Ligue des Champions – UEFA : le Camp Nou accueillera la finale 2029

Le Camp Nou accueillera la finale de la Ligue des Champions en 2029. Le Comité exécutif de l’UEFA a désigné ce mardi le stade du FC Barcelone pour accueillir le match qui couronnera le champion d’Europe, à l’issue de sa réunion organisée à Thessalonique. sweetbonanza-app.com

Le retour de la finale à Barcelone après 30 ans

Le Camp Nou retrouvera la grande finale européenne trois décennies après le célèbre duel entre Manchester United et le Bayern Munich en 1999. Le stade barcelonais a déjà accueilli deux finales de la plus prestigieuse compétition européenne.

La première remonte à 1989, avec la large victoire de l’AC Milan face au Steaua Bucarest (4-0). Dix ans plus tard, le 26 mai 1999, Manchester United avait renversé le Bayern Munich (2-1) dans les dernières minutes, au terme d’une finale devenue mythique.

Avec cette désignation, la finale de la Ligue des Champions fera donc son retour à Barcelone 30 ans après sa dernière édition au Camp Nou.

L’Espagne au rendez-vous des prochaines finales

L’Espagne accueillera ainsi deux finales de Ligue des Champions en l’espace de trois ans. Madrid sera le théâtre de la finale en 2027, avant Munich en 2028, puis Barcelone en 2029.

Une succession qui confirme la place de l’Espagne parmi les principales destinations des grands rendez-vous du football européen.

Une candidature soutenue par les institutions

La candidature du Camp Nou était notamment en concurrence avec celle de Wembley. Le dossier barcelonais a été porté conjointement par le FC Barcelone, la Fédération espagnole de football, la mairie de Barcelone et la Generalitat de Catalogne.

La Fédération espagnole a également mis en avant la mobilisation des différentes institutions publiques de Barcelone et de Catalogne autour de cette candidature, finalement retenue par l’UEFA.

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Le football féminin européen fera étape à Lyon en 2028. Le Groupama Stadium a été désigné pour accueillir la finale de la Ligue des champions féminine, une première pour l’enceinte de Décines-Charpieu. L’annonce a été faite ce mardi, à l’issue de la décision de l’UEFA.

Une première pour le Groupama Stadium

Habitué aux grands rendez-vous du football international, le Groupama Stadium va ajouter une nouvelle affiche prestigieuse à son histoire. Le stade lyonnais avait notamment accueilli la finale de la Ligue Europa en 2018, plusieurs rencontres de la Coupe du monde féminine en 2019 ainsi qu’une demi-finale des Jeux olympiques de Paris en 2024.

Cette fois, c’est donc la finale de la plus prestigieuse compétition européenne de clubs féminins qui sera organisée dans l’enceinte de l’OL. Un choix qui vient aussi récompenser la place occupée par Lyon dans le développement du football féminin.

Lyon, une place forte du football féminin

Cette désignation possède une portée particulière dans une ville où le football féminin dispose d’une longue tradition. L’OL Lyonnes est en effet l’un des clubs les plus titrés de l’histoire de la compétition, avec huit sacres européens. Le club lyonnais a également atteint de nombreuses finales depuis la création de la Ligue des champions féminine sous sa forme actuelle.

Le choix du Groupama Stadium permettra ainsi de mettre en valeur un territoire qui occupe une place importante dans le football féminin européen. La finale de 2028 devrait également offrir une nouvelle vitrine au développement de la discipline en France.

Un nouveau grand rendez-vous pour le stade lyonnais

Après avoir accueilli plusieurs compétitions internationales, le Groupama Stadium s’apprête donc à recevoir un nouveau match majeur. La finale de 2028 réunira les deux meilleures équipes de la saison européenne dans une enceinte habituée aux grandes soirées de football.

Pour Lyon, l’événement représentera aussi une nouvelle occasion de faire rayonner le football féminin auprès d’un large public. Le rendez-vous est désormais fixé : en 2028, le Groupama Stadium sera au centre du football féminin européen.

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Ox Nché’s scrummaging and impact for the Springboks in the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series has boosted his case for World Rugby Player of the Year.

Former England internationals Ben Youngs and Dan Cole, speaking on the For The Love Of Rugby podcast, discussed the loosehead prop’s influence, with Youngs applauding Nché’s set-piece and off-the-ball work during the 3-1 series win for South Africa.

Nché was nominated for the 2025 World Rugby Player of the Year award alongside teammates Pieter-Steph du Toit and eventual winner Malcolm Marx.

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It marked the 52-cap Nché’s first nomination and a historic moment, as he became the first prop shortlisted for the award since its introduction in 2001.

“One guy we’ve got to mention again when we talk about World Player of the Year – you’ve said Jordie Barrett there – obviously we’re on a campaign for Ox,” Youngs said.

“We’re on a campaign for a prop to win Player of the Year and Ox, once again, was just doing things: carrying, scrummaging, mauling, tackling, counter-rucking, hitting rucks, carrying – I’ve probably already said carrying.

“I think he did another pass at nine again; I’m pretty sure he did a lovely little pass again. No nine, no problems – Ox has got you.”

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Cole focused on how Nché fits into the wider pattern the Boks produced to beat New Zealand 43-28 in Baltimore last week.

“The tempo they play with – you’ve got Ox, you’ve got your loosehead moving the ball. They’re not stagnant and waiting for a nine,” he added.

Cole also hailed the Boks’ breakdown dominance and physicality, which he believes other nations will need to find a way to counter.

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“New Zealand couldn’t really touch the Boks at the breakdown, which meant that when the ball’s on a plate it was just moved away, and there were lots of breaks around the fringes, just because the breakdown was so clean,” he noted.

“Teams are going to have to work out how to stop South Africa – whether you jackal, or because you might not win the collisions – but teams are going to have to do a better job at the breakdown if they’ve got any chance of taking on South Africa.”

Photo: Floris van Schouwenburg/Gallo Images

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NAIROBI, Kenya, Sept 15 – Kenya’s capital city, Nairobi, has won the bid to host the 2029 World Athletics Championships, writing history as the first African country to stage the global competition.

The announcement was made on Tuesday in Budapest, Hungary following the conclusion of the innugural World Athletics Ultimate Championships.

Nairobi has previously successfully hosted the World Athletics Under-18 and Under-20 Championships.

During the announcement, Munich, Germany, was awarded the 2031 hosting rights.

This follows one of the strongest bidding processes in the history of the sport’s flagship event.

“We were fortunate to have four outstanding bids for 2029 and 2031, and this was not an easy decision for the Council,” said World Athletics President Sebastian Coe.

“The quality, ambition and commitment demonstrated by all four candidates underline the strength and global appeal of the World Athletics Championships,” Coe added.

“With this Council decision today, we continue to fulfil our mission of growing athletics worldwide with the hosting of our World Athletics Championships in Asia, Africa and Europe over its next three editions.”

“Nairobi and Munich ultimately presented two compelling propositions. They offer very different but equally exciting opportunities for our sport, and I am delighted that we can now begin working with both cities to stage two world-class championships.”

World Athletics Championships Nairobi 29

Nairobi’s selection represents a landmark moment for athletics, bringing its biggest global event to Africa for the first time.

The championships will build on a growing record of successful World Athletics events staged across Africa.

Kampala in Uganda hosted the World Cross Country Championships in 2017, Nairobi staged the World U18 Championships later that year and the World U20 Championships in 2021, while Gaborone in Botswana hosted the World Athletics Relays in 2026 – the first edition of that event to be held in Africa.

Together, those events have helped build significant experience and expertise in staging global athletics competitions across the continent.

Within that wider progression, Nairobi has established particularly strong credentials as a host city.

Having previously bid to host the 2025 championships, awarded to Tokyo, Nairobi returned with an even stronger proposition for 2029, drawing on almost a decade of experience in staging major international athletics events.

The 2017 World U18 Championships demonstrated the extraordinary appetite for athletics in Kenya, with huge crowds packing the Kasarani Stadium throughout the competition.

Nairobi has since established the Kip Keino Classic as one of Africa’s leading one-day meetings, with the event forming part of the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold since the tour was launched in 2020.

That experience provided firm foundations for a 2029 bid that combined strong operational planning and financial guarantees with a renovated Kasarani Stadium, which is undergoing a complete structural overhaul of all facilities ahead of hosting the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2027 two years before the World Athletics Championships, and a compelling vision for the first World Athletics Championships in Africa.

The strength of Kenya’s connection with athletics is also reflected in World Athletics fan research. Some 68% of Kenyan people surveyed rated their interest in athletics as high, compared with a global average of 39%, making Kenya the most athletics-interested market surveyed.

Kenya has the highest net promoter score of any market, and athletics is the country’s second-most-followed sport, behind only football. Kenya is the fourth-highest country in terms of followers of World Athletics social media channels.

That passion is matched by sustained success at the highest level. Kenya is the second-most-successful nation in World Athletics Championships history and finished second on the medal table at the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25, winning seven gold medals and 11 medals in total.

“Nairobi presented a compelling and emotional bid, and taking the World Athletics Championships to Africa for the first time will be historic,” said Coe.

“Kenya is one of the great athletics nations. The sport is woven into the fabric of the country, and athletes such as world gold medallists Faith Kipyegon, Vivian Cheruiyot, Eliud Kipchoge, Hellen Obiri and David Rudisha, as well as two-time Olympic champion Kip Keino, multiple world cross-country champion Paul Tergat and multiple world half marathon champion Tegla Loroupe, have shaped the history of our sport.

“It was important that the World Athletics Championships should come to Africa when we had the right host, the right bid and the right circumstances. Nairobi has demonstrated emphatically that this is their moment.”

The Springboks produced a near-perfect performance in their 43-28 win over the All Blacks in the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series decider in Baltimore.

But the All Blacks, while not at their best, posed an attacking threat that exposed weaknesses in the Springboks’ strategy, leaving the hosts scrambling to recover from an opening defeat to save the series.

The Springboks have certainly addressed these problems.

But they will want to consolidate these areas if they are to enjoy continued success – especially with different personnel when the coaches return to their rotational policy.

Finishing opportunities

Rassie Erasmus stressed that scoring tries was not the only way to win a game, and the Springboks had learned from their many failed attacks in the first Test to take the three points on offer when they could.

But the Springboks would not have been happy with their inability to finish from attacking positions.

South Africa only scored more tries than New Zealand in the fourth Test. And overall, the All Blacks scored 17 tries to the Springboks’ 14.

The All Blacks never scored fewer than four tries in a game in the series.

Sometimes there are small margins, and sometimes it is the work of the defence – such as the All Blacks frustrating the breakdown in the first Test – but the Boks will know that no number of attacks created on the back of strong set-pieces will succeed unless the players have the skill set and composure to finish.

Kurt-Lee Arendse’s individual effort turned the tide for South Africa in the fourth Test. But they will need to double down on attacking drills when they face more cohesive and less injury-hit opposition.

Defence

As probably inferred from the previous point, conceding 17 tries in four matches highlights a need to address the defence system.

The Springboks rang the changes for the second Test, with returning regular captain Siya Kolisi among those called on to compete at the breakdown and defend the wider channels.

Granted, the All Blacks have a fearless high-tempo attack under Dave Rennie. Few teams would have fared better.

The Boks defended better, and scrambled in defence more from the second Test. But several missed tackles leave room for improvement.

They will next be tested by an attack-minded Wallabies side when the teams meet in a one-off Test in Perth next Sunday.

Breakdowns

As mentioned, the All Blacks slowed the Springbok attack down considerably and won the ball on occasion at the breakdown in the first Test.

Erasmus’ initial response was that they had not expected the All Blacks to try to rip the ball so often in contact, having usually chopped players at the legs in tackles or gone over for an attempted turnover in the past.

Some personnel changes and work in training fixed this so that the Springboks increasingly dominated collisions and the breakdowns in the series.

Still, this is one of the few areas the Boks could keep an eye on after the series.