CELEBRITY
It’s Messi versus Guardiola as PSG draw Man City in Champions League group stage
Lionel Messi’s new club Paris St Germain will play Manchester City, managed by the Argentine’s former Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola, after being drawn together in Champion’s League Group A on Thursday (Aug 26).
Messi joined Qatari-owned PSG, who will also face Bundesliga side RB Leipzig and Belgium’s Brugge, from Barcelona this month after the Spanish side were unable to afford a new contract for the forward.
The draw pits two of European soccer’s wealthiest teams against each other once again as they both seek a first Champions League title, with City beating the French side 4-1 on aggregate in last season’s semis.
Abu Dhabi-owned City went on to lose the final to Premier League rivals Chelsea, who were drawn in Group H against Juventus, Zenit St Petersburg and Malmo.
City have yet to lose to PSG in the Champions League but Messi has also scored more goals against them – six in six games – than any other side in the competition.
“After the Porto, Liverpool, Atletico Madrid group, our group is probably the second most difficult one,” said City’s director of football Txiki Begiristain.
“Some of the big names in football are going to be out. That is the magnitude of this competition.”
Spanish champions Atletico Madrid and Liverpool were drawn in a tricky Group B with former winners Porto and AC Milan, while Real Madrid play Inter Milan, Shakhtar Donetsk and Moldovan debutants Sheriff Tiraspol in Group D.
Six-times winners Liverpool and manager Juergen Klopp will at least have fond memories of Atletico’s Metropolitano stadium after winning the 2019 title there against Tottenham Hotspur.
“I laughed, to be honest, pretty loud because it is a tough group obviously,” Klopp told Liverpoolfc.com.
“We played, I don’t know how often, already against Porto, so they will be waiting for us. We have obviously a little bit of (an) open bill with Atletico, and AC Milan, a historical one obviously.
“I think our supporters should be looking forward to it – we do, for sure.”
AC Milan coach Stefano Pioli, whose club beat Liverpool in the 2007 final after losing memorably in 2005, said it was certainly a “stimulating” group.
“Together in our group we have 15 Champions League wins. We expected it, this is the Champions League and we can’t wait to start. We will try to do important things,” he added.
Inter, Shakhtar and Real were also in the same group last time around with the Italian side finishing last.
Barcelona were drawn in Group E with Bayern Munich, Benfica and Dynamo Kyiv.
Manchester United will have another meeting with Spain’s Villarreal, a repeat of this year’s Europa League final, in Group F along with Atalanta and Swiss side Young Boys.
Sporting Lisbon drew Borussia Dortmund, Ajax and Besiktas in Group C with Lille, Sevilla, Salzburg and VfL Wolfsburg together in Group G.
The first group games will be on Sept. 14 and 15 with the final played in St Petersburg on May 28 next year.
-Reuters
Cristiano Ronaldo has become the first footballer to reach billionaire status, according to the latest Bloomberg Billionaires Index, which has valued the Portugal great’s net worth at an estimated $1.4 billion.
The 40-year-old striker’s financial ascent comes after he signed a new contract with Saudi side Al-Nassr in June reportedly worth more than $400 million.
Bloomberg said that Ronaldo earned more than $550 million in salary between 2002 and 2023, supplemented by a decade-long Nike deal worth nearly $18 million annually, and lucrative endorsements with Armani, Castrol and others that added more than $175 million to his fortune.
Ronaldo’s move to Al-Nassr from Manchester United in 2023 had already made him the highest-paid player in football history, with an annual salary of 177 million pounds ($237.52 million), plus bonuses and a reported 15% share in his Saudi Arabia club.
Argentina and Inter Miami forward Lionel Messi has earned more than $600 million in pre-tax salary during his career.
Ronaldo’s billionaire status places him among a rare group of athletes that includes basketball greats Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and LeBron James, golfer Tiger Woods and tennis player Roger Federer.
Ronaldo suggested he is not considering retirement any time soon.
“I still have a passion for this,” he said at the Portugal Football Globes gala on Tuesday. “My family says it’s time to quit and they ask me why I want to score 1000 goals if I’ve already scored 900-something. But I don’t think that way inside.
“I’m still producing good things, I’m helping my club and the national team. Why not continue? I am sure that when I finish I will leave full because I gave everything of myself. I know I don’t have many years left to play, but the few I have left, I have to enjoy them to the fullest.”
-Reuters
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Former England soccer captain David Beckham and actor Gary Oldman were knighted in King Charles’ annual birthday honours list on Saturday, while sculptor Antony Gormley was made a Companion of Honour.
Beckham, 50, joined Manchester United as a trainee in 1993, going on to make almost 400 appearances for the club where he won a string of titles and cups.
He subsequently played for Real Madrid, LA Galaxy, and Inter Milan, as well as captaining his country 58 times and making 115 appearances.
His marriage to fashion designer and former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham in 1999 cemented a celebrity status which went far beyond his sporting exploits.
Oldman, 67, started his career on the stage, where he was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, before rising to prominence in film. He won the best actor Oscar for playing Winston Churchill in the 2017 drama “Darkest Hour”.
He also had roles in the “Dark Knight Trilogy” and the “Harry Potter” movie series and more recently starred in the TV spy drama “Slow Horses”.
Other famous names receiving honours included damehoods for musical theatre star Elaine Paige, novelist Pat Barker and ceramics maker Emma Bridgewater.
Roger Daltrey, lead singer of rock band the Who and a patron of the Teenage Cancer Trust, received a knighthood for services to charity.
More than 1,200 people received honours for their achievements, with a particular focus on those who had given their time to public service, the government said.
King Charles’ official birthday will be celebrated with the annual “Trooping the Colour” military parade in London on Saturday. His actual birthday is on November 14
-Reuters
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One of three judges in Diego Maradona’s closely scrutinized homicide trial in Argentina resigned on Tuesday amid a scandal triggered by the alleged filming of an unauthorised documentary, bringing uncertainty to the future of legal proceedings.
The high-profile trial over the death of soccer star Maradona began on March 11 in the South American country where the World Cup winner is still revered.
-Reuters
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