Real Madrid coach Alvaro Arbeloa said on Friday that he was “confident” that Kylian Mbappe will be available to face Manchester City in the second leg of their Champions League last 16 tie.

“He’s getting better day by day,” Arbeloa said at a press conference. “He won’t be there tomorrow (Saturday, in La Liga against Elche), but I’m confident he’ll be on the trip to Manchester.”

With Mbappe sidelined by a knee injury and several other key players missing, Real thrashed City 3–0 in the first leg at the Bernabeu on Wednesday, thanks to a hat-trick from Federico Valverde.

City host the second leg next Tuesday and risk being knocked out of Europe by Madrid for the third season in a row.

France forward Mbappe, hampered by a sprain to his left knee since late December, has not played since withdrawing from the squad to face Benfica in the second leg of the Champions League knockout phase play-off round on February 25.

Mbappe has scored 38 goals in 33 appearances for his club this season.

His expected return for Madrid comes ahead of the international break, where France will face Brazil and Colombia in pre-World Cup friendlies in the United States.

AFP

punch.ng

FOLLOW US ON:

FACEBOOK

TWITTER

PINTEREST

TIKTOK

YOUTUBE

LINKEDIN

Head Coach of Nigeria’s women’s basketball team, D’Tigress, Rena Wakama, has urged her players to quickly move past their loss to South Korea.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that D’Tigress lost 77–60 to the Asian side on Thursday, the first time Nigeria’s senior women’s basketball team has been defeated by South Korea.

Nigeria kept the contest close in the first two quarters, trailing narrowly 36–32, but failed to maintain momentum in the third and fourth quarters as the game slipped away.

Victoria Macaulay led Nigeria’s effort, scoring 22 points and grabbing six rebounds after her Most Valuable Player performance in the opening game against Colombia.

Wakama said the team must refocus and improve ahead of their next game against the Philippines at the FIBA Women’s World Cup Qualifying Tournament in Lyon, France.

She said the defeat offered important lessons, while commending the Korean side for their strong performance.

“Korea is a great team. We struggled with our shooting and had 22 turnovers, which is not typical of our game,” she said.

“Our mentality is strong, and we will not overreact to the loss. We will learn from it and prepare better for the next game,” Wakama added.

She said the Koreans applied intense physical pressure, disrupted Nigeria’s passing lanes, and effectively double-teamed key players.

“They did a great job defensively. Credit to them for the way they played,” Wakama said.

South Korea are aiming to secure one of two available World Cup tickets in the round-robin qualifying tournament.

Nigeria and Germany have already qualified for the FIBA Women’s World Cup scheduled for September in Berlin, Germany.

Both teams are participating in the qualifiers mainly as part of preparations for the global tournament.

The qualifying tournament is being held simultaneously in four countries: France, Turkey, Puerto Rico, and China.

Teams are competing across the venues for the remaining slots at the FIBA Women’s World Cup.

D’Tigress will face the Philippines on Saturday before their final matches against France and Germany.

(NAN)