Soccer

Dec 11, 2024, 07:44 PM ET Open Extended Reactions Matchday six of the 2024-25 UEFA Champions League is in the books as we enter the business end of the league phase and the 36-team table continues to take shape. Manchester City‘s loss to Juventus leaves Pep Guardiola’s chances of staying in the competition on a

Open Extended Reactions TURIN, Italy — Manchester City are facing elimination and Pep Guardiola now looks as vulnerable and troubled as any other manager who has suffered a seventh defeat in 10 games. Both statements would have seemed unthinkable just a month ago, but after Tuesday’s 2-0 Champions League loss against Juventus, the old certainties

Rob Dawson, CorrespondentDec 11, 2024, 04:00 AM ET Open Extended Reactions It was unseasonably bright for November when Ruben Amorim arrived at Carrington for the first time. As he stepped out of the black Mercedes van that took him straight to the training ground from Manchester Airport’s private terminal, he was met by Manchester United

Gabriele Marcotti, Senior Writer, ESPN FCDec 10, 2024, 08:09 PM ET Open Extended Reactions BERGAMO, Italy — After the 3-0 win over Girona on Saturday, Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti announced: “We’re back.” Yeah, they’re not. At least not in terms of being a proper team, greater than the sum of its parts. And the

ESPN Dec 10, 2024, 09:33 AM ET Email Print Open Extended Reactions Welcome to matchday six of the 2024-25 UEFA Champions League season! Europe’s premier club competition returns in its new format with nine matches across the continent on Tuesday, providing exciting matchups, top talent and drama. Enjoy the play-by-play from all the games such

Graham Hunter, Spain writerDec 10, 2024, 04:00 AM ET Close Graham Hunter is a Barcelona-based freelance writer for ESPN.com who specializes in La Liga and the Spanish national team. Open Extended Reactions If Ernesto Valverde can finally put one over on one of the most vilified coaches in modern European football on Wednesday, then this

Video Assistant Referee causes controversy every week in the Premier League, but how are decisions made, and are they correct? After each weekend we take a look at the major incidents, to examine and explain the process both in terms of VAR protocol and the Laws of the Game. In this week’s VAR Review: Dejan

Premier League referee David Coote has been sacked, PGMOL announced on Monday, citing a “serious breach” of his contract. Coote had been under investigation after a leaked video which showed him in a expletive-laden rant about Liverpool and their former manager Jürgen Klopp. He is also under investigation from UEFA after a video published by

Gabriele Marcotti, Senior Writer, ESPN FCDec 9, 2024, 09:49 AM ET Open Extended Reactions We’re inching closer to Christmas, and that makes sense, as the European soccer weekend gave us plenty this weekend. We got another Manchester United home defeat — this time to Nottingham Forest — and the exit of sporting director Dan Ashworth

Dec 8, 2024, 04:32 PM ET Open Extended Reactions For the fourth time in five LaLiga matches, Barcelona have dropped points. All the while, Real Madrid are racking up wins to close up the title race in Spain. In the Premier League, it was another defeat for Manchester United, and another defeat for Tottenham Hotspur,

Alex Kirkland Rodrigo Faez Dec 8, 2024, 04:15 PM ET Open Extended Reactions Kylian Mbappé blamed his early season struggles at Real Madrid on being “too hungry” and “impatient” on Sunday, in his first sit-down interview since joining the club. Mbappé has scored 11 goals in 21 appearances for Madrid in all competitions so far,

Open Extended Reactions Every top head coach is only as good as the sporting director charged with building the squad from which they select their team. So Manchester United‘s decision to part company with Dan Ashworth, just five months after hiring him from Newcastle United in the first place, highlights how much of a hurry

Jeff Carlisle, U.S. soccer correspondentDec 7, 2024, 10:21 PM ET Close Jeff Carlisle covers MLS and the U.S. national team for ESPN FC. Open Extended Reactions CARSON, Calif. — As the LA Galaxy players waited to hoist their sixth MLS Cup trophy, midfielders Gastón Brugman, Edwin Cerrillo and Mark Delgado met on the field and

Rob Dawson, CorrespondentDec 7, 2024, 04:04 PM ET Open Extended Reactions Ruben Amorim said Manchester United are facing a “long journey” back to the top after Nottingham Forest recorded their first win at Old Trafford for 30 years. Forest won 3-2 on Saturday to condemn Amorim to back-to-back top-flight defeats for the first time since

Jeff Carlisle, U.S. soccer correspondentDec 6, 2024, 10:00 AM ET Close Jeff Carlisle covers MLS and the U.S. national team for ESPN FC. Open Extended Reactions On Wednesday afternoon, Andrew Alesana, the president of the LA Galaxy supporters group, the LA Riot Squad, had an urgent message he wanted delivered to the team’s GM, Will

Jeff Carlisle, U.S. soccer correspondentDec 6, 2024, 07:18 PM ET Close Jeff Carlisle covers MLS and the U.S. national team for ESPN FC. Open Extended Reactions CARSON, California – MLS commissioner Don Garber said that the league is dealing with an increasingly crowded calendar, even as MLS ponders aligning the league calendar to match that

Dec 6, 2024, 05:30 PM ET Open Extended Reactions Christian Pulisic hobbled off the field after receiving treatment in the 38th minute of Friday’s match. Claudio Villa/AC Milan via Getty Images United States national team captain Christian Pulisic was forced off the field with an injury in the first half of AC Milan‘s 2-1 loss to

Gabriele Marcotti, Senior Writer, ESPN FCDec 5, 2024, 02:37 PM ET Open Extended Reactions The Orlando Pride were superb in 2024, winning the NWSL regular season and capping it with a successful run to a first-ever title. But are they the best in the world? Why don’t we have a means of putting that claim