Como prepared for a Champions League visit from Manchester United, Paris Saint-Germain lost Khvicha Kvaratskhelia to a serious knee injury, Temba Bavuma’s century put South Africa on top in Gqeberha, Dylan Larkin widened his list of acceptable trade destinations, and a Pittsburgh Penguins flight turned back after a player fell ill.
Como prepare to host Manchester United in the biggest match in the club’s history
Como host Manchester United in the Champions League on Wednesday in what a club staff member described as the biggest night in its history. United arrive in northern Italy without a win in six matches, their longest such run since the 2018-19 season. When United last won the competition in 2008, Como were playing in Serie D, the semi-professional fourth tier. Heavy rain was forecast for kick-off, and most of the lakeside stadium’s seating has no roof.
Chief executive Mirwan Suwarso said the club’s original owners, the Indonesian billionaire brothers Robert Budi and Michael Bambang Hartono, bought it in 2019 with plans for a television project rather than a European run. Under manager Cesc Fàbregas, Como finished fourth in Serie A last season, rising from the second tier to the Champions League in five years. Fàbregas said the change was another world but urged his players to focus on the next match rather than past achievements.
Como 1907 was founded in 1907 and has played at the Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia, beside Lake Como, since 1928. The club went bankrupt in 2004 and again in 2016, each time restarting in Serie D, the highest non-professional level of Italian football. The Hartono brothers acquired it through their Djarum Group in 2019, and minority shareholders include Fàbregas and the former France striker Thierry Henry. Como made their Champions League debut against RB Leipzig on 10 September.
Kvaratskhelia needs knee surgery after rupturing his ACL in PSG’s win over Barcelona
Paris Saint-Germain have confirmed that winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee during Tuesday’s 4-2 Champions League win over Barcelona and will have surgery in the coming days. The 25-year-old was hurt in a collision with Barcelona’s Xavi Espart and was carried off in the 59th minute of what was his first start of the season. The club gave no timeline for his return, but such injuries usually keep players out for at least nine months.
PSG also said forward Ousmane Dembélé, the reigning Ballon d’Or winner, and captain Marquinhos would miss a few weeks with thigh injuries sustained in the same game. Dembélé went off after 19 minutes. The match was level at 2-2 with ten minutes to play before PSG scored twice late on to stay top of the league phase with three wins from three games. They visit Ligue 1 leaders Lyon on Sunday.
Kvaratskhelia, born in Tbilisi in 2001, captains Georgia and has played for clubs in Russia and Georgia before moving to Napoli in 2022. In his first season in Italy he helped Napoli win their first Serie A title since 1990 and was named the league’s most valuable player. PSG signed him for 70 million euros in January 2025, and he scored in the Champions League final as the club won a treble in his first season in Paris.
Bavuma’s 179 and a record stand with Harmer put South Africa in control against Australia
South Africa captain Temba Bavuma scored 179 from 334 balls on day three of the second Test in Gqeberha, guiding his side to 425 for nine declared before Kagiso Rabada removed Nic Maddinson for a duck, leaving Australia on three for one. Bavuma shared an eighth-wicket stand of 183 with Simon Harmer, who made 82, the highest for that wicket in South Africa’s 137-year Test history. Marco Jansen added 85 in a seventh-wicket partnership of 132 with his captain.
Rain had washed out most of the first two days, and South Africa had slipped to 110 for six early on day three. Scott Boland took five for 81 and Mitchell Starc three for 89, but Australia were short of bowling after Josh Hazlewood fell ill and managed only nine overs, and with no specialist spinner in the side. Former opener David Warner criticised the decision to leave out Nathan Lyon and called the small crowd pathetic.
Bavuma, born in Cape Town in 1990, has played for South Africa since 2014 and in 2016 became the first black African player to make a Test hundred for his country. He is also the national side’s first black African captain, taking charge of the one-day team in 2021 and the Test team in 2023, and he led South Africa to the 2023-2025 World Test Championship title. Australia won the first Test of the current series.
Dylan Larkin widens the list of teams he would accept a trade to from three to ten
Detroit Red Wings centre Dylan Larkin has expanded the list of teams he would join to ten as he waits to be traded, a league source said on Tuesday. Larkin, who has a no-trade clause, first named only the Florida Panthers, Minnesota Wild and Vegas Golden Knights. Seven more clubs are now included: Washington, Utah, Tampa Bay, New Jersey, Dallas, Colorado and Carolina. No Canadian team is on the list.
Larkin asked for a trade in the spring and was stripped of the captaincy, but no deal was completed during the off-season because of salary cap issues and the return Detroit wanted. Former general manager Steve Yzerman left his post in July, and interim manager Shawn Horcoff appears to have authority to complete a trade. Detroit have asked for players who can contribute immediately rather than prospects, people familiar with the talks said. Larkin has three points in six games this season.
Larkin, 30, was born in Waterford, Michigan, and was drafted 15th overall by Detroit in 2014 after playing college hockey at the University of Michigan. He has spent his entire NHL career with the Red Wings and ranks tenth in franchise history with 646 points. He is in the fourth year of an eight-year contract worth 69.6 million dollars and won Olympic gold with the United States this year, but Detroit have missed the playoffs since 2016.
Penguins plane turns back to Salt Lake City after Ben Kindel suffers a medical episode
The Pittsburgh Penguins’ team plane returned to Salt Lake City shortly after take-off on Tuesday because forward Ben Kindel suffered a medical episode on board. The team said its physician and medical staff treated the 19-year-old immediately, and an ambulance took him to University of Utah Hospital for further checks. The club said he was conscious, alert and stable, and promised updates when appropriate.
The Penguins had played the Utah Mammoth in Salt Lake City on Monday, when Kindel spent almost 19 minutes on the ice. Several members of the front office, coaching and medical staff stayed with him in Utah while the rest of the team headed home. Pittsburgh are next due to play the Florida Panthers at home on Thursday. The episode came little more than a week after Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts flew to London despite blood clots.
Kindel was born in Coquitlam, British Columbia, in April 2007 and played junior hockey for the Calgary Hitmen of the Western Hockey League, where he was named the team’s rookie of the year after leading it in assists. Pittsburgh chose him 11th overall in the 2025 draft. He made the team as an 18-year-old and scored 35 points, 17 goals and 18 assists, in 77 games of his rookie season.