hello and welcome to sportsday. i'm gavin ramjaun. a sensational comeback for leverkusen sees them into the europa final, and preserving their long unbeaten run in all competitions. olympiacos make no mistake. they seal their spot in the conference league final against fiorentina after a comfortable win over aston villa. and nadal�*s preparations for the french open are helpful, he says, after the spaniard is tested again, in his first round victory in rome. hello there and welcome along to the programme. and we were treated to another round of late drama in european football again on thursday. bayer leverkusen came back against roma, to not only

extend their incredible unbeaten run this season — but secure their place in the final of the europa league. it looked as though xabi alonso�*s side were going to be defeated on the night, they were 2—1 down until the dying moments. leandro paredes had roma two up and level on aggregate an own goal gave leverkusen the advantage again and deep into stoppage time. josip stanisic scored with the last kick of the game to send the new german champions into the final, and extend their unbeaten run, in all competitions this season to 49 successive games. and they will meet atalanta, who went through in their semi—final second leg, against marseilles, in emphatic style. they won 3—0 in bergamo, to cruise into the final. ademola lookman got them ahead on aggregate, with the score level coming into the match. matteo ruggeri put further distance between the sides, and the finishing touch to the night, was provided by el bilal toure, the substitute scoring the third. atalanta winning 4—1

on aggregate and will take on leverkusen in dublin, in their europa league final, their first ever european final, later this month. british hopes fell with aston villa in the europa conference league. but they were soundly beaten again, by olympiacos in greece, in the second leg of their europa conference league semi—final. ian dennis was watching. a night to forget for aston villa, a night that will be cherished by olympiacos, as they reach their first ever european final. thoroughly deserved over the two legs where el kaabi followed up his hat—trick with a goal in each half. his first from close range after ten minutes, his second after 78 minutes, following a long var delay, created bedlam inside the stadium. villa rarely look like scoring, bailey's effort tipped over before half—time. they appeared to run out of steam in the second half. olympiacos are only the second greek club to reach a european final after an absence of 53 years. and they will play fiorentina 5

miles up the road in athens. it will feel like home for their biggest night in the club's history. relegation matters in the english premier league are going down to the wire. nottingham forest, luton town and burnley are all set for a huge weekend with just two games to go, only one of those sides can avoid the drop to the championship and it all could be decided this weekend. alex fletcher reports. times on the trent have been difficult this season. a change in manager in december suggested a change in direction. but with their four—point deduction upheld on tuesday, they have headed slightly off course. the threat of relegation remains present, and nuno espirito santo wants focus to remain with matters on the pitch. we are all disappointed. we had the hope and the belief that, because we conquered that point on the pitch, we had the hope and again the belief that they can give us back, but the decision is over,

so there's no point on speaking and continuing on this issue. this is the reality. this is what we have. this is what we have to face, and let's focus on ourselves, because it's in our hands. despite their deduction, for forest, the maths is simple. four points from six and they are safe, with one win likely to be enough due to their superior goal difference. should they slip up, though, a positive result for luton at west ham this weekend could set up a dramatic final day, as burnley welcome forest to turf moor. five points adrift of safety, this defeat leaves them, with two games to play. they're on the brink. vincent kompany�*s side are in the biggest trouble, last weekend's defeat to newcastle meaning they need maximum points to stand any chance of survival. i know the scenarios, i know what's possible. forest can win, they can draw, they can lose. but we have to focus

on our game. on any given day, players can do something special, and that's the mindset for saturday. can it be that day where you can do something special? just under a year after their premier league dream became reality, luton find themselves in the bottom three. rob edwards�* side have been the underdogs all season but still stand a chance of survival, and the fans are hoping for another memorable afternoon at kenilworth road on the final day. if we could take it to the last game, i really do fancy us against fulham, i really do. we've not worried about the points deductions, we've just tried to get our table in order and take care of ourselves. and i think this season being the free hit as it has been, and the fairy tale that it has been, we know that we can only do what we can do. and i think if we were obsessing too much about other teams, it's not going to serve us. while forest hold the advantage

going into the last two games, all three sides will be hoping it's them lifting their head above water in the race for premier league survival. alex fletcher, bbc news. rafael nadal said matches like his italian open first round encounter, can help prepare him for the challenge of the upcoming french open. nadal, in what is expected to be his final year on the tour, made it through to the second round of the tournament after a three set victory over zizou bergs. coming from a set down to win — the spaniard is a ten time champion at the italian open and will face hubert hurkacz next. it was not my best match. i was practising better than how i played today, without a doubt, but i find a way to win. that's so important at the beginning of the tournament for me. as i said, my game is more unpredictable than before now. i didn't play much tennis for the last two years, so, yeah, some ups and downs, on and off, but i think i can do it much better than what i did today and i hope to do it in the next round.

it has been emotional to play here. these kind of events are the most important events in my tennis career, so, honestly, the crowd have been always amazing with me, supporting me, since the beginning of my tennis career, so super excited to be able to play one more time here. jack draper made a winning start at the internazionali in rome with a straight sets victory against borna coric of croatia. the 22—year—old briton completed his win in an hour and 36 minutes. draper will play the defending champion daniil medvedev, who will get his italian open campaign under way on friday. medvedev was was forced to pull out of the quarterfinal at the madrid open with a leg injury, but he's confident that he is ready for rome. every match was an unbelievable feeling, just because of the end result, and i think it honestly gave me a lot of confidence for this year, where this is the first or second year — together with last year —

where i'm ok to play on clay. i don't really hate it. i know that there are some parts of my game which are maybe not adapted ioo%, but i know that i can win big players, i know i can win big tournaments on clay, and i'm feeling good about it and it helps a lot for the mental part. naomi osaka put in one of her best performances of the season, after beating marta kostyuk in straight sets in the second round in rome. the win against kostyuk is the first time osaka has won two matches in a row on clay since rome in 2019 when she reached the quarterfinals. she won the rain—interrupted match in 71 minutes. coco gauff is through to the third round after beating magdalena frech in straight sets. gauff, a rome semi—finalist in 2021, hitjust three aces and nine double faults as she continues to tinker with her serve ahead of next months french open.

to cricket now, and england women get their series against pakistan under way at edgbaston on saturday. they'll play three t20s before three odis. vital preparation and game time for the squad ahead of the t20 world cup in bangladesh in september. obviously, we have not played pakistan for a while so we are going to come across different batters who play different ways, so i think what will be really crucial for us as a bowling attack is keeping the communication up in those pressure moments about what's needed for us right now, because there are going to be those moments where we do feel under the pump and we want to get out the other side of that, so i think, for us... after the series, we'll be reflecting on what worked and what didn't and what we can take forward, going then into the new zealand series. and i think as long as we keep doing that, we'lljust keep developing our game, ready for the world cup. and pelayo sanchez beatjulian alaphilippe and luke plapp to the line on stage six of the giro d'italia, as the race wound its way through the white roads of

tuscany. after trying for many kilometres, the breakfinally went away and managed to get a lead over the chasing peloton. but it came down to three men for the sprint into rapolano terme. and the 24—year—old sanchez had the legs to keep the others at bay and cross the line in the lead. tadej pogacar finished safely in the peloton to retain the race leader's pinkjersey. you can get all the latest sports news at from the bbc sport app, orfrom our website, that's bbc.com/sport. from me and the rest of the team at the bbc sport centre, goodbye. hello there. our settled week of weather is set to continue. in fact, thursday, it was warmest day of the year so far. we reached a high of 24.6 celsius in st james�*s park, london.

when you round that up to 25, that is 77 fahrenheit. we could see similar values over the next couple of days with high pressure staying with us, but this weak weather front will continue to bring some showery outbreaks of rain and a cooler feel across the northern isles. it'll be a relatively mild start to our friday morning. double digits, some early morning mist and fog quickly melting away, a lot of sunshine coming through. we'll get a little bit of fair weather cloud developing into the afternoon, but on the whole, a promising day. more sunshine as well for scotland in comparison to thursday. top temperatures here of 20 to 22 degrees. we could see 2a further south. into the start of the weekend, we continue with this warm, sunny theme. however, the risk of some sharp showers will start to increase. now, as we go through the early hours of saturday morning, we could see some fog coming in off the north sea, anywhere from the vale of york down into lincolnshire, over into the southeast. again, double figures to greet us first thing on saturday morning.

so, could be a pretty murky start across eastern england, but we'll expect that sunshine to get to work — it's quite strong at this time of year. a lot of sunshine coming through. risk of a few scattered showers anywhere north of manchester, up to the scottish borders, but top temperatures generally at around 23 or 2a celsius once again. now, as we move into sunday, we've got this weather front which will enhance the risk of some sharp, thundery downpours and some showers moving up from the near continent. now, if we get some sunshine across east anglia and south east england, we could see temperatures as high as 26 degrees. a lot of uncertainty about the detail for sunday, but at the moment, there's a greater chance of seeing some sharp thundery, downpours developing. and so out to the west, not quite as warm. then into monday, an atlantic influence is set to return, low pressure will start to push in from the west as the high drifts away, and that means that it will turn wetter and windier. and that is going to stay with us throughout the week,

so it looks likely to see showers or longer spells of rain returning.

live from washington. this is bbc news. israel's prime minister says they will press ahead with military operations alone if necessary, as the white house calls for restraint. amid mounting concerns over boeing's safety record, we ask the us transportation secretary what the biden administration is doing to keep planes safe. stormy daniels wraps up her testimony at donald trump's criminal trial, as thejudge denies a mistrial request. hello i'm caitriona perry. you're very welcome. israel's prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, has vowed to press ahead with military operations in the gaza strip, saying israel is prepared to stand alone and fight

"with its fingernails" if necessary.