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Liverpool draws Real Madrid, Arsenal as Man City plays PSG

By Guardian Nigeria
30 August 2024   |   1:51 am
Liverpool will face Champions League holders Real Madrid on their return to the competition following the draw for the new-look format. Manchester City and Arsenal both play Paris St-Germain in their fixtures, while Aston Villa take on Scottish champions, Celtic. Each team plays eight fixtures in the “league phase,” with this year’s men’s tournament seeing…

Liverpool will face Champions League holders Real Madrid on their return to the competition following the draw for the new-look format. Manchester City and Arsenal both play Paris St-Germain in their fixtures, while Aston Villa take on Scottish champions, Celtic.

Each team plays eight fixtures in the “league phase,” with this year’s men’s tournament seeing a radical change, including the end of a group stage.
The high-tech draw held in Monaco, yesterday, with Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo pressing the all-important button to make a computer algorithm determine the fixtures.
 
A UEFA video shown before the draw used stars from across the game showing their confusion at the new format, before former Swedish star, Zlatan Ibrahimovic praised it for “more football” in a comical interaction with UEFA President, Aleksander Ceferin.
 
The order of matches will be confirmed tomorrow, after the Europa League and Conference League draws have been made. In yesterday’s draw, Aston Villa will play against Bayern Munich, Leipzig,   Juventus, Club Bruges, Celtic, Young Boys, Bologna, and Monaco.
  
Arsenal are drawn against Paris St-Germain, Inter Milan, Shakhtar Donetsk, Atalanta, Dinamo Zagreb, Sporting Lisbon, Monaco and Girona.

Liverpool will meet Real Madrid in their opening game before matches against Leipzig, Leverkusen, AC Milan,  Lille, PSV Eindhoven, Bologna and  Girona, while Manchester City have games against Inter Milan, Paris St-Germain, Club Brugge, Juventus, Feyenoord, Sporting Lisbon, Sparta Prague, and Slovan Bratislava.

LSTTA laments exodus of Lagos athletes to other states
The chairman of the Lagos State Table Tennis Association (LSTTA), Tunji Lawal, has expressed concern over the exodus of Lagos athletes to other states due to a lack of support for table tennis.

This trend, he said, has seen several athletes from Lagos being poached by other states ahead of major national championships.
Lawal said: “Most of our players are moving to other states; we have lost many of our senior players to Ogun, Delta, and Rivers states. We need to develop new players, especially from the grassroots. This requires bringing in the necessary facilities to help them develop their skills.
 
“I hope we can achieve something with our ongoing efforts.”
Lagos has historically been a hotbed for table tennis talent, but Lawal emphasised the need for more support to help players reach their full potential.

“We have players like Matthew Kuti and Muiz Adegoke, who started from cadet competitions and are now in the national teams. We want to develop new players and test them against others across the country,” he said.

To support this initiative, Lawal has donated two table tennis boards, while the Director General of the Lagos State Sports Commission (LSSC), Lekan Fatodu, donated one.
 
But Lawal said that more equipment are needed to hasten the development of new players. “Lagos has a lot of players, and three tables are not enough. We have to start somewhere, and I hope the Lagos State governor will support us in developing better players,” he concluded.

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