Raphinha scored twice and Lamine Yamal netted a stunning strike as a superb Barcelona dismantled Benfica 3-1 in the second leg of their Champions League last-16 tie on Tuesday, advancing to the quarter-finals with a 4-1 aggregate victory. It was an inspired evening for teenager Yamal who was virtually unplayable running up and down the right channel, creating most of Barca’s scoring chances.
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Newcastle prepared for the Carabao Cup final with a victory at West Ham that moved them up to sixth in the Premier League. Eddie Howe’s side will look to end a 70-year wait for a major trophy on Sunday when they take on Premier League leaders Liverpool at Wembley. They went into Monday’s fixture at London Stadium desperate for a win to ensure they face the Reds with momentum, and they got it thanks to Bruno Guimaraes’ second-half strike.
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England are best placed to take advantage of any final-day slip-up by Six Nations leaders France after they moved up to second in the Six Nations table with a seven-try victory over Italy at Allianz Stadium. Wing Ollie Sleightholme crossed twice in an ultimately comfortable victory, but the hosts were made to sweat early on with Italy scoring two superb tries to stay within four points at half-time.
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Five-try Scotland overcame a hugely spirited Wales in a frenetic Six Nations contest at Murrayfield, condemning the visitors to a 16th defeat in a row. The Scots looked at ease for large parts of the game, only for Wales to threaten a jaw-dropping comeback late on and ensure they at least left with some reward. In the last 18 minutes, the visitors scored three unanswered tries – all converted – to turn a cakewalk into a struggle for the Scots, whose edge blunted incredibly in the second half.
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Rampant France took control of the Six Nations title race as they scored 34 unanswered points to thrash Ireland in Dublin and end the home side’s Grand Slam hopes. Despite losing captain Antoine Dupont to a suspected “serious” knee injury after 30 minutes, France scored three second-half tries to move two points clear of Ireland at the top and avenge last year’s defeat in Marseille.
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