After one other entertaining evening of Champions League soccer, Bayern Munich have progressed to the quarterfinal for the thirteenth time in 15 years after ending Paris Saint-Germain’s run. Meanwhile, AC Milan additionally made it to the final eight after holding off Tottenham.

In tennis, the ATP and WTA Indian Wells Masters begins with Carlos Alcaraz hoping to regain his world No 1 rank, and Iga Swiatek seeking to defent her ladies’s singles crown. Both, nonetheless, will face powerful contest with a extremely aggressive subject.

Here’s a have a look at the important thing tales from worldwide sporting occasions by the day for 9 March, 2023:

Choupa-Moting scores as Bayern Munich beat Paris Saint-Germain to enter Champions League quarterfinal

Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting scored in opposition to his former membership as Bayern Munich ended Paris Saint-Germain’s Champions League hopes on Wednesday, beating the French membership 2-0 of their last-16 second leg to attain the quarter-finals.

Choupo-Moting, who featured for PSG of their 1-0 Champions League last loss to Bayern in Lisbon in 2020, sidefooted the ball residence after Thomas Mueller dispossessed Marco Verratti inside his personal penalty space.

Substitute Serge Gnabry scored within the 89th minute to wrap up a 3-0 mixture victory for the six-time European champions.

Bayern reached the final eight for the thirteenth time in 15 years, whereas PSG might want to wait no less than one other season to elevate the coveted trophy for the primary time.

Bayern coach Julian Nagelsmann advised DAZN his aspect “needed the crowd” to assist them previous PSG’s “brutal quality” within the opening half.

“In the second half we were much better than our opponents and deserved to win.”

Bayern had been indebted to a superb goalline clearance by Matthijs de Ligt within the first interval however had been in any other case largely untroubled as Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi provided little.

“It worked, you need to say honestly that in a football game you need to have luck on your side,” mentioned captain Mueller.

“If that became a 1-0, you don’t know how the team would react.”

The Qatari-owned French champions’ lack of squad depth was highlighted, regardless of the return to full health of Mbappe after he was restricted to a substitute look in PSG’s 1-0 first-leg defeat.

Neymar is ready to overlook the remainder of the season with an ankle harm, whereas they misplaced defenders Marquinhos and Nordi Mukiele to accidents throughout this sport.

Coach Christophe Galtier lamented PSG’s failure to “make the most of our chances” and conceding “a really stupid goal” by Verratti’s error.

“There is frustration and disappointment in the dressing room,” he mentioned. “We can’t repeat the match, we have to look ahead.”

AC Milan by to quarterfinal on mixture after holding 10-man Tottenham

Antonio Conte mentioned Tottenham nonetheless want time to develop into a European pressure after bowing out within the final 16 of the Champions League 1-0 on mixture to AC Milan after a 0-0 draw on Wednesday.

A European elimination scorching on the heels of an exit from the FA Cup means Spurs’ 15-year wait to win a trophy will prolong for no less than one other season.

Conte’s return to the touchline did not encourage a response from his aspect as Tottenham had been toothless in assault and needed to play the ultimate 12 minutes a person down as Cristian Romero was despatched off for 2 bookable offences.

“I’m really sorry for the fans, but we cannot invent the win or to hope for a miracle one day that a trophy goes into our training ground,” mentioned Conte.

“We have to build and have patience. I understand the fans don’t have patience as for a long time Tottenham is not winning.”

Victory over two legs takes Milan into the quarter-finals for the primary time since 2012.

“We deserved this result, even though we could have scored more,” mentioned Milan striker Olivier Giroud.

“We showed quality, spirit, and we could have won tonight as well.”

Alcaraz assured forward of Indian Wells, however will face stiff problem from likes of Fritz, Medvedev

Top-seeded Carlos Alcaraz can change Novak Djokovic with a victory on the Indian Wells ATP Masters, and the 19-year-old Spaniard says he’ll give all of it he’s obtained.

“I’m gonna go for it,” Alcaraz mentioned on Wednesday as first-round matches obtained underneath manner within the California desert.

Alcaraz is chasing a 3rd prestigious Masters 1000 title, and if he’s profitable he’d be simply the second participant, after compatriot Rafael Nadal, to bag three as a teen.

The younger star will face stiff opposition in former world No 1 Daniil Medvedev, who rolls into Indian Wells having received three straight tournaments at Rotterdam, Doha and Dubai.

Some gloss is gone with Djokovic, who received a twenty second Grand Slam title at the Australian Open this 12 months, absent due to US restrictions on non-citizens who haven’t been vaccinated in opposition to Covid-19.

Injury pressured Nadal out, however eight of the highest 10 males on the earth are right here, together with third-ranked Stefanos Tsitsipas – runner-up to Djokovic in Melbourne – and fourth-ranked Casper Ruud.

Defending champion Taylor Fritz of the United States is seeded fourth forward of Medvedev.

Fritz beat Nadal in a dramatic last final 12 months to develop into the primary American to win the boys’s title in Indian Wells since Andre Agassi in 2001.

His present No 5 on the earth rankings makes him the highest-ranked US man since Andy Roddick reached the identical spot in September of 2009.

“Of course there’s a lot of great players in this draw who have a chance to win the tournament, but I say that I have my chances to win the tournament,” Alcaraz mentioned.

“For me winning the tournament and being No 1 again is a really good goal.”

Alcaraz downplayed any lingering harm fears after pulling out of the ATP 500 in Acapulco final week with a proper hamstring pressure.

Alcaraz had been clearly hindered in falling to Cameron Norrie within the Rio Open on February 26, though he’d crushed Norrie seven days earlier within the last at Buenos Aires.

Alcaraz’s South American run adopted a four-month harm layoff, throughout which he missed the Paris Masters with an stomach tear and the Australian Open with a hamstring harm.

However, Alcaraz mentioned he wasn’t overly involved concerning the spate of accidents.

“I’m not worried about it at all,” Alcaraz mentioned, including that he thought it was largely a matter of “bad luck.”

“I’m doing the right things off the court,” he mentioned. “I’m doing great work and I just had bad luck sometimes.”

While Tsitsipas downplayed his probabilities on Wednesday, saying he was nonetheless combating a shoulder harm he sustained after his run to the Australian Open last, Medvedev was understandably effervescent with confidence upon arrival in California.

“I feel great,” Medvedev mentioned. “Of course, like always in tennis it’s a new week in completely the opposite side of the world, but the level of confidence is there.

“I never had three back-to-back titles, so feeling great.”

Swiatek seems to be to bounce again forward of robust problem at Indian Wells

Iga Swiatek, studying to navigate the expectations piled on a world primary, says she’s wanting ahead not again as she launches her title protection on the Indian Wells ATP and WTA Masters.

The 21-year-old from Warsaw took tennis by storm in 2022, her early-season victories together with prestigious wins at Doha, Indian Wells and Miami.

She’d end the 12 months with two Grand Slam titles on the French Open and US Open, however mentioned Wednesday she is attempting to “not really think about what happened last year and remember that’s a different story.”

Swiatek was toppled by Elena Rybakina within the Australian Open spherical of 16, and after defending her Doha WTA title final month she was surprised within the Dubai last by Barbora Krejcikova.

“Sometimes it’s also important to remember that you can lose,” Swiatek mentioned. “There are other players who are also playing great tennis. Last season spoiled me a little bit.”

She admitted {that a} stream of simple match wins – she hasn’t performed a three-setter this 12 months – might need let a bit of complacency creep in.

“I still have to kind of remember that I’m going to have tight matches and to fight for every ball,” she mentioned.

While she and her coach assess every defeat and work to make changes, she mentioned she tries to tune out criticism from outdoors.

Swiatek herself was happy together with her play in Doha and Dubai – noting that reaching each finals was, actually, a robust outcome even when her loss to Krejcikova, a former French Open champion now thirtieth on the earth – drew scrutiny.

“Last year, before all this huge streak, before winning all these tournaments, I would be so happy with the result, but because of these comments right now I felt like ‘Oh, that’s not enough,’” she mentioned.

“So I’m trying not to read a lot of these things and I don’t want it to influence me because I’m happy with the work I’ve made and with how I played in, Doha and Dubai.”

Swiatek’s No 1 rating is protected by Indian Wells and Miami, however she’ll be up in opposition to a high quality subject within the California desert, the place she’s searching for to develop into simply the second girl to defend the title after Martina Navratilova in 1990-91.

After a first-round bye she is going to open in opposition to both Alison van Uytvanck or Claire Liu. She might face a probably tough third-round conflict with 2019 champion Bianca Andreescu of Canada.

Two different former champions are within the subject, 2021 winner Paula Badosa of Spain and Belarussian veteran Victoria Azarenka, who received in 2012 and 2016.

Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka is the second seed, aiming to enhance on a 2022 exhibiting that noticed her bow out within the second spherical.

Sabalenka will open in opposition to Evgenya Rodina, who beat France’s Alize Cornet 6-2, 7-5.

Home hope Jessica Pegula is seeded third and Ons Jabeur, a semi-finalist right here in 2021 is seeded fourth in her first event because the Australian Open.

The Tunisian missed the WTA’s Middle Eastern swing after present process minor knee surgical procedure.

With textual content inputs from AFP

Updated by the day