The big news: PSG finally break Barcelona

Barcelona were dismantled 4-0 by Paris Saint-Germain in the first-leg of the round-of-16 clash of the Champions League at the Parc des Princes on Wednesday. Angel di Maria scored a brace while Edison Cavani and Julian Draxler scored one goal apiece in the dominating show that saw Barcelona almost knocked out of the competition. Barcelona are in danger of bowing out of the Champions League even before reaching the quarter-finals for the first time in 10 years.

Barcelona were outclassed in all departments with Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar largely failing to find their feet. The defeat leaves Luis Enrique’s men with an almost impossible task to stay in the competition when they host PSG in the return leg at Nou Camp on March 8. No side has managed to overturn a four-goal first-leg deficit in the history of the Champions League.

Football:

  • Kostas Mitroglou’s strike gave Benfica a 1-0 win in the first leg of the Champions League last-16 tie with Borussia Dortmund. The Germans will host the second leg on March 8, with a place in the quarter-finals at stake. 
  • Manchester City striker Gabriel Jesus broke a metatarsal in Monday’s 2-0 Premier League win at Bournemouth. The striker is likely to miss the rest of the season. 
  • Eastern Sporting Union were crowned champions of the inaugural Indian Women’s League after a 3-0 win over Rising Student’s Club in the final at the Ambedkar Stadium in New Delhi on Tuesday.
  • Leicester boss Claudio Ranieri and captain Wes Morgan collected the Laureus spirit of sport prize award for winning the Premier League by 10 points last season.

Cricket:

  • South African players and English players are likely to the IPL 2017 during the first week of May owing to the bilateral series between the two sides and the Champions Trophy preparations, which starts from June 1 in England. 
  • England’s David Willey has been ruled out of the West Indies tour and will be replaced by Steven Finn. Willey will be out until April after having surgery on a partially torn shoulder tendon, an injury suffered in India last month.       
  • Pakistan’s opening batsman Nasir Jamshed was arrested in London on Tuesday by Britain’s National Crime Agency in connection with the alleged spot-fixing scandal that has hit the Pakistan Super League. He was later granted bail after being interrogated by the agency. 
  • The Board of Control for Cricket in India hasretained the same squad that played the one-off Test against Bangladesh in Hyderabad for the first two Tests of the Border-Gavaskar series against Australia.
  • India under-19 were demolished as England under-19 declared at 501/5 on day two of the first Youth Test against in Nagpur on Wednesday.
  • Australian cricketer Adam Voges has decided to retire from international cricket. Voges retires with the second-highest Test average for a batsmen, 61.87, behind Sir Don Bradman’s 99.94. 

Athletics:

  • Usain Bolt was crowned Laureus Sportsman of the Year for a record equalling fourth time on Tuesday, matching the achievement of Roger Federer and Serena Williams.
  • Gymnast Simone Biles has been crowned World Sportswoman of the Year at the Laureus World Sports Awards. The 19-year-old won four gold medals and a bronze at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. 
  • Formula One champion Nico Rosberg received the Laureus award for breakthrough of the year prize while swimmer Michael Phelps won the comeback of the year award.