Max Verstappen paid tribute to Ayrton Senna after tying the Brazilian's record by taking pole position at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

The Drivers' Championship leader equalled Senna's record of eight successive poles set across the 1988 and 1989 seasons, as he seeks his fifth race win of the season.

Verstappen struggled on Friday, finishing seventh on the timesheets after exchanging angry radio messages with his team and several off-track excursions, but bounced back 24 hours later with a best time of 1:14.746 in the final qualification session for Sunday’s race.

And the Red Bull driver felt it was fitting to match Senna's achievement on the 30th anniversary of his death at Imola.

"Of course, it’s a great start to the year, but also very special," he said. "It's 30 years since he passed away at this track, so I'm very pleased to get pole here.

"In a way, it's a nice memory to him. He was an incredible F1 driver, especially in qualifying laps as well.

"[It has been] a really difficult weekend so far, even this morning [in final practice]. I'm incredibly happy to be on pole here. I didn't expect that.

"We made some final changes [to the car set-up] before qualifying, and they seemed to make it feel a bit better, so I could push a bit harder."

Departing Bayern Munich coach Thomas Tuchel was unhappy with his team's lack of focus following their 4-2 loss at Hoffenheim on Saturday.

Bayern threw away a two-goal lead, condemning them to a third-place finish behind unbeaten Bayern Leverkusen and Stuttgart

After failing to win the Bundesliga title for a 12th consecutive season, Tuchel's side will also go without domestic or European silverware for the first time in more than a decade.

"We started really well, but then we had a string of individual mistakes," Tuchel said in a short press conference.

The coach is leaving Bayern after just over a year in charge after the club announced his departure in February. There had been talks to potentially reverse that decision last week, but no agreement was reached.

"In the second half we played well for 15 minutes, but then it was again a series of individual mistakes and loss of possession," Tuchel said. "We gave away a two-goal lead for a completely unnecessary and bitter defeat."

Despite a string of injury absences, Bayern were 2-0 up by the sixth minute but Hoffenheim scored four times, including an Andrej Kramaric hat-trick in the second half to turn the game around.

"It happens far too often, like that. It happened in Stuttgart where we conceded two late goals [for a 3-1 defeat]. In Heidenheim, the same [for a 3-2 loss]. Here the same. It just happens too often," Tuchel added.

"I have an explanation for that, but it is not for the public."

Bayern's Aleksandar Pavlovic, who is part of Germany's preliminary Euro 2024 squad, went off injured early in the match and will undergo further tests.

"He twisted his ankle. We will have to wait and see what the checks show," Tuchel said.

Iga Swiatek stormed to her third Italian Open title following a dominant 6-2 6-3 victory over Aryna Sabalenka.

The world number one took just under an hour-and-a-half to deny the world number two, and complete a hat-trick of triumphs in Rome.

The pair were contesting a second final in as many events, with Swiatek saving three championship points before eventually prevailing in the Madrid Open showpiece a fortnight ago.

However, it was one-way traffic this time around. The Pole converted two out of three break points as she controlled the opening set.

Sabalenka was the last player to deny Swiatek in a WTA final, that coming at last year's Madrid Open.

Although, the second seed was helpless as her opponent broke again in game seven of the second set, before wrapping up a fourth title of the season ahead of the French Open later this month.

Data debrief

Landing her third Italian Open title before turning 23, Swiatek is only the second player to achieve that feat after Gabriela Sabatini.

In fact, at 22 years and 352 days old, she is the youngest player to win 10 WTA 1000 titles since the introduction of the format in 2009.

The Pole also became the third player to triumph in Madrid and Rome during the same season, after Dinara Safina (2009) and Serena Williams (2013).

Union Berlin scored a stoppage-time winner against Freiburg to secure their Bundesliga safety, despite missing two penalties on a dramatic final day.

Marco Grote's side, who participated in the Champions League during the first half of this season under former coach Urs Fischer, occupied the relegation play-off spot heading into the final day of the campaign.

Just three points clear of 17th-place Koln, who travelled to Heidenheim, they welcomed Freiburg to Stadion An der Alten Forsterei, knowing a defeat could spell the end of their five-year stay in the German top flight.

Mainz, two points clear of Union in 15th, moved themselves out of the relegation picture with a commanding 3-1 win at Wolfsburg.

That meant one of Union, Bochum or Koln would join already relegated Darmstadt in the second tier. One would have to settle for a play-off place, while the other would survive.

Koln went down 4-1 at Heidenheim, while Bochum's defeat at Werder Bremen by the same scoreline meant Union could leapfrog them with victory over Freiburg.

The hosts, for whom Josip Juranovic missed a first-half penalty, broke the deadlock in the 68th minute through Benedict Hollerbach.

However, they looked set for a relegation play-off when Ritsu Doan equalised for the visitors with five minutes remaining, before substitute Kevin Volland struck the post with his spot-kick early in stoppage time.

Nevertheless, there was to be a dramatic late twist as Janik Haberer struck in the 92nd minute to catapult Union out of the bottom three and to safety in 15th place.

Marco Reus scored and assisted in his final Bundesliga game for Borussia Dortmund as they thrashed already-relegated Darmstadt 4-0. 

The German teed up Ian Maatsen for the opener on the half-hour mark before scoring a stunning free-kick eight minutes later to put Dortmund in control.

Donyell Malen scored his 13th goal of the season to round things off after substitute Julian Brandt had latched onto Jadon Sancho's ball for a third.

Dortmund could have had more as Reus, Malen and Marcel Sabitzer struck the woodwork in either half, but it did not matter as Darmstadt struggled to show a threat.

Edin Terzic's side finished fifth in the final Champions League spot, while Darmstadt are relegated as the bottom club. 

Data Debrief:

Reus has been directly involved in 251 goals in the Bundesliga (156G 95A in 391 games), making him just the third player to reach 250 goals and assists since his Bundesliga debut in August 2009, behind Thomas Müller 318 and Robert Lewandowski 367.

The German bids farewell to Signal Iduna Park having scored nine goals and assisting seven in all competitions this season, though he will be hoping to add to that tally in his final match for Dortmund - the Champions League final against Real Madrid on June 1.

Bayern Munich squandered a two-goal lead to slump to a 4-2 loss at Hoffenheim courtesy of a second-half Andrej Kramaric hat-trick in Thomas Tuchel's final game.

Early goals from Mathys Tel and Alphonso Davies saw the injury-depleted Bavarians go 2-0 up by the sixth minute.

Hoffenheim, however, pulled a goal back through Germany international Maximilian Beier just two minutes later, with the hosts gradually taking some of the early pace out of the game.

Bayern's injury troubles were further compounded when they lost Aleksandar Pavlovic to injury in the 35th minute, and struggled to cope with Hoffenheim's threat in the second half. 

Kramaric then delivered a stunning 19-minute hat-trick with the Bayern defence in ruins, ending a disappointing season in third place with 72 points.

Bayer Leverkusen finished in top spot on 90 points. VfB Stuttgart finished runners-up on 73 with a 4-0 demolition of Borussia Moenchengladbach, while Hoffenheim finished seventh, in the Europa Conference League place. 

Data Debrief:

Thomas Muller made his 473rd Bundesliga appearance for Bayern on Saturday, drawing level with Sepp Maier as the club's record appearance maker in the competition.

Bayern failed to have a single shot on target in the second half, while Kramaric ran riot to subject Bayern to their worst league finish since 2011.

Bayer Leverkusen became the first team in Bundesliga history to complete a full season unbeaten after beating Augsburg 2-1 on the final day.

Xabi Alonso's treble-chasing team also stretched their European record unbeaten run across all competitions this season to 51 matches.

Victor Boniface intercepted a ball from Augsburg keeper Tomas Koubek to tap in for the lead in the 12th minute before Robert Andrich, part of Germany's Euro 2024 preliminary squad, doubled the advantage from close range.

Augsburg cut the deficit when Mert Komur scored just after the hour.

Leverkusen captain Lukas Hradecky made a smart stop to maintain Leverkusen's clean sheet, as the Bundesliga champions held on to make history.

Alonso's team, who face Atalanta in the Europa League final on Wednesday and also take on Kaiserslautern in the DFB-Pokal final on May 25, finished on 90 points, 17 ahead of second-placed Stuttgart and 18 ahead of Bayern Munich, who lost 4-2 at Hoffenheim.

Data Debrief: Leverkusen's remarkable run rolls on

What an incredible season it has been for Leverkusen, and Alonso's men are now just two wins away from unprecedented success.

Leverkusen have become only the second team in Bundesliga history to not lose a single point from winning positions in a season, matching a feat Bayern managed in 2011-12. 

They have won 45 points (W13 D3) in their 17 home games in the Bundesliga this season and have remained unbeaten at home for only the second time, after 1999-2000. 

Leverkusen are the second club in league history to reach the 90-point mark, following Bayern (90 points in 2013-14 and 91 points in 2012-13).

Max Verstappen takes pole position at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, equalling Ayrton Senna’s record in the process.

It is Verstappen’s eighth consecutive pole in Formula One after he recorded a best time of 1:14.746 around the track in the final qualification session for Sunday’s race.

The Dutchman will share the front row with Oscar Piastri, though he may receive a penalty for impeding Kevin Magnussen in Q1.

Piastri’s McLaren team-mate Lando Norris finished just behind him in third, while the two Ferraris, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, rounded out the top five after failing to build on their strong starts.

Red Bull’s Sergio Perez failed to make it past Q2 after dropping to 11th, while Fernando Alonso was forced to pit before the end of Q3, finishing last. 

Roberto De Zerbi will leave Brighton after the Seagulls' final game of the season against Manchester United on Sunday.

Brighton confirmed the surprising news on Saturday, revealing that the club and the Italian coach had mutually agreed to part company.

De Zerbi enjoyed great success in his first season with Brighton, guiding the club to Europe for the first time in their history after he took over from Graham Potter, who had left to join Chelsea.

Brighton had a strong start to 2023-24, but a series of injuries to key players left them depleted and, though they made it through their Europa League group, which also included heavyweights Ajax and Marseille, they were subsequently knocked out by Roma.

Their form in the Premier League has also dropped off, with Brighton managing just four wins since the turn of the year, and ahead of Sunday's meeting with United, the highest they can finish is 10th.

In fact, across their first 19 Premier League matches this season, Brighton were the fifth-highest scorers in the Premier League (38 goals) and had a conversion rate of 13.3 per cent.

However, in their last 18 games since the turn of the year, only Everton (15) have scored fewer goals than the Seagulls (17), with their conversion rate of 6.6 per cent the worst of any side in this time.

De Zerbi was linked with taking over at Liverpool following Jurgen Klopp's departure, but the Reds have instead turned to Feyenoord's Arne Slot.

Brighton chairman Tony Bloom said: "Roberto has given us two excellent seasons of service in which he has led the club to new heights, not least our first ever European campaign which will live long in the memory of Albion fans.

"We have mutually agreed to end Roberto’s contract at a time that suits both parties allowing us the earliest opportunity to plan for next season, and Roberto plenty of time to consider his next move and his future.

"I am sure our fans will give Roberto and his staff a wonderful and fully deserved send-off. In the meantime, I'd like to thank Roberto and his staff for all their hard work in the past two seasons. They all leave our club on good terms and with our very best wishes for the future."

De Zerbi said: "I am very sad to be leaving Brighton, but I am very proud of what my players and staff have achieved with the support of everyone at the club and our amazing fans in the past two historical seasons.

"We have agreed to end my time at Brighton so that the club and I can continue to work in the way that suits each of us best, following our own ideas and visions, as well as our work and human values.

"I have really enjoyed an intense and challenging two years working in the Premier League, not least competing in four major competitions this season. Leaving now provides me with time to take a break before deciding on my future plans."

Stuttgart's Serhou Guirassy matched a Bundesliga record previously shared by Stefan Kiessling, Ailton and Gert Muller with his opener against Borussia Monchengladbach.

Guirassy put high-flying Stuttgart ahead in the 23rd minute on Saturday, in their final game of the season.

That goal marked the 12th time the striker has scored the opener in a Bundesliga match this season, which equalled the record set by the great Muller in 1969-70, then matched by Ailton in 2003-04 and Kiessling in 2012-13.

It also brought up Guirassy's 27th goal of a stellar campaign.

Rob Edwards wants Luton Town’s players to "reward" the fans for their support throughout the season when they welcome Fulham on the final day.

The 18th-place Hatters' survival hopes are still mathematically alive, but they require an ambitious 12-goal swing to leapfrog Nottingham Forest, who are away at already relegated Burnley, in 17th.

Despite their immediate return to the Championship being all but confirmed, Luton have earned many admirers this season, scoring 50 goals along the way.

In a 20-team Premier League season, only Blackpool (55, 2010-11), Middlesbrough (51, 1996-97) and Leicester City (51, 2022-23) have netted more times during a campaign in which they were relegated. 

Edwards has urged his players to give the supporters plenty to cheer about and, regardless of the end result on Sunday, is optimistic about the club's future.

"We want to reward them with a good performance and want to win the game," he said. "I think it will be really good atmosphere. 

"Everything I have had from fans has been really positive. Everyone has been proud of players and club and what they have shown. We want to make it a really positive day with the performance as well.

"We have given everything and given a really good account of ourselves. We have shown Luton to the world in a really good light.

"I'm really proud of what we have done the past 18 months. The club is in a really healthy position. We have been saying since we arrived, this club is only going one way."

With Fulham safe in 14th and looking forward to a third successive season back in the Premier League, Cottagers boss Marco Silva also paid tribute to the spirit shown by the Hatters during their maiden campaign.

"It will be a really tough game for us," he said. “Even if they don't achieve [safety], they are going to fight to the maximum – and this reflects Rob and his staff.

"For them to fight until the end to stay up, shows how much they have improved. Their fans are proud of their team and you can see it every time they play."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Luton Town - Alfie Doughty

With 42, Doughty has created the most chances from set-plays in the Premier League this season.

Meanwhile, only West Ham's James Ward-Prowse has registered more such assists (six) than the Luton full-back (five).

Fulham - Andreas Pereira

Pereira has created 84 chances in the Premier League this season, the most by a Fulham player in a single campaign (since 2003-04). 

Meanwhile, his tally of seven assists is the highest by a Cottagers player in a single term since Simon Davies in 2007-08 (eight).

MATCH PREDICTION: DRAW

Both sides are on winless streaks; Luton failing to win any of their last five matches, and Fulham without victory in four attempts.

The Hatters have failed to win any of their last six league games against the Cottagers (drawn two, lost four), though both those draws have come in the two most recent meetings at Kenilworth Road. 

Luton have only kept two clean sheets this season and conceded 81 goals – only letting more in during a top-flight campaign in 1982-83 (84).

While Fulham have kept two successive away clean sheets – after 12 straight games without one – they have not registered three in a row since a run of four in late 2008.

The Cottagers have not won their final league game in any of the last six seasons (drawing one, losing five), with a 2-1 win over Sheffield Wednesday in 2016-17 representing their most recent such success.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Luton Town: 33.9%
Fulham: 37.7%
Draw: 28.4%

Paris Saint-Germain boss Luis Enrique is fully focused on what is going on in France, and not paying attention to the situation at Barcelona.

Reports this week suggested Barca may look to replace Xavi with PSG coach Luis Enrique, who led the Blaugrana to success during his stint in charge between 2014 and 2017.

However, the former Spain coach is not interested in any speculation.

Speaking ahead of PSG's trip to Metz on Sunday, he said: "I have already given my opinion on Ligue 1, which is much more competitive than I heard.

"It is clear that there is a high level, with many excellent players. I was pleasantly surprised by the level, including the physical aspect, the coaches and the players.

"I only look at what’s happening in France. I don't know [about Barcelona], I don't comment."

Kylian Mbappe, who is leaving the club at the end of the season, missed PSG's win over Nice in midweek due to a hamstring issue.

Bradley Barcola stepped up in Mbappe's absence, scoring and providing an assist in the 2-1 victory, and the 21-year-old has also been called up for France's Euro 2024 squad.

"Barcola can improve everywhere, like the rest of the players, but above all Bradley is a very young player," Luis Enrique said.

"One thing that I really like is that when you sign a youngster from another team, it's something that seems easy to accept such a challenge but it is very difficult.

"You must understand that the level to be a starter is higher. When a young player like Bradley accepts that and with the performances he has already achieved, I think it's nice to see him at the Euros.

"He deserves it. Next year, the challenge will be even bigger. Our goal for next season will be to look for other [signings], so they are in competition with those already present."

Luis Enrique also knows he will have to adapt to life without Mbappe, who seems destined to join Real Madrid.

"Without a doubt. One of the characteristics of a coach is to adapt," he said.

"We prepared for this group of players but now, with those we can sign and those we already have, there will be tactical changes to come with an undoubtedly more balanced team. There is still room for improvement, in defence and attack."

However, PSG will not limit themselves to signing younger players, but instead base their recruitment on the level of talent they are aiming to bring in.

"We don't sign players based on their age but on their talent," Luis Enrique added. "We sign talent!

"The transfer window will present us with different options and depending on what will be best for the team, we will try to strengthen ourselves. I also like the 30 or 35-year-old players who give a good level for the team. They are all young if you compare them to the coach."

Luis Palma struck a late winner as champions Celtic twice came from behind to see off St Mirren 3-2 on the final day of the Scottish Premiership season.

It was a day of celebrations at Celtic Park for Brendan Rodgers' side, who wrapped up their third successive domestic title in midweek.

However, St Mirren threatened to spoil the party when Mark O'Hara fired them in front after just seven minutes.

Top scorer Matt O'Riley equalised for the hosts in the 21st minute, but they fell behind again just five minutes later when O'Hara doubled his tally from the penalty spot after Stephen Welsh fouled Toyosi Olusanya.

Kyogo Furuhashi levelled for Celtic before half-time, and the Hoops completed the turnaround with Palma scored the winner with four minutes remaining.

Rodgers' side finished eight points clear of second-place Rangers, who were held to a 3-3 draw by Hearts.

Despite falling behind to Lawrence Shankland's strike, goals from Ross McCausland, Todd Cantwell and Fabio Silva seemingly had the visitors on course for a comfortable win at Tynecastle.

However, there was to be a late twist with Dexter Lembikisa pulling a goal back in the 82nd minute, before Kyosuke Tagawa struck deep into stoppage time to rescue a point for the hosts.

There was also nothing to separate Dundee and Kilmarnock, who drew 1-1 in the other match on the final day.

Luke McCowan cancelled out Gary Mackay-Steven's earlier effort, though the Dundee captain squandered a glorious opportunity to complete the turnaround when he missed a penalty two minutes from time.