Football Leagues & Cups

Indian Super League is one of the two football leagues in India along with I-League. Its inaugural edition was held in the year 2014. Five years down the line, Indian Super League has flourished to cement its place in the cricket-obsessed nation like India. ATK and Chennaiyin FC with two titles under their belt have won the most number of championship titles.

The 35-year-old who played with Goian during the 2018-19 season said, "It will be a special night for Goian, he did well here in the last three seasons but life goes on. The players move on but the club remains. That is football."

The Imphal-based club registered a stunning 5-0 victory over city rivals Tiddim Road Athletic Union (TRAU) about two weeks ago and the victory seemed like the perfect boost to reinvigorate their season.

Their European disappointment aside, Olympiacos have been flying high. The record-time Greece Super League winners are on top of the league points table and are unbeaten this season. Arsenal will be happy thinking they peaked at the right time. The Gunners’ front-trio of Aubameyang, Alexandre Lacazette and Nicolas Pepe all found the net in the 4-0 drabbing of Newcastle.

Club Brugge are on top of the Belgian Pro League with just one defeat in 26 matches and lead the standings by nine points after 26 games but are without key midfielder Sander Berge, who moved to Sheffield United in January. United, on the other, progressed to the knockout round after topping Group L.

NorthEast United FC are placed second from bottom and irrespective of the result in their penultimate game of the season will remain there. But they have two matches in hand and a win in both can help them finish as high as seventh in the points table. Hyderabad are playing their final game this season and with only 7 points from 17 matches, they remain at the bottom.

The Indian cricket team skipper took to his official Twitter account and congratulated his side for reaching the prestigious landmark. The Goa side qualified for the competition by registering a 5-0 win against Jamshedpur FC in their final Hero Indian Super League group stage clash.

In Turkish Premier League match between Fatih Karagümrük SK and Giresunspor, a stray dog disrupted the game to show off his skills. The stray dog invaded the pitch and caught the ball, not letting the players take it.

NorthEast United FC will lock horns with Hyderabad FC in Indian Super League (ISL) 2019-20 match no. 86. The game will be held on February 20, 2020, at Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium, Guwahati. NEUFC lost their last match against Odisha FC by 2-1 on February 14, 2020. Hyderabad FC played their last game against Jamshedpur FC on February 13, 2020, which ended by 1-1 draw.

Borussia Dortmund’s teenage sensation Erling Haaland has been creating ripples with his current form and suddenly has emerged as one of the biggest stars for Bundesliga. The teenage sensation follows Cristiano Ronaldo and idolises Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Thus it is normal if he imitates either of the two players. Now, ahead of the game against PSG which happened on February 19, 2020, Haaland was seen copying Cristiano Ronaldo’s Siiiiu celebration. The video of the act was shared on social media and is going viral.

For a while now, there have been rumours about things not being fine at the Barcelona camp especially after the spat between Lionel Messi and Eric Abidal. The six-time Ballon d’Or winner had slammed Eric Abidal after he had said that a few members of Barcelona were not happy with Ernesto Valverde. This did not go down well with Messi and he went on to lash out Abidal in public saying that he should not be speaking without the names.

Manchester City showed no ill effects from the recent Champions League ban imposed by UEFA, rolling to a comfortable 2-0 victory over West Ham United in late-season Premier League action.

India has been recommended as the first South Asian hosts for the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Women's Asian Cup 2022 by the AFC Women's Football Committee which met in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Wednesday as part of the AFC's commitment to grow the women's game.

Mbappe, Golden Boy in 2017 and a World Cup winner, was already one of the favourites to win the Ballon d’Or in future. The Frenchmen is also proclaimed as one of the heirs to the Ronaldo-Messi’s throne. Haaland, on the other, has started his career but his form and the goal-scoring streak has taken everyone by surprise.

The reigning champions humiliated West Ham 5-0 when they met earlier this season with Raheem Sterling scoring a hat-trick that evening. Sterling, however, won’t take the field on Thursday when City host the Hammers. The England forward has been ruled out till March with a hamstring issue and joins Leroy Sane on the sidelines.

Ferran Corominas (11th), Hugo Boumous (70th and 90th), Jackichand Singh (84th) and Mourtada Fall (87th) scored for FC Goa to ensure that their side ended the league phase of the ISL on top spot. The top team at the end of the league stage of ISL has been guaranteed a berth in the 2021 AFC Champions League.

RB Leipzig come into this fixture after holding Bayern Munich to a goalless draw in Bundesliga and thrashing Werder Breman 3-0. They trail champions and current Bundesliga leaders Bayern by a solitary point after 22 rounds. This is the same Bayern Munich side that thrashed Tottenham 7-2 at their own ground and had a combined score of 11-3 across two legs in the group stages.

Messi has a contract till 2022 at Barcelona but a clause in his latest agreement allows Messi to leave FC Barcelona for free at the end of every season. All he has to do is inform the club by May of his plans to depart. Meanwhile, the diminutive genius was honoured with the Laureus Athlete of the Year award two nights ago.

Under Miranda, FC Goa have been in terrific form and have netted nine times in their last two games which adds to 16 goals in their last four while conceding only 7 times. Jamshedpur FC, on the other, are winless in their last five games three of which have been defeats. They fought back to hold bottom-placed Hyderabad to 1-1 draw in their penultimate ISL 6 game.

As per the AFC's official website, it was felt that India, who will also have the experience of hosting the FIFA Women's Under-17 World Cup later this year, was best placed among the three bidders -- Chinese Taipei and Uzbekistan were the other competing candidates -- to maximise the promotion of the women's game.