Football / News / Sports

Champions League draw: Liverpool face Real Madrid, Bayern Munich vs. PSG

Defending champions Real Madrid will face Liverpool in the Champions League round-of-16, a repeat of last season’s final, while Paris Saint-Germain will play against Bayern Munich.

Madrid are seeking to win a 15th European title in June’s final in Istanbul, having claimed a 1-0 win over Liverpool in last year’s final in Paris. Madrid also beat Jurgen Klopp’s side in the 2018 final in Kyiv.

“It’s a repeat of the last final, they’re two historic teams. It will be an electric, fascinating tie for the fans,” Madrid director Emilio Butragueno said.

“We’re the champions, and we want to defend our title, while being aware of the opponent we face. We’ll do everything we can to be in the quarterfinal draw.”

Meanwhile, PSG, who finished second in Group H, remain on the hunt for their first Champions League title and will have to go through familiar foes to do so, having last met Bayern in the 2020 final where they suffered a 1-0 defeat.

Elsewhere, Chelsea drew Borussia Dortmund, meaning forward Christian Pulisic will return to face his former club for the first time since leaving for Stamford Bridge in 2019.

Manchester City eased their way to top Group G were rewarded with a draw against RB Leipzig, while Tottenham Hotspur face AC Milan.

The round-of-16 first legs will take place on Feb. 14-15 and Feb. 21-22, with the second legs due to be held on March 7-8 and March.

The final is scheduled for June 10 at the Ataturk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul.

Champions League Round of 16 draw:

RB Leipzig vs. Manchester City

Club Brugge vs. Benfica

Liverpool vs. Real Madrid

AC Milan vs. Tottenham Hotspur

Eintracht Frankfurt vs. Napoli

Borussia Dortmund vs. Chelsea

Inter Milan vs. Porto

Paris Saint-Germain vs. Bayern Munich…

Football / Sports

Champions League group stage draw: Tough tests for Liverpool and Man City as Bayern and Barcelona meet again

The group stage draw threw up some stellar ties, with Bayern in a group with Barcelona and Inter, while Liverpool and Manchester City were given tough starts to their campaigns.

Liverpool and Manchester City face challenging autumns while Bayern will look to continue their recent dominance over Barcelona in a mouth-watering section that also includes Inter after the draw for the 2022/23 UEFA Champions League group stage was made in Istanbul, Türkiye on Thursday.

Champions League group stage draw

Group A: Ajax, Liverpool, Napoli, Rangers
Group B: Porto, Atlético, Leverkusen, Club Brugge
Group C: Bayern, Barcelona, Inter, Viktoria Plzeň
Group D: Frankfurt, Tottenham, Sporting CP, Marseille
Group E: AC Milan, Chelsea, Salzburg, Dinamo
Group F: Real Madrid, Leipzig, Shakhtar, Celtic
Group G: Man. City, Sevilla, Dortmund, Copenhagen
Group H: Paris, Juventus, Benfica, Maccabi Haifa

Teams were divided into four pots based on their UEFA club coefficients. One team from each of the pots was then drawn into the eight groups, A–H. There were a few caveats: no team could play a club from their own association, and sides from the same association were paired to ensure they play on different nights.

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Football / Sports

Sadio Mane Joins Bayern Munich After Six Years in Liverpool

Sadio Mane has just signed for Bayern Munich for a fee of approximately $33.6M USD with $9.1M USD in add-ons.

The striker claimed it was the right time for a challenge, stating, “I’m very happy to finally be with FC Bayern in Munich. We had a lot of talks and I felt the great interest of this big club from the start.” He adding that he was a big fan of Bayern Munich during his time at FC Salzberg.

Bayern Munich’s CEO, Oliver Kahn, said in an official statement that they were delighted to have signed Mane. “With his outstanding performances and his great successes at the highest international level over many years, there are very few players like him in the world. We’re sure that Sadio Mané will delight our fans in the coming years with his spectacular style of play. He’s ambitious and eager to win more titles. This is a very strong package. With players like him at FC Bayern, all the biggest goals are possible,” Kahn said.

The 30-year-old forward departs after spending six years with Liverpool. The attacker joined the Merseyside in 2016 from Southampton, in which he’s won the Premier League, the Champions League, FIFA Club World Cup, UEFA Super Cup, FA Cup, and Carabao Cup.

The Senegalean forward bid farewell to Liverpool and their fans, claiming that he sent a long text announcing his departure to everyone involved. “That was the plan from the beginning – to leave Liverpool in a very good way. It was fantastic in the club, in the dressing room. I am friendly with everybody, the coaching staff and even the kitchen staff, the ladies in the kitchen! So, for me leaving in a good way is so, so important – and [for] the fans as well,” Mane saod.

It might take some time to get used to for Liverpool fans as Mane leaves after scoring a total of 120 goals in 269 appearances. With just one year left on his contract, he departs shortly after the club-record signing …

Football / Sports

Toothless Barca crash out of Champions League with 3-0 loss at Bayern

Barcelona crash out of the Champions League following defeat at Bayern Munich, failing to make it past the group stage for the first time since the 2000-01 season.

For the first time in 20 years, FC Barcelona have failed to make it out of the Champions League group stage, being bounced from the competition by mighty Bayern Munich on Wednesday in a 3-0 defeat on Wednesday in Matchday 6. With Benfica beating Dynamo Kiev, Barcelona needed to go to Munich at get a win against a team that has thoroughly demolished them over the last few seasons, and they didn’t even come close to competing. Bayern led 2-0 at the break, and the 3-0 score was generous all things considered as Bayern dominated both the ball and the chances.

Thomas Muller scored the winning strike in the 34th minute on a goal-line-technology-confirmed goal before Leroy Sane produced a wonder strike from 30 yards out just prior to the break. Jamal Musiala made it 3-0 after the hour mark, slamming the door shut on any unlikely comeback the Spanish team had in mind.

The victory meant nothing to Bayern as they had already locked up first place in Group E, while Benfica qualified for the knockout stage as the runners-up. Barca will continue their European journey in the Europa League, a competition they haven’t participated in since 2004 when it was called the UEFA Cup.

1. This is a Barca in transition and Xavi isn’t to blame

This was Xavi’s second UCL game in charge as the boss of Barca, and he isn’t to blame. The months of atrocious planning and play with Ronald Koeman at the helm has led to this. While Barca have the name, they obviously don’t have the game. This is a club in full rebuild mode looking to reach some level of competence since Lionel Messi’s departure. This was not the desired result, obviously, but it does present them another route to quality for the UCL. That, of course, would require them to win the Europa …