Champions League: Chelsea Draw Barcelona In Round of 16

The 2017/2018 UEFA Champions League Round of 16 which took place in Nyon, Switzerland on December 11 at 11am GMT. is done and complete Real Madrid who are the current champions takes on French giant PSG, will this spell doom for Real Madrid or will it be PSG.

Russia 2018: Nigeria Ranked Twentieth Most Expensive Team

The Super Eagles of Nigeria have been ranked the twentieth most expensive team to participate in next year football tournament in Russia , according to Transfermarkt.co.uk .

Premier League Teams Make Champions League History

Its the first time in the history of the Uefa Champions League as five teams from the same country qualify for the knock out phase of the competition which was founded in the year 1955

Conte Hails Chelsea's Big Step Towards Title

Chelsea manager Antonio Conte said his side had taken an "audacious step" towards the Premier League title after defeating Manchester City by 2 goals to 1 at Stamford Bridge. The team returned to winning ways after experiencing a shock loss to Crystal Palace on saturday.

Conte's side are now seven points clear of second-place Tottenham Hotspur with eight games remaining to end the season.

Attending a Nigerian Boarding School Made Me Tough and Taught Me How To Fight Says British Boxer, Anthony Joshua

British Boxer Anthony Oluwafemi Olasheni Joshua was once on vacation to Nigeria; his country of birth along with his parents so as to teach him some discipline of the Nigerian Culture. The boxer is set to become Britain’s most successful fighter if he defeats Wladimir Klitschko of Ukraine in a WBA heavyweight match-up next month, once lived in a boarding school in Lagos for six months.

Joakim Noah Of New York Knicks Supended For Using Banned Supplement

The NBA has suspended New York Knicks center Joakim Noah for 20 games for violating the league's anti-drug policy, it was announced Saturday. The suspension will start when Noah -- who has not played since Feb. 4 and had arthroscopic surgery on his left knee Feb. 27 to remove loose fragments of cartilage or bone -- is "eligible and physically able to play" in either a regular season or playoff game, the NBA said. The suspension would then carry into the 2017-18 season. Noah was initially expected to miss the rest of the season, but New York will likely try to have him return as soon as possible to start the clock on the suspension.
The Knicks expected to evaluate Noah later next week to determine if he'll be able to return to the court this season. Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek told reporters in San Antonio on Saturday that Noah hasn't yet started on-court work. The Knicks have nine games remaining on their schedule following Saturday's game against the Spurs, so Noah will serve at least 11 games of the suspension next season.

Chicago Bulls Robin Lopez and Toronto Raptors Serge Ibaka Ejected After Trading Punches

Robin Lopez and Serge Ibaka get into an altercation during the third quarter, where they each exchange punches before being separated by coaches and teammates. Ibaka and Lopez are both ejected. (1:54)

Several punches were thrown when a pushing and shoving match broke out between Chicago Bulls and Toronto Raptors players with 3:58 minutes left in the third quarter of their game Tuesday.

The heated exchange appeared to begin when Raptors center Serge Ibaka snatched a rebound away from Bulls center Robin Lopez and Lopez took a swipe at the ball. Ibaka appeared to shove Lopez, and Lopez threw a punch at Ibaka, who retaliated by taking a swing at Lopez.

Ibaka and Lopez continued to go at each other, which led to several other players and assistant coaches from each bench joining the fray.

The two players continued to lob harsh words at each other and were separated by teammates. Both players were ejected for fighting.

"I like the fight but we have to be smarter than that," Raptors coach Dwane Casey said during the telecast.

Source: ESPN 

Spike Lee Puts NFL Teams On Blast For Not Signing Colin Kaepernick

Spike Lee celebrated his 60th birthday Sunday, (March 19) hosting a brunch with friends that included free agent quarterback Colin Kaepernick. The famous film director posted a photo of the two on Instagram calling out NFL teams for not signing the embattled 29-year-old, even pleading with his beloved New York Jets to give the former San Francisco 49er a look.

Colin Kaepernick helped get a plane to Somalia that’s expected to hold 60 tons of food to help end the famine. https://t.co/E78NFtfrlZ

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) March 18, 2017

The suffering New York Knicks super fan captioned, “How is it that there are 32 NFL teams and Kap is still a free agent? WTF! Smells mad fishy to me. Stinks to the high heavens.” Lee is right to question whether the NFL is blackballing the controversial quarterback out of the league, who recently said that he will indeed stand during the national anthem for the 2017 season.

Lee even went on to put the New York Jets brass on blast writing, “The New York J-E-T-S need a quarterback. Who is The J-E-T-S quarterback? Is My man Joe Willie Namath coming back? Crazy times we live in.” After the questionable move by Kap to opt out of his contract in 2017, he is currently looking for employment and the Jets (for the last 40 years) have been in dire need of a quarterback.

Even less accomplished quarterbacks such as Geno Smith and Journeyman Brian Hoyer have been gobbled up by other organizations before Colin, who led the Niners to the Super Bowl just four years ago. The Jets haven’t taken Spike up on his recommendation, yet and are considering other options at the helm, bringing in veterans such as 37-year-old Josh McCown and Chase Daniel’s 78 career pass attempts for visits, according to ESPN.

Spike finished his ranting caption calling out the NFL, “The question remains what owner and GM is going to step up and sign Colin so their team has a better chance to win? What crime has Colin committed? Look At the QB’s of all 32 teams. This is some straight up shenanigans, subterfuge, skullduggery and BS. Ya-Dig? Sho-Nuff. By Any Means Necessary. And Dat’s Da NoFunLeague Truth,Ruth.” Over the weekend, Kaepernick helped raise over $1 million to help the people of Somalia.

Source: http://www.vibe.com/2017/03/spike-lee-colin-kaepernick-nfl/

President Of Italian Football Giant, Juventus Denies Ties With Mafia

Juventus president Andrea Agnelli, who faces a grilling by an Italian anti-mafia commission, on Saturday angrily denied claims he knowingly met bosses of a feared organised crime group.

Agnelli was summoned after wiretap evidence from an ongoing investigation into the 'Ndrangheta linked staff at the Serie A champions to the Calabria-based criminal network.

It follows claims by an Italian football federation (FIGC) official that Agnelli and three other club officials maintained "contact" with an alleged 'Ndrangheta member.

In a Twitter message last week Agnelli said he had "never met mafia bosses".

And after receiving from federal prosecutors his summons to give evidence, Agnelli read out and then published a defiant statement of denial.

"As I said a few days ago, I have never met mafia bosses. At regular intervals, as you know, I meet with all different kinds of fans, whether they're ticket-holders or members of groups of ultras," he told media on Saturday.

"Ultra" groups are powerful and often have close ties with clubs.

"This is done in the full light of day and remains an integral part of a president's role at a football club.

"If some of these people are now regarded differently by the law, this is something which, at the time, was neither known by me or any staff members at Juventus.

"Some will argue these ultras and their leaders aren't whiter than white, and I agree. But in the eyes of the law, they were free men and for us were not subject to any kind of stadium restriction."

Agnelli was forced on the defensive two weeks ago when FIGC official Giuseppe Pecoraro told the Anti-Mafia Commission the Juventus chief and three other club officials had "contacts" with alleged 'Ndrangheta member Rocco Dominello.

"Dominello has relations with the management of Juventus for the organisation of tickets and season tickets," Pecoraro told media on March 8.

"For now, there have been no violations... because we're only talking about contacts between these people and staff at Juventus."

Prosecutors are investigating the 'Ndrangheta's reach in the Piedmont region, whose capital is Turin, and Dominello is alleged to have had privileged relations with Juventus officials in connection with the acquisition and distribution of match and season tickets.

Agnelli defended Juventus staff, saying they have been victims of "bias".

"This club, its employees and its members have nothing to hide or fear, that's why I am speaking today," Agnelli added, Super Sport reports.

Champions League, Europa League Draw Done As Real Madrid Face Bayern Munich

The UEFA Champions League and Europa League quarterfinal draw was held and concluded today at Nyon in Switzerland

The event which started at 12:00CET saw Real Madrid drawn against Bayern Munich for the 22nd time the both sides are meeting in the competition. Last time out was in the 2013/2014 Semi finals in which Real Madrid qualified on 5-0 aggregate.

#RMUCL
We will face @FCBayernEN in the Champions League quarter-finals.#HalaMadridpic.twitter.com/QA2X87BX8g

— Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadriden) March 17, 2017

@FCBayern #RealMadrid (12/04/17, 20:45)

#RealMadrid @FCBayern (18/04/17, 20:45)#RMUCL #HalaMadrid

— Real Madrid C. F. (@realmadrid) March 17, 2017


The Other Draws Also Saw Some Cracking Draws Been Made By UEFA

Leicester City the last champions of  England & the the only remaining team from England will come up against two time finalist Atletico Madrid. Leicester City who are seen as underdogs in the competition had earlier defeated Sevilla; also a spanish team to get into the quaterfinals.

Man City Crash Out of The Uefa Champions League As Atletico Goes Through

Man city crashed out of the Uefa Champions league after a 1 - 3 lose at the Stade Louis II.

City made four changes from the side that beat Middlesbrough 2-0 at the weekend with Aleksandar Kolarov, Willy Caballero, Fernandinho and Bacary Sagna all recalled to the starting XI. While Monaco was without top striker Radamel Falcao leaving Kylian Mbappe as Monaco's main man up front.

The hosts should have gone ahead five minutes when Kylian Mbappe raced clear only to be denied by a good Caballero save.

Within two minutes, however, Monaco had their lead as Benjamin Mendy jinked his way into the box and with plenty of time to pick his pass he played it across goal for Mbappe to score from close range.

The Blues task became harder still just before the half-hour mark as Monaco again raided down the left flank with the dangerous Mendy who fired a pinpoint cross for Fabinho to drill home from 10 yards.

With no shots on target and not so much as a sniff of a threat, City went in at the break with their Champions League destiny hanging by a thread.

The Blues came out for the second half and finally started to look more like the team that had slugged it out with Monaco in the first leg.

After dominating the early passages of play, Kevin De Bruyne threaded a ball through to Raheem Sterling but faced with the keeper at an angle he tried to set up the hard-working Sergio Aguero and the danger was cleared.

Minutes later David Silva was sent clear by Fernandinho and after holding the ball up, he played in Aguero who was denied by Subasic – surely the vital away goal had to come before long?

Then Leroy Sane waltzed into the box but went for goal instead of squaring the pass to Aguero and the chance again went begging.

 Finally, City’s dominance was rewarded as Sane again broke clear and this time he made no mistake, thumping the ball high into the roof of the net firmly past Caballero from a free-kick and suddenly, the hosts were in the box-seat.

Monaco, who had looked dead on their feet, found their second wind and the tie again started to ebb away from the Blues.

City tried to find a second goal, but the timing of the hosts' third and the earlier missed chances meant Monaco comfortably saw out the minutes that remained.

Atletico Madrid in the other game could only manage a draw against a resolute Bayer Leverkusen team

Leading 4-2 from the first leg, the Spanish side were largely unflustered as they held the German side at bay.

However, home keeper Jan Oblak did make two superb saves in quick succession to deny Julian Brandt and Kevin Volland.

Bayer keeper Bernd Leno produced two excellent stops of his own to tip away Angel Correa and Koke shots.

Last season's runners-up Atletico are the third Spanish side through to the quarter-finals, along with Barcelona and holders Real Madrid.

They are joined by Monaco, who beat Manchester City on Wednesday, with German duo Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, and English champions Leicester completing the draw, which takes place on Friday

Teams through to the Quaterfinals
Atletico Madrid	Barcelona
Bayern Munich	Borussia Dortmund
Juventus	Leicester City
Monaco	Real Madrid

Conference Call: Quality and character - Antonio Conte

It was a brilliant night for Chelsea as we booked an FA Cup semi-final date with Tottenham at Wembley as well as setting a new club record of 13 consecutive home victories.

Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United were beaten at Stamford Bridge for the second time this season, with N’Golo Kante scoring the only goal of the game – his second of the campaign – six minutes into the second half.

The game turned during the first half when Ander Herrera was sent off for the visitors after picking up his second yellow card following a foul on Eden Hazard, and from that moment on it was a case of whether or not United could hold firm.

Their resistance was broken in the 51st minute when Kante picked the ball up 30 yards out and drilled a low drive beyond David De Gea, who had made two brilliant saves in the first half.

There were chances to extend our advantage but one goal proved to be enough, leaving Antonio Conte extremely content.

‘We must be pleased because to arrive in the semi-finals and play at Wembley gives us great satisfaction, above all for the work we’ve been doing this season,’ said the Italian. ‘To play Man United is not easy, they have one of the best squads in the league and they showed that tonight.'

Conte was asked for his thoughts on Herrera’s sending off

‘My point of view is that we want to play football and for the first 25 minutes it was impossible for Hazard to play because he got a lot of kicks. I’m not crazy and it’s not only me who saw it.

‘He started [the game] receiving kicks and finished it receiving kicks, nobody can say that didn’t happen. A tactic doesn’t exist when you go to kick an opponent, it’s not football.

‘Sometimes when you play against players with great talent you try to intimidate them and the ref must protect these type of players.’

Conte praised Hazard for the strength of character he showed

‘He showed great character, strong character. After the first 25 minutes every player came short to receive the ball because they had fear of receiving a kick from behind. Eden showed great character, I know this. Some people may be surprised but I’m learning to know him very well this season and he’s shown me this.’

The Blues will now face Tottenham in the last four, a repeat of the 2012 semi-final

‘It’s another tough game against a strong team. It’s one win for us and one win for them [so far this season], for sure it will be an exciting game for the people and our fans. In this phase, Tottenham, Arsenal or Man City, the level is very high. We have to accept this. They’ve shown they are able to beat us but we’ve shown we are able to beat them, now we’ll see what the result is in the semi-final.

‘Now we have to rest tomorrow and think about the league. Stoke are playing very well, they are a strong team.’

Source: https://www.chelseafc.com/news/latest-news/2017/03/conference-call--quality-and-character.html

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Mourinho Reacts To Cup Defeat At Chelsea

Jose Mourinho is "proud" of his Manchester United players for their performance in Monday's Emirates FA Cup defeat at Chelsea, having played with 10 men for much of the quarter-final.

Ander Herrera was sent off on 35 minutes after being shown a yellow card for the second time but the Reds performed admirably in spite of the numerical disadvantage, both before and after Chelsea midfielder N'Golo Kante scored the only goal of the game in the second half.

Here are the main points from Mourinho's post-match interviews with BBC Sport and MUTV...

PROUD OF THE PLAYERS
"I want to say that I'm really proud of my players, I'm really proud of Manchester United fans. We have a very important match on Thursday and I want to rest a little bit to try to prepare the team as best we can for the Thursday match and that's the most important thing."

REACTION TO THE RED CARD"Everybody can analyse in different perspectives, everyone can do it in a different way, but I think we all watched the match until the red card. After the red card, then we can compare the decisions of these two yellow cards, in this case the second yellow card with ones that were not given. But I don't want to go in that direction. This season Mr Michael Oliver is a referee with fantastic potential, but with Manchester United we were a bit unlucky. In four matches, [we have had] three penalties and one red card in such an early moment of the game. But again I cannot change that, but I can try to interfere in the Thursday match [against Rostov] which is the match that is coming and now we have to rest."

TACTICS WERE WORKING AT 11 V 11
"The game was completely under control [before the red card]. They couldn’t find what is their game. I keep saying their game is counter attack and when a team closes the spaces in between the lines and closes the full-backs, they have no qualities to be dangerous. In the second half with 10 men, we started with two up and they had a very important role in our attacking football, but also defending and building up from the three central defenders. Azpilicueta started coming up and creating situations where they brought us back, but even so we were brilliant in the way we played. We had two very good chances, the Marcus  one was the biggest, and we were there. But I cannot be more proud of the players and the fans."

JUDAS IS NUMBER ONE
In the post-match press conference, Jose was asked about a section of Chelsea supporters who called him Judas during the game and the manager gave this amusing response: "They can call what they want, I am professional and I defend my club. Until the moment they have a manager that wins four Premier Leagues for them, I am the number one. When they have somebody that wins four Premier Leagues, I become number two. But until this moment Judas is number one."

REASON FOR NOT SHAKING CONTE'S HAND
“If I see him here I will shake it," the manager said when asked about not shaking the Chelsea manager's hand at full-time. "I didn’t because I thought my players deserved my action immediately and I our supporters also deserved our thanks to them, so it was that. I can promise you that if I see him out there I will shake his hand. I have nothing to speak with him at all, but to shake his hand, for sure I will do that.”

Source: http://www.manutd.com/en/News-And-Features/Football-News/2017/Mar/manager-reaction-Jose-Mourinho-opinion-on-Chelsea-1-United-0-in-FA-Cup-quarter-final.aspx