Thursday, 19 March 2026
Issue No. 120
Thom Gibbs
Senior Sports Writer
Good morning, it’s Sport Briefing. I do hope you are feeling positive about it. Email me here, should you choose: sportnewsletters@telegraph.co.uk
Also in today’s edition
Players to reconsider after Six Nations debacle
Senegal refuse to hand back Afcon trophy
… and read to the end for a truant caught bunking off
Spurs go down fighting but English teams have not been good enough
Curious to survey the Champions League results this morning, after two of the three Premier League teams were eliminated again, one by an aggregate score of 8-3, and think things could have been a lot worse.
After the shame in Spain for Tottenham, some respectability was restored with Igor Tudor’s first victory. They beat Atlético Madrid 3-2 at home, losing 7-5 on aggregate, but there was encouragement to be found in their performance. Sam Wallace writes: “They showed again, as they did at Anfield, that there is a spark – as well as some deep vulnerabilities.” All eyes now on their relegation crunch match against Nottingham Forest on Sunday.
Liverpool were also much-improved in a 4-0 victory against Galatasaray, with Dominik Szoboszlai channelling Steven Gerrard and Mohamed Salah scoring an excellent fourth. Less joy for Newcastle, who traded punches in a thrilling first half with Barcelona to go in 3-2 down at half-time. The game ended 7-2 and Luke Edwards dissects the many disasters which befell Eddie Howe’s team.
Jason Burt surveys the overall picture for English football and concludes: “The Premier League has been shown simply to not have enough creative or attacking players. Not enough genuine superstars. Not enough flair. Not enough fantasy.”
At least Harry Kane is still thriving, becoming the first Englishman to score 50 Champions League goals.
What I’m reading
Re-evaluating Borthwick’s squad
“The landscape is besmirched,” thunders Charles Richardson, still reeling from England’s Six Nations showing. He chose a squad for next year’s World Cup before the tournament which has just concluded. These exercises are sent (by editors) to try us (writers) as they usually end with us looking foolish. Charles makes eight changes to his 33 for Australia next year, the most at centre. Find out if your favourites still make the cut.
Afcon chaos has undermined its credibility
Senegal is predictably distressed by the decision to strip its football team of the Africa Cup of Nations title they won in January and is refusing to hand over the trophy. “This is a travesty,” said Abdoulaye Saydou Sow, secretary general of the Senegalese FA. “This decision is based on absolutely nothing,” he adds, somewhat overlooking that whole “storming off the pitch and refusing to play in the final” thing. Jeremy Wilson is worried about the precedent set by revoking the result of the final and what it will do for the reputation of Afcon.
‘I sold my house to create a hat’
Fiona Tomas meets cricketer Marie Kelly, who had an issue with an important bit of kit. Almost every cricketer will wear a hat during a hot day in the field, but the caps she was provided with could not accommodate her hairstyle of choice. Kelly would cut a hole in the back to make space for a high pony tail but has now launched a range of caps with an adjustable hole to suit longer hairstyles, funding it by selling off her house.
ALSO IN SPORT
Football
• The stats that prove Eberechi Eze always comes alive in spring
• Fernandez exit hint raises questions over Palmer and Caicedo
• Chelsea rivals won’t take action despite fury over ‘lenient’ punishment
• Guardiola should have won more Champions League titles at Man City
• Dagenham sack manager and put Andy Carroll in charge after deal with YouTuber
Rugby union
• Stuart Hogg re-arrested on son’s first birthday
• Sir James Dyson buys 50 per cent of Bath Rugby
Everything else
• Our restaurant critic’s verdict on McIlroy’s Masters menu
Thom’s Thursday quiz
A reasonably challenging sport quiz question for you to ponder…
Q: Which two countries have hosted a Formula One grand prix every year since 1950?
The answer will be revealed in tomorrow’s newsletter.
What to watch today
⛳ LIV Golf Series
South Africa
10.15am, TNT Sport 1
⛳ PGA Tour
Valspar Championship
From 11.30am, Sky Sports Golf / Main Event
⚪️ Snooker
World Open, China
11.30am, TNT Sports 3
🎾 ATP/WTA Tour
Miami Open
From 3pm, Sky Sports Tennis / Main Event
⚽ Europa League
Midtjylland v Nottingham Forest
5.45pm, TNT Sports 2
Aston Villa v Lille
8pm, TNT Sports 1
⚽ Conference League
AEK Larnaca v Crystal Palace
5.45pm, TNT Sports Extra
🎯 Premier League Darts
Dublin
7pm, Sky Sports Main Event / Action
🏉 Super League
Wigan Warriors v York Knights
8pm, Sky Sports+
And finally…
Wealdstone FC were trending yesterday, my more switched-on colleague Ji-Min Lee tells me. Possibly for the first time since that angry Raider chap said: “If you want some, I’ll give it ya.”
This time it was after they suspended their midfielder Sakariya Hassan for his unauthorised appearance in the influencer-tastic six-a-side Baller League on Monday night. Hassan turned out for KSI’s Prime FC and scored in a 7-3 win over N5 FC.
Wealdstone manager Gary Waddock, who has both fewer social media followers and UK Top 40 songs than KSI, does not expect Hassan to play for his team again this season.
Get in touch
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No further sport for you today, but never fear there will almost certainly be more before tomorrow. Will write to you then. Thanks for reading,
Thom
PS Every Tuesday we will be putting one question from a reader to a Telegraph Sport journalist. It could be topical, left-field, or very specific. Please use the address above.
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