Some of the sports stories The Associated Press is covering Saturday. A full Sports Digest will be sent by about 3 p.m. All times EDT:- TROON, Scotland -- Phil Mickelson enters the windy third round of the British Open one shot ahead of Henrik Stenson. Jordan Spieth, who just made the cut, is 15 strokes behind.- VILLARS-LES-DOMBES, France -- Chris Froome and the other race leaders observe a moment of silence before the 14th stage of the Tour de France in tribute to the victims of the Nice attack.- LOUDON, N.H. -- Dale Earnhardt Jrs latest battle with concussions puts the issue at the forefront again in NASCAR. He will miss Sundays race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.- NASCAR Xfinity race in New Hampshire; IndyCar qualifying in Toronto.- BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Undefeated heavyweight Deontay Wilder defends his WBC title against Chris Arreola. Arreola got the bout on short notice after Russias Alexander Povetkin failed a drug test.- PORTLAND, Ore. -- The U.S. can win its Davis Cup quarterfinal by taking its doubles match against Croatia. Twins Bob and Mike Bryan face Ivan Dodig and Marin Draganja. Match starts 4:30 p.m.- CHICAGO -- Yu Darvish of Texas makes his second comeback from injury this season, facing the Cubs in a game between slumping teams. He has been out since June 8 because of shoulder pain. Game starts 2:20 p.m.- Laurie Hernandez, all of 16 years old, is the youngest -- and maybe most charismatic -- member of the powerhouse U.S. womens gymnastics team going to the Rio Olympics.- LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- The sprint canoe teams from Romania and Belarus are banned from the Olympics for widespread doping.- MIAMI -- Pat Riley knows the Miami Heat will be a far different team next season. The Heat president discusses free agency, the loss of Dwyane Wade and the remaking of a team that once ruled the league. 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Cheap Nike Air Force 1 For Sale .Y. - Nelson Mandela will be honoured by the New York Yankees with a plaque in Monument Park.Following their unexpected Champions League exit at the hands of Atletico Madrid, we examine Barcelona’s slump. Is an over-reliance on that famous forward line to blame? Adam Bate reports from the Vicente Calderon... Sergio Busquets lingered to clap the away fans in the top tier. Andres Iniesta and Jordi Alba joined him. But most of their team-mates shuffled down the tunnel. Barcelona, the defending European champions, had been vanquished by Atletico Madrid.It will have been a huge blow. For while Barcelona remain favourites to complete a domestic double, such are the expectations placed on this group of players that the season is likely to be laced with disappointment whatever happens now. Atletico eliminate Barcelona Antoine Griezmann scored twice to knock the reigning champions out of Europe. Thats the nature of it when Lionel Messi is in your side. When you have Neymar, a man whod joined him on the Ballon dOr shortlist in January. Luis Suarez didnt receive that honour but hes more than made up for it with his scoring feats this season.And yet, for all the brilliance of that formidable forward line, its Luis Enriques reliance on it thats played a part in his sides downfall. Maybe that was in the Barca coachs mind when he insisted on taking 100 per cent of the responsibility for the defeat afterwards. Luis Enrique took full responsibility for Barcelonas Champions League defeat Its funny how defeat can shift the tone. While once the goalscoring heroics of that celebrated front three were a source of wonder, the statistics now feel like a note of caution. A warning that was left unheeded.Messi, Suarez and Neymar have scored 44 of Barcelonas 53 Champions League goals since the start of last season. Thats 83 per cent. Individually spectacular but when the dip came it came collectively and Barca have suffered as a result. After a 20-game sequence in which they won 19 - the other was the drawn second leg of a Copa del Rey tie in which they were already 7-0 up - theyve now won only once in their last five. Even that was against a 10-man Atletico, a game they were losing prior to the red card. What the papers said How the Spanish press reacted to Barcas defeat Neymar looks like a man who has played too much football - no wonder he is set to skip the Copa America - and Messis goal drought has now passed the seven-hour mark. The Argentine is coming deeper and deeper in search of the ball and it has left Suarez isolated. Lionel Messi stands dejected after Atleticos second goal of the night Its now tempting to conclude that overplaying them all was folly. Barca have endured 27 games in 106 days. Thats a match every fourth day since a winter break that was barely worthy of the name given the clubs trip to Japan to contest the Club World Cup.Luis Enrique was unwilling to use that as an excuse but hell have noted too the recent international break that took all three of his forwards to South America to play a further five matches of football between them. The team hasnt looked the same since their return. Barcelona have played 12 more games than any other La Liga rival, with a front three that have not rotated, and all of a sudden they have hit a bit of a wall. Guillem Balague Barcelona have played 12 more games than any other La Liga rival, with a front three that have not rotated, and all of a sudden they have hit a bit of a wall, said Sky Sports Spanish correspondennt Guillem Balague ahead of the game.ddddddddddddThe front three find themselves now having played far too many minutes when that extra gear is needed. Neymar, you can see it in his face, is struggling to find the extra gear. Lionel Messi has found in the past few weeks that physically, perhaps, he is not at his sharpest. Why are Barca struggling? A look at their recent defeat to Real Sociedad That certainly appeared to be the case on Wednesday night as Messi was content to probe and pass away without ever looking likely to provide the moment of incision himself.He has been averaging more than six dribbles per game in the Champions League over the past two seasons, but managed only three against Atletico and none of them in positions where he could hurt his opponent. Europes toughest team? Atletico Madrid were too strong for Barcelona. Maybe theyre too strong for everyone… Maybe Messi was hoping to ride this spring-time lull without too much damage being done. But when the going got tough, and thats precisely what it is against Atletico, the solutions could not be found. More worryingly, Barca didnt even come up with too many ideas.Its a natural step in the life of a team when you have a front three that wins every game for you, added Balague. You stop working on things that made you so good when that front three was not performing, or when you needed to find collective answers to problems. Of course, when it gets to this stage of a season, teams hardly train. Its all about recuperation and there is less and less work on organised attack. What that means is that the team depends more and more on the front three as the season progresses.What they have discovered is that even the best individuals can be stopped. It will have come as shock. This is only the second time in nine years that Barcelona find themselves dumped out of the Champions League at this stage. Atletico Madrid ended a run of seven consecutive defeats to Barcelona Even on the night, a claustrophobic affair in a boisterous Calderon, the elimination might still have felt abrupt. After all, Atletico had taken the lead in all three of their previous encounters this season and each time Barca had turned it around for 2-1 victories.But the omen was merely ominous. The identity of the scorers of those six goals? Three by Suarez, two by Messi and the other by Neymar. The lesson? Barca may still have the better players but somewhere along the way they forgot about the need to be the better team too. Win a t-lab Peloton t-shirt We have teamed up with original British mens t-shirt label t-lab in our new giveaway Also See: Enrique: Im to blame for exit Simeone: We never give up How Spanish press reacted Griezmann knocks Barca out ' ' '
