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Champions League: Teenager Elanga scores as Man Utd draw away to c

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Anthony Elanga’s 80th-minute goal gave Manchester United a 1-1 draw away to Atletico Madrid in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League last-16 tie.

The result flattered United, who did very little in the game played on Wednesday night, but at the same time, it was a punishment for Atletico for not taking chances and their tendency to defend a narrow lead.

The game was just seven minutes old when Atletico took the lead. United half-cleared a corner, but Renan Lodi whipped the ball back into the area for Joao Felix to race in ahead of Harry Maguire and head the ball past David de Gea and in off the post.

United were struggling to connect in attack, while Atletico looked threatening every time they pushed forward, although having taken the lead, they were content to sit deep and look to play on the break, reports Xinhua.

At the half-hour mark, De Gea was United’s saviour as he denied Angel Correa when the striker was through on goal after robbing Raphael Varane, who moments afterward again gave the ball away to Geoffrey Kondogbia.

As the session progressed, things got increasingly scrappy with Cristiano Ronaldo, booed every time he touched the ball, coming in for some rough treatment, before Sime Vrsaljko rattled the crossbar with a header when he should have scored following a cross from Lodi.

Any hopes that United would improve after half-time were soon dashed as they continued in the same vein that had seen them struggle in the first 45 minutes, with slack defending and too many misplaced passes.

Coach Ralf Rangnick finally reacted in the 67th minute with a triple substitution as Lindelof, Luke Shaw and Paul Pogba were replaced by Alex Telles, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Nemanja Matic.

The 19-year-old Elanga also came on for Marcus Rashford in the 76th minute, and he levelled the scores within four minutes. Bruno Fernandes found a rare gap in the Atletico defense and the youngster rolled the ball across Jan Oblak and into the back of the net.

It was his side’s first shot on target in the whole game, but was enough to give them a good result for the return leg in three weeks.

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‘I’m happy here’: Cristiano Ronaldo pledges to continue at Al Nassr in Saudi Pro League

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Portugese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo has vowed to continue at Al Nassr in Saudi Arabia despite walking away empty handed in this season. The 38-year-old has earmarked the tournament to be among the top five in the world.

Ronaldo, who signed a two and a half year contract with Al Nassr, scored 14 goals in 16 games in the season, with his side standing second behind Al Ittihad in the Saudi Pro league. However, there were speculations about how long will he stay as reports of swap deal with Saudi-owned Newcastle United emerged, who have now qualified for next season’s Champions league.

In an official Saudi Pro League interview, the star footballer revealed:

“I’m happy here, I want to continue here, I will continue here. And in my opinion, if they continue to do the work that they want to do here, for the next five years, I think the Saudi league can be a top five league in the world. I expected to win something this year, but we didn’t, but next year I’m really positive, but next year I’m really positive and confident that things will change and we go in a better way.”

Cristiano Ronaldo suggests he is still adjusting to strange training timings in Saudi Arabia:

Ronaldo also revealed how contrasting the training timings in Europe and Saudi Arabia are, elaborating:

“In Europe, we train more in the morning, but here we train in the afternoon or evening and in Ramadan, we train at 10 at night. So this is strange but as I tell you, these situations are part of an experience, memories. I like to live these moments because you learn with these things.”

With 837 goals in 512 games, Ronaldo is the combined highest goal scorer in history.

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Lionel Messi to leave PSG at the end of the season, confirms club manager Christophe Galtier

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Paris Saint Germain superstar Lionel Messi will leave the club at the end of the current season, manager Christophe Galtier confirmed on Thursday. Messi made 74 appearances for PSG in which he scored 32 goals and made 35 assists. In Ligue 1, Paris Saint-Germain has played 37 matches out of which they have won 27, lost six and drew four.

PSG had acquired Messi’s services two years ago in a record transfer deal after he left FC Barcelona in 2021.

Messi, who’s contract with PSG ends this season, is now being linked with with a move to Saudi Arabia while talk of a return to the Nou Camp has picked up in Spain in recent weeks.

The six-time Ballon d’Or winner will play his final match for PSG against Clermont Foot on Saturday.

“I had the privilege of coaching the best player in the history of football,” Galtier said on Thursday. “This will be his last match at the Parc des Princes, and I hope that he will receive the warmest of welcomes.”

Messi’s envious record

In the Spanish La Liga football competition, Lionel Messi has scored 474 goals in 520 matches. In the French Ligue 1, Messi has scored 22 goals in 57 matches.

The 35-year-old while playing for Football Club Barcelona has scored 672 goals in 778 games. While playing for Paris Saint-Germain he has scored 32 goals in 74 matches.

No plan to bring Messi back: Barca president

FC Barcelona President Joan Laporta recently said that the club has re-established good relationships with Argentine legend Lionel Messi, but it would not pay any price to bring him back to the Camp Nou Stadium.

“I have spoken with Leo to somehow redirect the situation that occurred when I had to put the institution ahead of everything, including him, the best player in the world,” said Laporta in a Monday morning TV show.

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Mark Zuckerberg strikes gold against jiu jitsu fighters, posts pictures on Instagram

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In the past, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has appeared helpless in front of the US Congress where he has been slapped by fines, and fired 11,000 vulnerable employees after being hit by falling revenues. But outside the business arena where Meta is facing tough competition from TikTok and other rivals, Zuckerberg is a huge mixed martial arts fan.

Contrary to setbacks in the tech sector, the Facebook founder has tasted victory in jiu jitsu.

Striking gold, but in a different arena

  • The billionaire who has trained with UFC fighters, posted pictures after winning jiu jitsu matches for the first time.
  • The billionaire who tried his hand at martial arts, revealed that he won a gold medal in the Gi categroy and a silver medal in the No-GI category.
  • His post on Instagram received comments from UFC featherweight and bantamweight category champions, as well as jiu jitsu hall of fame member Bernardo Faria.

Competitive or short tempered?

  • The entrepreneur turned sportsperson, who also enjoys surfing, was seen getting into a heated argument after losing a contest during the tournament in California as well.
  • On the work front, Zuckerberg’s firm Meta also surprised the markets by bouncing back with strong earnings, after struggling with loss of ad revenue.
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