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Paris St Germain played out their first goalless draw of the season at Athletic Bilbao on Wednesday but stayed in the driving seat for direct qualification for the Champions League last-16 after a string of fine saves by home goalkeeper Unai Simon denied the defending champions, Reuters reported. 

Luis Enrique’s side had the clearest chances after being under pressure in the first half, but Simon produced several superb saves and Ousmane Dembele’s absence was once again felt up front by the visitors.

The result left PSG in third place in the 36-team league with 13 points from six games while Bilbao are 28th on five points, two points from the playoff places, according to Reuters. 

Noni Madueke scored two goals and Gabriel Martinelli netted another as Arsenal kept up their 100% run in the Champions League to stay top of the standings with a comfortable 3-0 triumph at Belgium’s Club Brugge on Wednesday, Reuters reported. 

Arsenal’s sixth win in as many games all but confirms a top-eight finish, meaning they will skip the knockout phase playoffs in February and move straight into the round of 16 in March. Brugge remain on four points and in stark danger of missing out on the knockouts.

It was a satisfying night at the Jan Breydelstadion for the under-strength Gunners, who lost at Aston Villa at the weekend and made five changes to freshen up an injury-stricken squad, including a first run-out in almost a year for Brazilian striker Gabriel Jesus, who got half an hour of action as a second-half substitute, according to Reuters. 

Nico O'Reilly's opportunistic strike and Erling Haaland's penalty helped Manchester City to fight back to beat Real Madrid 2-1 in a tense Champions League contest at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday, Reuters reported. 

Rodrygo opened the scoring with a low shot from a counter in the 28th minute, with City looking exposed almost every time Madrid ventured forward for the first half an hour.

But Madrid pressed the self-destruct button, first when goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois spilled a relatively easy header from Josko Gvardiol, with O’Reilly converting the rebound in the 35th minute, according to Reuters. 

Lumbini Lions have entered the Qualifier 2 of the Nepal Premier League (NPL) 2025, defeating Kathmandu Gorkhas by four wickets.

In the eliminator match held at TU International Cricket Ground earlier today, Lumbini surpassed the victory target of 112 runs set by Kathmandu in 17.4 overs at the loss of six wickets.

For Lumbini's victory D'Arcy Short scored 33 runs off 34 balls, followed by Sundeep Jora who scored 23 runs off 23 balls. Likewise, Captain Rohit Paudel and Niroshan Dickwella scored 18 and 14 runs respectively.

For the bowling side, Santosh Yadav took two wickets, while Karan KC, Sunny Patel, Shahab Alam and Rashid Khan claimed one wicket each.

Earlier, batting first after winning the toss, Kathmandu Gorkhas were able to score only 111 runs in 19.1 overs, losing all their wickets.

Santosh Yadav top-scored with 23 runs off 17 balls while John Simpson and Mohammad Aadil Alam scored 18 runs each. Bhim Sharki contributed 14 runs off 16 balls.

In restricting Kathmandu to a meagre total, Sher Malla took three wickets in his full quota of four overs, giving away 22 runs. This feat also earned him the player-of-the-match award. 

Captain Rohit Paudel also took three wickets while Ruben Trumpelmann took two wickets.

With the win today, Lumbini Lions will face Biratnagar Kings in the second qualifier to be held at the same ground tomorrow. 

Biratnagar lost to Sudurpaschim Kings by 77 runs in the Qualifier 1 held on Tuesday.

After defeating Biratnagar in Qualifier 1, Sudurpaschim have booked a place in the final, and will play the winner of tomorrow's match. 

The final is scheduled to take place at the same venue on Saturday.