Latest news with #treble
Yahoo
12 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Bayern Munich Plot Pursuit of PSG Star, Barcelona Target in Major Winger Move
PSG have built the kind of depth that's put them one win away from a treble, but not everyone is content with their role. Under Luis Enrique, the Parisians captured a second straight Ligue 1 title and added the Coupe de France, with the Spanish manager using squad rotation to keep players fresh across all competitions. It's a strategy that has delivered results. Advertisement Still, not every player is satisfied being part of a rotation. Some believe they're ready for a bigger role, and Bradley Barcola appears to be one of them. The young forward is now attracting interest from Bayern Munich, putting his future in the spotlight. PSG standout remains on Bayern Munich's radarBayern Munich board member for sport Max Eberl has left the team's training camp in Florida to focus on squad planning and hold talks with agents and other board members, according to Florian Plettenberg. As the search for a winger continues, Bayern are keeping an eye on whether Barcelona can complete a deal for Athletic Club's Nico Williams. Barcola remains high on their list, and AC Milan's Rafael Leão has also been discussed internally. Despite this rumor, Foot Mercato's Josué Cassé recently reported that Barcola isn't leaving PSG, as he remains a key part of the club's project and has no intention of moving on.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
'Sky the limit' for treble winners Bath
Captain Ben Spencer says the "sky is the limit" for Bath after they ended a 29-year wait for a Premiership trophy and clinched a historic treble. Spencer lifted the trophy at Allianz Stadium Twickenham on Saturday after a tense, closely-fought 23-21 final victory against Leicester Tigers. Advertisement Bath added their first league title since 1996 to Premiership Rugby Cup and European Challenge Cup silverware won earlier this campaign. "The future of this club is unbelievably bright, no matter who pulls on the shirt it's next man in," Spencer said. "The work ethic is second to none. As long as we keep our feet on the floor and keep on wanting to get better, the sky is the limit for this team." Spencer joined Bath in 2020 after nine years with Saracens where he won seven major trophies - including four Premiership titles - through the London club's era of dominance. The 32-year-old was made captain in 2022-23 as head of rugby Johann van Graan's tenure at Bath began, just months after the club had finished bottom of the league the season before. Advertisement "The amount of hard work this has taken to turn the ship around... we were bottom three years ago," added Spencer. "I can't credit [Van Graan] enough, he's been absolutely brilliant. If we [understand] there's always an opportunity to get better then I'm really excited for the next couple of years." Bath narrowly lost to Northampton in the Twickenham showpiece last June but were overwhelming favourites this time around. They ended the regular league campaign 11 points clear at the top of the table and wrapped up top spot and a home semi-final in the play-offs with three rounds of games still to play. Advertisement Scrum-half Spencer said he mainly felt "relief" at the final whistle because of the prolonged build-up. "To get the mindset right when you qualify early as we did is quite tough," he said. "I played that semi-final in my head hundreds of times. Day in, day out it was, 'who are we going to get?' It's a hard place to be mentally. "It's relief for me, the players, staff and fans." 'Champion teams win things multiple times' Van Graan said his side had done the "unthinkable" in winning the league title three years after he took over. The squad will now go their separate ways over the summer, with international commitments, including the British and Irish Lions tour of Australia. Advertisement They will not reconvene until a pre-season camp in September but Van Graan said the ambition to keep getting better will not diminish. "I'll set the vision we'll align as a group and we'll take whatever's next - champion teams are teams that win things multiple times," he added. "The day you stand still is the day somebody catches you. "I learned in my time at [South African club] Bulls when I was part of a team that won a lot, you must always train like number two because the other guys are coming. "We'll look at ourselves and we'll go again. It's a journey, there's no end point." Advertisement Additional reporting by Alex Hoad
The Independent
6 days ago
- Sport
- The Independent
Bath's Ben Spencer says ‘the sky's the limit' after they wrap up historic treble
Bath captain Ben Spencer declared 'the sky's the limit' after his side ended a 29-year wait for a Premiership title and secured an historic treble with a 23-21 triumph over Leicester at Allianz Stadium. Leicester came up just short of a fairytale farewell for scrum-half Ben Youngs and prop Dan Cole, who have both called time on their careers after this season and were introduced after the break. Bath held on after a late Tigers surge narrowed the deficit to two points – despite going down to 14 men after Cole was controversially sent off – through a late Emeka Ilione try to raise the Twickenham tension. 'Just relief, pride,' said Spencer, when asked to sum up his feelings. 'This has taken a lot of hard work from a lot of people. Relief not just for me, but for the players, the staff, and the fans. The fans are a massive part of why I joined the club. 'I think the future of this club is unbelievably bright, no matter who pulls on the shirt. I can't speak highly enough of the guys coming through. Their work ethic is second to none, and as long as we keep our feet on the floor and wanting to get better, the sky's the limit for this team.' Bath's tries came from Thomas du Toit and Max Ojomoh on what became a brilliant afternoon for Scotland's Finn Russell, who overcame early frustrations to kick 13 points, also teeing up Ojomoh after snatching an interception from inside his own half. Jack van Poortvliet opened the scoring with a try for Leicester, while second-half tries from Solomone Kata and Ilione nearly sparked a comeback. Handre Pollard added three Leicester conversions but the World Cup-winning South African fly-half will rue what might have been after a rare penalty miss. Tigers twice had men sent to the sin bin – departing captain Julian Montoya late in the first half, while Cole's swansong concluded unceremoniously with a controversial yellow. Bath head of rugby Johann van Graan said: 'Our whole focus this season was on winning the Premiership. We gave ourselves that goal, kept that within the circle.' The South African coach said he would now pause for a moment of reflection before focusing on next season. He added: 'The day you stand still is the day somebody catches you. You must always train like number two because the other guys are coming. The best is yet to come.' Leicester head coach Michael Cheika – to be replaced by Geoff Parling – will leave this summer at the end of his one-year contract, in addition to Argentina hooker Montoya, Pollard and former England back Mike Brown. And although he felt he would get himself 'in strife' for disclosing what he felt about some of the decisions that went against his side – vowing to take it up with the RFU's officiating chief Paul Hull as a 'final bit of banter' – Cheika was delighted by his team's resilience and felt the future of the club was bright. He added: 'I feel like if we can take those things that are intangible around belief and the standards you need to have to be able to compete, then it won't be long before they are on that podium themselves.'
BBC News
6 days ago
- Sport
- BBC News
'Sky the limit' for treble winners Bath
Captain Ben Spencer says the "sky is the limit" for Bath after they ended a 29-year wait for a Premiership trophy and clinched a historic lifted the trophy at Allianz Stadium Twickenham on Saturday after a tense, closely-fought 23-21 final victory against Leicester added their first league title since 1996 to Premiership Rugby Cup and European Challenge Cup silverware won earlier this campaign."The future of this club is unbelievably bright, no matter who pulls on the shirt it's next man in," Spencer said."The work ethic is second to none. As long as we keep our feet on the floor and keep on wanting to get better, the sky is the limit for this team." Spencer joined Bath in 2020 after nine years with Saracens where he won seven major trophies - including four Premiership titles - through the London club's era of 32-year-old was made captain in 2022-23 as head of rugby Johann van Graan's tenure at Bath began, just months after the club had finished bottom of the league the season before."The amount of hard work this has taken to turn the ship around... we were bottom three years ago," Spencer said."I can't credit [Van Graan] enough, he's been absolutely brilliant. If we [understand] there's always an opportunity to get better then I'm really excited for the next couple of years."Bath narrowly lost to Northampton in the Twickenham showpiece last June but were overwhelming favourites this time around. They ended the regular league campaign 11 points clear at the top of the table and wrapped up top spot and a home semi-final in the play-offs with three rounds of games still to Spencer said he mainly felt "relief" at the final whistle because of the prolonged build-up."To get the mindset right when you qualify early as we did is quite tough," he said. "I played that semi-final in my head hundreds of times. Day in, day out it was 'who are we going to get?' It's a hard place to be mentally."It's relief for me, the players, staff and fans." 'There's no end point to Bath journey' Van Graan said his side had done the "unthinkable" in winning the league title three years after he took squad will now go their separate ways over the summer, with international commitments, including the British and Irish Lions will not reconvene until a pre-season camp in September but Van Graan said the ambition to keep getting better will not diminish."I'll set the vision we'll align as a group and we'll take whatever's next - champion teams are teams that win things multiple times," Van Graan said."The day you stand still is the day somebody catches you."I learnt in my time at [South African club] Bulls when I was part of a team that won a lot, you must always train like number two because the other guys are coming."We'll look at ourselves and we'll go again. It's a journey, there's no end point."Additional reporting by Alex Hoad
The Sun
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Sun
Sir Alex Ferguson comes across emotional letter he sent decades ago on first-ever tour of Rangers' museum
SIR ALEX FERGUSON spotted an emotional letter he wrote in the '90s in Rangers' brand new museum. The iconic Scottish manager was in Glasgow this week for the opening of the Rangers Museum at New Edmiston House. 4 4 4 Fergie, who spent two years at Ibrox from 1967 to 1969, was given the honour of being the venue's first-ever visitor. Some of the most famed items in Rangers' history are on display in the museum, including a letter from Ferguson. The letter was one Govan-born Ferguson penned to Dick Advocaat after the Dutchman guided the Teddy Bears to a treble in the 1998/1999 season. It read: "Dear Dick. Just a wee note to congratulate you and your players on winning the treble. "I know how difficult it is to maintain the level of fitness and determination to achieve all three trophies, but your players carried out the task wth great style. "Please pass on my sincere good wishes to all your staff. "Yours sincerely, Sir Alex Ferguson." Ferguson appeared to be emotional as he looked at the letter and the rest of the Gers memorabilia. 4 The Ibrox faithful were thrilled that Fergie was the first person to enter the doors of the Rangers Museum. One wrote on X: "Brilliant to see Fergie looking so well, and nice to see him at Ibrox." Another said: "Once a Ranger, always a Ranger."
