The delicate commitment to the soft tire, the low temperatures, the timing of the start to have one more attempt, the hassle of the preparatory laps, the exponential improvement of a track that they barely knew through the simulators…. A multitude of factors had to be managed to hit the nail on the head in Las Vegas. Not only with pole position, where Ferrari started as favorite, but to consolidate its lead, as Aston Martin intended.. Charles Leclerc fulfilled the predictions (1:32.726), with 44 thousandths over Carlos Sainz, whose sanction condemns him to twelfth place, while Fernando Alonso left the Silverstone team with a crooked expression.

The Asturian's ninth place, combined with the routine elimination of Lance Stroll in Q2, should not be interpreted in itself as a debacle. However, disappointment is inevitable, since in the last section of Q3, the '14' fell off the cliff in favor of Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon, Logan Sargeant, Valtteri Bottas and Kevin Magnussen, not so qualified rivals.. That rebellion by Williams, Alfa Romeo, Haas and Alpine, the modest ones on the grid, frustrated Aston Martin's positive inertia since Interlagos.

Alonso did not get it right with his last attack on the soft tire, unlike Leclerc, who was able to improve the time by almost three tenths.. A definitive blow to his fifth pole of the year, because after his first attempt, Sainz was still 22 thousandths behind, with Verstappen eight hundredths behind, followed by Alonso, half a second behind.. The most terrible thing about the case is that Mad Max resigned beforehand, reserving a set of new soft ones for the race.

McLaren disaster

Red Bull may have hidden reasons for continuing to believe itself above the rest, although it should not underestimate Ferrari's power on a weekend ripe for surprises.. Las Vegas is not strictly Singapore, but the Scuderia maintains a certain optimism to repeat that epic triumph of Sainz in Marina Bay. There are plenty of loose ends in the immense avenues of the casinos and in the winding passage through The Sphere.

To Friday's equality, played without an audience for logistical reasons, were added the enigmas of the last free session, with George Russell at the top of the table plus the red flag after Alex Albon's crash against the wall, five minutes away. end. On a track where two thirds are raced at full throttle, Ferrari presented itself as the reference. More than with the aerodynamic configuration, the engineers had to get it right with the heights of the suspensions, because the times would be closed in the five braking periods.

With such little previous experience, on an asphalt at only 17ºC, no one could be careless in Q1, but McLaren let itself get carried away in an incomprehensible way.. The track improved so quickly that Lando Norris, whose best lap had been erased due to track limits, ended up knocked out by Stroll at the last moment.. Oscar Piastri's penultimate place, only ahead of Yuki Tsunoda, completed the papaya debacle.

While the stewards were taking note of six drivers, including both Mercedes, who had not respected the minimum speed in the pit-lane, Verstappen was involved in a crazy incident with Esteban Ocon. A matter of honor, it seems, where he could have ruined all his options. The three-time champion did not look good, eight tenths behind Leclerc in Q2. And even less to the Red Bull engineers, who lost Sergio Pérez along the way.

The Mexican had scored a 1:33.855, 25 thousandths behind Alonso, who then set the reference. In accordance with the information, they did not return their number 11 car to the asphalt, which had been left behind while the competition was constantly improving.. Lewis Hamilton was doomed to a very similar ruin, who had to abort his last attempt before sobbing: “I couldn't go faster.”

These illustrious absences favored Alonso, who had used two sets of soft tires in Q2 and one in Q1, appearing on the balcony of Verstappen and Russell. Leclerc was far ahead, with an average of half a second over Sainz. The man from Madrid did enough to maintain concentration and not lose the thread. His punishment of 10 places on the grid, after Friday's episode with the sewers, must be interpreted as one of the most arbitrary and incomprehensible of the year.

Real Madrid's medical tests confirmed that Vinicius suffers a tear in the femoral biceps of his left thigh, which will keep him off the playing field for two months.. Added to this problem is a condition in the distal tendon of his left leg, which is why the Brazilian will not return to competition until 2024.

On Saturday morning, Vinicius underwent an MRI in Madrid that corroborated his bad omens.. “I think it's the same injury as the last time,” said the Real Madrid player in the mixed zone of the Metropolitan Stadium in Barranquilla, where the five-time world champion lost to Colombia (2-1).

And on August 25, during the league debut in Balaídos, the white '7' left the pitch due to the same ailment, although in his right leg.. Then, his period of absence was limited to one month and four games outside of Carlo Ancelotti's squads.

Three goals in two games

Now, the Italian coach will have to face the next matches without six of his key players – Thibaut Courtois, Eder Militao, Aurelien Tchouaméni, Eduardo Camavinga, Jude Bellingham and Vinicius – all injured to varying degrees.. Added to this extensive list are Kepa Arrizabalaga, Dani Ceballos and Arda Güler, also victims of physical discomfort.

This setback cuts short the progression of Vinicius, who in recent weeks had been recovering his best level. After a month without scoring, the winger had rediscovered himself with the goal against Sporting de Braga (3-0). Only three days later he confirmed his good feelings with a double against Valencia (5-1).

This plague of injuries has coincided with the end of Niko Mihic's time as head of the club's medical services.. According to MARCA, the Croatian is leaving his position after six years, although he will remain linked in some way to the organizational chart.. In the coming days it is expected to know the name of his replacement.

The Premier League has sanctioned Everton with 10 points less for skipping financial fair play. The English league considers that the Liverpool club had exceeded the salary limit during the last three years by more than 20 million euros and has made that tough and historic determination.

This begins with an official complaint from the league that was transferred to an independent commission for study at the beginning of the year, according to the Premier itself in a statement.. The Liverpool club admitted to having exceeded fair play in the 2021/22 season, but denied having done so in other periods.

After a hearing last October, which lasted five days, the commission concluded that Everton had had losses of 124.5 million pounds, around 142 million euros, when the league itself only allows 105 million pounds, 120 million euros. So the commission decided to sanction the club with the loss of 10 points with immediate effect.

This reduction places Everton with 4 points after 12 games, the same as Burnley, which is the last classified. The Liverpool club, which is not going through its best season, could thus be relegated to the Championship this year although salvation, at the moment, is only five points away..

Everton has only been relegated twice in its entire history to the Championship, or English Second Division, the last time that happened was in 1951.

At the club, they do not plan to sit back and have already announced that they will appeal the sanction.. In a recent statement they say they feel “dismayed and disappointed” by a “disproportionate and unfair” sanction..

Everton maintains its innocence and warns that it has been “open and transparent”. They do not at all recognize the accusation that they “did not act with the utmost good faith” and believe that the sanction imposed by the commission is not a “fair or reasonable reflection of the evidence presented.”

In the statement they also mention that they will follow “with great interest” the decisions made in the other open cases related to the Premier League's Profit and Sustainability Rules in clear reference to the investigations that are being carried out regarding Chelsea and to Manchester City.

The Administrative Court of Sports (TAD) has decided this Friday to disqualify the former president of the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), Luis Rubiales, for three years, for the kiss he gave to the national team player Jenni Hermoso after the final of the Women's World Cup and his behavior in the box during it in Sydney.

As reported by Iusport, the TAD has made the proposal of the investigator of the file final and has imposed two sanctions of a year and a half on Rubiales, who resigned from his position on September 10 after the investigation opened by the National Court for possible sexual assault. and coercion and that of FIFA, which later sanctioned him for three years.

On September 1, the TAD partially upheld the complaint presented by the Higher Sports Council (CSD) and agreed to open the disciplinary file against Rubiales, closed today, for two serious infractions after the final of the Women's World Cup, in which Spain won the World Cup. on August 20 in Sydney.

The CSD forwarded “a reasoned request” to the TAD for a possible violation of the Sports Law and the Royal Decree on Sports Discipline by Luis Rubiales, specifically of articles 76.1.a of the first and 14.h of the second, which refer, respectively, to abuses of authority and to notorious and public acts that violate sporting dignity or decorum.

Unlike the Government, the court did not see abuse of authority and initiated the file for two serious, not very serious, offenses.

The Spain of Luis de la Fuente is advanced, precocious and meritocracy prevails. He put the ticket to the German Euro Cup in his pocket with plenty of time to train a B unit that the coach wants to test. There is no Spanish player who, if he shines, is not in the eye of the coach, who does not hesitate to call them up and put them to play.. Since he joined the national team last March, twelve players have made their debut.. Last night, in Cyprus, Grimaldo, Riquelme and Aleix García.

«It was a match that offered this possibility. We wanted to see players who have earned it. We have a fantastic selection and everyone deserves merit.. “I'm just trying to be fair,” admitted De la Fuente, leaving behind that defeat against Scotland, which was blamed on the massive rotations.. Then the road to Germany began and yesterday the first place in the group could have been secured if the Scots had not snatched a last-gasp draw from Georgia.. With two points ahead and the goal difference in favor, it is almost impossible for Spain not to be seeded in the draw on December 2 in Hamburg.

Since March 25 against Norway in Malaga, new players have arrived in the national team, some to stay. Joselu, David García and Le Normand debuted before the Nations League, and the then Espanyol forward and the nationalized Real defender were champions. After the summer, Lamile Yamal arrived, in full bloom, Álex Baena, Fran García, Bryan Zaragoza, Sancet and Alfonso Pedraza. Without fear, De la Fuente has not hesitated to take players in peak form with his teams despite not having passed through Las Rozas before..

The coach would have liked to have returned from Cyprus with an injection of adrenaline in the form of a victory greater than 1-3. “If we had maintained the success of the first half, it might have happened, but we were not so brilliant in the second half,” he lamented, as well as Oyarzabal's injury, a muscle problem that makes him a doubt for Sunday's game against Georgia. in Valladolid.

That setback made everyone slow down against a much inferior rival whom Lamile Yamal, on the day he closed his final commitment to Spain, that third game that was long in coming, knocked out without the Cypriots having broken a sweat.. He has three international matches at the age of 16 years and 126 days and two goals. “I cut back until I was alone and I felt very comfortable throughout the game,” admitted the young Barça player.. The selection has been a balm for him in a turbulent week after Lewandowski's scandal.

The coach revolution had no better scenario. It was a game to graduate and that's what Álex Grimaldo did. With Gayà reserved, the Leverkusen full-back, the highest scoring defender in Europe at 28 years old, supported his wing, assisted Oyarzabal in his goal and even had the opportunity to try a shot. «It is a dream behind which there is a lot of work to achieve it. Now the reward has arrived,” admitted the Valencian. The competition at left back will be tough with Gayà himself, Balde or Fran García.

The injury to the Real Sociedad captain opened the door for Rodrigo Riquelme. «Hopefully it will be the first of many, but this selection is the highest level. I think I lived up to it and I enjoyed it a lot,” he confessed. He connected with another rookie, whom he knows well: Aleix García. «They are mechanisms that we already had in Girona. He has one of the best ball movements. “Who was going to tell us a year ago,” recalled the Madrid native. “It's easy to connect with players of such quality,” responded the midfielder to return the praise.. They have one game left and just a couple of friendlies left for the next step to come in the European Championship in Germany.

Black week at Real Madrid. The national team break, the third this season after those in September and October, threatens to completely disrupt this part of the white team's course. Eduardo Camavinga and Vinicius Júnior, two of their best players, have been injured with France and Brazil and will miss several weeks of competition. The Frenchman suffered a knee injury during training for the French team and the Brazilian was injured this past morning 20 minutes into Colombia-Brazil.. He suffered a challenge from Davinson Sánchez and a few minutes later he began to feel pain in his left thigh again, the same area that was damaged against Celta and that kept him away from the playing fields for a month.

The Brazilian asked for a change and the team's doctors put a heavy ice bandage on his leg.. The forecasts were not good. “I think it's the same as last time. I took a hit there and I resented it a little later. Tomorrow we will do tests to see how I go,” explained the footballer in the mixed zone.. “The doctors have told me that it is difficult for me to get to the next game,” he said about the match against Argentina, the South American soccer classic.. Logic invites us to think that the injury is serious enough so that it does not force him and that he will return to Madrid to undergo tests, just like Camavinga.

The Frenchman was injured yesterday in a French national team session after a clash with Dembélé. He abandoned training and after the first examination by the French Federation's medical services, they detected a sprained knee that could keep him out for two months.. This Friday he will undergo tests again in Valdebebas with the Madrid doctors, but the whites are not too optimistic.

Important anger from the Chamartín team due to the FIFA stoppages, about which they have complained more than once even when they have not suffered injuries to their players. This season, the footballers have traveled with their national teams in September, October and November. “The calendar does not make sense, it is too tight and with too many games. We have to evaluate the health of the players a little, they are the most important part of football. Here everyone thinks their own thing: LaLiga, the Federation, UEFA, FIFA…. They do not count on the players at all and this is not correct. Something has to change, there are too many parties,” he said a few weeks ago when asked about the issue.

Without Camavinga or Vinicius, with Bellingham resting due to his shoulder discomfort and with Tchouaméni also injured, in addition to an infirmary in which Kepa, Courtois, Militao, Ceballos and Güler were already working, the Italian coach has fewer and fewer alternatives in the center of the field and the attack of his team.