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BARCELONA — Red-hot Robert Lewandowski and Pablo Torre struck twice each as Barcelona hammered Sevilla 5-1 to stay three points clear of Real Madrid at the top of La Liga ahead of next weekend's Clasico.

Earlier Alexander Sorloth's double helped Atletico Madrid, third, come from behind to beat neighbours Leganes 3-1.

Madrid beat Celta Vigo on Saturday to pull level with Hansi Flick's side but Barca swiftly restored their advantage with a stylish and dominant display of attacking football.

Veteran striker Lewandowski reached 12 goals in 10 La Liga matches, his strikes sandwiching Pedri Gonzalez's effort from the edge of the box, before substitute Torre added the fourth.

Stanis Idumbo grabbed a consolation for Sevilla in the final stages but Francisco Garcia Pimienta's side were roundly beaten on his return to the club he spent nearly three decades with in various roles.

Torre finished the rout with a crossed free-kick which flew beyond Nyland and in at the far post and Barcelona were also able to celebrate Gavi's return from a long injury lay-off.

The midfielder came on in the final stages for his first minutes in a Barcelona shirt since suffering a severe knee injury in November 2023.

"It's too difficult, it's not easy [to pick a highlight]," said Flick.

"Three points and five goals... but we are all happy that Gavi's back."

Despite upcoming clashes against Bayern Munich in the Champions League and Saturday's visit to the Santiago Bernabeu, Flick started arguably his strongest fit and available side.

As well as Gavi, the coach was able to name Dani Olmo and Fermin Lopez on the bench after injury, while Ansu Fati started for the first time this season.

The Catalans took the lead when Raphinha went down in the box under light contact from Peque, a former Barca youth player, and the referee pointed to the spot.

Lewandowski, stuttering in his run-up, sent Sevilla goalkeeper Orjan Nyland the wrong way to fire Barca ahead in the 24th minute.

The 36-year-old striker is enjoying a second wind under Flick and leads Spain's scoring charts with 12 strikes in 10 matches, twice as many as any other player.

Pedri soon doubled Barcelona's lead from the edge of the box after the hyperactive Lamine Yamal set him up and created another fine chance for Lewandowski.

Gavi 'deserves this' 

The Polish striker netted his second before the break by guiding home Raphinha's drive from distance with a flick of his boot.

Suffering Sevilla were dealt more bad news before the break when explosive winger Chidera Ejuke limped off injured.

Raphinha fired home early in the second half but was offside, as Barcelona strolled, carving open the Andalucians at their leisure.

Yamal produced an outrageous shot from distance with the outside of his boot which Nyland clawed to safety.

Dodi Lukebakio struck at the other end on a rare Sevilla foray forward but had strayed offside.

Barca midfielder Pablo Torre rattled home the fourth with the aid of a deflection before Gavi appeared as a substitute with a few minutes remaining to a rapturous reception.

"I am very happy to come back after so long out injured, I have been dreaming about this for many months and I am grateful to my teammates who made the process easier for me," Gavi told LaLiga TV.

"The hardest thing is not playing, watching from the outside. It's frustrating, it's tough... I feel fortunate to be back."

Idumbo pulled one back for Sevilla, 13th, but Torre wrapped up Barcelona's night with a stroke of fortune when his free-kick crept in at the far post.

Sorloth double 

Diego Simeone's Atletico struggled against the minnows from the south of Madrid but after Yvan Neyou blasted the visitors ahead Sorloth levelled with a fine finish and Antoine Griezmann slid home the second.

Norwegian target man Sorloth wrapped up the victory late in stoppage time with a poacher's finish.

"In the second half we improved a bit, above all in speeding up the game," Simeone told Movistar.

Atletico came into the game with just one victory in their last five matches across all competitions.

No supporters filled the lower part of the Metropolitano stadium's south stand, closed by the Spanish football federation after some Atletico fans threw objects at Real Madrid players during the derby in September.

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Novak Djokovic implored long-time rival Rafael Nadal to put off his planned retirement after defeating the Spaniard in what was likely to be the final chapter of their storied rivalry.

"Don't leave tennis, man," Djokovic said in an on-court interview after beating Nadal in straight sets 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) at the "Six Kings Slam" exhibition in Saudi Arabia.

He added that their battles over the years had been "very intense" and told Nadal he hoped they could one day "sit on a beach somewhere" and have a drink.

Nadal, 38, announced on October 10 that he would retire from tennis after the Davis Cup Finals in Malaga next month.

Organisers of the Saudi event billed Saturday's match as perhaps Nadal's last singles contest as a professional.

Nadal said on Thursday he was unsure whether he would be fit enough to play singles in Malaga.

Djokovic and Nadal -- two of the sport's famed "Big Three" along with Roger Federer -- had faced each other 60 times on the main tour prior to Saturday's exhibition match, with Djokovic holding a narrow 31-29 edge.

Their last encounter came during the Paris Olympics on the same Roland Garros courts where Nadal won 14 French Open titles, though Djokovic triumphed easily 6-1, 6-4.

Saturday's match was also mostly one-sided, with Nadal spraying errors and Djokovic wrapping up the first set in just 31 minutes.

Feeding off the support of the partisan crowd who openly cheered Djokovic's double-faults, Nadal rallied to push the second set to a tie-break, reeling off winners and even treating fans to one last iconic fist pump before succumbing to Djokovic's relentless serving.

"It's great to see him still fighting even though he's had injuries and struggles," Djokovic, 37, told a post-match press conference.

It was "a very emotional day, special day" because it was the "last time I play my biggest rival, Nadal", he added.

"I've witnessed Andy Murray retiring this year in Wimbledon, Roger [Federer] a few years ago as well. And now Rafa, you know. It's tough in some way to see them go, because all of my career, basically, I've played with them."

After being presented with a golden tennis racket, Nadal in turn thanked Djokovic for the "amazing rivalry" and "for all the moments that we shared on court".

Saudi tennis push 

French Open and Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz was set to take on Australian Open and US Open winner Jannik Sinner in the "Six Kings Slam" final later Saturday.

Saudi Arabia's push into tennis took off last year with its first ATP Tour event -- the Next Gen ATP Finals in Jeddah -- and exhibition matches pitting Djokovic against Alcaraz and Aryna Sabalenka against Ons Jabeur.

The Women's Tennis Association (WTA) announced in April that Riyadh would host the next three editions of the Tour Finals, featuring the top eight singles players and doubles teams.

The 2024 edition will be staged from November 2-9.

Earlier this year, Nadal was named ambassador for the Saudi Tennis Federation.

The new role will involve "dedicated time in the kingdom each year" to grow the sport as well as the development of a new Rafa Nadal Academy, the Saudi federation said when the announcement was made in January.

Djokovic said he did not know if he, like Nadal, would spend more time in Saudi Arabia post-retirement but he said he was focussing on what he described as the positives there.

"There's always going to be criticism. You can always focus on good things or bad things," he said.

"You know, it just depends on the perspective, like anything in life."

AMMAN — Group A U-17 Asian Cup qualifiers kick off in Ammanas of October 19 with Jordan playing in alongside Iran, Syria, Hong Kong and North Korea.  

A total of 43 teams will be playing in 10 groups with the group leaders as well as five second placed teams advancing to the April 3-20, 2025 finals in Saudi Arabia. Jordan kicks off matches against Syria on Saturday, followed by Hong Kong October 23, North Korea on October 25 and Iran October 27.  

In 2022, Jordan hosted Group A qualifiers for the U-17 Asian Cup but failed to advance.  The team also could not retain their West Asian Championship title and exited Round  1.

Last month, Jordan qualified to the U-20 Asian Cup scheduled for China in February 2025 - a qualifying tournament to the U-20 World Cup. The 45 Asian teams played the AFC qualifiers in 10 groups, with the group winners and five best second-placed teams advancing to the finals. Qualifying teams were Qatar, Syria, Uzbekistan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Australia, North Korea, Indonesia, Yemen, Iran from Group G, Iraq, Thailand, Japan and Kyrgyzstan.

AMMAN —  The CFI Professional Football League resumes on Thursday after  a two week break during which the national team played two Round 3/ Group B qualifying matches for the 2026 World Cup, losing 2-0 to South Korea and beating Oman 4-0.

Ramtha lead Hussein and Ahli on goal difference with Wihdat and Faisali trailing. Upcoming matches will see Ramtha play Ma’an with a chance to bolster their lead and Faisali playing holders Hussein. Wihdat face Shabab Urdun, Aqaba play Ahli, Jazira meet Salt and Sarih face Mughayer Sarhan. 

During the league break Jordan Football Shield matches continued without national team players. The competition has one round to go and will resume on November 8 after Hussein moved to the semifinals leaving Wihdat and Shabab Urdun fighting for the second spot from Group 1, while Faisali, Salt, Ramtha and Sarih are still competing for the two tickets from Group 2. 

Hussein have been impressive with four consecutive wins, despite missing 10 players on national team duty and also juggling their regional agenda together with Wihdat representing Jordan in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Champions League Two, the 21st edition of the second tier competition which has replaced the AFC Cup.

So far, Wihdat were held 2-2 with UAE’s Sharjah after they scored  a vital 2-1 win over Iran’s Sepahan Isfahan in Group C while Hussein beat Kuwait Club 2-1  after they fell 3-1 to UAE’s Ahli Dubai in Group D.

Amman — In an efficient display on Tuesday, the Jordanian national team “Nashama” defeated Oman 4-0 in the World Cup qualification Round 4 at the Amman International Stadium. Under the management of coach Jamal Sellami the squad controlled the pace of the match from start to finish.

The game kicked off with Jordan taking the initiative and in the 26th minute Yazan Al Naimat opened the scoring with a powerful header, setting a positive tone for the rest of the game.

As the second half progressed, Jordan continued to push forward. In the 49th minute Ali Alwan converted a penalty to double the lead while five minutes later, in the 54th minute, Yazan Al Nueimat struck again, netting his second goal of the match.

In the 87th minute, Awan capped off the performance with his second goal, bringing the final score to 4-0. His contributions, alongside Nueimat’s were crucial in securing the second victory in the group.

The score reflected Jordan comprehensive dominance throughout the match and Coach Sellami will undoubtedly be gratified with the outcome, which boosts the team's confidence as they continue the World Cup qualifying journey.

With this victory, Jordan now sits in second place in its  group with seven points, behind  South Korea, which leads with 10 points after its 3-2 win over Iraq. Iraq also has seven points, while Oman remains at the bottom with just three points. Meanwhile, Kuwait is in fifth place with three points after drawing 1-1 with Palestine, which sets the last position in the group with two points.

Jordan’s next group matches will be in November when it faces Iraq and Kuwait in away matches.

JOHANNESBURG — Embattled Ghana coach Otto Addo says they must beat Sudan in an Africa Cup of Nations qualifier on Tuesday to have a chance of reaching the 2025 finals.

“We have to win,” the 49-year-old in a second stint as Black Stars boss told reporters after they were held 0-0 at home by Sudan in a third-round Group F clash.

Four-time African champions Ghana squandered several glaring chances to break the deadlock in Accra, and trail leaders Angola by seven points and Sudan by two halfway through qualifying.

The top two finishers after matchday 6 in November secure places at the 24-team finals of a competition Ghana last won in 1982 in Tripoli. 

They last failed to qualify 21 years ago.

Ghana faces a desperate fight for survival in Libyan city Benghazi, where Sudan is temporarily based as they cannot play at home with a civil war raging in the vast northeast African country.

“Where we finish is in our hands,” added Otto, referring to a team captained by Mohammed Kudus of West Ham, but missing another Premier League midfielder, injured Thomas Partey of Arsenal.

Here, AFP Sport highlights five other matchday 4 qualifiers scheduled for Monday and Tuesday, including former champions Tunisia seeking revenge for a shock home defeat by Comoros.

Manchester United goalkeeper Andre Onana was mobbed by football fans in Uganda last month after a Group J clash with Zimbabwe, who could not play at home as they lack a suitable venue.

But Ugandan supporters of the Old Trafford club will not be able to see him playing in Kampala on Monday because Kenya, 4-1 losers in Yaounde, are hosting the return match behind closed doors.

Kenya cannot play at home due to stadium renovations and their reasons for barring spectators include cost cutting, ensuring the safety of Onana and preventing Ugandans backing Cameroon.

Libya vs Nigeria

It will concern caretaker coach Augustine Eguavoen that Nigeria took 86 minutes in Uyo before Fisayo Dele-Bashiru scored the only goal to sink Libya in Group D.

He was spoilt for choice when it came to forwards, with the seven he chose in the absence of injured star Victor Osimhen all playing for top-five European leagues clubs.

But Ademola Lookman, the lone African contender for the 2024 Ballon d’Or, and his Super Eagles teammates misfired, and now face the Mediterranean Knights in an intimidating Benghazi venue.

Mauritania vs Egypt

Mauritania coach Amir Abdou is puzzled after his team was described by Egypt counterpart Hossam Hassan as “playing hard and with violent interventions”.

“We committed fewer fouls than Egypt and received the same number of yellow cards [three],” he told reporters after a 2-0 Group C loss in Cairo to the runaway leaders.

Liverpool ace Mohamed Salah, scorer of the Pharaohs’ second goal, will miss the return match on an artificial Nouakchott pitch because Hassan does not want to risk his captain being injured.

Congo vs South Africa

South Africa coach Hugo Broos has warned his squad that Congo Brazzaville are likely to be a very different proposition at home after suffering a 5-0 matchday 3 drubbing in Group K.

“The Congolese are technically good and very dangerous when they play at home,” said the 72-year-old Belgian, who coached Cameroon to the 2017 AFCON title.

Broos will be hoping for another five-star showing from midfielder Teboho Mokoena, who shrugged off fears of rustiness due to lack of club game time by scoring twice.

Comoros vs Tunisia

The major matchday 3 shock came when Tunisia surrendered a 16-match winning streak at home in AFCON qualifiers by losing 1-0 to Comoros.

Rafiki Said from French second division club Troyes completed a mid-second half counterattack by slamming a low shot into the far corner from inside the box.

Comoros are 82 places below Tunisia in the world rankings and lack an international-standard stadium, so they will host the return match in Ivorian commercial capital Abidjan.

PARIS — Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer's rivalry started in the sweltering heat of Miami and ended almost two decades later in tears and hand-holding in an emotional London farewell.

In between, the great friends met 40 times, battling out epics on European clay, London grass and hard courts from the United States to Australia.

Nadal edged their head-to-head count 24-16, coming out 9-3 on top in Grand Slam finals including his stunning Wimbledon triumph in 2008, widely regarded as one of the greatest finals at the majors.

However, the statistics only scratch the surface.

"When Roger leaves the tour, an important part of my life is leaving too," admitted a tearful Nadal as he played Laver Cup doubles alongside 41-year-old Federer in the Swiss star's final appearance in September 2022.

The two clasped hands as Federer hobbled into retirement.

"Very proud to be part of his career but even for me happier to finish our career as friends after everything we shared on court as rivals," said Nadal.

When Nadal equalled Federer's haul of 20 Grand Slam titles by lifting his 13th French Open in 2020, the Swiss described it as the "greatest achievement in sport".

Federer never begrudged Nadal moving past him to 22 majors.

"I can call up Rafa and talk about anything," said Federer at his emotional farewell in London.

"We enjoy each other's company. We have a million topics to cover. I always feel like any evening we ever spent together we never have enough time."

Twenty years ago, it was another time, another place.

The only thing they had in common then was respect.

When they met for the first time in March 2004 at Miami, Nadal was just 17 and ranked at 34.

Federer was the World No.1 and had already captured the Australian Open and Indian Wells titles that year.

However, a fearless Nadal swept to a 6-3, 6-3 victory in 70 minutes.

"I was very worried about him beating me 6-1, 6-1 or 6-1, 6-2, but I really wanted to play this match against the world number one," said Nadal.

Nadal fretted if his friends back home could follow the match "on Teletext" while Federer correctly predicted more meetings to come.

"I was impressed with what I saw," said Federer.

Wimbledon epic 

The pair met at least once every year from 2004 until 2015 while Federer would go on to claim seven of their last eight clashes.

Fittingly, they split their last meetings in 2019 -- Nadal breezing to a semi-final triumph at the French Open with Federer coming out on top in the last four at Wimbledon just weeks later.

Epics were guaranteed.

Federer avenged his 2004 Miami loss to Nadal 12 months later, winning the final in five sets from two sets down.

Nadal had to dig deep to protect his 'king of clay' reputation in 2006, also needing five sets to defeat the Swiss in the Rome final.

Federer struggled to chip away at Nadal's mastery of clay, winning just two of 17 meetings.

At the Swiss star's second home of Wimbledon, he defeated Nadal in the 2006 and 2007 finals before the Spaniard claimed one of his greatest victories 12 months later.

In almost total darkness after a final interrupted by rain, Nadal won his fifth Grand Slam title and first outside of the French Open.

He missed two championship points in the fourth set but steadied to triumph 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (5/7), 6-7 (8/10), 9-7 after four hours and 48 minutes.

"For me, it was the most emotional match I ever played in, probably the best," said Nadal.

They would meet again in three more Slam finals -- Nadal taking his first Australian Open title in a five-setter in 2009 and the 2011 French Open before Federer claimed the 2017 Australian Open in another marathon.

Federer's win in Melbourne came after he had spent six months sidelined by injury the previous year.

"Tennis is a tough sport," said Federer who was 35 at the time and had gone 10 years without a victory over Nadal at the Slams.

"There are no draws. If there were, I would have been happy to accept one and share it with Rafa."


SHANGHAI — World No.1 Jannik Sinner will face Daniil Medvedev in the Shanghai Masters quarter-finals after both had straight-set victories on Wednesday.

Sinner put some old demons to rest in overcoming American Ben Shelton 6-4, 7-6 (7/1), while Medvedev took out Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-6 (7/3), 6-3.

Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic also progressed to the next round after comfortable wins.

But World No.3 Alexander Zverev is out after losing to 66th ranked David Goffin 6-4, 7-5.

Shelton, ranked 16, knocked Sinner out at the same stage last year but the Italian looked confident from the start and won in 88 minutes.

The US Open champion pulled ahead in the ninth game of the first set, breaking when Shelton hit long, then dominated the second set tiebreak.

World No.5 Medvedev and Tsitsipas were meeting for the 14th time.

The Greek started the second set strong, breaking in the first game, but Medvedev broke in the fourth and eighth to claim victory.

Medvedev and Sinner have already met four times in the final stages of tournaments this year.

Sinner beat Medvedev in the semifinals in Miami, the quarter-finals of the US Open and in the Australian Open final, but the Russian ended the Italian's hopes in the last eight at Wimbledon in an epic five-set battle.

"I'm gonna bring the fight," Medvedev said.

"I could have done much better in the US Open... I didn't explore enough my potential during this match. So I'm going to try to explore this potential tomorrow," he said.

Sinner said: "We know each other quite well now, we know exactly what to expect, more or less."

"Of course, it's going to be a very tough match, physical match, mental match, and also tactical, so let's see what's coming."

Alcaraz downs Monfils 

World No.2 Alcaraz, who beat Sinner in the China Open final a week ago, downed veteran Gael Monfils 6-4, 7-5 for a 12th straight victory.

The 38-year-old Frenchman upset Alcaraz at their last meeting in Cincinnati in August and the Spaniard admitted that "was on his mind", saying he was glad he had "stayed calm".

Alcaraz's quarter-final opponent is 23-year-old Tomas Machac, who beat 13th-ranked Tommy Paul 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.

"He has really great tennis. He's so, so fast as well, so I have to be focused on that," Alcaraz said of the Czech.

Machac's teenage compatriot Jakub Mensik burnished his record against top 10 players, overpowering Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 just days after sending world number six Andrey Rublev home.

Mensik's next challenge is Djokovic after the Serb finished off Russian Roman Safiullin 6-3, 6-2 in 73 minutes.

The former World No.1 said he had a "great relationship" off the court with Mensik's family.

"I always believed that he's got the potential to be one of the top players in the world and he's building that kind of momentum right now," the 37-year-old said.

He has previously played practice sets with the 19-year-old.

"He got bigger and stronger. So, yeah, it's going to be fun," Djokovic grinned, anticipating a "tough challenge".

Zverev out 

The last match of the day saw the tournament lose its second seed with Zverev's straight-set defeat.

Goffin broke first and kept the pressure up.

An increasingly miserable-looking Zverev mounted a second set revival, but couldn't quite close the gap as the 33-year-old Belgian persevered.

"I had nothing to lose, but [Zverev] is always tough to play," said an emotional Goffin, who said he had decided to mount a career revival a few months ago.

"It was a great feeling... I didn't expect to be that offensive, that relaxed on that court."

Goffin will next face the United States' Taylor Fritz, who took less than an hour to demolish 14th-ranked Holger Rune 6-1, 6-2.