Sports
Lyon top Europa League standings, Roma reach last eight
PARIS: A 4-2 win at home against Greek side PAOK secured Olympique Lyonnais a top finish in the Europa League standings as Italian side AS Roma scraped into eighth place and direct passage to the last 16 on the final league phase matchday on Thursday.
Despite conceding an early goal, Lyon were seemingly in control after PAOKs Giannis Konstantelias was sent off just before the break, with a late surge ensuring top spot.
Aston Villa finished second on goal difference after recovering from two goals down to beat Red Bull Salzburg 3-2 with their spot in the last 16 already assured.
Villa looked to be sliding to just a second defeat in Europe this campaign when Salzburg surged 2-0 ahead in Birmingham through goals from Karim Konate and Moussa Yeo.
Morgan Rogers reduced the deficit and Tyrone Mings headed Villa level, with 19-year-old Jamaldeen Jimoh-Aloba netting his first senior goal to complete the turnaround for Unai Emery’s men.
“It’s a proud moment for me on my European debut,” Jimoh-Aloba told TNT Sports. “It’s just really nice to make my family proud and stuff because of all the hard work. I’ve had a lot of lows this season and a lot of highs, but this is top.”
Villa, who sit third in the Premier League, will get a welcome break before the last 16 — where they could meet Lille, PAOK, Red Star Belgrade or Celta Vigo.
Emery has won the Europa League a record four times as a manager and Rogers believes that is a considerable advantage for Villa.
“He knows how to get his way through a competition, especially this one. To have him in our corner guiding us through it is going to be massive,” said Rogers.
Like in the Champions League, the top eight finishers advance automatically to the last 16. The teams placed from nine to 24 enter a two-leg playoff.
Denmark’s FC Midtjylland secured third place, two points back of Lyon and Villa, with a 2-0 win over Dinamo Zagreb.
Real Betis sealed fourth place with a 2-1 win over eliminated Feyenoord and took the lead inside 17 minutes after a breathless opening in which both sides had chances. Brazilian Antony curled in a shot from 25 yards.
It was 2-0 in the 32nd minute when Antony’s cross was headed into the corner by Abde Ezzalzouli. It already looked a long way back for Feyenoord, though Casper Tengstedt halved the deficit after Betis took their foot off the pedal in the second half.
Fighting to remain in the top eight, FC Porto conceded a sucker-punch goal to Rangers in the sixth minute but they bounced back with three goals before the break to grab a 3-1 win and fifth place in the table, just ahead of fellow Portuguese side Braga and German side Freiburg.
For Rangers the campaign came to a disappointing end as they finished 32nd out of 36.
Braga drew 0-0 at Go Ahead Eagles, and 10-man Freiburg slipped to seventh with a 1-0 loss at Lille.
The biggest thriller of the night came when Roma suffered a blow early at Panathinaikos after Gianluca Mancini was sent off in the 15th minute for bringing down Milos Pantovic as the last defender.
The Greek side made the most of their numerical advantage with Vicente Taborda scoring just before the hour mark, but a goal from Jan Ziolkowski 10 minutes before time secured the Italian side a spot in the top eight.
FOREST, CELTIC INTO PLAY-OFFS
Nottingham Forest made it through to the playoff phase after a 4-0 victory at home against Ferencvaros.
Forest stood an outside chance of climbing into the top eight going into the final round of matches but needed to beat Robbie Keane’s Ferencvaros and rely on other results going their way.
Sean Dyche’s side did their bit as Igor Jesus struck twice for Forest after Ferencvaros defender Bence Otvos scored an own goal. James McAtee tucked away a late penalty, but the win was only enough for the Premier League club to finish 13th overall.
“It has not been easy through various games, the schedule, planning, travelling and all that sort of stuff. To come out of a disappointing one in Braga [1-0 loss last week] and then to deliver that I am very pleased,” Dyche told TNT Sports.
There was no luck for the Dutch sides as Utrecht, Feyenoord and Go Ahead Eagles were all eliminated in what became a last-second thriller to get the last unseeded playoff phase spots.
Swiss side Young Boys conceded a goal in the 90th minute that cost them their chance to advance as they lost 3-2 to VfB Stuttgart, forcing them into 25th spot and bringing their European adventure to an end. SK Brann clinched the last spot despite a 1-0 loss at Sturm Graz.
In Scotland, Benjamin Nygren gave Celtic an early lead and then forced an own goal minutes later to give his side a good start, but there were some nervy moments for the Scottish side before they eventually secured a 4-2 win over Utrecht that had them finish 21st.
Published in Dawn, January 31st, 2026
The Pakistan cricket team on Monday arrived in Sri Lanka for the T20 World Cup, which is set to begin on February 7.
In a post on X, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said that a 15-player squad had arrived in the country.
“The 15-player national squad includes Captain Salman Ali Agha, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Khawaja Mohammad Naeef, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Salman Mirza, Naseem Shah, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usman Khan, and Usman Tariq,” the PCB said in an earlier post, the informed of the squad’s department for the global event’s venue.
In the latest update about the aquad’s arrival in Colombo, the board said the team would rest on Monday and Tuesday.
“The team will play a warm-up match against Ireland on Feb 4,” PCB added.
The T20 World Cup, co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka, is set to begin on Feb 7.
On Sunday, the government gave the go-ahead for Pakistan’s participation in the tournament, but barred it from playing against arch-rival India on February 15.
The announcement came amid uncertainty regarding a possible boycott of the tournament over Bangladesh’s withdrawal following tensions with India.
A government source told Dawn that Pakistan had refused to play against India to express solidarity with Bangladesh. According to the government source, the primary reason for boycotting the match with India was the ICC’s “biased decision” towards Bangladesh.
BULAWAYO: India completed the semi-final line-up for the ICC Under-19 World Cup with a comprehensive 58-run win over Pakistan in Bulawayo on Sunday.
The victory in the final Super Six match at the Queens Sports Club means the Indian colts head into the knockouts unbeaten and as Group 2 toppers.
After a late surge helped them to 252 in 49.5 overs, India put in a clinical performance in the field to dismiss Pakistan for 194 in 46.2 overs.
India joined Australia, England and Afghanistan into the final four. The Ayush Mhatre-led side face Afghanistan in the semi-finals in Harare on Wednesday. The first semi-final, between Australia and England, takes place in Bulawayo on Tuesday.
Put into bat, India powered past 250 thanks to the acceleration provided by the lower order in the last 10 overs.
With a spot in the semi-final on line, India were expecting another blockbuster innings from Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. Though the left-hander gave the team a brisk start, striking five fours and a six as he motored to 30, he was living dangerously. After two close calls, Sooryavanshi fell to a shorter delivery from Mohammad Sayyam, with a bottom-edge carrying to wicket-keeper Hamza Zahoor.
Starting with Sooryavanshi, India lost three and in the space of four balls. While Sayyam also dismissed India captain Ayush Mhatre, Abdul Subhan bowled over opener Aaron George to reduce India to 47-3.
In their previous match in Bulawayo, India had scored a mammoth 352-8 against Zimbabwe. But on Sunday, the ball wasn’t coming on to the bat as well and stayed low. Vedant Trivedi led India’s fightback with 68. His 62-run fourth-wicket partnership with Vihaan Malhotra (21) helped steer India clear of immediate trouble. Trivedi also put on handy stands with Abhigyan Kundu and RS Ambrish.
After the middle order had kept the scoreboard ticking, the lower order provided the late flourish. Kanishk Chouhan (35 off 29) and Khilan Patel (21 off 15) helped India notch 71 runs in the last 10 overs, lifting the score to 252.
For Pakistan, Subhan dismissed Chouhan and Patel to finish with 3-33 in 9.5 overs.
To qualify for the semi-final at India’s expense, Pakistan needed to chase down the target within 33.4 overs; otherwise, if the innings ended with a six to reach 258, they had until 34.3 overs to get there.
Pakistan showed some early intent, scoring 13 runs off the second over. It seemed their chances hinged on Sameer Minhas, but India were able to send the star opener back fairly quickly. He was trapped leg before wicket by Henil Patel.
Following the early setback, Pakistan never showed any urgency to make a run for the semi-final spot. Hamza Zahoor (42), Usman Khan (66) and captain Farhan Yousuf (38) hung in there gamely even as runs slowed down to a trickle.
Chouhan conceded 30 runs off his 10 overs and claimed the wicket of Zahoor and was named the player-of-the-match. Skipper Mhatre claimed three wickets for 21 in his overs while Khilan Patel got 3-35.
Published in Dawn, February 2nd, 2026
The Pakistan cricket team on Monday departed for Sri Lanka for the T20 World Cup, which is set to begin on February 7.
In a post on X, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said that a 15-player squad was departing for Sri Lanka.
“The 15-player national squad includes Captain Salman Ali Agha, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Khawaja Mohammad Naeef, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Salman Mirza, Naseem Shah, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usman Khan, and Usman Tariq,” the PCB said.
It said that the team would rest on Monday and Tuesday.
“The team will play a warm-up match against Ireland on Feb 4,” PCB added.
The T20 World Cup, co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka, is set to begin on Feb 7.
On Sunday, the government gave the go-ahead for Pakistan’s participation in the tournament, but barred it from playing against arch-rival India on February 15.
The announcement came amid uncertainty regarding a possible boycott of the tournament over Bangladesh’s withdrawal following tensions with India.
A government source told Dawn that Pakistan had refused to play against India to express solidarity with Bangladesh. According to the government source, the primary reason for boycotting the match with India was the ICC’s “biased decision” towards Bangladesh.
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