Milan win the derby thanks to Giroud. Mujinga Kambundji with a good start to the season. Stan Wawrinka is back on the court. And Hertha Berlin is still without a win this year. The most important sports news at a glance.
Soccer: Mönchengladbach with a draw, Union loses
Gladbach’s Nico Elvedi (left) in a duel with Bielefeld’s Patrick Wimmer.
(sda) Borussia Mönchengladbach is still waiting for the liberation. Adi Hütter’s troubled team only managed a 1-1 draw in the 21st round of the Bundesliga in Bielefeld.
The Gladbachers have to be satisfied with one point given the course of the game. It could have been worse for the in-form Arminia Bielefeld. The 1: 1 seven minutes before the break by Alassane Pléa was not announced. Only after the break did the guests become stronger with the Swiss trio Breel Embolo, Nico Elvedi and Yann Sommer.
Both teams had chances to score a second goal. With two strong saves, Sommer prevented the possible winner from Bielefeld, who remained unbeaten for the sixth time in a row. The Swiss keeper was powerless when it was 0:1 in the 19th minute thanks to a nice shot by Janni Serra.
Sommer was the first foreign player to play 250 Bundesliga games for Mönchengladbach. In addition, the 33-year-old is only the third foreign goalie to reach this mark in the Bundesliga – after Sweden’s Ronnie Hellström (266) and Switzerland’s Diego Benaglio (259).
Union and Freiburg lose
Urs Fischer conceded the first defeat since mid-December with Union Berlin. For once, the Berliners were kept small with fighting means and lost 2-0 to the team with the Swiss Ruben Vargas and Andi Zeqiri in Augsburg.
Despite the defeat, Fischer’s team was able to defend fourth place because Freiburg, which was right behind them, also lost. In a duel between two surprise teams, the Breisgauers lost 1-0 to 1. FC Köln. The only goal was scored by Anthony Modeste, who, with his 14 goals this season, is making a significant contribution to the fact that Cologne are fighting for the European Cup places.
results. Friday: Hertha Berlin 1-1 Bochum. – Saturday: VfB Stuttgart – Eintracht Frankfurt 2: 3. Mainz 05 – Hoffenheim 2:0. Augsburg – Union Berlin 2:0. Arminia Bielefeld – Borussia Monchengladbach 1:1. 1. FC Cologne – SC Freiburg 1:0. Bayern Munich – RB Leipzig 18.30. – Sunday: Borussia Dortmund – Bayer Leverkusen 15.30. Wolfsburg – Greuther Furth 17.30.
Ranking: 1. Bayern Munich 20/49 (65:19). 2.Borussia Dortmund 20/43 (52:31). 3.Bayer Leverkusen 20/35 (49:32). 4. Union Berlin 21/34 (29:27). 5 SC Freiburg 21/33 (33:24). 6. 1. FC Cologne 21/32 (33:34). 7. RB Leipzig 20/31 (38:23). 8. Hoffenheim 21/31 (41:34). 9. Eintracht Frankfurt 21/31 (33:32). 10. Mainz 05 21/30 (30:23). 11. Bochum 21/25 (20:30). 12. Borussia Monchengladbach 21/23 (27:38). 13. Hertha Berlin 21/23 (23:43). 14 Arminia Bielefeld 21/22 (21:27). 15. Augsburg 21/22 (22:35). 16. Wolfsburg 20/21 (17:32). 17. VfB Stuttgart 21/18 (24:38). 18. Greuther Furth 20/10 (17:52).
Soccer: No points for Lausanne even with a new coach
Lausanne’s Trazie Thomas tried to shake off Servettien Theo Valls.
(sda) Lausanne does not return to winning ways under new coach Alain Casanova either. The Vaud are defeated in the Léman-Derby Servette with 0:1.
A lot of work awaits Casanova, the experienced Frenchman who replaced Serbian Ilija Borenovic on the coaching bench a few days ago. In his first attempt, the 60-year-old relied on a defensive strategy with five defenders. It was only after the break that the Lausanne ensemble occasionally dared to go on the offensive a little more boldly. But it wasn’t until the final minutes that the Geneva team got scared when referee Horisberger awarded Lausanne a penalty. However, the decision was withdrawn because of a previous offside.
The essentials in Geneva took place in the minutes before the break. A long period of pressure from the hosts was rewarded in the 41st minute: Vincent Sasso headed a cross from Ronny Rodelin into the goal. The defender stayed in the front line after a corner kick and scored his second goal in the Super League.
Lausanne, with the weakest offensive in the league, never really came close to equalizing. Since the last win at the end of November (1-0 in St. Gallen), the Vaud have taken just one point and scored three goals in six games.
Football: Milan win the derby thanks to Giroud
Olivier Giroud decides the Milan derby with two goals.
(sda) AC Milan win the derby 2-1 against Inter Milan and come within a point in Serie A of their still-leading city rivals.
In the absence of the injured Zlatan Ibrahimovic, it was another veteran striker who provided the goals. 35-year-old Olivier Giroud struck for Milan in the 75th and 78th minutes to turn things around. Inter had taken the lead through Ivan Perisic late in the first half.
It was Inter Milan’s first home defeat in over a year. It provides further excitement in the title race. Third-placed Napoli can also come within a point of Inter on Sunday before the southern Italians host the leaders for a top-flight battle next weekend.
Athletics: Kambundji’s start to the season with a top performance
(sda) Mujinga Kambundji (STB) used the indoor meeting in Magglingen for a successful start to the indoor season: in 7.20 seconds she undercut the national season best time of Ajla Del Ponte by 5 hundredths. In the final she even managed to improve with 7.15, equaling the European best time of the season of Brit Daryll Neita. After this start, Kambundji can look forward to the upcoming competitions with confidence. She has the limit for the World Indoor Championships in mid-March in Belgrade (SRB, 7.30) in her pocket.
Géraldine Frey (LK Zug) also has reason to be satisfied, who improved her personal best to 7.27 seconds in the preliminary heat and improved it again by 1 hundredth in the final. This makes Frey the fourth fastest Swiss of all time behind the two Swiss record holders Kambundji and Del Ponte (both 7.03) and Salomé Kora (7.25).
Tennis: Stan Wawrinka back on the court
Finally back on the tennis court: Romand Stan Wawrinka.
(sda) Stan Wawrinka is back on the tennis court after recovering from a foot injury. 332 days after his last match on the ATP Tour, the 36-year-old from Vaud was able to resume training with the racket.
Wawrinka published a series of photos on social media showing him training in the Lake Geneva region with his coach Daniel Vallverdu. The three-time Grand Slam tournament winner, who is ranked 159th in the world, is likely to return to the ATP tour in April at the start of the European sand season.
Soccer: Hertha Berlin still without a win this year
(sda) Hertha Berlin is still without a win this year. In Friday’s game of the 21st round of the Bundesliga, the Berliners only drew 1-1 against Bochum. After Ishak Belfodil’s opening goal in the 23rd minute, Bochum equalized through Sebastian Polter shortly after the break.
Hertha Berlin – Bochum 1: 1 (1: 0) . 3000 spectators. – Gates: 23. Belfodil 1-0. 48. Polter 1:1. – Bochum without Decarli (not in the squad).
Bundesliga. 21st round. Friday: Hertha Berlin 1-1 Bochum. – Ranking list excerpt: 1. Bayern Munich 20/49. 2.Borussia Dortmund 20/43. 3.Bayer Leverkusen 20/35. 4. Union Berlin 20/34. 5 SC Freiburg 20/33. – 11. Bochum 21/25. 12. Hertha Berlin 21/23.
Soccer: Andy Pelmard and Dan Ndoye stay in Basel
(sda) FC Basel is redeeming the two purchase options for 21-year-old defensive player Andy Pelmard and offensive player Dan Ndoye, who is the same age. Pelmard signed until the summer of 2025, Ndoye even until the summer of 2026. The two players came on loan from Nice last summer and immediately gained a foothold.
Football: Real Madrid are defeated by Athletic Bilbao in the quarter-finals
Alex Berenguer and Iker Muniain (right) celebrate Athletic Bilbao’s winning goal.
(sda) Real Madrid failed in the quarterfinals of the Spanish Cup. Los Blancos lost 1-0 away to Athletic Bilbao after a late goal from Alex Berenguer (89′). The Basques managed to get revenge for the lost Supercup three weeks ago in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, which Real won 2-0.
Betis Sevilla, Rayo Vallecano and Valencia complete the semi-finals.
Nordic skiing: Prominent corona failures in Norway’s team
Simen Hegstad Krüger cannot travel to China.
(sda/dpa) Simen Hegstad Krüger, Olympic champion in skiathlon in 2018, is not allowed to defend his title on Sunday because he tested positive for the corona virus in Europe before leaving. The Norwegian Ski Association announced the out. Krueger, who won two individual races this winter (both times over 15km skating), was among the contenders for the podium in skiathlon at Zhangjiakou, while his victory over that distance four years ago came as something of a minor surprise.
And Norway’s Nordic team has another corona failure to complain about: The gold favorite in the Nordic combined, Jarl Magnus Riiber, also tested positive for the virus, and it was detected in China. He has to go into quarantine. The first decision in the combination is on Wednesday, February 9th, with the individual. Riiber’s chances of participating in this start have fallen sharply. He has to submit two negative tests in order to be allowed to compete in the singles. The Norwegian already posted on Instagram: “The gold medal is yours, boys”.
The 24-year-old Riiber has dominated the combined in recent years and has won the overall World Cup since the 2018/19 season. Switzerland is not represented in Beijing in Nordic Combined.
Soccer: Kevin Rüegg moves to FC Lugano
????️ BENVENUTO KEVIN!#fcluganohttps://t.co/FLwKXIQgev
— FC Lugano (@FCLugano1908) February 3, 2022
(sda) Kevin Rüegg is returning to Switzerland, at least temporarily. The 23-year-old right-back is on loan from Hellas Verona to FC Lugano for the remainder of the season. The Ticino also got a purchase option in the negotiations with Hellas.
At his original club FC Zurich, Kevin Rüegg was a regular player and even – as in the U-21 national team – captain. After moving to Verona in the summer of 2020, he stayed on the bench in most games. In total, he only made seven appearances in Serie A, also due to various injuries.
Football: A Frenchman becomes the coach of Lausanne-Sport
(sda) 60-year-old Frenchman Alain Casanova is the new head coach of Lausanne-Sport. He succeeds the Serb Ilija Borenovic, who was released on Wednesday. Casanova has not coached a club since October 2019. On Thursday he led training for the first time with the Vaud team, which will contest the Léman derby against Servette in Geneva on Saturday from 6 p.m.
Casanova was once a goalie at Le Havre and Toulouse. In his coaching career, he only worked for two clubs, namely Toulouse (2008-2015 and 2018-2019) and Lens (2016-2017). Casanova earned a reputation as an expert in talent development. In Toulouse he produced, among others, Moussa Sissoko, Etienne Capoue, Wissam Ben Yedder and André-Pierre Gignac.