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Premier League giants Manchester City, Liverpool and Arsenal along with Barcelona are reportedly ready to fight for €50 million-rated Benjamin Sesko.

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Sesko's stock is on the rise in EuropeSeveral European elites vying for his signatureHas an exit clause worth €50m (£43m)GettyWHAT HAPPENED?

Although the 20-year-old RB Leipzig striker has a contract running until June 2028, it has an exit clause, valued at €50m (£43m/$54m), which will become active over the upcoming summer transfer window, according to While the price tag may seem steep for a player of Sesko's age, his recent performances suggest he could prove to be a valuable investment.

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Despite a slow start to the season, Sesko has adapted well to life in Germany and has begun to shine on the pitch. In his last three Bundesliga outings, Sesko has showcased his goal-scoring prowess and inspired Leipzig to a victory over Union Berlin while his heroics fetched a point against Augsburg. Moreover, his performance against Real Madrid in the Champions League highlighted his potential as he found himself knocking on Andriy Lunin's goal on several occasions during the Champions League fixture. He did manage to put the ball into the net early in the match only to be denied by VAR.

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Scouts from Liverpool, City, and Barcelona believe that once Sesko consistently finds the back of the net in both domestic and European competitions, he could establish himself as one of Europe's most lethal strikers. They understand that the striker has the potential to exceed a valuation of £100m in the future, and then the initial investment of £43m could prove to be a bargain.

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Sesko would face stiff competition for playing time at clubs like Liverpool and City, who already boast established strikers in their squads in Darwin Nunez and Erling Haaland. However, the pair may not want to let such a promising forward slip through their fingers. Meanwhile in Spain, Barcelona are looking for Robert Lewandowski's replacement and the Slovenian perfectly fits the bill.

After a dramatic last 16, who of the remaining eight sides is most likely to go on and lift the European Cup in Paris?

After just over two months away, the Champions League returned in style, with the last 16 throwing up plenty of talking points and surprises as Europe's elite continue to battle for the greatest prize the continent has to offer.

Defending champions Chelsea remain alive and are joined in the quarter-finals by some of the best teams European football has ever seen, though Paris Saint-Germain, Juventus and Ajax all fell in the first knockout round.

So, who are the favourites to lift the trophy following the draws for the latter stages, and which teams are set for continental disappointment?

GOAL'sChampions League Power Rankings are here to lay it all out…

Getty Images8Benfica | Last time: 8th

Regardless of who Benfica drew, they were always going to be considered as outsiders for the competition, but they could barely have asked for a more difficult tie than facing Liverpool.

In Darwin Nunez, the Portuguese side possess one of Europe's most in-form attackers, but the Uruguay international will have to produce something special if his team are to make it into the final four.

AdvertisementGetty Images7Villarreal | Last time: 7th

After knocking out Juventus in emphatic fashion in the last 16, Villarreal will fear no one going forward, but a quarter-final tie with Bayern Munich will be far from straightforward.

The Europa League champions have shown they have what it takes to win knockout ties in continental competition, but it feels like taking down the Bundesliga giants might be a step too far for Unai Emery's men.

Getty Images6Atletico Madrid | Last time: 6th

Undoubtedly the weakest side in their half of the draw, Atletico Madrid will have to be at their very best to go all the way to the final, knowing they will have to beat Manchester City and either Chelsea or Real Madrid to do so.

That said, if any team can cause an upset in the competition, it is the one managed by Diego Simeone, and they will not make life easy for City in the quarter-finals as they look to complete a Manchester double in this season's competition.

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Getty Images5Chelsea | Last time: 5th

Chelsea will take confidence from the fact that they beat Real Madrid in the semi-finals of last season's tournament when they face off again in this year's quarters, but there is no doubt that the circumstances are different.

Not only are Madrid a much better side now than they were then, they could yet have the advantage of getting to play their home leg in front of fans while Chelsea are forced to play behind closed doors at Stamford Bridge amid their ongoing ownership issues.

Between two closely-matched sides, that could make all the difference.

New Zealand’s record in World T20s has been disappointing, but with a promising squad coming off dominant T20 wins at home, they will be confident of their chances this time

Brydon Coverdale14-Mar-20167:08

O’Brien: Taylor’s form will be pivotal to New Zealand’s campaign

Big picture At the 50-over World Cup, New Zealand are often a bridesmaid, never the bride. Seven times they have reached the semi-finals, though not until last year did they win one and gain maid-of-honour status. But at the World T20, not since the first tournament back in 2007 have they so much as passed the group stage. Forget being a bridesmaid, New Zealand go home before the speeches even begin. It is a surprising record for a team like New Zealand, a side that generally boasts a few big hitters, some canny bowlers, and is viewed as a perpetual danger at world events. At least they enter the 2016 World T20 with some sort of form behind them, having won their past two series, against Pakistan and Sri Lanka, albeit in home conditions.This is also the start of a new era for New Zealand after the retirement of Brendon McCullum last month. He farewelled international cricket in front of a sparse crowd on the fifth day of a Test against Australia in Christchurch. The post-McCullum age begins on Tuesday, half a world away in Nagpur, where Kane Williamson will lead his country in a T20 against India. Not that New Zealand should be unprepared for change. In fact, McCullum had not played a T20 international since June last year, Williamson having led the side to six wins from their past eight matches.They have batsmen capable of quick scoring – Martin Guptill, Henry Nicholls, Colin Munro, Ross Taylor, Luke Ronchi and Williamson himself. They have all-round talent – Corey Anderson, Grant Elliott, Nathan McCullum, Mitchell Santner. They have quality specialist bowlers – Trent Boult, Tim Southee, Adam Milne, Mitchell McClenaghan, Ish Sodhi. But the challenge is to transfer their recent form to spinning conditions against quality teams – India, Pakistan and Australia – in the group stage. New Zealand are No.4 on the ICC’s T20 rankings, and will feel they have something to prove.At the helm No one could accuse McCullum of going with the flow as captain. He instilled in his team a distinct ethos and was always trying new tactics on the field. He is a hard act to follow. Williamson might be the best batsman New Zealand will ever produce, but how will he lead? Will we see a less adventurous New Zealand? Will the spirit of the side carry on as if nothing has changed? Williamson has stood in as captain on many occasions, but this is the beginning of his own era. And he is only 25, so it could be a long one.Key Stat11That’s the number of wins New Zealand have managed in World T20 matches, from 25 games. Among ICC Full Members, only Zimbabwe and Bangladesh have had fewer victories than New Zealand at the past five tournaments. Incidentally, New Zealand have a remarkable habit of tying T20 matches. There have been nine ties in the history of T20 international cricket, and New Zealand have played in five of them.Martin Guptill – with the bat – and Kane Williamson – as captain – will play decisive roles in New Zealand’s campaign•Getty ImagesLeading MenMartin GuptillOnly McCullum and Tillakaratne Dilshan have scored more T20 international runs than the 1666 Guptill has made. Notably, though, his best work has been done in bilateral series rather than at the World T20, where he has managed only 269 runs at 19.21 and has yet to score a half-century. He has the potential to dominate a tournament like this and at 29 years of age, the time is now to do so. In the absence of McCullum, New Zealand need Guptill to step up.Grant ElliottAt the World Cup last year, Elliott showed that he can rise to the occasion. When he launched Dale Steyn for a six from the penultimate ball of New Zealand’s semi-final chase against South Africa in Auckland, he lifted a giant weight off the collective shoulders of New Zealand cricket. Before that moment they had appeared in six World Cup semi-finals for six losses. How New Zealand would love Elliott to bring his big-moment mentality to the 20-over version as well.Adam MilneTrent Boult and Tim Southee might be the big names in New Zealand’s attack but in conditions that are unlikely to offer much swing or seam, Milne’s pace through the air could be key to New Zealand’s hopes of restricting their opponents. A fast bowler who can crack the 150kph mark, Milne also has recent form on his side, as New Zealand’s leading T20 international wicket-taker over the last 12 months.Burning Question How will New Zealand go without Brendon McCullum?
It is one thing to lose McCullum the captain, quite another to lose McCullum the batsman. McCullum is the all-time leading run scorer in T20 internationals, the only man with 2000 runs in the format, the only man with two centuries. He chose to depart from international cricket in what he called “the purest form of the game”, but New Zealand could really have used him in this tournament. Williamson’s class will be important to New Zealand’s hopes, but there can be no passengers among the rest of the batting order. There will be plenty of pressure on Guptill, Williamson, Taylor and their more junior colleagues to cover for the loss of one of the shortest format’s finest exponents.World T20 history If New Zealand often perform above themselves at the 50-over World Cup, you would have to say they have underachieved at the World T20. Only once have they progressed past the group stage, and that was at the very first tournament back in 2007, when they lost a semi-final to Pakistan.In their Own Words “It’s important that we adapt. We’ve been playing some good T20 cricket but at the same time you want to play smart, and over here cricket can be quite different to our conditions.”

Benfica midfielder Joao Neves stopped short of promising to stay at the Portuguese club next summer amid reports of interest from Manchester United.

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Neves starring for BenficaAttracting interest from Man UtdRefuses to commit his future to BenficaWHAT HAPPENED?

United are said to be considering a summer offer for the 19-year-old, who has developed into a star in the Primeira Liga over the last two seasons. Asked at a press conference if he will still be at the club after the next transfer window, the defensive midfielder reiterated his commitment but would not say whether or not he would stay.

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Speaking ahead of his team's Europa League clash against Toulouse, he said: "I promise to do my best in every training session, in every game, and I think that is one of my greatest qualities. I'm focused on Benfica and even more so on [Thursday's] game, which is the next one. I think I will do my best in every game and in every training session."

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Benfica are said to be demanding around €150 million (£128m/$161m) for the Portugal international and the club are also looking to commit him to a new contract, even though his current deal runs until 2028. The Primeira Liga side also spoke out against claims that United have first refusal to sign him should he leave anytime soon.

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Getty ImagesWHAT NEXT FOR JOAO NEVES?

The Benfica academy graduate will hope to help his team go far in the Europa League and beat Sporting CP to the Liga Portugal title this season. Afterwards, offers for the rising star will likely flood in during the summer transfer window.

Newcastle United's home St. James' Park is the favourite to host the inaugural Over-35s World Cup.

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St. James' could host Over-35s World CupEight teams to take part in the inaugural editionCould be held in the first week of JuneWHAT HAPPENED?

The first-ever edition of the Over-35s World Cup is all set to be held in England in June with Newcastle United's home ground St. James' Park likely to host the matches, according to the Daily Mail. The Elite Player Group, who are organising the tournament, recently met representatives of the Magpies and the local council of Newcastle city.

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The tournament is all set to feature eight teams – England, Argentina, Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Uruguay – all past champions of the FIFA World Cup. Players who are aged 35 or above capped by their country or with 100 top-flight appearances are eligible to participate in the competition.

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All eight teams have already revealed their respective captains for the tournament. The leaders will be Steve McManaman (England), Esteban Cambiasso (Argentina), Emerson (Brazil), Christian Karembeu (France), Kevin Kuranyi (Germany), Marco Materazzi (Italy), Michel Salgado (Spain) and Diego Lugano (Uruguay). Full 18-man final squads will be announced soon.

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While the dates of the competition are yet to be finalised, the tournament could be tentatively hosted in the first week of June with the final taking place on June 11 or June 12.

Namibia won the T20 Quadrangular title, beating Kenya by five wickets in a last-ball finish

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Apr-2013
ScorecardNamibia won the T20 Quadrangular title, beating Kenya by five wickets in a last-ball finish.Set a target of 188 to chase, Namibia raced to 68 in the eighth over, before a couple of quick wickets pegged them back. Opener Pikky Ya France guided the chase and once he departed, Craig Williams and captain Sarel Burger stepped up. With 15 runs needed in the last over, Burger hit a crucial six and took a few crucial runs with Nicolaas Schotlz as Namibia scored the winning runs off the last ball.Earlier, Kenya, who were put in to bat, had a strong start as the openers, Alex Obanda and Tanmay Mishra put on 73 in 8.3 overs. Mishra fell in the 16th over for a 53-ball 68 but a couple of quick knocks from Morris Ouma, Collins Obuya and Rakep Patel took Kenya to a strong 187 for 5.

ESPNcricinfo previews the final of CLT20 2011, between Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore

The Preview by Sidharth Monga08-Oct-2011Match factsMumbai Indians v Royal Challengers Bangalore, October 9, Chennai
Start time 2000 (1430 GMT)The kits will be different, but Mumbai Indians will want similar scenes on Sunday•Associated PressBig PictureThe Champions League will have a new champion. It won’t be a team that won its domestic Twenty20 tournament. It will be an IPL team, but not the one that was being fancied at the start. It will either be a team that we thought would do well to win a match or a team that didn’t look like winning anything halfway through the tournament. It is this ability to surprise, and the compact format – the main draw lasts 16 days, features diverse teams, and five-team groups ensure tough contests for semi-final slots – that the Champions League has going for it.It helps that the eventual finalists – Royal Challengers Bangalore, who lost their first two matches, and Mumbai Indians, who lost half their side to injury and struggled to put an XI on the field – have history. Less than six months ago, led by Chris Gayle’s monstrous hitting – not too different from his exploits in Bangalore last night – the Royal Challengers beat MI in the semi-final of the IPL. Lasith Malinga, who has been winning MI games with both bat and ball in the Champions League, was there too, but was used apologetically, at first change, and Gayle worked around his four run-a-ball overs.Six months is a long time in modern cricket. Neither team looks as assured as it did back then; both have gone a step further in this tournament, now fighting for the biggest financial award in current non-international cricket. The Royal Challengers have lost AB de Villiers, Luke Pomersbach and Zaheer Khan, and their bowling unit has lost any semblance of confidence. Yet they have managed to retain the winning formula – three big hitters – through Gayle, Virat Kolhi and Tillakaratne Dilshan.MI have lost most of what worked for them in the IPL. They are hardly the same side, losing almost all their match-winners, apart from Malinga. He has now won them all their matches, amid malfunctioning batsmen, support bowlers, floundering fielders and keeper. This time, MI are left with no choice but to use Malinga at the top. It is just as well because incredible as the Royal Challengers top three have been, they have hardly faced a decent yorker in chasing back-to-back 200-plus scores.If the teams have changed in the last six months so has the Chennai pitch. Relaid, it has often been slow and two-paced. The Royal Challengers haven’t played a game here while MI have registered two of their wins at the venue of the final. This unfamiliarity with the conditions should offset the edge given to Royal Challengers through cricket’s inherent bias: Malinga can bowl but four overs.Watch out for …Malinga v Gayle, Dilshan and Kohli. MI will have to win this particular contest comprehensively if they have to win the Champions League. Royal Challengers will happily take four overs for 24 runs and no wickets. Malinga will have to make it more dramatic.The captains, the two most successful Test bowlers among active practitioners, two men who have of late found more success in limited-overs cricket than Tests. Will they continue to be restricting men or will they attack? As captains they have made glaring errors in this tournament, but both are coming off inspirational and eventually decisive moves in the semi-finals. Daniel Vettori opened the bowling with Dilshan, who went for 10 runs in his four overs on a 10-an-over night. Harbhajan Singh surprised all by tossing the ball to James Franklin in the crucial 19th over of his semi-final: seven runs and two wickets later he stood vindicated.Team newsMI have a non-functioning wicketkeeper and a near non-functioning middle order, but they have neither time nor replacements. They should go with the same XI that beat Somerset on Saturday.The Royal Challengers face a familiar dilemma. S Aravind has now gone for 124 runs in his last eight overs. Although the Chennai pitch will be kinder to him, will the Royal Challengers invest more trust in the man who must be low on confidence by now? They also need to figure out if their policy of stacking the side up with batsmen will work in Chennai. However, if needed, they can always count on Dilshan and Gayle to bowl at least one bowler’s quota if not more.Stats and triviaAt 252 runs, Gayle is 76 behind the leading run-getter of the tournament, David Warner. Gayle, though, has hit 24 sixes to Warner’s 20. During the course of this tournament Gayle has taken his overall T20 six count to 155, behind only David Hussey and Ross Taylor.MI lead the Royal Challengers 6-4 on the head-to-head.Malinga has made a late surge on the wickets tally, but he is still behind the leading man, Ravi Rampaul, who ended his tournament with 12.With five dismissals, Arun Karthik is the joint-leader among keepers with most scalps. Among non-keepers, Owais Shah and Arul Suppiah have finished the tournament with six catches each. With three catches to his name, Kohli comes closest among the fielders still alive in the tournamentQuotes”There are a lot of disappointed bowlers in the room. We have to make sure we’re better than that on the Chennai wicket. It’s probably going to be a little easier for the bowlers, but we’ve got to be better, we’ve got to support the batsmen.”
“Hopefully Malinga will get Gayle first ball. If he does, that will be great.”

Wasim Akram, the former Pakistan fast bowler, has questioned the PCB’s decision to appoint 36-year-old Misbah-ul-as Haq as the limited-overs captain

ESPNcricinfo staff21-May-2011Wasim Akram, the former Pakistan captain, has questioned the PCB’s decision to appoint 36-year-old Misbah-ul-as Haq as the limited-overs captain in place of Shahid Afridi, saying the move is “at best a stop-gap arrangement.””The present Test skipper Misbah-ul-Haq is on the wrong side of 30 and I don’t see him leading the side beyond six to eight months”, Akram told on Friday. Earlier this week the PCB decided to hand Misbah the reins for the two ODIs against Ireland at the end of the month, but chose not to offer a reason for the move. It is likely, however, that the decision came after the board decided they had had enough with Afridi’s penchant for awkward public statements. The latest situation arose when Afridi returned from the Caribbean and hinted at unhappiness with coach Waqar Younis over matters of selection.Out of 34 ODIs, Afridi had won 18 and lost 15; a stretch which included tough series against England and South Africa, and took Pakistan to the semi-finals of the 2011 World Cup, and Akram believes those results mean it was wrong to sack Afridi over such “trivial matters”.”Arguments between captains and coaches are not new in Pakistan cricket,” Akram said. “Afridi was hailed as a national hero after the World Cup, and came back from the West Indies after winning the ODI series only to find out he has been sacked. What is the PCB up to?”It is a wrong step taken by PCB, and only [chairman] Ijaz Butt is to be blamed for this. In Pakistan, the coach wants all the power and when it doesn’t happen, the fight begins.”Akram was not the only one critical of the board’s decision. Abdul Qadir, former Pakistan legspinner, felt the board should not have been so quick to change captains. “Afridi should also be careful in giving media statements,” he told . “But the fact is changing the captaincy is a cricketing decision and this one is not a sagacious one. Dropping Afridi as captain and retaining him in the side to play under Misbah appears a bad move,” he said.And former chief selector Salahuddin Ahmed said the PCB was to blame and called for the government to intervene. “Players are the ones who bring in money for the board and attract people to the sport. Afridi didn’t commit a crime if he spoke about problems he was facing as captain. Instead of listening to him the board sacked him as captain this is unjust and unfair and the government should take notice of this.”

The five-ball over gave MS Dhoni an opportunity to raise the question that if with so much technology available the officials couldn’t ensure the proper counting of balls in an over

Sidharth Monga at the Adelaide Oval14-Feb-2012India don’t want to create controversy about the five-ball 30th over that may or may not have made a difference to the final result of a tight game, a tie. However, it gave MS Dhoni an opportunity to raise the question that, with so much technology available, why couldn’t the officials ensure the proper counting of balls, and why blindly follow the DRS?The essence of Dhoni’s comments, though, was that this could easily be turned into a controversy but he didn’t want to do so. “Duncan [Fletcher, the coach] told me about it,” Dhoni said. “There have been five-ball overs in the past, but we have seen the third umpire interfere and you have to come back and bowl that ball. Usually that’s what has happened to us also. It didn’t happen in this game, fair enough. Nothing much can be done now.”I don’t know [if a full over might have broken the tie] because you could have had a dot ball. It happens in cricket, so maybe it would have been a dot.”Dhoni said India were not going to lodge an official complaint. “Well because it’s done and dusted,” he said. “That’s what is important. We can create a big fuss out of it but what’s the point? It’s like a controversy standing right at the edge, just about to happen, because we have seen in the past that we have bowled an over and they have almost changed ends. But then the third umpire interferes and says, ‘Okay you have to bowl one more ball in this particular over”. It didn’t happen in this game. I don’t know why. We don’t really want to create a controversy.”As an afterthought, Dhoni took a dig at DRS. “If this can happen then I don’t know why people back DRS so much,” Dhoni said. “We have seen people happy with DRS in one series as long as it goes in their favour. Once it doesn’t go in their favour, they are quite unhappy about it so. I am quite happy with three individuals. If I am not wrong, two umpires in the middle and the match referee and the scorer [are there], and it has still happened. Better off accepting it because we humans are bound to make mistakes.”The said over was, at that time, the second best of India’s innings. Gautam Gambhir and Dhoni had taken nine off Malinga when over was called after five balls. Mahela Jayawardene, Sri Lanka’s captain, said he didn’t know of the error. “I am not complaining,” he joked.

Chris Gayle was dismissed for a duck and conceded eight runs off his one over but Matabeleland Tuskers still beat Southern Rocks comfortably at the Harare Sports Club

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Nov-2011Chris Gayle was dismissed for a duck and conceded eight runs off his one over but Matabeleland Tuskers still beat Southern Rocks comfortably at the Harare Sports Club. Tuskers’ seamers Keegan Meth, Glen Querl and Tom Smith all took two wickets each in tight spells to keep Rocks to 114 for 8 in their 20 overs. Meth made the first incisions, striking twice in the fifth over to reduce Rocks to 24 for 2. Smith then chipped in with wickets in the middle overs and the lack of partnerships made it difficult for Rocks to lift their scoring-rate. At 89 for 7 in the 18th over it looked like they would struggle to get past 100, but some quick runs from Hilary Matanga and Tafadzwa Kamungozi got them to 114. Meth gave away just 13 runs in his four overs while Smith conceded 12.Tuskers needed just 16.1 overs to chase the target. Gayle was dismissed in the first over but that was the only wicket to fall as Smith and Paul Horton guided Tuskers home. Smith scored 63 off 56 balls to cap off an impressive all-round performance while Horton got 39 off 40.

Mountaineers beat Mashonaland Eagles by 22 runs via the Duckworth/ Lewis method, at the Harare Sports Club. Mountaineers reached 139 in their 20 overs and Eagles were set a revised target of 105 runs to win in 15.1 overs. They lost wickets regularly in their chase and fell well short. Fast bowler Dirk Nannes struck with his first two balls to peg Eagles back. They never quite recovered, as wickets fell at regular intervals to ensure the required run-rate kept rising.Mountaineers’ innings was built around Hamilton Masakadza, who scored 36 off 27 balls with three fours and a six. That was after Tino Mawoyo had got them off to a flier with his 16 off 10, which included two sixes. Medium-pacer Nathan Waller struck three times in the middle overs to keep Eagles in check but their total of 139 proved enough.