Brilliant Bayern humiliate hapless Barca with 8-2 crushing

* Veteran Barcelona defender Gerard Pique described Friday’s (Aug 14) 8-2 Champions League humiliation at the hands of Bayern Munich as a “disgrace” and claimed the storied club had “hit rock bottom”.

* Arsenal have signed Brazil winger Willian on a three-year deal, the Premier League club said on Friday (Aug 14). The 32-year-old joins Arsenal on a free transfer after failing to agree on a new long-term contract with Chelsea.

* Shelby Rogers pulled off one of the biggest wins of her career when she toppled Serena Williams 1-6 6-4 7-6(5) in the quarter-finals of the Top Seed Open in Lexington on Friday. Next up for Rogers will be Switzerland’s Jil Teichman.

* Simona Halep said she was slowly returning to her best form following the COVID-19 hiatus as she cruised past Poland’s Magdalena Frech 6-2 6-0 on Friday (Aug 14) to reach the Prague Open semi-finals.

* Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei set a stunning new 5000m world record at the season-opening Monaco Diamond League meet on Friday (Aug 14). The world 10,000m champion clocked 12min 35.36sec at the Stade Louis II to shatter Ethiopian Kenenisa Bekele’s previous best of 12:37.35, set in 2004.

* Paris St Germain have been fined 30,000 euros (27,131.07 pounds) by UEFA for causing the second half of their Champions League quarter-final against Atalanta to kick off late on Wednesday (Aug 12).

* The season-ending ATP Tour Finals in November will be held behind closed doors in London due to the coronavirus pandemic, organisers announced after publishing an updated calendar on Friday (Aug 14). The tournament features the top eight singles players and eight best doubles pairings, and will take place at the O2 Arena from Nov 15 to Nov 22.

* Next month’s Italian Open in Rome will be held a week earlier than scheduled following the cancellation of the Madrid Open due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the governing body of men’s tennis (ATP) said on Friday (Aug 14). The Italian Open, a key preparation tournament for the French Open, will now begin on Sept. 14 and have a Monday final.

* Netherlands women’s soccer team manager Sarina Wiegman will succeed Phil Neville as England Women’s head coach from next year after signing a four-year deal, the Football Association (FA) announced on Friday. The Dutch won the European Championship under Wiegman in 2017 and she also led them to their first World Cup final two years later in France, where they lost 2-0 to the US.

* A total of four players from three teams in the Turkish Super Lig have tested positive for coronavirus after tests carried out on their squads and other staff, the clubs said on Friday.

* Formula One leader Lewis Hamilton went fastest in a searingly hot second practice for the Spanish Grand Prix on Friday with Mercedes again dominant after losing out to Red Bull last weekend. The six-times world champion lapped the Circuit de Catalunya outside Barcelona with a best time of one minute 16.883 seconds on soft tyres.

* A pair of Michael Jordan’s game-worn sneakers sold for US$615,000, Christie’s auction house said Thursday (Aug 13), shattering a record set just months ago by the sale of another pair of the basketball legend’s shoes.