• Tennis player describes ordeal at hands of ‘fixated’ man
• He approached her twice before appearing during match

Emma Raducanu has revealed she “couldn’t see the ball through tears” and could “barely breathe” during a stalking ordeal at the Dubai Open last month.

The 22-year-old Briton was left cowering behind the umpire’s chair after receiving repeated unwanted attention from a “fixated” man before and during her second-round match against Karolina Muchova.

• Couples suggested Koepka may return to PGA Tour
• Mickelson offers fierce riposte on social media

Phil Mickelson has opened a war of words with a fellow Masters champion, accusing Fred Couples of a “low class jerk move” with comments relating to Brooks Koepka.

Speculation has swirled for some time that Koepka, who joined the Saudi Arabian-backed LIV circuit in a $100m deal in 2022, is seeking a return to the PGA Tour. The lack of competitive rounds available on LIV is supposedly of concern to Koepka. Couples fuelled that suggestion when speaking to a US radio station this week. “He wants to come back,” Couples said of Koepka. “I will say that I believe he really wants to come back and play the tour.”

Arsenal had struggled for goals, three blanks in their previous four matches; out of the Carabao Cup, their Premier League title challenge grievously undermined. It was just too hard without all of their injured forwards, wasn’t it? Here, Mikel Arteta’s team gave their riposte.

It was one-way traffic from the outset and when Leandro Trossard got his goal, ensuring that all three of Arteta’s makeshift frontline had scored, it was 5-1 and there were only 48 minutes on the clock. PSV Eindhoven were humiliated.

This will be decided 14km east in eight days’ time when Madrid’s rivals are sent back into battle once more. On a night that lacked a little thunder but had three superb goals – Rodrygo Goes, Julián Alvarez and Brahim Díaz all stepping inside to bend the ball beyond outstretched fingers and into the far corner – the Euro derby delivered a 2-1 victory for Real but no definitive conclusion.

Atlético host the second leg with optimism still; Real go to the Metropolitano with the small advantage Carlo Ancelotti requested of his players. “We could not have expected to end it here but that gives us hope,” he said.

If you squinted hard enough beyond the brutalist boundaries of this stadium, the redemption arc was visible. For Aston Villa and Tyrone Mings this was a return to the scene of the crime.

It was here in November where Mings gifted Club Brugge a penalty after inexplicably picking up the ball from a goal-kick, but this time his biggest intervention was an improbable goalline clearance to prevent a Hans Vanaken header from nestling in Emiliano Martínez’s net and the Belgian champions from assuming control. The cold reality is Villa toiled despite a dream start on their return to Belgium but it is hard to argue a two-goal advantage is not a significant buffer before the second leg next Wednesday.

Sometimes football is a game of four halves, and on this occasion three of them were devoid of quality. In the end, only one moment truly mattered and that was Matz Sels’ penalty shootout save from Jack Taylor to send Nottingham Forest into the FA Cup quarter-finals at Ipswich’s expense.

George Hirst and Ryan Yates exchanged goals in the second half of normal time, when the game finally came to life, but no one could source a winner prior to the shootout after a forgettable extra time.

• Norfolk Holdings completes majority takeover
• Smith and husband Wynn Jones step down from board

Norfolk Holdings has completed its majority takeover of Norwich City, with Delia Smith and her husband, Michael Wynn Jones, no longer part of the club’s board.

It was announced in August that Norfolk Holdings, led by the Milwaukee Brewers owner, Mark Attanasio, was set to increase its shareholding to around 85%, which would result in Smith and Wynn Jones stepping down as directors and becoming honorary life presidents.

• Netherlands defender confident ahead of last-16 Euro tie
• Midfielder Merino set to continue as makeshift striker

Jurriën Timber has said Arsenal have an opportunity to “change the ­narrative” of their season against PSV Eindhoven and believes they have the motivation to reach the ­Champions League quarter-finals for a second successive season.

Mikel Arteta’s side face the Dutch champions in the first leg of their last-16 tie on Tuesday night having fallen off the pace in the Premier League title race after failing to score in their past two matches against West Ham and Nottingham Forest.

• Eilish McColgan is in training for London Marathon debut
• ‘Stop the jealousy and abuse of women athletes’

The Olympic silver ­medallist Liz McColgan has hit out at the “­demeaning and abusive ­comments” received on social media by her ­daughter, Eilish, the reigning Commonwealth Games 10,000m champion.

Liz, who also won the 1991 world 10,000m title and coaches Eilish, used screenshots in a post on X to highlight comments ­attacking her daughter’s body shape and ­questioning whether she has an ­eating disorder.

• Tournament has backing but more preparation needed
• Four-team mini-tournament could take place in 2026

Fifa’s new 16-team Women’s Club World Cup could be delayed beyond its previously proposed 2026 launch, the Guardian has learned.

The tournament is understood to maintain widespread backing within the governing body, as well as across the confederations, but discussions are ongoing regarding the possibility of the inaugural staging of the event being pushed back a couple of years to allow more time for all concerned to properly prepare for it, according to sources.