Champions League Quarter-Final Overview: Manchester City vs Liverpool

The second game featuring a team with optimistic comeback hopes will feature a recently shaken Manchester City side against an offensively potent Liverpool side looking to continue their wonderful Champions League campaign into the semi-finals. Liverpool played on the front foot magnificently and took the game to Manchester City in the first leg. With the famous Anfield crowd behind them, Klopp saw his team score 3 first-half goals to now take to Manchester. Salah and Firmino were among some of the key men rested at the weekend during the 0-0 Merseyside Derby. Pep will be expecting his side to bounce back after two consecutive defeats. At halftime of the Manchester Derby at the weekend, after having rested some key players, Pep would have felt good about his side’s chances of overturning their first-leg deficit. Manchester United had other plans, however, and losing 3-2 from a 2-0 position could not have helped Manchester City players’ confidence. Pep will know that one away goal from Liverpool will mean that his side will need 5 goals to win and go through. It is a tall order, but expect to see Manchester City take the game to Liverpool in this second leg.

Key Match Points

• Liverpool historically have experience in Champions League, but will be hoping to make the most of their first quarterfinal appearance since 2008-09. Interestingly enough, Liverpool have never won an away European game against an English club.
• The Liverpool and Manchester United games were the first time in Pep’s career that his side have conceded three goals in consecutive matches.
• Pep has won only 5 of his last 24 Champions League games away from home. 9 defeats and 10 draws. 27 goals for and 32 against.
• Scoring will most likely not be a problem for City, however, keeping a clean sheet will be paramount to any comeback hopes, although last season Barcelona did the impossible and defeated PSG even after conceding an away goal.
• Liverpool
  have failed to score in only four of their 23 away matches this season. Salah will hope to have recovered from a groin injury and rejoin Firmino in the starting XI.

Champions League Quarter-Final Overview: AS Roma vs Barcelona

The first game featuring a team with optimistic comeback hopes will feature a battered Roma side against a Barcelona side that has continued to maintain their consistently good form into the business end of the season. After a comprehensive 4-1 first leg victory in the Camp Nou, Barcelona have one foot in the semi-finals. Barring a complete collapse in Rome, Valverde will keep their treble hopes alive. Messi will come into this second leg in scintillating form after scoring a hattrick at the weekend in a 3-1 victory against Leganes. Roma, on the other hand, will be looking to bounce back from consecutive defeats after losing 2-0 to Fiorentina at the weekend in Serie A. History will not be on Roma’s side, however, with the Italians having lost their last four matches in the quarterfinals. Barcelona, meanwhile, will be looking to advance to the semi-finals after having lost last season to Juventus at this stage of the competition.

Key Match Points

• Barcelona are the only team still unbeaten in La Liga. Messi looks to be slowly regaining his fitness after sitting out both Argentina games during the international break.
• Suarez scored his first Champions League goal in one year in the first leg. With Coutinho cup-tied, Suarez and Messi will again be the key attacking players in this second leg.
• Dzeko will hope to inspire a comeback for his Roma side, but they have been quite shaky at home this season with seven defeats being suffered in the Stadio Olympico.
• Cengiz Ünder is in Roma's roster for the second leg, as he did not feature in the first. Can he provide a spark for the Romans?

USA Women 4-2 Mexico Women

The USA team was on the front foot early on in the match as Mallory Pugh scored on the 3rd minute in an open net after she received a pass from the left by Megan Rapinoe which attracted the attention of the goalkeeper who left the goal empty. Mexico responded 9 minutes later through Monica Ocampo who scored from a difficult angle to make it 1-1. Monica Ocampo then turned provider for Kiana Palacios’ goal on the 25th minute. USA scored the second shortly after with Horan finishing off Rapinoe’s cross. 25 minutes down and there were 4 goals already. Who said that goals galore can only be seen in the men’s league only? The USA ladies learnt from their mistakes early on in the match of giving away the lead and adjusted their game in order to make sure they end the match with a win. Lloyd scored the third for USA and Morgan scored the fourth. The two teams went into the break with USA leading 4-2 and both teams made many changes in a bid to try and win the match. Rapinoe, who was the best player on the day scored USA’s fifth goal as she took a 35 yard shot that went in on the 64th minute. She also crossed in for Morgan to score again the 6th and final goal of the match. That was all for the match.

Madrid derby ends in a draw

Not much was expected in this Madrid derby as both teams have almost conceded the La Liga title to Barcelona who lead the table with 79 points and Real Madrid with 64 points after the derby match. There was little fight in the teams to make the derby interesting as both teams have their eyes set on their second leg clashes in the UEFA Champions League and Europa League. Nonetheless, Zidane called on Ronaldo to start the match in a much rested squad that saw players like Mateo Kovacic, Bale and Vazquez make the first 11. Both teams looked off and the match did not really feel like the derby as the levels of intensity was a little bit lower than expected. The first half reflected the poor energy levels of both teams and it is no surprise that it was goalless. Cristiano Ronaldo then scored for Real Madrid on the 53rd minute. The Portuguese forward scored a volley from a Gareth Bale cross that found him at the far post. This goal means that Ronaldo has scored 24 goals in his last 15 matches. What a turnaround in form for a player who was starting to be regarded as finished. His celebrations were shortened as Antoine Griezmann scored for Atletico just 4 minutes later. Ronaldo was taken off by Zidane who did not want to his star man to get injured in a match that was not as important as it should be. Both teams found opportunities to win it as Varane’s effort and Ramos’ freekick was clawed out by Oblak while Costa also saw his shots saved by Navas. This result means that Barcelona have edged closer to winning the La Liga title with a 11 point advantage with just 7 games remaining. It’s all in your hands Barca.

Arsenal win 3-2 against Southampton

The Arsenal side that has been largely disappointing this season conceded a goal on the 17th minute. Mustafi was at fault for not paying attention to Shane Long behind him who ran ahead of the defender and pocked the ball into the back of the net to give an early lead to the visitors. Petr Cech was furious at the defender for sleeping in the match and the gunners required their star signing to save them. Pierre Emerick Aubameyang scored next in the match to bring the teams level on scores. This goal means that the striker has scored 6 goals and provided 1 assist in the 7 games that he has played in ever since joining Arsenal in the winter transfer window. This is a record matched by no other player in the history of the club. Indeed, it is a great start for the African player. Danny Welbeck followed that up with a fine goal for himself when he cut inside from the left and scored a deflected shot past the Southampton goalkeeper. Both teams created opportunities to score more before and after the break. Charlie Austin was brought on from the bench and was met by Cedric’s cross to score for Southampton just 2 minutes after coming on. Welbeck squandered an opportunity to score his second of the night when he was set up through on goal with a pass from Wilshere which he blazed over from less than 3 yards out. He finally redeemed himself as he scored Arsenal’s third on the 81st minute by heading in Iwobi’s cross. The match saw some controversial decisions as Stephens got a red card on the 92nd minute for a clash with Wilshere which saw him take down the Arsenal man to the floor. Elneny also got his marching orders a minute later for shoving Cedric. This result means that Arsenal have closed the gap on Chelsea to just three points as the blues drew 1-1 against West Ham United.

Messi scores a hat-trick against Leganes

Many Barcelona fans were probably angry when they heard that Messi was in the starting line up to face Leganes. This is not because the player is off form or that they do not like him. In fact, they love him too much to care for his fitness and wanted the coach to allow him a breather especially considering the number of crucial games that Barcelona are still yet to play. This concern is valid but coach Valverde had other ideas. He did not want to compromise on achieving the record which his club was set to equal if they brought their A game. Messi scored a sublime freekick on the 27th minute to open the scoring for Barcelona. This is his sixth goal that he scored from a free-kick this season. The Argentine magician was on the score sheet again 5 minutes later from a pass by Coutinho. 2 goals were enough before the break before Leganes came from the break with a hunger for scoring. They gave Barcelona a scare as their impact substitute, Claudio Beauvue, came close to scoring when he headed over from a good position. Pique also squandered an opportunity from close-range to make it three as he blazed his shot over the top. El Zhar’s goal on the 68th minute looked like it was going to spoil the record for Barcelona with the way they were playing in the second half. Messi then later on made sure that there wasn’t going to be any comeback from Leganes as he controlled Ousmane Dembele’s pass before scoring his 39th goal in all competitions. Do you think Valverde should have rested Messi in this match?

Bayern win 6th straight Bundesliga Title

Bayern Munich thrashed Augsburg 4-1 to claim their sixth successive Bundesliga title. The German champions were disappointed by an early own goal by Sule which gave the advantage to Augsburg in the 18th minute. Before Augsburg’s confidence grew, Joshua Kimmich took up the creative responsibility and crossed in for Tolisso who scored in the 32nd minute. From then on, it was all Bayern as Kimmich also provided a goal for James Rodriguez only six minutes later. Arjen Robben’s half-volley and Wagner’s header confirmed the victory for the side and sparked the title-winning celebrations on a day that Frank Ribery was born. This victory means that Bayern Munich have now won 27 Bundesliga titles and this is the fourth title for coach Jupp Heynckes, who came out of retirement to replace Ancelotti late last year. Bayern have undeniably dominated the domestic league. This makes one wonder what their rivals are doing and if they are doing enough to stop this consistent team. Borussia Dortmund their closest rivals for years have recently fallen backward and are not as competitive as they used to be. It seems as if they have given up considering that most of their talented players and that of the rest of the teams in the league, are just lured to the German champions which weakens them.

Manchester United earn bragging rights by defeating City 3-2

The result means that Manchester City’s party has to be postponed. Manchester City were looking to be confirmed the champions of the 2017/18 season after defeating Manchester United on Saturday. Only a win would do on the occasion and 30 minutes into the match, they were already 2 goals up and on-course to be the champions. Leroy Sane delivered in a fantastic ball that was met by the City skipper, Kompany who bullied Smalling and scored he opener past De Gea.  Gundogan scored the second just a couple of minutes later after fooling Nemanja Matic with a beautiful turn before picking the ball into the net. City probably thought they were going to run away with the win. Little did they know that Paul Pogba had something planned to spoil the party as he scored a brace moments after the restart. The game was level at 2-2 thanks to Pogba’s first goals against a top 6 team in the Premier League. Alexis Sanchez, who provided the second for the Frenchman, was at it again as he whipped in a pass that was volleyed home by Smalling and give United the lead in the match. Manchester City were denied a clear penalty late in the match after substitute Aguero came on and was crunched on the shin by Young in the box but the referee waved clear. The Argentine tried to leave a mark on the match with an effort that only required a world-class save from De Gea to stop it from entering. Raheem Sterling also squandered a glorious opportunity to level the matters in the derby which ended 3-2 to United. Paul Pogba went home with the man of the match award and this piled pressure on a City side that has a mountain to climb in reducing the 3-0 deficit in the UEFA Champions League Quarter-Finals.

The other derby played on the same day was not as entertaining as it ended in a goalless draw. Everton were made to wait for their first win against Liverpool in a longtime.

England Women vs Wales Women ends in a goalless draw

Phil Neville took over his first Qualifications tournament as the England boss and saw them draw against the leaders of the group. The two teams are vying for top spot in the World Cup qualifiers with only one team getting a guaranteed position at the 2019 World Cup Finals in France. Wales had the first attack of the match on the 8th minute as Rachel Rowe met the ball on the volley and Telford was there to parry the ball to safety. A minute later, the England defense was tested again from a corner kick and Lucy Bronze cleared the ball which looked like it had crossed the line. England had little in the match until Jordan Nobbs took a shot from 25 yards out. The ball looked destined for goal until Wales keeper, Laura O’Sullivan met it and pushed it onto the bar before it went out on the 33rd minute. The first half did not produce much after that and the teams went for a break at 0-0. Ellen Drive also tested the Wales goalkeeper on the 71st minute with a thunderous strike but the keeper was having none of it. Laura O’Sullivan was the clear man of the match with some fantastic saves to keep the Lionesses at bay.

Derby Weekend - Saturday: Merseyside Derby Preview Everton vs Liverpool

Liverpool face Everton in the Merseyside Derby on Saturday. The English Premier League clash between the two could not come at a better time for the Reds who are fresh from defeating Manchester City in the UEFA Champions League. The Liverpool team played their hearts out in that match which makes one wonder if they will have enough energy and drive for the match against their local rivals. First of all, the fans have to behave in the match otherwise there could be serious repercussions on the day. Liverpool are expected to lineup without their star forward, Mo Salah who is the current top goal scorer in the EPL with 29. The Egyptian genius was forced off the field with a suspected groin injury in their last match and his manager, Jurgen Klopp, has said that he will not risk playing the player if he is not 100% fit. The player has been recovering in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber. Adam Lallana, Joel Matip, and Joe Gomez are the other absentees from Klopp’s side. Danny Ings is looking likely to start the match which affords a well-deserved rest to Firmino.

Everton manager Sam Allardyce believes that the derby came at the right time and could be their opportunity to claim some bragging rights over a club that is focused on the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals. He plans on nullifying Liverpool attack. Everton are expected to have Idrissa Gana Gueye back to compete after missing the club’s last match against Manchester City last weekend. Ashley Williams also returns after completing a 3 match ban. The blues will be looking to get one over Liverpool after having only won 1 of their last 22 meetings with the club in the league. What’s your prediction of the early kickoff? Will Everton finally best Liverpool in the league after a long struggle?

Derby Weekend-Sunday: Which Real Madrid will show up against a resurgent Atletico

Los Blancos are now clearly one of the favorites to win the Uefa Champions League for the third time in a row after Cristiano Ronaldo helped them dismiss PSG 5-2 and also put them in position to qualify for the semi-finals in bicycle style, winning 3-0 at Juventus. However, the prospects have not been as exciting back home, after a slow start to the La Liga season that saw them fail to beat any of their main title rivals, losing 3-0 to Barcelona at home and drawing 0-0 with Atletico at Wanda Metropolitano. They now sit third on the log, four points adrift of Atletico and thirteen behind the Catalans. Their form has drastically improved, winning 8 of their previous 9 league games but the title is now realistically out of reach and a second place finish might save Zidane some blushes. Sunday’s derby will be what it has always been about, pride more than the points.

Real will face a tricky Atletico who are also fairly confident after putting themselves in a good position to qualify for the Europa League semi-finals after beating Sporting CP 2-0 on Thursday. Atletico might still be looking bag as many points as possible hoping that Barcelona might unlikely slip giving them second chance at the title. Diego Simeone’s men have won the three of the last eleven at the Bernabeu after having waited since 1999 to beat Los Blancos away from home.

Griezmann, Costa, Ronaldo, Bale or Isco? Who will draw first blood? Join the conversation in the comment box below.

Derby Weekend - Sunday: Chelsea out to settle two scores with West Ham

Seven games remain the 2017/18 English Premier League season. Time is running out for the Blues to book a Champions League spot by making it into the top four and the Hammers have to continue fighting tooth and nail in every single match to stay alive in England’s top flight. Realistically, top four might now be out of reach for Chelsea who sit in 5th, eight points behind Spurs who humbled them to a 3-1 defeat at the bridge, last timeout.

Heading into this match, it will be about two things for Chelsea; avenging their 1-0 loss at West Ham in December 2017 and secondly restoring some pride. They have fallen to several London opponents this campaign including Crystal Palace, Arsenal in the Carabao Cup and most recently Spurs. The Champions will need to make a statement and give the fans something especially now that a trophyless season might be dawning given that they will have to beat Spurs in the FA cup semi-final should they want a chance to get their hands on some silverware. Antonio Conte’s men will be boosted by the return of goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois and the Spaniard, Pedro from injury.

West Ham will be without Michail Antonio, who will miss the rest of the season following his injury in their 3-0 win demolishing of strugglers Southampton. The possible return of talisman Manuel Lanzini is, however, an exciting prospect for the Hammers fans.

Manager remarks:

“We have to try to do everything to continue to have the possibility to fight for a place in the Champions League. It won’t be easy, we have to be realistic, but at the same time we have to give all of ourselves. We must show pride, desire, will to fight until the end of the season - this must be our target now.”

— Antonio Conte

“We’ll go there and give them great respect but with a game-plan to bring points back here to West Ham. They have to win all their games as a top club so don’t think for a minute that they will switch off. We have to hope we catch them on an off-day and we perform well. If we do, I hope we can give them a really good game.”

— David Moyes, West Ham Manager

Abroad: Lacina Traore speaks out on false identity allegations

The Monaco forward, on loan at Amiens, has been involved in a spat with the president of Etoile Sportive d'Abobo (ES Abobo) over claims that he had changed his name and reduced his age in order to jump ship into Europe. Kone claimed that Lacina was called Traore Menene when his Ivorian club signed him in 2005 and that his real age is 29, not 27 as the records say. He also added that ES Abobo should receive cuts of the transfer fees he has accumulated whenever he switched clubs.

The Ivorian forward nicknamed the “Big Tree” for his 203cm body frame has hit out at the outspoken Kone, denying coaching relations with the “prosecutor” though recognizing his relevance in the West African nation football world. Traore also added that his family back in Ivory Coast would visit the ES Abobo boss though his solution to fix the situation is to have his lawyers deal with this in court once the season is over. He remains level headed and hopes for a strong Ligue 1 finish for Amiens.

“He’s tarnishing the honor of my family. My parents call me all the time. They want to go and meet him, but that’s not the solution. The law will speak. And the truth will win out. I’ll never accept what he says. He can’t say I’m someone I’m not.”

— Lacina Traore

It’s not uncommon to hear reports of African players reducing their ages to play more rewarding football abroad, but there’s no substantial evidence to validate or nullify the claims. What do you think of such reports? Join the conversation using the comment box below.

Lara Dickenmann leads Switzerland to a 1-0 win against Scotland Women

A well-organised Swiss side grinded out a 1-0 win against Scotland to make their perfect record of 5 wins in 5 matches so far. Switzerland are top of the group with Scotland in third and the race for top spot was up for grabs. Every team wishes for a captain fantastic like Sergio Ramos does for Real Madrid to come to the rescue in desperate times. In this match, the Swiss captain, Lara Dickenmann came through and scored the decider past Lee Alexander on the 32nd minute. Dickenmann almost scored the second in a match where the Scottish team struggled to break down their opponents.

Scotland coach Shelley Kerr had this to say after the match, “Switzerland are higher ranked than us, they’ve been to a World Cup before, so there are positives to take because we matched them in the second half.”

So who qualifies for the World Cup? There are two possible ways to make it to the tournament finals. First, there is an option of topping the group. These teams will be guaranteed a place in the 2019 World Cup tournament being hosted by France. Scotland’s chances of doing so are looking unlikely and they might need to consider the second option. The other option is a playoff for one final place by the 4 best runners-up.

Scotland will be hosting Poland on Tuesday and will have all this at the back of their minds. They cannot afford to lose focus on qualifying for the most prestigious soccer tournament.

What happened to Ben Arfa?

The French forward Hatem Ben Arfa is celebrating over a year without playing football ever since his fallout with the president of the club. The player was brought in from Nice on a Bosnian transfer after a stellar season which produced 17 goals in Ligue 1 and produced 6 assists. The 31 year old was pretty much in Unai Emery’s plans right until a joke he made angered his bosses. A joke to the Emir of Qatar about not being able to get in contact with President AL Khelaifi placed the player in hot soup and the president swore that the player would not set foot in the Parc De Prince again wearing the PSG colors. His manager was forced to just accept the players fate because he also is employed and holds no power in such decisions.

The player then shared a picture of himself on his birthday with a caption which read, “Here goes to one year without football. This calls for celebration.”

He’s now counting down to the day he leaves the club when his contract expires this June and he just can’t wait. The player has also turned down some offers from clubs in Europe in exchange to stay at PSG and collect his weekly salaries which proves that he is somehow paying back to the harsh decision of not paying him. He is believed to be planning on buying pizza for the whole squad as he squanders the last pennies of the club that have damaged his career. Do you think that both parties have been mature in dealing with this situation? Drop your thoughts below

Ozil artistry saw Arsenal beat CSKA Moscow by 4 goals to 1

A master class from Ozil stunned the Russian side in the first leg of the Quarter-Final clash between the two teams. The artistry of the German was the highlight of the match as we were at the heart of almost all the action that led to goals for the Arsenal side. Arsenal started well in the match and managed to score early in the first half with a goal from Ramsey in the 9th minute. This came 2 minutes after the player put the ball in the net but was correctly ruled offside as Ozil, the man who found him in the box, was just offside before squaring for the Welshman. CSKA Moscow were having none of this as they replied with a beautifully taken free kick from 25 yards out by Golovin in the 15th minute. Game on, it was. About ten minutes later, Ozil found himself in the box and was brought down before he could pull the trigger. The resulting penalty was converted by Lacazette who recently returned from injury. Ozil was at it again when he provided a dinked pass to Ramsey who lifted himself up and flicked past Akinfeev. A 2 goal advantage for Arsenal and the home side were not satisfied. Mesut Ozil got to the byline and pulled the ball back for Lacazette to finish his second of the night from 15 yards out. This meant that Arsenal went into the break with a 4-1 lead. Ramsey found other opportunities to score the third but spared them and one curler hit the far post in a match that was dominated by the Arsenal side. Wenger’s men have started to play beautiful football again. Can they replicate this performance in the away leg and qualify for the next round?

On the same night, Atletico Madrid played against Sporting Lisbon and ran away with a 2-0 win courtesy to goals from Koke and Griezmann.

Lazio won 4-2 against Salzburg with Lulic, Parolo, Anderson and Immobile scoring a goal apiece while Berisha and Minamino scored the two for the away side.

Timo Werner scored the decider for RB Leipzig in their match against Marseille which leaves the clash very open and up for grabs in the return clash.

Abroad: Naby Keita earns new nickname at Die Rotten Bullen

The Guinean’s time at German side, Red Bull Leipzig is fast expiring while his popularity is fast growing. The Syli Nationale player was once again the star of the Die Rotten Bullen show as they dispatched Hannover 96 by 3-2 away from home. Naby Keita’s consistent performances have won him hearts and earned his nine-year-old team some money when they agreed a transfer deal understood to be in the region of £66 million with Liverpool in August 2017.

The story coming from German is that Bundesliga has given him a new nickname with the aid of autocorrect.

“Thanks to the magic of autocorrect, Naby Keita has earned the nickname ‘Baby Keith”

— Bundesliga official twitter account

From now onwards, fans are expected to shout the 23-year-old’s nickname whenever he touches the ball, starting the UEFA Europa League first leg Quarter-Final match, where they beat Olympique Marseille by a goal to nothing.

Can you imagine how Liverpool will line up next year, with the African connection of Salah, Mane, and Keita in their ranks?

Monaco draw brings PSG closer to Ligue 1 Title

Ligue 1 defending champions Monaco, drew 1-1 against Stade Rennes. Gnagnon scored the opener for Rennes on the 20th minute and his celebrations were made shorter by a quick comeback from Monaco who scored through Lopes 9 minutes later. Rennes continued to dominate the game and almost found a winner when Benjamin Andre headed against the post as well as Hunou heading his effort wide off the target. This result means that Monaco have failed to reduce the distance between them and rivals Paris Saint-Germain in the season run-in. PSG have now been gifted the opportunity to win the Ligue 1 this weekend if they manage to defeat their opponents Saint-Etienne provided that Monaco lose against Nantes. It is just a matter of time before PSG win it because they were the favorites from the go. Monaco lost their teenage prodigy Mbappe to PSG as well as other crucial first team players who moved across Europe. Their rivals gained from Monaco’s loss as they lured their forward as well as adding a world class player in Neymar to their team. The only disappointment for them is their shambolic Champions League campaign which ended in an early exit. Will they learn from that experience and provide a good challenge in the next? Tell us why you think so in the comment section below.