Reuters Sports Schedule at 0600 GMT on Thursday, April 24

Reuters

Reuters sports schedule at 0600 GMT on Thursday: - - - - SOCCER Premier League LONDON - Liverpool can eliminate one of their two rivals from the Premier League title race by beating Chelsea on Sunday and the way the dice is rolling for them they might even have one hand on the trophy by the end of the weekend. (SOCCER-ENGLAND/ (PREVIEW), moved, 600 words) - - Europa League Semi-finals, first leg Benfica v Juventus (1905) Sevilla v Valencia (1905) LONDON - Antonio Conte's Juventus travel to Lisbon to face last season's runners-up Benfica and, in an all-Spanish clash between former UEFA Cup winners, Sevilla host Valencia. (SOCCER-EUROPA/ (PIX), expect by 2100 GMT/5 PM ET, by Toby Davis, 400 words) - - World Cup Good ambiance crucial to get best from Messi - Sabella BUENOS AIRES - Argentina must work hard to ensure Lionel Messi has a team environment within which to shine at the World Cup, coach Alejandro Sabella said in an interview with news agencies. (SOCCER-WORLD/ARGENTINA-SABELLA (INTERVIEW, PIX TV), moved, by Rex Gowar, 600 words) - - - - SWIMMING Phelps plays down expectations but few buying underdog role PHOENIX - Michael Phelps is playing down expectations about his return to competitive swimming but the most decorated Olympian of all time, with a mind-boggling 18 gold medals, is finding it tough to sell himself as an underdog. (SWIMMING-PHELPS/, moved, by Julian Linden, 600 words) - - - - NBA Heat make it two straight over Charlotte LeBron James scored 32 points to lead the Miami Heat as they earned a hard-fought playoff victory over the Charlotte Bobcats to take further control of the series. (NBA-HIGHLIGHTS/ (PIX), moved, by The Sports Xchange, 450 words) - - - - NHL Stanley Cup playoffs Blackhawks square series with Blues In the third overtime game in the first four meetings of the first-round Western Conference playoff series, the Chicago Blackhawks rallied to defeat the St. Louis Blues. (NHL-HIGHLIGHTS/ (PIX), moved, by The Sports Xchange, 450 words) - - - - GOLF 'Big Easy' returns to a favourite haunt for PGA Tour event Four-times major winner Ernie Els returns to one of his favourite cities, where he shares the nickname of 'The Big Easy', to make his eighth career start at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. We preview the PGA Tour event at the TPC Louisiana won last year by American Billy Horschel. (GOLF-PGA/ (PREVIEW), moved, 400 words) - - - - BASEBALL Brewers beat Padres Home runs by shortstop Jean Segura and left fielder Khris Davis gave right-hander Kyle Lohse all the support he needed as the Milwaukee Brewers beat the San Diego Padres. (BASEBALL-HIGHLIGHTS/ (PIX), moved, by The Sports Xchange, 975 words) - - - - NORTH AMERICAN SPORTS Roundups of off-field developments in the major North American professional sports leagues. (moved, by The Sports Xchange, 400 words) - - - - TENNIS ATP: Barcelona Open (to 27) Romania Open, Bucharest (to 27) WTA: Stuttgart Grand Prix, Germany (to 27) Morocco Grand Prix, Marrakech (to 27) Copy on merit - - - - CYCLING La Fleche Wallonne, Belgium Copy on merit (Asia duty editor: Peter Rutherford)