FROM fighting off a baseball bat-wielding robber three years ago to becoming one of the Premier League’s most-feared defenders, Gabriel Magalhaes is no stranger to confrontation in tight spaces.

Chris Rigg looks destined to be English football’s next big thing

IT was a little after 10pm on one of the greatest nights Villa Park has witnessed and Unai Emery was thinking about beating the former European champions.

FOR all the ridicule of Chelsea’s lavish recruitment strategy, they love a steal as much as the next club, and there was smug satisfaction inside Stamford Bridge at seeing £12million Renato Veiga boss this win from left back.

WHEN Erik ten Hag warned that Manchester United would unleash their madness on Porto, this wasn’t what he had in mind.

TEAM AVERAGE — 5.2

BRENNAN JOHNSON’S prolific post-Instagram life goes on. Since deactivating his account he has scored a goal a game, performing like a one-man crusade against the ills of social media.

Late leveller gets Erik off hook after United blow two-goal lead

LEWIS HAMILTON and George Russell were withdrawn from their post-race media sessions after a fractious night at Mercedes.

Brit survives a couple of close shaves to cruise home and cut the gap on Max

MAX VERSTAPPEN was yesterday ordered to serve Formula One’s equivalent of community service for swearing in a televised press conference ahead of tomorrow’s Singapore Grand Prix.

LEWIS HAMILTON last night accused F1 ruler Mohammed Ben Sulayem of introducing a ‘racist element’ after he told drivers not to behave like rappers.

JOHN WATSON has called on McLaren to stop prioritising Lando Norris, claiming if he cannot beat his ‘outstanding’ team-mate Oscar Piastri on merit he would be an ‘unworthy champion’.

Top physio says star is surrounded by ‘yes’ people, must copy Murray’s brutal training regime… and play more matches!

WIMBLEDON’S plans to build 39 new grass courts as part of a £200million expansion have been approved by the London Mayor’s office.

JACK DRAPER was unable to recapture the form which took him all the way to the US Open semi-final as Great Britain fell to a painful Davis Cup defeat by Argentina.

OLLIE HASSELL-COLLINS’ howler cost Leicester dearly as Bath survived star man Finn Russell having a rare off-day of his own.

THE Springboks and their fans have embraced being the Millwall FC of rugby — ‘nobody likes us and we don’t care’. Well, maybe it’s time to strip them of that motivational tool, by learning to love them.

Meet the prop prodigies who have burst through to answer Borthwick’s prayers

Saracens lack his snarl, but they are far too good for Sale

■ JOSEPH O’BRIEN believes his remarkable career would scale a new peak if Al Riffa can execute a long-term plan in Paris on Sunday.

Burke star demolishes Cambridgeshire field

THE Cheltenham Festival will undergo its biggest changes in 20 years to enhance the experience for racegoers.

As he hangs up his saddle, FRANNY NORTON recalls speaking on the phone to Her Majesty while talking to his daughter on another line

RARE are the days when everyone walks off a racecourse beaming from ear-to-ear but here was one of those happy exceptions.

IT was the most compelling and informative weekend of the Flat season so far with a host of pointers to the defining autumn targets. At every turn, there were performances to take the breath away. Mail Sport went trackside to analyse the five key issues.

THERE’S been plenty said and written about Saudi Arabia’s national anthem being played at Wembley before Saturday night’s big fight between Anthony Joshua and Daniel Dubois.

SAUDI ARABIA will decide whether Anthony Joshua can seek revenge on Daniel Dubois, as AJ does not have a rematch clause with the man who brutally knocked him out on Saturday night.

A split second before the bell tolled for the start of the fateful fifth round, Anthony Joshua turned to trainers urging him to stay out of danger while he recovered his senses and said: ‘These are the moments we live for.’

Deadly Dubois blows the doors off to leave Joshua’s career in tatters

BY way of a curtain raiser for the most humongous all-British world heavyweight title fight for three decades, Anthony Joshua has given an insight into the mentality of the ­modern-day gladiators which is as raw as it is rare.

Chris Eubank Jnr opens up on his fractured relationship with his father and remarkably reveals he can feel the onset of brain damage due to boxing

OLEKSANDR USYK EXCLUSIVE

LORD COE has formally staked his claim to the most powerful job in sport despite major barriers to him becoming president of the International Olympic Committee.

Olympic hero Alex Yee on getting the next generation hooked on triathlon

IT’S about more than powering across a 200-metre stretch of water in under a minute for Emma Wiggs, who joined the ranks of Britain’s great Paralympians with a third consecutive gold in her discipline yesterday.

Will it be seventh time lucky for veteran Terry Bywater?

DAME Sarah Storey wins because she goes the extra mile. She travelled to Paris, with children in tow, in May to check out the time trial course on which she won a fifth successive Paralympic gold medal yesterday.