British pole vault champion Holly Bradshaw outlines how the Athletes’ Commission at UKA is looking to help field events get a bigger share of the spotlight

During my time in the sport, I have seen and become aware of more and more issues needing to be tackled, so I was really passionate about getting involved with the Athletes’ Commission at UK Athletics.

Getting involved helps to promote change and one of the biggest things we are looking to address is that, in general athletics terms, it feels like field events get a bit of a raw deal.

Now I don’t want to sound bitter and I’m not bashing the track athletes at all, it’s just that the way athletics is shown and the issues with TV coverage creates a massive void, which is a big concern.

The field events don’t really get shown on the TV and as a result people don’t really understand our events.

That lack of exposure reduces sponsorship opportunities for the athletes, while it also leads to reduced participation as kids will see the sprinters and track athletes on TV for long stretches whereas they might catch me jumping for a 10-second period. How is that going to attract them to field events?

With that in mind, within the Commission we’ve set up a group which is trying push forward and raise the awareness of the field disciplines. I have done presentations to those in charge at UKA where I have shown the German street meets and what the Manchester CityGames used to be like – just showing how the field events can be presented – and they have listened so I am hopeful that, over the next five or 10 years, field events will come into the limelight and get a little more love.

"I'm a big ambassador for my sport and I love it. I want to get it out to as many people as possible so Britain can be a powerhouse!"@HollyBradshawPV on the benefits of pole vault street meets.

Watch this clip to get a taster and then click the link below for the full video ⬇️

— AW (@AthleticsWeekly) February 4, 2021

How do we try to change minds? It has got to come from three different angles.

Firstly, you have got to tell the story in terms of the TV coverage a little more. The pole vault competition in the Lausanne Diamond League last year – a dedicated, standalone event where Mondo Duplantis and Sam Kendricks both jumped six metres – was a perfect example of what can be done. I had people messaging me afterwards to say how exciting it was.

I think TV companies need to find a way to show the full shot put competition, the full long jump competition or whatever it might be to really tell the story.

Secondly, some investment into coaching for field events is needed in the UK. When you compare the number of field event coaches employed compared to track it is very different and I believe field events actually need more coaches than track, just because each event is so technical, so different and so specific.

With the exception of Tore Gustafsson, who is not based in the UK, we don’t have a single throws coach employed in this country so how are we going to get more kids and more people involved in field events when we don’t have the coaches?

Having someone to promote each field event would make a big difference.

Then the other barrier we face is that European and World Athletics are capping the number of people that compete at major championships.

Say, for the 60m at the world indoors, there are heats, semi-finals and finals – just think how many athletes that allows to go to a major championships? In the field events, however, there are straight finals so you’ve got 12 athletes in the women’s pole vault final, as opposed to 30 or 40 on the track.

Things like that might not sound like a lot but to the field community it is.

We have an issue with development, too. One of the biggest strengths athletics has over any other sport is its inclusivity, but I see it down at my club Blackburn Harriers – where there is more of an endurance culture – that you might have 10 kids down there who are different shapes and sizes but they are all doing the same session of just laps around the track.

If you were to line me, Morgan Lake, Jazmin Sawyers, Sophie McKinna and Sophie Hitchon up alongside each other – we do five different events and we all look and are so different but kids aren’t necessarily getting to see these differences because they are not being shown these field events.

There’s definitely a collective feeling that more of a push is needed now. I understand, of course, that you need equipment and some clubs can’t afford poles, to re-lay a shot put circle or build a hammer cage. It’s just one of the challenges we face, but I do feel there’s a growing frustration out there.

The recent performances of the world’s top field athletes are helping, though. The male and female world athletes of the year for 2020 were both jumpers, with Mondo in the pole vault and Yulimar Rojas in the triple jump.

I have recently had a conversation with UKA CEO Jo Coates where she asked if we might be able to push the pole vault in the UK off the back of performances of people like Mondo. I was delighted she said that and I really do feel that the top athletes are enlightening others.

With the Athletes’ Commission, we are also now in a better place to make change. I believe that it has given athletes a platform where we can formalise our concerns and we are taken seriously.

Get in touch with us, however small you think your concern might be. You might think a certain issue is only affecting you but you might find there could be another 100 athletes experiencing the same thing.

We’re here to support and to be the voice of all athletes.

WHAT IS THE ATHLETES’ COMMISSION?

Formed in 2017, The Athletes’ Commission is a group of 12 former and current British international athletes who work together to represent athletes’ views and voices to the British Athletics Performance Team and the UK Athletics Board with the aim of ensuring the athlete perspective is heard and understood by the decision makers in our sport.

WHO IS INVOLVED?

Holly Bradshaw (pole vault)
Ashley Bryant (decathlon)
Nathan Douglas (triple jump)
Hannah England (1500m) Commission Chair
Adam Gemili (200m)
Dan Greaves (F44 discus)
Andrew Heyes (3000m, cross country) Chair elect
Stephen Miller (club throw)
Naomi Ogbeta (triple jump)
Steph Twell (10km, marathon)
Vanessa Wallace (F34 shot put)
Richard Whitehead (T61 100m & 200m)

WHO IS IT FOR?

While the Athletes’ Commission is immediately to serve athletes who have competed for Great Britain over the past six years, they know that coaches, assistants or staff may wish to highlight issues on behalf of their athletes.

HOW DO I GET IN TOUCH? WHERE DO I GO IF I HAVE A QUESTION OR A CONCERN?

There are a number of ways to get in touch with the Athletes’ Commission on any issue in the sport you think worth raising.

Ulster pair Stuart McCloskey and Tom O'Toole are among 12 players released by Ireland so they can have playing time with their provincial sides.

Also released are Bundee Aki, Ultan Dillane and Dave Heffernan (all Connacht) along with Leinster trio Ryan Baird, Ross Byrne and Jack Conan.

Munster quartet Craig Casey, Andrew Conway, Shane Daly and Chris Farrell complete the 12-strong list.

Ulster scrum-half John Cooney, who provided specialist cover for Ireland's defeat by France on Sunday along with Harry Byrne and Eric O'Sullivan, has also returned to the Kingspan Stadium.

Ulster are in Pro14 action on Friday night with an away game against Glasgow Warriors.

Leinster travel to face the Dragons, also on Friday, while a day later Connacht host Cardiff and Munster take on Edinburgh.

France's Six Nations squad is in isolation after a staff member tested positive for coronavirus, the French Rugby Federation (FFR) says.

France are top of the Six Nations table after two wins from two and host Scotland in Paris on 28 February.

Galthie's side beat Ireland in Dublin on Sunday.

An FFR statement said players would be tested again on Wednesday and then twice more this week, adding: "In line with health protocols, all team and staff members are isolating. Interactions will be kept to an absolute minimum."

France will announce their 31-man squad for the Scotland match on Wednesday.

Gerard Pique has made a miraculous recovery from a knee injury to make Barcelona's squad for Tuesday's Champions League game against Paris Saint-Germain.

The defender suffered ligament damage in Barca's defeat to league leaders Atletico Madrid at the end of November and it was initially feared he would miss the remainder of the season. However, less than 90 days later, Pique has been called up by Ronald Koeman for the round-of-16 first-leg tie at Camp Nou despite turning down surgery at the end of last year. Instead, Pique, who turned 34 earlier this month, opted for more conservative treatment and club sources say medical staff have been "stunned" by the speed of his return to fitness.

Koeman announced on Monday that the centre-back could be available against PSG and said that if he was in the squad it would be because he was in shape to start the game if needed.

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- Champions League: Barca, PSG need success

Pique returned to full training at the end of last week, although lacks match fitness having not played a competitive game since the 1-0 loss at the Wanda Metropolitano on Nov. 21.

The temptation to use Pique from the start against the French champions on Tuesday has increased on the back of the news that Ronald Araujo has been ruled out. Araujo sprained his ankle in the Copa del Rey semifinal first-leg defeat to Sevilla last Wednesday and has not recovered in time to face PSG.

Barca are also without right-back Sergi Roberto and forwards Ansu Fati and Philippe Coutinho.

PSG, meanwhile, are missing Neymar and Angel Di Maria through injury, but coach Mauricio Pochettino is hopeful Marco Verratti will be able to feature after shaking off a knock to train on Monday.

Arsenal are investigating whether captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang broke COVID-19 regulations after footage emerged of the striker getting a tattoo.

The 31-year-old was featured in an Instagram story posted five days ago by Spanish tattoo artist Alejandro Nicolas Bernal receiving some new artwork on his hand.

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Aubameyang was recently given permission by Gunners boss Mikel Arteta to travel to France to care for his mother, Margarita, who fell seriously ill. He missed three matches as he spent time in quarantine on his return to England.

Neither Aubameyang or Bernal were seen wearing a mask but it is not clear when the footage was shot. After the video of Aubameyang was brought to the club's attention, an Arsenal spokesman told ESPN: "It's a private matter and we will be speaking to the player to establish the facts."

The United Kingdom government has closed all mobile and static tattoo parlours as part of the nationwide lockdown.

Aubameyang returned to the Arsenal starting line-up last Sunday, scoring a hat-trick in a 4-2 win over Leeds United at Emirates Stadium. He wore gloves during the game so his hand was not visible.

Afterwards, Aubameyang said: "It's been a tough time for me, but now it's time to get the smile back and win games and score goals, that's it.

"From everybody around the club, everyone was giving a lot of love to me, my mum and my family, so I'm really, really happy and I'm really proud to be part of this family.

"I have to say thank you to everyone at the club and the fans as well because I received a lot of messages. I'm really happy today, the win and goals -- this is for them."

It's been two months since we last watched Champions League action, with the group stages coming to a close in early December.

But fear not, the 2020-21 competition is set to whir back into life on Tuesday as the knockout phase gets under way with the first batch of round-of-16 ties and the latest official match ball, which will be used all the way through until the final, has also been revealed.

20 years of history.
Introducing the new official @ChampionsLeague match ball, celebrating 20 years of the iconic starball design.
Available tomorrow from https://t.co/FblJVIGgpI#UCL pic.twitter.com/6iRp0x7Y7f

— adidas Football (@adidasfootball) February 15, 2021

The Adidas Finale Istanbul 21 is a nod to the iconic Adidas "starball" design, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year having first been introduced in 2001, and incorporates panel designs taken from every single one of the 20 previous Champions League final balls, with the thin red banners marking the relevant year and host city for each of them.

Now that the Champions League is firmly back on the agenda and the new ball is ready to roll, here's a refresher on some of the more notable things to have happened in the competition so far this season.

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Ronaldo overcame Messi

Two years (947 days to be exact) since their last encounter, twin modern day goliaths Messi and Ronaldo came head-to-head on the same pitch in the sixth and final Champions League matchweek before the winter hiatus.

Barca had a three-point cushion over Juve at the top of Group G heading into the match, but that soon vanished as Ronaldo and his cohorts emerged victorious. It was the 36th time Ronaldo and Messi had met on the pitch, and the former came out on top, scoring twice while his great rival struggled to gain any kind of foothold in the game.

Juve prevailed as 3-0 winners on the night, ensuring that they ended the campaign as group winners, having risen above their foes to seal top spot by the narrowest of margins.

- Ronaldo and Messi's most memorable clashes

Rashford thwarted PSG (again)

Marcus Rashford produced yet more late heroics as Manchester United defeated PSG on their own soil for the second year running.

There was controversy in the previous season as a stoppage-time penalty (given by VAR for handball against Presnel Kimpembe) from Rashford secured a dramatic 3-1 win win over the Parisians to gift United progress in the round of 16 on away goals.

Skip forward to October 2020 and Rashford once again left it extremely late (the 87th minute) as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side kicked off their Group H campaign with a 2-1 win at the Parc des Princes, though things did not go so well in the return game (see below).

Bayern Munich rumbled on

The Champions League holders look well poised to defend their crown, having gone unbeaten throughout the 2020-21 group stage.

The Bavarians are unbeaten in the competition since 2018-19, when they fell to a 3-1 defeat against Liverpool in the second leg of the round of 16, and since then they've played 16 games and won 15, with a 1-1 draw against Atletico Madrid at the Metropolitano Stadium in December the only (relatively minor) blemish on their otherwise flawless copybook.

Indeed, Hansi Flick's newly crowned Sextuple winners are in imperious form once again, having scored 18 goals in six group-stage outings thus far -- considerably more than any other team.

Haaland kept breaking records

After making a prodigious start to his Champions League career, Erling Haaland has continued his incredible form into his second season.

The Borussia Dortmund striker shattered more records by becoming the fastest player in history to reach both 10 and 15 Champions League goals.

It took Haaland seven games to take his tally to 10, and then just 12 games to score 15 goals -- a record previously jointly held by Ruud van Nistelrooy and Roberto Soldado, both of whom took 19 games to reach the 15-goal mark.

The 20-year-old Norwegian reached his latest milestone by scoring twice in Dortmund's 3-0 win over Club Brugge in late November, the second of which also happened to be the German club's 300th goal in the competition.

As things stand, Haaland is joint-top scorer in the Champions League this season, joining Alvaro Morata, Neymar and Marcus Rashford on six goals apiece -- and that's with injury ruling him out of Dortmund's last two group stage ties.

Real Madrid rode their luck

With consistency already an issue, Real Madrid got their 2020-21 group campaign off to a wretched start by losing 3-2 against Shakhtar Donetsk at the Bernabeu.

Los Blancos' hazy aspirations of winning a 14th Champions League title looked to be in tatters as they then lost the return fixture against Shakhtar, stumbling to a 2-0 loss in Ukraine in early December (their third defeat in five games in all competitions), leaving the Spaniards third in Group B with one game left to play.

Fortunately, Real rallied to beat Borussia Monchengladbach on the final matchday, with results elsewhere meaning that Zinedine Zidane's beleaguered side leapt up several rungs to somehow finish as group winners.

They came good when it mattered and squeezed through to the knockouts, but performances haven't exactly been stellar in the intervening months, and a humiliating Copa del Rey defeat against third-tier side Alcoyano a few weeks ago serving only to pile yet more pressure on Zidane's shoulders.

With seven important games still between Real and the final in Istanbul, how much luck do they have left in reserve?

Managers made some moves

Zidane is holding at Real Madrid on for the time being, but several Champions League clubs have relieved their head coaches of their responsibilities since the winter break began.

Despite finishing top of their group, Chelsea pulled the plug on Frank Lampard's 18-month stint in charge in January, replacing the club legend with Thomas Tuchel.

Similarly, Tuchel had been responsible for steering PSG to the top of Group H, but was fired in January to make way for former Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino to step into the breach.

Pochettino will now be looking forward to taking charge of PSG in Europe for the first time, though he'll be starting with a real baptism of fire -- a two-legged round-of-16 knockout clash against Barcelona.

Man City sailed through

Manchester City went sailing through their group campaign with five wins from six outings, the only dropped points coming via a 0-0 draw against Porto in early December.

Pep Guardiola's side topped Group C in unflustered fashion before continuing their dominant form on the domestic scene over the winter period.

City are now sitting pretty at the top of the Premier League having recently set a record for the most consecutive victories in all competitions of any top-flight club in English football history. Indeed, a routine 3-1 win over Swansea in the FA Cup last weekend saw City enter the record books by racking up their 15th win on the bounce in all domestic competitions -- a streak during which they've scored 40 goals and conceded just five.

They now face Borussia Monchengladbach in the next phase of the Champions League, with the German side likely to be quaking in their boots at the very thought of facing a team in such rampant form.

Liverpool's implosion started

Ever since Liverpool suffered a shock 2-0 Champions League home defeat against Atalanta at the tail end of November -- losing a competitive match at Anfield by a margin of more than one goal for the first time in 137 matches -- the rot set it, and their subsequent results have been all over the place.

It hasn't all been bad, but with only seven wins from 16 games, it's fair to say that Jurgen Klopp's once-dominant side have struggled since that sobering night.

Most recently, three defeats in their last five games have seen Liverpool eliminated from the FA Cup and fall 13 points behind leaders Man City in their increasingly unlikely quest to defend the Premier League title.

Now that the Champions League offers new hope, Klopp's men will be seeking to re-focus their efforts and arrest the slump with a resurgent performance against RB Leipzig in the round of 16.

Manchester United didn't make it

And where are United, the aforementioned semi-vanquishers of PSG, in all this?

Well, you'll be able to find Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's team taking on Real Sociedad in the round of 32 of the Europa League on Thursday night.

As you may recall, United were sent packing from the Champions League when they lost 3-2 against RB Leipzig -- the first time the club have been eliminated at the group stage of the competition since 2015-16, when Louis van Gaal was at the helm.

The UEFA Champions League returns this week with the round of 16, with four first legs happening this week and the remaining four first legs scheduled for the week of Feb. 22. The pick of this week's ties is undoubtedly happening at the Camp Nou on Tuesday, with Barcelona hosting Paris Saint-Germain in what promises to be a blockbuster clash.

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Will Lionel Messi spark the Spanish giants to a comprehensive win? Can Barcelona avoid another European disappointment? As for PSG, how will they fare without Neymar, whose latest injury rules him out from yet another big Champions League clash? Will Kylian Mbappe lead them to victory instead? And how will the two managers, Ronald Koeman and Mauricio Pochettino, handle their respective squads?

ESPN's Sid Lowe (Barcelona) and Julien Laurens (PSG) report on the mood around each team as they prepare for what could be a pivotal game in the two sides' respective seasons.

Jump to: Barcelona | PSG

Barcelona: Not the pushovers in 2021 that they were in 2020

There's something relentlessly chirpy about Riqui Puig, so it wasn't much of a surprise to see him standing there on Saturday night, wearing a smile the size of the stadium. After all, Puig is the kid who described himself as "a happy lad" and refused to complain when he wasn't playing, insisting: "I have my family, I have my health." And yet this was different, deeper; this time there were more reasons to be cheerful, and not just for him.

Puig had just completed 90 minutes for the first time, Barcelona had put five goals past Alaves and next up, they face Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League on Tuesday night believing that they could even win. "We're all really looking forward to it; we can't wait for the day to come," Puig said, all bright-eyed and bushy haired, teeth nice and clean. "And I think we're going to measure up."

Not so long ago, you might have laughed; now Riqui may just be right. And the fact that there's even a chance he is right is quite something.

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When the draw for the last 16 was made, Barcelona were out. That, at least, is what most people thought would happen. And although none of them would admit it, still less publicly, those people probably included their own players. It certainly included most of their fans. Defeat in the final group game, 3-0 at home to Juventus, weighed heavy, revealing their problems and leaving them in second place, exposed to an opponent like this and with little hope of progressing.

At that point in the season, Barcelona had been beaten by Atletico and by Cadiz, their fourth defeat in just 10 league games. "Broken," the headline in El Mundo Deportivo had run after the Atlético game; "it's a gigantic step backwards," Ronald Koeman had admitted after the Cadiz game. Even more humiliating, he heard Cadiz's coach talk openly about just how easy it had been to defeat his team, which found themselves ninth, closer to the relegation zone than the Champions League places.

Ten games in, no Barcelona team had been worse since 1971. Both Sport and Mundo Deportivo were selling Barcelona face masks for only €9.99, which wasn't even cheap. "Get your best defence," the slogan ran, which was an open goal for amateur comedians everywhere, just as the way they were playing was an open invitation for opponents everywhere.

Those defeats were followed, the day before the Champions League draw, by a 1-0 win over Levante. But if at least they had won, the final image of the game summed it up: Marc-Andre ter Stegen kissed the ball in thanks, relieved that the final shot had ended in his hands, relieved to have survived. They then drew two of their next three games before scraping through 1-0 against bottom-of-the-table Huesca, one newspaper bidding goodbye and good riddance to 2020, that "Damned Year."

But here's the thing: 2021 has been different. They've won five in a row in La Liga, despite playing four of them away. They won three in a row in the Copa del Rey, all of them away from home. They beat Real Sociedad in the Super Cup semifinal, on penalties. They played 10 games and lost only one -- and that was in extra time in the Spanish Super Cup final. It hurt, and hurt a lot, but it can happen.

Something was shifting, settling. The pieces seemed to be falling into place.

Messi actually looked ... happy. In Pedri, he'd found someone to enjoy playing with. He seemed to be embracing a new role, a different generation around him, and perhaps was surprised at how good these guys might be. Frenkie De Jong was suddenly everywhere in midfield. Ronald Araujo emerged, their centre-back for the next 10 years, according to incumbent Gerard Pique.

The Jordi Alba conundrum remains, but the balance is tilted to "Good Jordi" right now. Sergio Busquets has started to take control again in his holding midfield role. Ousmane Dembele stayed fit, finally getting continuity on the right, giving Barcelona the ability to stretch teams and boasting an acceleration that perhaps no one else has, anywhere. "He's happy, he's fitter," Koeman said. Even Antoine Griezmann seemed to have found himself, the feeling that he mattered: It wasn't the goals, it was a role.

Slowly, it actually started to make sense. The structure shifted -- Koeman revealed himself to be pragmatic and more flexible than he'd first seemed -- and it all felt more rational. That huge hole in the middle was no longer there, the team not so split: There was an actual formation into which players slotted. That 4-2-3-1 (which was more like a 4-1-chaos) became something a little more like a 4-3-3, if not entirely. Pedri, De Jong and Griezmann were among the best players in Spain in January. And Messi, of course. Koeman even insisted that his players deserved a 10/10.

It wasn't that good and it wasn't perfect, far from it. They still had injuries: Pique, Ansu Fati, Sergino Dest, Philippe Coutinho, Sergi Roberto. They still made mistakes, too, and had a sense of vulnerability about them, although they were more individual than systemic now (Samuel Umtiti in particular). Those cup wins had all required extra time, against Cornella, Rayo Vallecano and Granada. They were hardly imperious. And of those periods of extra time, added to the Real Sociedad and Athletic Bilbao games in the Super Cup, made 150 minutes more in a period where they were playing every three days anyway, the tiredness taking hold.

The impact of that could be yet to reveal itself. From Dec. 28 to the PSG game Tuesday, they will have played 13 matches plus five extra times, the equivalent of a game every three days for 49 days, and only two of those at the Camp Nou. "It's a difficult moment; lots of extra time, travelling, getting home late ..." Koeman admitted.

That's not all. They still rely on ter Stegen at times -- too many times. You wondered, too, what would happen when they played a really good team: They, after all, had beaten Betis, Elche, Granada, Rayo, Athletic, Cornella and Real Sociedad (on penalties). Perhaps part of the answer came last week when they faced Sevilla at the Sanchez Pizjuan and were beaten 2-0, though Koeman claimed that they had played well and deserved more.

While he would say that, amid it all something was building, emerging. A team, perhaps. The late, dramatic comeback against Granada suggested so. Barcelona were better, that's for sure. There was something there now that simply hadn't been there before. Some hope, for a start.

And while Sevilla was a setback, next came Alaves and five more goals. Francisco Trincao, the last to come on board, got two of them. Messi was Messi, and there is nothing more a player can aspire to. It had been the kind of win that allows you to dream of defeating PSG, Marca said. "A test for PSG," one Catalan headline called it. If so, they had passed.

By Tuesday, they hope to have Araujo and Dest back and healthy. On Sunday, even Pique was making one last push to be available. Suddenly there was hope. From no chance, there was a little light. Puig was smiling. Koeman, too. "We're in good shape, and the team is confident," he said. "This is a good moment for us, we've been playing well for six or seven games. It will be even."

He might even be right. And that's not something even the most optimistic Barcelona fan would have said when the draw was made. Well, Puig might, but no one else. -- Sid Lowe

Paris Saint-Germain: All eyes on Mbappe

The curse has hit again. For the third time in his four seasons at PSG, Neymar is injured in February and will miss yet another huge European game for the club. He won't be on the pitch on Tuesday night when the French champions take on his former team. It is a huge blow, of course, and one made worse by the fact that Angel Di Maria is also out. Lately, the pair have been PSG's best players.

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Neymar on the sideline is far too common, as the 29-year-old has been absent or unable to play roughly half the games since he arrived in the French capital in 2017. It is a staggering statistic, though, of course, no one inside the club is blaming Neymar for it. They have rallied around him once again. No one is blaming Mauricio Pochettino, either, for playing his essential No. 10 in a pointless French Cup match against a second-division club in the freezing cold and on an uneven pitch. "Ney" needed game time after not playing much so far in 2021. Yes, he got kicked at Caen on Wednesday; he always does. Is it the reason he's out? No, although it didn't help.

Around the club, they're understandably staying positive. This is still a very talented squad with the potential to square up with Barcelona. Liverpool beat the Spanish giants 4-0 two seasons ago with Xherdan Shaqiri and Divock Origi, not Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah, in their starting line-up. There is no panic or fear at PSG about facing this Barcelona. Even without Neymar and Di Maria, PSG are confident they can go through. Pochettino just has to find the right formula.

So far, Pochettino's arrival has been positive, but the quality of football is not great yet. And to play well and win, he will have to rely on Kylian Mbappe.

Since his incredible Champions League breakthrough season with Monaco in 2016-17, when Mbappe took Europe by storm and scored in five of six knockout games at only 18 years of age, the French prodigy has not had it all his way in the top club competition. He had to wait until December to score a Champions League goal in 2021. He failed to lead his team to the quarterfinals in 2019, despite two big chances against Manchester United in the last 16 second leg, at the Parc des Princes, in Neymar's absence. He was anonymous against Real Madrid in the last 16 two legs in 2018 in Neymar's absence.

This time, Mbappe has to deliver. On Tuesday, he will have to dominate at Camp Nou and show he can take the leadership mantle from Neymar when his teammate is unavailable. This doesn't mean he needs to dribble past everyone and try to play like Neymar; it means making the right decisions, being efficient, playing with maturity and letting his talent do the talking. Mbappe is still undecided about his future at the club -- whether to extend his current deal or leave -- unlike Neymar, who will sign his new contract soon. While PSG are content to wait while Mbappe makes his mind up, he could be especially inspired to guide them towards a key victory on Tuesday.

Of course, Mbappe can't do it all on his own. He will need Mauro Icardi to also be efficient in front of goal against a club he knows well after his three-year development at Barca's La Masia. Marco Verratti will need to dictate the game in midfield against the club he almost joined a few years ago, too, while Marquinhos, Presnel Kimpembe and Keylor Navas will need to be at their best defensively and deny Messi & Co. around goal.

Ah, Messi. The Argentine has been at the centre of all the build-up to the Champions League last 16. Barcelona have not been happy that one of the clubs he's been linked with, PSG, have publicly declared their desire to sign him in the summer. Yet PSG don't really care about what Koeman or people at Barca say about it. They want to believe that they have a chance to sign him in the summer if he decides to leave. A win in this two-legged tie would certainly make the case for Paris. -- Julien Laurens

R Ashwin said he felt like a "hero" whenever he bowled - or just removed his cap for that matter - in front of his home crowd during the second Test against England at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.

Ashwin, who starred in India's win - eight wickets and a century in very challenging conditions in the second innings - dedicated his "most special" Test performance to the crowd: the stadium had allowed spectators at 50% capacity for the game.

"When I was young I've wondered if I would ever play on this ground and if people would turn out and clap for me," Ashwin told the host broadcaster after India's series-levelling win. "I've played here as an eight-nine year-old. I've watched matches from these stands, my dad would get me here for most of the games.

"I'm speechless right now. I've played four Tests matches here and this is easily the most special Test match. It gave me a hero feeling.

"Every time I bowled or removed my cap there was a different feeling [because of the cheers]. During Covid times when there's hardly any cricket, the knowledgeable Chennai crowd came in large numbers without worrying. I dedicate this win to the Chennai crowd. We went one-up after they allowed the crowd, hopefully we continue to do well [in the presence of crowds] in Ahmedabad as well."

After picking up a five-for to restrict England to 134, Ashwin hit a 148-ball 106 in the second innings, stretching India's lead to a challenging 482, and then returned 3 for 53 in the final innings to help bowl England out for 164. In the process, Ashwin moved to second on the list of players to have scored a century and take a five-for in the same Test, having done it for the third time, and is only behind Ian Botham, who achieved it five times in his career. The latest five-for also took Ashwin past James Anderson to No. 4 on the list of players with most five-wicket hauls at home.

While the spinning Chennai pitch earned criticism from former players such as Michael Vaughan and Mark Waugh, Ashwin, while admitting that the surface behaved very different to how it did during the first Test - also played in Chennai - said that it was the Indian spinners' mental ability that gave them the edge this time, and not just the pitch.

"This wicket is very different to what we played in the first game," he acknowledged. "That [in the first Test] was a red soil wicket and this is a clay wicket. As much as it looked bad from the top, many people were predicting a lot of things - those balls weren't the one that got the wicket.

"It was the mind that was actually getting the wickets. We had to play in the minds of the batsmen to get the wicket. It's easier to say 'go out there, bowl and get wickets' but it's not as easy as it looks because I've been playing here for years now. It takes a certain amount of pace and guile to be able to do it."

New Zealand XI 316 for 5 (Dodd 91, Halliday 79) beat England women 286 for 12 (Wyatt 54, Knight 51*, Green 5-56) by 30 runs

England women slipped to a 30-run defeat against New Zealand XI in their final warm-up match before next week's ODI series, with captain Heather Knight admitting the loss had provided "a bit of a humbling".

The hosts batted first in Queenstown and posted 316 for 5 in their 50 overs, with opener Natalie Dodd top-scoring with 91 off 104 balls. She set the tone for the innings with a stand of 87 in 15 overs with Hayley Jensen, who was bowled by Sophie Ecclestone for 47.

Lauren Down fell to the same bowler, holing out to wide long-on, but Dodd accelerated in the second half of the innings alongside Brooke Halliday, who advanced her case to make an ODI debut with a 56-ball 79. England conceded 160 runs in the final 20 overs to leave themselves facing a daunting target.

Danni Wyatt made a bright start to the chase, hitting 54 off 42 balls, but England lost their top four inside 13 overs as Claudia Green made new-ball inroads with her hooping inswingers. They slumped to 133 for 7 in the 24th over, with the middle order failing to kick on after starts, though Ecclestone's half-century kept them alive. Knight returned for her second hit, making 51 not out off 32 from a nominal No. 12 after England had lost their 10th wicket in the 39th over, but they still fell 30 runs short.

"I think our preparation hasn't been ideal," Knight said. "We were a little bit off the pace in a number of areas. We did some really good stuff but getting back into the groove of 50-over cricket you have to do those things for a lot longer, and more consistently. As bowlers you need to find that consistency to build pressure and as batters you need to go on and score those big scores.

"I guess the preparation we've had before New Zealand has been tough, because we've obviously come out of an English winter without being able to train properly and then straight into a couple of warm-up games, but in my opinion these two games have been really good preparation and they'll really sharpen us up for that first ODI when we need to be hitting our straps against New Zealand in a week or so.

"[It was] exactly what we needed to be able to sharpen up and get match-ready because obviously we haven't played ODI cricket for a long time. Credit to the New Zealand Development XI, they gave us a bit of a humbling there to be honest, but that's really good preparation for us and it identifies exactly what we have to do and how we're going to have to work hard across the next few practice sessions here and then at Christchurch ahead of the first ODI."

"We're really stoked to get the win today," Dodd said. "The key was being able to spend some time in the middle. It was really valuable to get to face them. I learned a lot about where their bowlers are looking to bowl to me. Their spinners bowled a lot quicker than a lot of ours do in our domestic competition. These games have been great preparation."

The Kings XI Punjab will now be called Punjab Kings. The idea behind the change is to "add a fresh look and fresh feel," Mohit Burman, one of the co-owners of the franchise, said.

According to Burman, the franchise, which also has Ness Wadia, Preity Zinta and Karn Paul as the other owners, will also unveil a new logo on Wednesday as part of its rebranding strategy. Burman, who is vice-chairman at Dabur India Pvt. Ltd, said the plan to rename the team had been in the works for at least a year.

Burman said that the franchise decided to change the name following not just in-house feedback but also from fans. "We put it to research, both with fans and with closed groups and have finally arrived at the new name," Burman told ESPNcricinfo. "The idea behind the new name is to add a fresh look and a fresh feel to the franchise. As with any product/service, everything has its own life cycle and we believe given the changing ethos and the audience taste we thought it was apt for the brand to go through a complete new refresh."

The franchise has timed the rebranding exercise in the week of the IPL auction. In fact, the new name and the logo will be unveiled the day before the auction - a small one this year - where a total of 61 slots are available for the eight franchises to fill their teams up.

The Kings have the strongest purse this auction at INR 53.9 crore having released several players recently including Glenn Maxwell, Sheldon Cottrell, K Gowtham, who were some of the most expensive buys at the 2020 auction. Overall the Kings have nine slots to fill to reach the maximum squad strength of 25, including five overseas players.

Instability has been among the factors that have hurt the franchise in the 13 seasons, during which they made the playoffs only twice: in 2008 and 2014.

Last year the franchise spent INR 68.5 crore out of the total purse of 85 crore under the new team management led by former Indian captain Anil Kumble, who took charge as the team director. India wicketkeeper-batsman KL Rahul was named the new captain. Although Rahul was the most consistent performer last season, Maxwell's weak form combined with the close defeats in three crucial matches hurt their playoff chances as they finished sixth.

The Kings are the second franchise to opt for a new name. In 2018, the Delhi Daredevils rebranded themselves as the Delhi Capitals after Indian business conglomerate Jindal South-West (JSW) Group bought a 50% stake in the franchise, which is co-owned by GMR Sports Private Ltd.

KPH Dream Cricket Private Limited, the consortium that owns Kings XI, recently also purchased the Caribbean Premier League team St Lucia Zouks about a year ago.