At least 11 teams have secured their berths in the upcoming season of the Champions League. These clubs have already confirmed their qualification based on their assured positions in their respective leagues.

Among them are Arsenal and Manchester City representing the Premier League, along with Real Madrid and Barcelona from Spain. Also included are Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern Munich from Germany, Inter Milan and AC Milan from Italy, as well as PSV and Feyenoord from the Netherlands. Additionally, Paris Saint-Germain from France completes the list.

The 2024/25 UEFA Champions League will mark the inaugural season under the new format featuring a league phase comprising 36 teams. Two of the four extra spots will be occupied by the European Performance Spots.

Chelsea manager, Mauricio Pochettino, has insisted he was not expecting Cole Palmer to have a big impact at Chelsea.

Palmer joined the Blues from Manchester City in a £42 million deal in August.

The 21-year-old has now scored 20 Premier League goals and is joint-top scorer with former City teammate Erling Haaland.

When asked if he’s surprised at how many goals Palmer has scored since moving to Stamford Bridge, Pochettino responded: “We believe they can perform but it is true he is performing in a very good way; maybe above expectation. I think it’s his first consistent season playing but we need to be careful because he is still young, he is growing, he needs to develop in different areas.

“But of course, he is far away from what we expected from the beginning. I need to be honest.”

CREDIT: DAILY POST

The Nigerian Super Falcons are set to begin their journey at the 2024 Olympic Games by facing Brazil in their opening match. The match is scheduled to take place at Stade Matmut-Atlantique in Bordeaux, France, on Thursday, July 25, starting at 6 pm.

Following this, Randy Waldrum’s team will go up against world champions Spain three days later at Stade de la Beujoire in Nantes, also at 6 pm.

Their final group stage match will be against Japan on Wednesday, July 31, at Stade de la Beujoire in Nantes, with a kick-off time of 4 pm.

Having secured their place in Paris 2024 by defeating South Africa 1-0 on aggregate last week, the nine-time African champions are gearing up for the tournament.