Football

Madrid: Manchester United coach Michael Carrick insisted yesterday his team can weather the storm after making their worst start to a season in 40 years. The Red Devils conceded a late goal to draw against 10-man Tottenham in the Premier League on Saturday, leaving them with six points after six games, their worst tally at the same stage since 1986. United visit Spanish side Atletico Madrid in the Champions League today looking to improve on just one victory in their last six matches across all competitions. “We definitely need to start strong tomorrow evening... we know what we’re expecting tomorrow night, we’ll be ready for it, the boys are ready for it,” Carrick told reporters. “The way we responded (against Tottenham) in the second half in particular, I think you could see that, so that gives me a lot of faith that I had already in the boys, that they are hungry and eager to put things right.” Carrick said he could understand people saying the current situation was a “disaster” but that was not something he bought into. “I understand when it’s not going too well, there’s a real kind of clamour, and a real feeling of ‘it’s a disaster’ and ‘it’s all wrong’ and ‘everything needs to be changed’,” he continued. “I kind of get that, obviously, but that’s not in our mindset, that’s certainly not in my mindset. “To achieve anything, really, you’ve got to be able to deal with things that are difficult and you’ve got to overcome things. “That’s part of it, I did it throughout my career just to be here... we’re right there now in the middle of it, but I totally believe that we’ll come through it.”

Football

Istanbul: Barcelona coach Hansi Flick said he would be happy with a single goal victory at Galatasaray in the Champions League today as his team face one of the world’s ‘best atmospheres’. The Catalan giants have won all nine games they have played this season across all competitions, scoring 39 goals, more than four a game on average. However the visit to face Turkish champions Galatasaray in Istanbul is the first in a string of tougher fixtures for Barcelona, with Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid also coming up. The Spanish champions thrashed Feyenoord 5-1 in their league phase opener but will be without Raphinha for the visit to Turkey and one of the game’s most intimidating environments. “First of all, we have to be ready for this atmosphere,” Flick told reporters Monday. “I think this is one of the best atmospheres ever in the world. It’s amazing when I hear some situations or the sounds of the stadium, what the fans are doing, it’s unbelievable. “They support their team. You also can see the results against big teams, they are playing like a big team against them, they’ve improved a lot.” Not since Barcelona’s 2-0 win over Athletic Bilbao in La Liga on August 27 have the Catalans been restricted to fewer than three goals. However Flick said just one would do at Galatasaray’s hostile Rams Park stadium, which has sometimes been nicknamed “Hell”. “The only thing we want is to win, this is our goal, this is what we want,” said Flick. “I’m also happy if we win just 1-0, because to see this team, how they play, how they play out (from the back), they like to play football. “In attack they have fantastic players, so it’s not easy to play against Galatasaray, especially at home.”

Tennis

Shanghai: Men’s tennis confirmed it will crown a new world number one as Germany’s Alexander Zverev (pictured) was ensured the year-end honour yesterday after Carlos Alcaraz lost his third-round match in Shanghai. The career-first will cap a stellar season for the 29-year-old, the current world number two, after he won the French Open in June and the US Open in September. The French Open was the German star's first-ever Grand Slam title. “It’s been a fantastic season for me winning in Paris and New York and knowing that I will finish the year on top of the rankings is just a dream come true,” Zverev said in a statement shared by the ATP Tour website. “So much work and effort have been put into achieving this goal, especially after coming back from the ankle injury,” Zverev added. He suffered a career-threatening ankle injury in his French Open semi-final in 2022. Zverev will be the first German player to finish his season as the top-ranked player, and the oldest to lift the trophy set to be presented in November. His achievement comes in a year where the previous two players to hold the top ranking, Italy’s Jannik Sinner and Spain’s Alcaraz, have skipped months of competition due to injury. Sinner, the current number one, has not competed since Wimbledon where he beat Zverev in the final. He announced last week his season was over due to a knee injury. Alcaraz, ranked third, was sidelined for months with a wrist injury from April until the US Open. — AFP