Sports

By Mark Ogden The Champions League returns today and some of the world's biggest clubs are attempting to dethrone reigning champions Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) by lifting the European Cup in Budapest, Hungary, next May. Six Premier League teams, Spain's heavyweights of Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid and Bayern Munich will all back themselves to topple PSG, while Italian champions Napoli could be a dangerous outsider. Matchday One -- spread over three days -- has thrown up some box office clashes including Bayern Munich against Chelsea, Newcastle at home to Barcelona and City against Napoli. So as club football's most…

ENGLAND: Premier League Burnley - Liverpool 0:1Manchester City - Manchester Utd 3:0 FRANCE: Ligue 1 Lille - Toulouse 2:1Brest - Paris FC 1:2Metz - Angers 1:1PSG - Lens 2:0Strasbourg - Le Havre 1:0Rennes - Lyon 3:1 GERMANY: Bundesliga St. Pauli - Augsburg 2:1B. Monchengladbach - Werder Bremen 0:4 ITALY: Serie A AS Roma - Torino 0:1Atalanta - Lecce 4:1Pisa - Udinese 0:1Sassuolo - Lazio 1:0AC Milan - Bologna 1:0 NETHERLANDS: Eredivisie Excelsior - Sparta Rotterdam 0:1Heracles - AZ Alkmaar 1:2Utrecht - Groningen 0:1Telstar - Sittard 1:3 SPAIN: LaLiga Celta Vigo - Girona 1:1Levante - Betis 2:2Osasuna - Rayo Vallecano 2:0Barcelona…

*Fear, Tension Grip Man City Camp By Oliver Thomas Manchester City's confidence could suffer a “painful” knock if they lose a third successive Premier League game at the hands of rivals Manchester United on Sunday,at Etihad, Citizens expert Steven McInerney said. Pep Guardiola’s side kick-started the new campaign with a 4-0 away win over Wolverhampton Wanderers, but they have since been beaten in back-to-back matches by Tottenham Hotspur and Brighton & Hove Albion, losing 2-1 to latter in their most recent fixture before the international break. Man City have history when it comes to making a slow start to a…

By Felix Durumbah There is concern, even some fear, in South Africa over the national football team, Bafana Bafana's possible ill-fate in the final run-in to 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification. Bafana sit on 17 points atop the Group C pile, which includes,among others, Nigeria's Super Eagles (who are third), but South Africans keep looking over their shoulders at the star-studded Nigerians due to FIFA's seeming silence on Bafana's use of an ineligible player, Teboho Mokoena, in the March 0-2 away win versus Lesotho. Mokoena should have been suspended for that match. Now, panic has gripped South Africans over the…

*Tunisia Yet To Concede In 8 Qualifiers, Morocco, Have Qualified By Louise Taylor Forty-eight teams will participate in next summer’s World Cup, with the hosts, Canada, Mexico and the United States (US), granted automatic entry. A further 43 places are determined by qualifying competitions from the six global confederations and the remaining two will be decided at March’s six-team intercontinental playoffs in Monterrey and Guadalajara. After this month’s internationals, 18 counties have places booked. The draw is due to take place on December 5 this year at Washington’s Kennedy Center. Africa The winners of the nine qualifying groups gain automatic…

*Call For Chelle's Sack Head coach of Super Eagles, Eric Chelle, has said his team will not lack motivation ahead of their final two fixtures in the 2026 World Cup qualifying series. Chelle was addressing the media following a 1-1 draw away to South Africa on Tuesday, September 9. Bafana Bafana took the lead through William Troost-Ekong’s own goal, before Calvin Bassey headed in the equaliser before half-time. Nigeria need to win all their remaining fixtures to stand a chance of qualifying even as only the top team in each group automatically qualifies with the runner-up navigating a playoff. South…

*Norway 11 Moldova 1 *Last Such Margin 29 Years Ago Erling Haaland scored five goals and set up two more on Tuesday, September 9, as Norway thrashed Moldova 11-1 to edge closer to qualifying for a first World Cup in 27 years. Norway's goals effectively meant,in acrid jokes among fans, that "each Moldovan on the field went home with a goal to their name" in reverse logic. The victory equalled the record for the highest winning margin in a European World Cup qualifying match, with Macedonia beating Liechtenstein 11-1 in the 1996 qualifiers. The Manchester City striker set up Felix…

Nigeria beat Rwanda 1-0 in a 2026 World Cup qualifier today, Saturday, September 6. Wolves striker, Tolu Arokodare, came off the bench to score the winner in the 51st minute. The victory means the Super Eagles are now in third place in Group C of the African qualifying zone. The three-time African champions will take on group leaders South Africa next Tuesday. But what are the things we learnt from the game against Rwanda? South Africa will be a tougher test: The Super Eagles were far from impressive yet again against the Rwandans, and it all seemed to stem from…

South Africa v Nigeria Pressure is mounting on Nigeria after a poor start to their qualifying campaign. They missed out in 2022 and go into the seventh round of games with only one victory. The Super Eagles have drawn all three home games 1-1 and must beat Rwanda in Uyo on Saturday before a showdown with the group leaders, South Africa, three days later in Bloemfontein. However, FIFA is yet to decide what punishment to impose on Bafana Bafana for fielding Teboho Mokoena – who should have been suspended for picking up two yellow cards in previous matches – when…

*A Different Kind Of Unemployed He Is *Rain Of Cash Is Torrential In His Life José Mourinho is, without question, one of the most decorated managers in world football. The Portuguese coach boasts an illustrious résumé that includes stints at Real Madrid, Chelsea, Manchester United, and most recently Fenerbahçe, from which he was abruptly dismissed earlier this week. It is hardly a new situation for Mourinho, who has experienced similar exits at his previous clubs. Yet, as the saying goes, every cloud has a silver lining — and in his case, each departure has significantly boosted his bank account. His…