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SAO PAULO — Santos and Neymar secured survival in Brazil’s Serie A on Sunday with a 3-0 win over Cruzeiro, and the 33-year-old soccer star later confirmed he will undergo surgery on his left knee.

Playing its last league match of the season, Santos, which achieved a global following with all-time great Pelé, avoided what would have been the club’s second relegation in club history. Santos was relegated in 2023 for the first time almost a year after the death of Pelé.

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Neymar struggled to recover from a torn ACL in October 2023 during a World Cup qualifier against Uruguay. But he proved key for Santos in a successful fight to avoid relegation in the Brazilian championship after promotion last year.

Neymar, who returned to Santos in January, was decisive for the club where he started his professional career. In the last three rounds of the league, Neymar scored a goal against Sport Recife in a 3-0 win, netted a hat trick against Juventude on Wednesday in another 3-0 victory, and on Sunday was an effective playmaker.

Thaciano (26th and 28th minutes) and João Schmidt (60th) scored against Cruzeiro at Vila Belmiro Stadium as Santos finished 12th with 47 points.

Neymar played only 19 of the 38 rounds of the league, which started in April. He scored eight goals.

“I came for this, to try to help the best way I can. These have been tough weeks for me,” Neymar said after the game. “I thank those who were with me to lift me up. If it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t have played these matches because of these injuries, this knee problem. I need to rest and then we will have this knee surgery.”

Neymar did not give more details about the knee injury and surgery. He still hopes to be included in Brazil’s final squad for the 2026 World Cup, though coach Carlo Ancelotti is yet to pick the former captain since he took over in May. The Italian said Neymar would be included if he was fit.

Flamengo won its ninth Brazilian league title midweek after a 1-0 home victory against Ceara. The Rio de Janeiro club also won the Copa Libertadores last month.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

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In the cold light of day, it can be argued England beat the teams they should have beaten anyway.

The Gabba is an eighth defeat in England’s past 15 Tests. Away from home they have lost 10 in 14. There has been no win in a five-Test series against Australia or India. If it feels harsh to use a 4-1 defeat in India at the beginning of last year as part of the judgement, India have recently lost 3-0 at home to New Zealand and 2-0 to South Africa.

The Bazball empire is now at risk of capitulation. Pre-series, it felt like defeat in Australia would not necessarily necessitate change, depending on the manner of performance.

Losing 3-2 after a decider in Sydney is vastly different to losing 3-2 after being 3-0 down. England could still win (yes, I know). They could also lose 5-0.

Stokes and McCullum both have contracts until the end of the next home Ashes in 2027. Rob Key manages them both. England and Wales Cricket Board chief executive Richard Gould and chairman Richard Thompson will take the temperature of public reaction – currently boiling hot.

Beyond the management, there are careers and reputations of players on the line. One wonders what they are saying in the dressing room.

Is there enough honesty and maturity to hold one another to account? Is there space in the Bazball groupthink to suggest there might be another way of doing things?

In the aftermath of the Gabba defeat, the comments of Stokes and McCullum were as strong as they have been in their three-plus years in charge. The two alphas publicly questioning the mentality of the England team is something that could come back to haunt them later in the tour.

“A dressing room that I am captain of is not a place for weak men,” said Stokes.

Bar dragging in rookies from the England Lions – who are getting hammered by Australia A – England will have to rely on this group of players to salvage something from the tour.

England have not brought a specialist back-up keeper, so Smith is likely to remain in the firing line. There is no reserve specialist opener. The back-up batter, Jacob Bethell, has pretty much been on a gap year, but at least made 71 for the Lions on Sunday.

When a spinner is needed for the third Test in Adelaide, Australia can call on Nathan Lyon’s 562 Test wickets. England will have to gamble on Bashir, chosen off the back of a clip on social media and currently without a county contract. His figures for the Lions were 0-115.

There is more than a week until that third Test, time when England will have to justify their holiday on the Sunshine Coast.

When they return from their jollies, they will have the task of keeping the Ashes alive past Christmas.

Fail, and it would be hard to argue this is not England’s worst Ashes tour of modern times.

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  Kiley McDanielDec 4, 2025, 07:00 AM ET

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  • Kiley McDaniel covers MLB prospects, the MLB Draft and more, including trades and free agency.
  • Has worked for three MLB teams.

  Co-author of Author of ‘Future Value’

Now that we’ve projected contracts for the top 50 free agents in this winter’s class, let’s take a look at which players could provide the most — and least — bang for their expected buck.

Over the past two years, I’ve done pretty well — investing in Sonny Gray, Shane Bieber and Shota Imanaga as free agents while avoiding the end of Justin Turner’s career and megadeals for players the market also avoided going long-term with that offseason, like Blake Snell, Pete Alonso, and Cody Bellinger. And now I’m back again to try to hit the bull’s-eye a few more times.

The projected contracts in my rankings provide important context for this exercise, as my choices are based on return on investment — how I expect the players to perform over the length of their deals at their projected prices.

The rules for this edition are the same I set out for myself last winter: Each group of three players must have one player projected to land more than $50 million, one projected for a one-year deal and at least one pitcher and one position player.

Here are my three free agents to invest in and three to avoid for the 2025-26 MLB offseason.

Free agents to invest in

Michael King, RHP

Projected contract: 3 years, $57 million

King looked to be in line for one of the biggest deals in this free agent pitching class entering 2025, coming off of a breakout 2024 where he threw 173.2 innings with a 2.95 ERA and peripherals not that much behind, with predictive ERA figures in the low-to-mid 3s, good for 3.9 WAR.

His 2025 season was somewhat lost though, as shoulder and knee issues cost him half the season, his strikeout rate dipped from 28% to 25% and he gave up more damage on contact. You could read that platform season as a setup for a make-good one-year deal with incentives, but there are enough unique qualities to King that I think he’ll land a multi-year deal.

Michael King, 93mph Sinker and 83mph Sweeper, Overlay. pic.twitter.com/8peVFu9zVU

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) April 30, 2025

That’s a good visual representation of what King does well: Wiffleball-level raw stuff. When he got hit around more in 2025, it was concentrated mostly in his four-seam fastball and sweeper. What changed? His zone rate on his heater dropped from 54% to 48%, and on his sweeper it dropped from 44% to 38%. The runs saved on those two pitches combined was +2 on over 1200 pitches in 2024 and -13 on 528 pitches in 2025. The rest of his arsenal played basically the same and all had steady to rising zone rates last season.

An eight-figure decision isn’t as simple as “he should just throw more strikes,” but King looked like a nine-figure free agent before some injuries that now seem behind him, stuff that was the same throughout it, and some location tweaks. That seems like a nice gamble in a world where a No. 3/No. 4 starter goes for $15-20 million per year.

Ha-Seong Kim, SS

Projected contract: 1 year, $16 million

The sales pitch for this former Padre isn’t that different from King. Kim was really good — from 2022 to 2024, he posted a combined 10.5 WAR, which is more than what Pete Alonso and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. posted in that period, despite` more plate appearances than Kim.

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Then Kim tore the labrum in his shoulder in August 2024, which led to offseason surgery that caused him to miss roughly half of the 2025 season. Kim also had lower back and hamstring issues last season, while his sprint speed and arm strength were objectively not the same. The Braves claimed him off of waivers in September from the Rays, who paid him roughly $11 million for 24 games and 0.1 WAR. Kim turned down a $16 million player option earlier this offseason to hit the open market, and I’m guessing that’s roughly what he’ll end up with, though maybe with more incentives and maybe an option.

There isn’t a ton to look at in 2025 to give hope, but you can also look at Kim’s 2025 season as he wasn’t fully back and may have rushed a bit, then caused other injuries by overcompensating. I don’t have access to his medicals, but if my medical team clears him, it would appear 2026 is the season to bet on him looking something like his old self, the first full season after a major surgery. His track record of being a 3-win player that is solid average in all aspects is enough for me to gamble here, even though the downside is the 30-year-old is actually closer to his 2025 self going forward.

Brad Keller, RHP

Projected Contract: 2 years, $22 million

Every November, media reports start to trickle out about which free agent relievers teams are considering converting into starters. Reynaldo Lopez, Jordan Hicks, and Clay Holmes are some recent examples, and Keller actually has some similarities to Holmes. That’s one reason Keller’s contract could end up with similar terms to Holmes’ three-year, $38 million deal from last winter.

Keller found some success as a big league starter for Kansas City from 2018 to 2022, then had a bout with thoracic outlet syndrome, leading to up-and-down performances for the Royals, White Sox and Red Sox in various roles in 2023 and 2024, before his breakout role as a setup man for the Cubs in 2025.

Top 50 MLB free agents

How much will the biggest stars get paid this winter? Kiley McDaniel breaks down the 2025-26 free agent class. Rankings, contract projections »

One big reason for that change is Keller’s velocity jumped by about 3.5 mph in 2025, helped a bit by the shorter stints, as well. With that added bump, Keller threw his heater in the zone a lot more, jumping his zone rate from 53% to 60%. His lively sinker, slider, sweeper, and changeup are all located to tunnel off of that center-cut 95-99 mph heater. The cutter shape of his fastball is a favorite for pitch design-focused teams due to this movement inclination giving a chance for a seam-shifted sinker, kick changeup and multiple standout breaking pitches. I wrote more about this supinator type of arm in reference to Max Fried and Corbin Burnes here.

You can see why teams look at this situation and think that stretching Keller out to longer outings like he has in the past, giving back some velocity and whiffs, and getting a 150-inning starter with No. 3/No. 4 starter upside is worth a gamble, with a late-inning reliever as the fallback option. If a couple teams really believe he could find success in either role, the bidding could jump to three years at an eight-figure AAV.

I also seriously considered Kazuma Okamoto (more here) and Kyle Finnegan (more here), but the parameters of the exercise pushed me to Kim (due to his projected one-year deal) and Keller (the upside of a potential starter).

Free agents to avoid

Eugenio Suarez, 3B

Projected Contract: 2 years, $45 million

I’m going to cheat a bit here and use Suarez as my $50 million-plus contract since I don’t see a clear big-money guy to bet against, particularly because I picked Pete Alonso last year and he had a nice bounceback year on a prove-it deal, and Kyle Schwarber, an even older DH-only hitter, was even better. I think they’ll both be good for a few more years, then fall off, but that’s true of every giant hitter deal for a player in their 30s. I could even stretch and make a case for Kyle Tucker on those same grounds if he gets a 10-year-plus deal.

Passan’s MLB offseason preview

From the big-name signings to the could-be trades, Jeff Passan breaks down the winter to come.
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On to Suarez: There are a lot of blinking red lights here. He’s 34 years old, and his defensive metrics at third base have gone from +8 to +3 to -3 in the past three seasons. He has played six regular-season innings at first base in his big league career, so you’re either dealing with an aging, below-average defensive third baseman who you’re hoping to move somewhere else, paying big money for him to learn a new position on the fly, or you’re signing a designated hitter.

At the plate, his pitch selection and high-end exit velos are just OK, so you’re basically buying Suarez’s elite ability to slug with little else to back it up. His isolated slugging in 2025 was his best since 2019 and just a hair off of a career best, so I’d bet on that backing up to some degree, but possibly a lot if Suarez’s bat speed also dips.

Zach Eflin, SP

Projected contract: 1 year, $8.5 million

Normally, I’d look at Eflin’s dominating 2023 season (177.2 innings, 3.50 ERA, 4.9 WAR), slightly lesser 2024 (2.8 WAR) then disastrous 2025 season (-0.3 WAR) and see him as a nice bounceback option for some bulk innings. It’s hard picking someone to avoid in the low-risk one-year deal bucket, but I don’t like the indicators I’m seeing in Eflin’s data.

His four-seam fastball velocity has slipped two years in a row and his secondary pitches are getting less crisp. Eflin’s best offspeed pitch in 2023 was his curveball, saving +9 runs. Since then, the pitch has lost 1 mph and went to -7 runs in 2024, then -12 runs in 2025. His primary fastball is a sinker, and it has gone from +13 to +4 to -3 runs from 2023 to 2025. Eflin’s changeup has emerged to save the day as his only run-saving pitch (+4) in 2025.

It seems like Eflin is becoming a pitch-to-contact guy and holding his breath on roughly two-thirds of his pitches. If he can get his velo to hold and then also locate well, he could still end up being a useful backend starter in 2026, but this set of facts also can result in an unconditional release before the All-Star break.

J.T. Realmuto, C

Projected Contract: 2 years, $32 million

Marcell Ozuna, DH

Projected Contract: 2 years, $30 million

Harrison Bader, OF

Projected Contract: 2 years, $25 million

I’m going to cheat a little bit again here, because the cases to avoid all three of these players are similar but focus on slightly different parts of their games. And I also had trouble picking just one, so this is easier.

Realmuto, 34, is still a standout athlete for a catcher and an excellent controller of the running game. The rest of his game has been regressing, and at his age as a catcher, things can sometimes fall off a cliff if you have to count on multiple years of performance.

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We can sum up his offensive contributions pretty well with expected wOBA, which strips out ball in play luck and predicts his offensive production based on the exit velo, launch angle, etc.: .351 in 2022, .334 in 2023, .339 in 2024, .315 in 2025. His isolated power (slugging minus batting average, so stripping out the singles to focus on extra bases) in that same span: .202, then .200, then .163, then .127. Realmuto’s bat speed dropped 23 percentile points, to below average, in 2025: You get the idea. His framing numbers went from positive in 2022 to a combined -30 over the past three years, negative each year. I think he’s still a solid starter next year, but it’s hard to be confident after that given these trends.

Ozuna is a right-handed-hitting designated hitter who just turned 35, so he’s already generically in the danger zone when it comes to multiyear deals. He also battled a hip issue starting in roughly May of last season, and if you split his season in half on June 1, you get a stark contrast: .284/.427/.474, 155 wRC+ (55% better than league average as a hitter) in 241 PA before, .199/.306/.354, 86 wRC+ (14% worse than average) in 351 PA after. He might be fully recovered from this in 2026, but I’m not willing to bet much on something like that not happening again, or his decline (.402 xwOBA in 2024, .351 in 2025) accelerating in a fully healthy season when there’s no defensive or baserunning value to protect against it.

Bader had a huge 2025, with his WAR jumping from 1.2 in 2024 to 3.2. This was driven almost entirely by what he did at the plate, with his wOBA jumping from .285 to .346. Here’s where expected wOBA can tell a predictive story: His xwOBA was an identical .295 in both seasons. Bader’s 2.0 WAR jump was entirely created by his hitting, but his underlying performance was exactly the same in both seasons.

He’s 31 years old now and has long been considered a standout defender in center field, but those numbers also dipped last season. Bader is still a championship-level fourth outfielder who can start for certain teams, but that’s what he was last year when Minnesota signed him for one year, $6.25 million plus incentives. He shouldn’t get much more than that, but I think he will.

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World Athletics has scrapped controversial plans to introduce a take-off zone for the long jump rather than the traditional board because of widespread hostility from athletes, the Guardian can reveal.

Jon Ridgeon, World Athletics†chief executive, said that while the proposals had trialled well, “ultimately you do not want to go to war with your most important group of peopleâ€.

The idea of introducing a wide take-off zone was to reduce the number of foul jumps because athletes would no longer be required to try to hit a narrow board before jumping into the sand pit.

However, the Olympic long jump champion Miltiadis Tentoglou described the proposal as “dog shit†because it took much of the skill out of the event, while Carl Lewis called it an “April Foolâ€s jokeâ€.

“The reality is the athletes do not want to embrace it,†Ridgeon admitted. “So weâ€re not going to do it. You ultimately donâ€t go to war with your most important group of people, right?

“So even though I would argue we identified a problem, and found a viable solution, if the athletes donâ€t want it, fine, we drop it. But I donâ€t regret looking at that. I think thatâ€s our job as the governing body.â€

World Athletics trialled the idea earlier this year after research found that around a third of long jumps at championships were no jumps, and that reduced the interest of fans.

“Absolutely from the emotional reaction of the crowd, they lose energy with no jumps. So we said, ‘Can we solve that exam question?†And so we created the concept of a wider take-off zoneâ€. We trialled that solution, and it actually trialled well.â€

When it was tested at two events earlier this year, World Athletics found that the number of no jumps dropped to just 13% and spectators enjoyed the new format. However, most of the sportâ€s stars remained impeccably opposed. But Ridgeon insisted that World Athletics had no regrets for attempting to improve the event.

“In fact, I think we would be accused of being asleep at the wheel if we didnâ€t look for weaknesses,†he added. “The long jumpâ€s a really exciting and vibrant part of our sport. But I think itâ€s our job to push the boundaries and say, ‘look, can we make something thatâ€s already good even better?†Thatâ€s what we try to do.

“Where I was slightly frustrated is that everyone just jumped on that one thing, when we were looking at four or five things to improve and speed up the long jump.

“They include simple things like getting the officials to rake the pit quicker. Weâ€re also working with Seiko to create a concept called instant results. So when you land in a sandpit at the moment, it might take up to 20 seconds to get the result. Weâ€re working on less than five seconds.â€

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Pep Guardiola will not speak to Gianluigi Donnarumma about receiving four bookings in 10 Premier League appearances because the Manchester City goalkeeper is “adult enough†to understand his conduct must be tempered.

Three of the Italianâ€s yellow cards have been for dissent, including in Saturdayâ€s 3-2 win over Leeds, and the other for time-wasting. If the 26-year-old is cautioned in Cityâ€s next six games he will become the first goalkeeper to receive a one-match ban for accumulating five Premier League bookings.

Although 12 goalkeepers have received five or more cautions in a Premier League season, none did so quickly enough to be banned – the mark is five yellows in the first 19 league matches.

Guardiola was asked whether he would speak to Donnarumma, a summer signing from Paris Saint-Germain. “No, he is adult enough,†the manager said. “For sure, we will step-by-step understand things in the league and new behaviours.â€

The contract of Phil Foden, who scored twice against Leeds, including the winner, expires in summer 2027 and Guardiolasaid: “Hopefully he can stay all his career here. He is a special player, a Man City fan from the academy.â€

Foden has three goals in 11 league appearances this season, second at City to Erling Haaland, who has scored 14 times in 13 games. Guardiola believes Fodenâ€s goal tally can end in the high teens, as it did two seasons ago when he got 19.

“The years where weâ€ve been successful, not just the strikers [but] especially wingers, attacking midfielders [score many],†Guardiola said. “So we need that. â€

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Rodri remains unavailable for Cityâ€s trip to Fulham on Tuesday because of a hamstring problem.

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The Washington Wizardsâ€s losing skid is over.

The Wizards managed to fend off elimination from the NBA Cup on Tuesday night while picking up what is just their second win of the season. Washington cruised to a stunning blowout 132-113 win over the Atlanta Hawks at Capital One Arena. That marked the franchiseâ€s first win in more than a month, and their first home win since last April.

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The Wizards erupted out of the gate and never looked back. They opened the game on an 18-2 run, and then out-scored the Hawks 45-23 in the first period to take a huge lead instantly.

The Wizards went a perfect 8-of-8 from behind the arc as a group in the first 12 minutes, too, thanks to four made 3-pointers from both CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert. That was the longest streak of made 3-pointers to start a game in Wizards franchise history, and the longest streak anywhere in the league since 2023.

McCollum entered halftime with 27 points after making three more from behind the arc, which helped carry them to a 20-point lead at the break. From there, the rest was easy. The Wizards pushed their lead to 33 points at the end of the third, and then rolled to the 19-point win.

Kristaps Porzingis led the Hawks with 22 points and eight rebounds, and Onyeka Okongwu had 20 points off the bench. The Hawks now sit at 11-8 on the year, and just 1-2 in NBA Cup play — though they still hold quite an advantage over the Wizards in point differential. They had won seven of their last nine entering Tuesday’s loss, too.

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McCollum finished with 46 points on 10 made 3-pointers in the win. Alex Sarr added with 27 points and 11 rebounds, and Kispert had 19 points. He left the game early due to an apparent thumb injury, though further specifics aren’t yet known.

The Wizards now hold a 2-15 record, and are also 1-2 in NBA Cup play. While they are one of the worst teams in the league so far this fall, and they have an uphill battle ahead of them if theyâ€re going to rally to make what would be their first postseason appearance since 2021, theyâ€ve not been eliminated from the NBA Cup just yet.

NBA Cup Night 5 scoreboard

NBA Cup standings

East Group A

• Toronto Raptors (3-0, +53)

• Cleveland Cavaliers (2-1, +34)

• Washington Wizards (1-2, -44)

• Indiana Pacers (0-2, -31)

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East Group B

• Detroit Pistons (2-0, +27)

• Boston Celtics (1-2, -20)

• Philadelphia 76ers (0-2, -10)

East Group C

• Milwaukee Bucks (2-0, +16)

• New York Knicks (1-1, -2)

• Charlotte Hornets (0-2, -18)

West Group A

• Oklahoma City Thunder (2-0, +63)

• Minnesota Timberwolves (2-1, +53)

• Sacramento Kings (0-2, -45)

West Group B

• Los Angeles Lakers (2-0 +19)

• Los Angeles Clippers (2-0, +2)

• Memphis Grizzlies (1-1, +9)

• Dallas Mavericks (1-2, -13)

• New Orleans Pelicans (0-3, -17)

West Group C

• Denver Nuggets (2-1, +26)

• San Antonio Spurs (1-1, +10)

• Portland Trail Blazers (2-1, -18)

• Golden State Warriors (1-2, -28)

• Houston Rockets (1-2, +10)

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The Rules of Golf are tricky! Thankfully, we’ve got the guru. Our Rules Guy knows the book front to back. Got a question? He’s got all the answers.

In stroke play, player A didn’t mark his ball on the green. Player B putted, with his ball headed toward A’s ball. Player C picked up A’s ball before the collision and replaced it after B’s ball passed. Who is the penalty on, if anyone? —Joe Wisinski, Clearwater, Fla.

Player D, just because he wasn’t paying attention. Kidding!

Anyone possessed of vintage Rules knowledge would be convinced that someone is in trouble. In the here and now, however, so long as C isn’t A’s partner (which is obviously not the case here) there is no penalty to anyone. Generally, before lifting a ball that has to be replaced, you need to mark it first, and if A had requested C to lift, A would’ve been on the hook for C’s failure—but since that’s not the case, Rule 9.6 applies here.

There’s no penalty to A for C’s lifting of the ball and then no penalty to C under Rule 11.3 because a ball at rest on the putting green may be lifted while another ball is in motion. Now … who’s on first?

For more penalty-application guidance from our guru, read on …

Rules Guy: Can ‘volcano’ cups be fixed without penalty?

By:

Rules Guy

In a four-ball match, a member of the other team was about to putt and asked what everyone was laying. My partner mis-spoke, causing the other team to conclude that the putt didn’t matter and pick up the ball. It was an honest mistake, almost immediately corrected, but too late to fix. Cue the controversy and unfair accusations of cheating. In any case, are players in match play obligated to answer questions such as “What is everyone laying?” And what if the answer is unintentionally wrong? —Eric Schurr, Scottsdale, Ariz.

The rules regarding match play are designed to reflect the fact that the opponents’ play influences the player’s strategy, and thus the player has the right to know how they stand during a hole.

If a player asks an opponent what they lay, the opponent must answer before the player makes their next stroke. If they make a mistake and give the wrong number, it must be corrected before the player makes their next stroke or “takes a similar action”; here, that includes picking up the ball sans marking.

Under Rule 3.2d(1), the penalty is loss of hole for the opponent who does not correct this mistake in time, and in four-ball it could lead to the whole side losing the hole if this breach hurt the other side’s play. So, as teachers like to tell their students, think carefully before answering.

Want to find the right gear for your bag in 2025?Find a club-fitting location near you at True Spec Golf.

Italy won the European Championship in 2021, but have not played at a World Cup finals since 2014 when they beat England but lost to Costa Rica and Uruguay and failed to make it beyond the group phase.

Their 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign could not have got off to a worse start.

A tame 3-0 loss in their opener against Norway, with Manchester City’s Erling Haaland scoring one of the goals, led to manager Luciano Spalletti publicly announcing his own sacking two days later, though he still took charge of the following 2-0 home win over Moldova.

From then on, Italy have been playing catch-up, with flawless Norway winning their opening seven qualifiers, scoring 33 goals in the process, including 14 for Haaland.

Italy turned to Gennaro Gattuso, a former combative midfielder who helped AC Milan twice win the Champions League and Italy secure their last World Cup trophy in 2006.

Despite managing AC Milan and then winning the Coppa Italia with Napoli, a 23-day spell at Fiorentina saw him leave without taking charge of a game, before he only lasted seven months at Valencia and five months at Marseille.

His most recent appointment had been with Croatian club Hajduk Split, and many felt him becoming Italy manager was a mistake.

“When I heard Gattuso was in line it just seemed to demonstrate the giant collapse of Italy,” Italian football journalist Mina Rzouki told the Euro Leagues podcast.

“There were so many clips going around on social media about that Italy team just before they won the World Cup and you are talking about Paolo Maldini, [Fabio] Cannavaro, [Alessandro] Nesta, [Francesco] Totti, [Alessandro] Del Piero and it was just an embarrassment of riches.

“Now when you look at Italy over the last few seasons, even though they won the Euros, there was just a fall – but the one thing you could rely on was that Italy created these great coaches. Yet none of these great coaches were called up or have succeeded. Spalletti did not succeed.”

Horncastle added: “The players have had their backs against the wall after losing to Norway in June and now the approach that is being imposed on Italy by the Italian media is ‘you have to win all your remaining games and have to score lots and lots of goals’.

“Italy had a great coach in Luciano Spalletti, although, for whatever reason, it didn’t work out. Gattuso is a more famous manager for his press conferences than the football he has put on the pitch.”

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While Week 3 of the fantasy basketball season included two double-digit game days, there’s just one during Week 4, with Wednesday featuring 12 games. Monday and Friday are nine-game slates, and Sunday has an eight-game schedule. The light game day for Week 4 will be Thursday, with just three games, and three of the six teams in action will have played the night before. Let’s take a look at the Week 4 schedule breakdown and a few of its key storylines.

Week 4 Games Played

4 Games: ATL, CHA, CLE, DAL, GSW, LAC, LAL, MIL, NOR, ORL, PHX, POR, SAC, SAS, UTA

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3 Games: BKN, BOS, CHI, DEN, DET, HOU, IND, MEM, MIA, MIN, NYK, OKC, TOR, WAS

2 Games: PHI

Week 4 Back-to-backs

Sunday-Monday (Week 4): DET, MIL, MIN

Monday-Tuesday: UTA

Tuesday-Wednesday: BOS, DEN, GSW, MEM, NYK, OKC, SAC

Wednesday-Thursday: ATL, CLE, PHX

Thursday-Friday: None

Friday-Saturday: CHO, LAL, MIL, MIN

Saturday-Sunday: None

Sunday-Monday (Week 5): CHI, DAL, LAC, NOR

NBA: Portland Trail Blazers at Utah Jazz

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Week 4 Storylines of Note

– The 76ers are the team to avoid during Week 4.

Philadelphia, which played two back-to-backs during Week 3, has another rough schedule for Week 4. Nick Nurse’s team plays only twice, Tuesday and Friday, meaning there won’t be any opportunities for fantasy value on the weekend or on the lone light game day in Week 4 (Thursday). That could bode well for Joel Embiid and Jared McCain, who remain under minutes restrictions, and Paul George may be able to return from offseason knee surgery. However, it isn’t guaranteed that anything will change for those three players.

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Also, fantasy managers won’t get as much value out of Tyrese Maxey, VJ Edgecombe or Kelly Oubre Jr. that they did during Philadelphia’s four-game Week 3. And the schedule split for Week 4 is such that dropping a fringe fantasy option after Tuesday’s action won’t do managers much good, unless they’re certain that said player won’t help them on Friday.

– Detroit, Miami and New York are also off on Saturday and Sunday.

In addition to the 76ers, the Pistons, Heat and Knicks won’t have games scheduled for the final two days of Week 4. That won’t impact the team’s respective stars in terms of fantasy value, but someone like Detroit’s Isaiah Stewart (if healthy) or Miami’s Jaime Jaquez Jr. may not be worth holding onto after Friday’s games. However, Detroit, Miami and New York all play on Monday to begin Week 5, with the Pistons having a Monday/Tuesday back-to-back.

– Fourteen teams, including the Warriors, Lakers and Bucks, play three games between Wednesday and Sunday.

Each of these teams will have to navigate a back-to-back at some point during Week 4. Golden State has a Tuesday/Wednesday back-to-back, which could be an issue for a few of their players beyond Al Horford. The Lakers end Week 4 with a Friday/Saturday back-to-back, which impacts Luka DonÄić among others, and that doesn’t take into consideration LeBron James’ potential return from sciatica.

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As for the Bucks, they also end with a Friday/Saturday back-to-back. Giannis Antetokounmpo has dealt with left patellar tendinopathy recently, and that has the potential to be a reason to keep him on the sideline for a game. The teams that will be busier at the end of the week are worth sifting through for potential value, and three (Atlanta, Cleveland and Phoenix) are active on Thursday, the lightest day of the Week 4 schedule.

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– How many games will the Clippers have Kawhi Leonard for?

Leonard sprained his left ankle during the Clippers’ November 3 loss to the Heat and has missed the last three games. The Clippers play four games during Week 4, starting with the Hawks on Monday, and they’ll end the week with a Sunday/Monday road back-to-back against the Celtics and 76ers. Nicolas Batum has been Leonard’s replacement in the starting lineup, but to say he’s provided minimal fantasy value as a starter would be generous. Even John Collins, who had the look of a player who could be more valuable when the Clippers are shorthanded, has not provided much value over the last week. Derrick Jones Jr., who was already a starter, may be the one to consider if Leonard’s status for the start of Week 4 is in doubt.

– Are fantasy managers looking at another extended absence for Jalen Green?

After a stellar Suns debut on November 6 against the Clippers, Green appeared to aggravate the right hamstring injury that sidelined him during the first quarter of Saturday’s rematch. He couldn’t put much weight on the leg, and the Suns guard could be in for another extended absence. If so, this would likely mean a return to the starting lineup for Ryan Dunn, who played 20 minutes off the bench on Saturday. Phoenix plays four games during Week 4, starting with the Pelicans on Monday, and the team has a mid-week back-to-back. Green’s absence would also impact Royce O’Neale, who came off the bench due to Dillon Brooks returning from a core injury.

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Lionel Messi is set for a rare career low if his side doesn’t manage to turn around its fate, and soon. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) Lionel Messi stands on the brink of a rare sight in his illustrious career, with a trophyless season on the cards. When Inter Miami face Nashville SC in a decisive MLS playoff elimination game on Saturday in Fort Lauderdale, the Argentine great will be playing to avoid what would be just the second trophyless campaign of his 21-season professional journey. In 20 of those seasons, and in every one unaffected by the COVID-19 pandemic, Messi has lifted at least one team trophy. Fourteen of those seasons brought two or more. But in 2025, none so far. Inter Miamiâ€s MLS Cup campaign is his final opportunity, and they must now string together four consecutive victories, with the first one against Nashville, to stay alive. The clubâ€s playoff hopes took a hit with last weekâ€s 2-1 loss to Nashville in Game 2 of their best-of-three series. One more defeat would eliminate Miami and leave Messi without a title for the year. The only comparable drought came in 2019–20 with Barcelona, a turbulent season that ended with an 8-2 Champions League defeat to Bayern Munich and no trophies. Since joining Inter Miami in July 2023, Messi has collected the 2023 Leagues Cup, the 2024 MLS Supporters†Shield, and the 2024 Copa América with Argentina. Yet, despite his individual brilliance and being on course to win a second straight MLS MVP award, Miami have fallen short in key tournaments this year. They exited the CONCACAF Champions Cup in the semifinals against Vancouver, fell to PSG in the Club World Cup round of 16, and were beaten 3-0 by Seattle in the Leagues Cup final. The Supporters†Shield slipped away narrowly as Miami finished third in the Eastern Conference, one point behind Philadelphia.

Poll

Will Messi avoid a trophyless season with Inter Miami?

Head coach Javier Mascherano urged calm and unity ahead of Saturdayâ€s decider. “We must now swallow the poison, save it and keep it inside all week long so we can release that in front of our fans next Saturday,†he said. “It is time for us to be more united than ever because I have a lot of faith that we will turn it around.â€

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