December 16, 2019





Arsenal chiefs have finally decided to appoint Manchester City’s assistant coach, Mikel Arteta as the club’s new manager.

The draw for the Champions League round of 16 has been conducted.
Holders Liverpool has been drawn with Atletico Madrid and Chelsea play Bayern Munich.


Real Marid has been paired with Manchester City, while Atalanta takes on Valencia.
The first legs will be played on February 18, 19, 25 and 26, with group winners away from home.
Second leg ties will be played on March 10, 11, 17 and 18.



FULL FIXTURES:
Borussia Dortmund vs PSG
Real Madrid vs Manchester City



Atalanta vs Valencia
Atletico Madrid vs Liverpool
Chelsea vs Bayern Munich


Lyon vs Juventus
Tottenham vs RB Leipzig
Napoli vs Barcelona

SPORT

Former Napoli manager, Carlo Ancelotti, has finally agreed a deal in principle to become Everton next permanent manager, according to Sky Sports.

Everton have released a statement insisting they have not appointed a new manager, amid reports that Carlo Ancelotti had agreed to join the club.

Chelsea manager, Frank Lampard, has reacted to his side’s UEFA Champions League round of 16 draw with Bayern Munich.
Chelsea were drawn alongside the Bundesliga champions, when the draw for last 16 took place in Nyon, Switzerland on Monday.
 


Lampard said that his players must be at their best if they must beat Bayern Munich.

             

                

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Barcelona captain, Lionel Messi, was named La Liga’s best player at the MARCA’s awards ceremony in Spain on Monday night.
Messi also received his sixth Pichichi Trophy award for the highest goal scorer in the 2018/19 La Liga season.
The 32-year-old was not present at the gala but spoke on a video accepting the award.

Barcelona captain, Lionel Messi, has said that no player can replace Cristiano Ronaldo at Real Madrid.
Ronaldo spent nine years at Madrid, where he clashed with Messi during El Clasico fixtures, before joining Juventus in the summer of 2018.

Mikel Arteta faces a huge battle to win over the Arsenal squad, as most of the players prefer Carlo Ancelotti to be named as their new manager, the UK Mirror reports.

Former Chelsea striker, Chris Sutton has given his predictions for some of the UEFA Champions League round of 16 fixtures.

Manchester United manager, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has disclosed he might feature Diogo Dalot when his side takes on Colchester United in the Carabao Cup fixture on Wednesday at Old Trafford.

Arsenal legend, Kanu Nwankwo has urged the club’s chiefs to look for an experienced manager capable of handling players.
Kanu told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Lagos that Arsenal’s recent poor performances can be improved.
“The recent poor performances of Arsenal FC can improve with experienced management.

“I know every fan is disappointed with the games the club have been playing of recent. This is not the same Arsenal people used to know. But, all the same, we can still turn it around.

Lille have confirmed that Victor Osimhen is back to normal, after a health scare during Tuesday’s French League Cup game against AS Monaco.

Manchester City manager, Pep Guardiola, has warned Mikel Arteta, that it would be hard to turn around Arsenal’s fortunes this season.
Arteta is expected to become the Gunners’ next manager, with the North London club hoping he will be in charge for Saturday’s trip to Everton.

He will take over a team languishing in 10th place in the Premier League, after just one win in 12 matches in all competitions.
And Guardiola says his current No2 is facing a tough task at the Emirates.
“I think Arsenal [are] always one of the best teams of the last 20 years.

“When Arsene took over the team, he raised the club to another level and now they are struggling a little bit the last years.
“When the club takes a decision to replace the manager or buy players it’s always to rise to be better. Whether it’s going to happen or not, I don’t know.

Liverpool manager, Jurgen Klopp, sent a message to the kids who featured in their 5-0 defeat to Aston Villa in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday night.

Tottenham striker Harry Kane is excited by the prospect of learning a new style of play under Jose Mourinho, having only ever worked with Mauricio Pochettino at Spurs prior to this season.

When Pochettino was handed the managerial reigns at the club back in 2014, he quickly set about promoting some of the younger members of the squad.

Kane was among those to be thrust into the limelight, and with the Argentine's guidance, he quickly emerged as one of the most promising young talents in English football.

Kane won the Golden Boot at the 2018 World Cup in Russia as England enjoyed a thrilling run through to the semi-finals, before inheriting the captain's armband earlier this year.

Pochettino was always able to get the best out of Kane, but as a collective, Tottenham failed to build on their Champions League final appearance in June at the start of the 2019-20 campaign.

The 47-year-old was relieved of his duties on November 21 after Spurs slipped into the bottom half of the table, with Mourinho drafted in for his first role in management since being sacked by Manchester United last December.

The Portuguese has won five of his seven matches in charge to date, with Kane helping himself to five goals in total while benefitting from a change in approach which has seen Tottenham rediscover their attacking spark.

Kane is wholeheartedly embracing the opportunity to learn from "one of the highest-level managers in our sport", as he told reporters: "I got on very well with Poch and I respect Poch very, very, very much.

"But Mourinho's got his own style, his own way of doing things. For me, it is about learning that way. My top-level career has only been with one manager, so for me, it's good to experience new things, see how different managers work.

"Mourinho's one of the highest-level managers in our sport, so I can only learn from him."

The north Londoners can move into the top four if they secure a home victory against Mourinho's former club Chelsea on Sunday.

Spurs were closer to the relegation zone than the Champions League prior to the ex-United manager's arrival, with Kane happy to admit that the players have raised their game to impress their new boss.

When asked how Mourinho has managed to turn fortunes around so quickly, Kane added: "It's hard to say. We weren't picking up results earlier in the season for one reason or another. Little things went our way towards the end [against Wolves].

"Whenever a new manager comes in, everyone's ready, wants to work, wants to impress. It's important over this month, a busy period, and in January that we carry it on. It's not just for an early period.

"We've been feeling good. We've scored goals in pretty much every game we've played with the new manager in charge so if we can get it right, grind out results like that throughout the season we'll be OK."

Source: https://www.goal.com/en/news/tottenham-striker-kane-excited-to-be-learning-new-style-of/7ig35p73yhki1ed9w8wr8bff6

                  

                            

Quote:“The hope of the athlete is to be at the Olympics or the World Championship for their sport, to stand on the podium, and fly their country’s flag. They want to be the reasons why Nigeria’s flag should be hoisted and the national anthem is sung while the world watches.
This is their reward but it is also our honour and prestige, and pride among nations. It is this hope that drives them to invest in themselves, to work hard, to endure all odds, and try to surmount every challenge. We are that hope. Let’s not dash it,” the Minister appealed.  
“To prepare for the Olympics, we need about N14bn and what we have in our budget is less than N2bn. This is why we want the corporate world to come in and support our quest to do well at the Olympics. Government cannot do it alone" Dare said.