Celtic boss Ronny Deila claims clarity regarding his future lay behind the convincing victory over Hearts at Tynecastle.
The Norwegian will leave at the end of the season and is virtually certain to take with him a second successive Premiership title following the 3-1 away win.
Deila said: “There was so much speculation around my position and when you get negativity all around you, it affects the performances,” he said.
“In the end, the process around me was affecting the players and I could see it.
“At Hearts you saw a team focused on football and now the club can go forward and have a good foundation to have a very good next season as well.”
Basel champions
FC Basel predictably clinched their seventh successive Swiss title with five games to spare by beating FC Sion 2-1.
Matias Delgado, with a penalty, and Birkir Bjarnason scored in each half for Basel, who have led the table since the second day of the season and never looked in danger after winning their first eight games.
Unbeaten in the league since November, Basel took an unassailable 16-point lead over Young Boys whose 2-1 win at Grasshoppers was in vain.
Grasshoppers remain Switzerland’s most successful club domestically with 27 league titles, followed by Basel on 19.
Adelaide end long A-League wait
Adelaide United claimed a long-awaited A-League title yesterday with a nerve-jangling 3-1 win that consigned Western Sydney Wanderers to a third dose of heartbreak in the Australian championship decider.
Roared on by a sell-out Adelaide Oval crowd and inspired by some Latin magic, the home side had to fight off a spirited second half fightback by the Wanderers, who were playing their third Grand Final in four years.
The visitors pushed desperately for an equaliser but substitute Pablo Sanchez put the game out of reach in the final minute to send the red-clad crowd of 50,000 into delirium.
Qatar investigates death at WCup site
The organisers of Qatar’s 2022 World Cup said yesterday they were investigating the death of an Indian labourer at one of its sites but denied it was caused by working conditions which the wealthy Gulf country is under pressure to improve.
Along with accusations of corruption during its World Cup bid, Qatar has long been under fire from rights groups for labour abuses.
Last week, world soccer body FIFA urged Qatar to hasten improvements for builders on World Cup sites and said it would monitor conditions.
Hummels shrugs off Dortmund boo-boys
Borussia Dortmund defender Mats Hummels played down the reaction of some fans at the Westfalenstadion to his decision to leave the club.
Hummels was jeered each time he touched the ball on his first appearance for the Westphalians since putting in a transfer request and saying he intends to join Bayern Munich.
A banner was also held up by a group of Dortmund fans saying he should leave “straight away”, but Hummels shrugged it all off after helping his side to a 5-1 win over Wolfsburg.
“They were not the real fans – they were just a group of about 300 who never really loved me in the first place, and they just used this as a stage to vent their anger,” Hummels said.
Napoli to offer Mertens new deal
Napoli denied winger Dries Mertens is seeking a move away from the club and yesterday said they will be offering the Belgian a new contract until 2020.
Mertens appeared to be on his way out after an interview last week in which he said he would leave Napoli this summer.
Napoli issued a statement, saying: “SSC Napoli would like to specify that Dries Mertens’s interview with Nieuwsblad dates from last year, when he played with the Belgium national team.”
Yesterday, Gazzetta dello Sport said Napoli are now looking to extend Mertens’s contract.
Bayern move irks Schalke’s Heldt
Schalke’s director of sport Horst Heldt has accused Bayern Munich of disrespecting the rest of the Bundesliga by fielding a weakened team on Saturday.
Bayern coach Pep Guardiola made eight changes to the side he fielded in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final and Heldt felt this gave Borussia Mgladbach an unfair advantage.
Gladbach drew 1-1 in Munich to move one point ahead of Schalke in the standings.
“It just gets on your nerves,” Heldt said.
“But you just have to look at the team Bayern fielded and you could have expected as much.”
Gladbach’s point keeps them in the driving seat in the race to finish fourth and qualify for the Champions League.