Jordi Cruyff explains the reason behind his departure from Barcelona this summer.

Ben Simmons will miss at least another week with a pinched nerve in his lower back while Cam Thomas is improving from an ankle injury that has forced the Brooklyn Nets’ leading scorer to miss the last five games

Conor McGregor has hinted that he has returned to the testing pool of the United States Anti-Doping Agency (Usada), setting him up for a UFC comeback. It was announced in February that McGregor would fight Michael Chandler this year, in the Irishman’s first bout since he suffered a broken leg while losing to Dustin Poirier in July 2021. Since the announcement, however, McGregor has remained absent from Usada’s testing pool, ruling out a 2023 return to the ring. That is because, in order to fight, athletes must be in the Usada pool for six months while returning zero positive results and at least two negatives. But on Thursday (5 October), McGregor took to Instagram to share photos of himself training at Crumlin Boxing Club in Dublin, and his caption read: “Find my targets. Hit them. F*** the consequences. You’re going down. This is fighting. Submitted my stuff to Novitzky. Ball rolling.” McGregor, 35, was referring to Jeff Novitzky, the UFC’s Senior Vice-President of Athlete Health and Performance. McGregor added, “See you soon you little light work b***h,” seemingly taking aim at Chandler. If McGregor has in fact re-entered Usada’s testing pool, he could be in line to return at UFC 300, which may take place in April. McGregor’s last win came in January 2020, when the former dual-weight champion stopped Donald Cerrone in 40 seconds. He then suffered the first knockout defeat of his career in January 2021, when he faced Dustin Poirier in a rematch of their 2014 clash. Six months later, McGregor fought the American in a trilogy bout, suffering a broken leg at the end of Round 1 – handing Poirier a TKO victory. Meanwhile, American Chandler last fought in November 2021, when he was submitted to Poirier. Chandler, 37, is a former three-time Bellator lightweight champion. This summer, McGregor and Chandler served as opposing coaches on the newest season of The Ultimate Fighter, the UFC’s reality television show. Chandler’s team of fighters dominated McGregor’s, with Kurt Holobaugh ultimately winning the lightweight finale in August. On the same night, Brad Katona won the bantamweight finale for Team McGregor, but only after switching from Chandler’s team. Click here to subscribe to The Independent’s Sport YouTube channel for all the latest sports videos. Read More Let’s get ready to rumble! Inside the ropes with boxing’s ring announcers Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk undisputed rematch ruled out after major call Anthony Joshua could fight on same card as Eubank Jr vs Benn, claims Eddie Hearn UFC schedule 2023: Every fight happening this year When is the next UFC event? The Independent’s pound-for-pound UFC rankings

A healthy Jonathan Taylor explained Thursday how happy he is to be practicing again with the Indianapolis Colts

Chelsea confirm the British record £115m transfer of Moises Caicedo from Brighton.

Donte DiVincenzo has agreed to a four-year, $50 million deal to join former Villanova teammates Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart with the New York Knicks, a person with knowledge of the details says

Darcy Graham marked his return from injury with two tries as an experimental Scotland side beat Italy 25-13 on Saturday in a Rugby World...

Olympic medalist and former 100m world champion Tori Bowie died due to complications from childbirth, an autopsy report has found, multiple US...

The Braves have taken a firm stance in the Marcell Ozuna-Will Smith beef, and to no surprise, they're defending their own.Bullpens cleared on Monday night when the Atlanta Braves faced the Los Angeles Dodgers in the first game of the series.In the fourth inning, Braves designated hitter...

All-rounder Cameron Green will miss a substantial part of Australia's Cricket World Cup build-up after being struck on the head by a ball from Kagiso Rabada during the first one-day...

David Perron scored twice on the power play, including his 300th career goal, and the Detroit Red Wings defeated the Minnesota Wild 4-1

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola doubts Sunday’s visit to Arsenal will have a significant impact on who wins the Premier League this season. Arsenal flourished under former City assistant Mikel Arteta last season but settled up for a runners-up spot as Guardiola’s side claimed a third successive top-flight triumph en route to a historic treble. The Gunners are unbeaten after seven matches of this campaign and lie one point behind City, who are bidding to bounce back from last weekend’s surprise 2-1 defeat at Wolves. Guardiola, though, insisted this showdown being so early in the season places less of an emphasis on the title race, even if he regards Arsenal as one of their main rivals. He said: “This will not define a lot. It will be different when they come here at the Etihad (at the end of March) – then it will depend on the situations we are in.” Instead Guardiola’s main focus in the weeks ahead is on guaranteeing progression from their Champions League group, having started the defence of their crown with wins over Red Star Belgrade and Leipzig. He said: “We know where we came from with the treble. After that the tendency is to go down. We can play better or worse but in general in the training sessions the focus is there. “We made an incredible step forward in the Champions League. In this month, the Champions League is the most important thing by far, until February when it starts again. “What I want is to arrive here in February when we start the Champions League to be in the competitions and that it’s close. To be close to the top of the league and keep the distance short and make the last 10 games in our competition ‘let’s do it again’. “(If you qualify for the Champions League knockout stages) you can focus on the Premier League until it is back again. We made a big step on Wednesday (by beating Leipzig), now we have Arsenal.” Guardiola will be without Rodri this weekend as the midfielder serves the final game of a three-match domestic suspension while John Stones and Kevin de Bruyne remain on the sidelines. De Bruyne is a long-term absentee after undergoing hamstring surgery but his absence has not unduly troubled City, who have found the back of the net at least once in every league game this season. Guardiola said: “Since I arrived we scored a lot of goals, a lot. We have this ability with proper strikers, false nines, wingers, different pressing, different build ups. I am delighted with everyone.” If City lose at the Emirates Stadium, it would mark the first time they have been beaten in successive league games since December 2018. Asked to pinpoint why they have been so successful in bouncing straight back from a defeat, Guardiola added: “It shows what we have done. It is the exception – what we have done is incredible.” Read More Erling Haaland says Premier League goal record ‘something you can’t think of’ Mikel Arteta urges Arsenal to bring City losing streak to an end On this day in 2010: Rebecca Adlington wins Commonwealth Games 800m gold Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou would eradicate VAR in its current form Brennan Johnson’s ‘safety and health’ a priority for Wales boss Rob Page Erik Ten Hag insists managing Manchester United is not an impossible job