The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Champions League.

  • CHAMPIONS LEAGUE QUARTER FINALS: Elderson in Monaco’s squad

    CHAMPIONS LEAGUE QUARTER FINALS: Elderson in Monaco’s squad

    Elderson Echiejile has been named in Monaco’s squad for today’s UEFA Champions League clash away at Italian champions Juventus.

    Elderson is the only Nigeria star still left in the Champions League this season.

    Tunisia defender Aymen Abdennour and Burkina Faso star Alain Traore have also been named on the squad.

    On Friday, Elderson was on for the full duration as Monaco won 3-0 at Caen in continuation of the French Ligue 1.

    Monaco saw off Arsenal in the Round of 16 on the away goals rule after aggregate scores stood at 3-3 to set up a clash with Juventus, who eliminated Borussia Dortmund of Germany 5-1 on aggregate.

    The return leg is fixed for April 22.

     

    Monaco squad:

     

    GOALKEEPERS:

    CAILLARD Marc-Aurèle, STEKELENBURG Maarten, SUBASIC Danijel (n°1)

    DEFENDERS:

    ABDENNOUR Aymen, CARVALHO Ricardo, ECHIEJILE Elderson Uwa, FABINHO, KURZAWA Layvin, RAGGI Andrea, WALLACE

    MIDFIELDERS:

    CARRASCO Yannick, DIRAR Nabil, KONDOGBIA, MOUTINHO Joao, SILVA Bernardo, TOULALAN Jérémy, TRAORÉ Alain

    FORWARDS:

    BERBATOV, GERMAIN Valère, MARTIAL Anthony, MATHEUS Carvalho

  • Ikhana: We lost the Champions League ticket in Aba • Berates Smouha’s win-at-all-cost strategy

    Ikhana: We lost the Champions League ticket in Aba • Berates Smouha’s win-at-all-cost strategy

    Enyimba head coach, Kadiri Ikhana has admitted to SportingLife that the People’s Elephant put themselves in a dicey situation in the CAF Champions League first round, second leg tie in Egypt after they failed to take their chances against Smouha SC during the first leg in Aba.

    Ikhana revealed that the Aba Millionaires would have qualified for the next round if they had a three goal cushion going into the second leg in Alexandria while adding that the centre referee  from Tunisia did all within his reach to ensure that Smouha scaled through to the next round without recourse to what it might lead to.

    “The situation was very bad in Alexandria and I have never seen that kind of officiating before in my entire life. Sokari Kingsley went for an innocuous tackle and he was given a straight red card about three minutes from full time and the infringement that led into Smouha SC’s equaliser was never a penalty.

    “I already saw the handwriting on the wall during the match before the incident of the last three minutes of normal time. We were not allowed the opportunity to play beyond our own half of the field and attempts to cross there were always met with unjustifiable calls,” Ikhana told SportingLife.

    The former Super Falcons’ head coach, however appealed to Aba and Nigerian teams to forget about the loss and let the club concentrate on other games this season.

  • Enyimba sent packing from Champions League

    Enyimba sent packing from Champions League

    Nigeria will again not be represented in the group phase of the CAF champions League for a second year running after Enyimba were eliminated by little known Egyptian club Smouha on Sunday.

    Smouha may have left it very late to advance to the second round of the Champions League, but it was better late than never. The Egyptians will now face AC Leopards of Congo in the next round.

    The Congolese team sent Kenya’s Gor Mahia packing on a 2-0 aggregate after winning both legs 1-0 each.

    The Egyptians finally cancelled the second-half winner they conceded in Aba two weeks ago from the penalty spot in the 81st minute courtesy of Al Egeizi. It was also about the time that star midfielder Kingsley Sokari was sent off after he received his second booking of the game.

    Femi Thomas was Enyimba’s star as he pulled off several saves to prevent Smouha from getting goals before they finally did.

    The home team, who played this match behind closed doors in Alexandria, will then double their tally on the stroke of full time through Kwau to ensure that no Nigerian club reached the second round of the competition.

    On Saturday, Nigerian champions Kano Pillars also crashed out of the annual tournament after they could only manage a 2-1 home win.

    They had lost the first game at Moroccan champions Moghreb Tetouan 4-0 and so were dumped out on a 5-2 aggregate.

  • Umar sure of Pillars’ Champions League campaign

    Umar sure of Pillars’ Champions League campaign

    NPFL champions, Kano Pillars, will start their quest in their forth attempt to make an impact in the CAF Champions League in February against South Sudan club, Malaika.

    Kano Pillars, who won the domestic title thrice in a row, had their best performance in the CAF Champions League in 2009 where they made the last four but since then it’s been poor adventure, losing out on two occasions in the qualifying stage.

    The General Manager of Kano Pillars FC, Babangida Umar confirmed to SL10.ng in a chat in Abuja that he is optimistic that Kano Pillars will lift the CAF Champions League Trophy this season.

    “This time around we shall lift the CAF Champions League,” Babangida Umar said confidently

    “We’ve started preparation in good time, we’ve added quality players to the team, we are getting good support from the government. The government has released funds to Kano Pillars. We were in camp in Kaduna before the team left for Abuja to participate in the pre-season tournament. So I’m sure Kano Pillars will do well in the competition.

    “Some of the technical committee members are gathering some intelligence reports on  our opponent in the CAF Champions League. We shall leave Abuja for Ghana to continue our preparation. We are completely focused,” Babangida stated.

    The Nigerian champions, Kano Pillars have failed to reach the group stage of the CAF Champions League in their last two attempts but Babangida Umar believes some problems after their performance last year.

    “Last year, we had a major problem of late preparation for the CAF Champions League but this time around we’ve started preparations earlier.

    However the Pillars GM, Babangida has frowned at some Premier League clubs that have failed to honour the agreed terms with Kano Pillars as regards players transfer.

    “We didn’t go to the Super 4 tournament with our full squad because we had challenges clearing four of our players, two from Gombe United, Giwa FC and Akwa United.

    “We had an agreement with these clubs in the presence of our lawyer and immediately the government released some money to Kano Pillars we paid them but it’s sad that some of our colleagues (Premier League clubs)  just want to frustrate us because they are yet to release the players clearance,”said Babangida.

  • Ikhana: CAF Champions League will be tougher next season

    Ikhana: CAF Champions League will be tougher next season

    • Wants good preparations from Nigerian teams

    Enyimba FC coach, Kadiri Ikhana has predicted a tougher CAF Champions League next season, but insisted that good and early preparations will play a major role for Nigerian clubs in getting the desired results at the tournament.

    The ex-international and first Nigerian to win the African Champions League as a coach has advised Nigerian clubs represented at the tournament to start preparations early because, according to him, African football has improved and no team is to be under-rated.

    “ If we don’t prepare well, we might see worse situations than previous seasons. So we should watch out,” Ikhana began.

    “If we don’t have good preparations, how do we go far in the tournament? If we decide to overlook it, we might perform worse than last year, all the clubs! Not Enyimba alone, but the four clubs that are going to play in the continent, we must watch it very carefully.”

    The 2014 FA Cup champion also    hinted that Enyimba FC will outclass their poor performance at the last edition of the championship by embarking on good preparation for the tournament.

    “Enyimba has done (won) it twice, it is not something new to Enyimba FC. I think we will go back to the drawing board and see those things that made us to win the Champions League for the first time and back-to-back, and try to see if we can put in more effort because African football has grown, there is no small team now, everybody is equal to the task; that is the way I look at it,” Ikhana said.

  • Egwuekwe, Ossai target Champions League

    Egwuekwe, Ossai target Champions League

    Warri Wolves’  duo of Azubuike Egwuekwe  and Uche Ossai believe the Seasiders would qualify for the CAF Champions League at the end of the season,  due to their current form in the Glo Premier League this season.

    Wolves have been representing the country in the CAF Confederation Cup for quite some time now but the duo in a chat  with SportingLife in  Owerri said it was time they stepped up to the Champions League competition having participated in the second tier African Cup competition for over two times including this year.

    Egwuekwe a towering defender and the captain of Warri Wolves told SportingLife that he was disappointed to have lost the game at Heartland because they came with the mindset of getting an away draw.

    The Anambra born defender added that he was unhappy at the choice of Heartland’s goal (a fine free-kick) in the 68th minute through Emeka Ogbugh and some questionable calls by the centre referee.

    Egwuekwe said that they had forgotten about the loss to Heartland and that they would be fired up to beat Crown FC who he sees as under-dogs because of their loss at home to Enugu Rangers.

    “We are all disappointed that we lost to Heartland because we  came here looking for an away win or betterstill a draw but a loss was quite unthinkable. We are happy that we are still second on the log.

    “We will host Crown FC on Wednesday(today) and it is our prime target to win well. We want to play in the Champions League and that is what we are working towards,” Egwuekwe, a Super Eagles’ defender told SportingLife.

    Uche Ossai who was in the early home based team that the former Super Eagles’ coach, Stephen Keshi initially assembled revealed to SportingLife that it would be a delight for them to play in the Champions League next season having featured in the Confederation Cup.

    He said injuries and the rotation policy of the Warri Wolves’ Coach, Paul Aigbogun have limited his games this season.

  • Ambrose may get Champions League reprieve

    Ambrose may get Champions League reprieve

    Efe Ambrose’s Celtic could be handed a sensational Champions League reprieve after UEFA launched an investigation into the eligibility of one of Legia Warsaw’s players during their 6-1 aggregate win over the Scottish champions.

    The Polish side confirmed that they had been asked for information from the European governing body.

    A statement on Legia’s official website read: “The club announces that in connection with the Celtic FC-Legia Warsaw match in the second leg of the third qualifying round of the Champions League, UEFA opened an investigation into the participation of Bartosz Bereszynskiego.

    “The club is preparing the relevant information and explanations, which will be sent to UEFA today.

    “The result of the investigation will be announced immediately after its completion.”

  • Enyeama, Ajagun taste Champions League action

    Enyeama, Ajagun taste Champions League action

    Vincent Enyeama was in action for Lille OSC while Abduljeleel Ajagun got the nod to start for Greek club, Panathinaikos.

    It was a good night for Enyeama as he played for 90 minutes in the 1-1 draw against Swiss club, Grasshopper, at Stade Pierre-Mauroy.

    Lille progressed 3-1 on aggregate to the playoffs having won the first leg 2-0.

    Enyeama was outstanding, producing four saves to keep the visitors at bay and attracting praise from his teammate, Sébastien Corchia.

    “We knew the game would be hard because Grasshopper is a good team. We were a bit relaxed when we conceded that goal but the great reflexes of Vincent (Enyeama) gave us a lot of confidence,” he told the club’s official website, losc.fr.

    The story was different for Ajagun who started for Panathinaikos against the Belgian club, Standard Liege.

    It turned out to be a night to forget for Ajagun as the Belgians won 2-1 at the Stadio Apóstolos Nikolaidis, Athens.

    Ajagun played for 85 minutes in the first leg.

  • Madrid meet Dortmund, Bayern draw Man United

    Madrid meet Dortmund, Bayern draw Man United

    Bayern Munich will take on Manchester United in the standout tie of the Champions League quarter-finals.

    Pep Guardiola’s men are keen to become the first club to successfully defend the title, but will have to deal with the champions of England first, with the first leg scheduled to take place at Old Trafford.

    Elsewhere, Real Madrid will be gunning for revenge against Borussia Dortmund after last year’s elimination in the semi-finals, while Ligue 1 leaders Paris Saint-Germain meet the Premier League’s table-toppers, Chelsea, as the French outfit aim to improve on last year’s run to the last eight.

    Finally, Barcelona have been paired with Atletico Madrid, which will be a particularly interesting fixture given Diego Simeone’s men caused the Catalans all kinds of trouble in their domestic dust-ups in the Supercopa de Espana and La Liga earlier this season.

    The first legs will take place on April 1 and 2, with the second legs scheduled for April 8 and 9.

    The draw for the semi-finals will be held on April 11, while the tournament concludes at Estadio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica on May 24.

    THE DRAW

    Barcelona v Atletico

    Madrid v Dortmund

    PSG v Chelsea

    Man United v Bayern

  • Anyansi-Agwu blasts Togolese club over treatment

    Anyansi-Agwu blasts Togolese club over treatment

    Chairman of six-time Nigeria Professional Football League (NFPL) champions, Enyimba FC, Chief Felix Anyansi Agwu, has fumed at what he calls “the worst treatment ever” meted out to the club by hosts in continental competition.

    Officials of Enyimba accused hosts, Anges de Notse of treating the team badly after arriving in Lome for Sunday’s second leg preliminary round CAF Champions League game, supersport.com reports.

    Anyansi has now added his voice to the growing levels of discontent as he expressed surprise at the “antics” of The Angels.

    “We have received quite a number of poor treatments in certain parts of Africa but this is clearly the worst, most inhuman treatment we have seen.

    “We understand that they are an ambitious side, eager to advance in the competition but there is no excuse for such maltreatment, none whatsoever,” supersport.com quoted Anyansi as saying on the club’s official website, enyimbafc.net.

    Officials of Enyimba FC had initially raised an alarm over the lodgings provided for the team by the Togolese officials on Friday.