Category sport-news

The Champions League was one of the events that shaped the week in sports! Arsenal did the double over Real Madrid, while concerns about safety in match venues across Nigeria dominated discussions over the past few days.

It was equally a week that saw the curtains close on the Monte Carlo Masters. First 11 – the recap of the major sports stories this week – reviews these and other interesting headlines in the fast-paced, money-spinning sports world!

Arsenal Complete Masterclass Against Real Madrid

This week, the biggest stories were in the Champions League, and Arsenal’s visit to Real Madrid for the second leg of their tie generated buzz ever since the first leg. The Gunners went to Spain having trounced the reigning champions 3-0 in London a week earlier. Talks about a comeback, as Carlo Ancelotti’s men had done over the years, dominated discussions in the lead-up to the game. But on the night filled with drama and intrigue, Mikel Arteta’s team gunned down Real Madrid 1-2 to do the double over the record European champions, a feat that catapulted the North London team into the semi-final of the competition for just the third time in their history. Goals from Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli, with a gift from a defensive error for the away team, ensured Arsenal won the tie 5-1 on aggregate and remain undefeated against Real Madrid.

Champions League: The Last Four Standing

Talking about comebacks, Aston Villa almost did it against Paris Saint-Germain but fell agonisingly short in the second leg of their Champions League tie against the French outfit on Tuesday. The English club lost the first leg 3-1. But in the reverse fixture, they came from two goals down to win 3-2 and pushed to score one more time to take the match to extra time. However, the English fans were left heartbroken as Villa failed to find that one goal, meaning the aggregate score for the tie was 5-4 in PSG’s favour!

Other games in the Champions League saw Barcelona lose 3-1 to Dortmund courtesy of Serhou Guirassy’s hat-trick, but the Catalans advanced 3-5 on aggregate because of their first leg 4-0 win. Inter Milan squeezed past Bayern Munich to shatter Vincent Kompany’s men’s dream of reaching a home final in Munich. The aggregate score for that match was 4-3. The first leg of the game ended 2-1 in Inter’s advantage before the return clash produced a 2-2 draw.  

So, for the semi-final clash, Arsenal will do battle with PSG as Barcelona lock horns against Italian side Inter Milan.

The first leg of the Arsenal vs PSG fixture will be on April 29th, while Barcelona host Inter Milan on the 30th. The reverse tie will see Inter welcome Milan on May 6 and Arsenal travelling to Parc des Princes the following day!  

Man United Rescued From Elimination

In the meantime, although Real Madrid talked up a comeback against Arsenal, Manchester United’s match with Lyon in the Europa League would better suit that reality. The first leg of that encounter ended 2-2 in France, leaving all to fight for in Manchester United in the reverse fixture. With the competition offering United the only hopes of European competition in the coming season, the Red Devils expectedly raced into a 2-0 lead. But the game turned dramatic after Lyon equalized and the match went into extra time, 30 minutes. The French side immediately took a 2-4 cushion, leaving the English club minutes away from crashing out of the competition despite having eleven men against Lyon’s 10. Kobbie Mainoo and Harry Maguire, however, conjured some last-minute’ miracles, scoring a goal each to hand Ruben Amorim a semi-final berth in the last four of the Europa League. United won the game 5-4 and 7-6 on aggregate!

Athletic Club, Tottenham, and Bodo/Glimt are the other teams in the semi-final of the Europa League. United were paired against Athletic Club, while the other two will battle it out against each other for a place in the final.  

Portable, Speed Darlington Clash In Celebrity Bout

Coming home to Nigeria, fans and boxing enthusiasts were thrilled to see singer Badmus Okikiola, better known as Portable, square off against Darlington Okoye, aka Speed Darlington, in a celebrity bout on Saturday morning. Tagged “Chaos in the Rings,” Portable defeated his opponent in the fight, which was held in Lagos. Clips from the fight have since gone viral, eliciting mixed reactions from fans, observers, and followers.  

Alcaraz Triumphs in Monte Carlo Masters 

Away from boxing, the week also featured headlines from the courts, where Carlos Alcaraz won his first Monte Carlo Masters title after a 3-6, 6-1, 6-0 victory over the Italian Lorenzo Musetti. That was the sixth Masters title for the 21-year-old Spaniard, a four-time Grand Slam winner, and his most prestigious title since winning Wimbledon last year. Alcaraz, who will move up a place in the rankings and displace Alexander Zverev at No 2, had to come from behind to beat the Italian, who had already taken down two Top 10 players, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Alex de Minaur, on his way to his first Masters 1000 final.

Footballer Boupendza Falls To Death

There was also some sad news for football fans, especially Africans, during the week. That’s because Gabonese forward Aaron Boupendza is dead! The 28-year-old fell from the 11th floor of a building in China. But the exact reason for his death is still being investigated. His death has continued to trigger conversations after his club, Zhejiang FC, played a league game days following his passing.  

NPFL’s Hammer Lands On Nasarawa United

Meanwhile, in Nigeria, Nasarawa United were slammed with a ₦6 million fine and banished to Gombe State for their home matches following an attack on a Plateau United player.

The Plateau United player Vincent Temitope was assaulted, leading to cuts on his neck, after some Nasarawa United supporters attacked him in a Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) game on Sunday. But Nasarawa United have denied any wrongdoing in the incident.

NFF Says Not Owing Late Christian Chukwu

Still in the country. The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) says contrary to reports, it is not owing late Super Eagles coach and captain, ‘Chairman’ Christian Chukwu.

Chukwu died last Saturday, with speculations rife that the football body owed him some salaries. But the NFF has denied the allegations, saying, “There is no record in the NFF of any outstanding indebtedness to ‘Chairman’ Christian Chukwu. ”

CONCACAF Rejects 64-Team World Cup Proposal

On the global scene, the proposal for the 2030 World Cup to feature 64 teams received a significant setback with CONCACAF President Victor Montagliani rejecting the idea.

The opposition of Montagliani, who heads the confederation for the 41 member associations in North and Central America and the Caribbean, follows similar stances taken by UEFA and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).

U-20 AFCON Set For Kickoff

In the meantime, all is now set for the U-20 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON). The competition, formerly known as the African Youth Championship (AYC), will take place from April 27th to May 18th, 2025, in Egypt.

Nigeria are in Group B of the tournament alongside Tunisia, Kenya, and Morocco. The Flying Eagles begin their campaign against Tunisia on May 1 and have already pencilled down the list of players for the championship.

Modric Becomes Swansea Co-Owner 

Meanwhile, Real Madrid and Croatia midfielder Luka Modric has joined Swansea as an investor and co-owner. The 39-year-old Croatia captain has spent the past 13 seasons with Real Madrid, helping them win six Champions League titles after a brief spell at Tottenham earlier in his career.

Badmus Okikiola, popularly known as Portable, has knocked out his opponent, Darlington Okoye, aka Speed Darlington, in a celebrity bout on Saturday morning.

Tagged ‘Chaos in the Rings’, the fight to the finish was held in Lagos as Portable was seen displaying incredible boxing skills.

The two celebrities were seen throwing punches at each other, as the controversial singer defeated his opponent by technical knockout.

The fight has since left Darlington with an injured right wrist.

Despite rumors linking him to a return to management at Real Madrid, Jurgen Klopp’s agent said on Friday. “Very happy” in his current position at Red Bull.

In January, the former Liverpool manager took over a number of clubs, including RB Leipzig, the New York Red Bulls, and Bragantino in Brazil. He became Red Bull’s global head of soccer.

Real Madrid’s quarter-final defeat this week at Arsenal in the Champions League has sparked rumors that Carlo Ancelotti will leave at the end of the season.

Klopp is one of the names the Spanish giants want to fill in the Bernabeu dugout, according to German media.

His agent Marc Kosicke responded to questions about the rumors, saying Klopp, 57, was enjoying his new job.

Kosicke told Sky Deutschland, “Jurgen is very happy with his new role with Red Bull.”

Zsolt Low, the coach of RB Leipzig, said he “could not imagine” Klopp moving to Real Madrid, adding that the German was “very happy in the job.”

Klopp’s impact was praised by Low, who claimed that he had demonstrated his ability to bring a group of 40, 50, and 60 people together.

He adds “unprecedented value” to his expertise, personality, and energy.

Klopp left each top-flight club on his own accord, which is unusual for a top-flight manager to do in a 23-year career with Liverpool, Borussia Dortmund, and Mainz.

Low said, “He’s given 100 percent, no matter where he’s been,” adding that he’s stayed and completed the job no matter where he is. He values a clean exit, so it’s important.

Pep Guardiola, the manager of Manchester City, claimed that motivation to qualify for the Champions League next year comes from being forced to watch the final stages of the competition from his sofa rather than his couch.

For the first time since the 2012-2013 season, City dropped out of the play-off round to Real Madrid in February.

Guardiola failed to make it to the last 16 for the first time in his managerial career, but he enjoyed the spectacle this week as Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain, Barcelona, and Inter Milan all secured spots in the last four.

Guardiola praised his team’s performance on Friday, saying “they’ve been good games”. It serves as a motivation. To qualify for the Champions League, it is not a bad thing.

“Hopefully next season we can compete with the major clubs in Europe and do so in a better way than we have this year.”

Havertz Could Make A Champions League Remark:

In a fight to finish first in the Premier League, City and City face a 15th consecutive year of champion football.

With six games to go, Guardiola’s men are still one point ahead of Chelsea and Aston Villa.

Despite the team’s unprecedented four successive Premier League titles, Guardiola acknowledged that the results could have been much worse for his side following a drastic drop in their standards this year.

He continued, “We could be in a very lower position in the Premier League.”

“We are currently fifth, but some say we could be 11, 12, or 13 or 14. I’m confident in everything. We’ve been bad, but that’s up to us.

For City’s Saturday trip to Everton, Erling Haaland, John Stones, Nathan Ake, and Ederson are still out.

However, they might welcome back Manu Akanji as their first guest this month while Phil Foden, who suffered a knock, was unable to play last weekend’s 5-2 victory over Crystal Palace.

Mikel Arteta, the manager of Arsenal, stated that he would bet on Kai Havertz’s speedy recovery from a hamstring injury to return before the end of the season.

After having surgery on a foot injury sustained during a warm-weather training camp in Dubai in February, the German international had initially been ruled out of the campaign.

With a famous 5-1 aggregate victory over Real Madrid, Arsenal made the Champions League semi-finals for the first time since 2009 by surviving the losses of Both Havertz and Gabriel Jesus.

INCLUDE   To reach the Europa League semi-finals, Man Utd defeated Lyon in a thriller.

Havertz’s speculation cooled as rumors that he might face Paris Saint-Germain in the final four.

However, if Arsenal reach the Munich final on May 31, he is expected to be there.

For the semi-finals, please? That is too close, in my opinion, Arteta said.

However, if I have to wager on him being available sooner than expected, I’d say, “Yes.”

Every day, he is pushing everyone in the gym, and I don’t think you can hold him back. ”

Arsenal’s European run has slammed the prospect of their Premier League title challenge slipping away.

For the third straight season, the Gunners are on track to finish second.

With only six games left, they are only 13 points clear of Liverpool.

If Liverpool defeats Leicester and Arsenal defeats Ipswich, which is in trouble, the title could be sealed as early as Sunday.

Arteta is keen to prevent that happening, and the league’s Champions League eligibility for the upcoming season is not yet known.

The Spaniard emphasized the possibility of Liverpool winning the league on Sunday, adding, “We will make sure that we win the game and that doesn’t happen.”

We must step up and begin to win the games. ”

Enzo Maresca, the club’s owner, said he still has the backing of the club despite the growing unease among the Blues’ fans.

The players’ boos that came after Legia Warsaw’s 2-1 quarter-final and second-leg defeat overshadowed their bid for qualification for the Conference League semifinals on Thursday.

Following a five-game winning streak, Chelsea have also fallen to sixth place in the Premier League.

When asked if he felt backed the club’s hierarchy, who have fired three managers at Chelsea in less than three years, Maresca responded, “Absolutely yes, no doubt.”

Havertz Could Make A Champions League Remark:

We have been playing in the Champions League almost the entire season. A semifinal of the European competition is underway. So why do we need to make changes right away? I have no doubts about our actions or our approach.

We faced setbacks like Legia, but for different reasons, I believe this strengthens our position in the future. ”

Reece James, the team’s captain, claimed that Legia’s performance at home to Chelsea had “disrespected” the Conference League following last week’s first leg, winning 3-0 in Poland.

Because of the first result, we tried to play the game the wrong way, I believe he was correct, Maresca said.

He probably is correct in what he said. He sort of introduces us to the changing area. ”

James was earlier criticized for his lack of leadership abilities, and Maresca claimed the England right-back was now acting as a role model.

In an effort to get more from him, I simply targeted this one. And now, the Italian claims, he is also succeeding in leadership.

At least you have to try to build some leaders when you don’t have a leader, he says. Reece is currently performing well. There are two or three players who are putting forth efforts to assist the others. ”