Basketball, NBA: In the finals everything is open again after the Milwaukee Bucks’ second win against the Phoenix Suns. Led by the strong Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton, the Bucks scored a 109: 103 on Wednesday evening (local time) and equalized 2: 2 in the final series after initially two defeats. A team needs four wins for the championship, so the title holder will be determined after game six on the night of next Wednesday (3:00 a.m. CEST / DAZN) at the earliest. Game five is on Sunday night (3.00 a.m. CEST / DAZN). “We can only win this series if we win one away,” said Middleton after the success in a game in which the Suns led most of the time and were now nine points ahead.
It wasn’t until a good three minutes before the end that the Bucks took the lead, gave it back, got it again and then defended it to the end. “Stay strong, stick with it, whatever the situation until the clock runs out,” said Middleton, who scored 40 points. Antetokounmpo had 26 counters and a strong 14 rebounds as well as eight assists. At the Suns, Devin Booker had a strong evening with 42 points, but had to sit on the bench for a long time due to the risk of too many fouls in the last quarter. Chris Paul was unusually weak, lost the ball five times and only got ten points.
Football, Bundesliga: According to media reports, the German U21 European champion Lukas Nmecha is about to return to VfL Wolfsburg. The Bundesliga club had already loaned the 22-year-old attacker from Manchester City for half a year in 2019. Nmecha is now to be firmly committed and possibly taken to the Wolfsburg training camp in Bad Waltersdorf in Austria at the weekend. Nmecha scored the decisive goal in the final against Portugal at the European Under-21 Championship in June and was the top scorer of the entire tournament with four goals. Born in Hamburg, he was trained in the youth department of Manchester City and after his first time in Wolfsburg was loaned to Middlesbrough FC and most recently to RSC Anderlecht. In the Bundesliga he was recently associated with RB Leipzig.
FC Bayern, rumors: Julian Nagelsmann has reacted calmly to rumors about a possible move from world footballer Robert Lewandowski to Real Madrid. He thinks it is somewhat normal for almost every club to stretch out its feelers and knock off what happens when one scores so many goals, said the new coach of the soccer record champions FC Bayern Munich on Wednesday in an interview with the TV broadcaster Sky. “I think on the one hand Robert knows what he has in Munich, what he has in the team. It is point 1. Point 2: there is a contractual situation,” said Nagelsmann.
Striker Lewandowski, who set the Bundesliga record with 41 goals last season, has a contract with Bayern until 2023. Nagelsmann said he had contact with the 32-year-old Poland. “I am not very fond of discussing the contractual situation or the rumor mill as the first official act with a new player,” said the previous RB Leipzig coach. The answers he received regarding vacation planning, reappearance and starting training all sounded very good and highly motivated. “And I’m happy with that.”
At the same time, the coach was confident that national player Leon Goretzka will extend his contract with the record champions, which will expire next summer. “Everyone wants him to stay here,” emphasized Nagelsmann. The 26-year-old midfielder has incredible dynamics and is an integral part of my head. “Nevertheless, it is normal for a player to think a little bit and check his worth. I am incredibly happy to work with him and would also be happy if it is still three, four, five, six years from now,” said the coach. who himself signed a five-year contract with Bayern.
Spain, FC Barcelona: Lionel Messi’s poker has apparently come to an end: The Argentine attacking player is, according to consistent reports, from Sport from Barcelona and Brand from Madrid extended his contract with the Catalans for five years. A fundamental agreement had been reached, only the lawyers of the 34-year-old six-time world footballer would have to agree to the newly negotiated contract, it said.
In return, Messi is said to forego 50 percent of his salary at the economically troubled prestigious club. According to the media, the exceptional player, who only won the Copa America in Rio de Janeiro with Argentina on Saturday with a 1-0 final victory over arch rivals Brazil, wants to set an example for other players with his drastic salary cut.
A confirmation from the club is still pending. Especially Sport is considered the house and yard gazette of Barca. An announcement of the deal may take longer due to the complexity of the contract, it said. The transfer fee of the veteran is to be fixed at 350 million euros in the event of an early change. It is by no means certain whether Messi would actually wear the Barca dress for another five years. After all, he would be 39 years old at the end of the contract.
Last year, the Argentine World Cup runner-up from 2014 wanted to leave Barcelona early, but was then persuaded to stay and fulfill his contract. His contract with Barca expired on June 30, 2021, and Messi has been without a valid contract since then. Recently, there was a lot of speculation about a change of the gaucho in the North American professional league to Inter Miami.
Football, racism: After a wave of racist insults on the Internet against players of the English national football team, the British government wants to ban offenders with stadium bans in the future. Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced this in Parliament in London on Wednesday. “If someone is found guilty of racial abuse on the Internet, they won’t go to the game,” said Johnson, adding, “No ifs, ors, or buts, no excuses.”
The background is racist hostility on the Internet against the national players Marcus Rashford, Bukayo Saka and Jadon Sancho, who did not score in the 2-3 penalty shoot-out in the European Championship final between England and Italy on Sunday evening. In the UK, certain football-related offenses are sanctioned with stadium bans as a deterrent. It does not matter whether the breaches of the law took place in a stadium or elsewhere.
Johnson also announced a tougher pace on social media companies that don’t crack down on hatred on their forums with enough force. You would have to expect penalties in the future, emphasized the conservative politician.
Olympia, Basketball: National coach Henrik Rödl has little hope that Dennis Schröder will participate in the Olympics. “We assume that it won’t work,” said the coach on Wednesday at a media training session in Trier. Schröder had already missed the qualifying tournament in Split / Croatia, where the national team surprisingly qualified for the summer games in Tokyo (July 23 to August 8) due to unresolved insurance issues. Therefore Rödl nominated the twelve players who bought the Tokyo ticket in Croatia. On July 18, the team set off for Japan, a week later (6.40 a.m. CEST) the national team will meet Italy for the start of the Olympic Games. Most recently, the German Basketball Federation (DBB) tried to find a solution to the Schröder case.
Because of the high market value of the 27-year-old, it was not possible to find a solution between his management, DBB and an insurance company before the qualifying tournament. Schröder, who last played for the Los Angeles Lakers in the US professional league NBA, is currently a “free agent” and therefore more difficult to insure.
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