SOCCER
Germany’s soccer league was marked by gestures against racism and support for the Black Lives Matter movement on Saturday as Bayern Munich took another step toward a record-extending eighth straight Bundesliga title.
All of Borussia Dortmund and Hertha Berlin’s 22 outfield players took a knee in the center-circle together before their game. Coaches and other team members from both sides did likewise beside the field.
Bayern Munich and Bayer Leverkusen’s players wore black armbands against racism in their game earlier Saturday, which Bayern won 4-2 after rallying from a goal down. Bayern’s players had “Black Lives Matter” printed on their armbands, partly covering sponsor Qatar Airways’ logo on the left arm.
• Bayer Leverkusen substitute Florian Wirtz became the youngest person to score a goal in the Bundesliga, at age 17 years, 34 days.
SPAIN: Barcelona says Luis Suarez has been cleared by team doctors to play when the Spanish league resumes.
Suarez, a striker from Uruguay, had arthroscopic surgery on his right knee on Jan. 12 and hasn’t played since.
The club said he will be available for Barcelona’s first match in almost three months, at Mallorca on June 13.
Suarez may have to lead the attack, because Lionel Messi has been receiving treatment on his right thigh.
Barcelona leads the league by two points over Real Madrid with 11 rounds left.
ENGLAND: Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal were among the clubs who stepped up their preparations for the Premier League’s return by holding practice matches.
Clubs are attempting to build up players’ fitness as well as get used to playing without fans before the league resumes on June 17 following a 100-day suspension caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
The league also announced that the sixth round of COVID-19 testing of 1,195 players and staff across the 20 clubs on Thursday and Friday produced no positives.
BASKETBALL
NBA: The NBA has told teams that playoff seeding will be based on winning percentage, and that any tiebreakers necessary after that will follow the usual procedures.
It was an issue that needed clarity because the 22 teams that will be going to the Disney complex near Orlando, Florida, for the planned resumption of the season next month will not have played the same number of games.
Based on the league plan for the restart, with each team playing eight more regular-season games, Dallas will end up playing an NBA-high 75 contests. Most others will play between 72 and 74; the low total will be 71 for the Spurs and Lakers.
The NBA has not yet revealed team schedules.
AUTO RACING
XFINITY: A.J. Allmendinger won a NASCAR oval race for the first time in his long career, taking advantage of mistakes by the three leaders as he cruised to victory by nearly 2 seconds over pole-sitter Noah Gragson in an Xfinity Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Allmendinger, who first came to prominence in open-wheel racing, had one victory during more than a decade in the top-level Cup Series and three previous Xfinity wins – all on road courses.
After the final caution of the race, the top three cars – Chase Briscoe, Austin Cindric and Justin Allgaier – were all caught speeding on pit road.
That pushed Allmendinger into the top spot with 34 laps to go, and he held on the rest of the way.
TRUCKS: Taking advantage of a late caution, Grant Enfinger passed local favorite Austin Hill on the final lap to win in overtime at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
In front of empty grandstands, Hill appeared to be cruising to his first win of the year, building a 41/2-second lead after several miscues ruined Kyle Busch’s chances of winning for the sixth time in 12 truck races in Atlanta.
But then Chase Elliott lost control on worn-out tires with three laps to go, sending all the leaders to the pits for tires and setting up a green-white-checkered finish.
Enfinger claimed his second victory of the interrupted season, having also won at Daytona in the February opener.
Busch won the first two stages and seemed likely to add to his collection of Atlanta victories, but he was penalized twice for speeding on pit road and slammed the outside wall after getting squeezed by the slower truck of Jordan Anderson. He wound up 22nd.
HORSE RACING
SANTA ANITA DERBY: Honor A. P. won the $400,000 Santa Anita Derby by 2 3/4 lengths to move into the Kentucky Derby picture.
Ridden by Hall of Famer Mike Smith, Honor A. P. ran 11/8 miles in 1:48.97 and paid $6.40, $2.60 and $2.20.
KENTUCKY DERBY: Undefeated Charlatan will miss the rescheduled Kentucky Derby this fall after being sidelined by a minor ankle issue.
Trainer Bob Baffert said the colt has a filling, or swelling, in a front ankle.
GYMNASTICS
OBIT: Kurt Thomas, the first U.S. male gymnast to win a world championship gold medal, has died. He was 64.
Thomas’ family said he died Friday. He had a stroke May 24, caused by a tear of the basilar artery in the brain stem.
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