Barcelona will be without defenders Gerard Pique and Jordi Alba for their next Champions League game with Manchester City on 1 November. The Spain internationals both went off injured in yesterday’s 4-0 win over the English side. Centre-back Pique has been ruled out for three weeks with sprained ankle ligaments and left-back Alba is out for a fortnight with a strained left hamstring.

Claudio Ranieri (Football): Leicester’s current manager and former Chelsea, Juventus and Inter Milan manager, is 65 today.

Will Greenwood (Rugby Union): The former Leicester, Harlequins and 2003 World Cup-winning England centre, is celebrating his 44th birthday.

Virender Sehwag (Cricket): The former India batsman, who scored 23 Test centuries, turns 38 today. He also announced his retirement from international cricket on this day.

FIFA has appointed respected Gambian official Bakary Papa Gassama as referee for next month’s 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying match between Nigeria and Algeria, scheduled for the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium Uyo, NFF reports. The Matchday 2 encounter between two of the fiercest rivals in African football will see Jean-Claude Birumushahu from Burundi as assistant referee 1, Marwa Range from Kenya as assistant referee 2 and Gassama’s compatriot, Maudo Jallow as fourth official. FIFA has also appointed Jean-Olivier Mbera from Gabon as referee assessor, Ghanaian Anthony Baffoe as match commissioner and Nicholas Chumba Musonye from Kenya as security officer.

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The draws for TOTAL AFCON (African Cup of Nations, now sponsored by oil giant TOTAL), Gabon 2017,  was held yesterday 19th October, 2016. The final tournament will be held from 14 January to 5 February 2017 in the Gabonese cities of Libreville, Franceville, Oyem and Port Gentil. We are still sad the Super Eagles of Nigeria will be absent especially now that they seem to be playing exciting football. Who do you tip for the trophy?

It’s been a year since Robin van Persie swapped Fenerbahce for Manchester United, and the striker is preparing to face his old team tonight. The striker thinks he could still be at United if Sir Alex Ferguson had remained manager. “When I signed that was the idea, that Sir Alex would stay on for a few more years, but in football things change,” he said. “I am proud of my 11 years in England. My kids were born there. I still like England a lot. I like the English way of living. It is not only about the way I left, what went wrong or right. There is a bigger picture.”

Borussia Monchengladbach changed their English language Twitter handle to ‘A German team’ after spotting a Scottish pub was having trouble spelling their name before Wednesday’s Champions League meeting with Celtic. Now that was sarcastic from Monchengladbach after they beat Celtic two nil right there in Scotland.

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Wednesday 19th October, 2016:

Arsenal 6 – 0 Ludogorets Razgrad

Barcelona 4 – 0 Manchester City

Celtic 0 – 2 Borussia Monchengladbach

Bayern Munich 4 – 1 PSV Eindhoven

Paris Saint Germain 3 – 0 Basel

Dynamo Kiev 0 – 2 Benfica

Napoli 2 – 3 Besiktas

FC Rostovo 0 – 1 Atletico Madrid

Between 1996 and 2001 they shared Barcelona’s midfield. They made their Spain debuts within 18 months of each other. Both have marked a first season in the Nou Camp dugout with a treble. Team-mates, allies and friends, but tonight Pep Guardiola and Luis Enrique’s causes are in contest rather than concert.

Tokyo 2020 Olympic events could be held in part of Japan hit by the 2011 Fukushima earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster in a bid to cut costs. Rowing canoe/kayak sprint events and baseball/softball are among sports that could be moved 400km north of Tokyo. The International Olympic Committee is holding talks with organisers after a review showed costs could exceed £23bn ($28bn) – four times the estimate. But IOC president Thomas Bach said “we have to respect” athletes.

Life as a goalkeeper can be cruel – just ask CSKA Moscow’s Igor Akinfeev. The Russia international was three minutes away from ending an unwanted record on Tuesday by keeping his first Champions League clean sheet in 10 years. That was until Monaco’s Bernardo Silva struck in the 87th minute of the Group E tie in Moscow. Akinfeev, 30, has now conceded in his past 40 games in Europe’s top competition, dating back to a goalless draw against Arsenal on 1 November 2006.

Fenerbahce’s team plane has been forced to make an emergency landing after it was hit by a bird on its way to the UK for Thursday’s Europa League game against Manchester United. The private chartered aircraft was travelling from Istanbul in Turkey when it was diverted to Budapest, Hungary. A second plane was then sent from Istanbul to pick the team up from Budapest and take them to Manchester. The club’s Twitter account tweeted there was “nothing alarming” after the incident. Fenerbahce, who are ninth in Turkey’s Super Lig, are currently top of the Europa League group and a point ahead of United, who are in third. Former Nigeria international and Fenerbahce striker, Emmanuel Emenike is thought to be on the said plane.

I always marvel when I read articles written by our dear Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. She really has the “gift of writing”. Please endeavor to read her piece on Nigeria’s failed promises here.

Leicester City will not face UEFA charges after FC Copenhagen fans let off flares before Tuesday’s Champions League game at the King Power Stadium. European football’s governing body has opened disciplinary proceedings against the Danish champions for supporters in the away end “setting off fireworks”. UEFA holds host clubs responsible for security inside and around the stadium, “unless they can prove that they have not been negligent”. The charge against FC Copenhagen will be dealt with by the UEFA Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body on November 17.

Five-time Olympic champion Chen Ruolin has retired from diving at the age of 23. The Chinese diver, who also won six world championships, won the 10m individual and synchronised events at Beijing and London before adding a final synchronised gold with partner Liu Huixia in Rio. “She has a neck injury which may cause some problems if she continues with her career,” China diving team manager Zhou Jihong said.

Sam Allardyce (Football) – former England manager, also previously in charge at Limerick, Sunderland, West Ham, Bolton, Newcastle and Blackburn, is 62.

Evander Holyfield (Boxing) – former world heavyweight champion, is 54.

Paul Hartley (Football) – former Scotland and Celtic midfielder, now manager at Dundee, is 40.

Heikki Kovalainen (Motor racing) – Finn who won the 2008 Hungarian Grand Prix with McLaren, is 35.

A second swimmer has died after taking part in the Hong Kong Harbour Race. An event spokesman said a 59-year-old woman named Cheung died on Wednesday, having been pulled from the water on Sunday and taken to intensive care. A man died during Sunday’s event. Both were in the ‘leisure’ category for slower swimmers. World aquatics governing body Fina announced a review of the race and other open-water events globally following Sunday’s death. Three thousand swimmers registered for the 1.5km race, which resumed in 2011 after a 30-year break because of fears of pollution levels in the water. Hong Kong is one of the world’s busiest ports, used by more than 400,000 vessels every year.

The busy dual carriage Trans Amadi road (Oginigba end) in Port Harcourt blocked by cattle rearers as workers go to work. What do we do about these cattle on the streets?

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Tuesday 18 October, 2016:

Bayer Leverkusen 0 – 0 Tottenham

CSKA Moscow 1 – 1 Monaco

Real Madrid 5 – 1 Legia Warsaw

Sporting Lisbon 1 – 2 Borussia Dortmund

Club Brugge 1 – 2 FC Porto

Leicester 1 – 0 FC Copenhagen

Dinamo Zagreb 0 – 1 Sevilla

Lyon 0 – 1 Juventus

Werder Bremen striker Ousman Manneh scored his first Bundesliga goal two years after arriving in Germany from The Gambia as a refugee. “This is the greatest moment of my life,” says Manneh, who only started playing football two years ago.