
Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer has signed a new five-year deal at Bayern Munich that will keep him at the club until 2021.

Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer has signed a new five-year deal at Bayern Munich that will keep him at the club until 2021.

Norwich City and Sunderland have been charged by the Football Association for failing to control their players and staff during Saturday’s Premier League match. Players and staff from both sides clashed on the touchline early in the lunchtime kick-off at Carrow Road. Both clubs have until 6pm on 21 April to respond to the charge, the FA said in a statement. Sunderland won the game 3-0 to boost their relegation survival hopes. They remain 18th in the division but are now just a point behind the Canaries with a game in hand. Sunderland manager Sam Allardyce was heavily involved in Saturday’s incident, which came after Norwich winger Robbie Brady’s challenge sent Sunderland defender DeAndre Yedlin head first into the advertising hoardings. After the match, Allardyce said: “I got a bit carried away, but the Norwich players were encroaching my box – I was always going to protect my players and my mob.”

Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored his 43rd goal of the season as Paris St-Germain booked a place in the French Cup final and kept up their bid for a back-to-back domestic treble. Ibrahimovic collected a pass from Angel di Maria, shrugged off two defenders and scored from the edge of the area. PSG will now play either Sochaux or Marseille in the final. Laurent Blanc’s side are already Ligue 1 champions and play Lille in the League Cup final this weekend. Last season they won the league by eight points, thrashed Bastia 4-0 to win the League Cup and beat Auxerre in the Cup final to seal the clean sweep.

Bayern Munich remain on course for a treble after beating Werder Bremen to reach the German Cup final. Thomas Mueller scored both goals with the first a header after Clemens Fritz slipped in the box. His second came from a penalty after Arturo Vidal went to ground without appearing to be touched when tackled by Janek Sternberg. Bayern are top of the Bundesliga and play Atletico Madrdid in the semi-finals of the Champions League. Pep Guardiola’s side will play Hertha Berlin or Borussia Dortmund, who play on Wednesday, on 21 May in the final at Berlin’s Olympic Stadium.

Olimpija Ljubljana’s Blessing Eleke says he “begged” club president Milan Mandaric not to sack the coach who referred to him as a “black idiot”. Marko Nikolic, 36, agreed to leave the Slovenian leaders after he was caught on video criticising Nigerian Eleke. The club initially refused to suspend the Serb, but the Slovenian FA banned him for seven games for “clear racism”. “He doesn’t mean what he said. He just said it because he was angry,” Eleke told BBC World Service. “I’m very angry and I’m very sad. He’s a family man and it’s because of me that my coach lost his job. People talk about if he is a racist but I don’t think he is like that. “I have begged and I have done everything but it is the way my president wants it, so I can do nothing.” Olimpija, who are two points clear in the Slovenian top flight, appointed Nikolic earlier this year after he was sacked by Partizan Belgrade in his homeland in 2015. They drew 1-1 against Zavrc on 10 April thanks to Eleke’s first home goal for the club following his January move from league rivals Gorica. Nikolic said his comment about Eleke was “an emotional reaction” as the 20-year-old’s celebration meant there was less time for a winner, adding that he “never intended to offend the player racially”.

French club Marseille have dismissed coach Michel as they battle relegation from Ligue 1. Marseille said they had decided to dismiss Michel, citing his conduct, “in particular over the last three weeks”. Michel will be replaced until the end of the season by his assistant Franck Passi who would be helped by former Marseille star Basile Boli., with the club 15th in Ligue 1 and without a win in 10 games.

Germany boss Joachim Low has refused to close the door on midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger ahead of Euro 2016. The Manchester United player suffered a partial tear of his knee ligaments while on international duty last month and is expected to miss the rest of the club season. “Right now, I still have hope that he will make it in time for the start of the European Championship in France,” Low told Eurosport. “We’ve got to take it week by week and talk to him about it. He’s keeping me informed as to how far he is, and we just have to see how quickly he recovers from it.”

Romania great Gheorghe Hagi has stepped aside as coach of his own club Viitorul Constanta at least until the end of the season after a poor run of results. “I want to analyse the situation,” 51-year-old Hagi told reporters on Tuesday, adding that he will be replaced by his assistant Catalin Anghel, who was coach from 2009 to 2013. “I still don’t know if I’ll be here in the summer,” said Hagi, who founded Vitorul in 2009.

Nick Blackwell says he will not fight again after sustaining serious head injuries in his British middleweight title loss to Chris Eubank Jr. Blackwell, 25, was placed in a coma with bleeding in his skull after his 10th-round defeat at London’s Wembley Arena on 26 March. “No that’s me done,” the Briton tweeted after being asked on the social media site if he would be making a comeback. “I can’t put my friends and family and self through that again.”

Liverpool are the latest Premier League club being lined up for a Middle Eastern takeover. Manchester City are already owned by Sheikh Mansour who is member of the Abu Dhabi royal family. Now a member of his family has set his sights on snapping up Liverpool and has more than £700m in the bank waiting to complete a deal. Starsport revealed at the start of the month that talks have already opened on a proposed sale. Although the identity of the bidder remains a closely guarded secret, one likely candidate is Sheikh Khalifa, the president of the United Arab Emirates. He is estimated to be worth more than £30bn and is even wealthier than his half-brother, Sheikh Mansour who has turned City into two time champions since buying the club in 2008. There is nothing to stop such a deal going through with a Premier League spokesperson confirming yesterday: “There is no Premier League rule in terms of relations owning different clubs.”

Aston Villa captain Gabby Agbonlahor went on a laughing gas and booze binge on the day his club were relegated from the Premier League. Agbonlahor, 29, was pictured partying in a hotel room with pals and two girl fans — the carpet littered with cans of legal high nitrous oxide. Later the £60,000-a-week striker was seen downing shots and horsing around with hangers-on at London’s Mayfair Hotel. Agbonlahor was left out of the Villa side who were relegated hours earlier by a 1-0 defeat to Manchester United, because he is overweight and unfit. The star, dubbed Flabby Gabby, is supposed to be on a personal fitness regime. His antics on Saturday night infuriated the club’s supporters who saw them on social media. One said: “Just looking at it turns my stomach. It’s a real slap in the face for Villa fans. “If I was captain of a team that has just been relegated I’d be hiding myself away in shame.”
UPDATE: Aston Villa have suspended striker Gabby Agbonlahor pending an investigation.

Chelsea midfielder Cesc Fabregas says Jose Mourinho failed at Stamford Bridge this season because he put “too much trust” in his squad. Mourinho, 53, was sacked in December, with the club one point above the relegation zone, seven months after he led them to the Premier League title. Fabregas, 28, says the players “let him down” after being given extra holiday as reward for winning the league. “I have huge respect for him,” the Spain international told Sky Sports. “The biggest problem was he trusted us too much, gave us more holiday because we were champions and we let him down. That was the main reason he had to go – and for that, myself and the team feel bad.”

Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams claimed the top accolades at this year’s Laureus World Sports Awards. The tennis duo were named sportsman and sportswoman of the year at the Berlin ceremony for their 2015 achievements. Djokovic, 28, reached all four Grand Slam finals, winning three of them, a feat emulated by Williams, 34. Brazil’s Paralympic swimmer Daniel Dias, 27, was named disabled sportsperson of the year after winning seven gold medals at the IPC Swimming World Championships.

Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy faces an extended ban during the Premier League title run-in after being charged with improper conduct by the Football Association. Vardy, 29, remonstrated with referee Jon Moss after he was shown a red card in Sunday’s 2-2 draw with West Ham. The FA has also charged Leicester with failing to control their players after West Ham won an 83rd-minute penalty. Vardy and Leicester have until 6pm on Thursday to respond. Vardy, the Premier League’s joint leading scorer with 22 goals this season, was shown a second yellow card early in the second half for diving. He appeared to confront Moss before leaving the field. The England international receives an automatic one-match ban for his dismissal, but that looks likely to be increased following the FA charge.

One of Tottenham’s former strikers Emmanuel Adebayor, now at Crystal Palace, says he is not affected by booing from fans of his old clubs. The 32-year-old was barracked at Arsenal when he played for Palace in Sunday’s 2-2 draw. “I cannot say I’m used to it because it is not good to get used to this kind of stuff,” he insisted. “But at the end of the day it is funny, the weather was good, we were playing in London and 20 minutes from my house, I have to be happy. If I’m not happy then something is wrong. “I have to be happy about where I came from and what I have become today – I have to forget about all the haters.”

Former Chelsea striker Didier Drogba has welcomed an investigation into his charity over “serious regulatory concerns”. The Daily Mail claimed only £14,115 out of £1.7m donated to the Didier Drogba Foundation had helped causes in Africa. The Charity Commission has opened a case to review concerns about the charity’s administration. But Drogba, 38, said “everything is clear” and “this money will be spent when it needs to be spent”. In its article, the Mail said £439,321 was spent putting on lavish fundraising parties attended by celebrities, and more than £1m languished in bank accounts. Speaking to the BBC from Montreal, Canada, where he is playing for MLS side Montreal Impact, Drogba said all charity projects so far had been funded by his own sponsorship deals, rather than money from UK fundraisers. The former Ivory Coast international said: “I’m responsible for this money; I’m not going to spend it just to spend it. “I have projects for the long term and I know what I want to do.” The African charity, established in 2007, is run in the Ivory Coast but is also registered in the United Kingdom. In an earlier statement, Drogba, who helped Chelsea win the Champions League in 2012, said he had spent 3.7m euros on projects in the Ivory Coast, including building a mobile clinic and investing in orphanages. Drogba said he will take legal action against the Mail, which said in a statement that it “stands by every word of this important story”. The Charity Commission said it wanted “further information” about the foundation’s spending plans and would look into “allegations that the charity has provided misleading information to donors and the public”.
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Shakhtar Donetsk vs Sevilla
Villarreal vs Liverpool

Manchester City vs Real Madrid
Atletico Madrid vs Bayern Munich
Semi-final ties will take place on 26/27 April and 3/4 May.

Jonas Gutierrez has won his disability discrimination case against his former club Newcastle United. The 32-year-old claimed that the Barclays Premier League club did not play him after he beat cancer in a bid to avoid having to hand him a new contract. The midfielder said Newcastle left him out of their squad so that he did not reach the amount of games needed to trigger a one-year extension with the club. Gutierrez claimed the discrimination started in December 2013 – just two months after he started receiving treatment for testicular cancer. It was reported that Alan Pardew, formerly of Newcastle but currently manager of Crystal Palace, told Gutierrez he was no longer needed at St James’ Park. Gutierrez spoke at the industrial tribunal in Birmingham and said him being shown the exit was down to Newcastle fearing he would no longer be fit to play in the Premier League. ‘During my chemotherapy treatment, neither the manager, Alan Pardew, nor any club directors contacted me to see how I was feeling or to congratulate me on my recovery,’ he said. ‘This was incredibly disappointing after everything I had done for the club.’ The tribunal found in favour of Gutierrez in two of four claims. A claim of unfavourable treatment and another of harassment treated to disability were dismissed.

One of basketball’s biggest stars, Kobe Bryant, has retired from the sport after a career spanning two decades with a stunning final performance. He scored 60 points to help the LA Lakers make a dramatic comeback against the Utah Jazz in Los Angeles. Bryant, 37, spent his entire career with the Lakers, winning five NBA titles and recording the third highest total number of points in the sport. Tickets for his final match changed hands for up to $27,500. Bryant scored 23 points in the fourth quarter to help his team overcome a 15-point deficit to win the game. He took a career-high 50 shots in the fifth highest-scoring game of his career. Addressing the crowd after the game, he said it was “crazy” to end on such a high note. “You know, I was really, really tired, but I thought, I just got to continue to push it because the fan support was just tremendous and I think that’s the thing I’ll remember the most,” he said.