Dortmund ease into Champions League last 16 after Sporting stalemate

BARCELONA, Spain: Dani Olmo scored after coming off the bench to help Barcelona win 2-0 at Las Palmas on Saturday and stay top of the Spanish league.
Lamine Yamal linked up with Olmo to find a seam in the hosts’ defense in the 62nd minute. Olmo took Yamal’s threaded pass, shifted the ball to his left foot to open an angle around a defender, and fired the ball in off the underside of the bar.
While Olmo went on at halftime, Ferran Torres only played the final minutes and drilled in a second goal from angle in stoppage time.
Barcelona avenged a shock home loss to the Canary Islands club in November as it ensured it will spend another week atop the standings.
The team coached by Hansi Flick is one point ahead of Atletico Madrid, which won 3-0 at Valencia earlier on Saturday. Real Madrid is three points back before facing Girona on Sunday without the suspended Jude Bellingham.
Barcelona plays the first leg of its Copa del Rey semifinal against Atletico on Tuesday.
Álvarez nets double
Julián Álvarez scored twice to lead Atletico to a comfortable win at Mestalla Stadium.
Antoine Griezmann played a part in both of Álvarez’s first-half goals with a pair of finely placed lobs inside Valencia’s box.
Álvarez finished off a move in the 12th inside Valencia’s area that started with a lifted pass from Griezmann that Samuel Lino volleyed off the bar. Guiliano Simeone was first to the rebound and tapped it to Álvarez to ram into the net.
Griezmann was again left with space and time to think inside the area before he landed a perfectly placed pass between Valencia’s center backs for Álvarez to gently nod off the turf and inside the post on the half-hour mark.
Ángel Correa completed the scoring with four minutes remaining.
“We are still in the fight,” Álvarez said.
Valencia remained in the relegation zone.
Villarreal stays in the fight for fourth
Villarreal striker Ayoze Pérez netted his 11th league goal of the campaign in a 1-0 victory at 10-man Rayo Vallecano.
The result kept Villarreal in fifth place and challenging for a Champions League berth that go to the top four finishers. Athletic Bilbao is fourth and just one point ahead.
Rayo played with 10 men after Jorge de Frutos saw a red card for a studs-first foul just before halftime. The Madrid-based club also lost top midfielder Isi Palazón early in the game to an apparent leg injury. Pérez scored in the 66th.
First away win
Espanyol won its first away game of the season thanks to a header by Fernando Calero and the goalkeeping of Joan García to beat Alaves 1-0 on the road.
The loss left Alaves coach Eduardo Coudet under added pressure with his team in danger of the drop.

RIYADH: Japan’s Forever Young hunted down Hong Kong racing royalty Romantic Warrior to land the world’s richest race, the $20 million Saudi Cup in Riyadh on Saturday.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman attended the event and handed the trophy and additional prizes to the winning team.

During his attendance at the event at the King Abdulaziz Racecourse in the capital, the crown prince also met with FIFA president Gianni Infantino and Al-Nassr and Portugal superstar Cristiano Ronaldo.

Romantic Warrior is the highest-earning racehorse of all time, turning up at the Saudi capital with almost $23 million (22m euros) in the bank.

The seven-year-old gelding looked destined to add significantly to his prize pot when he went well clear round the home turn in this his first ever outing on dirt.

Under his regular New Zealand jockey James McDonald, Romantic Warrior set sail for home, dollar signs flashing.

But Ryusei Sakai on board Forever Young went in hot pursuit.

The pair relentlessly closed the three length-gap, passing Romantic Warrior 50 meters from the post.

“Unbelievable,” beamed winning trainer Yoshito Yahagi.

“Romantic Warrior is such a strong horse, we respected him but our horse was better today. When Romantic Warrior passed us, I thought we could still come back,” he added.

Chairman of the Equestrian Authority and the Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia (JCSA), Prince Bandar bin Khalid bin Faisal, thanked the Saudi leadership for its patronage and support of the event.

“I extend my highest gratitude and appreciation to King Salman, honorary president of the Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia, and to the crown prince, for their great and continuous support of this global event,” he said.

“This event receives the keen attention of the crown prince, who has dedicated all resources to ensuring its continued success and its prominent position on the global stage of horse racing. This has contributed to its international recognition and follow-up from various tracks and federations worldwide.

“On my behalf and on behalf of the members of the JCSA and the entire equestrian community, I extend my renewed gratitude to the wise leadership for the attention and support we receive in the Kingdom, which contribute to the advancement of this unique event,” he added.

* With AFP