Sports Digest

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Eriksson set for Benfica return
Sven-Goran Eriksson, expected to be ousted as Manchester City manager after just one season in charge, has been offered a three-year contract to manage his former club Benfica, local media reported Thursday. Benfica president Luis Filipe Vieira travelled to Manchester Wednesday to hold talks with Eriksson and "formalise" an agreement, the A Bola newspaper said. But sports daily Record insisted that the deal "had still to be concluded". On his return to Lisbon Wednesday night Vieira declined to comment on Eriksson's possible arrival at the club next season, Maisfutebol.com. reported. A Bola suggested Benfica had targeted Eriksson after being turned down by Manchester United assistant coach Carlos Queiroz. The Benfica coaching position became vacant following the resignation of Jose Antonio Camacho. Eriksson is no stranger to Benfica, the 60-year-old former England boss having managed the Lisbon side from 1982 to 1984 and then again for a three year spell from 1989. Eriksson is widely expected to be fired by Manchester City's Thai owner Thaksin Shinawatra after the club's tour of Asia this month. City play Middlesbrough in the final game of the Premier League season Sunday. — AFP
Real celebrate league title triumph in style
MADRID, May 8 (Reuters): Real Madrid celebrated their league title triumph in style by crushing arch-rivals Barcelona 4-1 at the Bernabeu Wednesday and helping deprive the Catalans of an automatic place in the Champions League. First-half goals from Raul and Arjen Robben, a classy strike from Gonzalo Higuain and a Ruud van Nistelrooy penalty earned Bernd Schuster's side an emphatic win that delighted the home fans packed into the rain-soaked stadium. Defeat for Barcelona, combined with Villarreal's 2-0 victory at relegation-threatened Recreativo Huelva left the Catalans seven points behind Manuel Pellegrini's side who will now finish second in the standings, their best finish in the league. Villarreal's Turkish striker Nihat Kahveci took his tally this season to 18 with a curling free kick early in the second half and Mexico striker Guillermo Franco made sure of the win late in the game. — Internet.
Henin powers her way into German
Open tennis third round
BERLIN, May 8 (AFP): World number one Justine Henin was pleased with her convincing performance to reach the third round here at the German Open with a straight sets win over Yung-Jan Chan in just under an hour. On her last WTA appearance, Henin was hammered 6-2, 6-0 by Serena Williams in the quarter-finals of the Miami tournament last month, which she admits dented her confidence, but she looked very sharp in Berlin. The Belgian needed just 58 minutes and 50 seconds to see off Chan, 93rd in the world, from Chinese Taipei and after white-washing her opponent 6-0 in the first set, she had few problems to take the second 6-2. — Internet.