Sports
Champions League Draw: See the full fixtures
Cristiano Ronaldo will head back to Old Trafford after Manchester United were drawn in Group H with Italian champions Juventus.
Tottenham have a tough task to make it through to the last 16 of the Champions League after they were drawn in Group B with Barcelona.
Manchester City have an easier route to the knockout stages with Shakhtar Donetsk the toughest opponents in Group F.
Liverpool will come up against Paris Saint-Germain and Napoli in a nightmare Group C.
Aside from Ronaldo and Juventus providing a difficult challenge, United should face easier rides against Valencia and Young Boys.
But Ronaldo’s reunion can’t be dismissed as the 33-year-old tries to win the Champions League for a fourth year in a row.
In Group B, Mauricio Pochettino’s Tottenham will be tested for a second year running. Pochettino’s side are no strangers to tough groups. They were pitted against Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid last season and both were beaten.
But this season has presented a scenario that will put his side under more scrutiny.
As well as Barcelona, who Tottenham have never beaten, Pochettino’s side will play PSV Eindhoven and Inter Milan.
Premier League champions City have been rewarded for their efforts last season. Shakhtar Donetsk, the champions of Ukraine, will be their biggest and most challenging opponent in Group F.
Pep Guardiola’s side will also play Valencia and Young Boys, who return to the group stages this year.
Liverpool will need to produce some of the performances that got them to the final last season if they are to go all the way again this term.
In Group C, Jurgen Klopp’s team will take on PSG, Napoli and Red Star Belgrade.
Former Real Madrid midfielder Kaka and Manchester United favourite Diego Forlan conducted Thursday’s draw at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco.
The first round of group stage fixtures will start on September 18.
The final will be played on June 1 at Atletico Madrid’s home, the Wanda Metropolitano in Madrid.
GROUP A
Atletico Madrid
Borussia Dortmund
Monaco
Club Brugge
GROUP B
Barcelona
Tottenham
PSV Eindhoven
Inter Milan
GROUP C
PSG
Napoli
Liverpool
Red Star Belgrade
GROUP D
Lokomotiv
Porto
Schalke
Galatasaray
GROUP E
Bayern Munich
Benfica
Ajax
AEK Athens
GROUP F
Manchester City
Shakhtar Donetsk
Lyon
Hoffenheim
GROUP G
Real Madrid
Roma
CSKA Moscow
Viktoria Plzen
GROUP H
Juventus
Manchester United
Valencia
Young Boys
Sports
Robinho To Serve A 9 Year Jail Term Over Gang Rape
Former Manchester City and Real Madrid striker Robinho will reportedly serve a nine-year jail sentence for gang rape – Imposed on him by an Italian court — in Brazil, judges in Brasilia has ruled.
The 40-year-old was found guilty in Italy in 2017 and according to Globo, Brazil’s Superior Court of Justice (BSCJ), made the ruling on Wednesday, March 20, 2024.
The former Premier League player, whose real name is Robson De Souza, was one of six men who were found guilty of a§§aulting an Albanian woman in an Italian nightclub in January 2013.
In January 2022, the Supreme Court in Rome dismissed his final appeal against the conviction, according to the report.
Robinho claims he is innocent and has been living in Brazil for the past seven years. It came after nine of the court’s 15 ministers had voted in favour of the decision to incarcerate the footballer in Brazil.
Globo also claims that the ex-footballer, who also spent time at AC Milan and Real Madrid, will now be arrested in Santos, where he currently resides.
Robinho, who was 28 and was playing for AC Milan at the time, admitted during his appeal to having ‘contact’ with the woman, but the Brazilian insisted it was consensual.
The Milan Court of Appeals found Robinho had ‘belittled’ and ‘br¥tally h¥miliated’ the victim as it upheld his original sentence in December 2020.
Intercepted phone calls between the Brazilian and those allegedly involved in the assault were used as key evidence in his initial conviction.
Sports
Former Tennis Champion, Tania Okpala Returns To Tennis After Rehabilitation
Anambra State Governor, Charles Soludo, has revealed that former tennis champion, Tania Okpala, has resumed playing on the courts.
This development follows Soludo’s assurance that she would undergo rehabilitation after a video surfaced online showing her in distress on the streets of Awka, pleading for assistance.
In an update on his social media handle on Thursday, Soludo expressed his satisfaction with Okpala’s return, stating, “Tania Okpala is back on the courts!
“A few months ago, social media was flooded with a viral video showing Ms. Tania in a distressing state on the streets of Awka. I am pleased to report that we have successfully restored Tania to her winning ways.”
Okpala, who hails from Anambra and has a Belarusian mother, represented Nigeria in the 1990s.
Here are pictures of her in the tennis court.
Sports
AFCON: Victor Osimhen Now Cleared To Join The Other Super Eagles Ahead Of Tomorrow’s Game
Good News has it that Victor Osimhen has finally joined the Super Eagles Nigeria team in Bouake, Ivory Coast.
He has been given the clear from the medical team on the abdominal discomfort issue. Earlier it was reported that the player could not join the rest of the team who flew to Ivory Coast ahead of Tomorrow’s football match against South Africa’s Bafana Bafana.
He’s fully fit and ready to play in the Semifinals against South Africa tomorrow.
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