Sports

By Jonathan Wilson The Anglo-Scottish Cup, which had a brief and never particularly beloved life between 1975-76 and 1980-81, always struggled to find a place in the calendar. In its second season, the two legs of the final had to be squeezed into 48 hours, Nottingham Forest drawing 1-1 away at Leyton Orient before a 4-0 win at home. Only 12,717 bothered to turn up at the City Ground to see it. It was all very anticlimactic. Yet that game holds a place in football’s history. “Our lot tasted champagne,” said Brian Clough, “and found that they liked it.” Forest…

*'They Were Killed To Deter Public Protests Amid War With US/Israel' *Angry Reactions From Amnesty International, Rights Groups *'Ban Iran From All Sports Tourneys' Iran executed a 19-year-old champion wrestler in a public hanging yesterday along with two other people who were arrested during the brutal crackdown on anti-regime protesters in January. Saleh Mohammadi, a rising star from Qom, was allegedly tortured to confess to the capital crime of waging war against God, with the teen executed without a fair trial, according to human rights groups. Amnesty International slammed the executions, alleging that the men were denied “adequate defence and…

Following the outcomes of the second leg matches of UEFA Champions League Round of 16 played on Tuesday and Wednesday, a picture emerged of the strengths of participating teams. Most English Premier League (EPL) teams received raw deals at the hands of their opponents, raising questions about the actual quality of the EPL this season as against hype. The matches threw up some noted observations. The Big Winners Another traumatic week for the self-worth of the Premier League, one in which Europe’s big beasts got into their stride. The defending champions, Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), put on a devastating display at…

Qtr-Final Pairings: Paris Saint-Germain vs. Liverpool Real Madrid vs. Bayern Munich Barcelona vs. Atletico Madrid Sporting CP vs. Arsenal By Sid Lowe, at the Spotify Camp Nou, and Andy Hunter, at Anfield For a while, Newcastle made this fun on Wednesday evening, but they did not make it through, all that hope giving way to hurt. By the time the final whistle went at the Spotify Camp Nou, as the Barcelona fans sang their anthem and the exhausted men in black and white made their way slowly towards their supporters positioned above a scoreboard that showed 7-2, it seemed almost…

*We'll Suffer, But Will Beat Chelsea -PSG's Enrique Pep Guardiola has admitted that Manchester City require a “perfect game” to overturn Real Madrid’s 3-0 lead in the second leg of their Champions League last-16 tie later today. Only three teams have overturned a three-goal deficit in the knockout rounds of the Champions League: Deportivo La Coruña, when they defeated Milan 4-0 in the 2003-04 quarter‑finals to win 5-4 on aggregate; Roma, when beating Barcelona 3-0 in the 2017-18 quarter-finals to draw 4-4 on aggregate and progress on away goals; and Liverpool, when beating Barcelona 4–0 in the 2018-19 semi-finals to…

By Sylvia Kodilichukwu, Enugu The Nsukka Education Zone is dominating the 3rd edition of the Governor Peter Ndubuisi Mbah Secondary Schools Sports Championship, currently taking place at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium, Enugu. In a report by the Director of Information, Ministry of Youth and Sports, Dan Onwuegbuna, the Ministry said that so far, Nsukka Zone has won two gold in long jump, with a jump of 5.89 metres. Also, the zone's Julian Diovu won gold in high jump after clearing 1.76 metres. The zone also secured three silver medals. Caleb Diugwu won silver in the high jump, while Diovu added…

Saka At No 10 To Accommodate Madueke? It was something of a surprise that Bukayo Saka was the first substitution made by Mikel Arteta when Arsenal found themselves trailing against Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday night. The England forward had an unusually quiet game as he struggled to make an impact against an organised defence and the introduction of Noni Madueke on the hour-mark made an immediate impression, even if he was later accused of taking a dive for the penalty that earned Arsenal a 1-1 draw. “I thought that we needed something else,” admitted Arteta afterwards. “Noni has been contributing…

By Sylvia Udegbunam, Enugu The finals of the third edition of Dr. Peter Ndubuisi Mbah Secondary School Sports Championship kicked off on Wednesday at Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium, Enugu. In a statement by the Director for Information, Ministry of Youth and Sports, Mr Dan Onwuegbuna, the Ministry stated that the Commissioner for Youth and Sports, Barr. Lloyd Ekweremadu emphasized that the championship is designed to discover hidden sports talents, nurture and expose them to international stardom. Ekweremadu explained that the championship is the culmination of sporting events held in various secondary schools two weeks ago, in the 6 Educational Zones in…

*Valverde Hattrick Puts Man City On Brink At least there was no public humiliation for goalie Filip Jörgensen from his manager. But while Liam Rosenior did not do an Igor Tudor and hook his goalkeeper, this hurt. It is why a goalkeeper passing out from the back only looks clever until the moment it goes wrong. Above all, it was tough for Chelsea to take. They impressed at the Parc des Princes, twice pegging Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) back, but there was no escaping the reality that the focus was on the moment Jörgensen’s stray ball out gifted the European champions…

*Atlético Madrid Humiliate Spurs *Ruthless Bayern Wallop Atalanta Away The good news for Liverpool is that the situation is salvageable, when it really might not have been. The bad news is that they were ­distinctly ­second best for the first three-quarters of the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie, Tuesday, 10 March. Nobody who saw their second‑half collapse away against Juventus in the playoff round could be confident that Galatasaray are a team ­capable of squeezing the life out of the ­second leg. There is a nervousness about them at the back, a persistent sense of misfortune about…