Hi there everyone. I am doing fine and hope you all are doing the same. Today’s topic is a lot different from my previous ones because it is filled with a lot of sadness and grief. In this session I will be talking about an incident that not only shock the world with its news but also dashed the dreams of some of the finest footballers together with their lives. If you guessed it correct, then yes I will be highlighting the story of the Munich Air Tragedy, which took place 63 years ago.  

6^th February 1958, went down into the history books both in the word of football and in the field of aviation after British European Airways flight 609 crashed on its third attempt to take off from a slush-covered runway at Munich-Riem Airport, West Germany.

The crash that took 23 lives included 8 Manchester United plays labelled as the Busby Babes as a result of their sporting success had no idea that this journey back home would turn into a nightmare. 

A day after the Busby Babes made it through to the European Cup Semi-final the club squad, staff journalists and other passengers boarded the British European Airways flight to Manchester.

The aircraft was refueled and failed to take off twice due to engine problems. Since it began to snow heavily and was likely the journey would be delayed till the next day, the crew were eager to be on schedule forcing a third attempt.

However, by now the snow had caused the runaway to be carpeted in thick blanket of slush, which did not allow the plane to gain its maximum speed to take-off causing it to skid at the end of the runaway, crashing through a fence surrounding the airport and went into a nearby house.  

Thick flames caught the plane as the house engraved in fire, before a hut filled with tires and fuel exploded.

Twenty passengers died immediately, with three dying in hospital three days later followed by another in hospital fifteen days after the incident.

Legal actions against pilot, James Thain and airport authorities were taken, bur were cleared a decade later when findings revealed that the crash occurred as a result of the slush on the runaway causing the aircraft to slow down.

Source: https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/munich-air-disaster-plane-crash-manchester-united-a4355526.html

Before I end this write up, I would like to provide an insight about a clock installed at Old Trafford, the home of Manchester United Football Club which has been placed as a memorial symbol for the Munich incident. It has the full date and time at which the plane crashed.   

Click the link below to read more about the Munich clock. https://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/04/sports/04iht-soccer.1.9721764.html#:~:text=The%20clock%20at%20Old%20Trafford,word%20beneath%20it%20is%20Munich.&text=Ironically%2C%20it%20is%20just%20over,with%20applause%20rather%20than%20silence.

So with those words, I conclude today’s session as well as hope and pray that such incidents never happen again.

Thank you for reading.

Hi there everyone! Hope you all are in good health. Today I’ve decided to shift my focus back to sports and will take a look at the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals 2^nd leg which set to resume on the 7^th of August.

For those that don’t know much about this competition, just to let you know that it is one of the biggest European club completion where some of Europe’s top clubs battle it out on the football pitch to become Europe’s BEST football club and earn a chance to represent the Europe at the FIFA CLUB WORLD CUP held annually.

I know the trophy looks big & beautiful right? To be honest it’s more than just representing Europe at the Club World Cup or calling yourself “CHAMPIONS OF Europe”! It’s also about the trophy you’re seeing above and the pride and prestige that comes with it. Plus so much money involved to be earned. That’s why clubs don’t take this competition lightly at all.  

But I think what makes this competition & the sport more beautiful is the “UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE ANTHEM”. Just imagine standing in front of thousands of football fans in a stadium and that music is played at the highest volume possible. Just think what it feels like at that moment? And what would be going through each player’s mind while the anthem is going on.

Let’s now turn to the games then. Before we progress to the quarter- finals, let me remind you that on the 7^th & 8^th of August the remaining Round of 16 2^nd leg ties will be completed at the club’s home ground.

Whereas, from the quarter-finals all matches have been split around two stadiums in Lisbon, Portugal. This includes; Estadio do sport Lisboa e Benfica which will also host the final and Estadio Jose Alvalade.  

Switching back to the remaining round of 16 2^nd leg fixtures will see Juventus host Lyon and Manchester City welcome Real Madrid on the 7^th of August.

Both Juventus and Manchester City will bring a lead with them into their respective matches having won the 1^st leg.

The Italian club Juventus led 1-0 on aggregate against the French club Lyon while the former English Premier League champions Manchester City are 2-1 up against Spanish side Real Madrid.  

Then, on the 8^th of August we’ll see Bayern Munchen host Chelsea while Barcelona will welcome Napoli in a fascinating fixture.

Looking at these two matches, Bayern V Chelsea might seem to be a mismatch as the German giants Bayern lead 3-0 on aggregate following that away win in England while Barcelona v Napoli is tight to call as both sides are locked at one a piece on aggregate with the Italian club Napoli having a slight edge on away goal rules and will be hoping to ruin their chance of making it to the last eight.

Just to let you know, the quarter-finals & semi-finals will be played a single leg and not as the usual home & away basis.

Looking at the quarter-finals, only two have been confirmed. Starting on the 12^th of August Atlanta take on Paris Saint Germain and RB Leipzig face Athletico Madrid a day later.

On the 14^th of August, Napoli v Barcelona winner will play the winner of the Chelsea v Bayern winner. Likewise, Real Madrid v Manchester City winner will play Lyon v Juventus winner which will be on the 15^th of August.

The semi-final draw sees the winner of RB Leipzig V Athletico Madrid game to play the winner of Atlanta v Paris Saint Germain game in the 1^st semi-final on the 18^th of August while Real Madrid v Manchester City or Lyon v Juventus winner will take on Napoli V Barcelona winner or Chelsea v Bayern winner in the 2^nd semi-final on the 19^th of August.

Winners of the two semi-finals will then play in the final itself for the ultimate prize on the 23^rd of August. 

Before I take leave, please note that the game date and time may differ in your region. For example, in Fiji the remaining round of 16 matches will be aired on the 8^th & 9^th of August, quarter-finals can be watched from the 13^th to 16^th August, semi-finals on the 19^th & 20^th while the final on the 24^th of August with all matches starting at 7am.

And don’t worry if you are too confused with the fixtures. Once all round of 16 matches are complete all your doubts will be cleared automatically. So just enjoy the games

So with that, I’ll take leave. Hope you enjoyed reading it. Do take very good care of yourselves till we meet again. Bye for now.

Hi there everyone! Hope you all are taking very good care of yourselves in this difficult time of the Coronavirus Pandemic.

It is indeed great to see the resumption of sports after a halt due to the pandemic.

With the German league (Budesliga) completing its competition last month. It’s Bayern Munchen who have won their 8^th straight Bundesliga title and 29^th overall, in a tight affair against lowly ranked Werder Bremen.

Defending champions Bayern entered the game with a straightforward scenario, where a win would guarantee the Bundesliga trophy to stay at the Allianz Arena for another year.

Both sides started well, with the hosts Werder Bremen trying to catch Bayern on the counter attacks and had been occasionally successful, but either failed to hit the target or were denied by the opposition goalkeeper.

Then, two minutes from half-time, striker Robert Lewandowski broke the deadlock following a Jerome Boating cross to put Bayern Munchen 1-0 up.

To make things more interesting Bayern’s Alphonso Davis got a second yellow card of the game in the 79^th minute of play and got himself sent-off for a foul on a Werder Bremen player, forcing the visitors to defend with 10 men for the rest of the match.

Werder Bremen applied constant pressure following Davis’s red card but were unable to find the back of the net, resulting in a Bayern victory.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwfNLdTtfZw

This saw Bayern clinch their 8^th straight Budesliga title, making it 29^th overall. The win over Werder Bremen meant the champions finished at the top of the Bundesliga standings with two games to spare.

So, now that the Bundesliga has concluded with the remaining fixtures being played, I present the full Bundesliga table below.

As for Werder Bremen, they find themselves in regation zone and need a win against Heidenheim on 3rd July 2020, to avoid religation.

It is South Africa commonly known as the springboks who have claimed the 2019 Rugby World Cup after a comprehensive 32-12 victory over England.

20 teams came to Japan to battle for the most prestigious trophy in world rugby history, known as the “WEBB ELIS CUP“.

The reason why this cup is so special is that, it is a world cup trophy which is contested for once every 4 years.

South Africa’s last rugby world cup win was way back in 2007 when the side defeated England 15-6 in the final, in Paris.

The side failed to retain the title after a 11-9 loss to Australia in the quatter- finals of the 2011 world cup in Newzeland https://www.theguardian.com/ followed by an 18-20 defeat to the All Blacks in the 2015 world cup semi-final in England https://www.bbc.com/.

However, this time the story was entirely different as the boks were the first team to arrive in Japan, not only to participate in the tournament but also play the host in their final warm-up game which South Africa comfortably won 41-7 https://www.sport24.co.za/.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9818MypZ9vU

On 21st September 2019, the Springboks opened their world cup campaign agaist the defending champions of that time the mighty ALL BLACKS.

The boks started the game very well but two sudden quick tries in the 1st half shifted the momentum and some basic errors throughout the game saw them end the match in a 23-13 defeat.

A week later, the side took on Namibia in a must win fixture to stay in the fight of a quater-final spot.

Having a perfect 100 % win record against Namibia, the springboks were booming with confidence which did no harm to their style of play as they finished 57-3, collecting their first bonus point win of the tournament.

For their third group encounter, the springboks travelled to Shizuoka to play Italy.

The Italians found themselves battling not only on the scoreboard but through massive injries to some of their key players.

The major blow was during their scrum as the scrum-half’s including the substitutes were sidelinded due to injuries, forcing refree Wayne Barnes to restrict players from engaging at scrum time throughput the match, as there were no scrum experts available for the Italians on the bench.

Things even got worse for the European nation as one of their player’s was sent off late in the first half.

South Africa played more attacking rugby and were and were of good value for their 49-3 victory.

The Boks then faced Canada in their final pool game in Kobe City, where they thumped the Canaidians 66-7 and booked a spot in the last 8 of the world cup.

In the cup quatter- final South Africa were up against the host’s Japan.

In a game which was evenly matched on paper, Japan had an advantage of home crowd support plus they had qualified as pool A winners , meaning they had not lost a single game in the competition.

The confidence of the Japanese players was clearly reflected in their gain the first half where they just trailed the Springbosks 5-3 athe break.

In the second half, South Africa pulled their gear upwards and scored 21 unanswered points, which saw them through to the world cup semi-finals.

The Semi- Final was against Wales who were also in good form having won all 4 group matches and a 20-19 Quatter- final win over France saw them facing two time world champions South Africa.

The Semi- final against the Welsh was a mouthwatering one as both teams went neck-neck and were 16 all at one stage of the game, which was then decided by Handre Pollard’s late penalty goal, with the final score 19-16 to South Africa.

On the other hand, the 2003 world cp winners England created a major upset by defeating the 1987, 2011 and 2015 champions the All Blacks by 19-7.

This saw the three time world cup holders playing in the Bronze medal play-off against Wales, while England went onto face the Springboks in the Grand Final.

After a narrow Semi-Final win against Wales, South Africa made a good start in final after missing his first kick of the night Handre Pollard found his way with the boot and got South Africa on the scoresheet.

Skipper Owen Farrell got England lavel with a penalty goal.

The penalty goal game continued for sometime in the first half as the Springboks took a 9-3 lead at half-time.

The same penalt goal tactic continued in the second half for a little longer as South Africa took a 12-3 lead which was moments later cut short t0 six points with another Owem Farrell penalt goal.

But it was the men in green who took the initative and scored two tries and a few more extra three points to take the scoreboard to 32– while Farrel could only add another three before the final whistle.

Final score England 12- Soth Africa 32

It will be an all English final for the first time in UEFA Champions League history which will see two evenly matched teams take field on Spanish soil.

Both Tottenham and Liverpool turned a 1-0 and 3-0 defeats in their respective semi-finals first leg to earn their place in the champion’s league grand finale.

Tottenham lost to Netherlands club Ajax 0-1 after D. Van de Beek scored for Ajax in just 15 minutes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGuQiSSBPkg.

 The hosts were outplayed by Ajax defenders, not allowing Tottenham strikers to take shots on Ajax goal or even hit the target.

Despite the hosts dominating possession most of the game, they failed to find the back of the net.

Things turned bad to worse for Tottenham in the 1^st half of the 2^nd leg at the Amsterdam, when Captain Matthijs de Light struck inside the opening 5 minutes to extend Ajax aggregate lead to 2-0

Hakim Zyiech made Tottenham’s task more difficult after he put the ball into the net making it 2-0 on the night and 3-0 overall.

However, the 2^nd 45 minutes was a totally different story.

It all started with a Lucas Moura 55^th minute goal to give the visitors some hope.

4 minutes later he put Tottenham level at 2-2 and reduced the aggregate to just 1 goal.

Moura, then scored in added time to break thousands of Ajax fans hearts and guide his team to the final in Madrid.

Click here to watch 2^nd leg full match highlights https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDw3vzrK4_w

Likewise, Liverpool turned a 3-0 loss in Barcelona to a 4-3 victory at Afield, in the other semi-final.

A goal from Luis Suarez in the 1^st half and 2 goals from Lionel Messi in the 2^nd half saw hosts Barcelona ease to a 3-0 win over Liverpool in the 1^st leg.

But Liverpool came out too strong in the 2^nd leg at home, striking three in the 2^nd half after Divock Origi switched Liverpool on a comeback mode.    

Georginio Whijnaldum struck twice inside 11 minutes of the 2^nd spell to bring Liverpool level at 3-3 on aggregate.

11 minutes from time Divock Origi snatched his 2^nd and Liverpool’s 4^th goal to help his team create one of the historic comeback in the champions’ league.  

Click here to watch match highlights. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBr5d_ov0Bg

Disclaimer: “This is a personal blog. Any views or opinions represented in this blog are personal and belong solely to the blog owner and do not represent those of people, institutions or organizations that the owner may or may not be associated with in professional or personal capacity, unless explicitly stated. Any views or opinions are not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company, or individual. All content provided on this blog is for informational purposes only. The owner of this blog makes no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of any information on this site or found by following any link on this site. The owner will not be liable for any errors or omissions in this information nor for the availability of this information. The owner will not be liable for any losses, injuries, or damages from the display or use of this information.”  

The 2018 – 19 English Premier League season seems to be coming to an exciting conclusion with two evenly matched teams fighting to become champions of England.

Manchester City who are the current leaders on the premier league standings with 92 points are being strongly challenged by their rivals Liverpool who are just a point behind.

This simply means, either team cannot afford to drop points in their remaining matches as this might just ruin their chances of clinching premier league glory.

However, if somehow or the other the points are equal at the end of the season, Manchester City who are also the defending champions of the competition will retain their title due to the goal difference.

According to the current league table Manchester City have 90 goals forward and 22 against which brings their total goal difference to 68.

On the other hand, Liverpool have 84 goals forward and 20 against which takes their goal difference to 64.

Both Manchester City and Liverpool have been in devastating form, winning their last five league games.

Manchester City or often referred to as “Man City” have overcome teams like Brighton, Crystal Palace, Tottenham, Manchester United and Burnley. Click here to watch the match results.

Likewise, Liverpool or commonly known as “the Reds” have defeated Tottenham, Southampton, Chelsea, Cardiff City and Huddersfield Town in their last 5 outings  Click here to watch the match results.

Meanwhile, some other interesting facts 3^rd placed Tottenham, 4^th placed Chelsea, 5^th placed Arsenal and 6^th ranked Manchester United are all competing for a top 4 finish in the league for a UEFA Champions’ League Group stage qualification.

So far Tottenham are on 70 points, Chelsea have 68 points while Arsenal and Manchester united have 66 and 65 points respectively.

No team will want to drop points now particularly not at this late stage of the competition where a champion league group stage spot is on the line.

The UEFA Champions League is the most prestigious club competition in European football where the winner of this tournament get to be called “THE CHAMPIONS OF EUROPE” as well as represent the European continent at the FIFA Club World Cup which is held annually.

Now, let’s not forget the bottom three teams of the premier league, in this case, Cardiff City who have 31 points, followed by Fulham on 26 points and 20^th ranked Huddersfield Town with just 14 points.

However, if 17^th placed Briton loose both their final league games and Cardiff City get the maximum points then Cardiff City would survive and Brighton will be eliminated from the premier league. Click here   to see league table.

Disclaimer:“This is a personal blog. Any views or opinions represented in this blog are personal and belong solely to the blog owner and do not represent those of people, institutions or organizations that the owner may or may not be associated with in professional or personal capacity, unless explicitly stated. Any views or opinions are not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company, or individual. All content provided on this blog is for informational purposes only. The owner of this blog makes no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of any information on this site or found by following any link on this site. The owner will not be liable for any errors or omissions in this information nor for the availability of this information. The owner will not be liable for any losses, injuries, or damages from the display or use of this information.”

It was Lionel Messi who deligthted the home fans with his magic feet as he struck twice past Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea to put Barcelona in a commanding position.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0As5nFlijU

Things got worse for Manchester United after Phillippe Coutinho increased Barcelona’s lead to make it 3-0 with just under 29 minutes to play.

Manchester United needed to win by two clear goals in order to make it to the last 4 of the champions league after the side went down to the Spanish giants 1-0 in the first leg at Old Trafford.

The lone goal scored in the first leg of the quatter final played between the two sides was courtesy of Manchester United defender Luke Shaw, whose deflection found the net from a Luiz Suarez cross just from the edge of the 18 yard box.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhBCZvNpumQ

To annalyze this two leg contest, Manchester United played a lot better at old Trafford than at Camp Nou.

The reason why I say this beause one way to beat Barcelona is to deprive them of the ball because once they start dominating possession, they take control of the game.

Looking at Manchester United’s home game against Barcelona, they allowed the visitors to control possession but were pretty quick to defend against Barcelona attackers.

This I think was really lacking in the second leg at the Camp Nou.

They allowed players like Leonel Messi, Luiz Suarez and Phillippe Coutinho too much space to move around with possession and these players rose to the occasion.

However, I strongly believe one of the many reasons for United’s heavy defeat to Barcelona in the second leg was because they really needed goals and so pushing players up front was one way of scoring goals.

But this backfired, leaving too much space in the mid-field area for Barcalona attackers to penetrate the United defence.

In the end Barcelona winning 4-0 on aggregate.

On the other hand, last season’s Champions League runner- ups Liverpool have also made it to the last four with a handsome 6-1 aggregate win over Portuguese club FC Poto.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtsS04i2PVI

With Naby Keita and Roberto Firmino findig the net comfortably, Liverpool took a 2-0 lead to Portugal where Sadio Mane, Mohamad Salah, Roberto Firmino and Virgil Van Dijk assured a Champions Leage semi final sport for their side.

In critical analysis, Liverpool were too dominant against Porto particularly in the second leg where they showed their finishing ability in front of goal.

You don’t often as a manager sit back and watch your team play this well. But when they do, its a real joy to watch.

Both Barcelona and Liverpool last met in the 2006/07 Champions League round of 16 tie where Liverpool won the mach 2-1 and won the tie on away goals.

I definitely think that this match is going to be a cracker. And the most hungerier team might jst win it becacuse both look evenly matched on paper.

Even though Liverpool might have a better goal average after that 6-1 agregate win over Porto, their opposition cannot be ruled out.

Barcelona will host the first leg at the Camp Nou on the 1st of May 2019, with the return leg at Anfield on the 7th of May 2019. Click here

Disclaimeer: “This is a personal blog. Any views or opinions represented in this blog are personal and belong solely to the blog owner and do not represent those of people, institutions or organizations that the owner may or may not be associated with in professional or personal capacity, unless explicitly stated. Any views or opinions are not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company, or individual. All content provided on this blog is for informational purposes only. The owner of this blog makes no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of any information on this site or found by following any link on this site. The owner will not be liable for any errors or omissions in this information nor for the availability of this information. The owner will not be liable for any losses, injuries, or damages from the display or use of this information.”