IN UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUES
Real Madrid star, Kylian Mbappe scored his 50th Champions League goal and Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham were also on target as the team secured a much-needed win against Atalanta.
The Spanish giants struggled in Europe this year, having lost three of its five games before Tuesday’s match in Italy.
Atalanta’s two goals were scored by Charles De Ketelaere and Ademola Lookman
The win moved Real up to 18th in the thirty-six team league and three points off the top eight, who qualify automatically for the knockout stage.
Atalanta, meanwhile, are ninth on eleven points.
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Liverpool is all but through to the Champions League last 16 after Mohamed Salah’s penalty clinched victory at Girona.
Arne Slot’s side was gifted a second-half spot-kick when former Manchester United and Everton midfielder Donny van de Beek caught Luis Diaz’s heel in the penalty area.
Salah dispatched his penalty with ease, sending Girona goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga the wrong way to net his 46th Champions League goal.
Returning goalkeeper Allison Becker made a handful of good saves as Liverpool continued its perfect start to this season’s Champions League, and the Reds would be assured of a top-eight finish, if the team get a point from its final two fixtures in the league phase.
The Reds face Lille away and PSV Eindhoven at home in January.
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Aston Villa produced an impressive performance to beat RB Leipzig three-two, but clinch a place in the Champions League knockout stages.
Ross Barkley’s deflected strike secured victory late on after Lois Openda and Christoph Baumgartner cancelled out goals from John McGinn and Jhon Duran.
Victory leaves Unai Emery’s side third in the standings with thirteen points after six games and in a strong position to finish in the top eight and qualify directly for the last 16.
Aston Villa will travel to Monaco on 21st January before wrapping up its league phase campaign at Villa Park against Celtic on 29th January.
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Bayern Munich came from behind to thrash Shakhtar Donetsk five-one and boost its chances of reaching the Champions League last sixteen.
Michael Olise scored a brace, Konrad Laimer, Thomas Muller and Jamal Musiala scored a goal each for Bayern Munich, while Shakhtar’ only goal was scored by Brazilian forward Kevin.
Bayern has moved up to eighth in the standings, with Feyenoord and Slovan Bratislava still to come in January.
Shakhtar sit 27th and round off its campaign against Brest and Borussia Dortmund next month.
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Paris Saint-Germain has claimed a comfortable three-nil victory at Red Bull Salzburg to record its first win in the Champions League since September.
Goncalo Ramos, Nuno Mendes and Desire Doue scored a goal each for PSG.
Victory moves PSG up one place to 24th in the standings, a position which would see the team through to the play-off phase and offers hope of playing knockout football in the Champions League for a 13th successive campaign.
PSG still have Manchester City and Stuttgart to play in January.
Salzburg remain 32nd with just one win from its six outings and close out their campaign against Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid next month.
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Bayer Leverkusen star Nordi Mukiele scored a dramatic late winner as the team inflicted a first Champions League defeat of the season on Inter Milan.
The result means Xabi Alonso’s side leapfrog the Italians, moving second in the table behind Liverpool and into an excellent position to advance to the last sixteen automatically as one of the best eight teams.
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Celtic stretched its unbeaten Champions League run to four matches after securing another valuable away point against Dinamo Zargreb to leave progression to the latter stages in its grasp.
Brendan Rodgers’ side have now accumulated nine points, with a home tie against Young Boys to follow in January, followed by a trip to Aston Villa.
Against a Zagreb side struggling for form and hampered by an injury avalanche, Celtic sensed an opportunity and started confidently, controlling the ball for long spells, but they just could not open up its opponents.
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Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola says the team will be his final managerial job in club football before he maybe coaches a national team.
The former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss has won fifteen major trophies since taking charge of City in 2016.
The 53-year-old Spaniard was approached in the summer about the possibility of becoming England manager, but last month signed a two-year contract extension with City until 2027.
Guardiola did not indicate when he intends to step down at City but said he would not return to club football in the Premier League or overseas.
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Tottenham defender Cristian Romero has criticised the club’s board for a lack of investment following the disappointing four-three loss at home to Chelsea.
The Argentina international Romero said a lack of spending was seeing the club fall behind their rivals.
Similar runs of form have seen Spurs part ways with managers in recent years, but Romero believes the board should take the blame rather than Postecoglou.
The Australian is the fifth manager, including caretakers, that the 26-year-old has played under since arriving in 2021.
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Under-pressure Wolves boss Gary O’Neil retains the support of the club and will remain in charge despite the difficult situation facing the team.
There had been suggestions the 41-year-old’s job was in danger, with the Molineux club second from bottom of the Premier League.
Sources said the club’s hierarchy do not view the head coach as the problem and are committed to supporting him.
That includes in next month’s transfer window, when Wolves will look to sign a centre-back.
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Brighton has agreed to sign Paraguay international Diego Gomez from Major League Soccer club Inter Miami.
The 21-year-old midfielder will join the Premier League club when the transfer window opens on 1st January 2025.
Gomez started his professional career with Paraguayan club Libertad before joining Inter Miami, home of Lionel Messi, in July 2023.
Brighton said Gomez has agreed to join on undisclosed terms.
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Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta has dismissed talks that Gabriel Jesus will head back to Brazil in the January transfer window.
Jesus struggled to replicate his form in his first season for the Gunners.
The former Manchester City Star managed just one goal this season which was in the Carabao Cup against Preston.
There have been speculation of a possible exit for the striker but Arteta has quashed such talks.
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has warned peers it is not acceptable to use parliamentary procedures to try to block the Football Governance Bill as it passes through the House of Lords.
The strengthened legislation, which will establish a first independent regulator for the professional men’s game in England, was reintroduced by the government in October.
It remains at the committee stage in parliament, where members of the Lords have been discussing potential amendments for several days.
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IN NIGERIA
Flamingo’s head coach, Bankole Olowookere has selected FIFA World Cup scorers Shakirat Moshood and Harmony Chidi among a list of twenty players for the WAFU B Under-seventeen Girls’ Cup starting on Thursday.
There are also goalkeeper Christiana Uzoma, defenders Taiwo Adegoke and Ayomide Ibrahim, midfielder Faridat Abdulwahab, and forwards Peace Effiong and Mary Lucky Nkpa.
The Flamingos is in Group B of the two-week competition, alongside Niger Republic and Cote d’Ivoire, while hosts Ghana will play Benin Republic in group A, following the withdrawal of Burkina Faso.
Togo had earlier withdrawn from the tournament.
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Ghana’s Black Galaxies will take on Togo in a friendly at the Stade de Kegue, Lome on Wednesday ahead of their 2024 African Nations Championship qualifier against Nigeria.
The friendly is a vital part of the team’s preparation for the clash with their perennial rivals, Nigeria.
The team is expected to return to Accra after the encounter to intensify preparations for the crucial qualifier.
Ghana will host the first leg at the Accra Sports Stadium on Sunday, 22nd December, while the reverse fixture will hold at the Godswill Akpabio international Stadium, Uyo on Saturday, 28th December.
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Super Eagles star Ademola Lookman says playing for the senior national team was the turning point in his football career.
Despite his appearances in the aged-grade teams for England, he made his Super Eagles debut against the Black Stars of Ghana in a 2022 World Cup qualifying playoff.
Since then, the Atalanta winger has made twenty-eight appearances and scored eight goals for Nigeria.
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Super Eagles star Victor Osimhen is expected to be out of action for around two weeks due to injury.
Osimhen sustained a muscle injury in Galatasaray’s Turkish Super Lig clash against Sivasspor.
The Nigeria international would sit out at least three matches.
The former Lille star would miss Thursday’s UEFA Europa League clash with Malmo.
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Major League Soccer (MLS), Colorado Rapids has announced the signing of Super Eagles defender, Chidozie Awaziem.
Awaziem joined Colorado Rapids from another MLS club, FC Cincinnati.
The centre-back signed through the 2025 season, with options for 2026 and 2027.
The 27-year-old spent just one season with FC Cincinnati.
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As the Nigeria Fencing Federation prepares to host the 2024 Men’s Junior Epee World Cup this weekend, the country is also among the nations being considered to host the 2026 Commonwealth Championships.
In light of this, the Commonwealth Fencing Federation has dispatched a team to monitor the 2024 Men’s Junior Epee Fencing World Cup, scheduled for 14-15th December at Charterhouse Lagos.
Former UFC title challenger Colby Covington has accused Nigerian mixed martial artist Kamaru Usman of cheating during their previous encounters ahead of his return to the octagon this Saturday.
Covington, who faces Joaquin Buckley in the main event of UFC Tampa, made the allegations during a Twitch stream while answering fan questions about his most disliked opponent.
OTHER SPORTS
In Basketball; They say all good things must come to an end, something that held doubly true for Michigan basketball at the world’s most famous arena.
The Wolverines built an early 15-point lead over Arkansas on Tuesday evening at Madison Square Garden, but for the second consecutive game couldn’t hold onto the early advantage.
This time, they couldn’t come back after blowing the lead, losing to Arkansas, 89-87, in the Jimmy V Classic in front of stars like New York Knicks forward Karl-Anthony Towns, Philadelphia 76ers point guard Tyrese Maxey, and even former U-M head coach Juwan Howard, who sat courtside.
The Hogs used a remarkable 59-26 run from the middle of the first half into the middle of the second half to turn a double-digit deficit into an 18-point lead of their own and never trail the rest of the way.
In Tennis, World number one Aryna Sabalenka has been voted the WTA Player of the Year after securing four titles in 2024.
The Belarusian retained the Australian Open in January before winning the US Open in September – her third Grand Slam singles triumph.
The 26-year-old also secured victories at the Cincinnati Open in August and the Wuhan Open in October, becoming the first woman to win the event three times.
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In Formula one, Ferrari will supply engines to the new Cadillac team if its entry is approved for the 2026 Formula 1 season.
The US brand has an agreement in principle with F1 to join the championship from 2026 and to build its own engine at a later time.
Cadillac, part of General Motors, has agreed with Ferrari to buy customer engines and gearboxes until its own power-unit is ready, which is not expected to be before 2028.
The move means Ferrari would continue to have two customer teams in 2026 despite losing Sauber as it becomes the Audi factory entry.
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In Rugby, England flanker Tom Curry will miss Sale’s Champions Cup clash with Racing 92 on Friday for a stem-cell procedure on his chronic hip condition.
Curry missed the bulk of last season as he underwent career-saving surgery, but recovered to make the summer tour of New Zealand and the November internationals.
Sale boss Alex Sanderson says the latest procedure is part of managing the 26-year-old with a long-term view to making the 2027 Rugby World Cup.
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In Cycling, Tour de Yorkshire stage winner Harry Tanfield, says professional road cycling in Britain has a broken pathway after the demise of the final two domestic teams.
The 30-year-old Briton, who has competed at the top level in road cycling’s World Tour, said future talent would be lost, and medal hopes will be impacted without the reintroduction of teams at the professional domestic Continental level.
British riders had a hugely successful spell in road cycling across the previous decade – including Team Sky’s dominance of the Tour de France.
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TODAY’S FIXTURES
IN UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
Atletico Madrid vs Slovan Bratislava
Lille vs Sturm Graz
AC Milan vs Red Star Belgrade
Arsenal vs Monaco
Benfica vs Bologna
Borussia Dortmund vs Barcelona
Feyenoord vs Sparta Prague
Juventus vs Manchester City
Stuttgart vs Young Boys
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FOOD FOR THOUGHT.
NEVER LET YOUR HEAD HANG DOWN. NEVER GIVE UP AND SIT DOWN AND GRIEVE. FIND ANOTHER WAY….WORDS SATCHEL PAIGE.
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