Cristiano Ronaldo’s Real Madrid stand in the way of Neymar’s Paris Saint-Germain after the big-spending duo were on Monday drawn together in the tie of the round in the UEFA Champions League last 16.
However, there were mixed fortunes for England’s five representatives, a record number of clubs from one country to make the last 16, with Chelsea handed a daunting clash with Barcelona and Tottenham Hotspur getting Juventus.
Emilio Butragueno, the former Real striker who is now a club director, regretted that one of the favorites would be eliminated so early.
“Luck has worked out this way and one of the two teams will be out at the last-16 stage, which we think is a bit soon taking into account they are two of the contenders for the title,” Butragueno told beIN Sports Spain.
The first leg is to be on Feb. 14 at the Santiago Bernabeu, where Real beat PSG 1-0 in the group stage two years ago.
Chelsea, the only Premier League club not to win their group, were drawn against a Barcelona side who have been familiar foes in the competition down the years.
Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City, the Premier League leaders, were handed a favorable draw in the shape of Basel.
However, the Swiss champions have enjoyed some fine results against English sides in recent years, and defeated Manchester United last month.
Jose Mourinho’s United drew Sevilla, while Liverpool and newly crowed African Player of the Year Mohamed Salah will take on Porto, but last season’s runners-up Juventus were Tottenham’s reward for topping their group ahead of Madrid.
“Wembley awaits us, one of the sacred temples of this sport,” Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri said on Twitter, with the second leg in London on March 7. “Spurs are young and talented, but if we [play like] Juve, we will make it.”
The other Italian club to qualify were AS Roma, who topped Group C ahead of Chelsea and were handed a tie with Shakhtar Donetsk of Ukraine.
Meanwhile, five-time winners and current Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich avoided some of the bigger names as they were paired with Besiktas.
“We know how strong they are after we followed their games against [RB] Leipzig. It will be a difficult task, but we are looking forward to the unusual atmosphere in their stadium,” Bayern sporting director Hasan Salihamdzic said.
This season’s final takes place in Kiev on May 26.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB