Messi: Barcelona forward Lionel Messi had physiotherapy and did some fitness work yesterday as the World Player of the Year tried to shake off a hamstring strain before Wednesday’s Champions League quarter-final, second leg at home to Paris St Germain. Messi suffered the injury in last week’s first leg in Paris, which ended 2-2, and had to be substituted at half-time.
Match halted: A United Arab Emirates league match between Al Ain and Al Ahli ended early on Saturday after an object thrown from the stands struck an assistant referee and left him bleeding. The referee stopped the match after his assistant was hit by a metallic object during the three minutes of added time, the missile hurled from the section containing home Al Ahli fans, who were angered after a late penalty appeal was turned down. The score was 0-0.
Metzelder: Schalke defender Christoph Metzelder said he would be honoured to receive an offer from Bayern Munich to form part of the backroom staff of future coach Pep Guardiola. The former Germany international has been linked with a move to Bayern by Spanish radio station Radio Marca with his linguistic ability and knowledge of German football making him a candidate to assist Guardiola when he takes charge of the Bavarian giants in the summer.
Roar: Brisbane Roar kept alive their hopes of an unprecedented A-League three-peat with a convincing 2-1 elimination final win over Adelaide United at Hindmarsh Stadium. A magnificent Luke Brattan goal was just reward for the visitors’ extended dominance before Ivan Franjic appeared to seal it moments before half-time. Dario Vidosic scored late on for United, but the Roar held their nerve and deserved their victory.
Ajax: Ajax stayed on course for their third straight Dutch league title with a 4-0 win over Heracles Almelo yesterday despite having keeper Kenneth Vermeer sent off early in the second half. With five matches remaining, Ajax are top with 63 points, three ahead of PSV Eindhoven and Vitesse Arnhem, who had wins over Willem II Tilburg and NAC Breda respectively on Saturday. Feyenoord are fourth with 59 points following a 1-0 home win over lowly VVV Venlo on Friday.
In Serbia: Serbian champions Partizan Belgrade’s lead was cut to four points after they lost 2-1 at home to Vojvodina Novi Sad yesterday and 1991 European Cup winners Red Star Belgrade won 1-0 at bottom club Smederevo. Partizan, chasing a record sixth successive league title, have 51 points from 22 matches. Red Star have 47 while Vojvodina stayed third with 44.