Mourinho set to break record for Champions League semi-finals

The Portuguese has reached the last four on seven previous occasions but will go one better than that on Tuesday night and surpass Sir Alex Ferguson's tally

Jose Mourinho will break Sir Alex Ferguson's record of Champions League semi-final appearances whenChelsea travel to Atletico Madrid on Tuesday night.

The tie will be the eighth time the Portuguese has taken charge of a last four encounter in Europe's premier competition and his third at the Stamford Bridge helm.

MOU TOPS SEMI SPOTS
Jose Mourinho  (Chelsea) Sir Alex Ferguson(Manchester United) Marcello Lippi (Juventus) Miguel Munoz (Real Madrid) Louis van Gaal (Ajax, Barca, Bayern) Pep Guardiola(Barcelona, Bayern)	8 - '04, '05, '07, '10, '11, '12, '13, '14 7 - '97, '99, '02, '07, '08, '09, '11 5 - 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2003 5 - 1960, 1964, 1966, 1968, 1973 5 - 1995, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2010 5 - '09, '10, '11, '12, '14

Mourinho made his Champions League debut in 2001-02, when he took over midway through the season at Porto, but won the competition in his first full tilt at the title, in 2003-04 (having claimed the Uefa Cup in 2002-03).

That turned out to be his only Champions League semi-final appearance with the club as he moved on to Chelsea that summer. He took the Blues to the cusp of European glory, losing out to Liverpool at the semi-final stage in both 2005 and 2007. 

Mourinho left Chelsea a matter of months into the next season and did not return to football until the following campaign, when he agreed to coach Inter. His first season in Milan ended with a Serie A title, but disappointment in Europe as the Nerazzurri exited to Manchester United in the last 16. 

However, the Portuguese led the Italians to treble glory in 2009-10, as they claimed the Scudetto, the Coppa Italia and the Champions League - Inter's first success in Europe's premier club competition since 1965.

That was Mourinho's second Champions League victory and his fourth semi-final in the competition. With three more added in consecutive seasons at Madrid, he will now surpass Ferguson with eight last-four appearances on Tuesday.

It is also the fifth straight campaign the 51-year-old has reached the penultimate round of the tournament.

Messi must be at his best to earn new deal - Bartomeu

There has been talk of the Catalans cashing in on their star man to fund a dramatic overhaul of the club but the Blaugrana supremo says the Argentine will be given a better deal

Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu has ruled out selling Lionel Messi, revealing that the Catalans plan to offer the attacker an "improved" contract - on the proviso that the he maintains his incredibly high level of performance.

There have been reports that the Blaugrana could consider selling their most prized asset as they bid to overhaul the club following a week in which they were eliminated from the Champions League, slipped back to third in the race for La Liga and beaten by Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey final.

However, Bartomeu has reassured Barca fans that the club will not cash in on Messi, explaining that they instead intend to give him a better deal.

"It’s not a question of offering a new contract," the Blaugrana supremo told 'Gol a Gol'. "We have proposed a modification of his existing contract, which will run until 2018. 

"We want to offer him improved terms in line with the current climate in football. 

"All we ask of him is that he continues to play as he has done until now."

However, while Messi's form, and indeed his motivation, have been the subject of much debate this season, Bartomeu insists that he has never lost confidence in the four-time Ballon d'Or winner.

"We’ve been unfair to him," he mused. "He had led the team for a number of years, he’s done an excellent job and we are sure that he will continue to be our standard bearer – and that is what he wants too. 

"He’s still young, he’s the best player in the world and we have complete faith in him."

However, Bartomeu refused to confirm whether under-fire Barca boss Tata Martino will still be at Camp Nou next season.

"We respect the coach and we have to look towards the future as there are five league games left and we are in touch with the league leaders, who may slip up between now and the final day," he stated.

"We will deal with other issues when the time is right. Right now, we are focused on the league.

"We are behind him and will support him in these last few matches of the campaign."

Bookmakers suspend betting on Moyes future

The Manchester United boss looks set to be on his way out of Old Trafford less than a season into a six-year deal at the club

Bookmakers have suspended betting on the next Premier League manager to be sacked amid reportsManchester United manager David Moyes is set to leave the club.

The Scot was 1/4 on to be shown the Old Trafford exit door and become the latest top flight boss to lose his job before the market was shut down at approximately 15:00 CET on Monday afternoon.

That came following widespread reports that the club have lost patience with the 50-year-old following Sunday's 2-0 Premier League defeat to Everton at Goodison Park.

The result leaves United in seventh position in the league table and 23 points behind leaders Liverpool, having lifted the title last season in Sir Alex Ferguson's final campaign in charge.

Moyes was appointed on the recommendation of Ferguson last May and handed a six-year deal following an 11-year stay at Everton, but his time already looks to be up after a disastrous 11 months at Old Trafford.

Several high-profile candidates have already risen to the top of the betting markets to take over at the Theatre of Dreams, with Netherlands boss Louis van Gaal the current favourite at 4/1.

Borussia Dortmund boss Jurgen Klopp and Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone are two other names believed to be under consideration at 5/1 and 18/1 respectively.

Should Moyes depart before the end of the season then United stalwart Ryan Giggs could be made caretaker boss until a permanent appointment is made, but the 40-year-old is a favourite with punters to be handed the job permanently at 6/1.

Outsiders include former Red Devils assistant manager Carlos Queiroz, who is a 14/1 shot, while Ferguson is available at 20/1 to make a shock return to the dug-out.

Torres: I could see out my contract at Chelsea

The Spaniard is being monitored by Atletico Madrid and Tottenham, among others, but suggested he could stay at Stamford Bridge beyond the summer

Fernando Torres insists his relationship with Jose Mourinho is “good” and has suggested he could see out the remainder of his contract with Chelsea.

The Spaniard has endured a tough season at Stamford Bridge, scoring just four Premier League goals, and Mourinho has repeatedly criticised his misfiring strike-force, which also consists of Demba Ba and Samuel Eto'o.

	CHELSEA LATEST
23/10	Chelsea are 23/10 with William Hill to beat Liverpool in their next fixture

As such, former club Atletico Madrid are monitoring Torres' situation with a view to a summer bid, while Tottenham, Inter and Galatasaray are also interested.

And the Spaniard cast doubt on his future when quizzed by El Mundo Deportivo before the recent Champions League draw.

"At this point I only think about the next game and I prefer to go game by game," he said. “A month can be very long.

"We have five games left, six if God wants, so I concentrate on that. But I have two years on my contract and that is the future.”

When pressed on his relationship with Mourinho – a pairing that has been the subject of intense media scrutiny this season – Torres replied: "He’s a normal and ordinary guy, with his ideas which he defends because they have brought him to be who he is. But he is very far from the image of him that people can have, above all in Spain after his time in charge of Real Madrid.

"[Our relationship is] good. He lived in Madrid for three years, it’s my city, and we speak about his time there, about football, about everything.

"He has said it many times, for him, football starts at the press conference the day before. He starts to play the game before, like [Pep] Guardiola or [Diego] Simeone.

"He starts to play there and sends the messages that are picked up by the people, the fans who go to the game, the players, the rivals, and that is part of the character that Mourinho creates around the team to protect it. 

"But at the end of the day you can see his numbers and what he has done. He knows very well what he says, how he says it and when he says it."

Hazard misses Chelsea training ahead of Atletico Madrid clash

The Belgium international suffered a calf injury in the 2-0 win over Paris Saint-Germain, a problem which is set to rule him out of the first leg of the semi-final

Eden Hazard missed training on Monday ahead of Chelsea's Champions League semi-final clash withAtletico Madrid.

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16/5	Chelsea are 16/5 with William Hill to beat Atletico Madrid on Tuesday

The Belgian has been in sparkling form for the Blues this season, scoring 17 goals in all competitions, but sustained a calf injury in the 2-0 win over Paris Saint-Germain on April 8 and has not featured since.

His absence was felt on Saturday as Chelsea slipped to a 2-1 home defeat to Sunderland and he is unlikely to return in time for the first leg at the Estadio Vicente Calderon on Tuesday.

There was some good news on the injury front for manager Jose Mourinho, however, with Petr Cech involved in the training session.

The Czech Republic international fell ill before the loss to Sunderland and replaced by Mark Schwarzer, but looks to have recovered in time to face Atletico, though Branislav Ivanovic will definitely miss out through suspension.

Arab royal hunts down 2,100 houbara bustards in three week safari

This file photo shows a houbara bustard. - File Photo

Updated 2014-04-21 17:13:21

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KARACHI: A Saudi prince has poached over 2,100 internationally protected houbara bustards in 21-day hunting safari in Chagai, Balochistan, during which the royal also indulged in illegal hunting in protected areas, says a report.

The report titled ‘Visit of Prince Fahd bin Sultan bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud regarding hunting of houbara bustard’ prepared by Jaffar Baloch, divisional forest officer of the Balochistan forest and wildlife department, Chagai at Dalbandin, says the prince hunted for 21 days – from Jan 11, 2014 to Jan 31– and hunted 1,977 birds, while other members of his party hunted an additional 123 birds, bringing the total bustard toll to 2,100, sources said.

They said that hunting of the internationally protected bird was banned in Pakistan also, but the federal government issued special permits to Gulf states’ royals.

Permits, which are person specific and could not be used by anyone else, allow the holders to hunt up to100 houbara bustards in 10 days in the area allocated, excluding reserved and protected areas.

The report dated Feb 4, 2014 (No: 216-219 HB/CHI) says that during the 21-day safari the prince hunted the birds for 15 days in the reserved and protected areas, poached birds in other areas for six days and took rest for two days.

Giving a breakup of date-wise as well as area-wise details of the prince’s expedition, the report says that he hunted 112 houbara bustards in the Gut game sanctuary (Arbe pat) which is a reserved and protected area on Jan 11, 2014.

The next two days on Jan 12 and 13th he hunted 116 and 93 birds in the Gut game sanctuary (Sai Rek) which is also a reserved and protected area. Then for the next two days Prince Fahd, who is also governor of Tabuk, visited Sato Gut and hunted 82 and 80 houbaras on Jan 14 and 15, respectively. On Jan 16, he visited Gut-i-Barooth and hunted 79 houbaras. Both these areas are not protected areas, says the report.

For the next six days the Saudi royal camped in the Koh-i-Sultan state forest, which is a reserved and protected area, and hunted 93, 82, 94, 97, 96 and 120 houbara bustards on Jan 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 and 22, respectively.

On Jan 23 and 24, he continued his hunting spree in the Gut game sanctuary (Dam), which is a reserved as well as protected area, and hunted 116 and 197 houbara bustards, respectively.

The prince carried out hunting of the protected bird in Thalo Station and hunted 89 houbara bustards on Jan 25 and spent the next two days hunting the birds in Pul Choto, killing 34 and 89 birds on Jan 26 and 27, respectively. Both of these areas are neither reserved nor protected, says the report.

The remaining four days, Prince Fahd spent in the Gut game sanctuary, a reserved as well as protected area, and hunted 92, 94, 119 and 97 birds on Jan 28, 29, 30, and 31, respectively. The royal guest took rest on Feb 1 and 2 at the Bar Tagzai base camp after bringing the grand total of his trophies to 1,977.

The report says: “123 birds were hunted by local representatives and other labourers of the hunting party. The total bustards hunted by Prince Fahd bin Abdul Sultan bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud are 1,977 and total bustards hunted by local representatives and other labourers are 123 bringing the grand total to 2100”.

Auto-important: Ukraine sanctions aside, US carmakers eye Russia

Growth: 3m units, is the amount of sales Russian cars reached to in 2012. PHOTO: FILE

DETROIT: 

Never mind the Ukraine crisis and Washington’s sanctions against Moscow: US automakers say the Russian market is their next big frontier. Russia is simply too large and too important for carmakers to ignore, experts said this week.

“The Russian market is going to be larger than Germany,” said John Branch, a professor at the University Of Michigan Ross School Of Business. Branch said the structure of the Russian auto industry is in flux as the demand for imports increases despite barriers imposed by the Russian government.

But that means that automakers, particularly those with global ambitions, simply cannot afford to ignore the market’s potential there, despite its volatile nature. Branch was speaking at a conference at the University of Michigan focusing on the opportunities and hurdles for US carmakers to sell to and in Russia.

General Motors is already partly involved. It has invested in a joint venture with AvtoVaz, which builds the Lada, Russia’s most popular automotive brand. But the Lada brand is a holdover from the Soviet era and their sales are mostly concentrated in what Branch said were third- and fourth-tier cities and rural areas.

In major cities such as Moscow and St Petersburg, consumers are becoming more brand conscious. They like imported cars and have developed a preference for small sport utility vehicles that can navigate the country’s rugged roads and streets.

GM-AvtoVaz produces the Chevrolet Niva, a mini-SUV popular within Russia end exported to neighboring countries formerly part of the Soviet Union. David Teolis, an economist with General Motors, cautioned that predictions about the growth of the Russian market have to be regarded carefully