Pjanic: Roma have extended midfielder Miralem Pjanic’s contract for another three years until June 2018, the Serie A club said yesterday. The announcement ended speculation that the Bosnia international, who joined Roma in 2011 from Olympique Lyon, could be on his way to Paris St Germain at the end of the season. Pjanic has enjoyed an outstanding season for Roma, scoring six goals in 34 outings and helping them finish second in Serie A behind champions Juventus.
Paderborn: Little-known Paderborn sealed their first promotion to the Bundesliga yesterday after coming from a goal down to beat Aalen 2-1 and cap a superb season to follow already-promoted Cologne to the top division. The North Rhine-Westphalia club has an annual budget of six million euros. Goals from Marc Vucinovic and Mario Vrancic quickly turned the game around after Joel Pohjanpalo had put visitors Aalen ahead in the ninth minute.
Mainz: Mainz 05 coach Thomas Tuchel stepped down yesterday after five years in charge and after the team qualified for a Europa League spot but the club said the status of his contract was unclear. Tuchel informed the team of his decision to leave after Saturday’s 3-2 win over Hamburg SV that secured seventh place in the Bundesliga and a spot in the playoff stage of Europe’s second-tier club competition. “We would have liked if that happened in 2015. This is a difficult situation for Mainz,” sports director Christian Heidel said.
Violence: Zenit St Petersburg’s Russian championship clash with Dynamo Moscow was abandoned in the 87th minute yesterday after Zenit fans invaded the pitch and Dynamo defender Vladimir Granat was punched in the head. Zenit were losing 4-2 in a match that threatened to dent their title challenge when fans ran on to the field and tried to confront the players. One managed to get near enough to Granat to swing a punch that connected, despite the Dynamo captain trying to defuse the situation.
Anzhi: Anzhi Makhachkala were relegated from the Russian Premier League yesterday, continuing the fall from grace of the one-time big- spenders. Anzhi’s 1-0 loss to FC Krasnodar saw the team from the volatile Dagestan region lose their top-flight status after a miserable season in which they have picked up three wins from 29 matches.