Reds have tended to deploy a fast and frantic system that looks to come alive in transitions and punish teams on the counter.

Yet as Liverpool’s dominance on the pitch has grown, teams have been less inclined to open up in fixtures against Klopp’s side and instead deploy low-block systems that aim to get men behind the ball and limit space in the attacking third.

If Mané ’s game was solely reliant upon space and speed, we would have likely seen a sharp decline in his influence across the past 18 months at Liverpool. Yet, he remains as crucial as ever, and some examples of his technical abilities from fixtures prior to the outbreak of COVID-19 are below.

Note in this series of graphics taken from Liverpool’s clash with Atletico Madrid in the Champions League back in March, Sadio Mané has dropped deep as Liverpool look to build up an attack.

After performing this movement, Mané glances over his shoulder to see if the Atletico defender has followed him – which he has.

Mané is now aware his movement has created space in behind for Andy Robertson to attack. He, therefore, instructs the wing-back to quickly push on and make a darting run in behind.

The next example comes from that same game. Mané receives the ball in a stationary position from the throw-in. Given his proximity to the throw-in line and the pressure from three Atletico Madrid players around him, options are limited and there’s little chance of the Senegal international relying purely on any space or his pace.

Mané, therefore, cleverly carries the ball towards Robertson and gives the impression he is going to lay it off to the Scotsman, but he instead puts it through the legs of the Atletico marker – this action deceives both nearby defenders.

From this position, he plays an acute through pass to Gini Wijnaldum in a good location on the edge of the penalty area.

Another example of Mané ’s intelligence is in the below sequence, taken from Liverpool’s victory vs Norwich City in February. Note Mané receives the ball in a favourable location. He has the option and space to run at the Norwich defender in a 1v1 situation.

He instead holds onto the ball though and allows team-mate Mohamed Salah to make an excellent run in behind the defence. The pass is perfectly weighted meaning Salah doesn’t even need to take a touch and can instead attempt a first-time cross across the goalmouth.

All of the above highlights that there are more dimensions to Mané ’s game than just his speed in open-spaces. He is actually a player with a very high footballing IQ and quantities of technical ability.

Xavi’s issues in seeing less of his talent in this regard is more down to other factors such as team tactics rather than lack of ability. 

Not that Mané or indeed Liverpool will take too much notice about what outsiders have to say, even ones with a career as illustrious as Xavi’s. Both the club and the player know how important he is to Liverpool success and ultimately that’s all that matters. 

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The coronavirus-delayed Chinese Super League could kick off next month but without some leading foreign stars including Paulinho and Marko Arnautovic, the country’s football president has warned.

The CSL became one of the first sporting victims of the pandemic in January when its Feb 22 start date was indefinitely postponed.

It could now begin in late June but might have to do so with numerous foreign coaches and players missing because of temporary restrictions on entering the country, Chinese Football Association president Chen Xuyuan said.

“This is truly a dilemma because as we know, one third of the foreign players and even some coaches haven’t come back yet,” Chen told state broadcaster CCTV.

“Frankly speaking we will take this into consideration when starting games but we won’t wait for them all to get back before we kick off or else it will be unfair to other clubs.

“As long as we’re fully prepared in terms of epidemic prevention and control, we’ll actively start.”Advertisement

Having proclaimed it has coronavirus infections under control, China in late March indefinitely barred overseas visitors, even those with valid visas or work permits, in an effort to stem imported cases.

Fabio Cannavaro’s defending champions Guangzhou Evergrande and runners-up Beijing Guoan would be among the clubs badly impacted if foreigners are not allowed into the country by the time the CSL gets under way.

The Italian World Cup-winning captain, now coach of Evergrande, has returned to China but former Barcelona star Paulinho and fellow Brazilian Anderson Talisca are locked out the country.

Guoan are without their French coach Bruno Genesio, Brazilian international Renato Augusto and striker Cedric Bakambu, while former West Ham United forward Arnautovic has been unable to return to Shanghai SIPG.

SIPG however managed to get Brazilians Hulk and Oscar back before the bar on foreigners kicked in.

Once it is deemed safe to start, matches will be played behind closed doors initially with fans returning to stadiums in phases, Chen said, while the CSL format will likely be tweaked to squeeze games into a shorter timeframe.

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The most exciting gimmick-based event in the WWE calendar is inching closer as we’ll be receiving the 11th event of Money In The Bank chronology, this Sunday night.

It is going to be the most unique version where superstars will have to climb through the floors of WWE HQ to become winners of the opportunistic briefcase.

The fun would be double as both the men and women’s division ladder matches will be in progress, simultaneously.

Apart from these two main attractions, multiple other championship matches will also be there on the match card.

Whereas only the WWE Championship will be up for grabs from Raw, the Universal title, women’s title, and the tag team titles will be defended from the SmackDown division.

Certainly, the championship scenarios can change big-time on this unmissable edition of Money In The Bank that takes place at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida alongside the WWE Headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut. Here is the match card of 2020 Money In The Bank pay-per-view with their possible outcomes:

Party time is over for The New Day since the arrival of the Forgotten Sons on SmackDown. They targeted the greatest faction in WWE history to make a name for themselves and in fact, picked a clean pinfall win against Kofi and Big E.

It makes the former NXT UK tag team a clear favorite to win this match which is going to be chaotic affair given two more teams will also be involved in a No-Disqualification environment.

Prediction – The Forgotten Sons should become new SmackDown Tag Team Champions at Money In The Bank. In case, WWE wants to hold them back since they’ve just arrived on the main roster, The New Day might retain but the heel team won’t be out of the title picture.

Going by the progression of this storyline over the SmackDown Women’s Championship, it’s pretty clear that WWE is rather focused on building Sasha Banks vs Bayley marquee feud than this match at Money In The Bank. Using Tamina was a cunning idea to put over Bayley’s longest reign with the belt as well as escalate the soon-to-begin program with Sasha. For now, The Boss will be present on the champ’s corner helping her to retain.

Prediction – Bayley is a clear-cut winner against the Samoan opponent with the help of her best friend, Sasha Banks. In the meantime, there could be some difference in opinion that would continue teasing Sasha vs Bayley in the future.

WWE is cleverly using the history between Strowman and Wyatt to build up this rivalry. Previously, the expectation was that Strowman is just a makeshift champion who’d drop the belt to Wyatt, right away. But Wyatt’s Fiend version is not competing at Money In The Bank which indicates there could be some backup plans in store. Perhaps, WWE plans to use The Fiend at the very next pay-per-view stretching the feud. Hence, there’s a chance that The Monster Among Men retains his belt, somehow. But Wyatt will be focused to get back the title in weeks to follow.

Prediction – Braun Strowman might retain against the Firefly Funhouse version of Wyatt only to be fed to the demonic Fiend, perhaps at the next pay-per-view event.

The Scottish Psychopath is well on his way to becoming the next top babyface name of the Monday Night Raw roster following his win over The Beast Incarnate Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 36 and who better to put him over than the top-most heel available on the show, Seth Rollins? So WWE creative team decided to book him in the much-predicted feud against the self-proclaimed Monday Night Messiah who now claims to win back the gold for the sake of the fans. He will try to come up with mean antics like using his disciple Murphy for distraction but McIntyre will overcome all the odds to retain his title and continue to look strong.

Prediction – Drew McIntyre will ‘Claymore’ his way to claim another dominant championship victory in his title reign.

Before moving into predicting the winner, it should be noted that Money In The Bank ladder matches would be given a major cinematic treatment.

Hosting two matches at the same time where superstars will climb through the roof, will be worth the watch where we expect superstars to perform some mind-boggling stunts.

As for the winner from the women’s division ladder match, it’s certain that it’d be someone from the Raw roster as it was declared that the Raw Women’s Champion Becky Lynch will confront her on next Monday Night.

Shayna Baszler is the automatic choice to be in this spot considering she still has some unfinished business with The Man that resumes following Money In The Bank ladder match win.

Prediction – The Queen of Spades is the favorite to capture the MITB briefcase to ensure her WrestleMania 36 feud with Becky Lynch continues for weeks to follow. This program almost guarantees that Lynch will finally drop her belt after having more than a one-year-long run.

The post Match card with predictions for 2020 WWE Money In The Bank appeared first on Sport Always.

Atletico Madrid’s highly-touted defensive midfield star Thomas Partey wants to make Arsenal his next club, according to reports.

The Ghana international impressed Premier League audiences with two strong displays as his Spanish side dumped holders Liverpool out of the Champions League in the last 16.

News since then that he wants a move to England has put plenty of clubs on alert but it seems that the player himself has picked Arsenal as his chosen destination, say The Telegraph.

That will be music to the ears of Gunners boss Mikel Arteta, who had identified Partey as a key transfer target earlier this season.

And Arsenal fans will also be thrilled if the deal can be done with many saying that defensive midfielder Partey could finally be the man to step up and perform the shielding role that no-one has done properly since club legend Patrick Vieira departed north London.

The 26-year-old has 15 goals and 12 assists in his 174 appearances for Atletico which also shows he can be a creative force as well although that side of his play will be seen as a bonus.

Partey has a £45million release clause although, in the current uncertain financial climate with transfer fees set to be reduced, it’s uncertain if Arsenal would trigger it.

However, one other option believed to be on the table is that Arsenal and Atletico do a swap deal.

That would see French striker Alexandre Lacazette go the other way, with Arteta believing that he has enough cover up front.

Other options mentioned include like-for-like swaps and a cash adjustment involving Matteo Guendouzi and Granit Xhaka while Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has also been mentioned although it seems less likely that Arteta would want to lose such a prized asset.

Another twist to Partey’s potential move came last month when the striker’s father, Jacob, said talks with the Gunners had already taken place.

The player’s agent was quick to dismiss the claims as totally untrue although the news that Partey wants to make The Emirates his new home could be the key factor to prompt the two clubs to get together and discuss his move from the Wanda Metropolitano.

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The German government is reportedly ready to give the green light to Bundesliga clubs to resume matches from May 15 under strict conditions behind closed doors.

Germany’s state premiers will agree on measures to further ease coronavirus restrictions in a teleconference with Chancellor Angela Merkel scheduled for Wednesday, two people familiar with the preparations told Reuters.

The state premiers are expected to give the green light for large shops to reopen, probably from May 11, the sources said.

German states are also set to allow the Bundesliga soccer league to resume matches, probably from May 15, under strict conditions without fans in stadiums, the sources said.

At the same time, state premiers will allow outdoor sports for non-professionals and children, the sources added.

Meanwhile, the Hungarian professional football season, suspended because of the coronavirus outbreak since mid-March, will re-start on May 23 with two Cup ties and a league game, the country’s football federation (MLSZ) said.

However, the lower divisions would conclude immediately as would all futsal, amateur and junior league seasons, it said in a statement.

The announcement means that Hungary is one of a handful of European countries to confirm a start date for the resumption of the season alongside Poland (May 29) and Portugal (May 30).

The country has so far reported 3,051 confirmed COVID-19 cases, including 351 deaths, a relatively modest number due mainly to an early and strict lockdown.

The MLSZ said that “all matches (will be) subject to strict conditions to safeguard the health of all concerned” and would be played behind closed doors.

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The WWE presents the first pay-per-view after WrestleMania in the form of the Money in the Bank 2020, which is headlined by a new gimmick “Corprate Ladder” match.

This year, WWE Superstars will have to risk it all to win the groundbreaking editions of the Money in the Bank Matches. The match begins on the ground floor of WWE Headquarters, but the briefcases – containing contracts for a championship match anytime, anyplace – will be hanging all the way up on the roof of the corporate tower.

Apart from the traditional ladder matches from the men’s and women’s division, there are many title matches which have been announced for the show, which will feature superstars from Monday Night Raw and Friday Night SmackDown rosters.

While, the WWE Championship, Universal Championship, SmackDown Women’s championship, SmackDown Tag championship have all been made official for the event, many more matches will be announced in days to come.

The event was orignally scheduled to take place at the Royal Farms Arena in Baltimore, Maryland, but the venue cancelled all shows due to the coronavirus pandemic. So, the promotion announced a new venue with a new gimmick match.

Here is all you need to know about WWE Money in the Bank 2020:

When and where is Money in the Bank 2020 taking place?

The pay-per-view is scheduled to take place at the WWE’s “Titan Towers” global headquarters building in Stamford, Connecticut on Sunday, May 10th 2020.

What time does Money in the Bank 2020 start?

Kickoff: 10th May 2020 at 6 PM ET | 3:30 AM (Monday 11th May 2020)

Main Show: 10th May 2020 at 7 PM ET | 4:30 AM IST (Monday 11th May 2020)

Where to watch Money In The Bank 2020?

Money In The Bank 2020 will be streamed live on the WWE Network. The WWE Network can be used to watch this event across all streaming devices through the WWE App on mobiles, tablets, Smart TVs and consoles.

You can also watch the Money In The Bank 2020 on TV on Monday 11th May 2020 at 4:30 AM IST EXLUSIVELY on SONY TEN 1 and SONY TEN 3 Channels.

Match Card (To be updated) Men’s MITB Ladder Match:

Daniel Bryan vs. Aleister Black vs. Apollo Crews vs. Rey Mysterio vs. King Corbin vs.Superstars still to be named

Women’s MITB Ladder Match: Shayna Baszler vs. Nia Jax vs. Asuka vs. Dana Brooke vs. Lacey Evans vs. Superstars still to be named

WWE Championship Match: Drew McIntyre (c) vs. Seth Rollins

Universal Championship Match: Braun Strowman (c) vs. Bray Wyatt SmackDown

Women’s Championship Match: Bayley (c) vs. Tamina

Fatal 4-Way Match for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship:

The New Day Vs The Miz & John Morrison Vs The Forgotten Sons and Lucha House Party

The post WWE Money In The Bank 2020: Fixture and Match Card appeared first on Sport Always.