Home Blog Page 7731

Antoine Griezmann: “Messi told me that once I was on his team he would go to death with me.”

0

Barcelona hasn’t been doing well on the field this season. They recently lost 1-0 to Atletico Madrid courtesy Carrasco’s brilliance and Ter-Stegen’s error.

The Catalans are in a transition phase with Lionel Messi in a decline. The new manager, Ronald Koeman has rightfully placed the focus on the whole team rather than one person, Messi. Koeman wants to create a team not reliable on a single player but he is far away from achieving that target.

Former Atletico Madrid player, Antoine Griezmann signed up for Barcelona last season but he hasn’t lived up to the expectations till now. The Frenchman seems to have not settled down quite yet at Camp Nou.

Antoine Griezmann must learn to score goals under pressure at Barcelona

According to a report by Mundo Deportivo, Antoine Griezmann , in the Universo Valdano program in Vamos, talked about his arrival at Barça and his relationship with Leo Messi.

He said: “There could be comments even in the dressing room, but I wanted to apologize if I had to, on the field.”

“I spoke with Leo when I arrived and he told me that he screwed up when I refused to go the first time, because he had made public comments and that in the end, I said no. But he told me that once I was on his team he would go to death with me and what I feel every day.” The conversation ended with Messi accepting the Frenchman in the Barcelona team.

Griezmann clarified again about ‘The Decision’ of not joining Barcelona in 2018: “I wanted to show people how a professional lives in a situation like this, I did not want to laugh at anyone,”

“You listen to a lot of people, but you choose. My wife helped me, it was not easy. My parents were upset by the decision and by the documentary because they would have preferred me to say if I stayed or not and because they wanted to see me at Barça, but I was not ready yet.”

Then finally in 2019, Griezmann joined Barcelona. He added: “There came a time when I needed a change, important teammates from the dressing room left and that helped me decide, like Godín or Lucas. I already felt ready to see other things.”

Koeman would hope that Griezmann quickly finds his feet at Barcelona and helps the team to revive.

Premier League 2020/21: Matchday 9 review

0

With the group stages of the UEFA Nations League done with, Premier League football came waltzing back onto our screens with matchday 9. 

Here is what went down over the weekend:

Results

  • Newcastle United 0-2 Chelsea
  • Aston Villa 1-2 Brighton
  • Spurs 2-0 Manchester City 
  • Manchester United 1-0 West Brom
  • Fulham 2-3 Everton
  • Sheffield United 0-1 West Ham United 
  • Leeds United 0-0 Arsenal
  • Liverpool 3-0 Leicester City 
  • Burnley 1-0 Crystal Palace 
  • Wolves 1-1 Southampton 

Match of the Week

Liverpool 3-0 Leicester City

The reigning Premier League champions managed to break another record in their 3-0 victory over former manager Brendan Rodgers’s foxes at Anfield. 

Fabinho returned from injury to take charge of the centre-back role and looked very comfortable at the back. The scoring opened 20 minutes into the game when Leicester centre-back Jonny Evans comically headed in an own goal from a set-piece position. 

Diogo Jota then managed to double the Reds’ lead shortly before half-time. Andy Robertson’s cross found Jota as the Portuguese made a great run across the box and completely beat Schmeichel. 

Liverpool had the chance to knock five or six past the visitors but were unlucky. However, Bobby Firmino managed to get on the scoresheet as well as he headed home a corner delivered by James Milner to bury the match in favour of the hosts. 

Player of the Week

Dominic Calvert-Lewin: Everton 

A first-minute goal against Fulham and a brilliant close-range strike to bag a brace and isolate himself at the top of the Premier League scoring charts once again, Dominic Calvert-Lewin was absolutely in form against a frightened Fulham defense. 

dominic Calvert Lewin Premier League 2020/21: Matchday 9 review

The England international is the first to reach double digits in goals scored this season. His performances this season have made him one of the hottest prospects in the Premier League this season. 

Who/What is in the Spotlight?

  • Tottenham’s 2-0 win against City at home to keep Guardiola’s side in 13th. 
  • Burnley winning their first match this season against Palace to escape the bottom three. 
  • Nicolas Pepe for ‘pulling off a Zidane’ to get himself sent off at Elland Road. 
  • Diogo Jota for scoring in his fourth consecutive Liverpool home game. 
  • Leicester and Southampton falling to fourth and fifth respectively after being at the top last week. 
  • Sebastian Haller for scoring his first goal from open play in 190 appearances.
  • Chelsea for keeping another clean sheet as they won 2-0 against Newcastle to go third. 
  • Spurs, once again, for getting to the top of the Premier League table for the first time in 35 years. 

JetSynthesys clocks in more than a billion minutes of ‘Asli Cricket’ play time during the IPL 2020 season

0

The largest skill-based cricket gaming franchise in the world establishes dominance through its cricket games – Sachin Saga Cricket Champions and Real Cricket 20, and gamified social platform – 100MB

Pune, 24 November 2020: JetSynthesys, a new age digital entertainment and technology company with a global foray in gaming, digital entertainment, and interest-based social community platforms, has knocked it out of the park during the recently concluded IPL 2020 season, registering record engagement across its cricket centric digital platforms. Dominating the skill-based cricket category during the tournament, the company clocked in more than a billion minutes of ‘Asli cricket’ play time through its games Sachin Saga Cricket Champions, Real Cricket 20, and gamified social platform 100MB.

JetSynthesys comes with a robust foothold in the cricket community globally. With the addition of Real Cricket 20, JetSynthesys has cemented its position as the #1 skill-based cricket gaming franchise in the world. The widely popular, award-winning game Real Cricket 20 recorded an increase of 75% in downloads and a 43% increase in Daily Active Users (DAU). During the same period, Sachin Saga Cricket Champions, an immersive mobile game that lets users play as the legendary Master Blaster, registered a 32% increase in downloads, with the DAU and daily sessions per user both increasing by 45% each. A first-of-its-kind digital gamified platform that brings Sachin fans together on a common destination, 100MB saw more than a 200% jump in app downloads and play time during the IPL season.

Real Cricket 20 JetSynthesys clocks in more than a billion minutes of ‘Asli Cricket’ play time during the IPL 2020 season

Commenting on this development, Rajan Navani, Vice Chairman & Managing Director, JetSynthesys, said, “We wanted to provide our gamers an opportunity to be highly involved and engaged with our vision for “Asli Cricket” through our cricket games – Sachin Saga Cricket Champions and Real Cricket 20, and our gamified social platform -100MB. We will continue to provide unmatched, high-quality cricket gaming, cricket based e-Sports and gamified content for consumers to enjoy, leading into the next cricket season and expanding our presence into other cricket playing countries. Gamers will be able to participate in the Lanka Premier League through Real Cricket 20 tournaments.”

JetSynthesys is a leading brand name in the gaming category, particularly known for developing mobile games with high fidelity and network play, for its deep tech stacks in new technologies like AI, Blockchain, AR/VR/MR and quantum computing, and for its presence in global e-sports. Apart from Sachin Saga Cricket Champions ad Real Cricket 20, the company’s gaming arm has created games like Sachin Saga VR, Being Salman, and Super Ludo, and publishing partnerships with the likes of Hollywood film Passengers and Floyd Mayweather. The company also announced an exclusive partnership with WWE to launch WWE Racing Showdown, a one-of-its-kind, high-octane, vehicular combat game featuring the best of mobile action, sports, and racing. Co-founded by JetSynthesys, Nodwin Gaming, India’s most successful e-sports company and a market leader currently, is a homegrown success story, having grown to about INR 100 crore revenues in just four years of its inception.

About JetSynthesys:

JetSynthesys is a new age digital entertainment and technology company with a portfolio of world-class products, platforms, and services, aiming to touch the digital lives of billions of consumers in India and around the globe. Leveraging advanced capabilities in Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, blockchain and AR/VR, JetSynthesys through its diversified business divisions spanning across gaming, wellness, fintech, music, digital & social entertainment currently serves millions of users globally and 100+ clients worldwide. Headquartered in Pune and with offices in Japan, UK, EU, US and India, JetSynthesys boasts of the best-in-class technical and creative talent, striving to create and connect digital ecosystems globally. 

Fans are finally going to be back in the stadium in England

0

Football without fans can never be complete. But because of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was not possible to allow anyone into the stadium.

But UEFA has already told that 1/3rd of the fans can be allowed by maintaining the social distancing norms and rules of local government.

Germany and France’s government have already allowed fans in their matches. Now the British government has also given the green signal to allow fans into the stadium. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced that the fans will be back in the stadium after the end of the national lockdown on 2nd December.

According to The Telegraph, the return of fans to stadiums will be adopted via a tiered-approach. There will be three different tires.

Tier 1 will be for lower-risk areas. A maximum of 4000 fans will be allowed in those areas.

Tier 2 is for relatively higher risk areas than tier 1. A maximum of 2000 fans will be allowed in those areas.

Tier 3 is for highest risk areas. No fans will be allowed to enter in those regions.

Boris Johnson has also announced that the tier division will be published within this week.

In England, the number of people dying in Covid-19 is now more than 40%. One of the 6 affected persons is dying for the virus. According to a weekly report by the Office for National Statistics, almost 2000 people died between October 31 and November 6. So it is necessary for all the clubs to assure all the safety majors.

Premier League is one of the most exciting leagues in Europe. All the clubs are ready to welcome their fans into the stadium. The voice of the fans in the stadium adds a perfect flavour to the matches.

Women’s Champions League 2020/21: All you need to know

0

The Women’s Champions League, unlike the Men’s version, does not contain a group stage. In other words, the matches are do-or-die right from the get-go. 

In some ways, the competition makes for crisp viewing and stiff competition with the teams starting with the round of 32. Here is everything that you need to know about this year’s Women’s Champions League:

Participating Teams

Bye to Round of 32

  1. Lyon (FRA, holders)
  2. Wolfsburg (GER) 
  3. Barcelona (ESP) 
  4. Paris Saint-Germain (FRA)
  5. Bayern München (GER) 
  6. Manchester City (ENG) 
  7. Slavia Praha (CZE) 
  8. Chelsea (ENG)
  9. Rosengård (SWE) 
  10. Atlético Madrid (ESP) 
  11. Fortuna Hjørring (DEN) 
  12. Brøndby (DEN) 
  13. LSK Kvinner (NOR) 
  14. BIIK-Kazygurt (KAZ) 
  15. Zürich (SUI) 
  16. Sparta Praha (CZE) 
  17. Fiorentina (ITA) 
  18. Ajax (NED) 
  19. Göteborg (SWE) 
  20. Juventus (ITA)
  21. PSV Eindhoven (NED) 
  22. Servette (SUI) 

First Qualifying Round

  1. Glasgow City (SCO)
  2. FC Minsk (BLR) 
  3. St. Pölten (AUT)
  4. ŽFK Spartak (SRB)
  5. Gintra Universitetas (LTU)
  6. Apollon LFC (CYP) 
  7. SFK 2000 Sarajevo (BIH) 
  8. Universitatea Olimpia Cluj (ROU) 
  9. PAOK (GRE)
  10. Anderlecht (BEL) 
  11. Okzhetpes (KAZ)
  12. Ferencváros (HUN)
  13. Vllaznia (ALB)
  14. Vålerenga (NOR)
  15. Valur (ISL) 
  16. Górnik Łęczna (POL) 
  17. CSKA Moskva (RUS) 
  18. Pomurje Beltinci (SVN) 
  19. NSA Sofia (BUL) 
  20. WFC-2 Kharkiv (UKR) 
  21. Mitrovica (KOS)
  22. Slovan Bratislava (SVK) 
  23. Breznica Pljevlja (MNE) 
  24. SL Benfica (POR)
  25. Hapoel Nir Ramat HaSharon (ISR) 
  26. HJK Helsinki (FIN) 
  27. KÍ Klaksvík (FRO) 
  28. ŽNK Split (CRO) 
  29. Flora Tallinn (EST)
  30. Peamount United (IRL) 
  31. ALG Sport Kulübü (TUR) 
  32. Linfield (NIR) 
  33. Rīgas Futbola skola (LVA) 
  34. Swansea City (WAL) 
  35. Birkirkara (MLT) 
  36. Agarista – SS Anenii Noi (MDA) 
  37. Alashkert (ARM) 
  38. Lanchkhuti (GEO) 
  39. Racing FC Union (LUX) 
  40. Kamenica Sasa (MKD) 

Important Dates

  • First qualifying round draw: 12:00 CET, 22 October, Nyon
  • First qualifying round: 3/4 November 2020
  • Second qualifying round draw: 12:00 CET, 6 November, Nyon
  • Second qualifying round: 18/19 November 2020
  • Round of 32 draw: 12:00 CET, 24 November, Nyon
  • Round of 32: 8/9 & 15/16 December 2020
  • Round of 16 draw: 18 December 2020
  • Round of 16: 3/4 & 10/11 March 2021
  • Quarter-final & semi-final draw: 12 March 2021
  • Quarter-finals: 23/24 March & 31 March/1 April 2021
  • Semi-finals: 24/25 April & 1/2 May 2021
  • Final: 16 May 2021 (Gamla Ullevi, Gothenburg)

How the Tournament Works

The 22 teams given a bye to the Round of 32 have been determined as per the access list. The rest of the 40 teams, which include the champions from the other 38 associations, as well as the runners up from Kazakhstan and Norway, will compete for the remaining ten spots in the knockout stages. 

190516131240 lyon women tease exlarge 169 Women's Champions League 2020/21: All you need to know

These teams will face off first in the first and the second qualifying rounds, which will be contested as single-legged ties. The ten teams remaining join the seeded teams in the round of 32. 

Once the official knockout stages begin, a two-legged home and away fixture schedule will be followed until the final. 

The tie to determine the winner of this season’s Women’s Champions League will take place in Gamla Ullevi, Gothenborg.

Gary Neville thinks there is a possibility of a Jose Mourinho vs Frank Lampard title race

0

Liverpool and Manchester City have been the most dominant sides in the Premier League over the last three seasons. City won the title for two successive times under Pep Guardiola before Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool snatched the Premier League title with utmost dominance last season.

But the 2020-21 Premier League season seems a bit different. There isn’t any outright winner in the likes of Manchester City and Liverpool. Chelsea have invested heavily in their squad this summer after facing transfer ban for the previous transfer windows. The other Premier League sides outside the Big Six have also improved and have almost removed the gap.

Manchester United legend Gary Neville thinks that this season can be a title race between a former manager and his player. Frank Lampard has got numerous success under Jose Mourinho at Chelsea but the two are now in different dugouts. Frank Lampard managing his former team Chelsea and Mourinho in the Tottenham Hotspur dugout.

Mourinho has transformed the side with some big signings like Bale and Reguilon and forming a terrific partnership between Kane and Son. They are looking like serious title contenders and are on top of the table, alongside Liverpool, after beating Manchester City by 2-0 last weekend.

lampard mourinho Gary Neville thinks there is a possibility of a Jose Mourinho vs Frank Lampard title race

Neville said on The Gary Neville Podcast: “I’m excited for next Sunday with Chelsea playing Tottenham.”

“It’s an interesting season. We thought Chelsea might be interesting at the start of the season as they have a young, exciting squad – it looks like Frank Lampard is starting to get it right. He was still searching for his best team in the first few matches to try and fit everyone in. There were certain players that weren’t fit but now they are and he’s starting to work it out. They look pretty strong.”

“Is it a season where Jose Mourinho and Frank Lampard being up against each other in a title race? I thought Liverpool would run away with it, but not now, not the with Virgil van Dijk injury. That’s the one that is the gamechanger and exposes them a lot more.”

Upcoming RTX 3060 Ti GPU beats RTX 2080 SUPER in OpenCL & CUDA benchmarks

0

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti is said to feature 4864 CUDA cores with 152 Tensor cores and 38 RT cores. This makes the new mid-range GPU faster than the last year’s RTX 2080 SUPER, and much like last year, the RTX 3060 Ti is supposed to cost 399 USD, launching on December 2nd. The 3060 Ti has a silver-tone 12-pin power cable; however, it comes with an adapter.

So, the new RTX 3060 Ti GPU from NVIDIA is much more exciting than it seems because even though it will eventually cost under $400, it is more powerful than an RTX 2080 Super. Yes, it’s that powerful, proof? Thanks to @TUM_APISAK, we have that as well.

As we see, the prolific leaker has spotted the upcoming NVIDIA GPU on Geekbench, and the scores seem promising as well. Previously it was leaked as well, but this time, we have a lot of scores to compare the GPUs against:

The GPU is confirmed to have 38 CUs, 8 GB VRAM, 1.67 GHz max frequency, and in the benchmark, we see it paired with an AMD Ryzen 7 5800X CPU. As we see, in the OpenCL benchmarks, the RTX 3060 Ti to score a huge 123279 points, which put it above the RTX 2080 Super and just behind the powerful and overpriced RX 6800.

In CUDA benchmarks also the RTX 3060 Ti GPU scores a whopping 133974 points, which not only makes it faster than an RTX 2080 SUPER but also just shy of the RTX 3070 that posts 145060 points.

There’s no exception to results we see in VULKAN benchmarks as well, where we see the new RTX 3060 Ti beating the RTX 2080 Super comfortably.

On paper, the upcoming budget cum mid-range GPU looks great, however, do note these benchmarks are not acute, and comparing them with accurate charts is just for reference. So, even though you cannot expect the same performance from all the upcoming RTX 3060 Ti GPUs, we can still get a fair idea of how well this GPU will be for budget gamers.

Solakjaer wants his Manchester United team to play simple

0

Manchester United is still far away from hitting their top form. They have been struggling in the Premier League. Bruno Fernandes’ twice-taken penalty secured the Red Devils their second successive league win with a 1-0 victory over a stubborn West Brom last weekend.

The win over West Brom was surprisingly their first home victory in five league matches at Old Trafford so far this season. Solakjaer’s men would be happy to come away with 3 points and will be hoping to be on the rise.

Manchester United manager Solskjaer has been under the heat for some time now. He has been criticized for his tactics. The board has also been held responsible for yet another failed transfer window, though they signed Alex Telles and Cavani on deadline day.

Solskjaer felt that the international breaks were a distraction for his side and with no international breaks until March next year, his team can definitely improve.

IMG 2027 20201107117557781604756524065 large Solakjaer wants his Manchester United team to play simple
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND – NOVEMBER 07: Marcus Rashford of Manchester United celebrates scoring their second goal during the Premier League match between Everton and Manchester United at Goodison Park on November 07, 2020 in Liverpool, England. Sporting stadiums around the UK remain under strict restrictions due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in games being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Matthew Peters/Manchester United via Getty Images)

Solskjaer said at his post-match press conference:“Now we’ll have three or four months together and it’s about staying together, sticking together, sticking to the way we want to play games and improve every time,”

“Defensively we’re getting there, definitely. We’re working hard, closing down, not conceding many chances, and we created enough chances to win this comfortably as well, but we need to be more clinical.”

“We’ve got plenty of quality but sometimes the easiest – or the most difficult thing – is to play simple.”

“Sometimes today, we wanted to over-complicate things. Yeah, we want players to seize moments of opportunity, but we need more flow, more rhythm, more passes, make the opposition move.”

“It could have been simpler. I know the players have been travelling away on international duty, and we just had this morning to prepare for this game.”

“Hopefully we can hit some form like we did towards the end of last season.”

CALL OF DUTY MOBILE GOES BIG WITH INDIA CHALLENGE 2020

0

CALL OF DUTY MOBILE GOES BIG WITH INDIA CHALLENGE 2020 

New Delhi, 24 November 2020: South Asia’s leading esports company NODWIN Gaming announced it’s first-ever standalone Call of Duty Mobile tournament, the Call of Duty Mobile India Challenge 2020 with a prize pool of more than 7 Lacs INR. The registration for the tournament has kick-started on November 20 and the matches will go live on NODWIN Gaming’s YouTube and Facebook handles.  

The record-breaking Activision Blizzard title found instant success within one month of its release and even now sees no stopping. With India in full swing for mobile esports welcomed the game with a warm heart. With the Call of Duty Mobile India Challenge, NODWIN Gaming aims at building a robust ecosystem for the game and its community in the country.   

“Call of Duty mobile had its takers from day 1 and the number grew at a substantial pace in India. Our mobile-first esports market grew diverse with its arrival. A full-blown CODM tournament was long overdue, we heard the community and it eventually happened. We are glad to have made this move and I’m sure this will be a wonderful platform for the gamers to make a name for themselves”, said Akshat Rathee, MD & Co-Founder, NODWIN Gaming.  

The property is driven by invitational tournaments and open cups. India’s celebrity gamers fought hard in the invitational tournament for a prize pool of 72,000 INR. The cups are open for everyone to register and participate. There will be a total of 4 cups for 5v5 and battle royale modes combined for a total prize pool of 6,48,000 INR. The winners of the cups for both the modes will move on to the grand finals set to take place on 28th December.  

Head on to the official website for registration and tournament details. 

Manchester United interested in RB Leipzig duo

Manchester United is targeting RB Leipzig defender Dayot Upamecano and Marcel Sabitzer in the next transfer window.

According to leading football journalist, Jan Aage Fjortoft has reported about Manchester United’s interest in the RB Leipzig duo.

Manchester United is ready to splash some cash to sign the highly rated and highly talented young French defender Dayot Upamecano. Manchester United faced some problems defensively last season. They have conceded some goals for their own foolish mistakes last season. To make their defense better, they have signed Alex Telles from Porto this summer.

But there was no reinforcement in the centre-back position. Chris Smalling has left the club in the summer and joined AS Roma in a permanent deal. The poor form of Harry Maguire, Victor Lindelof, the injury problem of Eric Baily, and Axel Tuanzebe is causing Manchester United multiple problems. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will surely go for a new defender next summer. Dayot Upamecano is his top priority.

Marcel Sabitzer is a very talented winger. He possesses a real goal-scoring ability. He was excellent in his last season with RB Leipzig where the German club had a dream run towards the semi-final of UEFA Champions League.

The Austrian international has played 193 games for the Bundesliga side and scored 43 goals for them in his career.

Upamecano and Sabitzer will be an excellent addition to the Manchester United squad and will also increase the depth in the squad. But United’s transfer policy has been strange of late so it will be interesting to see how this transfer saga goes.