Category sport-news

Aston Villa won the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie on Tuesday 3-1 away at Club Brugge in Belgium thanks to two late goals, including a Marco Asensio penalty.

Leon Bailey’s early opener was canceled by a Maxim De Cuyper strike for the hosts, but the scores remained level going into the closing stages.

At the Jan Breydelstadion, Villa had a better match than their Premier League rivals, but Brandon Mechele’s 82nd-minute own goal gave them a new lead.

Ahmed Musa Represents The Super Eagles in the World Cup Qualifiers.

In the 88th minute, Asensio scored his fifth goal in four games to put the 1982 European Cup winners in a strong position to advance to the quarter-finals, scoring first as a substitute.

A mouthwatering quarter-final against Paris Saint-Germain or Liverpool will be the reward if Unai Emery’s team can succeed at Villa Park on Wednesday.

After finishing eighth in the league phase, Villa qualified for this stage, but they lost 1-0 in Bruges in early November.

After Tyrone Mings obtusely picked the ball up in his own area, Hans Vanaken scored the winning penalty.

Mings, an England centre-back, will be pleased to have assisted in the third-minute goal, which gave Villa the lead in the same penalty box.

With a controlled first-time finish past goalkeeper Simon Mignolet, he met a free-kick into the Brugge area and was awarded a goal.

Club Brugge have shown this season that they can compete at this level, most recently defeating Atalanta, who won the Europa League last year, 5-2 on aggregate in the play-off round last month.

Rashford is ineffective.

Soon, the hosts reached level. Greek international Christos Tzolis returned the ball to De Cuyper, who had just left to send a first-time shot past Emiliano Martinez and into the far corner.

The hosts almost won. The ball broke inside the area thanks to Martinez’s crucial save to deny Chemsdine Talbi.

Unai Emery, the manager of Villa, attempted a powerful strike from close range early in the second half, but just before the hour a quadruple substitution made a quick change.

In his first Champions League game since receiving a 4-3 defeat against Manchester United in Copenhagen in November 2023, Rashford was quiet on the left wing and made the comeback.

Asensio, another winter signing for Villa, started on the bench despite his excellent recent form.

Mignolet saved the on-loan PSG player after he received an assist from fellow substitute Jacob Ramsey, who almost struck on 68 minutes.

The 1978 European Cup winner, Club Brugge, also had the chance to take the lead. Captain Vanaken misfired a great chance for the Greek winger when he headed narrowly wide from a Tzolis cross.

The unfortunate Mechele turned a Morgan Rogers cross into his own net to give Brugge the opportunity to lose by two goals.

The mayor of Milan announced on Tuesday that he hoped to sell the iconic old ground to the Serie A clubs before the summer, boosting Inter Milan and AC Milan’s bid to build a new stadium on the site of the San Siro.

Giuseppe Sala stated on RTL 102.5 that he wanted to hear from the two clubs a formal feasibility study and an offer to buy them, which he would then forward to Milan’s city council.

By the start of the summer holidays, Sala stated, “the goal is to sell the stadium and the surrounding area.”

Inter and Milan, the Giants of European football, have long wished to build a modern neighborhood in place of the city’s current San Siro, and they recently resurrended a joint project that was turned down in 2023 after slogging its way through the bureaucratic and political corridors.

The project’s original feasibility study, which was originally estimated at 1.3 billion euros, will only be partially modified to include the city’s San Siro, where it would be used for green space as well as a variety of sports and entertainment venues.

A new stadium, which was originally planned to have a capacity of 60, 000 but has since been increased to over 70, 000, would be constructed in the area to the west of the current stadium, which is occupied by car parking and a nearby park.

The main difference is that Inter and Milan would purchase the land instead of rent it, and work will not begin until the upcoming Winter Olympics, for which the current San Siro will host the opening ceremony.

The clubs will renovate the old stadium, which will remain in place until 2030, according to Sala, adding that it will take a few years before the new stadium is ready.

– Political unease

A building protection order preventing the demolition of the second tier of the current stadium will automatically take effect if the San Siro and surrounding land are sold soon, which is important for the clubs and Sala.

However, Milan city councillors of all political parties have expressed unease as a result of Sala’s attempt to force the project through in order to avoid becoming the mayor who made two of the biggest football clubs in the world leave the city.

In 2023, AC Milan purchased 40 million euros worth of land in the nearby town of San Donato Milanese while Inter looked at sites in Rozzano and Assago, both of which were located in the city’s south.

It would cost Sala’s center-left administration money to relocate the clubs, leaving Italy’s economic center with a sizable unused stadium on its outskirts, which would no longer pay the seven million euros in annual rent and would need to be repurposed or destroyed.

Ahmed Musa, a veteran forward, has been given a callup for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Rwanda and Zimbabwe, ending years of team absence. &nbsp,

When the Super Eagles won the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) title at the beginning of 2014, Musa, who is Nigeria’s top goalcorer at the World Cup, did not play for them.

The encounters, which were scheduled for two this month, were given new names as well. Since his appointment last year, Eric Chelle has contacted the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) for players to watch the games.

The Malian gaffer invited Musa to play for the Kano Pillars, along with Kayode Bankole of the Remo Stars, Rangers’ Ifeanyi Onyebuchi, Papa Daniel Mustapha of the Niger Tornadoes, and Papa Daniel Mustapha of the home team.

Liverpool’s Champions League clash with Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday was described as “classic” and that the game was not considered to be high risk by French police.

For the first time since the chaos surrounding the 2022 Champions League match between the club and Real Madrid at the Stade de France, Liverpool have returned to the French capital following the last 16 first leg tie at PSG’s Parc des Princes stadium.

According to a police source in Paris, the match’s security would be a “classic arrangement for a Champions League match.”

“The situation has changed from three years ago.” The source said that a lot has changed since then because it’s held at the Parc des Princes rather than the Stade de France.

He continued, “This is not a high risk situation.”

The game will feature approximately 2, 000 Liverpool fans.

After being escorted into bottlenecks by police as they approached the stadium, the Champions League final three years ago was delayed by more than 30 minutes as fans fought for their lives.

The stadium perimeter was then attacked by police who then shot tear gas at thousands of fans who were encased behind metal fences.

UEFA, the governing body of European football, initially attempted to blame supporters for their tardiness, but a French Senate investigation revealed that poorly executed security measures were to blame for the mayhem.

Many Liverpool supporters are restraining from watching the game on Wednesday.

For many people, according to Liverpool fan website The Anfield Wrap’s John Gibbons, “It’s too soon,” he told AFP.

The Bavarian giants announced in a statement on Tuesday that Bayern Munich will hang the late club legend’s jersey on the roof of their Allianz Arena home.

A 15-by-10-meter image of Beckenbauer’s iconic No. Prior to Wednesday’s Champions League last-16 match against Bayer Leverkusen, a five-shirt shirt has already been embroidered on the Allianz Arena roof.

The first time in the history of Bayern saw the retired jersey number for Beckenbauer, who passed away in January 2024.

Herbert Hainer, the club president, said in a statement, “We are delighted to pay tribute to Franz Beckenbauer in this way at the Allianz Arena.”

One of the greatest players ever was the former defender, according to him. He won two Ballon d’Or awards while playing for Bayern, as well as three European Cups, four German championships, and four European Cups.

Before taking over as coach in 1990, Beckenbauer also helped West Germany win the 1974 World Cup.

He later transitioned from coaching Bayern to running the club, where he was instrumental in creating the Allianz Arena, the club’s new home in 2005.

Franz Beckenbauer Platz, the stadium’s official address, was changed to Franz Beckenbauer Platz on January 1st, 2025, as the Munich City Council changed the address of the Allianz Arena. 5.

Teams are now closed for the duration of the season now that the NBA trade deadline has passed.

Some franchises have made top-tier trades and strengthened their teams in preparation for a potential championship push, while others have significantly weakened. The playoffs and the sight draft are the most exciting final events of the campaign.

Which teams have experienced significant change, and what might come next for them after the trade deadline?

During this NBA trade deadline, we’ll examine the biggest trades in both the Eastern and Western conferences.

Eastern Conference

The Eastern Conference has seen a lot of movement, but the best teams haven’t traded much. There haven’t been any significant trades between Cleveland, Boston, New York, and Indiana, with De’Andre Hunter’s arrival from Atlanta being the biggest trade.

Atlanta is the team that has also acquired a well-known guard in the form of Caris Levert, who can play alongside Trae Young, who has been eager to find another guard to complement him, even though Levert may not be enough to support Atlanta’s playoff push.

Milwaukee, the team that acquired Washington Wizards’ Kyle Kuzma after trading him for former all-star Khris Middleton, and the team made a significant trade for a young, established talent who has yet to prove himself on a bigger team despite failing to do so in Los Angeles.

After Golden State was desperate to trade him, Detroit also experienced some movement by adding veteran Dennis Schröder. The German, who has played in every franchise he has played, is one of the NBA’s most regular players. He has a significant role both as a leader and as a player. The former World Cup champion wants to make Detroit a playoff contender.

Finally, there has been some movement in the lower-position teams, though not as much as some would have expected. Washington, which has Marcus Smart and Khris Middleton, and Toronto, which has acquired former All-Star Brandon Ingram from the Pelicans, are the two teams on the lower tier of the table that have strengthened their squads. One of the few instances in which a player had to return to the team of origin after failing their medical must be forgotten about the Mark Williams trade.

Who will advance to the playoffs, including teams in the playoff push, some who are hoping to win a play-in position, and many others who are already giving up and anticipating the 2025 draft’s fir^st pick?

Western Conference

In the West, there have been some significant shifts, with many teams trading even their best players in an effort to completely reshape their franchises.

Teams at the top like Oklahoma City or Denver haven’t made any notable changes, keeping the core of their squad together after a strong season opener like this.

Moving down the table, we must mention the Clippers, a team that signed Brooklyn star Ben Simmons after he was forced out of the NBA because of his poor form. Simmons now wants to start living in Los Angeles in top form. Bogdan Bogdanovic has also become a well-known player for the Clippers.

Sacramento is yet another team that has made significant moves. Zach Lavine, a star player and all-star caliber player, has been acquired by the Kings after a lengthy trade with Chicago. Great big man Jonas Valanciunas joins him in Los Angeles to begin their playoff push.

The Dallas Mavericks traded Luka Doncic to the Lakers for Anthony Davis, saving the best for last. A total gulp from Dallas, who trades their star, franchise player, and future, which the Lakers will gain by having a much bigger player when LeBron retires. Dallas, on the other hand, now depends on whether Anthony Davis recovers, which is unfortunate given his history of injury. When Dallas refers to “Luka’s poor form,” a trade that was made for a player who hasn’t had a full season the last few years, the explanation for the trade comes across as more incomprehensible.

The remainder of the season appears promising for the Western Conference’s teams with improvements and decreases in performance. The former NBA champion is he hiding out in the West?

What’s Next, Looking Ahead?

The playoffs are just around the corner and the anticipation of seeing who wins and who loses early is starting to grow. But will the teams that made the trades well-known succeed or suffer enormous losses?

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