Chelsea’s season ended in glory in Wroclaw as they came from behind to beat Real Betis 4-1 in the Conference League final to seal the London club’s seventh major European trophy. Everything for Enzo Maresca’s team hinged around a five-minute spell midway through the second half. In that window Cole Palmer turned a match the LaLiga side had enjoyed by far the better of into a Chelsea procession.
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Isaac del Toro staged a superb recovery to win Stage 17 at the Giro d’Italia, just 24 hours after a bruising day in the mountains hinted his days in pink were numbered. The Mexican was on the ropes again on Wednesday’s run to Bormio when he dropped back on the mighty Mortirolo, but he regrouped magnificently before launching a late move to take a maiden Grand Tour stage win.
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Isaac del Toro cracked as Italy got a home winner on a chaotic Stage 16 of the Giro d’Italia, while Primoz Roglic abandoned. Christian Scaroni won the day for XDS Astana, but that was far from the only talking point from Tuesday’s unrelenting mountain stage. Both Simon Yates and Richard Carapaz made huge gains on the Mexican leader, who still holds a 26-second buffer to second place.
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Former Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag has signed a two-year contract to succeed Xabi Alonso as head coach of German club Bayer Leverkusen. It is the first managerial role that Ten Hag, 55, has taken since his departure from United in October. Alonso was confirmed as the new boss of Spanish giants Real Madrid on Sunday. The Dutchman had enjoyed prior success with Ajax before joining United in 2022.
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Primoz Roglic’s hopes of a second Giro d’Italia title took a monumental hit as he leaked 90 seconds on his main rivals on Stage 15, leaving him almost four minutes adrift of Isaac del Toro in the leader’s pink jersey with a week to go. Carlos Verona took a fine win from the breakaway, but the main drama happened further down the road with UAE’s tactics called into question and Roglic losing time.
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