LeBron James and Patrick Mahomes were among the stars to wax lyrical over DeVonta Smith, who said Alabama finished writing our story in the College Football Playoff National Championship.

Heisman trophy winner Smith was in sensational form at Hard Rock Stadium in top-ranked Alabama s (13-0) 52-24 rout of Ohio State (7-1) on Monday.

The exciting wide receiver, who is NFL bound for the 2021 season, had 12 catches for 215 yards and three touchdowns, all in the first half as Alabama claimed a 35-17 lead at the interval.

The 22-year-old recorded 200-plus receiving yards and three or more touchdown catches for the third time this season, tying Davante Adams (2013) for the most such games by any FBS player in the last 25 seasons, according to Stats Perform.

Sm…

Sadio Mane pledged Liverpool will fight for a dream quadruple after scoring twice in the Reds thrilling FA Cup semi-final win over Manchester City.

Mane added to Ibrahima Konate s opener with a first-half double, closing down stand-in City goalkeeper Zack Steffen to score in bizarre fashion before netting a brilliant volley on the stroke of half-time to make it 3-0.

Goals at either end of the second half from Jack Grealish and Bernardo Silva hauled City back into the contest, but Liverpool held firm.

Having scored in a thrilling 2-2 draw at the Etihad Stadium last week, Mane has now netted 10 goals against City in all competitions, only finding the net more often against Crystal Palace (12) amongst Premier League teams.

After becoming the first Liverp…

Diego Simeone has been taking his Atletico Madrid tenure game by game for nine years and now, 500 games in, is keen to ensure standards do not slip in 2021.

Atletico head coach Simeone oversaw a 1-0 LaLiga win over Getafe on Wednesday to mark his 500th match in charge of the club in all competitions, trailing only Luis Aragones (611).

Luis Suarez s eighth league goal for Atletico secured maximum points midweek that ensured Simeone s high-flying side would head into the new year top of the table.

But reflecting on his approach when returning to Atleti as coach in December 2011, Simeone explained he has rarely looked beyond the next game – for now Deportivo Alaves on Sunday.

Since I arrived when I got together with Miguel [Angel Gil Marin, CEO] and Enriq…

Lucas Moura will leave Tottenham at the end of the season.

The Brazilian forward has struggled for fitness and form this campaign with no goals in his 17 appearances.

Moura missed a large chunk of the first half of the campaign with a tendon injury and since his return after the World Cup has been involved in several difficult moments for Spurs, being sent off in a 1-1 draw at Everton before his error resulted in Liverpool scoring a stoppage-time winner last month.

Arguably his best moment in a Spurs shirt was when he netted a hat-trick in 2019 at Ajax that sent Tottenham through to a first Champions League final in the most dramatic fashion.

Spurs have now confirmed this term will be Moura’s last and he will get the chance to bid farewell to the Totten…

Mauritania v Gambia (16:00)

Gambia, along with the Comoros, are one of two nations debuting at the AFCON this year and will be eager to produce a positive showing.

In theory, they begin with arguably the most winnable of their three Group F games, with Mauritania coach Didier Gomes Da Rosa likening the match to a semi-final .

His counterpart Tom Saintfiet has a better-travelled squad, however, his selection made up mostly of Europe-based players – Sampdoria, Gent, Spezia, Real Valladolid and even Roma are among the clubs represented.

The west-African nation may be the lowest-ranked team in the competition (150th), but they reached Cameroon as the only side to come through both the preliminary and group stages of qualifying, shocking Gabon, the Democrat…

Alexis Sanchez s wonderful strike helped Inter reach the Coppa Italia semi-finals with a 2-0 victory over Roma.

Edin Dzeko opened the scoring against his old club with a neat volley inside the first two minutes at San Siro.

Then, Sanchez doubled the advantage midway through the second half with a magnificent effort from 25 yards.

It was enough to give Simone Inzaghi s side a fourth victory in five meetings with their opponents at this stage of the competition.

2017 Inter have kept the clean sheet in a Coppa Italia home match for the first time since December 2017 (0-0 against Pordenone back then, with the following victory after the penalty shoot-outs). Locked.

— OptaPaolo  (@OptaPaolo)

The third-highest scorer in Roma’s history be…

Former AC Milan midfielder Manuel Locatelli returned to haunt his old side as he claimed the goal which gave Juventus a 1-0 victory in San Siro.

Locatelli, who joined Milan at the age of 11 only to leave for Turin a decade later in 2021, enjoyed a huge slice of luck to net the only goal of the game in the 63rd minute courtesy of a massive deflection off Milan substitute Rade Krunic.

The unfortunate Krunic had only been on the pitch three minutes but there was little he could do when Locatelli’s speculative 30-yard shot, which was heading wide, cannoned off him and left third-choice goalkeeper Antonio Mirante stranded.

Manuel Locatelli puts Juventus ahead!!

He returns to the San Siro to haunt his old club

— Football on TNT Sports (@footballon…

Argentina s younger players are set to be given the opportunity to shine in their Copa America group meeting with Peru.

Reigning champions Argentina secured their spot in the quarter-finals of the competition following their 1-0 win over Chile on Wednesday.

It offers the opportunity for Lionel Scaloni to experiment with his side, and he is hopeful Argentina s youngsters can seize the moment against La Blanquirroja.

We are satisfied, and we can enjoy the days, and give the youngest ones minutes, Scaloni said.

I think it s fair to have the players that did not have minutes get onto the pitch.

Hopefully when we give them (young players) the opportunity, they will be able to seize it.

La Albiceleste, however, will be without captain L…

Paris Saint-Germain have once again rocked the world of sport after they confirmed the signing of Lionel Messi.

As bizarre as that may look written down, the deal is complete with the Argentina forward signing a two-year deal following his Barcelona departure.

Barca announced last Thursday that their dire financial situation meant they could not bring their greatest ever player back under LaLiga s salary restrictions after his previous contract expired in June. He had spent his entire career at Camp Nou.

But the Parc des Princes now beckons and he will form probably the most-feared front three in world football alongside Kylian Mbappe and his old friend Neymar.

It s with the Brazilian where Stats Perform starts in this look at a selection of other spor…

Christian Makoun converted an injury-time penalty as David Beckham s in-form Inter Miami edged 10-man Toronto 1-0 in MLS.

With Tuesday s contest seemingly heading for a draw, Inter Miami s Makoun stepped up and scored a spot-kick in the 95th minute.

Unbeaten in six matches, Inter Miami – co-owned by former Manchester United, Real Madrid and England star Beckham – have won three consecutive matches for the first time in their history as they moved into the Eastern Conference play-off positions.

Toronto had just 15 points through 23 matches entering the matchup. Only five teams in MLS history have had fewer points at this stage of a season, most recently DC United in 2013 (13).

Another game winning goal in

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