FOOTBALL
Champions League Roundup: Real suffer shock, harsh refereeing hurts Milan, Messi scores
Sheriff Tiraspol produced the most fascinating story of the night as they emerged victorious against Real Madrid in their Champions League group stage tie, leaving the Santiago Bernabeu crowd shell-shocked.
Jasurbek Yakhshiboev headed the ball past Thibaut Courtois to put the Moldovan side ahead.
The Uzbekistan international almost made it 2-0 for Sheriff, but his effort missed the target by a whisker.
Real Madrid dictated the flow of the game most of the time, but a resilient Georgios Athanasiadis, who made 10 saves to win the man of the match award, kept them at bay.
Karim Benzema equalized for the home team in the 65th minute, converting a penalty.
Luka Jovic came close to sealing all three points for Real Madrid in the later stage of the match, but Sheriff had a fairytale ending to the night as Sebastien Thill scored the winner with one minute from regulation time.
AC Milan impress
AC Milan had a brilliant start to the match in front of an electrifying San Siro crowd.
Rafael Leao got Milan the lead in the 20th minute, shortly after Brahim Diaz was denied by the stretching legs of Jan Oblak at the Atleti goal.
But, two back-to-back yellow cards for Franck Kessie left the hosts with only 10 men to play.
The Ivory Coast international was penalized for his foul on Marcos Llorente, but it barely looked like a bookable offence.
Atletico Madrid capitalized on their one-man advantage and shifted the momentum of the game.
However, Milan’s dogged defensive display kept the score unchanged till the 84th minute before Antoine Griezmann fired in a brilliant volley to score his first goal for the club after returning from Barcelona.
In the last minute of stoppage time, Atletico Madrid was awarded a penalty because of Pierre Kalulu’s handball, and veteran Luis Suarez made no mistake to find the back of the net.
Messi’s 1st PSG goal
Lionel Messi scored the first goal in his Paris Saint-Germain career as the Parisians saw off a wasteful Manchester City side in a 2-0 win.
Before Messi scored an absolute stunner from the edge of the box in the 73rd minute, Idrissa Gueye grabbed the opening goal of the night early in the first half.
Bernardo Silva inexplicably missed a glaring open net chance in the 27th minute to restore parity. But, the midfielder could only hit the only crossbar and see Presnel Kimpembe kicking the ball away from danger.
Despite the final score, it were Manchester City who had the better chances of the match.
Lack of precision took the match away from Pep Guardiola’s men while PSG made them pay for their wastefulness with two exquisite counter-attack goals.
Liverpool on fire
Liverpool followed up their opening night win against AC Milan with a 5-1 hammering of Porto.
Mohamed Salah bagged a brace, his Senegalese colleague scored one, and Roberto Firmino marked his return from injury with another two.
Mehdi Taremi scored the only goal for the Portuguese giants.
Shakhtar Donetsk and Inter Milan played out a lifeless 0-0 draw in Kyiv.
Manor Salomon came close to scoring a fifth-minute goal for the Ukrainian side before Nicolo Barella struck the woodwork from 25 yards out.
Shakthar keeper Andriy Pyatov remarkably stopped Inter from snatching a late winner as he kept out a Stefan de Vrij header in the 87th minute minutes after flicking away a Joaquin Correa shot.
Ajax cruised past an injury-ridden Besiktas with Steven Berghuis involved in both the goals for the Dutch giants in their 2-0 victory.
Ajax went ahead in the 17th minute as Dusan Tadic broke into the Besiktas box with some nifty footwork and sent the ball in the path of Berghuis, who slotted the ball home.
Sebastien Haller was on the receiving end of a Berguis cross minutes before the break, and the former West Ham-man made it 2-0 for Ajax.
Belgian champions Club Brugge came from behind to pick up a sensational win against RB Leipzig.
Emil Forsberg set Christopher NKunku for the first goal of the match. Hans Vanaken made it 1-1 in the 22nd minute, and Mats Rits struck four minutes before the interval to make it 2-1 for Brugge.
Donyell Malen scored his first goal in Borussia Dortmund colours as BVB beat Sporting CP 1-0.
It was a welcome win for Marco Rose’s side, who were coming off of a 1-0 weekend defeat to Borussia Monchengladbach.
Georgina Rodriguez made a huge claim on the future of her husband and star player, Cristiano Ronaldo, in Football. In a brief interaction with a host recently, Rodriguez was asked about the time left for Cristiano to make an impact at the highest level. Georgina looked honest in her approach to the question of the host and claimed something the fans would not love to hear.
Georgina claimed that the Portugal star has maybe one year more from him at the highest level. She felt that Ronaldo might play two more years before retiring and not more than that. She was however not sure if he would play for just one or two years and added that the Al Nassr star could also play more than that.
Watch the video of Georgina Rodriguez here –
🚨🎙️| Georgina Rodriguez on Cristiano Ronaldo’s future at Paris Fashion Week yesterday:
“Cristiano one more year, then it’s over. Maybe two, I don’t know.”
(via @ArobaseGiovanny)pic.twitter.com/4dxw2j5DuC
— Pubity Sport (@pubitysport) March 3, 2024
“Cristiano one more year, then it’s over. Maybe two, I don’t know,” said Rodriguez in the little chat she had with the host. The video has gone viral on X and the fans have started sharing it on different platforms. Some of the fans feel that Georgina might be right, while others feel that she could be wrong, given the fitness and longevity of the star player.
Legacy of Cristiano Ronaldo
On the 5th of February, Ronaldo celebrated his 39th birthday. He is currently one of the oldest players in the world. In the past, players at this age would have retired way back. But the fitness and consistency of Ronaldo make him play the sport as long as he wishes. In his career so far, Ronaldo has won many major leagues for Portugal and league teams like Real Madrid, Al Nassr, and Manchester United.
With United, Portugal won some major leagues like the FA Cup and the Champions League. With Real Madrid, the 39-year-old won the leagues like the UCL, Copa Del Rey and La Liga. He won it three consecutive times for Real Madrid. For Portugal, Cristiano had a huge contribution to Portugal. He has the most number of appearances and goals for an international team and won the Euro 2016 with Portugal.
England and Real Madrid player Jude Bellingham was slapped with a Red Card during the La Liga game against Valencia. In the game, the home team, Valencia was leading by 2-0 after 30 minutes before Madrid scored in the injury time of the first half. Vinicius Junior opened the scoring for Madrid while Hugo Duro (27′) and Roman Yaremchuk (30′) scored a goal each.
In the 76th minute, Junior scored an equalizer to keep the team in the game. However, in the injury time of the second half, Bellingham was given a red card as he argued with the referee against calling it a full-time before he could score. In reply, the match official decided to slap the England international with a Red Card. The team coach Carlo Ancelotti wasn’t happy with the verdict as the Three Lions player was making a pass at the time.
Jude Bellingham verbally abusing officials and other footballers at the slightest provocation needs to be talked about more. It’s embarrassing he gets applauded by Real Madrid Fans.
Mason Greenwood should’ve allowed La Liga to deal with this simp. pic.twitter.com/ixYSw6YxaC
— Herman Facundo© (@hermanfacundo_7) March 3, 2024
“I think what’s just happened is unprecedented. It’s never happened to me,” Ancelotti told reporters.
“We had possession of the ball and the match should have been finished when Valencia had the ball.
“What bothers us is the red card for Bellingham because he didn’t say anything insulting. He was frustrated of course,” said Ancelotti, adding that Bellingham had used a common English swearword when telling the referee it was a goal.
We are annoyed with Jude Bellingham’s Red Card: Carlo Ancelotti
“We were annoyed with Bellingham’s red card. He didn’t say any insults. He said in English ‘it’s a f—ing goal,’ but he was just saying what we were all thinking … [The referee] allowed play to continue. I think he made a mistake.”
“[Bellingham] was clear in what he said,” Ancelotti added. “He was quite vehement [in his reaction] but that’s normal, after what happened. It wasn’t an insult, not at all.”
FOOTBALL
PL 2023-24: MCFC vs MUFC Dream11 Prediction, Playing XI, Fantasy League Today’s Captain, Vice-Captain, and more for Manchester derby
Super Sunday is set to witness the Manchester Derby in the Premier League 2023-24. The match between Manchester City (MCFC) and Manchester United (MUFC) is set to take place in Etihad Stadium, the home ground of Manchester City. The two teams have had a contrasting journey in the league till now. The fortunes of City changed ever since Pep Guardiola took over the club as the manager.
While the home side are placed in the second position in the points table currently, United are in the sixth place in the points table. In their previous encounter, City hammered Luton Town by 6-2 in the FA Cup. United have shown massive improvements in the last few weeks after not having a good start to their campaign. United were involved in a thrilling game where they beat Nottingham Forrest by 1-0 in their last game.
Both teams feature some of the best players in the world. The likes of Julian Alvarez, Erling Haaland, Marcus Rashford, Kevin De Bruyne, Bruno Fernandes, Casemiro, and others would be taking part in the match. Manchester City will start the match as the favourites, given their record in the ongoing league so far and the match taking place in their home. United with their improved record can challenge the home side.
MCFC vs MUFC – Match Details
Match – Manchester City (MCFC) vs Manchester United (MUFC), Premier League 2023-24
Venue – Etihad Stadium, Manchester
Date and Time – 3rd March 2024, 21:00 IST
Live Coverage – Star Sports Network and Disney plus Hot Star
MCFC vs MUFC – Head-to-Head
Both the teams from Manchester have a rich history in the sport. they have been up against each other in 191 instances. In as many games, Manchester United have been historically the better side with 78 wins to their name. City have managed to win 60 wins, as 53 games ended in a draw. In the last five games between the two sides in the Premier League, City have won four of the five games.
MCFC vs MUFC – Likely XI
Manchester City: Ederson, Walker, Dias, Ake, Akanji, Rodri, De Bruyne, Silva, Alvarez, Haaland, Foden
Manchester United: Onana, Dalot, Varane, Lindelof, Amrabat, Casemiro, Manioo, McTominay, Fernandes, Rashford, Garnacho
MCFC vs MUFC – Fantasy XI
Grand League Team
Goal Keeper – E Moraes
Defenders – M Akanji, K Walker, H Maguire
Mid Fielders – Kevin De Bruyne, B Fernandes, R Hernandez, Casemiro
Forwards – E Haaland (VC), J Alvarez, M Rashford (C)
MCFC vs MUFC, PL 2024 Dream11, Grand League (Source: X)
Head-to-Head Team
Goal Keeper – S Ortega
Defenders – M Akanji, K Walker, R Varane
Mid Fielders – K De Bruyne (C), B Fernandes (VC), B Silva, Casemiro
Forwards – E Haaland, J Alvarez, M Rashford
MCFC vs MUFC, PL 2024 Dream11, Head to Head (Source: X)
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