Real Madrid’s chances of capturing a third Champions League crown on the bounce have been given a massive boost 10 days ahead of the final against Liverpool.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Dani Carvajal both returned to first-team training on Tuesday, ensuring Los Blancos boss Zinedine Zidane will have a full squad for the continental finale, barring additional injuries.
(Photo courtesy: Real Madrid)
Ronaldo, the Champions League’s leading scorer, missed out on Real’s last two La Liga outings versus Sevilla and Celta Vigo with an ankle concern sustained in the El Clasico draw with Barcelona.
While Ronaldo’s participation in the May 26 final was hardly in doubt, Carvajal’s return from a hamstring complaint was in question after the 26-year-old right-back missed the last five matches, including the second leg of the semi-final against Bayern Munich. Without the Spaniard at full-back, attacker Lucas Vazquez struggled to deputise for his countryman.
Three sports memorabilia collectors who accused New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning of providing bogus “game-worn” equipment that was sold to unsuspecting fans settled their lawsuit against the Super Bowl-winning quarterback on Monday, days before the case was scheduled to go to trial.
A spokesman for the defendants, a group that included Manning, the Giants, two equipment managers and Steiner Sports, the company with whom Manning is under contract to provide game-worn jerseys and helmets for sale, said Monday night a settlement had been reached to resolve the claims. Details were not given.
The attorneys for both sides issued a joint statement that read: “[Plaintiffs] Eric Inselberg, Michael Jakab and Sean Godown have resolved all claims in their pending litigation against the New York Giants, Eli Manning, John Mara, William Heller, Joseph Skiba, Edward Skiba and Steiner Sports, in accordance with a confidential settlement agreement reached today. The compromise agreement, entered into by all parties, should not be viewed as supporting any allegations, claims or defenses.”
“All parties are grateful to have the matter, which began in 2014, concluded and are now focused on football, the fans and the future,” the statement added.
Inselberg, Jakab and Godown had sought triple the amount of their alleged losses — which totaled less than $20,000 combined — for buying two helmets billed as worn by Manning. They also had sought punitive damages, and claimed in court filings they would produce evidence that would “show that Manning engaged in a pattern of knowingly providing items to Steiner Sports that he misrepresented as having been game-used when he knew they were not.”
Manning and the Giants had denied the allegations and characterized the suit as “inflammatory and baseless” in court filings.
Jury selection was to have begun this week, but a death in the family of one of the attorneys had pushed that back to next Monday.
Fourteen lawyers representing all parties involved in the case gathered Monday at the Bergen County Justice Center for the first day of the civil suit that was set to be tried. The plaintiffs’ lead attorney, Brian Brook, said after the judge went over the logistics and housekeeping that he had been receiving the “silent treatment” from the other side. Brook said he had never experienced anything like it.
When they left the courthouse before noon, there was little optimism from all parties involved that a settlement would soon be reached. Nine hours later, however, it was finished.
Inselberg filed the lawsuit in 2014. The suit claimed two helmets purchased by Inselberg and the two other plaintiffs — including one purportedly used by Manning during the Giants’ 2007 Super Bowl season — were bogus. Inselberg alleged photographic experts using a technique called “photomatching” could not find evidence that the helmets were ever used in games.
The Giants and Manning contend photomatching is unreliable because it does not take into account that helmets are routinely reconditioned during or after a season, the evidence of which might be found on the inside of the helmet and not the outside.
The stakes were raised in the lawsuit in April 2017 when Inselberg’s attorneys filed court documents that contained emails between Manning and equipment manager Joseph Skiba, who also was a defendant in the lawsuit. In one email, Manning asks Skiba to get “2 helmets that can pass as game used.”
The email does not refer to the two helmets at issue in the lawsuit, but Inselberg alleged it indicates a pattern of fraud.
When the emails went public last year, Manning angrily denied any wrongdoing. In a court filing this month, Manning’s attorney wrote that the email was intended to ask Skiba for two game-used helmets that would “satisfy the requirement of being game-used.”
“Manning never instructed Joe Skiba to create any fraudulent memorabilia,” attorney Robert Lawrence wrote. “Rather, Manning believed that if he asked Joe Skiba for his helmets, he received his game-used helmets and that the helmets he received from Skiba were his game-used helmets.”
In the same court filing, Manning’s lawyer accused Inselberg of being “engaged in a decades-long memorabilia scheme” in which he obtained, without permission, game-used Giants equipment, including Manning’s, from Skiba and Skiba’s brother, Ed, as well as a local dry cleaner.
ESPN’s Jordan Raanan, Darren Rovell and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Another Bundesliga representative has secured a spot in Europe’s top club competition, as Schalke’s 2-1 win over Augsburg will see the Gelsenkirchen side compete in next season’s Champions League alongside runaway leader Bayern Munich.
Schalke has been absent from the tournament since the 2014-15 campaign, when it was eliminated by Real Madrid in the round of 16.
Schalke are back in the Champions League ??? pic.twitter.com/IC6xqL0NaA
— Bundesliga English (@Bundesliga_EN) May 5, 2018
The return to Champions League football caps an impressive bounce-back season in manager Domenico Tedesco’s first year in charge; Die Konigsblauenfinished 10th in last season’s Bundesliga, 39 points adrift of Bayern at the top of the table.
Fans will need to wait until the final matchday next weekend to find out which clubs will join Schalke and Bayern in Europe. The league’s top four sides qualify directly to the Champions League, while the clubs in fifth and sixth will head to the Europa League, with the latter needing a qualification round. The seventh-placed side could clinch a Europa League qualifier, however, if Bayern Munich wins the DFB-Pokal final against Eintracht Frankfurt on May 19.
Bundesliga’s race for Europe:
Ranking
Team
Points
GD
1
Bayern Munich
84
67
2
Schalke
60
15
3
Borussia Dortmund
55
19
4
Hoffenheim
52
16
5
Bayer Leverkusen
52
13
6
RB Leipzig
50
0
7
Eintracht Frankfurt
49
1
8
Stuttgart
48
-3
9
Monchengladbach
47
-4
Borussia Dortmund and Hoffenheim both missed their chances Saturday to clinch a Champions League spot with losses to Mainz and Stuttgart, respectively.
SEATTLE — Chuck Knox, who has the second-most victories of any coach in Seattle Seahawks history and who also coached the Los Angeles Rams and Buffalo Bills, died at age 86 after suffering from dementia.
The Seahawks on Sunday confirmed the news of Knox’s death.
Nicknamed “Ground Chuck” for his teams’ run-first offenses, Knox went 80-63 during the regular season over nine years as Seattle’s coach. His debut season with the Seahawks in 1983 was highlighted by the first playoff appearance in franchise history; Seattle advanced to the AFC Championship Game against the Raiders with a road upset of Dan Marino’s Miami Dolphins in the divisional round.
Knox is the only head coach in the Seahawks’ Ring of Honor, having been inducted in 2005. His 80 victories with Seattle are second to Mike Holmgren’s 86. Pete Carroll is third with 79.
“The Seahawks family is saddened by the loss of Chuck Knox, and our deepest sympathies are extended to his wife, Shirley, and the entire Knox family,” the Seahawks said in a statement. “His presence projects an external toughness, but merited instantaneous respect by the genuine care and concern he held for his players. He was one of the great influences not only in football, but in life.”
Carroll along with former players Jack Youngblood and Brian Bosworth, who both played under Knox, were among those who paid tribute on Twitter.
Sending out heartfelt condolences to the family, friends, and former players of Coach Chuck Knox- a true Seahawks legend and a man who had a great impact on so many.
— Pete Carroll (@PeteCarroll) May 13, 2018
Chuck Knox was one of the most influential men in the early days of my career. Great coach and an even better man. #RIPChuckKnox pic.twitter.com/tIVnFT1kmg
— Jack Youngblood (@theblood85) May 13, 2018
Embracing this man was a moment I have never forgotten. Coach Knox was a man made of stone & grit but had heart for the game & his players that defined what playing in the NFL was all about..it was my Honor to share the game you loved & thank you for being my COACH. @Seahawks pic.twitter.com/PjscjipWB5
— Brian Bosworth (@GotBoz44) May 13, 2018
Born in Sewickley, Pennsylvania, Knox compiled a regular-season record of 186-147-1 and went 7-11 in the playoffs during his 22 seasons as a head coach. He coached the Rams (54-15-1) from 1973 to 1977, the Bills (37-36) from 1978 to 1982, the Seahawks from 1983 to 1991 and the Rams (15-33) again from 1992 to 1994.
He was named the AP Coach of the Year in 1973, 1980 and 1984 and also won the UPI version of the award in 1983 and 1984.
“Chuck Knox was the best coach I ever had,” Tom Mack, a former Rams guard and Pro Football Hall of Famer, was quoted as saying in a 2016 Los Angeles Times story. “He always took the time to know each player well enough that he could talk to each player and hit their hot buttons. I never saw another coach like that.”
In their statement, the Rams said that Knox “established a winning culture and a legacy that will never be forgotten, being the only coach to lead the Rams to five consecutive double-digit-win seasons. The memories and accomplishments that Coach Knox left behind will continue to inspire us and Rams fans.”
