Manchester City, who have already qualified for the last 16, are missing defenders Eliaquim Mangala, Pablo Zabaleta and Vincent Kompany, midfielders Samir Nasri and David Silva, and striker Wilfried Bony. “We have a difficult situation,” said manager Manuel Pellegrini. “It’s a test to win in a difficult stadium against a strong team.” City top Juventus by a point at the top of Group D and will confirm their place as group winners – and with it a seeding in the draw for the last 16 – with victory in Turin. “Everyone criticised this club about their performances in Europe,” said…
Author: David F.
UCL Defending Champions Barcelona celebrated qualifying for the last 16 of the Champions League with another incredible display on Tuesday, Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi both scoring twice in a 6-1 win against Roma. The Catalans and Bayern Munich both secured their places in the knockout draw and demonstrated once again why they are surely the best teams in Europe right about now, with Bayern Munich crushing Olympiakos 4-0 at the Allianz Arena. Barcelona discovered they had qualified from Group E before they had even kicked a ball at the Camp Nou, the 1-1 draw between BATE Borisov and Bayer…
There have been security concerns across Europe since the attacks in Paris, which killed 130 people. However, France’s sports minister Patrick Kanner said fan zones would “tell the French people and foreigners that everything is under control”. Elsewhere, Russia says security at the 2018 World Cup will be strengthened. “We discussed the problems of security in detail,” said Russia’s sports minister Vitaly Mutko after a meeting with Fifa inspectors. The minister said that security at the World Cup construction sites had already been toughened up, and the fan zones at the 2017 Confederation Cup and the World Cup will be…
Arsenal needed to win and hope that Bayern Munich beat Olympiakos to ensure that a victory by two goals – or by a margin of one if they score three goals – in Greece in their final group game would send them into the knockout phase. Bayern fulfilled their part of the bargain and Arsenal had no trouble with a Dinamo side who beat them in the earlier fixture in Croatia. Man of the match Mesut Ozil headed them in front after 29 minutes and Alexis Sanchez added a second four minutes later before the Chile forward rounded off a…
Chelsea moved top of Group G in the Champions League after a convincing victory at 10-man Maccabi Tel Aviv. Gary Cahill poked home the opener after his initial header was saved, before ex-Chelsea player Tal Ben Haim was sent off for a wild lunge on Diego Costa. Willian added a second from a free-kick, before headers from Oscar and Kurt Zouma wrapped up the win. Dynamo Kiev’s win against Porto means Chelsea’s hopes of reaching the last 16 rest on their final group game. The Blues, level on 10 points with Porto and two ahead of Dynamo Kiev, host the…
Rooney trained on Tuesday after missing out on Saturday’s 2-1 win over Watford with illness. But asked if Rooney would regain his place in the XI, Van Gaal said: “No, not automatically.” Striker Anthony Martial is also fit, but midfielder Ander Herrera and defender Phil Jones are unavailable. Marouane Fellaini, who also missed the Watford match, has recovered from a calf injury. But Van Gaal said the Belgian midfielder, Martial and Rooney would have to “show on the training ground” that they deserved a starting place for the Group B match. Group B leaders United will go through to the…
Louis van Gaal has given Luke Shaw a few days off to help his recovery from the broken leg he suffered in Manchester United’s opening Champions League fixture at PSV Eindhoven, partly so he can avoid the potentially upsetting duty of having to view Wednesday night’s return game. The United manager normally operates a strict policy of demanding every squad player attend every game, injured or not, to support colleagues in the team and show solidarity as a club. Even though he accepts Héctor Moreno’s challenge in the first game in September was an accident Van Gaal still thought the…
Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini stated the importance of the injury-hit Premier League team winning their Champions League group as he expects a victory over Juventus in Turin on Wednesday. City have already qualified for the knockout stages but are determined to avoid their usual UCL slip when they went through only as group runners-up, drew Barcelona in the last 16 and suffered early exits. If they beat Juve they will secure top spot in Group D and, despite a lengthy injury list and the poverty of their last outing — a 4-1 defeat at home to Liverpool in the…
Juventus will look to take advantage of Manchester City’s “weak points” when they host the Premier League giants on Wednesday looking to seal their place in the last 16 of the Champions League. City travel to Turin looking for revenge following their 2-1 defeat to Juve at the Etihad in September, as well as redemption from fans after being humbled 4-1 at home by Liverpool at the weekend. Massimiliano Allegri watched Liverpool take an injury-hit City side apart and although the Juve coach hailed the pedigree of Manuel Pellegrini’s side, he says there will be no charity on offer in…
Real Madrid coach Rafa Benitez is “absolutely confident” his players, including striker Cristiano Ronaldo, are solidly behind him following Saturday’s 4-0 defeat by Barcelona in La Liga’s ‘Clasico’. Under-pressure Benitez thanked Real’s president Florentino Perez for his vote of confidence on Monday, and told a news conference ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League Group A game against Shakhtar Donetsk there are “no conflicts” with Ronaldo. The 55-year-old dismissed reports the Portuguese, the Spanish club’s record goalscorer, was unhappy playing under him. “This is not true,” Benitez told reporters. “Cristiano is a very hard-working and an important player to our team. But…
Here it is,,,, Yea yea here we are here once again Make you just be yourself Be yourself Be yourself ehn Eh eh eh eh eh eh Omo I hold o Ah ah ah ah ah ah Shey you know Eh eh eh eh eh eh omo I hold o Ah ah ah ah ah ah Shey you know Eh Eh EH Eh Girl you bad like that You make a liquor man run mad with your back like that You dope like crack oh I’ll surrender my mulla If you know what I mean ye hope I don’t kolobi…
Nollywood actor, IK Ogbonna has revealed how he met his Colombian wife, Sonia Morales, whom he married in a low-key ceremony on June 29 in Belgrade, Serbia. How did IK’s love story with the mother of his son start? Hear what the handsome actor said recently: ‘Basically a friend of mine met me on set and we were talking about me finding a woman, and I think at that time I was out of a relationship and he was trying to advise me to look for someone and I was not even in a hurry to look for someone. I…
Basketmouth has been spotted in Linda Ikeji’s bedroom in her new Banana Island mansion. The popular blogger recently moved into the house – which is worth over N500 million – and now shares neighbourhood with the likes of Mike Adenuga, Iyabo Obasanjo and others. Sharing the picture on Instagram, the comedian wrote: ‘Nobody should just ask me what I’m doing in Linda Ikeji’s bedroom. Nobody!!!!!!’ Basketmouth will be performing alongside Seyi Law, Iyanya, Sound Sultan and others on Sunday, November 29 at the Dance Party Edition of Tyme Out with Tee A.
Rocking hard to Paul Simon’s ‘obvious child ‘with @genevievennaji after our super shoot yesterday . We dance because we made AWESOMENESS!!!And yes..cuz it’s Monday today … We creatives don’t work Monday mornings???….( at least we like to believe that .. I’m About to go edit in a minute) every 5 years or so I get to shoot her for 48 hours..it’s always unbelievable but yesterday and the location shoot were really something.It was clear that God was on our side. We made beautiful art….Plus I got to Work with the most awesome team ever @bimpeonakoya @veronicaodeka @dfalanaartistry @wadamiamolegbe and chins…
Top British rock band, Coldplay are ready to raise the bar in recordings and caliber of collaborations. The band has been granted permission to feature American President, Barrack Obama in their forthcoming album, ‘A Head full of dreams’. Well, technically Obama will not be hitting the studio with Coldplay but the band has been licensed to feature a performance by Obama in the album. Obama had sang the hymn, Amazing Grace at the funeral of Clementa C. Pinckney, a victim of the Charleston Church shooting which will now be used by the rock band. ‘We have a tiny clip of…
The world’s been waiting with anxiously for Adele to get in the studio with a rapper, and it looks like Drake will be the lucky one to make that happen. ‘I really want us to do an official remix,’ Adele told e-talk. ‘I love Drake. I love Drake so much. I even got the coat that’s in the video – I got it delivered the other day, I ordered it. The red one.’ The U.K. songstress even said that she’s been practicing Drake’s ‘Hotline Bling’ dance moves, and now she’s ready to get in the booth. Drake also seems to…
Paris Saint-Germain striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic is planning a special night when he goes back to his native city to tackle his first club Malmo in the Champions League on Wednesday. The 34-year-old began his career with the club in 1999 and scored 16 goals in two seasons before moving to Ajax, where he won two Dutch titles. He has since claimed league crowns in Italy, Spain and France, playing for Juventus, Inter Milan, AC Milan, Barcelona and now PSG. “The perfect scenario would be to win the match, I score three goals and everyone sings my name,” the Sweden captain,…
Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal hopes to make his critics think twice when his team host PSV Eindhoven on Wednesday needing victory to progress in the Champions League. Despite ongoing criticism over the quality of their football, United climbed to second place in the Premier League table after a narrow victory over Watford on Saturday and will have an chance to take over at the summit this weekend when they visit surprise leaders Leicester City. A place in the Champions League last 16 will be theirs if they prevail at Old Trafford on Wednesday and for all the brickbats…
As Paris Saint-Germain striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic returns to his home town on Wednesday, some Malmo fans are torn over whether to support their prodigal son or the team that launched his career. On a football pitch in the immigrant-heavy neighbourhood of Rosengard, where the 34-year-old Swede grew up, one of his childhood teammates sighed as he pondered where his sympathies would lie during the Champions League match between Malmo and PSG. “Both, both. Maybe for Malmo a little bit more,” Ivan Milosevic said, before laughing and adding: “I’m a ‘Malmoitian’,” referring to a term for the city’s inhabitants. Born the…
Depleted Juventus host Manchester City on Wednesday looking for the win that would secure their qualification to the last 16 of the Champions League. City’s 3-1 win away to Sevilla last time out left Manuel Pellegrini’s men top of Group D on nine points and, with Juventus one point behind in second, they will clinch top spot with a win in Turin. But looking at City’s recent form, Juventus have reason to believe they can claim their second successive win over the Citizens, having stunned Pellegrini’s men 2-1 in September when Alvaro Morata hit an 81st minute winner at the…