Sports
Barca Set For The Impossible Against Bayern
Barcelona will be looking to restore their battered pride when they face a ruthless Bayern Munich at the Camp Nou tonight.
Never in their golden era have the Spanish giants been so comprehensively outplayed as they were in last week’s Champions League semi-final first leg.
Jupp Heynckes’ side dished out the sort of lesson Barcelona have inflicted on a host of Europe’s elite for the better part of five years, with Thomas Mueller scoring twice either side of Mario Gomez and Arjen Robben strikes.
A rescue job against one of, if not the most, formidable side in Europe looks out of the question but at the very least Barcelona must make amends for that defeat.
A shell-shocked Lionel Messi described it as a low point in his career and will have to be central in the second leg if Tito Vilanova’s side are to turns things around.
“It was embarrassing, if I’m honest,” Messi said of the first-leg defeat.
“It’s a very low point in my career and not something I would like to experience again.
“We were comprehensively outplayed by Bayern Munich and deserved nothing from the game.”
Bayern continued their momentous season at the weekend, setting a new Bundesliga points record of 84, three more than Dortmund’s record mark last season.
Heynckes made 10 changes to his side in a show of respect to Barcelona, but they still registered a 14th straight league win.
On the other side of the coin, Barcelona rested a few regulars and may give David Villa a starting role to bolster their attack.
Messi came off the bench to score in his 20th consecutive league game against Athletic Bilbao, but Barcelona were forced to wait at least another week to seal the La Liga title after a 2-2 draw.
He came on in the 59th minute to transform the game but his fitness is still a query for the Spanish giants.
Iwobi spoke to Tidesports source ahead of Nigeria’s crunch playoff semi-final against Gabon on Thursday, November 13, in Rabat, Morocco.
The 28-year-old was reacting to Nigeria’s shaky World Cup qualifying campaign that saw the Eagles finish second in Group C behind South Africa’s Bafana Bafana.
“We’ve managed to rescue ourselves from the dead,” Iwobi told Tidesports source.
We know we have the players and the abilities to compete against any other country in the world.”
The Fulham star pointed to Nigeria’s star power, highlighting African Footballer of the Year winners Ademola Lookman and Victor Osimhen as proof of the squad’s quality.
“We have last year’s African best player (Ademola Lookman), the year before that (Victor Osimhen),” he said.
“It’ll be a shame if we don’t make it, but we have a lot of confidence. We just have to prove it to ourselves.”
Nigeria’s path to the United States, Canada and Mexico has been turbulent, with two coaches departing during the early stages of qualifying before Éric Chelle steadied the ship to steer the Super Eagles into November’s CAF playoffs.
Four nations from the continent – Nigeria, Cameroon, DR Congo and Gabon – will vie for a solitary spot to compete in next March’s inter-confederation playoffs, with a view to joining the already nine qualified African nations at the Finals.
It would mark Iwobi’s second appearance at the World Cup Finals and the Super Eagles’ first since the 2018 edition of the competition.
Back then, Iwobi featured in all three games as Nigeria was knocked out in the group stage.
The Chief Executive Officer(CEO) and Publisher of the Atlantic Bell Online medium, Mr. Celestine Ogolo has advised sports writers in Nigeria to diversify in sports writing and not to concentrate on football reporting alone.
The Deputy National President of Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) Mr. Bonny Nyong has expressed commitment to support sports development and move SWAN forward.