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European football: Real Mallorca hand Barcelona a gift with shock win over Real Madrid | European club football

Published

2 months ago

April 4, 2026

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Real Mallorca dealt a major blow to Real Madrid’s title aspirations as Vedat Muriqi struck an added-time winner to seal a shock 2-1 win for the hosts, leaving Real four points behind Barcelona before the leaders play Atlético Madrid later on Saturday.

The hosts withstood Real’s pressure early in the game, the goalkeeper Leo Roman denying Kylian Mbappé with two diving saves, before Mallorca took the lead from their first shot on target in the 42nd minute as Manu Morlanes converted Pablo Maffeo’s cross.

Éder Militão, playing for the first time since his hamstring injury in December, equalised for Real in the 88th minute but Muriqi, the second-highest scorer in La Liga this season after Mbappé, sealed Mallorca’s win with a strike three minutes later. The victory – their first over Real in three years – moved them two points above the bottom three.

Muriqi, who was panned for his lacklustre performance when Kosovo failed to qualify for the World Cup with a loss to Turkey on Tuesday, broke down in tears after the final whistle, and said later: “Sometimes the emotions get the better of you, you can’t keep the tears in.

“Losing what was a final for us to reach the World Cup, then we’re winning and [Real] equalise. Then, the late goal … I’m just happy to repay the supporters, we want to stay in this division for them.”

In Germany, Bayern Munich scored three times in the last nine minutes as the Bundesliga leaders came from two goals behind to snatch a 3-2 victory at Freiburg. Tom Bischof fired in almost identical shots from the edge of the box to draw them level before Lennart Karl tapped in with almost the last kick of the game to earn three points for Bayern, who were without their injured top scorer, Harry Kane. Bayern travel to Real Madrid on Tuesday for their Champions League quarter-final first leg.

Freiburg, the only German team along with Bayern to still be in the German Cup as well as a European competition, went in front a minute into the second half when Johan Manzambi whipped a sensational shot from about 25 yards out past Manuel Neuer. The hosts, who face Celta Vigo in the Europa League last eight on Thursday, then twice came agonisingly close to a second goal as they dominated early on after the break, keeping 40-year-old Neuer busy.

Lennart Karl celebrates after putting Bayern Munich 3-2 up against Freiburg. Photograph: Ronald Wittek/EPA

Freiburg doubled their lead in the 71st minute with a Lucas Hoeler volley after Neuer spilled a corner into his path, but the visitors cut the deficit 10 minutes later when Bischof threaded a shot past Noah Atubolu as the visitors upped the pressure late in the game. He did it again in stoppage time before Karl scored the winner in the dying seconds.

“We actually feel unbeatable at the moment,” said the 18-year-old Karl, whose meteoric rise this season, featuring five league goals, has made him a serious candidate for Germany’s World Cup squad. “I’m very happy. It’s an unbelievable feeling.”

Borussia Dortmund’s Karim Adeyemi and Julian Brandt scored deep in second half stoppage time to snatch a 2-0 victory at VfB Stuttgart. The result kept second-placed Dortmund, on 64 points, nine behind Bayern, while Stuttgart dropped to fourth on 53, behind RB Leipzig on goal difference.

The Ruhr valley club had not beaten Stuttgart across all competitions in the previous seven matches and had to wait until the end to strike. The hosts, battling to secure a Champions League spot next season, had the upper hand and the better chances in the first half and Dortmund remained largely toothless after the break until Adeyemi found enough space outside the box to rifle in for the lead in stoppage time. Brandt then made the most of a fine cross by Fabio Silva to double their lead two minutes later.

Meanwhile in Italy, Massimiliano Allegri, the Milan coach, said on Saturday he has not given any thought to the vacant Italy manager’s job as he focuses on getting his Serie A team back into the Champions League, despite being linked with the post. Gennaro Gattuso left the Italy job on Friday after his side’s World Cup playoff loss to Bosnia and Herzegovina on penalties, a third straight missed qualification for the four-times champions, with Giuseppe Gravina stepping down as chief of the Italian football federation.

The 58-year-old Allegri, who won five league titles at Juventus, was asked in the buildup to Monday’s Serie A game at Napoli if he would rule out coaching Italy, now or in the future. “I started a journey last year with Milan, now we have to be focused on finishing the season well and reaching the Champions League,” Allegri said. “I haven’t thought about it yet. I’m fine at Milan and I hope to stay at Milan for a long time. It’s been a few years since I have taken part in the Champions League, if we were to qualify and I were still Milan’s coach, I’d have to get used to it again.”

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Police chief apologises to Henry Nowak's family over handcuffing and arrest

Published

52 minutes ago

June 3, 2026

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Chief Constable Alexis Boon tells the BBC the footage of how the murder victim had been treated was distressing.

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Pete Hegseth removes all women and some Black service members from navy promotion list | Pete Hegseth

Published

2 hours ago

June 3, 2026

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The US defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, stripped nine navy officers including women and Black service members from a promotion list last month, according to a person familiar with the matter, resulting in an all-male, overwhelmingly white slate of 22 advancing as nominees to become one-star admirals.

Hegseth’s unusual intervention violated promotion rules designed to be merit-based and apolitical, the New York Times said on Tuesday, and extended the Trump administration’s push to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in the military.

The original promotion list included three women and two Black officers in addition to the two who remained, the newspaper said.

A navy source said that officials in the service had been “very confident” with those on the promotion list, including the officers whom Hegseth removed. He said Hegseth did not explain to the navy why he removed the officers from the list.

One government source familiar with matter said Hegseth has “his favorite MOS’s [military occupational specialities], and then gender and race. He went through the list and scrubbed a few names. It was felt loud and clear.”

The Pentagon disputed that Hegseth blocked promotions based on race or gender. “As we’ve said before, military promotions are given to those who have earned them. The department will never consider the color of a service member’s skin or their gender as a factor in promotions,” said Sean Parnell, the chief Pentagon spokesperson. “Under President Trump and Secretary Hegseth, meritocracy reigns supreme at the war department.”

The move has direct parallels with Hegseth’s reported interposition in a similar army promotion list in March, in which he is said to have directed the army secretary, Dan Driscoll, to remove two women and two Black officers from a nomination slate to become one-star generals.

Hegseth has previously railed against diversity and so-called “woke” in the armed services.

“For too long, we’ve promoted too many uniform leaders for the wrong reasons – based on their race, based on gender quotas, based on historic so-called firsts,” he told a keynote meeting of military commanders in Virginia in September. “The sooner we have the right people, the sooner we can advance the right policies.”

Hegseth’s involvement in the promotions list is unusual, according to a former military official. “It’s supposed to an up-and-down vote from the defense secretary. He continuing to meddle on an individual basis,” he said. “He’s stripping autonomy from the service secretaries.”

One name still on the latest navy list published on 22 May is Capt Sean Barbabella, Donald Trump’s White House physician, who last week declared the almost 80-year-old president to be in “excellent health”, despite photographs showing him at times with swollen ankles, bruised hands and a blotchy neck.

Hegseth stepped in to overrule a board of navy admirals that had drawn up the list, the Times said, also removing four white officers. The outlet noted that the list as published, which must be confirmed by the US Senate, bears little relation to the makeup of the force the nominees will lead.

The report cites a 2024 government profile of the navy’s active-service composition, which revealed that more than 21% are women, and that almost 40% identify with racial minority groups.

The Guardian reported in March that Hegseth, who styles himself the “secretary of war”, acted soon after his confirmation as defense secretary last year to block promotions or redeploy senior military officers, 60% of them women or Black.

He reassigned V Adm Yvette Davids, the first woman to lead the US naval academy, and dismissed another navy vice-admiral, Shoshana Chatfield, as the US military representative to the Nato military committee.

Hegseth also dismissed Adm Lisa Franchetti as chief of naval operations.

Coast guard commandant Linda Fagan, who served for 37 years and was the longest serving active duty marine safety officer, was dismissed on 20 January 2025, the first day of Trump’s second term of office, four days before Hegseth’s narrow Senate confirmation.

Overall, the Times said, Hegseth has fired or sidelined nearly three dozen senior military officers.

The actions extend the Trump administration’s efforts to reshape the US military, which have included attempts to ban women from combat roles and blocking transgender troops from serving.

A federal appeals court in Washington DC on Monday delivered a setback to the anti-diversity push by ruling that the government acted illegally by moving to dismiss transgender service members. That case is expected to reach the supreme court.

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