FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Lionel Messi had a goal and an assist as Inter Miami beat Seattle 3-1 just over two weeks after losing to the Sounders in the Leagues Cup final. Messi assisted a wide open Jordi Alba with an outside-of-the-foot pass in the 12th minute to give the Herons early command. Alba assisted a darting Messi who got just enough of a touch to make it 2-0 in the 41st minute. Ian Fray headed home Rodrigo De Paul’s corner in the opening minutes of the second half to extended the Herons’ lead to 3-0. Obed Vargas found the back of the net for Seattle’s goal in the 69th minute.
PARIS (AP) — Paris Saint-Germain starts the defense of its Champions League title at home to Atalanta on Wednesday when the six-game program includes two rematches of past finals. Bayern Munich hosts Chelsea in the stadium where the English club won the first of its two Champions League titles in 2012 against the German team. Ajax hosts Inter Milan which it beat in the 1972 European Cup final. Six-time European champion Liverpool opens at Anfield against Atletico Madrid. Newcomers Bodo/Glimt and Pafos make their debuts on the road against Slavia Prague and Olympiakos.
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Lamine Yamal will not play in Barcelona’s Champions League opener at Newcastle on Thursday because of an injury. The Catalan club said Wednesday that Yamal was not in its squad for the trip to England in the league phase of the Champions League. The star forward had already missed the Spanish league game against Valencia on Sunday. Yamal was nursing “discomfort in the pubic area” after playing with Spain’s national team during the international break. Midfielder Frenkie de Jong is back in the squad after injury.
Cadillac F1 has announced a multi-year partnership with Jim Beam, making the bourbon distiller its official spirits partner. Dan Towriss, CEO of TWG Motorsports, says the collaboration unites two American icons on a global stage. Cadillac says it aims to create a team where sport, technology, and culture intersect. The team will debut in 2026, with Tommy Hilfiger as the official apparel partner. Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez are the debut drivers, while Colton Herta joins as a test driver. Jim Beam will use the partnership for branding throughout the F1 season.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Kelsey Mitchell scored 19 points and Aliyah Boston added 15 points to lead the Indiana Fever past third-seeded Atlanta Dream 77-60 for its first home playoff win in nearly a decade. The victory tied the best-of-three series at 1. Game 3 will be played Thursday in Atlanta. Te-Hina Paopao scored 11 points off the bench to lead the Dream, and and Rhyne Howard added 10. Allisha Gray added nine points and seven rebounds despite playing through foul trouble. Indiana posted its first wire-to-wire postseason win since 2002 and will now try to win its first playoff series since 2015. The Dream has not won a playoff series since 2016.
SHENZHEN, China (AP) — American tennis star Taylor Townsend has apologized for making disparaging comments about Chinese food before the United States plays Kazakhstan at the Billie Jean King Cup Finals in Shenzhen, China. The 29-year-old Townsend posted videos of local dishes including bullfrogs and turtles and joked she would need to “talk to HR” about the quality of the food. She took to Instagram again Wednesday to apologize after facing a backlash online. She says “everyone has been so kind and so gracious. And the things that I said were not representative of that at all."
Kevin De Bruyne has adapted well to Napoli but this week he's heading back to his old club Manchester City. Napoli's Champions League opener on Thursday marks his return to City months after an emotional farewell to the club where “King Kev” spent 10 years. De Bruyne has slotted seamlessly into Antonio Conte’s team and scored two goals in three league matches for Napoli. Conte is using him in a new role that sees him switch between central and wide positions with former Manchester United midfielder Scott McTominay. City is adjusting to life without De Bruyne. Pep Guardiola is exploring new ways to support Erling Haaland, relying on different players to fill the creative void left by De Bruyne's exit.
MADRID (AP) — Real Madrid defender Trent Alexander-Arnold is expected to be sidelined for several weeks with a hamstring injury. He sustained the injury during Madrid's 2-1 win over Marseille in the Champions League on Tuesday. Alexander-Arnold had to be substituted just five minutes into the match. Tests on Wednesday confirmed a muscle injury in his left leg. Alexander-Arnold joined Madrid from Liverpool this summer.
HOUSTON (AP) — Houston slugger Yordan Alvarez has a “pretty significant” ankle sprain that is going to keep him out indefinitely, manager Joe Espada said Tuesday. Alvarez was injured when he turned his left ankle at home plate after scoring in the first inning of Houston’s 6-3 win over the Texas Rangers on Monday night. He had imaging done Tuesday. “This is gonna keep him out for a while,” Espada said before the series continued.
LISBON, Portugal (AP) — Benfica fired coach Bruno Lage after the team’s home loss to Qarabag in the Champions League on Tuesday, and José Mourinho was quickly touted as the top candidate to replace him. Benfica president Rui Costa announced the decision to part ways with Lage after the league-phase loss in which Benfica squandered a two-goal lead in front of its fans. Mourinho's last job was with Fenerbahce and he has a history of Champions League success with Porto and Inter Milan.
Finals
INTERLEAGUE
Final Milwaukee 9 L.A. Angels 2
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Final Athletics 2 Boston 1
Final Cleveland 7 Detroit 5
Final Toronto 6 Tampa Bay 5
Final Seattle 12 Kansas City 5
Final N.Y. Yankees 10 Minnesota 9
Final Baltimore 8 Chicago White Sox 7
Final Houston 6 Texas 5
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Final Atlanta 6 Washington 3
Final Chicago Cubs 4 Pittsburgh 1
Final Atlanta 5 Washington 0
Final N.Y. Mets 8 San Diego 3
Final St. Louis 3 Cincinnati 0
Final Miami 6 Colorado 5
Final Arizona 6 San Francisco 5
Final Philadelphia 9 L.A. Dodgers 6