B14 Q THEGLOBEANDMAIL| TUESDAY,FEBRUARY18,2020
The President and the Prime
Minister of Portugal added their
voices to a national outcry Mon-
day over racist abuse aimed at a
black FC Porto soccer player who
walked off the field after hearing
monkey chants.
Prime Minister Antonio Costa
said the incident was “unaccept-
able” and urged police and soc-
cer authorities to make an exam-
ple of those responsible by hand-
ing down tough punishment.
Costa also wrote on his Twitter
account that “all and any acts of
racism are a crime and are intol-
erable.”
“No human being should be
subjected to this humiliation,”
wrote Costa, whose father was
from Mozambique. “We cannot
just stand by.”
President Marcelo Rebelo de
Sousa said he “vehemently con-
demns any display of racism.”
Moussa Marega, a striker from
Mali, was visibly angered by
monkey noises targeting him af-
ter he scored Porto’s second goal
in a 2-1 win at Guimares in the
Portuguese league on Sunday.
Several Porto and opposition
players attempted to dissuadehim from walking off the field in
the 71st minute, when he de-
manded to be substituted.
Marega wrote on his Insta-
gram account that “idiots” went
to the stadium to shout racist in-
sults.
He also lashed out at the refer-
ee, who gave Marega a yellow
card, apparently for his refusal to
continue playing. He said the ref-
eree should have defended him
from the insults.
The dramatic scenes as Mare-
ga pulled away from his team-
mates and stormed off the field
were unprecedented in Portugal.
The country has not witnessedthe growth of far-right political
parties or movements seen else-
where in Europe in recent years.
Television channels and radio
stations on Monday dedicated
phone-in programs to the inci-
dent.
It was the latest racist incident
to tarnish soccer in Europe, de-
spite widespread condemnation
and efforts to stop it from offi-
cials involved in the game and in
keeping public order.
Porto coach Sergio Conceicao
said he and his club felt “out-
raged” by the racism, adding that
the monkey chants began during
the pregame warm-up.“We are a family, whatever our
nationality, skin colour, height,
hair colour,” he said.
FC Porto said in a statement it
stood by Marega, adding it “was
compelled to take drastic action”
after repeated racist slurs during
the game.
The Portuguese league said
the behaviour of some fans in the
stadium “shame soccer and hu-
man dignity.”
The league will do everything
in its power to impose puni-
shments and stamp out racism,
the statement said.THE ASSOCIATED PRESSPortugueseleadersdemandpunishmentforracistabusetowardMarega
BARRYHALTONLISBON
Manchester United threw open the race
for the final Champions League qualifica-
tion spots in the Premier League by beat-
ing fourth-place Chelsea 2-0 thanks to
headers by Anthony Martial and Harry
Maguire on Monday.
With 12 games remaining, seven points
separate Chelsea and 11th-place Burnley,
with the team finishing fifth also set to
earn a place in next season’s Champions
League after UEFA’s decision to punish
Man City for serious breaches of financial
regulations by handing the English cham-
pions a two-year European ban.
Martial glanced in a header off a right-
wing cross by Aaron Wan-Bissaka to give
United the lead in the 45th minute at
Stamford Bridge, before Maguire planted
home a corner from January signing Bru-
no Fernandes in the 66th.
Maguire, United’s captain, was perhaps
fortunate to still be on the field, with the
match officials opting not to punish the
England defender for appearing to kick
out at Michy Batshuayi after tumbling off
the playing surface in front of the du-
gouts.
“I know I caught him, but I felt like he
was going to fall on me and the natural
reaction was to straighten my leg so that if
he was to fall on me, to hold him up,”
Maguire said. “It probably looks worse
than it was.
“I did catch him ... but I knew at the
time I had no intent to hurt him or kick
him.”
Chelsea was on the wrong end of two
other decisions by VAR, firstly disallowing
a volleyed goal by Kurt Zouma in the 56th
because of a push by Cesar Azpilicueta on
United left back Brandon Williams. Az-
pilicueta seemed to have been pushed a
split-second earlier by Fred.
Then, with 13 minutes to go, Olivier
Giroud had a goal ruled out by VAR for a
tight offside, leaving Chelsea manager
Frank Lampard looking thoroughly glum
as he sat in his technical area.
Chelsea has long been in fourth place,
but has only won three of its past 11
games in the league to give a slew of rivals
clubs hope of catching up.
One of them is United, which climbed
to seventh place with this win – three
points behind Chelsea and two adrift of
fifth-place Tottenham.
“This season, we have been far too in-
consistent,” Maguire said. “We have won
at Manchester City, beat Chelsea at home,
got a point against Liverpool, but we have
let ourselves down against the teams
where the pressure is on to break them
down.”
Injury problems are starting to bite atChelsea, too. Top scorer Tammy Abraham
and winger Callum Hudson-Odoi missed
the game because of injury, while central
midfielder N’Golo Kant lasted 11 minutes
before hobbling off.
Centre back Andreas Christensen
didn’t come out for the second half after
sustaining a knock to the head late in the
first period, just before Martial beat the
Denmark defender to a header for the
first goal.
Nigeria striker Odion Ighalo, who
signed for United on deadline day in the
January transfer window, came on in sec-
ond-half stoppage time for his debut and
had a late chance saved by Willy Caball-
ero, who again started in goal ahead of
Kepa Arrizabalaga.
Two players struck the post from free
kicks in the second half: Fernandes for
United and Mason Mount for Chelsea.THE ASSOCIATED PRESSManUblanksChelseaindash
forlastChampionsLeaguespots
Unitedclimbstoseventhplace
withthewin–threepoints
behindtheBluesandtwo
adriftoffifth-placeTottenham
LONDON
UniteddefenderHarryMaguireheadsinagoalagainstChelseainLondononMonday.
AnthonyMartialscoredearlierina2-0winforManU.ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGESL
iverpool and Atletico Madrid ap-
pear to be heading in opposite direc-
tions entering their last 16 meeting
in the Champions League on Tues-
day.
While defending European champion
Liverpool has everything going its way, At-
letico’s season will be on the line when the
teams meet in Madrid in the first leg.
Liverpool has already won the UEFA Su-
per Cup and the Club World Cup this sea-
son, and it’s increasingly just a formality
before it wins its first English league title in
30 years. Atletico, meanwhile, lost the
Spanish Super Cup and was eliminated by a
third-division club in the Copa del Rey. The
team is already 13 points off the lead in the
Spanish league. Atletico will have little to
play for if it is eliminated by Liverpool in
the Champions League.
“Certainly it will be a very difficult
match, but all Champions League matches
are difficult,” Atletico forward Yannick Car-
rasco said. “If we do what we have to do,
and what [coach Diego] Simeone wants us
to do, we can get through.”
Liverpool coach Jurgen Klopp said Atlet-
ico is a difficult opponent no matter its sit-
uation.
“If there’s one team where you have to
be at your absolute best, it’s Atletico. If you
work as hard as possible, you have a
chance. If you don’t do that, you have no
chance,” Klopp said.
Liverpool will be returning to Wanda
Metropolitano stadium for the first time
since it beat Tottenham to win the Cham-
pions League title in June. The second leg
will be on March 11 at Anfield.
“[This stadium] holds good memories
for us, a lot of our dreams came true,” Liver-
pool defender Trent Alexander-Arnold
said. “But we don’t focus too much on the
past. Our aim is to give us a chance to keep
going in this competition.”
Liverpool has dropped only two points
in the Premier League all season, while At-
letico has won only one of its past five
matches in the Spanish league. Liverpool is
coming off a win at Norwich that gave the
team a 25-point lead over Manchester City.
Atletico drew 2-2 at Valencia on Friday to
barely hold on to fourth place and the final
Champions League spot for next season.
Atletico has never struggled so much
since Simeone’s arrival as coach in late 2011.
It made it to two Champions League finals
with him in charge, but things changed af-
ter the Argentine coach was forced to re-
vamp the squad last season after the depar-
ture of Antoine Griezmann and other vet-
erans, such as Diego Godin and Filipe Luis.
The team has struggled in attack and is not
as solid defensively, which used to be the
team’s biggest weapon.
Atletico is likely to be boosted against
Liverpool by the return of players who werenursing injuries, including strikers Alvaro
Morata and Diego Costa.
Simeone also has defenders Jose Gime-
nez and Santiago Arias returning from in-
juries, though young Portugal forward Joo
Felix is not expected to recover from his leg
injury. Liverpool has Fabinho and Joel Ma-
tip back after long-term problems, and Sa-
dio Mané is also back after a recent ham-
string issue.
The teams have not met since the semi-
finals of the 2009-10 Europa League, when
Atletico advanced on away goals after a 2-2
draw on aggregate.
Atletico has only one home loss in 25 Eu-
ropean games, and it is unbeaten in its last
13 Champions League knockout matches at
home. Liverpool has won its past 11 two-
legged European series.THE ASSOCIATED PRESS‘Wecangetthrough’:Atleticohopestosalvage
lostseasoninChampionsLeagueagainstLiverpool
TALESAZZONIMADRID
AtleticoMadridhasneverstruggledsomuchsincecoachDiegoSimeone,seeninstructing
hisplayersattrainingonSunday,joinedtheclubinlate2011.JUAN MEDINA/REUTERS| REPORTONBUSINESSRyan Newman flipped across the
finish line, his Ford planted up-
side down and engulfed in
flames, a grim reminder of a
sport steeped in danger that has
stretched nearly two decades
without a fatality.
At the finish line, Denny Ham-
lin made history with a second
straight Daytona 500 victory in
an an overtime photo finish over
Ryan Blaney, a celebration that
quickly became muted as word
of Newman’s wreck spread.
“I think we take for granted
sometimes how safe the cars
are,” Hamlin said. “But No. 1, we
are praying for Ryan.”
Roughly two hours after the
crash, NASCAR read a statement
from Roush Fenway Racing that
said Newman is in “serious con-
dition, but doctors have indicat-
ed his injuries are not life threat-
ening.”
NASCAR scrapped the tradi-
tional victory lane party for
Hamlin’s third Daytona 500 vic-
tory, rocked by Newman’s acci-
dent 19 years after Dale Earn-
hardt was killed on the last lap of
the 2001 Daytona 500. Earnhardt
was the last driver killed in a
NASCAR Cup Series race.
Newman had surged into the
lead on the final lap when Bla-
ney’s bumper caught the back of
his Ford and sent Newman hard
right into the wall. His car
flipped, rolled, was hit on the
driver’s side by another car, and
finally skidded across the finish
line in flames.
It took several minutes for his
car to be rolled back onto its
wheels. The 2008 Daytona 500
winner was placed in a waiting
ambulance and taken directly to
a hospital, and the damage to his
Mustang was extensive. It ap-
peared the entire roll cage de-
signed to protect his head had
caved.
Drivers were stricken with
concern, including a rattled Co-
rey LaJoie, the driver who hit
Newman’s car as it was flipping.
“Dang I hope Newman is ok,”
he posted on Twitter. “That is
worst case scenerio and I had no-
where to go but [into] smoke.”
Hamlin is the first driver since
Sterling Marlin in 1995 to win
consecutive Daytona 500s, but
his celebration in victory lane
was subdued.
Hamlin said he was unaware
of Newman’s situation when he
initially began his celebration. It
wasn’t until Fox Sports told him
they would not interview him on
the frontstretch after his bur-
nouts that Hamlin learned New-
man’s incident was bad.
“It’s a weird balance of excite-
ment and happiness for yourself,
but someone’s health and their
family is bigger than any win in
any sport,” he said. “We are just
hoping for the best.”
Team owner Joe Gibbs apol-
ogized after the race for the win-
ning team celebration.
“We didn’t know until victory
lane,” Gibbs said. “I know that
for a lot of us, participating in
sports and being in things where
there are some risks, in a way,
that’s what they get excited
about. Racing, we know what
can happen, we just dream it
doesn’t happen. We are all just
praying now for the outcome on
this.”
Runner-up Blaney said the
way the final lap shook out, with
Newman surging ahead of Ham-
lin, that Blaney got a push from
Hamlin that locked him in be-
hind Newman in a move of
brand alliance for Ford.THE ASSOCIATED PRESSHamlinwins
Daytona500,
Newman
hospitalized
aftercrash
DAYTONABEACH,FLA.