5:43 PM ET In a year that was interrupted around the world by the coronavirus pandemic, the United States men’s national team played just four matches in 2020. With so few opportunities for Gregg Berhalter to get his team together, it amounts to a lost year in the program’s evolution as U.S. Soccer prepares to
Soccer
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1:01 PM ET In the same way that Chelsea‘s transfer ban eased expectations on manager Frank Lampard during his first season in charge, the club’s £220 million summer outlay is a key reason why he now finds himself under pressure. Lampard knows from his 13 years as a player in west London that Stamford Bridge
6:27 PM ET Harry Kane scored, Son Heung-Min didn’t, and that proved the difference in Tottenham Hotspur‘s 1-1 draw with Fulham. Jose Mourinho’s textbook gameplan of contain, counter, minimise risk and pounce on opponents’ mistakes has propelled Spurs into the title race, but it has relied more on their dynamic duo maintaining top form above
10:18 AM ET Barcelona forward Lionel Messi is still struggling with the injury that saw him taken off in the second half of Saturday’s win against Granada. Messi, 33, was unable to train with his teammates on Wednesday and is considered a major doubt for the Spanish Supercopa semifinal against Real Sociedad. – Stream FC
5:00 AM ET While watching matches in the Champions League and Europe’s top leagues recently, you may well have noticed something a little strange going on as teams prepare to defend a free kick on the edge of their box. Perhaps, if you were watching Arsenal‘s 2-1 defeat to Everton in the Premier League last
6:42 PM ET When Paul Pogba signed for Manchester United in a then-world record £89.1 million transfer from Juventus in Aug. 2016, it was for nights like this at Burnley. Nights when the French midfielder made a match-winning contribution in a big game which resulted in the club moving to the top of the Premier
4:00 AM ET Tor-Kristian Karlsen It was always going to take something special for Schalke 04 to avoid equalling an embarrassing record at the weekend. The club had not won in the Bundesliga for almost a year, a total of 30 matches, and failure to beat Hoffenheim would have seen them equal Tasmania Berlin’s league
3:30 AM ET You never know, of course, but it’s unlikely that the Emir of Qatar was glued to his TV on Dec. 28, in the middle of the night for him in Doha, to watch Lionel Messi‘s interview with Jordi Evole on La Sexta like many of us did. But the Paris Saint-Germain owner
9:22 AM ET For the third time in the last year, MLS and the MLS Players Association (MLSPA) are back at the bargaining table negotiating a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). With the COVID-19 pandemic still raging, MLS is concerned that the difficult economic conditions it faced in 2020 will continue this year. The 2021 regular
12:02 PM ET It was a big weekend for soccer again. Erling Haaland‘s heroics gave Borussia Dortmund a significant win over RB Leipzig to keep the Bundesliga race interesting, Barcelona and Juventus kept their winning streaks going (though both teams still have some glaring issues), and Milan’s form in Serie A continued even as Zlatan
5:30 PM ET Rob DawsonCorrespondent Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is hopeful Manchester United‘s defensive injury crisis will ease before the crucial clash with Liverpool. Victor Lindelof and Luke Shaw both missed the 1-0 win over Watford on Saturday in the FA Cup, while Eric Bailly was forced off with a neck injury before half-time. – Stream
3:11 PM ET Tottenham ran out expectedly comfortable winners over their non-league opponents, but Sunday’s game at Marine encapsulated all that is good and unique about the FA Cup. Tottenham Hotspur FC/Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images CROSBY, England — They had a glitter ball hanging from the ceiling of the away-team changing room at Marine.
11:41 AM ET Premier League referee Michael Oliver has said he made a mistake not to show Everton‘s Jordan Pickford a red card for his tackle on Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk in the Merseyside derby in October. Van Dijk suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury in the 2-2 draw and underwent knee surgery but
6:23 PM ET Rob DawsonCorrespondent MANCHESTER, England — Ole Gunnar Solskjaer urged Donny van de Beek to take his “opportunity” against Watford in the FA Cup and the Dutch midfielder, enduring a difficult first season at Manchester United, can be satisfied he took it. It is more than a month since Van de Beek started
6:10 PM ET Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane said his side’s match against Osasuna should have been postponed due to the snowy conditions after the La Liga champions could only draw 0-0 on Saturday with the second-from-bottom side. The snowstorm that blitzed northern Spain and the Spanish capital forced Real to make the journey to
11:38 AM ET U.S. teenager Matthew Hoppe scored a hat trick to end Schalke 04‘s 30-match winless run as he inspired a 4-0 victory over Hoffenheim. Schalke went into the match knowing anything but a victory would see them level the all-time winless record run in the German top flight, set by amateur side Tasmania
4:37 PM ET Sadio Mane scored twice as Liverpool eased past a youthful Aston Villa side 4-1 in their FA Cup third-round tie at Villa Park on Friday night. Aston Villa fielded a heavily rotated XI due in part to a COVID-19 outbreak at the club — with manager Dean Smith not on the sidelines