Akarshak (Ishu) Roy

The Champions League group stage ended on the back of some exhilarating, breathtaking football; the brand of football that left nobody seated. Almost all of the high profile teams, including the defending champions Real Madrid, proceeded to the next round.  Big teams such as Napoli missed out on qualification, while AS Monaco even failed to secure a place in the Europa League. With the group stage over, without further ado, let's take a look at the last-16 draw details, who could each team

Arsenal Robert Pires heaped praise on football icon Lionel Messi and placed him above his former teammates Zinedine Zidane and Thierry Henry, who themselves are one of the finest players to have blessed the game. According to the former Arsenal midfielder, the Barcelona skipper has 'something no one else has.'  Robert Pires racked up an illustrious, largely successful career. From his time at Marseille, Arsenal and Villarreal to his exploits with the France national team, the 46-year-old played alongside and against one of the

The Big Bash League, Australia’s premier T20 festival, has decided to replace the traditional coin toss with the ‘bat flip. In place of ‘heads or tails’, captains will now call ‘flats and hills’ during toss time. The top-tier T20 event has introduced a couple of unique yet mind-blowing concepts to the world of cricket, including the zing bails (which light up whenever the stumps are dislodged) and umpire cams. They are now set to take the practice of flipping a bat from the

Juventus star man Cristiano Ronaldo has hailed his present club, stating that they are more of a family than Real Madrid, the club where he spent nine seasons. According to the Portuguese, there is no clash of egos at Turin, as every single individual in the squad wants to win with humbleness and humility. Ronaldo shocked the football world when he decided to switch to Juventus. Apparently, he no longer felt the same level of respect as he did when he arrived in

Indian batsman Gautam Gambhir, who announced his retirement a few days ago, has slammed former teammate and captain MS Dhoni for his captaincy during the 2012 Commonwealth Bank series against Australia. The southpaw lifted the lid on Dhoni’s questionable decision of not playing Gambhir, Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar in the same XI, as he had a keen eye on the 2015 World Cup. The veteran had always been a vital cog for India’s top order exploits, but horrendous form, questions over technique,

22 June 2017.  The day when Mohamed Salah agreed to put pen on paper for Liverpool Football Club. Time has since flown by, and the buzzing football fraternity is now used to him scoring goals for fun. After winning the Championship with Basel, the left-footed magician was snapped up by Chelsea. He did score a few goals for the Blues but never broke through a winger's spot reserved by the likes of Eden Hazard, Oscar, Andre Schurrle and Willian. As per the club's

Paris Saint-Germain star man Neymar provided a hint that he might switch to the Premier League one day. He claimed that every player has to play English football’s top division at least once in their career. The Brazilian moved to the French capital following a staggering €222million deal last year – a move that raised many eyebrows. Prior to the transfer, he was linked with Manchester City and Manchester United. When asked by Manchester City full-back Benjamin Mendy if he would ever like

PSG's scheduled home clash against Montpellier has been called off and thereby, postponed due to the ongoing riots at the French capital. The match was supposed to begin on Saturday at 4 pm GMT, but owing to the 'Gilet Jaune' protests that have been heating up over the past few weeks, it has been ruled off. Along with this feature game, the fixture between Toulouse and Lyon has been pushed back to a later date as well. The French footballing authorities have reported that they

The Delhi franchise of the Indian Premier League renamed themselves as Delhi Capitals heading into the 12th edition of the tournament. Shreyas Iyer, who took over as the captain during the course of last season, will continue as the skipper, the club has announced. Co-owners Parth Jindal and Kiran Kumar Grandhi of JSW Sport and GMR respectively unveiled the new name of the team. The team retained their red and blue color but designed a new logo. The initial Delhi Daredevils team failed

Juventus star Giorgio Chiellini has stated that the arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo has steered a massive impact, similar to that created by club legend Andrea Pirlo. According to the center-back, the Portuguese ace is improving the standards of Serie A and Juventus on an international level. The 33-year-old spread shockwaves around the entire football world when he decided to put pen on paper for Juventus in the summer. Following his big-money move, Ronaldo took a while to find his feet, but he has

Pakistan batsman Mohammad Hafeez is set to retire from test cricket after the ongoing third and final game against New Zealand in Abu Dhabi. He confirmed the same on Tuesday, owing to a poor run with the bat. After being dropped in 2016, the right-handed batsman was recalled to the squad after almost two years away. He scored a remarkable 126 against Australia last month but has struggled since. As a consequence, the 38-year-old has piled up just 66 runs in his last

Zinedine Zidane's son Enzo Fernandez has revealed that his father will return to the football arena as a manager very soon. The Frenchman, who is presently on loan at Spain's Rayo Majadahonda from Swiss side Lausanne-Sport, exclaimed that the former Real Madrid player and manager needed rest after his exploits at the Santiago Bernabeu. Zidane started his management career in 2014 with Real Madrid Castilla, before taking charge of the first team in January 2016. With a staggering win percentage of almost 70 in

Spain's all-time top scorer and former Barcelona forward David Villa is set to join Japanese outfit Vissel Kobe from New York City FC. The sharpshooter confirmed on Wednesday that he will depart on 31 December, after his contract expires. He will re-unite with former teammate Andres Iniesta and German striker Lucas Podolski at Asia. With 59 goals in 98 caps for his country, Villa is widely regarded as one of the finest strikers of the generation. He enjoyed great moments at Valencia, Barcelona,

What's the story? Manchester United's pursuit of Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly has taken too many turns and swerved the rumor mill time and time again of late. Since the start of the summer transfer window, Jose Mourinho's side monitored the center-back in their quest to sign a central defender. Although they failed to land him or the likes of Toby Alderweireld, Jerome Boateng or Harry Maguire, the stories surrounding this supposed transfer never stopped. Speculation further increased post the season' start after Mourinho

Australia pipped India in the first T20 International by four runs to take the lead and start the home series on a positive note. Both sides had their highs and lows throughout the flow of proceedings, but a total of 174 in 17 overs proved to be too much for the Men in Blue to chase down. As a result, the visitors fell just short in a game that went right down to the wire. Virat Kohli had won the toss and put

Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri has tabled an offer for Real Madrid star Isco, according to reports from the Express. The proposal comes on the back of scenarios surrounding both the clubs at present. As far as Los Blancos are concerned, they have endured a somewhat disappointing campaign so far. Summer recruitment Julen Lopetegui saw himself axed on the wake of a 5-1 hammering at the hands of arch rivals Barcelona. Santiago Solari has been replaced as the new head coach following a string

Chelsea head coach Maurizio Sarri remarked that a conversation with Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp helped him realize that he has reached the very top, that is, the Premier League. The Italian also heaped praise on rival managers such as Jose Mourinho, Unai Emery and of course, Klopp. Since making the switch from Napoli to Chelsea, Sarri has injected his eye-catching, high-intensity style of football into the squad. From the change of formation, structure, and shape to the quick build-up, high line, and tactics,

Chelsea have recorded a fine start to the season under their new charismatic boss Maurizio Sarri. After his first competitive game ended in a defeat against Manchester City, the Italian has masterminded his team to a run of 18 games unbeaten and is the first manager to go 12 league matches without a loss in his first season in charge at the Premier League. However, their joy could be cut short due to the ongoing FIFA investigation that would see them face a

Former German international Hans-Peter Briegel has slammed Pep Guardiola, claiming that his tactics have had an adverse effect on Germany national side’s disastrous 2018. According to him, teams must look at the main objective of the game, which is to get three points, instead of applying a certain ball-retention pattern of play. Joachim Low’s troops have endured a dismal calendar year. Following a shock exit in the FIFA World Cup, the four-time World champions saw themselves knocked out of their group in the

A seven-member meeting is scheduled this week by Cricket Australia to discuss whether to cut short the sanctions provided to the guilty trio of Steve Smith, David Warner, and Cameron Bancroft. Seven directors from the official cricket board of Australia are expected to run the flow of discussions on Tuesday. Earlier in March, a ball-tampering scandal at Cape Town saw the trio face lengthy bans from international cricket, along with other tournaments such as the Sheffield Shield, Indian Premier League, and the Big