Vinícius Júnior Scores Again as Real Madrid Advance in Champions League — and more

Real Madrid secured their spot in the last eight on Wednesday night despite being without Kylian Mbappé. Aurélien Tchouaméni equalized early in the second half after Rafa put Benfica ahead, but Vinícius Júnior scored the winner in the 80th minute to seal a 3-1 aggregate victory.

Los Blancos now await the winner of the tie between Sporting Lisbon and Manchester City.

Derrick White Explains Celtics' Recent Defensive Dominance originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The Boston Celtics have been one of the best defensive teams in basketball this season, especially lately. 

The Celtics have allowed fewer than 100 points in seven of their last 12 games. Over their last 10 games, they have the best defensive rating in the NBA, going 9-1 during that span.

Boston has allowed the fewest points per game in the league this season at 107.6. The team also ranks seventh in defensive rating and third in field-goal percentage. 

The Celtics are coming off two of their best defensive efforts of the season after allowing just 89 points to the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday and 81 points to the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday. They also started February by yielding only 79 points to the Milwaukee Bucks, so all three of their lowest opponent point totals have come this month.

After Tuesday's 97-81 rout of the Suns, Derrick White explained why Boston's been so dominant on defense lately.

Derrick White when asked about the Celtics having the top-ranked defense in the NBA in their last 10 games:

“We just have a standard. A lot of guys that can guard a lot of positions and do a really good job of just following the game plan and committing to that.” pic.twitter.com/I7C9jpKNDG

— Bobby Krivitsky (@BobbyKrivitsky) February 25, 2026

"We just have a standard. A lot of guys that can guard a lot of positions and do a really good job of just following the game plan and committing to that," White said.

That includes White, who's one of the league's best defenders. He's averaging 1.5 blocks and 1.2 steals per game this season, both career bests.

With White, Jaylen Brown, Neemias Queta and others anchoring the defense, the Celtics remain one of the toughest teams in the league to score on. 

They'll try to ride their stifling defense to another road win tonight against the Denver Nuggets.

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The Wisconsin Badgers 84-71 win over the Iowa Hawkeyes secured their spot as a ‘lock’ for the NCAA Tournament in ESPN’s Joe Lunardi’s latest Bracketology predictions.

Heading into the game, Wisconsin was as close to a ‘lock’ as you could get, but the game had serious implications for the Badgers’ potential seeding. Wisconsin had just lost to the Ohio State Buckeyes, which dropped their projections after a big week with wins over the Illinois Fighting Illini and Michigan State Spartans.

A loss to Iowa would’ve further spiraled those projections, and Wisconsin didn’t have any other major opportunities to make up ground until the season finale on the road against the Purdue Boilermakers. But the win over Iowa gave the Badgers their fifth Quad 1 win of the season and secured them as the sixth ‘lock’ in the Big Ten in Lunardi’s projections.

Here’s what classifies as a lock, according to Lunardi.

“Teams that have nearly a 100% chance to be called by the committee as an at-large selection (if necessary). They would need a significant change in momentum to miss the cut.”

The other five current ‘locks’ in a deep Big Ten so far are Purdue, Illinois, Michigan State, Michigan, and Nebraska.

Currently, the Badgers are trending as a No. 7 seed in Lunardi’s latest projections, putting them on the same line as NC State, Villanova, and Utah State. As for the Big Ten teams ahead of them, here’s their current projected seed lines:

Michigan (No. 1 seed)

Purdue (No. 2 seed)

Illinois (No. 2 seed)

Nebraska (No. 3 seed)

Michigan State (No. 4 seed)

The Miami Dolphins have already made some tough decisions this offseason to set themselves up for a better future, as they've released some top players (Tyreek Hill and Bradley Chubb) and fired head coach Mike McDaniel.

Could that be the start? Could Miami follow up with more shocking moves? Interestingly, ESPN's Dan Graziano and Benjamin Solak identifiedDolphins running back De'Von Achane and wide receiver Tyreek Hill as two of the top trade candidates in the NFL this offseason.

Achane is in the final year of his rookie contract, and through three seasons has rushed for 3,057 yards and 22 touchdowns on 5.6 yards per attempt while catching 172 passes for an additional 1,277 yards and 13 scores.

"The league seems to believe the Dolphins are in a full rebuild, which means they're getting calls on all of their star players," Graziano wrote. "My sense is that they're far more likely to extend Achane's contract than to listen to those trade offers, but in their situation, you answer the phone when it rings. So, call any Achane trade a significant long shot that would take an awfully enticing package to get done."

Waddle has three years remaining on his extension and has caught 373 passes for 5,039 yards and 26 touchdowns in his five years in the NFL.

"There were whispers of a potential Waddle deal at the trade deadline in October, but those might have been generated from the interested teams rather than from the Dolphins," Graziano wrote. "With Tyreek Hill released, a Waddle deal would represent a significant reset in Miami. And if the Dolphins are going to handle a $99.2 million dead money hit for Tua Tagovailoa, they are going to have to cut costs somewhere. (On the third day of the league year, $15.2 million of Waddle's $23.39 million 2027 salary will become fully guaranteed, too.)

"But as I said on Achane above, my sense is that the Dolphins see Waddle as a building block who's under contract and aren't eager to move on from him. They'll get calls, no doubt, but it would take a lot for them to deal him."

Both Graziano and Solak agree that it's unlikely that Miami will move on from Achane and Waddle this offseason, the way that they did with Hill and Chubb. With these players, both in their mid-20s, they can help usher in the next wave of Dolphins, who they hope will help them break their championship drought.

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This article originally appeared on Dolphins Wire: Jaylen Waddle, De'Von Achane named top trade candidates in 2026

The former Barcelona manager has been unemployed since being sacked by the Spanish club in 2024, despite having performed a dramatic U-turn earlier to remain with the club.

Xavi is now weighing a managerial return as he considers the international opportunity that would come at a crucial time before the global tournament.