The SPL clubs making it big in the Asian Championship is what the organizers of the league real wanted. The way they invested in their clubs is really paying off as we can see how the clubs are performing across the continent. Well taking a look at the clubs Al-Hilal and Al-Ittihad; both are in the SPL, the former remains unbeaten in the league and across the league while the latter are the defending champions of the league. These 2 clubs were able to secure themselves a spot in the Quater Finals of this Championship. What’s interesting is that these two clubs are both in same league and have both had great success time in the league and they know about each other. I think Al‐Hilal have the greater advantage because they’re able to win Al-Ittihad in the league and know their weaknesses already.

 I think Al-Hilal will be exploring on more weaknesses of these Al Ittihad to do them more harm in the Championship. For Al-Ittihad I think they’ll be coming into this match very careful even though they’re the defending champions of their league but currently Al-Hilal are in a better position. Al-Ittihad must be careful on how they come out to attack Al-Hilal else they’ll be conceding some rain of goals. As you can see that coming into this quater finals they still to an extent struggled to get the win that brought them here. For Punters the best choice is to get Al-Hial to surely win this match and go through to the next round because they’re the team on fire with very high determination as compared to Al Ittihad who’re struggling and trying to get their balance this season.

Mbappe to Real Madrid is one news that’s been on the mouth of most media outlet for over 2 transfer windows. Well Mbappe is one very young player who has achieved a lot at his age and he’s currently bent on achieving even more and greater deeds. His main target is the UCL and at PSG, he might not be able to achieve that feat and for that reason, he’s seeking a move to the Spanish Capital. Well at Real Madrid he’s sure of having at least 1-2 UCL to his name and also if he performs like the star he is then he could also get himself some individual accolades especially as we’re now having the era if Messi and Ronaldo ended already.

 Now it’s time for Mbappe and Haaland who are 2 players that have the potential of holding the football world for a long time like Ronaldo and Messi did. So for this reason, he’s considered a move to Madrid is willing to make it happen and Madrid being clever decided to get him as a free agent and make him bend to their own demands. Kylian wants a salary yearly of over 75 million euros but I think Madrid are tabling 25 million for a start. Well the figure isn’t a big deal for Madrid especially for the kind of player Kylian is and judging from his antecedents and what he could offer at the club. I think Madrid doesn’t want to do some rush and spend big and at the end it becomes unnecessary and reckless. Well whatever be the case, I have high hopes that Mbappe will still join this Madrid sign what ever maybe and he’ll perform greatly as this is the only club at the moment that will be able to bring him to the limelight.

Real Sociedad were able to overcome the group stage hurdles and thereafter advancing to the last 16. Sorry to say but it'll only be in the widest of dreams that Sociedad will lift the UCL trophy this season. They're not so much of a good side neither are they a bad side. They've currently not just got what it takes to be the champions. There are still teams far better than them in all aspects, doing exceedingly well and even making extra efforts than Sociedad makes. Yes anything can happen in football but there are some fates that have been envisioned out. Maybe they'd scale through to the last 8 but the odds are very much minimal. This stage of the contest isn't a joke as all teams are in their best.

 Well the first leg of the round of 16 games didn't really turn out well for them because they were the visitors and they were up against a tough French team who were far better than them in the pitch adding that they've got better UCL experiences than them too. Now they'll have to in the second league fight back the two goals that they're down with which they themselves know won't be so easy for them to. PSG aren't a team that'll fold their arms and watch how the hosts will defeat them by 2goals without making any move to net in a goal, adding that they're questing hard to be UCL champions too. I'd expect that with respect to their performances in the La Liga this season, they'll be able to stand their ground especially in this game where they'd be the host. Well, it'll be bad that their recent performances so far would be infectious to their morale in the second league but there's still a bit of time to cover up their loopholes and be very well prepared for the UCL encounter with PSG in March.

In the Europa League, there's been top contending teams from the start till the current stage of the contest. Even though days back, the playoffs stage was concluded and there we saw few teams earn advancement tickets. Well from the beginning of the tournament, we know that it'll only be the tough teams that'd survive. Also predicting the winner this season would be hard as there are a number of tough teams to pick from. The highest we can do is to just analyze these teams based on their overtime performances this season and bringing that in the picture, the highest probable winner would be Leverkusen, then Liverpool and any other team behind. In essence it's safe to say that if the draws are favourable, then Liverpool would battle with Leverkusen in the final game of the tournament.

 Between these two teams, Liverpool have been trying though, they're anticipating the EPL trophy, as well as the Carabao cup too and then they're top contenders for the UEL. Well, the EFL finals will be played tomorrow and then I believe the weight on them would be a bit lessened as before now, dues to the number of competitions they were playing in, they had to keep resting players and I believe it had an effect on some of their games, good thing is, they've been able to outshine too. So I believe after tomorrow, the next goal will be to keep advancing in the UEL and staying intact in the EPL too. For Leverkusen, they've been impactful, currently the top spot in the Bundesliga too and so they've got same goal as Liverpool and therefore if in recent times they've remained unbeaten, then I doubt that there'd be a negative difference now when the tournament and season is almost rounded up. For me, I'll really love to see the heated game between Leverkusen and Liverpool in the UEL soon though and I have a feeling they'd be made to play against themselves.

The season hasn't been quite adventurous for Juventus as they've been indicted to not taking part in the Europa League. They've been focusing their strength on the domestic Serie A league and they've been doing excellently well in it. They've even got a greater chance of being far ahead in the standings than the likes of Inter Milan because for others, after the league games, they'd still have to play the continental tournament and this will definitely affect players' physical capabilities too. Although inasmuch as a weighty gap is expected of them, Inter Milan has made it difficult because they've also been in their best form.Well to talk about trophies fo be lifted this season by Juventus, they still have two options to take one or all from. At thesame time, it'll not be hard to stay in shape to earn a ticket to next season's European contests.

 They've been able to play resiliently and the results so far is fit to help them earn this ticket but the difficulty they may face this season is the trophy of the Serie A, the top contenders won't let it slip away from them, they're in their own way and end putting streanous efforts to ensure that they get the maximum number of points to keep the gaps and help them win the trophy. There's still time to make a difference but they themselves know it's not going to be as easy as it ought to be considering the intensity in games this season. I just would advise that they focus enough strength on Copa Italia as it seems feasible enough to attain than the Serie A trophy.

Leverkusen for all time this season have proven to possess qualities of champions. Their unwavering and determined efforts to their games in both the German league and UEL have only shown how capable and fit and qualified they are to lift these trophies. It's safe to say that they'd be the right team to be victorious in these two football journies this season. For Xabi's ability based on his performances with his team, it'll be fair to admit his superiority in skillset. Leverkusen when Xabi took over had to start from scratch to build up to where they are now. So far Xabi, he has been a good boss and his methods have worked perfectly for Leverkusen. One would wonder how he managed to put up such feat for the team considering the spot he picked them from. It's one quality that can definitely be found in a good manager. Leverkusen have been impressive in all rounds and it's surprising that they're now better than some already grounded teams. It only means that Xabi has a unique managing quality which can be of essence in bigger teams too.

 The sudden positively improved team have in no wise generally being a contributor to their great feats and height. The team players have done their part of the task diligently and it's expected that they get nothing less than the result they've gotten so far. It takes a whole lot to stay unbeaten in a season and it's a remarkable thing to talk about. At least in the story of football, Leverkusen's difference this season would be talked about. Even though there are still weeks left to the end of the season, adding that in the German league, there are just a very minut number of tough opponents to contend with, I believe that Leverkusen would as they did in the first legs of the league games, they would this time stick to being victorious again. So it more or less means that they're the champions of the Bundesliga this season and they deserve to be crowned champions.

Well the AFC Champions League is on and we’ve got some big matches to focus on especially as we’ve had great improvement from the Saudi League. The Saudi League is one league that’s enjoyed a great investment from the governing bodies and the respective clubs. Investment in every business is what gets the business to the limelight and this is what the Saudi government understood and had to take necessary actions. Now you can see the improvement in both the league and the rippled effect in the National team. The National Team has had massive improvement to the style of their play because of the massive exposure most of them have gotten from the European stars signed to the league. Now let’s shift our focus to the AFC Champions League and we’re looking at the performance of 3 clubs ; Al Ittihad who are the league’s defending champions, Al Hilal who’re leading the league and Al Nassr the league chasers who houses Ronaldo in the team.

 Al Ittihad vs Al Hilal match has it’s own feelings and vibes especially as it’s a match if defending champions against current league leaders and We’ll love to see how Al Ittihad have improved after the internal crisis that happened at the club. That not withstanding, we all know the final match would be between Al Nassr and Al Hilal and that’s one match that’s now having the massive views of the SPL. Especially because each time Al Nassr haven’t been able to get the win over this Al Hilal side m. I’m having high hopes on Ronaldo to be able to clinch this title at least to have him win something in the Saudi League. Ronaldo has at least won a trophy in every league is played and is yet to win any here in Saudi. For this reason, I’m having very high hopes and also the team is looking refreshed and reenergized and I wish they’ll-be able to keep up this determination level for a very long while that way they can be able to defeat this Al Hilal side. On the other hand, we can’t fail to overlook on the strength of this Al Hilal side which is majorly in their attack, headed by Mitrovic who’s in search of the league’s golden boot as he’s getting the required cooperation from his teammates. Well with that kind of massive cooperation they’re seeming unstoppable though. Well for me I have great hope on Ronaldo and his boys to be able to clinch this title in the final and I’ll sure have this confidence to stake on the Al Nassr team to win the final.

Well the Ligue 1 already being termed a farmers league because we don’t have much competition from the clubs to challenge for the league title. This wasn’t so in time past as in this league we’ve got great teams like Lyon, Lile, Monaco.Well investment weren’t done in these teams and PSG had proper investment that’s why they keep bagging this league season in and out. This reason makes the league look so cheap as there’s no heavy competition for PSG.We rather see a competition between teams to battle it out for European spot as that’s what they feel is major success to them. Well looking at a team like Lyon at the beginning of the season, one will think nothing will be able to come out of them.

 They had everything wrong as they were wallowing around the relegation zone of the league. They had some crazy results which were nothing to write home about and it got most of the fans worried. The club made some changes and they proved effective as you can see the club’s level now. Currently, the club seats at the 11th spot on the log and have a chance of going 10th if they get the win over Metz this weekend. The match against Metz, I’m not seeing it as a big deal for Lyon because even in their poor form they were able to steal a point talk more of now they’re on a a fine run. Lyon will sure get this win and get up the log to 10th as I know the focus of the team is now changed and they’re now challenging to at least get a spot in Europe next season. Well for now I’ll say it’s quite possible especially if they’re able to maintain this fire and keep the wins coming in.

This weekend, the EFL cup final will take place and the two teams going up against themselves have been long time rivals too. To be fair in judgement, it'll be an easy game for one of the teams considering past performances and all time performances this season too. First for Chelsea, this season have been unfavorable to them and frankly, they don't seem set to be EFL champions this season. They've not been able to prove their worthiness. As weeks go by, they keep having bad game records and it's not looking like it'll end in just a matchday. Although maybe a miracle can happen for them on Sunday but one thing is certain that Liverpool won't have it easy on them too. Hopefully the coach would know the proper approach to take for the game and the players would be productive in their efforts too.

 For Liverpool, they've not really been stressing to get good game records this season. Overtime they've been a better side than Chelsea and Sunday won't be an exemption. They've had good game outcomes this season, even their last games in passing weeks have been fair and enough confidence they possess for the final clash. They're determined too to bask the trophy even though they're aiming hard for the EPL trophy too. It won't hurt to get both cups though. They'll implement a lot of intensities in the game and Chelsea yes would fight to sustain the game to their best ability but only hopefully, they'll be able to stand strong and high to and at the end of the clash. A lot of bettors would favour Liverpool to win this game,  but they shouldn't forget that it's a final and it's going to be very tough, Chelsea are not going to allow them win easily they'll definitely fight back and bettors should use their last fixture against Manchester City as a yardstick. Well even though Liverpool wins I think btts would come through for some bettors.

Yesterday's Europa League knockout round play offs was an encouraging game outcome for a couple of teams considering that they had to struggle through from the group stages and even were able to advance to the next stage of the competition. Well everyone knew it'd be tough for most teams as they were striving to have a meaningful outcome but only a few could be victorious. Sadly for Lens, Rennes, Toulouse from the French Ligue 1, yes they did their best to stay in the competition and they made meaningful impacts so far in their domestic league games and even in the Europa league but just a little goal margin they weren't able to cover up costed then their advancement. Even though accepting the fact that their opponent wasn't as easy for them, they still tried to stay in the competition both in the first and second legs too.

 The qualified teams though definitely earned it and it's something to be proud of as I'm even as the game and tournament's tempo was high, they didn't bulge or shrink in performance. This only means that the advanced teams would have an extra job to do to be meaningful as every advancement stage means a tougher battle ahead. These teams have all time being best and epic in their respective leagues which also earned them the qualification ticket too, as in the UCL, the UEL is another European contest umbrella that's tough and has a lot of competition in it. One would sit back being patient to predict the winner of the tournament as jumping into predictions now will be risky. These teams left are tough and won't take the tournament easy on themselves. Every team wants to come out victorious, so no one can actually place how much intensity each team would bring to the pitch on matchday.

This season, Juventus haven't had much work to do in the team as first they weren't a part of the European contests all along and so the players have had enough time to sit back and rest after every league game and country's cups contests too. Well beyond all doubt, it's very much safe to believe that with the number of resting time they have, they ought to be able to give their best so far in the league journey and country cup games too. They've not failed still though, because their performances so far have been encouraging and they've been doing their best to maintain a good game at every encounter they have. They've been playing at high tempo and so it's expected that they finish at a comfortable spot on the league table and also go ahead to win Lazio in the Copa Italia face off.

 Their opponent though shouldn't be underestimated as they've also in their own parts been doing well for their league journey and even in the UCL too. Their last games outcomes is enough confidence boost for them to approach any team and strive to their best to come out victorious. It definitely won't be an easy game for both teams as they both are questing for the title, especially Juventus who'd want to keep their name and capacity too adding that they had enough resting time more than Lazio. For Lazio, so far they can make a difference this season by securing the trophy too. The UCL may not turn out well for them but they can give it their best. In the league too, they're trailing below the top 2 spots so they'll still want to use the Copa Italia as their only chance to a trophy this season. Well both teams are good certainly and only the best and resilient team would be victorious.

Munich's performance has been lingering far behind their usual tempo, which is so odd for them. They've got the skill set they need, the beginning was lit and top notch for them even though Leverkusen kept giving them hard time to fight through games but they strived to stay in shape but recently, it's been a different story so far as both the coach and players haven't been able to prove their worthiness. Tuchel's presence in the team ought to make a significant impact to their endeavors all time and also Kane's performance needed to add a big advantage to them but so far, their recent games have turned out opposite of their normal and expected performance rate.

 It'll only mean that their journey this season to a top spot is threatened and no one can say exactly if they'll be able to scale through it. They've not been encouraging and it's quite appaling that they remain depreciated week after week. Sadly though, Tuchel's stay in the club is seemingly threatened, his days are actually numbered and it's understandable that the management would want a switch for the coach position as they expected him to be better considering how much effort his put in recent times and even with flaws, they need not to keep overlooking it as it's unending. Well it'll only task them to find a proper hand that'll replace Tuchel's as so far they need not to take their chances and cause this to continue unto the next season. Alonso is being quested for and if they're able to secure him, well, hopefully he'll be able to take them out of the state they are. His records are speaking for him and so it's understandable that they see him as a proper prospect for the job ahead in the club.

Every player in a team has a particular role to play towards the success of a team and one role in a team that can’t be overlooked is that of the attacking position. The attacking position of a particular team is one that’s to tell if the team is goin to be able to fire in the goals to get the wins. A team is good with the defense line but it would not keep defending even on big occasions or against teams it ought to bang goals at. Well Chelsea is one club that’s rebuilding in almost every position of the team.Rebuilding phase isn’t usually easy as it’s very tedious to make some decisions and choices and find out they weren’t the best of choices. Now Chelsea made some great signings over the summer and one position that caught our attention is that of the attack. They were able to sign a low cost striker who has made his name and mark at Spain. Well it turns out that this striker isn’t whom they thought he’ll be.

 Man isn’t productive and you can’t blame the midfielders and wingers as they’re doing their jobs perfectly which is to get the ball and deliver the goal for the team. The striker at Chelsea has proven beyond all doubts to be one that misses very easy chance and clear cut chances. Now over to next summer transfer and we hear Chelsea already targeting Africa’s Best Player, Osimhen. This is a god target considering how prolific he’s but I don’t think he’ll be able to be the striker Chelsea needs. Yes he will sure leave the club especially after the ill treatments he’s been getting lately. I would love to see him perform in a better club probably in the EPL and If Chelsea is to sign him, then they must be ready to change their playing style to an extent so as to be able to accommodate the young Nigerian blood.

Well a team wanting to win a league must meet some criteria and each of those criterias require their own success levels. One of the many criterias are achieving constant success. Achieving constant success might seem a big deal but that can only happen when the team’s bond is very strong and that’s by playing together over a long period of time. This criteria is usually possible but it’s always affected by either card suspension or injury crisis in a team. For the purpose of this writing, we’ll be focusing on the EPL and our main point is in the 2-3 contenders of this league. Liverpool and Manchester City also we can shift our focus to Arsenal. These teams have proven to be the strongest of the league as they’ve all got similar points in their run to clinching the league. For Arsenal they had their share of the injury crisis which made them slack in winning the league last season.

 Now this season started and we had Liverpool on fire for the league as they had a wide gap between them and these two teams but injury had it’s own share on Liverpool and reduced their point gaps. Now Liverpool are without majority of her key players and you can see that they’re not able to perform optimally. This wouldn’t have been a major problem if their rival team is suffering same fate but instead their rival team, Manchester City just had her full squad complete and this will be a big issue for Liverpool as they’ll have to try to be able to manage their squad and maintain consistency all through. Well though Liverpool ran riot against Luton but you could see how unproductive they were in the first half and this is the major issue for the team. Manchester City are back on track and are very determined to clinch on the league title as it seem that could be easily attainable to them. Liverpool must try to keep their tempo high even without her key players else they’ll bid an early goodbye to their title chase.

Arsenal making it to the UCL Knockout Round after over 7 years of being absent was a very big match to watch out for. This match was one their fans anticipated especially with Porto’s experience many had high expectations on Arsenal. The match happened and yes the surprise too was served by Porto in the last minutes of this match and this was really crazy for the coach, the fans and some punters who had high hopes in Arsenal team. Arsenal are currently a better team than Porto and I understand the frustration the match had. No one thought Arsenal will be able to concede defeat in this match as Arsenal have more better and a younger squad than Porto side. One part of this match that must be commended is the rock soild defense of this Porto side. This defense was able to stand tall all through the time of this match.

They made Arsenal attackers look so useless in front of goal by going home with 0 shot on target and this was a crazy stat that has got the fans so angry. Arteta dishing out his anger on his squad is quite understandable but he must now look for a way to reclaim victory at the Emirate. They still have a big chance to qualify as the difference is just with a goal and Arsenal at the Emirate can hit up over 3-5 goals there. Now they must try to look for the best way to break down this Porto team because I think Porto will still come with the mindset of defending their goal and hoping to go through to the next round with that lone goal and maybe a lucky goal. I still have high hopes on Arsenal going through to the last 8 but they’ll have to work through thick and thin to make this possible. With their young squad they can achieve that and I still want the fans to keep the hope alive.

Barcelona who were champions of the league last season played to a great extent to become champions. Becoming champions of a league that has teams like Real Madrid and Athletico Madrid means that you’ve got to play more than the ordinary. And that’s one key factor of a champion, being able to play more than the ordinary as they played to an extent like the Barcelona team we know. Their financial crisis though started last season but to an extent they were able to maneuver and that’s a major reason for their success last season.

 Well this season they were deep into the crisis and fir that weren’t able to make great recruitments like their major counterpart, Real Madrid who are current league leaders which is one big reason they’re not performing optimally. Moreso injury crisis tok was a big setback for them as they didn’t have the squad depth to use and replace the injured players. Now going forward, I don’t think they have to sell their key players rather they should best offload a lot of their liabilities that is those players who have little or nothing to offer so that they can add some key and major signings to this team especially as a new coach will be taking over so that he’ll be meting a new and better team than this curren team who aren’t productive.

Well lots of club letting go of their coaches by the end of the season and process of getting replacements already underway. You’ve got to act fast else you’ll be left with mo other option than to settle for an average coach or leas coah who’s got little or nothing to offer. Barcelona over the past few weeks came to an agreement to let Xavi who’s a successful ex player of the club and who’s achieved a feat as a coach at the club go. Xavi on his first season took this club from 9th to 2nd and achieved the league in his 2nd season but now things are going out wild for him. Well the club knows their financial situation and now are in search of a club who’ll be able to manage these boys and also the club’s resources. One of the names on the news is De Zerbi and I’ve got my own speculations about this choice.

 De Zerbi who’s in charge at Brighton have been able to build up this team but he’s not been able to take them above the standard of average. This is on big reason I don’t think he’ll be able to achieve success at Barca especially owing to the club’s financial crisis. The clubs needs a coach with an A experience and who’ll be able to command respect especially from these young players and someone they can turn to is Flick or Nagelsmaan. These 2 could have lots ot offer to these boys and the club at large. I just wish this club gets back to their ways of being able to challenge Real Madrid rather than being underdogs or just trying to chase shadow.

Liverpool as a tea started the season on a great note and maintained positivity till this point. They’ve been on fire and have kept this fire burning up till this point and that’s why they’re current league leaders of the most competitive league. Injury had its tow on them but this team still came out and is still proving to be a strong title contender. Now they’re still very much having the treble hopes alive with the win against Luton yesterday. This win doesn’t just keep the treble hope alive but it also shifts our focus to about 3 teams who can battle it out for the league. Manchester City and Arsenal who battled it out last season are now going to fight Liverpool for the same league.

 This is what makes the EPL a very competitive one as we’ve got high and healthy competition between teams participating in this league. Manchester City are the major threats especially after seeing Arsenal going blank yesterday in the UCL, it’s now seeming like they won’t be able to hold on this fight for a very long period of time. Now when you look at a time like Manchester City, you’ll see a fighter team especially as this team tends to fight and make sure they get all 3 points like the show they put up against Brentford where they got a goal and that gave them 3 points and put them very much im the title chase and aces them at 2nd place. Arsenal aren’t going to pose much strength if they keep up with the display they had at the UCL. Liverpool will have to add more fire to this squad and i think of they could do well and manage with their injury then they’ll be a fire for Manchester City and it’ll be a real healthy competitive league especially as it’s Klopp’s last season in charge.

Well Napoli vs Barcelona game was another similar game to that of Inter vs Athletico especially as both were champions of their respective leagues last season. And moreover both have similar strengths which is in the midfield and up on the attack line. They both had it all in their match yesterday and we saw the match ending in a 1 goal a piece for both teams. This draw was a great result for Barcelona owing that they’re now going so confident in the 2nd leg which will be at their ground.Napoli though outplayed Barca but weren’t able to keep up the good stand and try to hold up against the attackers of Barcelona. Well Victor Oshimen was able to come through for Napoli even after they were a goal down.

 His goal brought a sought of hope to the players and fans and now, this is going to bring them full confidence going into to the return leg. Though Barcelona will have the full confidence in this 2nd leg especially as it’ll be in their home ground. Not withstanding, I’m rooting for my Nigerian brother to bang goals or a goal at the Camp Nou and get his team to go to the last 8 of the UCL and it’ll be one glorious thing for him and the people of Nigeria at large. It’s quite possible especially as Barcelona aren’t really performing excellently like they’re known to perform.

Tonight, the last 16 teams would go against each other in the Europa League contest and definitely it'll be tough for a couple of them but still, the best team would win. For Milan, I believe they're a determined side to get a proper result for themselves. It'll be difficult to concur that they'll be the victor at the end but there's still a possibility that they'd make good advancement. Their opponent isn't much of a stress though but not underestimating them, both teams technically fall under thesame frame of performances. Adding that Milan might not be  the host so it's essential that they win the game today, I see the qualifying over Rennes to go into the next round.

 Other teams would strive to win a ticket for the last 8 too and this only means that the European contests as it has always been will have enough masse tough game play offs too. Benfica hopefully would be remarkable too and Lens too putting up a fierce battle to their opponents. If all the advanced teams, I can only vouch for Leverkusen as they've been unwavering overtime and if they're to be the winners at the long run, then it's a well deserved victory for them. Not denying the fact that there's still Liverpool and as well other teams who's shown resilience as they advanced. The best thing to do at this point is just to sit back and watch how the games would turn out today. It'll only be risky to predict the outcomes as all the teams schedules are in their respective ways top notch in their performances overtime and it'll certainly be hard on every of them, but definitely, the bests of all would always advance to the next stage.