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UEFA Champions League

UCL Final Experience: Finidi, Eguavoen, Young John, others join Heineken ‘Cheers to All Fans’ campaign

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Super Falcons’ captain, Onome Ebi ready for Champions League engagement with fans at the event put together by Heineken, proud sponsors of the UEFA Champions League

Football fans in Lagos and its environs are set for a never-before-loaded UEFA Champions League final viewing experience as the Heineken Cheers to All Fans campaign peaks in style in Lagos; the Centre of Excellence this Saturday.

Aside from the all-star line-up of performers already confirmed to light up the Landmark Events Centre, the heart of the city in Ikeja will also be bubbling with activities at the Cubana Hut & Grill on Isaac John Street.

The electrifying trio of Young Jonn, DJ Consequence, and Chuey Chu will be holding the fans and loyal consumers of Heineken spell-bound with top-notch performances, hot mixes of music as well as bants and jokes on a night of explosive football action between history-chasing Manchester City and Inter Milan.

Apart from the unmatchable entertainers, fans will also be sharing the Champions League final night with accomplished football icons who have excelled and made names for themselves in the round leather game.

Four Nigerian football icons, Onome Ebi, Finidi George, Augustine Eguavoen and Julius Aghaowa will all grace the grand finale of the Heineken ‘Cheers to All Fans’ campaign.

Onome Ebi, the captain of the Nigerian women’s national team, the Super Falcons going to the World Cup finals next month in Australia and New Zealand. 

Ebi’s leadership skills and resilience on the pitch have made her a role model for aspiring female footballers in Nigeria and beyond.

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Her presence at the grand finale resonates with the inclusivity of women preached by Heineken and it will also undoubtedly inspire and empower young girls who dream of playing football at the highest level.

George, a former Nigerian international was a key member of the legendary Ajax team that won the UEFA Champions League in 1995.

His electrifying performances and memorable goals during that campaign etched his name in football history.

The presence of the Enyimba coach will undoubtedly be inspiring for the fans. 

For Eguavoen, a former captain of the Nigerian national team, the Super Eagles, he represented the country in numerous international tournaments, including the FIFA World Cup.

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Eguavoen’s experience and footballing insights will undoubtedly captivate the audience at the grand finale.

Completing the quartet is Aghahowa, another Nigerian football icon who enjoyed a successful career at both the national and international levels will also be joining the fans on Saturday for the unique viewing experience courtesy of Heineken.

The Heineken ‘Cheers to All Fans’ campaign is celebrating the unwavering passion and dedication of football supporters around the world and the pinnacle of this campaign is bringing together football legends and fans to celebrate the beautiful game.

The grand finale of the Heineken ‘Cheers to All Fans’ campaign will be a football-filled extravaganza for attendees as they will have the opportunity to watch the highly anticipated UCL final match while being surrounded by the iconic figures who have contributed to Nigerian football’s rich history.

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Kunle Solaja is the author of landmark books on sports and journalism as well as being a multiple award-winning journalist and editor of long standing. He is easily Nigeria’s foremost soccer diarist and Africa's most capped FIFA World Cup journalist, having attended all FIFA World Cup finals from Italia ’90 to Qatar 2022. He was honoured at the Qatar 2022 World Cup by FIFA and AIPS.

UEFA Champions League

Kane scores four goals as record-breaking Bayern crush Dinamo Zagreb 9-2

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Champions League - Bayern Munich v GNK Dinamo Zagreb - Allianz Arena, Munich, Germany - September 17, 2024 Bayern Munich's Harry Kane scores their sixth goal from the penalty spot to complete a hat-trick REUTERS/Angelika Warmuth

Bayern Munich striker Harry Kane scored four goals to lead his side to a 9-2 demolition of visitors Dinamo Zagreb on Tuesday and a record for the most goals by one team in a Champions League match after a scintillating performance.

Bayern struck three times in the first half with Kane converting a 19th minute penalty before becoming the highest scoring English player in European Cup history with 33 goals, breaking Wayne Rooney’s mark of 30.

Kane, who scored three goals against Holstein Kiel in the Bundesliga on Saturday, also became the first player to score a hat-trick of penalties in a European Cup match.

The game had the second-biggest winning margin in Champions League history, with Liverpool and Real Madrid holding the record with 8-0 wins.

Borussia Dortmund’s 8-4 win over Legia Warsaw in 2016 is the record for most goals overall in a Champions League match.

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“It’s the first time I’ve ever had three penalties in one game,” said Kane. “It was a different feeling for me, but to score four goals is fantastic.”

“To help the team in any way possible is important. Whether they’re penalties or normal finishes I’ll take them all. It was a great night for us.”

DETERMINED BAYERN

Bayern are eager to bounce back after failing to win any domestic or international silverware last season.

“Everyone has a point to prove here and we’ve started the season that way,” Kane said. “The way the coach wants us to press and be intense with and without the ball is important. We know we can dominate teams with the quality we have.”

With Zagreb completely boxed in, Raphael Guerreiro, who had earlier put the ball in the net only to be ruled offside, drilled home from a superb Jamal Musiala assist in the 33rd and Michael Olise added another five minutes later.

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The Croats briefly recovered by making the most of some sloppy defending with goals from Bruno Petkovic in the 49th and Takuya Ogiwara a minute later to give themselves some hope.

It was, however, short-lived with Bayern, who hope to reach this season’s final to be played in Munich, upping the tempo instantly and scoring two more in a four-minute span through Kane and Olise to restore order.

In coach Vincent Kompany’s Champions League debut on the bench, England captain Kane bagged his third and fourth goals with penalties in the 73rd and 78th.

Thomas Mueller also set a record with his 152nd Champions League appearance for Bayern, breaking Xavi’s mark at Barcelona for the most matches in the competition with one club.

Substitutes Leroy Sane and Leon Goretzka also got on the scoresheet with late goals as Bayern opened their Champions League campaign in devastating fashion.

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-Reuters

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UEFA Champions League

Real Madrid to play Liverpool, Milan and Dortmund in revamped Champions League

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Reigning champions Real Madrid will play Borussia Dortmund in the league phase of the Champions League in what will be a repeat of last season’s final after the draw for the new-look 36-team tournament was held on Thursday.

Clubs will no longer playing three teams home and away in the group phase, but will face eight different teams with four games at home and four away which were picked with the help of a computer.

With clubs facing two teams each from the four pots, the draw threw up plenty of mouth-watering fixtures with Real also set to play former champions Liverpool and AC Milan in the league phase.

Premier League champions Manchester City will face Inter Milan — a repeat of the 2023 final — Paris St Germain and Juventus while Bayern Munich are up against PSG and Barcelona among others.

Apart from Real, Liverpool also take on RB Leipzig, Bayer Leverkusen and AC Milan.

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New Barcelona boss Hansi Flick has his hands full with the Spanish team set to face the two German giants — his former club Bayern Munich and Dortmund.

The draw was conducted with the help of the competition’s all-time top scorer Cristiano Ronaldo and former goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, who were both given special awards by UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin.

-Reuters

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UEFA Champions League

New UEFA Champions League format promises more of prize money

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Mikel Obi stars at Champions League draw as Arsenal face Bayern Munich

The new Champions League format this season will see more teams playing more games for more prize money.

On Thursday, UEFA makes the draw in Monaco for the match schedule of the new single-standings league phase that replaces the traditional group stage.

The first new Champions League format since 2003 promises more of almost everything that Europe’s wealthiest and most influential clubs wanted from UEFA.

There are four more places in a 36-team lineup; at least eight games each instead of six; Champions League games scheduled in January for the first time; a prize money rise of at least 25% to a minimum 2.5 billion euros ($2.8 billion).

There also was more evidence, at UEFA’s European Championship this summer, that constant expansion of international competitions is leaving players tired and unable to perform at their best year-round.

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The new league phase in European club soccer’s marquee event will have 144 total games compared to 96 in the group stage last season.

The “key aims,” UEFA said, is to “improve competitive balance and sporting interest and in the process increase the number of meaningful matches — matches with something at stake for both sides — throughout the competition.”

In the eighth and final round, all 36 teams play on the same Jan. 29 evening to finalize the standings which will decide which eight teams advance directly to the round of 16 — and with what seedings in a tennis-like knockout bracket — as well as which 16 go into a new knockout playoff round in February, and which 12 are eliminated.

“We simulated that qualification should be possible with an average of 7.6 points, which means two victories and two draws,” said UEFA’s head of competitions strategy, Stéphane Anselmo.

Why change such a successful competition?

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Money, mostly, though that’s not the only reason.

The Champions League in Europe has for the past 32 years showcased the highest quality play in world soccer. It let UEFA steer billions of euros (dollars) of prize money to clubs who pay the highest transfer fees and salaries.

Still, influential officials at the European Club Association (ECA) got bored of the group stage, saying it was too repetitive and lacked drama. They wanted more games against stronger opponents that would be more valued by broadcasters, viewers and new fans worldwide. Their leverage over UEFA was potentially launching their own breakaway competition.

The road to agreeing the format was rocky. A controversial first proposal in 2019, favoring storied clubs, was stopped by a backlash from mid-ranked clubs and domestic leagues.

There was intense turmoil sparked by the failed Super League launch in April 2021 by most of the same club officials who negotiated Champions League reform with UEFA.

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Final format approval came in May 2022 — when Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus were exiled from the talks and still pursued UEFA in court — and it was broadly what the rebel Super League clubs had negotiated.

What is the new format?

Out goes the group-stage format played for 21 seasons where 32 teams were put into eight groups of four teams from a seeded draw. The top two in each group advanced to the round of 16. Groups gave each team six games from September into December, playing each rival once at home and once away.

In comes a single-standings league — 36 teams each playing eight games against eight different opponents through January.

The top eight in the standings go direct to the round of 16 in March. Teams ranked ninth to 24th go into the knockout playoffs in February. The bottom 12 teams are eliminated.

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In the playoffs, teams ranked Nos. 9-16 are seeded in the draw to play second legs at home against unseeded teams Nos. 17-24.

Who gets the four extra places?

Two for countries whose teams collectively had the best record in UEFA club competitions in the previous season. That was Italy and Germany so the fifth-placed teams in Serie A and the Bundesliga qualified: Bologna and Borussia Dortmund.

The fifth-ranked national league (based on five years of results in UEFA club competitions) gets a third direct entry. That is currently France and Brest was third in Ligue 1.

An extra place goes to the qualifying rounds path for national champions from lower-ranked countries. They now play for five total qualifying places instead of four last season.

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How will the draw be done?

The 36 teams come out of four seeding pots graded by each team’s “UEFA club coefficient” – its ranking by results in five years of European competitions. The top-seeded pot contains recent Champions League winners and beaten finalists, plus Leipzig and Barcelona.

When a team’s ball is drawn, its slate of eight opponents — two from each seeding pot, one to play at home and one away — will be allocated by a software program and displayed within seconds.

Match dates will be confirmed Saturday, to avoid city clashes with Europa League and Conference League games being drawn Friday in Monaco. Those lower-tier competitions also are a 36-team single-standings league. Conference League teams play just six games.

Billion-dollar prize money fund

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Winning the Champions League title in 2023 earned Manchester City 135 million euros ($151 million) from UEFA. This season’s winner can reach 150 million euros ($168 million), with total competition revenue boosted by selling 189 total games instead of 125.

Commercial strategy is managed by a UEFA-ECA joint venture, and new sponsors for the Champions League include a cryptocurrency trading platform and a betting site.

Each of the 36 teams gets a basic 18.6 million euros ($20.8 million), then 2.1 million euros ($2.35 million) for each game won and 700,000 euros ($782,000) per draw.

Each place in the standings is worth more money with shares of 275,000 euros ($307,000) per place: 36 shares, or 9.9 million euros ($11 million), goes to the team finishing top in January and a single share to the last-place team.

Bonuses escalate from 11 million euros ($12.3 million) per team for advancing to each knockout round.

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Another prize fund of 853 million euros ($953 million) is allocated based on teams’ historical record in UEFA competitions and the value of national and global broadcast deals.

-AP

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