Sports

BARCELONA — Atletico Madrid have built a reputation for gargantuan achievements under coach Diego Simeone and have not given up hope of a remarkable turnaround against Real Madrid in Wednesday’s Champions League semifinal second leg.

Last week’s chastening 3-0 defeat at the Bernabeu left Atletico needing a repeat of their sensational 4-0 win over their fierce local rivals in La Liga in 2015 to prevent a fourth straight European defeat by Real side who have not lost by more than one goal this campaign.

Real have also scored in each of their last 60 games in all competitions, increasing the likelihood of an away goal which would oblige Atletico to win by four goals to reach the final.

Real thrashed Granada 4-0 on Saturday despite Zinedine Zidane making nine changes from the team that beat Atletico so convincingly, while Simeone only rested one player in his side’s 1-0 victory over Eibar.

With Real feeling fresher and their confidence soaring as they remain on track to win the domestic title, all signs point to the 11-times European champions piling more misery on their neighbours who they beat in the 2014 and 2016 finals.

Simeone, however, offered a typically defiant message ahead of the second leg, alluding to his side’s remarkable title win in 2014 and their Champions League successes over the likes of Barcelona, Chelsea and Bayern Munich.

“On Wednesday we have an extremely difficult game which for some would be impossible, but not for us,” Simeone told reporters.

“After the last game I told the players it was very tough, that we’re facing the best team in the world that scores in every game but we can do it. I’m convinced we can, if I wasn’t I wouldn’t say so.”

Captain Gabi, meanwhile, is taking inspiration from Barcelona’s record-breaking comeback from a four-goal deficit against Paris St Germain this season.

“Of course we can do it, look at Barcelona, and they had an even more difficult result,” he said.

“We’re convinced we can do it, we’re going to fight for it and if not we can at least go out with our heads held high.”

Atletico were boosted on Sunday by the return of defender Jose Gimenez to training although they are still without right backs Juanfran and Sime Vrsaljko, who they missed badly in the first leg as they struggled to cause Real’s defence any problems.

Real have won only one of their last eight league games against Atletico but have found the magic formula against their rivals in the Champions League, which winger Lucas Vazquez said was due to their history in the competition.

“Real Madrid have a special connection with Europe and the fans feel the same way. Playing in a Champions League game for Madrid gives you goosebumps,” he said.

“Every game against Atletico is difficult because they are a great team but we know how to beat them.”

TORONTO — The Cleveland Cavaliers remain undefeated in their first eight play-off games this season.

That does not mean it has been easy, even though they were able to complete a four-game sweep of their Eastern Conference semifinal series on Sunday afternoon with a 109-102 victory over the Toronto Raptors after giving up the lead in the fourth quarter.

“We understand it’s never easy especially in a close-out game,” said Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving, who scored 11 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter and added nine assists. “There’s desperation at their end and desperation at our end.”

LeBron James scored 35 points, grabbed nine rebounds and had six assists to lead the Cavaliers, who won the NBA championship last season and will play either the Boston Celtics or Washington Wizards in the Eastern Conference finals.

“Winning close-out games is always tough,” Cleveland coach Tyronn Lue said. “Give credit to [Raptors coach Dwane] Casey, he had them ready to play, they came out and competed. They made threes today, it was tough on us.”

The Raptors were playing without point guard Kyle Lowry, who sustained a sprained left ankle in Game 2 on Wednesday. He was in uniform for Game 3 but did not play and was scratched from Game 4.

“They have good players, even without Kyle,” Lue said.

Casey said, “It’s tough because we know we can play better than we did in the first two games, and we didn’t. Today, I thought the players laid it on the line. I thought the guys played with grit, toughness, togetherness. ...

“[The Cavaliers] present so many problems offensively, they have so many weapons. ... The way they were making shots, and they were well-guarded, you’re going to have to score 117-118 points a night to beat them.”

Cleveland had a 12-point lead after the first half and entered the fourth quarter ahead by five.

The Raptors took a 93-92 lead with 6:38 to play when Serge Ibaka made a free throw to complete a three-point play.

Irving put the Cavaliers back on top with a 3-pointer and with 5:34 to go and made two free throws to make it a four-point lead.

Irving’s layup with four minutes remaining had Cleveland ahead by eight points.

“In that fourth quarter, I just went to [isolations] for Kyrie,” Lue said.

“We needed that spark,” said James, who hit a 3-pointer with just under three minutes left to put the Cavaliers ahead by 11.

“They went to him on isos,” Raptors point guard Cory Joseph said. “I tried my best... but he made some tough shots.”

“A lot of the offence was on LeBron’s shoulders,” said Irving, who was willing to share the load.

James had nine points in the fourth quarter.

Kyle Korver added 18 points, including 4 of 6 on 3-point attempts, for the Cavaliers off the bench, and Channing Frye contributed 10 points.

Ibaka scored 23 points for the Raptors, DeMar DeRozan had 22 points and eight assists, Joseph scored 20 points and added 12 assists, P.J. Tucker had 14 points and 12 rebounds, and Norman Powell scored 10 points.

“You have to give them credit, they are a heck of a 3-point-shooting team,” DeRozan said. “They get hot, one of the best shooters in the league in Kyle Korver. They do a great job of getting him going and it showed tonight.

“They’re a hell of a team for a reason. They have one of the greatest players of all time. It’s something that we great experience with playing these guys two years in row [in the play-offs, including the Eastern Conference finals last year] and we just have to figure it out. ... It’s going to be a long summer.”

Toronto led by as many as 11 points in the first quarter that ended tied at 28. DeRozan left the game briefly with 8:07 to play in the second quarter after he was inadvertently kicked in the midsection while guarding Iman Shumpert.

The Cavaliers opened a 14-point lead on Korver’s 3-pointer late in the first half.

Cleveland led 61-49 at the intermission with James and Korver leading the scoring with 16 points apiece. Korver, who did not play in the first quarter, was 6 of 8 in the second quarter, including his four 3-pointers.

The Cavaliers got their lead up to 16 points in the third quarter before the Raptors chipped away to reduce the lead to seven points on Ibaka’s 3-pointer from the corner with 4:44 to play.

Tucker closed out the scoring in the third quarter with a 3-pointer from the corner to cut Cleveland’s lead to 85-80.

Tucker opened the scoring in the fourth quarter with a 3-pointer to slice the deficit to two points. The Raptors trimmed the lead to one point early in the fourth on a 3-point shot by Fred VanVleet but James answered with a 3-pointer.

Wizards 121, Celtics 102

Bradley Beal scored 29 points and Washington reeled off 26 straight points in the third quarter to beat Boston in Game 4 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series.

John Wall finished with 27 points after missing his first nine shots and 12 assists for the Wizards, who evened the best-of-seven series 2-2 after Boston won the first two games at home.

Washington shot 52.4 per cent from the field and outscored Boston 42-20 in the third quarter. Wall, Beal and Markieff Morris combined for 34 points in the period.

LONDON — Swansea City have achieved “something special” in climbing out of the Premier League’s relegation zone but, with the end of the season in sight, the battle to maintain their top-flight status is still in the balance, manager Paul Clement said.

After Hull City lost at home to Sunderland on Saturday, Swansea capitalised to climb above them with a tense 1-0 victory over Everton.

Fernando Llorente headed the hosts in front midway through the first half but, with broadcasters showing Swansea supporters biting their fingernails and holding their heads in their hands, Everton laid siege to their goal in the closing stages.

The Welsh side hung on to climb out of the drop zone having claimed seven points from three games.

“It is one of my proudest moments today. What a fantastic, gritty performance. It was so important we got that result today after what happened at Hull,” Clement told BT Sport. 

“We have hit some form both offensively and especially defensively. We have played against really good opposition and seven points from three games is a fantastic tally.

“It gave us a lift before the game knowing that [Hull] result had gone in our favour; we knew if we did something special we could get out of the relegation zone.”

With games remaining against relegated Sunderland and West Bromwich Albion, Swansea appear to have a kinder run-in than Hull, who face Crystal Palace and Tottenham Hotspur. 

“We are confident we can go anywhere and get a result with the form we’re in. We’re focused on Sunderland on Saturday,” Clement told the BBC.

“It’s not done. It just shows what happened this weekend, the swing can go with you one week and then go against you. We’ve got to try and pick up all three points.”

Swansea were led by the superb Alfie Mawson who kept the Premier League’s most lethal marksman, Romelu Lukaku, quiet all game and calmly marshalled their defence throughout.

“We knew what we had to do, go out there and hope we can get a result regardless of Hull’s,” the impressive 23-year-old told the BBC.

“We were thinking ‘please hold on’ and Sunderland did us a favour ‘but we have to go there next week. The atmosphere was fantastic. That’s why we’re paying for 3,000 [fans] to come up next week. Through the trenches, they’ve been with us.”

AMMAN  — Without having to resort to a title deciding match, Faisali sealed the Jordan Professional Football League and took home their 33rd league title after a four year hiatus.

The last matches of the 2016-17 league switched final standings and caused major changes especially in the bottom half of the standings.

As Jazira and Wihdat alternated the lead, while Faisali looked like the most unlikely champs earlier in the season. The team has won the league title a record 32 times, but had lost their aptitude in the past four years when Wihdat dominated.

Ahli won the first major competition on the 2016/17 football calendar, when they beat reigning league champs Wihdat 2-1 to win the 34th Super Cup. In the Jordan Football Association Shield, Shabab Urdun scored a major 5-1 win over Faisali to win their second Shield title after they first won in 2007. 

However, Faisali’s 4-0 win over Sahab took them atop the standings on the final day of the league, as three-time champs Jazira, who were last league champs in 1956 needed a win to take them up the podium. However, Jazira were held 0-0 by Ahli and settled for second.

Titleholders Wihdat settled for third after a 2-1 win over Hussein ,while newcomers Manshieh finished fourth after a 2-1 win over Ramtha.

Both Baqa’a and That Ras held on to their spots in the league after Baqa’a scored a 3-1 win over Shabab Urdun while That Ras ousted Sarih 2-0 as the latter was relegated with Sahab to the 1st League.

Faisali took home JD120,000, Jazira JD80,000, Wihdat JD35,000, Manshieh JD15,000. 

Jazira’s Syrian pro Mardig Mardigian won the top scorer award with 14 goals and took home JD5,000 in prize money.

Regionally, Wihdat have made it to the Round of 16 in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup after exiting the Asian Champions League earlier in the season. After losing the chance to win their fourth consecutive and 16th overall league title, now they still have the Jordan Cup semis ahead. Ahli, playing in the AFC Cup for the first time, finished third in AFC Cup Group A and were eliminated from the first round.

The Jordan Cup semis are set to see Wihdat play Faisali while Ramtha meet Jazira on May 12 and 16 before playing the final on May 20.

Last season, Wihdat retained the title with Faisali, Ahli, Jazira and Shabab Urdun in top five spots. It was Wihdat’s third consecutive and 15th league title since they moved up to the Professional League in 1975. Faisali beat Wihdat to clinch the Super Cup while it was Ahli, who after years in the backstage, beat Shabab Urdun to win their first Jordan Cup final.

AMMAN — A superb weekend of 3x3 basketball has ended with the A Team taking the honours at the Spring Championships held at King Hussein Business Park in Amman.

By winning the men’s title, the A team will now have the opportunity to play in a second qualifying event to reach the world tour, with Chinese Taipei their next stop from September 9-10. Al Shabab finished second while the Fox team took third.

In the Men’s U-18 event, the Falcons clinched first, while the 3X3 team that will compete in next week’s Baku Islamic Games finished second. The Amigos took third. ‘‘Swish’’ won the Women’s category followed by Slam Dank, while the 3X3 team participating at the U-18 Asian Cup later this month, took third.

AMMAN — Fencing in Jordan seems to be on the right track after more medals were secured at the Arab Junior Fencing Championship being hosted by the Kingdom’s Fencing Federation, according to the Jordan Olympic Committee News Service.

The female junior team took gold in the Epee weapon, beating Lebanon with both Palestine and the UAE settling for bronze. Jordan then also won the Foil competition, followed by the UAE and Lebanon.

Kuwait took gold in the boys’ Foil, followed by Jordan in second and Iraq in third. Kuwait lead the medal standings with five gold, two silver and five bronze with Jordan close behind on three gold, four silver and five bronze. Lebanon are third with one gold and two bronze medals.

Faisali football team celebrates the club’s 33rd Premier League title after defeating Sahab 4-0 on Saturday.

Their closest rival, Al Jazeera, withdrew with Al Ahli 0-0 in a match played simultaneously with the former.

Sahab, accompanied by Al Sarih, dropped to the First League 

AMMAN — He began the event as the firm favourite, but Qatar’s Nasser Saleh Al Attiyah was in devastating form to completely dominate the FIA Jordan Rally in his new Autotek-run Ford Fiesta R5 Evo 2, according to the Jordan Rally News Service.

The 12-time regional rally champion won all the special stages for the second successive year and reached the finish at the Dead Sea with a winning margin of 16min 09.3sec.

It was the perfect result for the Qatari and French navigator Matthieu Baumel after their retirement in round one in February, and keeps the Qatari in the hunt for a 13th title, despite the fact that he still trails Kuwait’s Meshari Al Thefiri by seven points in the unofficial championship standings. The victory was Attiyah’s 64th in MERC history; Baumel has now taken 13 as a co-driver.

“The car was fantastic, no issues at all and I was able to control my pace and take no risks,” said Attiyah. “The future of this championship is important to me and Jordan as a rally is one of the strongest anywhere with its organisation and important to a great many people. It has a proud tradition and deserves a strong future.”

The all-Jordanian crew of Marouf Abu Samra and navigator Malik Hariri returned to the Jordan Rally for the first time since 2014 and settled in superbly, despite only running a brief pre-event test on the old Turki stage. They produced an impressive career-best performance to seal second position and victory in MERC 2.

Abu Samra’s feat marked the first time in 36 years that a Jordanian driver had finished second in the Jordan Rally – the late Nabil Dirani completed the event behind Lebanon’s Michel Saleh at the wheel of a Renault 17 Gordini in 1981.

Kuwait’s Meshari Al Thefiri began the event in strong contention for both the MERC and MERC 2 titles and third overall did the Mitsubishi Lancer driver’s chances no harm at all. He now leads the MERC 2 Championship outright by an unofficial 21 points and heads to Cyprus as the outright MERC leader.

Khaled and Emad Juma closed the gap on the Kuwaiti over the closing stages on Friday afternoon, after overcoming an exhaust-related fire, but a broken turbocharger for two and a half stages through Saturday morning’s loop cost the Jordanians any chance of snatching a podium finish. They eventually retired with mechanical problems on the second run through Shuna.

Saudi Arabia’s Rakan Al Rashed used the Rally 2 ruling to regain fifth place after clutch woes, and he and Finnish co-driver Jarkko Kalliolepo moved up to fourth in his Mahara Racing-run Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX before retiring on the road section to the final stage with fuel pump issues.

Jordan’s Ihab Al Shorafa and Asem Aref rounded off the FIA finishers in fourth and fifth places after Kuwait’s Essam Al Nejadi and Salem Al Thefiri retired their Mitsubishis with mechanical issues after SS13.

Ahmad Shaban rolled out of the 2nd National Rally in the unlucky 13th Jordan River stage and was unable to challenge the eventual runaway winner Salamah Al Gammaz. The Jordanian reached the finish 13min 04.3sec clear of the father and son crew of former Arabic teacher Ziad Miqdad and his son Hassan. Nasser Khanfar and Burhan Abu Gura were third.

Cars were flagged over the finish podium by HRH Princess Ayah, the daughter of HRH Prince Feisal, chairman of Jordan Motor Sport.

The event ran thanks to a huge national effort supported by the Jordanian government and its security and safety services.

All nine FIA cars and four runners in the 2nd National Rally began the opening 15km Shuna stage that preceded runs through the Jordan River and Baptism Site stages and the return to service at the Dead Sea. The opener was slightly delayed while some spectators were relocated, and Attiyah increased his lead to 9min 49.6sec.

Thefiri managed to fend off a struggling Juma to strengthen his hold on third place heading to the 31.01km of the renowned Jordan River stage. Attiyah just missed out on breaking the 23-minute barrier for the longest timed section of the event and another fastest time pushed the Qatari 11min 37.9sec in front of Abu Samra, who had sustained a flat tyre three kilometres into the Shuna stage.

Ongoing turbo charger issues wrecked Juma’s chance of threatening AThefiri’s hold on third. Ahmad Shaban rolled his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI out of the 2nd National Rally and enabled Salamah Al Gammaz to take a massive lead into the remaining five stages.

Attiyah reached service with a lead of 12min 14.5sec and there were large gaps between drivers inside the top six after Juma dropped another three minutes to Thefiri through Baptism with his turbo charger woes. “We had to complete two-and-a-half stages like this,” groaned the Jordanian.

The road section between Jordan River and Baptism spelt the end of the line for Essam Al Nejadi (overheating) and Salem Al Thefiri (mechanical).

Attiyah survived the second loop of stages and a repeat of Thursday night’s super special to secure the victory, while Abu Samra and Al Thefiri did enough to consolidate second and third overall. Juma was sidelined on the stage after service with mechanical problems and his demise lifted Rashed to fourth, only for the Saudi to retire within sight of the finish with fuel pump issues.

The third round of the FIA Middle East Rally Championship takes place in Cyprus on June 16-18.