Soccer

8:38 AM ET Alex Kirkland Rodrigo Faez Carlo Ancelotti has said he now does not consider Barcelona “a direct rival” for the LaLiga title, with Real Madrid top of the table and Barca 18 points behind them in eighth place. Madrid have won 10 consecutive games in all competitions — including against top four contenders

10:43 AM ET The 2021 MLS season is now in the books. The good news is that, well, it’s in the books, something that was by no means a sure thing when the campaign began its delayed start in mid-April. Now that it’s all over, ESPN’s Jeff Carlisle looks back on the 26th season in

7:30 PM ET Roughly nine months since being left off the United States‘ Olympic qualifying roster, USMNT and FC Dallas striker Ricardo Pepi called the snub a turning point to his season. “It just made me hungry,” Pepi said Friday. “It made me hungry to go on for the year. To do good for my

1:27 PM ET Bernardo Silva has been Manchester City’s key player this season, all this coming months after he was reportedly heading out of the club. Lynne Cameron/Manchester City Last season, we celebrated a number of players aged 27 or older who, like Ilkay Gundogan, had either pushed their respective games to new heights or thrived

Dec 16, 2021 Thomas Tuchel has a list of targets to plug Chelsea’s leaky defence — ESPN’s Insider Notebook has the latest. PLUS: Anthony Martial’s agent comments did not have the desired effect, and the MLS hotshot on the radar of Premier League teams. Jump to: MLS star attracts Premier League interest | Martial exit

7:41 AM ET Thursday’s Premier League clash between Spurs and Leicester has been called off due to COVID-19 outbreaks. Photo by George Wood/Getty Images Tottenham Hotspur‘s trip to Leicester City on Thursday has become the latest Premier League fixture to be called off as the COVID-19 Omicron variant surges in the United Kingdom. Both clubs previously

9:47 AM ET The Premier League is about to embark on its busiest period of the season, with 40 games — plus all four Carabao Cup quarterfinals — due to be played in the space of 17 days starting this Saturday. But a resurgence of COVID-19 is threatening to wreak havoc on the fixture list.

4:45 PM ET Juventus are in the news for the police investigation into player trading, with 42 of 62 ‘suspicious transactions’ under scrutiny involving the Serie A giants. Visionhaus You may have heard the term “player trading.” You sign a player for a million, he does well, appreciates in value, and you let him sign with

6:27 PM ET LONDON — The pre-match message was for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang but we know now he wasn’t the only one listening. Mikel Arteta’s decision to strip Aubameyang of the captaincy dominated the build-up to Arsenal‘s game against West Ham United on Wednesday and could have had divisive effect given the striker’s popularity within the

6:30 AM ET Sergio Aguero won five Premier League titles during his 10 years at Manchester City before joining Barcelona in the summer. DAVE THOMPSON/POOL/AFP via Getty Images Sergio Aguero scored the most memorable goal in Premier League history, an iconic moment, three minutes and 20 seconds into stoppage time against Queens Park Rangers in 2012.

7:23 AM ET Arsenal have stripped Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang of the club captaincy and dropped him for Wednesday’s Premier League game against West Ham following a “disciplinary breach.” The 32-year-old was left out of Saturday’s 3-0 win over Southampton, with sources having told ESPN he returned late from a sanctioned holiday, although both the club and

6:38 PM ET Rob DawsonCorrespondent MANCHESTER, England — Manchester City enjoyed themselves against Leeds United on Tuesday night, and so did Jack Grealish. Pep Guardiola’s side were 3-0 up after half an hour at the Etihad Stadium, eventually winning 7-0 to move four points clear at the top of the Premier League table. A seventh

4:28 AM ET Even while Real Madrid have been imposing a magnificent stranglehold on LaLiga‘s title race, it has been fascinating to see and hear Xavi Hernandez’s early attempts to coax and even taunt a reaction out of Barcelona, as they languish seven places and 18 points behind their eternal rivals. To put it mildly,

12:07 PM ET What a weekend! Even before the chaos of the Champions League draw, the past 48 hours delivered a ton of talking points across Europe’s top leagues. Real Madrid‘s big derby win over Atletico Madrid feels decisive in LaLiga’s title race, while Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea all won to keep all three

5:30 PM ET Rob DawsonCorrespondent Pep Guardiola believes New York City FC striker Valentin Castellanos is ready to leave MLS and take the next step in his career in Europe. Castellanos, 23, finished the regular season with 19 goals before adding three in the play-offs as New York City claimed the first MLS Cup triumph

11:07 AM ET Paris Saint-Germain must win the Champions League the hard way after being paired with Real Madrid in the re-drawn Round of 16 on Monday, following a software error that led to the initial draw — which had PSG facing Manchester United — being declared void by UEFA. – Champions League draw: PSG-Real

8:07 PM ET Was this the weekend that saw decisive moves by the leaders in Spain and Germany? Real Madrid and Bayern Munich fans certainly hope so! Elsewhere, Juventus dropped more points, a USMNT youngster scored a vital goal and Manchester United were thankful for their world-class goalkeeper. Here are Rob Dawson, Andrew Cesare Richardson,

4:53 PM ET Karim Benzema and Marco Asensio scored as Real Madrid beat Atletico Madrid 2-0 at the Bernabeu on Sunday to move 13 points ahead of their local rivals in the LaLiga table. Benzema struck in the 16th minute, volleying Vinicius Junior’s cross past Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak for his 13th league goal of