Category: Sports

Barcelona’s hopes of pulling off a historic comeback in the Copa del Rey have been met with a devastating setback. Lewandowski suffers injury against Villarreal The veteran goalscorer suffered the injury during Barcelona’s league outing against Villarreal on Saturday. After undergoing medical examinations on Sunday morning, the club’s medical staff revealed the extent of the damage, which will keep the Poland international on the sidelines during a defining week for the club’s season. The absence of their primary attacking outlet leaves a significant void in Barça’s frontline before the visit of Diego Simeone’s men. Barcelona confirm Lewandowski injury The club released an official medical statement on Sunday afternoon providing the grim details of the injury. According to the report, the former Bayern Munich man suffered a significant blow during the clash with the Yellow Submarine, leading to a bone fracture. The diagnosis effectively rules him out of the immediate mid-week fixture and potentially further matches depending on the speed of his recovery and the necessity of protective measures. The club said: “The player of the first team Robert Lewandowski received a trauma in the match of yesterday against Villarreal. The tests carried out today diagnosed a bone fracture in the internal face of the orbit of the left eye. The player will be out for the match of Tuesday against Atletico Madrid.” Mounting personnel problems for Flick The absence of Lewandowski is a tactical nightmare for the Barcelona coaching staff. Trailing 4-0 from the first leg in Madrid, the Catalans require a perfect offensive performance to stay in the competition. The Pole’s physicality and clinical finishing were expected to be central to any comeback attempt. Now, Flick must look toward his younger offensive options or shift his tactical setup entirely to find the four goals needed just to level the aggregate score. Despite the blow, there is still a sense of defiance within the club. President Joan Laporta has publicly backed the squad to deliver a miracle at the Spotify Camp Nou, citing recent frustrations as fuel for the fire. “I firmly believe in the comeback: the goal annulled, and legal, against Cubarsi will spur the players on,” Laporta stated. Looking for heroes in the squad The loss of Lewandowski adds to a growing list of concerns for a Barcelona side that has struggled for consistency in recent weeks. With the main man sidelined, the pressure shifts to the likes of Pedri and the club’s emerging talents to fill the void. Pedri has recently been a beacon of optimism for the Barcelona faithful, with his performances suggesting he is ready to take on a greater leadership role in high-stakes environments. The midfield maestro will need to be at his creative best to break down an Atletico defence that will undoubtedly look to sit deep and protect their four-goal cushion.

St. Petersburg, Fla. — Mick Schumacher’s INDYCAR debut was over after three turns. The former Formula 1 driver saw Sting Ray Robb and Santino Ferrucci locked up ahead of him and he had nowhere to go as they slammed into a tire barrier in the opening lap Sunday of the season-opening St. Petersburg Grand Prix. Schumacher’s car ended up on top of the rear of Ferrucci’s car, ending both of their days. Robb was able to continue but was issued a 30-second penalty for avoidable contact. [MORE MICK: Inside Schumacher’s Prep for Rookie INDYCAR Season] The 26-year-old former Formula 1 driver was disappointed but philosophical after his last-place finish. “That’s racing,” Schumacher told me and other reporters outside the INDYCAR medical unit. “So it’s very unfortunate. As a team, we’re really needed that race to kind of get everything sorted and not have doubts going into the next event. “But hey, we’ve got 16 or 17 more races to go. It’s just the first one. It’s just the start of it. And I’m very excited for the rest of the season.” Schumacher said he saw Ferrucci lock up and just had no time to react. “Sting Ray seemed like he went a little deeper than what’s supposed to be and that kind of chain-reactioned the whole scenario” Schumacher said. “Unfortunately, our real target was to finish the race, get all the laps in. We got even less than that. So very unfortunate.” Although Schumacher had started 21st in the 25-car field, his Rahal Letterman Lanigan team seemed pleased with his weekend up to the start of the race. He didn’t get a clean lap in qualifying, something that can be difficult to manage. The tough part for Schumacher — son of seven-time F1 champion Michael Schumacher — is now he heads to the March 7 race at Phoenix Raceway, a 1-mile oval. He has never competed on an oval in any form of motorsports. Schumacher has had tests at the 1.5-mile Homestead-Miami Speedway and Phoenix in the last month. “I’m still happy all the knowledge that we gained throughout this weekend, and things we can definitely take forwards and take it to Phoenix,” Schumacher said. “I’m looking ahead, not looking back, going to try to understand what we could have done better on our end. [ST. PETE HIGHLIGHTS: Alex Palou Begins Year With a Win] “Qualifying maybe being one of them — we were blocked, [in qualifying] so we kind of lost our bit of a momentum and kind of being in a better pack. When you’re starting in the back, things end up being quite difficult and tough anyways, but I think this just made it extra difficult for us.” Robb told me he didn’t really know what happened but agreed with the penalty that he could have avoided the situation. “I deserved it, I think,” Robb said. “I’m sorry to the 47 crew [of Schumacher], the 14 crew [of Ferrucci]. It’s just one of those days where it’s a shame to be a part of it. … Lap 1 – you’ve got to get through. We didn’t.” Ferrucci was frustrated that his day ended and Robb was able to continue. “We all sit around and talk about it at driver intros — it’s taking easy Lap 1,” Ferrucci told me and other reporters. “And for whatever reason, there’s a few of us that do that, and then there’s a couple of us that just forget where the brake zone is. “It’s a bummer.” Ferrucci and Schumacher know the one thing they potentially could have done came well before Sunday. “For us, the key takeaway here is qualify higher up,” Schumacher said. “Simple as that.” Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR and INDYCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.

There’s just no stopping Set-piece FC! Arsenal performed poorly in Sunday’s crucial Premier League clash with Chelsea at the Emirates, but still managed to eke out a vital 2-1 victory over the 10-man Blues that moves them five points clear of Manchester City at the top of the Premier League. Almost inevitably, both of the Gunners’ goals came from corners. William Saliba bagged the first, with the France international getting on the end of a header back across the Chelsea six-yard box from his fellow centre-back, Gabriel Magalhaes. Funnily enough, the Gunners also scored Chelsea’s goal from a corner, as Piero Hincapie got under an in-swinger from Reece James and unintentionally deflected the ball past Robert Sanchez. Arsenal were not to be denied, though, and Jurrien Timber nodded home a Declan Rice delivery in the 66th minute. The winning goal came very much against the run of play, but whatever chance Chelsea had of turning the match around ended when Pedro Neto stupidly got himself sent off for picking up two avoidable yellow cards. GOAL rates all of the Arsenal players at the Emirates as Mikel Arteta’s set-piece specialists took another small but significant step towards the title… Goalkeeper & Defense David Raya (8/10): Made a great reaction stop from a deflected Chelsea corner at his near post and also showed sharp reflexes to deny Joao Pedro. Arsenal’s best player on the day – and that says it all. Jurrien Timber (7/10): A real threat going forward in the first half, and although he was given a lot more defensive work to do in the second, he still popped up to restore Arsenal’s lead by heading home their second goal. William Saliba (7/10): Broke the deadlock with a close-range header that struck a Chelsea player on the way in, but was lucky to get away with gifting possession to Palmer just after the hour mark and had a couple of other nervy moments up against Joao Pedro. Gabriel Magalhaes (7/10): Set up Saliba’s opener with a tremendous leap at the back post and later tried an audacious lob. Didn’t neglect his defensive duties, winning plenty of duels, though he was booked for hauling down Joao Pedro. Piero Hincapie (5/10): Made a mess of dealing with James’ in-swinging corner to gift Chelsea an equaliser, but it was his overall performance that should concern Arteta, as the Ecuadorian wasn’t good defensively or offensively. Midfield Martin Zubimendi (5/10): A very rare poor performance from the Spaniard, whose passing was nowhere near as precise as usual, which meant that Arsenal struggled to control the game. Declan Rice (5/10): Once again proved an absolute menace with his set-pieces, but while the England international provided good cover at times, he was well off the pace and also incredibly lucky to get away with a handball in the area just before Chelsea’s equaliser. Rightly removed from the fray long before the full-time whistle. Eberechi Eze (5/10): A second consecutive Premier League start for Eze after his latest heroics in a north London derby, but the attacking midfielder was absolutely anonymous for an hour before going close to scoring in the closing stages, after Chelsea had been reduced to 10 men. Attack Bukayo Saka (5/10): Lively enough in the first half, creating three chances, but he faded badly after the restart as the game rather passed him by. Viktor Gyokeres (3/10): Did not get himself into the game – as underlined by one shot in 76 minutes of ‘action’. Even when he had some space to work with, he repeatedly ran into brick walls – and even desperately threw himself to the floor at one point after being cleanly dispossessed by Sarr. Leandro Trossard (3/10): Worked hard to win the ball back but gave it away repeatedly and offered absolutely nothing going forward. No surprise that he was hooked 10 minutes into the second half. Subs & Manager Gabriel Martinelli (6/10): Took over on the left wing from Trossard and it was his run down that provoked Neto’s senseless second yellow card. Kai Havertz (N/A): Replaced Gyokeres up front but made no impact. Christian Norgaard (N/A): Came on for an exhausted Rice but didn’t help Arsenal get a grip of the game. Mikel Arteta (5/10): Picked his strongest side but Arsenal played poorly and were very fortunate that Chelsea were reduced 10 while on top. Arteta deserves credit for turning Arsenal into set-piece specialists, but there really wasn’t much else to them while his substitutions didn’t influence the game in a positive sense at all.

Meet the orchestrator of UCLA’s dominance: Kiki Rice The women’s college basketball season is ramping up with high-stakes games every night and the NCAA Tournament just around the corner. In those key regular-season games, March Madness stars introduce themselves to the nation with magical moments and Cinderella runs. We’re teaching you about them before they become national heroes. Ahead of No. 2 UCLA facing rival USC on Sunday afternoon (at 6 p.m. ET on FS1), let us help you get to know Rice: 1. Player Build Rice is a 5-foot-11 point guard who plays with patience, always seeking to make the right decision. She averages 15.3 points, 4.5 assists and 6.3 rebounds  per game. 2. Loyal Soldier In an era defined by transfers, Rice has played all four seasons at UCLA, staying with the program when it went to the Big Ten in 2024 and helping it develop into a national contender. She has also started 130 of 133 total games, showing that she was ready for the spotlight as a freshman 3. Power Couple Rice’s boyfriend is NBA champion and Oklahoma City Thunder guard Cason Wallace. Rice proved she knows all there is to know about Wallace’s basketball career in a viral TikTok video. In the video, Rice also says she beats Wallace one-on-one every time and that he would hope to have her driving ability, while she wants his defensive prowess. 4. Documentary Star Rice appeared on “Full Court Press,” a 2024 docuseries highlighting her, Caitlin Clark and Kamilla Cardoso’s journeys through women’s basketball. 5. Making Waves Rice became the first women’s college basketball player with a personal edition shoe on the Jordan Brand. She debuted them during UCLA’s game against Maryland last season. The shoes are a beautiful blue because, Rice said, of her love for the ocean and UCLA.

The Minnesota Vikings appear set to undergo a roster overhaul that could see them bring in a veteran quarterback to compete with J.J. McCarthy for the starting job in 2026. Tua Tagovailoa (Miami Dolphins), Kyler Murray (Arizona Cardinals), Geno Smith (Las Vegas Raiders) and Kirk Cousins (Atlanta Falcons) are all being considered by the Vikings as a possible addition to their quarterback room this offseason, ESPN reported Sunday. Minnesota is also planning to move on from running back Aaron Jones and defensive tackle Javon Hargrave this offseason, according to ESPN. Cousins is the only quarterback in that group that’s set to become a free agent as of Sunday. The Falcons said last week that they will release Cousins when the new league year begins on March 11. Of course, Cousins previously played in Minnesota before signing with Atlanta in 2024. He enjoyed a decent amount of success in his six seasons with the Vikings, playing under Minnesota head coach Kevin O’Connell for two of those years. He helped the Vikings make the playoffs in 2022 before an Achilles tear ended his 2023 season early. Tagovailoa, Murray and Smith, meanwhile, are all candidates to be cut or traded in the coming weeks. Dolphins general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan suggested that the team was open to all options with Tagovailoa when he met with reporters at the combine this past week, including a release. If Tagovailoa is cut, the Dolphins could potentially take on a record $99.2 million dead cap hit, depending on when they release him. Murray is seeking to be cut by the Cardinals this offseason, a league source told FOX Sports’ Ralph Vacchiano and Henry McKenna this past week. The Cardinals have also “grown frustrated” with Murray, a team source told Vacchiano and McKenna. Finally, Smith appears to be on the outs in Las Vegas with Klint Kubiak taking over as head coach and the team presumably taking Fernando Mendoza with the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. Of those four quarterbacks, Cousins might have the strongest season in 2025. He went 5-3 as a starter, throwing for 1,721 yards, 10 touchdowns and five interceptions. Tagovailoa threw for 2,660 yards, 20 touchdowns and 15 interceptions before getting benched for the final three games of the season. Murray threw for 951 yards, six touchdowns and three interceptions to go with 173 rushing yards and a rushing score in five games before suffering a foot injury. Smith led the league in interceptions (17) to go with 3,025 passing yards and 19 passing touchdowns in 15 games. As for Jones and Hargrave, Minnesota will save over $18 million by releasing the two veterans. They could still reportedly trade the two players, though. Jones rushed for 548 yards in 2025, which was the second-fewest he’s had in his nine-year career. His 4.2 yards per attempt were also the second-fewest of his career. Jones also had two rushing touchdowns, 199 receiving yards and a receiving touchdown last season. Hargrave had 52 total tackles and 3.5 sacks this past season. He also had 31 total pressures, per Pro Football Focus, as he was in the first year of a two-year, $30 million deal.

Bruno Fernandes has further cemented his status as a modern-day Manchester United legend, surpassing David Beckham in the club’s history books.

St. Petersburg, Fla — The more things change, the more they stay the same. While several organizations had changes in the offseason as far as their driver lineup, the driver who has dominated the series over the last year continued to blister the competition. Alex Palou, who won eight races in 2025 on the way to his third consecutive INDYCAR title (and fourth overall), won the 2026 season-opening St. Petersburg Grand Prix. And he didn’t just win, he won by a record 12.4948 seconds. Here are my takeaways: 1. Palou Pounds Them When a driver has a big lead, it sometimes feels prudent not to push the car to the limit. Even Palou made a mistake last year at Mid-Ohio while leading. So did Palou win by more than 12 seconds to send a message to the remainder of the field that he’s out to pound them again? The Chip Ganassi Racing driver indicated there was more to it than that. “Especially on street courses, it’s not good to relax for the tires [with] the bumps, how they feel,” Palou said in his post-race news conference. “You might just start feeling even worse if you go at lower speeds. “I try and keep my pace, try and keep a pace that’s good for the car and my driving. Every time that I try to stay calm or to drop the pace, it’s been bad. I was just trying to push.” 2. Power Wrecks, Is Disappointed Will Power had battled brake issues in his debut weekend with Andretti after a 17-year career at Penske. But he said his hitting the wall on Lap 21 was his fault. Power’s team got the car back out but he finished 45 laps down in 22nd, saying that was not what they needed as they looked to run all the laps. “The issues we had early in the weekend were true issues. That one was a slight issue, but I could have prevented that,” Power told me. “That was on me. We were doing really well on fuel, the car felt great. “The potential is really good. I’m feeling good about potential with the car. I think I learned a lot about this car this weekend. And obviously fixed some teething issues.” 3: Fun Battles Behind Palou Scott McLaughlin (second), Christian Lundgaard (third) and Kyle Kirkwood (fourth) had a spirited battle during the race. McLaughlin might have had flashbacks to 2023 when he and Romain Grosjean wrecked while battling for the lead at St. Pete. The Team Penske driver said the battles with the other cars up front, as well as at one point Marcus Ericsson, were clean. “They’re the guys that I have raced with in the past and very fair, very clean and hard,” McLaughlin said in his postrace news conference. “What you sort of expect.” Kirkwood, whose tires were fading fast, told me: “I figured [McLaughlin] would be a little bit more hesitant. Hye was not more hesitant. Kudos to him. We barely touched, caused no damage between us. It was just good, hard racing between us, and once I destroyed my tires, I think we raced very admirably. … They play clean, they play smart. You can trust them on a pass like that, on the street course around the outside.” 4: Pato Pleased Pato O’Ward said prior to this week that he wanted to keep his bad days from being too bad. And after a bad start, he rallied to finish fifth. Last year, he qualified 23rd and finished 11th at St. Pete. With McLaren teammate Lundgaard in third, it was a solid day for the McLaren team. “This was a good recovery,” O’Ward told me. “I don’t think the car was really there to fight super, super hard. So I think a lot of that was actually strategy and in the pits. “A P5 day in INDYCAR is a good day. But when another guy keeps winning races, it’s obviously making it very tough for everyone else. But much better start than last year. So pretty pumped about that.” 4 ½: What’s Next INDYCAR heads to Phoenix for a race Saturday, part of a doubleheader with the NASCAR O’Reilly Series and a day before the NASCAR Cup Series takes to the track. It is the first INDYCAR race at Phoenix since 2018. It will be Palou’s 100th career start. “Do I get a present or something?” Palou said when that was mentioned during the post-race news conference. Guess a win by 12 seconds is not enough.

John Mobley Jr. scored 21 points to lead Ohio State to an 82-74 win over No. 8 Purdue on Sunday. A crowd that included a loud contingent of Boilermakers fans watched the Buckeyes revive their fading NCAA Tournament hopes and beat Purdue for the third time in a row. Purdue (22-7, 12-6 Big Ten) led by as many as seven in the first half, but Ohio State (18-11, 10-8) used a 14-3 run to open up a 23-19 lead on Amare Bynum’s 3-pointer with 6:44 to go. The Buckeyes led by five at the half despite Purdue making 8 of 14 from 3-point range, a deficit Ohio State made up at the free-throw line. The Buckeyes made 8 of 11 from the charity stripe while Purdue was 1 for 2. Ohio State took a 16-point lead on a pair of free throws by Devin Royal with 7:41 to go in the second half. Purdue went on a 12-2 run to get within six, but Bynum hit a 3-pointer and Royal added a put-back slam to stop the bleeding and put the Buckeyes back up 11. The Boilermakers got to within six again with 31 seconds left, but Bruce Thornton made a pair of free throws to give the hosts some breathing room. Thornton finished with 20 points while Bynum added 14 points and Royal finished with 12. Braden Smith scored 20 to lead Purdue while Fletcher Loyer added 15. Trey Kaufman-Renn had 19 points and was Purdue’s main offensive weapon in the second half as the Boilermakers went cold from the outside. They were 3 for 15 from beyond the arc in the second half, including one by Loyer just before the buzzer after OSU fans had started to celebrate. Reporting by The Associated Press.

David Montgomery wants to leave the Detroit Lions, or does he? The standout running back questioned an ESPN report that stated he’s requested to leave Detroit this offseason. “Damn, Dmo told you that ?” Montgomery replied in a post about the report on X, seemingly referring to himself as “Dmo.” While Montgomery disputed ESPN’s report, the Lions have reportedly begun assessing the running back’s value on the open market. Detroit is hoping to get a “decent Day 3 pick” in exchange for Montgomery, ESPN added in its report. Montgomery is on a seemingly reasonable contract for a player of his caliber. His two-year, $18.25 million extension kicks in for the 2026 season, but he’s owed $6 million for the upcoming year. The Lions are also over the salary cap by just over $12 million, a week before free agency starts. So, trading Montgomery would help them shed some money, opening up $3.5 million in cap space, per Over The Cap. However, Detroit would eat $4.8 million in dead money if it dealt Montgomery prior to June 1. Montgomery, who joined the Lions in 2023, had a productive 2025 season, although his numbers took a bit of a dip from his first two years in Detroit. His 716 rushing yards were actually a career low, but he did it on a respectable 4.5 yards per carry. He also rushed for eight touchdowns, adding 192 receiving yards. In his first two seasons in Detroit, Montgomery rushed for 1,790 yards and 25 touchdowns in 28 games. He also had 458 yards receiving over that stretch. The emergence of Jahmyr Gibbs as a three-down running back might also make Montgomery expendable. Gibbs was top-10 in all-purpose yards again this past season, and he’s also up for a contract extension this offseason. If Gibbs ends up getting a deal that makes him one of the highest-paid running backs, it might make even more financial sense for Detroit to move on from Montgomery.

Ian Jackson might come off the bench for St. John’s, but the guard made his presence felt on both sides of the court during the Red Storm’s win against Villanova on Saturday. His instant impact caught the eye of FOX Sports’ play-by-play announcer, Gus Johnson, as Jackson earned a spot on his coveted “Got It” team. “Ian, what a game tonight,” Johnson said. Jackson starred in his role, scoring 19 points and grabbing five rebounds, but what impressed Johnson the most was his career-high five steals. “The big thing for me is to try and figure things out on defense, get that going for me, get some steals, get some layups.” Jackson said. Midway through the first half, Jackson intercepted a pass from Wildcats’ guard Acaden Lewis, drawing a trip to the free throw line on the other side. He stole guard Chris Jeffrey’s pass 20 seconds later and finished that fast-break with a thunderous dunk. That play helped St. John’s double up Villanova’s score, 28-14. “Whether it’s scoring, or it’s defending, rebounding, and tonight, it was a little bit of defense and scoring, you know,” Jackson said. “Whatever I can do to impact the game, and win is what I’m going to do.” Jackson transferred to St. John’s from North Carolina prior to the season. He hasn’t complained about his role — regardless of if he’s asked to score, facilitate or defend. That selflessness has been crucial to the Red Storm winning 14 of their last 15 games, and bouncing back from a 32-point loss to UConn on Wednesday to beat Villanova by 32.