Real Madrid survive scare to edge past Leipzig into Champions League quarters

By Rilwan Musa Gawu -

Real Madrid scraped through into the Champions League quarter-finals with a 1-1 second-leg draw against RB Leipzig on Wednesday, progressing 2-1 on aggregate.

The record 14-time champions were far below their best but did just enough over the two legs of the last-16 clash to edge out their Bundesliga opponents.

Despite Leipzig shading the game, Vinicius Junior opened the scoring in the 65th minute after being set up well by Jude Bellingham.

Willi Orban quickly levelled for the visitors but they could not find a second goal to force extra-time at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti warned his players before the game they needed to be at their best to progress and showed his cautious side by playing four midfielders behind Bellingham and Vinicius.

The Italian brought Aurelien Tchouameni forward into defensive midfield, also deploying Eduardo Camavinga, Fede Valverde and Toni Kroos, as he looked to protect the 1-0 first-leg lead.

However Ancelotti’s gameplan stunted Madrid’s own attacking game without completely stifling Leipzig’s.


The German side had the better of the first half, albeit without carving out clear chances until just before the break.

Andriy Lunin palmed away a strike from Xavi Simons, on loan from Paris Saint-Germain, while Lois Openda rifled a shot into the side netting.

Ancelotti shifted back to a more typical set-up for the second half, introducing Rodrygo at half-time for Camavinga.

Vinicius’ frustration quickly turned to joy though when Bellingham burst forward, showing superb timing to release the forward, who fired into the top corner at the end of a smart counter-attack.

Toni Kroos started the break and despite being outnumbered, Bellingham and Vinicius showed their decisive quality to send the hosts ahead.

Madrid’s delight was short-lived though, with Orban levelling just three minutes later.

The Hungarian defender’s excellent diving header from David Raum’s cross set up a gripping denouement.

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dalung To Inaugurate New Boards On July 10

By Rilwan Musa Gawu -
Image
The newly-elected boards of National Sports Federations will now be inaugurated on July 10 in Abuja, an official of the Federal Ministry of Youths and Sports said on Wednesday. Nneka Ikem-Anibeze, the Special Assistant on Media to Solomon Dalung, the Minister of Youths and Sports, said in a statement that the inauguration was scheduled for the Abuja National Stadium. She said the inauguration, which was earlier slated for July 13, was moved forward by three days to enable the federations hit the ground running. Ikem-Anibeze explained that the inauguration was also brought forward because some of the federations were preparing for major competitions outside the country, such as the Commonwealth Youth Games (CYG). She said the inauguration was not going to be affected by the hearing of Petitions and Appeals arising from the elections, as this would continue on Thursday. “A formal statement on findings, decisions and bye elections, if any, will be made on Friday.’’
Read more

NNL Clubs Shun Pinnick-Led Committee Order To Play Super 8 Playoff

By Rilwan Musa Gawu -
Image
Five Nigeria National League, NNL clubs have shunned the Nigeria Football Federation order to play the NNL Super 8 playoff scheduled to commence today (Wednesday). Nigeria Football Federation had on Monday through a press release order all the eight qualified NNL teams to arrive Aba on Tuesday ahead of the NNL Super 8 playoff expected to kick off on Wednesday, 19th December 2019. As at the time of filing this report, three NNL clubs, Real Stars, Gombe, and Delta Force are in Aba the venue for the playoff while 3sc, Remo Stars, Kada, Bendel Insurance, and Kogi United have refused to honour the Super 8 playoff. NNL had proposed that two teams from each four abridge leagues (8 teams) should be promoted to participate in the 2018/19 Nigerian Professional Football League, NPFL season. NFF, on the other hand, has insisted that the Super 8 playoff should hold to produce four teams that will join the existing 20 NPFL clubs for 2018/19 season.
Read more

Mourinho's United signings

By Rilwan Musa Gawu -
Image
Mourinho complained about the lack of new arrivals at Old Trafford, particularly in defence, during the summer. During his time at United, he signed 11 players for a total of £358.8m. Player (in chronological order) Position Signed from Cost Eric Bailly Centre-back Villarreal £30m Zlatan Ibrahimovic Striker Paris St-Germain Free Henrikh Mkhitaryan Midfielder Borussia Dortmund £26.3m Paul Pogba Midfielder Juventus £89m Victor Lindelof Centre-back Benfica £31m Romelu Lukaku Striker Everton £75m Nemanja Matic Midfielder Chelsea £40m Alexis Sanchez Forward Arsenal Swap involving Mkhitaryan Diogo Dalot Full-back Porto £19m Fred Midfielder Shakhtar Donetsk £47m Lee Grant Goalkeeper Stoke £1.5m Total - £358.8m
Read more

Monfils, Djokovic through to ATP Eastbourne semifinals

By Rilwan Musa Gawu -
Image
Gael Monfils overwhelmed home town hope, Cameron Norrie 6/3; 6/2, while Novak Djokovic defeated America’s Donald Young 6/2; 7/6 (9) to reach the semifinals at Eastbourne. It was a different story with second seeded lady, Simona Halep of Romania, who battled for two hours and 40 minutes before defeating Bulgaria’s Tsvetana Pironkova by a close score of 6/7 (6); 7/6 (4); 7/5. The 21-year old South- African born Briton, Cameron Norrie (ranked 236 in the world) received a wildcard entry into the main draw and won the first round match against 29-year Horatio Zeballos of Argentina, 6/4; 7/6. However, in the quarterfinals, he faced the colourful and talented Frenchman, Monsieur Monfils. Their one-sided encounter lasted only 58 minutes. Djokovic had a quick first set against Donald Young but it was a different experience in the second. On crucial points, the 27-year old left-handed player from Chicago took maximum advantage of his slice serve to his opponent’s left court. The games ...
Read more

LIGUE 1 TABLE

By Rilwan Musa Gawu -
Team P GD Pts 1 Paris SG 3 9 9 2 Monaco 3 5 9 3 Saint-Étienne 3 5 9 4 Lyon 3 5 7 5 Marseille 3 4 7 6 Bordeaux 3 2 5 7 Angers 3 2 5 8 Troyes 3 0 4 9 Montpellier 3 0 4 10 Strasbourg 3 -1 4 11 Nice 3 0 3 12 Caen 3 0 3 13 Lille 3 -2 3 14 Guingamp 3 -3 3 15 Nantes 3 -3 3 16 Toulouse 3 -4 3 17 Rennes 3 -1 2 18 Dijon 3 -6 1 19 Metz 3 -5 0 20 Amiens 3 -7 0
Read more

Gusau Gets IAAF Recognition As AFN President

By Rilwan Musa Gawu -
Image
 Athletics Federation of Nigeria president-elect, Honourable Ibrahim Gusau, has been officially recognised as the de facto head of track and field in Nigeria by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) following his election on June 13 in Abuja. In its latest Newsletter, the IAAF listed Gusau among the 11 new heads of national federations elected or re-elected as the case may be in the past one month. The information regarding Gusau's election was supplied for publication in the Newsletter by the IAAF governance, member and international relations department and represents member federation election results received since the last newsletter was published. Meanwhile, the Gusau-led board of the AFN will be inaugurated on Monday July 10 by Sports Minister, Solomon Dalung, in Abuja.Others members of the new board to be inaugurated include Fidelis Tafida Gadzama, a member of Nigeria's gold medal-winning 4x400m relay team at the 2000 Sydney Olympics who ...
Read more

DOES POGBA HAS A HAND IN MOURINHO'S SACK?

By Rilwan Musa Gawu -
Image
Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba posted a tweet saying 'caption this' before deleting the message soon after <<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>> A familiar conclusion to a rocky season United's haul of 26 points after their first 17 Premier League games, is their worst tally in the top flight at this stage since 1990-91. They are 11 points off the top four which would earn a Champions League qualification place. Mourinho's sacking comes after a fall-out with £89m record signing Paul Pogba, who was an unused substitute for the defeat at Anfield on Sunday. Following a 1-1 draw with Wolves, midfielder Pogba said he wanted United to be able to "attack, attack, attack" at home, which led Mourinho to say the France midfielder would no longer be the club's "second captain". After Mourinho, who replaced Louis van Gaal in May 2016 and signed a contra...
Read more

Yusuf: CHAN Eagles Work In Progress, Will Use WAFU Cup To Shape Up

By Rilwan Musa Gawu -
Image
The home based Super Eagles slated to play the CHAN and WAFU Cup are work in progress, chief coach of the team, Salisu Yusuf has told RMG SPORT BLOG. Speaking with  RMG SPORTS BLOG  in Kano after he led the Eagles to qualify for CHAN billed for Kenya next year, Yusuf said his team will continue to evolve until he gets it right before the tournament. “We set out to beat Benin in Kano and we succeeded in doing that without playing our best game. The boys can do far better than they played in Kano, but because of change in tactics, they did not entertain and did not impress the fans in Kano,” Yusuf stated. “This team is still work in progress and we shall continue to build until we get the right blend. It is not easy to build a team overnight, but we shall continue to try more players before CHAN. Luckily, we have WAFU tournament to prepare with.” He commended the Benin team for giving the home-based Super Eagles a good game, adding that the Squirrels showed they were...
Read more

Leicester entice Iheanacho with £25m bid

By Rilwan Musa Gawu -
Image
Kelechi Iheanacho Leicester City manager Craig Shakespeare is leaving no stone unturned in his bid to land Manchester City Nigerian forward Kelechi Iheanacho. Already a bid of £25m has been lodged for the forward, who has been told he can leave the club but only if a replacement is signed as the club need three strikers for next season. However, City are keen on inserting a buy back clause in any deal for the 20 year old, who was close to joining West Ham few weeks ago before talks stalled over the fee for the buy-back. Although talks are back on with West Ham, Leicester City are now odds on favourite to sign Iheanacho as aside offering City a decent fee, they have also promised him a new role just behind the striker. Leicester City already have Jamie Vardy and Islam Slimani as top strikers, Shakespeare will hand Iheanacho his favourite role behind the striker, if he agrees to join the club, a move which could make him force his move away from Manchester City. The Nige...
Read more