Sports

Mbappe hat-trick as Real Madrid knock Man City out of Champions League Kylian Mbappe struck a brilliant hat-trick for Champions League holders Real Madrid in a 3-1 win over Manchester City on Wednesday, February 19, helping Los Blancos reach the last 16 with a 6-3 aggregate victory. Pep Guardiola's side suffered a painful early exit without laying a glove on the completely dominant 15-time record winners until Nico Gonzalez tapped home in stoppage time. French superstar Mbappe broke the deadlock with a lob in the fourth minute and netted a fine second after combining with his attacking partners as the…

Bayern München left it late on Tuesday, February 18, to beat Celtic and book their place in the UEFA Champions League round of 16, where they will be joined by Benfica, Club Brugge and Feyenoord after they also won their knockout phase play-off ties on Tuesday. UEFA.com rounds up all the action. Bayern Munchen 1 Celtic 1 (Agg 3-2): Alphonso Davies struck in the fourth minute of added time to edge Bayern through at the expense of Celtic, who looked for more than half an hour like taking this tie to extra time. After missing four first-half chances, Nicolas Kühn…

By our reporter Following the successful completion of zonal preliminaries, the Barrister Nyesom Ezenwo Wike Renewed Hope School Sports Festival 2025 enters the conference stage. This was disclosed by Director, Department of School Sports, Education Secretariat (equivalent of Ministry of Education), Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), Malam Hashimu Adamu. Speaking at the end of the first phase, Adamu explained that the next stage will resume on Tuesday, February 18, 2025, with two major conferences. According to him, they are the Western Conference, featuring teams from Abaji, Kwali, Gwagwalada, and Tunga Maje with thevenue being Government Secondary School (GSS), Gwagwalada; and…

Manchester City versus Real Madrid lived up to its top billing on Tuesday, February 11 with fireworks from both teams as they battled for a spot in the UEFA Champions League Round of 16. Jude Bellingham delivered a 92nd-minute winner as Real beat City 2-3 away in a typically dramatic Champions League clash between the two sides. Erling Haaland broke his duck against Real Madrid with a brace but it was not enough for even a draw, as Brahim Diaz equalised against his former club with four minutes of normal time remaining, and Bellingham then slid in to turn the…

By Felix Durumbah with other reports Fans of English Premier League (EPL) champions Manchester City and defending Champions League kings, Real Madrid, across the world wait with bated breath as both giants clash today in the first leg of the first-ever knockout play-offs of the reformatted UEFA Champions League (UCL). Both teams found themselves in this 'strange' situation following their failure to make it straight to the Round of 16 knockout stage,after indifferent performances in the extended league stage which featured 36 teams. Under the new guidelines, only the first eight qualify directly for the Round of 16 while the…

Barcelona and Arsenal legend Thierry Henry claims Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola is ''not well mentally'' after shock split from wife Cristina Serra as Man City crisis continued with a 5-1 away loss to Arsenal weekend. Guardiola separated from Serra after more than three decades of marriage. This season has been particularly challenging for Guardiola, both professionally and personally. City have been plunged into a crisis of form and confidence, with their latest setback coming in the form of a humiliating 5-1 defeat to Arsenal. Despite doing just enough to make it through to the Champions League knockout stage play-offs,…

Manuel Neuer has signed a one-year contract extension that will keep him at Bayern Munich until the end of the 2025/26 season. Neuer, who is widely regarded as the greatest goalkeeper in history, joined Bayern from boyhood club Schalke in summer 2011. The new deal means he will remain at the record champions until past his 40th birthday. "I really enjoy playing football and want to remain a Bayern player," Neuer told the Bayern website. "I’m still hungry and am looking forward to another year at this special club. We’ve always had good talks. That’s a good feeling. It feels good and we’ve still…

The 2024/25 UEFA Champions League knockout phase play-off draw took place on Friday, January 31 in Nyon, Switzerland. Champions League knockout phase play-off ties: Club Brugge vs AtalantaSporting CP vs DortmundManchester City vs Real MadridCeltic vs Bayern MünchenJuventus vs PSV EindhovenFeyenoord vs AC MilanBrest vs Paris Saint-GermainMonaco vs Benfica What are the Champions League knockout phase play-offs? The knockout phase play-offs are new to the competition in 2024/25. While the top eight sides in the league phase qualify automatically for the round of 16, the teams finishing in ninth to 24th place kick off the knockout stages. They compete in…

By our reporter Reigning African Footballer of the Year, Nigeria's Ademola Lookman, has notched up another award. The Atalanta FC hitman scooped up his team's Goal of the Month award for December,2024. It is Lookman's first time of winning the award this season. One of the most feared strikers in Europe, his brilliant strike in Gian Piero Gasperini’s side's 3-2 UEFA Champions League defeat to Real Madrid on December 10, 2024 won him the award. After turning Madrid defender Lucas Vazquez inside the box, the speedstar fired an unstoppable shot past goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois. Lookman won 46% of the vote…

By Sylvia Kodilichukwu, Enugu The Federal Government (FG) and Enugu State Government have signed the host state agreement in respect of the 2026 National Sports Festival billed to hold in the South-East State. The agreement, which was signed by Director-General (DG) of National Sports Commission (NSC), Hon. Bukola Olopade, for the FG, and Governor Peter Mbah, for Enugu State, on Tuesday, has awarded the state full hosting rights for the 2026 edition of the National Sports Festival (NSF). Speaking at the signing ceremony at Government House, Enugu, Gov. Mbah thanked the Commission and other sports stakeholders for the confidence reposed…