Sloppy Aston Villa crashed to a chaotic Europa Conference League defeat at Legia Warsaw. Ernest Muci’s second-half winner spoiled Villa’s debut in the competition as Legia pulled off a deserved 3-2 victory in Poland. Pawel Wszolek and Muci had twice given Legia a first-half lead only for Jhon Duran and Lucas Digne to peg them back. Muci pounced six minutes into the second half and Villa never recovered. Legia boss Kosta Runjaic had billed it as a David v Goliath tie, with Legia going into the Group E opener with hope rather than expectation. Captain Josue, pointed out the vastly different transfer values between the squads. Maybe it was reverse psychology but they were far from overwhelmed and picked holes in Villa’s sloppy defence. Villa are expected to not just qualify from the group with ease but challenge for the title in Athens next May but they will have to significantly improve if that is to be the case. It look just two minutes for the energetic hosts to unpick their visitors with worrying simplicity. Muci sent Patryk Kun scampering down the right and he crossed for the onrushing Wszolek to fire in from eight yards. That Legia conceded 13 goals while qualifying for the group stage would have given Villa encouragement for any comeback and, sure enough, it took just four minutes to level. Nicolo Zaniolo’s strike from 25 yards was turned onto the bar by Kacper Tobiasz and Duran reacted quickest to nod in from close range. Villa managed to steady themselves as game settled after a rapid start, until Legia regained the lead after 26 minutes. Again the threat came from out wide, this time from the right. Wszolek was given too much time by Digne to cross for Muci to smash in. Defensively Villa had been weak, switching off when it mattered most, and Ezri Konsa was the next to escape when Muci went down under pressure in the area but referee Evangelos Manouchos was unmoved. Still Legia found gaps in the Villa backline when Marc Gual tested Emi Martinez and the visitors looked far from tournament favourites. Duran’s goal had been their only serious chance but Unai Emery’s men levelled against the run of play six minutes before the break. Leon Bailey tricked his way through, John McGinn’s shot was blocked and fell to Digne on the edge of the box for the left-back’s deflected volley to find the top corner. Villa had taken their opportunities to redeem themselves and Legia still needed Tobiasz’s leg to deny Duran an undeserved third just before the break. Yet if they thought they had tamed Legia they were badly mistaken and, like the first half, the hosts wasted little time in the second. Emery would have despaired at how open his side were when Gual picked out Muci to run at Konsa, he was pushed wide by Calum Chambers but still managed to squeeze his shot across Martinez and in off a post. Reinforcements were needed and Ollie Watkins, Douglas Luiz and Moussa Diaby arrived but Villa almost fell further behind when Gual just failed to turn in after Martinez parried Bartosz Slisz’s drive. From then there appeared little way back with Legia comfortable, Tobiasz never tested – even when Jacob Ramsey shot wide. Outside of their qualifiers, it had been a long 13 years to return to Europe for Villa. It was not worth the wait. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Liverpool come from behind to secure Europa League victory against LASK Harry Kane happy with Bayern Munich start in Europe – Thursday’s sporting social Durham are Division Two champions after bowling out Worcestershire

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Silvio Berlusconi, the boastful billionaire media mogul who was Italy’s longest-serving premier, despite scandals over his sex-fueled parties and allegations of corruption, has died. A one-time cruise ship crooner, Berlusconi used his television networks and immense wealth to launch his long political career, inspiring both loyalty and loathing. To admirers, the multiple-time premier was a capable and charismatic statesman who sought to elevate Italy on the world stage. To critics, he was a populist who threatened to undermine democracy by wielding political power as a tool to enrich himself and his businesses. Born in 1936 in Milan to a bank clerk father and housewife mother, he attended a Catholic college, the start of a complicated relationship with the church, which supported him until the mounting allegations of sleaze “superceded the limits of decency”, in the view of at least one weekly Catholic newspaper. His capacity to entertain emerged early when he worked on cruise ships and played bass with a band, performing George Gershwin hits like “I Got Rhythm” in the dancehalls of Milan before being sacked for devoting more time to flirting with punters (“marketing and PR”, he called it) than playing music. After graduating in law, Berlusconi turned down a job as a cashier at the bank where his father had worked in order to strike out as a property developer. His ambition was notable. To pull off an early make-or-break deal, he persuaded a secretary to tell him when her pension fund director boss would be taking a seven-hour train journey so as to ensure he could secure the seat next to him. Later, when the flight path put off buyers over his Milano 2 residential development, he had alternative routes opened. A modest plan to make his homes more attractive by offering a local cable TV service, Telemilano, which showed light entertainment and reruns of American soap operas such as Dallas, grew into a network of local channels until, by the end of the 1980s, his trash TV empire of game shows and barely-clothed hostesses came to dominate Italian airwaves. As well as hauling in advertising revenue, Berlusconi’s channels allowed him to give favourable coverage towards friendly politicians who helped him protect his commercial interests, which now included publishing houses and the football team AC Milan. When he entered politics himself, these contacts would prove indispensable. The Clean Hands corruption probes that took out a generation of Italian politicians eventually provided the motivation for that move. Power, he reasoned, would not only protect himself from prosecutors but allow him to defend his businesses. Headline-grabbing proposals included a million new jobs and lower taxes. A political outsider positioned as an enemy of the establishment, Berlusconi was in many ways a prototype for Donald Trump. Running a successful Serie A side like the “rossoneri” was one of his main qualifications for high office, he felt. When challenged by an economist over his tax plans, he replied: “How many intercontinental [football cups] have you won?” In 1994, he took 21 per cent of the vote in the general election and found himself prime minister, beginning a two decade-long domination of Italian politics through which he shamelessly advanced his own interests. His personal lawyers, now on the state payroll as MPs, spent their time drawing up laws to get him out of trouble, including immunity from prosecution for the prime minister and a tax amnesty that saved his company 120m euros. His communication minister meanwhile amended competition rules allowing him to retain his media empire. His calling to international relations was evident when he made himself foreign minister as well as prime minister, wooing foreign leaders such as Tony Blair and Putin by inviting them to his James Bond-esque Sardinian villa, complete with fake volcano. Cherie Blair described her evening there as the best of her life. But gaffes such as calling America’s first black president Barack Obama “suntanned” and suggesting a German MEP should play a concentration camp guard made him an international laughing stock. His standing took a further hit in 2009 when his second wife, Veronica Lario, publicly accused him of “frequenting minors”. When a 17-year-old Moroccan nightclub dancer, known as Ruby-the-Heartstealer, who was arrested for a petty crime, told police she knew Berlusconi, the claim set in motion a chain of events that would bring about the mogul’s downfall. Ironically, if Berlusconi had not interceded claiming she was the niece of Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian despot, the case might have ended there. Investigators, their hackles raised by Berlusconi’s meddling, discovered that a harem of showgirls and models regularly visited his villas for sex parties where they received lavish gifts and envelopes of cash. The drip-feed of salacious details appalled even Italy, where mistresses are less taboo for rich men. Thousands took to the streets in protests that expressed women’s frustration at their humiliating role in Berlusconi’s Italy. But, ultimately, it was not the “bunga bunga” parties that undid him, but his inability to cope as Italy’s debt reached unsustainable levels in 2011 and he was forced to resign in favour of technocrats. Out of office, he remained in the spotlight, thanks to his own media empire and as the defendant in dozens of trials, throughout which he claimed he was the victim of a plot by a left-wing judiciary. After years when, Teflon-like, he had wriggled out of every writ, his eventual conviction for tax fraud in 2014 and subsequent sentencing to community service in a home for Alzheimer’s sufferers represented rock bottom, but, as usual, Berlusconi proved irrepressible, entertaining residents with bingo games and singalongs - a revival of his old cruise ship act. His final years went some way towards rehabilitating his image. He became the oldest member of the European Parliament, his centrist pro-European politics far preferable, in the eyes of German chancelleor Angela Merkel, to the dangerous populist ideals that surged in Europe. When, in February 2021, his party joined a government led by that most establishment of figures, former European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi, his triumphant comeback was complete. His return to government represented an unlikely final twist in the story of a figure who had risen from selling electric hairbrushes to being the richest and most powerful man in Italy and the object of global fascination as (depending on your point of view): a media mogul, marketing genius, football club owner, political trailblazer, womaniser and showman. For every Italian that hated him for his monopolistic control of the media and abuse of power, there was another who admired his business acumen and was amused by his lowbrow larks. As the writer Curzio Malaparte wrote, Berlusconi’s qualities and defects “are the qualities and defects of all Italians”. Berlusconi is survived by 12 grandchildren and five children: Pier Silvio, Marina, Barbara, Eleonora and Pierluigi. Read More Perhaps the most surprising part of the Italian crisis is that Berlusconi has emerged as a selfless voice of reason Italy’s comeback kid: How Silvio Berlusconi has managed to re-enter politics, despite all the scandals Silvio Berlusconi tells female reporter her handshake is so strong 'no one will want to marry her' Silvio Berlusconi dead: Billionaire former Italian prime minister dies aged 86

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Ryan Porteous watched his Scotland team-mates gearing up for their summer holidays after Tuesday’s win over Georgia while preparing to start his next campaign the following day. The defender was due back at Watford for a team meeting and day three of pre-season training hours after helping Scotland to victory in difficult conditions. The former Hibernian player is happy to get back to England, though, and get to work under new head coach Valerien Ismael, who was appointed on May 10. “All the boys are jetting off on holiday but I’m back in,” Porteous said. “There will be a big rebuild probably at Watford so I’m looking forward to getting started there. “I had a holiday before. We finished up on the 10th (of May) so I got away for a couple of weeks. “Listen, I will be in good shape going back. That’s what you want as a player. Pre-season is hard enough but if you are in good physical state, as you need to be in this day and age, then it will be of benefit to me.” The defender’s return to club duty might have been delayed at one point as the Euro 2024 qualifier looked in severe doubt because of a waterlogged pitch, with rules stating any abandoned game continues the next day. Porteous got away from Hampden after midnight but the fans were not far in front of him after a near two-hour delay while water was swept off the pitch following a torrential downpour. Speaking after a 2-0 win for the Group A leaders, the 24-year-old said: “We wanted the game to go on because there were 50,000 fans there. For them to come to the game, spend all that money on travel and tickets and then go home very disappointed that the game was the next day, wasn’t what we wanted. “We wanted to play the game. We understand why they (Georgia) wouldn’t because they were 1-0 down, that’s completely understandable, but most of the fans stayed to the end. “The fans were brilliant, because it was a late night for a lot of kids and working people as well.” The victory made it four wins from four in Group A, Scotland’s best start to any qualifying campaign, and sent them eight points clear halfway through their schedule. Porteous said: “It’s exactly where we want to be, but the manager keeps reiterating to us and the press that we have done nothing yet. “We have put ourselves in a fantastic position but it’s one game at a time that will get us there. We need to stay grounded. “Four wins probably doesn’t get you there, you have to keep going.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Almost two thirds of football fans oppose VAR, survey finds Leicester and Sale to face holders La Rochelle in Heineken Champions Cup pool Range of armband options for Women’s World Cup as FIFA aims to avoid repeat row