Football / Sports

BELGIUM DOMINATES POLAND IN STATEMENT NATIONS LEAGUE WIN

Five days after suffering a 4-1 shellacking by the archrival Netherlands — a defeat that left many wondering if the No. 2-ranked Red Devils really have what it takes to lift the World Cup later this year — Belgium responded in convincing fashion Wednesday, with a 6-1 comeback victory over Poland in both teams’ second match of the 2022-23 UEFA Nations League.

Polish star Robert Lewandowski opened the scoring against the run of play in the 26th minute, but Roberto Martinez’s team, which squandered several chances to take an early lead in Brussels, equalized through Axel Witsel before the first half was over.

In the second half, the hosts dominated, eventually turning the match into a farce with five unanswered strikes from Kevin De Bruyne, Leander Dendoncker, Loïs Openda and two from Leandro Trossard.

Here are three quick thoughts on the rout.

Motivation no issue for Belgium

Everyone knows how talented Roberto Martinez’s squad is. With all-world players at every position and backups who would start for just about any other national team, their quality has never been in question. Their commitment to winning this tournament, on the other, hand, certainly was after they fell behind at home for the second game in a row.

Before losing to the Dutch, star Manchester City midfielder De Bruyne raised eyebrows when he publicly disparaged the four-year-old Nations League, Europe’s second-most prestigious event for national teams following the quadrennial Euros.

“For me, the Nations League is unimportant,” he said. “Just glorified friendlies after a long and tough season. I am not looking forward to it.”

De Bruyne and his teammates looked like they didn’t want to be there last week, especially after veteran forward Romelu Lukaku went down with an injury, underscoring De Bruyne’s concerns about the load the competition places on players.

But the Belgians were on the front foot from the opening whistle Wednesday, and they looked every bit like World Cup contenders against a fellow Qatar-bound foe who just happened to have the player voted FIFA’s best the past two …

Basket Ball / Sports

Four for De Bruyne as Manchester City roll to Victory

Kevin De Bruyne scored his 12th, 13th, 14th, and 15th goals of this Premier League season as Manchester City took its next steps toward another Premier League title with a 5-1 defeat of Wolverhampton Wanderers at the Molineux on Wednesday.

Raheem Sterling set up one of De Bruyne’s goals and scored in the 84th minute. Two of De Bruyne’s goals were unassisted and Bernardo Silva set up another as City moved to 89 points, three more than Liverpool. City now has a seven-goal advantage in goal differential with two matches left for each side.

Leander Dendoncker briefly had the score 1-1 with his 11th-minute goal, but De Bruyne had his hat trick by the 23rd minute. His fourth came at the hour mark, and Sterling’s goal was cued up by Joao Cancelo.

Wolves’ hopes of seventh place aren’t very good after the draw. Bruno Lage’s men are five points back of West Ham United with two just two matches remaining for each club.

Wolves vs Man City final score, stats

Wolves 1, Man City 5

Scorers: De Bruyne (7′, 16′, 24, 80′), Dendoncker (11′), Sterling (84′)

Shot attempts: Wolves 6, Man City 11

Shots on goal: Wolves 3, Man City 4

Possession: Wolves 35, Man City 65

Three things we learned from Wolves vs Man City

1. Four points left (at most): Pep Guardiola’s been saying that City needs to win all of its game down the stretch in order to hold off Liverpool, but that’s no longer true. City can lay claim to its fourth title in five seasons if it takes four of six points available to them from Week 37 (West Ham away) and Week 38 at home (Aston Villa).

2. De Bruyne on fire: The 30-year-old Belgian brought his finishing boots and actually smashed the post in the 90th minute in a performance that could’ve given KDB as many goals as Sergio Aguero scored a few years ago. De Bruyne is up to 15 goals and seven assists this Premier League season. De Bruyne entered the …

Football / Sports

UCL draw: Lionel Messi, PSG to face Man City in group stage; Bayern vs. Barcelona

Manchester City have been drawn against Paris Saint-Germain in group stages of the 2021-22 Champions League, setting up a possible showdown between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Sources have told ESPN that Man City are closing in on a deal for Ronaldo, while Messi will be embarking on his first Champions League campaign away from Barcelona after joining PSG earlier this month.

Man City beat PSG 4-1 on aggregate to reach last season’s final, which they lost 1-0 to Chelsea at the Estadio do Dragao in Portugal. RB Leipzig and Club Brugge were also drawn in Group A.

Meanwhile, Barcelona will face Bayern Munich in Group E. It will be their first meeting since Bayern smashed Barca 8-2 in the semifinals in August 2020.

Holders Chelsea will play Juventus, Zenit St Petersburg and Malmo in Group H, which will see striker Romelu Lukaku make an early return to Italy having made a summer switch to Stamford Bridge.

Manchester United were drawn against Villarreal in Group F in a rematch of last season’s Europa League final, which Unai Emery’s side won on penalties.

Liverpool will return to the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium to face Atletico Madrid in Group B, the site where the English side won the Champions League in 2019. Atletico knocked Liverpool out in the round of 16 the following season.

AC Milan, the second-most successful team in the history of the competition with seven wins, will also play in Group B as they make their return to the Champions League for the first time since 2014.

This season’s final will take place at the Krestovsky Stadium in St. Petersburg, Russia, on May 28.

Chelsea midfielder Jorginho won the best male player of the year award ahead of teammate N’Golo Kante and Man City’s Kevin De Bruyne. Barcelona’s Alexia Putellas beat out teammates Jennifer Hermoso and Lieke Martens to win the women’s award.…

Football / Sports

Kevin De Bruyne Wont need Surgery says Roberto Martinez

Kevin De Bruyne will not need surgery on his facial injuries but is at risk of missing Belgium’s Euro 2020 opener, according to manager Roberto Martinez.

The Manchester City midfielder suffered multiple fractures to his face during their Champions League final loss to Chelsea. De Bruyne had to be substituted off after a clash with Chelsea’s Antonio Rudiger.

De Bruyne, 29, is now a doubt for Belgium’s game against Russia on June 12.

What has Martinez said?
He said: “Kevin had a different programme to the rest of the players.

“He was only going to join us seven days later because he was playing in the Champions League final. But that programme has obviously been changed, he won’t be able to relax and rest just yet.

“We’ve got to be very cautious, and we will get more clarity in the next few days, but I’ve spoken to Kevin and he was quite positive. We are very fortunate that even though he has a double fracture, he doesn’t need surgery.

“An operation would have made it impossible for him to play in the European Championship. We don’t know if we can use him in the first game. I cannot give an answer because I don’t have any medical facts right now.

“We are still assessing the injury and over the next four to five days we expect clarity.’ Then we will know what the next steps for Kevin will be.”

How did De Bruyne get injured?
De Bruyne went down injured shortly before the hour mark of Saturday night’s game.

The Belgian was assessed by City’s physios and the club doctor. De Bruyne was seen with a noticeable black eye.

The decision was then taken for De Bruyne to be substituted off due to the injury. He was clearly not happy with the call.

Gabriel Jesus came on in his place, with a visibly devastated De Bruyne being consoled by City’s backroom staff as he left the pitch in tears.

Who will Belgium face at Euro 2020?
They kick off their …