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In the world of football, Real Madrid and Manchester City were drawn against each other in the UEFA Champions League quarter-final stage. England manager Gareth Southgate confirmed that the Arsenal defender, Ben White, made himself unavailable for the national team selection. Carlos Alcaraz gets stung by a bee on his forehead at the Indian Wells before his quarter-final match against Alexander Zverev.
Read below to learn details about these top stories and other happenings in the sporting world in the last 24 hours.
Football
Real Madrid and Manchester City drawn to play in UEFA Champions League quarter-finals
The draw for the UEFA Champions League was completed just moments ago, wherein the defending champions Manchester City are slated to play against Real Madrid in the quarter-finals stage. In the other three UCL quarter-final ties, Arsenal will be taking on Bayern Munich, Atletico Madrid will go head-to-head against Borussia Dortmund, and Barcelona are set to compete against Paris Saint-Germain.
Ben White makes himself unavailable for England selection, confirms Gareth Southgate
England manager Gareth Southgate remarked that the Arsenal defender, Ben White, made himself available for national team selection, information which was told to him by Eduardo César Daud Gaspar, the Sporting Director of the Premier League club. After Ben White wasn’t picked in the England squad since the FIFA World Cup 2023, Gareth Southgate addressed his situation, and said, “I spoke to him post-Qatar and there was reticence from his side. I don't know why that is.”
AIFF announces India’s squad for FIFA World Cup 2026 Qualifiers against Afghanistan
The All India Football Federation (AIFF) has announced the 25-member Indian squad for the FIFA World Cup 2026 Qualifiers against Afghanistan, which includes the likes of Gurpreet Singh Sandhu and Sunil Chhetri, among others. On March 21, the away match will be played at the Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Sports City Stadium in Abha, Saudi Arabia, following which the home fixture is set to go down at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium in Guwahati.
Chelsea fear about missing out on signing Napoli striker Victor Osimhen: Reports
Chelsea are reportedly fearing missing out on signing the Napoli striker, Victor Osimhen after Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal got ahead of them in the race. As per the report from Teamtalk, while the Chelsea management are in constant communication with the Nigerian player, Arsenal, and Paris Saint-Germain are also in constant communication about availing his services, with the latter being confident about landing him because of his wage demands.
Marcus Rashford expected to not move to Paris Saint-Germain: Reports
Marcus Rashford, the Manchester United forward, is reportedly not expected to move to Paris Saint-Germain in the summer transfer window to replace Kylian Mbappe, as per the report from Sky Sports. Notably, reports were emerging in regards to Paris Saint-Germain preparing an £80m bid for the England forward, 26, on a weekly salary of £500,000 recently, but, it probably won’t be the case with the latest from the Sky Sports journalist Kevin Solhekol.
Some major results in football:
UEFA Europa League 2023-24
- Slavia Prague 1-3 AC Milan
- West Ham 5-0 Freiburg
- Brighton 1-0 Roma
- Liverpool 6-1 Sparta Prague
UEFA Europa Conference League 2023-24
- Aston Villa 4-0 Ajax
- Fiorentina 1-0 Maccabi Haifa
- PAOK Salonika 5-1 Dinamo Zagreb
- Maccabi Tel-Aviv 1-6 Olympiakos
Saudi Pro League 2023-24
- Al-Hazm 0-3 Al-Shabab
- Al-Khaleej 2-2 Al-Akhdoud
Tennis
Carlos Alcaraz gets stung on side of his forehead by bee
During the Indian Wells quarter-final match, the Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz got stung on the side of his forehead by a bee after a swarm of them descended on the court in California. After a lengthy delay of one hour and 40 minutes, the world no. 2 managed to defeat the German Alexander Zverev in straight sets 6-3, 6-1 to reach the semi-final of the tournament.
Iga Swiatek reaches semi-final of Indian Wells in California
The world no. 1, Iga Swiatek, reached the semi-final of the Indian Wells after her Danish opponent Caroline Wozniacki retired from their quarter-final match due to an injury. The Polish tennis player took the first set 6-4 after trailing 4-1 at one stage, which led to Caroline Wozniacki requiring a medical timeout before she pulled out of the contest at 0-1 down in the second set.
Badminton
Lakshya Sen talks about “extra added pressure” in All England Open with Olympic spot on the line
After reaching the men’s singles quarter-final of the All England Open, the Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen spoke about the “extra added pressure” during the tournament with the Olympic spot on the line. With HS Prannoy all but sealing his place at the Paris 2024, Lakshya Sen has to be in the top 16 in the rankings as of April 30, which is the only way for him to become one of the two players from a country permitted to take part in the Olympics this year.
Golf
Rory McIlroy shares his concern about fans losing interest in watching golf
The former world no. 1 golfer, Rory McIlroy, shared his concern about fans losing interest in watching golf due to the split nature of the men’s professional game in the wake of LIV Golf attracting dozens of players to move away from the PGA tour. The Northern Irishman was quoted as saying, “I don't think there is a fast solution. But everyone needs to put their feelings and egos aside and figure out a solution where we can bring all the best players back together week in week out.”
