Sports
UCL: Real Madrid Cruise Into Q/Finals …Beat AS Roma 2-0
Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 40th goal of the season as Real Madrid reached the Champions League quarter-finals with a 4-0 aggregate victory over Roma.
Leading 2-0 from the first leg, Real peppered the visitors’ goal, although Edin Dzeko and Mohamed Salah wasted chances for Roma at the Bernabeu.
It proved costly as Ronaldo crashed in at the near post before setting up James Rodriguez for an angled finish.
Roma hit the post but Real made the last eight for a sixth successive term.
With Zinedine Zidane’s team 12 points behind La Liga leaders Barcelona, winning the Champions League remains their only realistic chance of silverware.
And although the 10-times winners impressed in attack, their casual approach to defence, particularly from left-back Marcelo, will give more potent teams hope.
Roma will now return to Serie A, where they lie third, after winning their last seven successive league games.
Cristiano Ronaldo missed a great chance to double his tally
Strangely for a game where Real wracked up 37 shots, Roma had the better opportunities and could have changed the mood inside the Bernabeu if Salah and Dzeko were more clinical.
Ronaldo did miss a great chance to double his lead, but having been out of favour with Real fans after his seemingly critical comments about team-mates following the 1-0 defeat by Atletico Madrid on 27 February, he proved his value once again.
Early on, Real’s leading scorer appeared to be trying too hard to win supporters over, occasionally guilty of showboating rather than taking the chance to shoot.
Once he stung the hands of Roma goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny either side of half-time, he finally opened the scoring when he showed great anticipation to cut across Roma’s Kostas Manolas and poke in substitute Lucas Vazquez’s close-range cross.
The Portuguese forward, who now has 13 goals in this season’s Champions League, set up Rodriguez for the second four minutes later as the Colombian fired in low after a swift counter attack.
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CAFCL : Rivers United Arrives DR Congo
Rivers United FC of Port Harcourt contingent, comprising players, technical crew, backroom staff, and officials, depart the Murtala Mohammed International Airport in Lagos State on Wednesday, bound for Kinshasa, DR Congo.
The team is set to face FC Les Aigles du Congo in the first-round first-leg match of the CAF Champions League.
This was contained in a press release signed by the media officer of the club, Charles Mayuku and made available to Tidesports on Wednesday.
He said that the highly anticipated match is scheduled to take place at the 80,000-capacity Kinshasa-Complexe Omnisports Stade des Martyrs on morrow with kickoff slated for 3:30pm.
According to the statement the encounter marks the first-ever meeting between both sides in any competition, adding that an air of excitement and unpredictability to the fixture.
“As the Pride of Nigeria embarks on this crucial journey, the team is determined to return with a decent result that will set them up favorably for the second leg on Sunday, 28th September” the statement said.
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FIFA rankings: S’Eagles drop Position, remain sixth in Africa
The new rankings, released via FIFA’s official X handle on Thursday, reflect the team’s continued struggles under Coach Eric Chelle amid a stuttering 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign.
This marks a second consecutive decline after the Nigerian side dropped from 43rd to 44th in August on the back of poor outings in recent international matches.
Despite Nigeria’s setback, several African teams made progress. Morocco remains the continent’s highest-ranked side, sitting 11th in the world after winning eight of their last nine matches. Senegal, Egypt, Algeria and Côte d’Ivoire complete Africa’s top five.
Lesotho slipped to 153rd place, while Benin Republic, Nigeria’s upcoming opponent, climbed to 93rd. South Africa’s Bafana Bafana, who held the Super Eagles to a 1-1 draw in June, rose to 55th, strengthening their bid for World Cup qualification.
Zimbabwe had the biggest slide down the ranking table, dropping nine places to 125th position in the world.
The rankings highlight Nigeria’s struggle to regain form on the global stage as key rivals continue to surge ahead.
Similarly, the Super Falcons of Nigeria remain 36th best in the world], while the Spanish female national team replaced the USA at the top of the women’s ranking.
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