Sports

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…

By Jonathan Wilson What was striking after Arsenal’s grim 1-0 win at Brighton on Wednesday was less Brighton manager Fabian Hürzeler’s attack on the Gunners’ style than the way his criticism seemed to resonate. In England, and perhaps some other parts of the world, it feels as though almost nobody, other than Arsenal supporters or anyone-but-City fans, wants them to win the title. “If I would ask everyone in the room: ‘Did you really enjoy this football game?’ I’m sure maybe one raises his arm because he’s a big Arsenal fan but, besides that, no chance,” Hürzeler said. Successful sides…

*Facility Still Available For Others -Govt *How They Escaped Their Regime Minders *Trump Applauds Aussies Five members of the Iranian women’s football team have been granted humanitarian visas in Australia, with the Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, offering assistance to the other players and saying “help is here." The Home Affairs Minister, Tony Burke, confirmed the humanitarian offer today, hours after the US President, Donald Trump, posted about their plight on social media. Burke said the visas had been granted about the time of Trump’s social media posts, which first criticised, then praised, Australia. The players have been granted temporary humanitarian…

The Iran women’s football team faces the uncertain prospect of returning home after a 2-0 defeat against the Philippines ended their Women’s Asian Cup campaign. The Philippines’ Sara Eggesvik and Chandler McDaniel scored the goals on the Gold Coast last night. Iran finish fourth in Group A and are eliminated despite some heroic saves from the goalkeeper, Raha Yazdani, in their final game. Their third loss came after the players and coaches sang the national anthem, displaying a military salute before the match. It was the second time they sung the anthem in the tournament after they decided not to,…