Short Corner
‘Liverpool deserve to win Champions League’
Reuters
Netherlands coach Ronald Koeman hopes Liverpool pair Virgil van Dijk and Georginio Wijnaldum emerge as Champions League winners on Saturday so that they join up with his squad in a positive mood for the Nations League campaign.
Liverpool face Tottenham Hotspur in the Champions League final in Madrid.
The Dutch take on England in the Nations League semifinal in Guimaraes, Portugal on June 6.
“It would be rather sour if both ended up empty handed after such a formidable season and being so close to huge trophies,” Koeman told reporters as the Dutch prepared for the Nations League with a camp in Zeist this week.
“Van Dijk, Wijnaldum and Liverpool do not deserve that.”
Kvitova gets all clear for Wimbledon
Afp
Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova said she expects to be fit for the grass-court season despite pulling out of the French Open with a left arm injury on Monday.
The Czech, who was seeded sixth at Roland Garros, will be out for “two to three weeks”.
“It means no tennis, of course, as it’s my left forearm,” said the big-hitting left-hander.
“Maybe I can play rightie. Two to three weeks, so I’ll do some fitness and everything that I can do to prepare my body for the tennis on the grass.”
Kvitova had been due to play Romania’s Sorana Cirstea in her opening Roland Garros match on Court Suzanne Lenglen later in the day.
“I am so disappointed to have to announce my withdrawal from Roland Garros,” Kvitova wrote on Twitter.
Kante a doubt for Europa League final
Reuters
Chelsea midfielder N’Golo Kante is a doubt for Wednesday’s Europa League final against Arsenal in Baku after sustaining a knee injury in training over the weekend, according to British media reports.
The France international missed Chelsea’s previous two games with a hamstring injury but returned to training last week and manager Maurizio Sarri was confident he would be fit for the club’s season-ending showpiece in the Azerbaijan capital.
Both the Times and Guardian newspapers reported that Kante had twisted his knee during a training session on Saturday and was not likely to recover in time for the final.
The 28-year-old’s absence is a blow for Sarri, who is already without the services of defender Antonio Rudiger, midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek and winger Callum Hudson-Odoi due to injuries.
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