2022/2023 UCL Draws – Bayern Meet Barcelona, Man City Host Dortmund

The 2022/2023 UEFA Champions league draws have been concluded, the draw took place in Istanbul, Turkey where Franco Baresi, Yaya Toure, Oliver Khan and Javier Zanetti was on hand to perform the draws. 

2022/2023 UEFA Champions league Draw 

The draw saw heavyweights pitted in same group as Barcelona meet familiar foe Bayern Munich setting up a Lewandowski return, while Haaland will be travelling with his new club Manchester City to the Signal Idunal park in Germany.  

 

The draws in full

Group A – Ajax, Liverpool, Napoli, Rangers

Group B – Porto, Atletico Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen, Club Brugge

Group C – Bayern, Barcelona, Inter Milan, Viktoria Plzen

Group D – Frankfurt, Tottenham, Sporting CP, Marseille

Group E - AC Milan, Chelsea, Salzburg, Dinamo Zagreb

Group F - Real Madrid, RB Leipzig, Shakhtar, Celtic

Group G - Man City, Sevilla, Borussia Dortmund, Kobenhavn

Group H – PSG, Juventus, Benfica, Maccabi Haifa

Due to the 2022 FIFA World Cup taking place in November, the group stage of the UCL will begin in September 6 – 7^th and end in November 1^st – 2^nd.

Tags: UCL, FIFA, UCL Draw, UEFA

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The 2022 Carabao Cup Third Round Draw – Manchester City V Chelsea, Liverpool V Derby

The Round Three of the Carabao cup has been drawn and the highlight of the draw is the all Premier League face offs - Chelsea facing Manchester City and Aston Villa traveling to Old Trafford, while winners Liverpool will welcome Championship side Derby County. 

The draws in full:

Bristol V Lincoln

Manchester City V Chelsea

Stevenage V Charlton

MK Dons V Morecambe

Newcastle V Crystal Palace

Southampton V Sheffield Wednesday

Arsenal V Brighton

Leicester V Newport

West Ham V Blackburn

Wolves V Leeds

Nottingham Forest V Tottenham

Bournemouth V Everton

Liverpool V Derby

The ties will be played from November 7, weeks before the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

Tags: Carabao Cup, EPL, EFL

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FIFA U-20 WWC: Stranded Falconets Sleep in the Departure Hall of Istanbul Airport

Reports emanating from Costa Rica this morning say that the Falconets are stranded in the departure hall of the Istanbul airport in Turkey. These reports suggests that they have been left at the airport since 20 hours and by the time they depart the airport at 6:15pm on Wednesday, they’d have spent close to 30hours in that departure Hall.

According to SportPaparazzi, Favour Itua who broke the news, he said the Falconets departed the hotel they stayed in Costa Rica at 6:30am WAT on Monday, they were supposed to travel via Colombia to Istanbul for their flight to Abuja but everything turned sour when the schedule on the original ticket stated something different.

The reason they’re stranded at the airport departure hall is due to time discrepancies; the team was scheduled to depart Colombia for turkey at 4:30pm, but the original airline booked, transferred them to Turkish Air, which led to this fiasco, hence, they missed their flight.

Another report coming from Colin Udoh about the Falconets say that they were asked to buy their own footwear despite having official kit supplier making those available, forcing some of them to borrow money to buy a Nike sneakers and boots because their $50 daily match allowance was not enough to foot their bills. 

To crown it all, the show of shame continues as the Falconets are given ONLY 40,000 NGN as local transport money once they arrive Abuja.

Tags: NFF, Falconets, FIFA U-20 World Cup Costa Rica, FIFA

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Gary Neville in a Messy Twitter Fight with Barcelona Fans

Ex-Manchester United legend and Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville is enjoying getting the flacks from Barcelona fans who are out to defend their club because, the English man won’t stop being on their case. 

Sometime in July, Neville was championing the ‘De Jong to Manchester United’ transfer, using all sorts of means including agenda and dirty tricks to get the player to change his mind and transfer to the Old Trafford; but, the player made it known he wasn’t interested in playing for the Red Devils, especially, as they are Europa bound. This didn’t sit well with Gary Neville who felt rejected and have since then, being on every news channel concerning the Blaugrana club, however, he has never had it easy because, Cules are ready to give him a taste of his own medicine.

Everyone thought, after the first phase of fallout Gary Neville had with numerous Barca fans, he would have a rethink and get off their back, but, like we said earlier, he is enjoying the show. Currently, Gary Neville and Barca fans are at loggerheads, and it’s something you’ll like to see.

Follow the thread below.

In return for 25% of their soul https://t.co/fbyQgngX1K

— Gary Neville (@GNev2) August 12, 2022

You sold 100% of your club to the Glazers.. Us, only 25% of the TV Rights of la Liga for 25 years. Good luck in the Europ League

— Actualité - Barça (@ActualiteBarca) August 12, 2022

You have failed in so many things tho.

As a player :unsuccessful
As a coach : unsuccessful
As a pundit : unsuccessful
Trolling Barca: you’re still failing

I think you should consider evangelism

— phil_it❤️❤️ (@philipenyinnaya) August 12, 2022

Says the man whose club SOLD 100% of its soul to the Glazers.

— Sara 🦋 (@SaraFCBi) August 12, 2022

There’s no point in getting salty anymore Gary - Barcelona were able to fix their squad in on summer window, something United haven’t been able to do in 10 years. Would be more concerned about United than trying to bring Barcelona down.

— EiF (@EiFSoccer) August 12, 2022

Fella take a break. 25% of our soul? We've sold a small percentage of our TOTAL revenue to make signings that will serve us for a DECADE, that too with buyback clauses in all of them.

Better than selling 100% of our club to foreign institution where they call Football, "Soccer"

— K.Shah  (@kshitijshah23) August 12, 2022

Rahhhhh cryyyyy pic.twitter.com/oAJTLETGqe

— HelloThere (@JamesCule11) August 12, 2022

As opposed to selling 100% of our soul to the Glazers whilst the likes of you endorsed it?

Hope this helps pic.twitter.com/lTe0pRYieS

— Mike (@MikeLUHG2) August 12, 2022

Glazers have taken 100% of MUFC’s soul! 👇 new owners are the only way forward https://t.co/AVKyMxrMQm

— LUHGSzns🔰 (@LUHGSzns_) August 12, 2022

Seething 🥃 https://t.co/21ATiVd5D2

— Rafael Hernández (@RafaelH117) August 12, 2022

Is he doing it on purpose or is he actually this dumb?

He believes selling 25% of a 3 year old asset with 0 added value is the club selling its "soul".

Your dear beloved club is owned by cutthroat businessmen that put introduced it to a 600M quid debt, you absolute tosser. https://t.co/spKkADjePB

— Matthew (@TheMigToc) August 12, 2022

25% of our soul???

The United States of Manchester are owned by the Glazers. Is it still a football club or can we call them a franchise? https://t.co/t12IaL6FBJ

— ᑳarçalεv (@Barsalev) August 12, 2022

Look at the state of your club @GNev2 🤡
PS: You Sold 100% of your Soul to Glazers 🤣 https://t.co/adnzypiqNJ pic.twitter.com/7YL7mDXGbB

— Mr. What's in a name? (@agoraphobiac420) August 12, 2022

Awwwwww … I’m so sorry Frenkie doesn’t want to play for UTD. https://t.co/9xPmr8kY0M pic.twitter.com/1IK6k6B1Sl

— YDL (@KOJO_Cue) August 12, 2022

*25% of their domestic TV rights for the next 25 years, which is an estimated 5% of their annual turnover.

but if you wanna talk about soul, Barça sold that when Qatar Airways replaced UNICEF on the shirt. don’t recall much of the English media getting up in arms about that tbf. https://t.co/1maJvCuiJx

— Muhammad Butt (@muhammadbutt) August 12, 2022

Just like your failed coaching career 🤣 https://t.co/tP08QFvdHx

— ~ Fr3sHinSpired ~ (@kurtismarksagoe) August 12, 2022

Tags: Social Media, Gary Neville, Sky Sports, Barca, Cules, Manchester United

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2022 Ballon D’or: Messi Misses out as Benzema, Oshoala, Mendy and Saka Headlines Nomination List

France Football announced on Friday the nominees for the four categories of the Ballon D’or award for 2022; the categories are as follows: Kopa Trophy, Yachine Trophy, Women’s Ballon D’or and Men’s Ballon D’or. 

The ceremony will take place in France on the 21^st October, 2022 at the Theater de Chatelet in Paris. This year’s Ballon D’or ceremony is sponsored by Purnell. The Ballon D’or award calendar has changed from yearly to a season; this means players will be awarded based on their performance only for a season calendar between August – July. And because this is the new rule, you’re likely to see new names makes the list.

The 10 nominees for the Kopa Trophy for the best U-21 Player in Europe

Karim Adeyemi (Germany, Borussia Dortmund)

Jude Bellingham (England, Borussia Dortmund)

Eduardo Camavinga (France, Real Madrid)

Gavira (Spain, Barcelona)

Ryan Gravenbach (Netherlands, FC Bayern Munchen)

Pedri (Barcelona), winner

Nuno Mendes (Portugal, PSG)

Jamal Musiala (Germany, FC Bayern Munchen)

Josko Gvardiol (Croatia, RB Leipzig)

Bukayo Sako (England, Arsenal)

Florian Witz (Germany, Bayer Leverkusen)

The 10 nominees for the Yachine Trophy for the Best Goal Keeper in Europe

Yassine Bounou (Morocco, Sevilla)

Alisson Becker (Brazil, Liverpool)

Thibaut Courtois (Belgium, Real Madrid)

Ederson Moraes (Brazil, Manchester City)

Mike Maignan (France, AC Milan)

Donarumma (PSG), winner

Edouard Mendy (Senegal, Chelsea)

Manuel Neuer (Germany, Bayern Munich)

Jan Oblak (Slovenia, Atletico Madrid)

Kevin Trapp (Germany, Eintracht Frankfurt)

Hugo Lloris (France, Tottenham)

The 20 Nominees for the Women’s Ballon D’or

Selma Bacha (France, Lyon)

Fridolina Rolfo (Sweden, Barcelona)

Vivianne Miedema (Netherlands, Arsenal)

Lucy Bronze (England, Barcelona)

Sam Kerr (Australia, Chelsea)

Chrisitiane Endler (Chile, Lyon)

Lena Oberdorf (Germany, VFL Wolfsburg)

Kadidiatou Diani (France, PSG)

Catarina Macario (USA, Lyon)

Alexia Putellas (Spain, Barcelona)

Alexia Putellas (Barcelona), winner

Alexandra Popp (Germany, VFL Wolfsburg Frauen)

Aitana Bonmati (Spain, Barcelona)

Wendie Renard (France, Lyon)

Alex Morgan (USA, San Diego Wave FC)

Beth Mead (England, Arsenal)

Asisat Oshoala (Nigeria, Barcelona)

Marie-Antoinette Katoto (France, PSG)

Millie Bright (England, Chelsea Women)

Trinity Ridman (USA, Washington Spirit)

Ada Hegerberg (Norway, Lyon)

The 30 nominees for the Men’s Ballon D’or

Thibaut Courtois (Belgium, Real Madrid)

Rafael Leao (Portugal, AC Milan)

Christopher Nkunku (France, RB Leipzig)

Mohammed Salah (Egypt, Liverpool)

Joshua Kimmich (Germany, Bayern Munich)

Trent Alexander-Arnold (England, Liverpool)

Vinicuis Jr. (Brazil, Real Madrid)

Bernao Silva (Portugal, Manchester City)

Luis Diaz (Colombia, Liverpool)

Robert Lewandowski (Poland, FC Barcelona)

Lionel Messi (Barcelona/PSG), winner

Riyad Mahrez (Algeria, Manchester City)

Casemiro (Brazil, Real Madrid)

Heung-Min Son (South Korea, Tottenham)

Fabinho (Brazil, Liverpool)

Karim Benzema (France, Real Madrid)

Mike Maignan (France, AC Milan)

Harry Kane (England, Tottenham)

Darwin Nunez (Uruguay, Liverpool)

Phil Foden (England, Manchester City)

Sadio Mane (Senegal, Bayern Munich)

Dusan  Vlahovic (Croatia, Juventus)

Virgil Van Djik (Netherlands, Liverpool)

Joao Cancelo (Portugal, Manchester City)

Kylian Mbappe (France, PSG)

Erling Haaland (Norway, Manchester City)

Yes, you guessed right, No Lionel Messi!

Tags: Ballon D’or, France Football, Kopa Trophy, Yachine Trophy

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