Izuchukwu OkosiSpanish giants Barcelona kept their slim hopes of reaching the knockout stages alive a a lively 3-3 draw with Inter at the Nou Camp Wednesday night.
Forward Ousmane Dembele put Barca in front in the 40th minute but goals from Nicolo Barella and Lautaro Martinez sent Inter into the lead.
Robert Lewandowski equalised with 10 minutes to go but Inter led again through Robin Gosens before Lewandowski’s second rescued a draw.
Goals from Sadio Mane, Thomas Muller, and a Leon Goretzka double helped Bayern to a 4-2 win over Viktria Plzen, who scored through Adam Vlkanova and Jan Kliment.
Napoli secured progress to the knockout stages by beating Ajax 4-2 at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium.
Early goals from Hirving Lozano and Giacomo Raspadori put the Serie A leaders comfortably ahead by the 16-minute mark and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia added a second-half penalty after Davy Klaassen had pulled one back for Ajax.
Steven Bergwijn converted an 83rd-minute penalty to bring the score back to 3-2 but Victor Osimhen to score Napoli’s fourth at the death.
Former Arsenal stars Matteo Guendouzi and Alexis Sanchez grabbed the goals as Marseille won 2-0 at Sporting to keep the pressure on Spurs
Club Brugge reached the Champions League knockouts after a 0-0 draw against Atlético Madrid.
A Son Heung-min double and Harry Kane’s first Champions League goal in nearly three years steered Tottenham to a dramatic 3-2 comeback victory against 10-man Eintracht Frankfurt.
Spurs were stunned when the visitors took a 14th-minute lead through Daichi Kamada but Son’s first-half brace – between a Kane spot-kick – ensured Antonio Conte watched his team fight back to taste success for a sixth consecutive time at home this season despite Faride Alidou’s late header.
Mohamed Salah came off the bench to score the fastest hat-trick in Champions League history as Liverpool thrashed Rangers 7-1 on Wednesday to put one foot in the Champions League last 16.
Roberto Firmino scored twice, while Darwin Nunez and Harvey Elliott also struck in a confidence-boosting win for Jurgen Klopp’s men as they moved to within a point of qualifying for the knockout stages.
Liverpool had been forced to come from behind after Scott Arfield fired the Glasgow giants into an early lead.
Rangers making their return to the Champions League for the first time in 12 years remained without a point and have conceded 16 goals in four games.
Firmino’s double either side of half-time turned the game around before the Brazilian teed up Nunez to kill off the game as a contest.
Klopp had left Salah and Thiago Alcantara on the bench with one eye on Sunday’s clash against Manchester City in the Premier League.
But both were brought on for the final 22 minutes and Salah did not miss the chance to cash in against a beleaguered Rangers defence.
The Egyptian’s treble arrived in just six minutes to beat the previous record held by Bafetimbi Gomis in Lyon’s 7-1 win over Dinamo Zagreb in 2011.
Elliott then rounded off the scoring on a sobering night for a Rangers side that only months ago reached the Europa League final.
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
In October 2004, Okosi joined Complete Communications Limited, publishers of Complete Sports newspaper and Complete Football magazine as a reporter and later script writer for the Complete Sports studio.
He worked there for 13 years until October 2017.
Okosi also worked various times as Correspondent, Content creator and Editor at Sports Market International Magazine, Opera News, All Nigeria Soccer Media and Iconic Media Watch.
He also undertook freelance writing gigs for some local and international organizations.
Okosi is a member of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Association of Movie Producers (AMP), Association of Voiceover Artistes of Nigeria (AVOA), Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) and Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).
He has been part of cast in some Nollywood movies and radio dramas including Blood Money 2, Scores To Settle, Dead End 2, Another Campus Tale and Battle Line.
Aside mainstream media and the entertainment industry, he has interests in scouting/unearthing of talents in the sports and creative sectors, exports business and property development.
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