Champions League: tie-by-tie analysis of the last-16 games

Manchester City will be delighted with Schalke, while Manchester United face an ominous prospect in PSG

Schalke v Manchester City

Try as he might, Txiki Begiristain found it hard to hide his delight. Although City’s director of football said all the right things about Schalke representing a difficult hurdle to his side’s prospects of progressing to the last eight in the competition they covet most, a meeting with the team who are currently 13th in the Bundesliga is unlikely to raise much concern in the corridors of power at the Etihad Stadium. Domenico Tedesco’s side finished five points behind Porto in a weak group and have lost eight times in the league this season, although Pep Guardiola will not underestimate their threat even if he did not lose to them in six meetings as Bayern Munich manager. The former Tottenham midfielder Nabil Bentaleb and Switzerland striker Breel Embolo are potential danger men as Leroy Sané returns to his former club for the first time since joining City in 2016.

Verdict: Manchester City

Players to watch: Breel Embolo (Schalke); David Silva (Manchester City)

Atlético Madrid v Juventus

juventus finished ahead of Manchester United in their group but will be wary of facing Diego Simeone’s side as Cristiano Ronaldo makes his first return to Madrid since leaving their bitter rivals in the summer. Atlético’s Wanda Metropolitano will host the final on 1 June, perhaps making them an even tougher nut to crack than usual in a competition in which they have finished as runners-up three times. In nine home matches this season, Atlético have conceded only five goals but showed a new vulnerability on the road in the 4-0 thrashing by Borussia Dortmund during the group stage that denied them top spot. Juventus remain one of the favourites and with Ronaldo in their ranks should have just enough firepower to find a way through Simeone’s miserly defence, led by Jan Oblak and Diego Godín.

Verdict: Juventus

Players to watch: Antoine Griezmann (Atlético); Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus)

Manchester United v PSG

Less than 24 hours after a costly defeat at Anfield, this was the draw José Mourinho was probably expecting. Thomas Tuchel’s PSG racked up 17 goals during the group stages after a slow start and are already approaching half a century in Ligue 1 having played 16 matches, meaning Manchester United’s manager will need to call on his vast Champions League experience to get through this tie against Neymar, Kylian Mbappé and co. November’s dramatic victory against Juventus in Turin could give him a glimmer of hope of emulating David Moyes in 2014 by reaching the last eight while struggling in the Premier League, although you have to fear for United’s defence given recent displays. The question is whether Mourinho will still be in charge for the first leg at Old Trafford on 12 February

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players to watch: Anthony Martial (Manchester United); Neymar (PSG)

Rogue One opens well in the UK – but not quite as well as Fantastic Beasts

Star Wars spin-off claims biggest four-day opening of the year as rereleased James Stewart classic It’s a Wonderful Life crashes back into the festive chart

The winner: Rogue One

With a UK debut of £17.31m for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Disney was quick to trumpet the result as the biggest opening of 2016 as well as the second biggest December opening, behind last year’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Certainly Rogue One has done well, confirming that fans will line up for Star Wars spin-off titles.

Disney made clear that the £17.31m debut was earned over four days. What it omitted to say was that, on a weekend period comparison, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them opened bigger. Over Friday to Sunday, Rogue One grossed £13.22m, while Fantastic Beasts’ three-day debut was £15.33m.

10 hectare of cassava due for harvest allegedly set ablaze by suspected Fulani herdsmen

Aina Tolulope, a farmer, took to her twitter handle this afternoon to lament over the destruction of her farmland by suspected herdsmen.

According to Aina, suspected Fulani herdsmen invaded her farmland last night and destroyed her cassava plants. She said the incident comes after another group of herdsmen destroyed one of her clients 10 hectares cassava farmland that was due for harvest. She wrote;

Animal rights activists go naked and smear fake blood on themselves to protest animal cruelty (photos).. but has it gotten to that?

Animal rights activists stripped naked and covered themselves in fake blood in a busy square in Barcelona to protest animal cruelty.

The latest demonstration was part of a campaign to protest the use of fur and leather in consumer goods.

On December 16, the activists lay down in Plaça de Catalunya, with one holding a sign reading "How many lives just for one coat?" in Spanish.

Photographs from the demonstration show the protesters lying motionless on top of one another to resemble dead or dying animals.

The demonstration was organised by Anima Naturalis, the international non-profit which campaigns for animal rights in Spain and Latin America.

''I detest any religion or tradition that supports child marriage'' - actress Shan George

Actress Shan George has reacted to the viral photos of a 70-year-old man that got married to a 15-year-old girl in Niger state.

Sharing a photo from the wedding on her Instagram page, George expressed her disgust at any religion or tradition that supports child marriage. Read what she wrote below

My heart cant stop bleeding since i saw this wedding pix yesterday, i Detest any Man, Woman, Religion, Govt, Tradition or Anything under the Earth that would put a child like this under this kind of Eternal Emotional, Psycological and Physical Turture in d name of Marriage. If this used to be ok during the Stone Age for whatever reason, Now is the time to stop this HORROR. Poor child, I cant deal, i'm traumatised.

What President Buhari Told 36 State Governors In Closed Door Meeting Today - Politics -

@POLITICSNGR

President Buhari has challenged state governors to redouble efforts in addressing infrastructure deficiencies in their respective states to revamp the nation’s economy.

PoliticsNGR gathered the meeting was hinged on the nation's failing economy. The Chairman of the Governors’ Forum, Gov. Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara, said the president stated this at a closed door with the 36 State Governors of the federation in Abuja.

He said: “Mr President, as usual, responded by telling us that the economy is in a bad shape and we have to come together and think and rethink on way forward.

“So, Mr President talked to us in the manner that we have a task ahead of us. So, we should tighten our belts and see how we can put Nigerian economy in the right direction and how we can address the nation’s infrastructural decay.

OMG!!! Inspector Heads Robbery Gang, Cheats Member Of N2.8m (photo) - Crime -

Suspect storms police station, surrenders self to expose crooked SARS officer

By Juliana Francis




It was like a scene straight out of a movie script, when a stranger, later dubbed Police informant, sauntered into the office of the operatives of the Inspector-General of Police Special Intelligence Response Team (IRT), Lagos State Police Command, located at the Ikeja, GRA, and gleefully announced, “I’m a robber! My gang stole the missing truck and container, with its N147million worth of goods.”
If the informant was trying to get the operatives’ attention, he definitely did. Seasoned operatives, who had seen and been to hell, looked coldly at him, with their stares almost boring holes into his face and body.

The informant squirmed in trepidation, but he had come prepared. He knew that right then, there was no going back. For him, going back was as difficult as going forward. He took the plunge and his words jumped, stumbled and tumbled over each other as he tried to tell his story.

The informant was quickly ushered into the office of Philip, a Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP) in charge of the IRT Unit in Lagos State.
After several minutes drilling under the unrelenting gaze of Philip, the story came pouring out of the informant. Yes, he truly was an armed robber. The operatives, who had seen a lot of characters in their line of work, knew there was a catch somewhere in his story and his willingness to surrender himself to the police.

The informant told them he came to surrender himself to the police because he wanted to be punished for his crimes, but he quickly added that he was not alone in the robbery operations.

He told Philip and other operatives that a police Inspector, identified as Mr. Asom Ubi, working with Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), was the leader of the gang.

As the man further revealed the gang’s modus of operandi and the sharing formula of loots, the suspected catch in his surrendering himself, fell into place. The puzzle was complete.