PARIS: Norway’s Bodo/Glimt stunned Inter Milan in the Champions League on Wednesday, beating last season’s runners-up 3-1 in the first leg of their knockout phase play-off tie after Anthony Gordon scored four as Newcastle United hammered Qarabag 6-1 in Azerbaijan.

Elsewhere Atletico Madrid were held by Club Brugge in a thrilling 3-3 draw, while Bayer Leverkusen took a big step towards reaching the last 16 by beating Olympiacos 2-0 away in Greece.

Bodo/Glimt, Norwegian champions in four of the last six years, made it to this stage after some impressive results during the league phase, including wins at home to Manchester City and away to Atletico in their last two games.

The club from north of the Arctic Circle were therefore not afraid of the current Serie A leaders and went in front on 20 minutes through Sondre Brunstad Fet.

Francesco Pio Esposito equalised on the half-hour mark for three-time European champions Inter, the goal standing after a VAR check despite an apparent handball in the build-up.

However, Bodo/Glimt went back in front just after the hour when Kasper Hogh’s brilliant lay-off set up Jens Petter Hauge to score, and Hogh found the net himself three minutes later.

The result leaves Inter, who lost 5-0 to PSG in last season’s Champions League final, facing a big challenge to overturn their two-goal deficit in next Tuesday’s return leg at San Siro.

The winners of the tie will play either Manchester City or Sporting of Portugal in the last 16 next month.

Newcastle made short work of Qarabag on their long trip to Baku, with the outstanding Gordon netting two penalties among his four goals on the night — he now has 10 goals in nine matches in this season’s Champions League, a tally bettered only by Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappe on 13.

SCHICK DOUBLE, ATLETICO HELD

Gordon’s clinical finish gave Newcastle a third-minute lead at the Tofiq Bahramov Republican Stadium, and Malick Thiaw headed in for 2-0 after just eight minutes.

Former Everton winger Gordon then converted a penalty awarded for a handball just after the half-hour mark, and pounced on poor defending a minute later to complete his first professional hat-trick.

He then added a penalty for his fourth and his team’s fifth in first-half stoppage time, with Jacob Murphy getting the visitors’ sixth in the second half after Elvin Jafarguliyev had pulled one back.

Next week’s return at St James’ Park should now be a mere formality, with a last-16 tie to come against Barcelona or Chelsea.

“It’s a tribute to the team today. We were really good in the first half. That’s as good as we have played in a long time,” Newcastle boss Eddie Howe said. “I know the tie isn’t over but we are in a great position.”

In Belgium, Club Brugge came from 2-0 and then 3-2 down to earn a draw with Atletico and keep their play-off tie firmly in the balance ahead of next week’s second leg.

Julian Alvarez gave the Spaniards an early lead from the penalty spot at the Jan Breydelstadion, and Ademola Lookman finished from close range after Antoine Griezmann had flicked on an Alvarez corner in first-half stoppage time.

Nigeria’s Raphael Onyedika pulled one back just after the break for the hosts and Nicolo Tresoldi equalised on the hour mark.

Atletico appeared to have won the game when Club Brugge defe­nder Joel Ordonez turned a cross into his own net, but Christos Tzolis made it 3-3 in the 89th minute.

“It was a rollercoaster, like it’s been all season. We have to concentrate more,” Atletico captain Koke told broadcaster Movistar — his side are fourth in La Liga, well off the pace at the top, but hammered Barcelona 4-0 in their Copa del Rey semi-final first leg last week.

Leverkusen were seeking to avenge a 2-0 defeat away to Olympiacos last month as they returned to Piraeus, and this time they were the winners by the same margin as Czech striker Patrik Schick scored twice in the space of four minutes around the hour mark.

Published in Dawn, February 20th, 2026

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MILAN: China’s Ning Zhong­yan claimed gold in the men’s 1,500 meters speed skating at the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics on Thursday, setting an Olympic record and delivering his country’s first speed skating medal of the Games.

Ning clocked 1:41.98 to edge out American Jordan Stolz, who took silver, and Dutchman Kjeld Nuis, who secured bronze.

The result denied Stolz a third gold after his earlier victories in the 500m and 1,000m.

In Nordic combined, Norway’s Andreas Skoglund and Jens Luraas Oftebro won the team sprint gold in chaotic conditions marked by heavy snow and multiple crashes.

They edged Finland by a ski’s length in a dramatic finish, with Austria claiming bronze. Oftebro completed a remarkable hat-trick of golds at these Games.

Germany’s Vinzenz Geiger crashed late, taking Japan’s Ryota Yamamoto down and ending both teams’ medal hopes. Austria’s Stefan Retten­e­gger also fell near the end, opening the door for the Norway-Finland duel.

“It was a dream to win an individual gold and also the team gold. But to take three golds, that’s way more than I could ever dream of,” Oftebro said.

Switzerland captured bro­nze in women’s ice hockey with a 2-1 overtime win over Sweden at Santagiulia Arena. Alina Muller scored the winner with 50 seconds left in the extra session, echoing her game-winning goal against Sweden for bronze in 2014.

Mira Jungaker put Sweden ahead in the second period, but Sinja Leemann equalised for Switzerland shortly after. The Swiss, outshot 31-17 in regulation, showed resilience in overtime.

In the debut of ski mountaineering (SkiMo), Spain’s Oriol Cardona Coll won the men’s sprint gold, ending a 54-year wait for a Spanish Winter Olympics gold since Francisco Fernandez Ochoa’s alpine victory in 1972.

He dominated the final in a snowstorm, beating neutral athlete Nikita Filippov (competing without flag or anthem due to sanctions) and France’s Thibault Anselmet.

Switzerland’s Marianne Fat­t­on took the women’s sprint go­ld, upsetting four-time world champion Emily Harrop of Fra­nce, who settled for silver. Ana Alonso Rodriguez earned Spa­in’s first medal of the Games with bronze in the women’s event.

The sprint format featured intense head-to-head battles: a steep climb with skins, a bootpack up stairs carrying skis, transitions, and a slalom descent. Transitions proved decisive, with Harrop losing time on ski changes.

“The feeling is amazing. I’ve been dreaming about winning the race a lot of times and finally the dream has come true,” Cardona Coll said. “It means a lot for us as a country.”

In men’s curling, Norway defeated Canada 8-6 to secure a semi-final spot and third place in round-robin standings, setting up a rematch with Canada. Switzerland finished undefeated (9-0) after beating host Italy 9-5, earning a semi-final against Britain, who advanced with favorable results.

Britain’s Bruce Mouat boun­ced back from earlier losses, while Italy’s Amos Mosaner lamented missed chances after their defeat.

Published in Dawn, February 20th, 2026

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PALLEKELE: Australia coach Andrew McDonald said on Thursday his players were “devastated” after their T20 World Cup exit, but they would be “zeroed in” on avoiding an embarrassing upset against Oman.

Australia failed to make the second phase for only the second time in the event’s history after defeats to Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka.

“We’ve got a pretty sort of devastated group, it’s fair to say,” McDonald told reporters in Kandy ahead of Friday’s final match against Oman, now a dead rubber. We’re usually alive coming to these points in time, but it’s not to be.

“We’ve put ourselves in this position. So hopefully, Oman, we can prepare and go and do the job there.”

Defeat against 20th-ranked Oman would be the biggest embarrassment of all.

“There won’t be any lack of motivation against Oman,” said McDonald. “We’ve got one more World Cup game and we’ll be zeroed in on that.” The match will end a chaotic Australian campaign. Australia arrived in Sri Lanka after being drubbed 3-0 in Pak­i­stan and without injured fast bowlers Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood.

They then lost their captain Mitchell Marsh for the first two games after he was hit during practice and suffered testicular bleeding.

Australia’s acerbic media did not hold back in their criticism, citing selection “stuff-ups”.

Chief among those is sticking with the woefully out-of-form Cameron Green and promoting Tim David to number four as a “power hitter” when he had not played since Decem­ber because of a hamstring injury.

‘Get our heads right’

Glenn Maxwell, so often a match-winner with the bat in the past, is struggling for runs and the Australians dearly missed the experience of Cummins and Hazlewood.

Matt Renshaw was Australia’s top run scorer in the first two group matches, but he was bewilderingly dropped for the Sri Lanka clash.

“I think the debate around selection is always great,” said McDonald. “There’s always differing opinions from the outside and sometimes the people on the outside don’t understand what the moving parts are and the conversations are on the inside.”

The selectors had been panned for leaving out all-time great Steve Smi­th from the original squad, despite his scintillating Big Bash form.

Smith was finally flown in and added to the squad last week, only to be ignored for the must-win game against Sri Lanka on Monday.

Without Smith and Renshaw, Australia collapsed from 160-4 to 181 all out and lost by eight wickets.

“They’re entitled to their opinions,” McDonald said of the criticism. “Unfortunately, we weren’t able to get the performances that we wanted, so those people are entitled to critique that and we’re incredibly disappointed with where we’re at.”

The final nail in the coffin came when Zimbabwe’s match against Ireland was abandoned the next day, putting the African nation through with Sri Lanka.

“The next game is Oman. So we’ve got to get our heads right around that,” said McDonald. “I think the time to start to look back over what happened will be when we exit the shores here.”

Published in Dawn, February 20th, 2026

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