Bayern Munich eliminated Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) from the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday with their eighth straight win in the tournament. The Bundesliga giants allowed no goal in seven of those games.

PSG performed in completely different ways in the first and second halves of Wednesday's competition. Instead of making adjustments for the club to win, their manager Christophe Galtier's decision of sending El Chadaille Bitshiabu to the field cost them this game.

As one of the biggest-spending clubs in Europe, PSG have reached the Champions League final only once in the past decade. No matter which and how many stars they have signed, they still couldn't make a difference.

Now that PSG are going nowhere in extension negotiations with Lionel Messi, not to mention there are again rumors about the club willing to sell Neymar, the French powerhouse is likely looking at the end of an era.

Host: Li Xiang

Guest: Josh McNally

Cover designer: Feng Yuan

Chief editor: Chen Ran

Supervisor: Zhang Shilei

https://news.cgtn.com/news/2023-03-09/CGTN-Sports-Talk-Have-Bayern-Munich-ended-an-era-for-PSG--1i20pBLd1As/index.html

Barcelona currently enjoy a seven-point lead over Real Madrid in La Liga after both sides played 23 games. Judging by history, it won't be easy for the team behind to catch up.

First, the rest of the league is hardly able to slow Barca down, especially after they have no European competitions to worry about; second, Real's biggest target this season is likely the UEFA Champions League title.

By contrast, the race for the Serie A championship seems over since Napoli's 18-point lead is unshakable. The team has been so dominant that they have won 21 of their 24 games in the domestic league so far.

It's only a matter of time for Gli Azzurri (The Blues) to add a third Serie A title trophy to their room of honors.

Host: Li Xiang

Guest: Josh McNally

Cover designer: Feng Yuan

Chief editor: Chen Ran

Supervisor: Zhang Shilei

https://news.cgtn.com/news/2023-03-03/CGTN-Sports-Talk-Is-there-suspense-in-La-Liga-Serie-A-s-title-races--1hSvaDbKYzS/index.html

Who would have thought that after nearly two-thirds of matches in the 2022-23 season, Arsenal are leading the Premier League over Manchester City, especially when "The Gunners" played one fewer game?

Meanwhile, just in case you haven't noticed, Manchester United, which have been seen as a bad example for heavyweights in recent years, are only six points behind Man City. The "Red Devils" do not pose an immediate threat yet to the top two teams, but they are capable of causing trouble for both.

Bundesliga is looking at a new scenario as well this season. Instead of Bayern Munich booking the championship with four or five games to go, or facing competition from only one rival, the German powerhouse now have to watch out for both Borussia Dortmund and Union Berlin.

In fact, even Red Bull Leipzig and Freiburg may join the race any time when Bayern suffer a sudden major setback in Bundesliga.

Host: Li Xiang

Guest: Josh McNally

Cover designer: Feng Yuan

Chief editor: Chen Ran

Supervisor: Zhang Shilei

https://news.cgtn.com/news/2023-02-27/CGTN-Sports-Talk-Open-title-races-in-Premier-League-Bundesliga-1hLIpR1j8Eo/index.html

Manchester United's 2-1 win over Barcelona in the second-leg of the UEFA Europa League Round of 32 competitions became one of the most important victories for the "Red Devils" this season.

Erik ten Hag, who was appointed as Man United's manager after the 2021-22 campaign, has carved his team into an energetic and competitive group after the right players were brought in and underperformers were sent away.

By contrast, Xavi, in his second season as Barca's manager, watched his team struggle even more in the European competitions. Unlike Man United, they don't have enough funding to reshuffle their lineup dramatically.

Both clubs have gone through a lot of difficulties in recent years. Judging by their performances this season, Man United seem to be getting back on their feet faster.

Host: Li Xiang

Guest: Josh McNally

Cover designer: Feng Yuan

Chief editor: Chen Ran

Supervisor: Zhang Shilei

https://news.cgtn.com/news/2023-02-24/CGTN-Sports-Talk-Man-United-beat-Barca-in-rebuild-race-1hGFpPsIF6E/index.html

Real Madrid's 5-2 comeback win over Liverpool in the first-leg game of the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 competitions at Anfield reminded both sides' fans of the final five years ago between the same two teams.

Back then, at the NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium in Kyiv, Liverpool's goalkeeper Loris Karius made two lethal mistakes that cost his team's game. Real's Thibaut Courtois and Liverpool's Alisson Becker repeated history on Tuesday night.

Of course, the two goals that resulted from the two goalies' turnovers didn't decide the result of the game like Karius' underperformance did. Liverpool's loss reflected the gap between them and Real in turning scoring chances into real goals.

Can "The Reds" reverse the situation when they visit the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium for the second-leg game on March 15?

Host: Li Xiang

Guest: Josh McNally

Cover designer: Feng Yuan

Chief editor: Chen Ran

Supervisor: Zhang Shilei

https://news.cgtn.com/news/2023-02-22/CGTN-Sports-Talk-Karius-isn-t-here-but-he-s-everywhere-1hCUegcy7jq/index.html

Bayern Munich's 1-0 win over Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) at the Parc des Princes on Tuesday night was like déjà vu of many of their Bundesliga games this season. They had the apparent advantage, but shied away from finishing the final scoring move.

PSG did Bayern a favor by replacing Achraf Hakimi with Presnel Kimpembem and leaving 16-year-old Warren Zaire-Emery to guard Alphonso Davies alone.

PSG soon sent Kylian Mbappe to the field after allowing the goal by Kingsley Coman. Mbappe's speed plus the creativity of Lionel Messi and Neymar immediately took the club’s offense up a notch.

Unfortunately, both of the two goals Mbappe scored were ruled offside. PSG will visit the Allianz Arena next week with a one-goal deficit.

Host: Li Xiang

Guest: Josh McNally

Cover designer: Feng Yuan

Chief editor: Chen Ran

Supervisor: Zhang Shilei

https://news.cgtn.com/news/2023-02-15/CGTN-Sports-Talk-It-s-not-perfect-but-Bayern-Munich-beat-PSG-1hrBVTxDt7y/index.html

The four days before the 2022-23 NBA trade deadline were full of nothing but constant surprises. Some teams look completely different to how they did less than a week ago.

Among all of the game-changing deals, Kevin Durant's departure from the Brooklyn Nets for the Phoenix Suns definitely had the biggest impact.

Imagine that a team has two historic scorers, Durant and Devin Booker, an experienced playmaker in Chris Paul, as well as a young big man, Deandre Ayton, who averages a double-double since he entered the league.

The Suns on paper have grown as dominant as the Golden State Warriors between 2017 and 2019 when Durant won two NBA championships there. He came very close to starting a new era back then. Will he do it this time?

Host: Li Xiang

Cover designer: Feng Yuan

Chief editor: Chen Ran

Supervisor: Zhang Shilei

https://news.cgtn.com/news/2023-02-11/CGTN-Sports-Talk-Durant-in-the-center-of-a-new-era-in-the-NBA-1hlkbVTxwqI/index.html

Chelsea outspent another club during the European football winter transfer window that closed on Tuesday.

It cost "The Blues" as much as 329.5 million euros (about $358.6 million) to bring multiple players to Stamford Bridge. The transfer of Argentine midfielder Enzo Fernandez from Benfica even set a new Premier League record fee of 121 million euros.

One of the major reasons behind Chelsea's struggling performance in the first half of the 2022-23 Premier League campaign is their poor offense, which produced only 22 goals in 20 games.

Have the club signed the right players to help them fix that problem and other shortcomings?

Host: Li Xiang

Guest: Josh McNally

Cover designer: Feng Yuan

Chief editor: Chen Ran

Supervisor: Zhang Shilei

https://news.cgtn.com/news/2023-02-01/CGTN-Sports-Talk-Did-Chelsea-spend-its-300-million-euros-wisely--1h4nroNuwWk/index.html

The Los Angeles Lakers sent three future second-round draft picks and Kendrick Nunn to the Wizards for Rui Hachimura, who is in the final year of his rookie contract. The three picks are a 2023 second-rounder via the Chicago Bulls, their own pick for 2029 and the less favorable of the Washington Wizards' and Lakers' 2028 second-rounders.

On paper, Hachimura is exactly the kind of player the Lakers need with his 2.03-meter-height, 104-kilogram weight, power and 3-point shooting ability. The fact that the Wizards drafted him with the ninth pick in 2019 means he's at least promising.

However, landing Hachimura is hardly a game-changer for the Lakers because they have too many problems to fix. They still have assets to make more moves and go after bigger fish on the trade market.

Will the purple and gold's movements stimulate more teams to turn some of the trade rumors into real deals?

Host: Li Xiang

Cover designer: Feng Yuan

Chief editor: Chen Ran

Supervisor: Zhang Shilei

https://news.cgtn.com/news/2023-01-24/CGTN-Sorts-Talk-Will-Lakers-trade-create-domino-effect-in-NBA-market--1gRcLyN4TUA/index.html

Lionel Messi wrote likely the final, perfect chapter to his story as a member of the Argentine national team after they won the third FIFA World Cup title for "La albiceleste" at Lusail Stadium in Qatar on Sunday night.

The victory belonged to everyone, including Messi and Angel Di Maria, who together scored Argentina's three goals, goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez who blocked at least two key shots, and Gonzalo Montiel who made the decisive final penalty.

Kylian Mbappe won the World Cup Golden Boot award as the second player in history to score a hat trick in the tournament's final. He was so close to making his own history, but luck was not on France's side.

Despite the loss, the young players of "Les Bleus" proved they are capable of making the World Cup final such a close competition. If they continue to perform like this, their era will come.

Host: Li Xiang

Guest: Josh McNally

Cover designer: Feng Yuan

Chief editor: Chen Ran

Supervisor: Zhang Shilei

https://news.cgtn.com/news/2022-12-19/CGTN-Sports-Talk-Messi-adds-third-star-to-Argentina-s-jersey-1fSlMrBgmrK/index.html