Soccer

3:14 PM ET ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — Romelu Lukaku had to come to the desert to end his goal drought. The 28-year-old’s first goal in a month was enough to ensure Chelsea beat Al Hilal by a score of 1-0 and book their place in Saturday’s Club World Cup final against Brazilian side

12:30 PM ET The Chicago Fire announced on Wednesday that they have completed the transfer of Lyon and Switzerland international midfielder Xherdan Shaqiri, and signed him to a Designated Player contract. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed, but one source with knowledge of the transaction said that the Fire paid a transfer free of around

4:21 PM ET ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — Roman Abramovich bought Chelsea in 2003 with the aim of achieving world domination and this week, two matches stand between the Blues and realising that dream. The Club World Cup might occupy a curious place in both the calendar and the public consciousness, but it remains

6:23 PM ET Rob DawsonCorrespondent BURNLEY, England — For the third time this season Cristiano Ronaldo was benched for a Premier League match, and for the third time Manchester United could only draw. United could not beat Everton or Chelsea without their Portuguese star, but the 1-1 draw with Burnley at Turf Moor on Tuesday

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4:00 AM ET Here is a variety of soothing thoughts for Atletico Madrid fans who, without them, would probably be inconsolable wrecks, curled up in the corner of their TV room, quaking with dread about what their next brutal Colchonero experience is going to be. 2 Related First: Atleti don’t play in the Champions League

12:37 PM ET Giroud’s heroics for Milan don’t just mean derby delight over rivals Inter. The victory also re-opens the title race with three months left in the season. Pier Marco Tacca/Getty Images The weekend in soccer had everything: seismic results (Milan winning the derby, Barcelona scoring four against Atletico Madrid, Senegal‘s first-ever Africa Cup of

7:00 AM ET Paul Pogba will have cost Manchester United £179.6 million in transfer fee and wages by the time his Old Trafford contract expires at the end of June. He now has less than six months to deliver some kind of value for money by helping his drifting club salvage something tangible in the

5:15 AM ET UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has taken a swipe at Barcelona, Real Madrid and Juventus over their continued push for a European Super League and compared the clubs to flat-earthers. A total of 12 of Europe’s top clubs — led by Real Madrid president Florentino Perez — announced in April 2021 that they

7:55 PM ET Wow, did you catch all that weekend action? If not, do not despair: ESPN will tell you about Barcelona’s best performance of the season and Borussia Dortmund’s worst, as well as a to-and-fro Milan derby, Paris Saint-Germain scoring five and Senegal finally claiming AFCON glory. Oh, and we have some FA Cup

1:30 PM ET Sam Marsden Moises Llorens Barcelona coach Xavi Hernandez asked fans not to boo Ousmane Dembele after he was jeered as he returned to the squad for Sunday’s thrilling 4-2 win against Atletico Madrid at Camp Nou. Dembele has not featured for Barca since Jan. 12 because of a failure to agree a

10:00 AM ET Barcelona spent the final few hours of the January transfer window desperately trying to generate interest in a player president Joan Laporta has said is “better than Kylian Mbappe” and coach Xavi Hernandez insists can be “the best in the world in his position.” However, as Laporta worked until midnight at the

8:40 AM ET Alex Kirkland Rodrigo Faez Diego Simeone has hit out at Xavi Hernandez’s criticism of Atletico Madrid‘s playing style, saying his opposite number “doesn’t understand” life outside of Barcelona. Barca host champions Atletico at Camp Nou on Sunday with just a point separating the two teams in the LaLiga table, as they battle

1:38 PM ET Rob DawsonCorrespondent MANCHESTER, England — Manchester City don’t do cup upsets. Not recently, anyway. And so, while Manchester United were dumped out of the FA Cup by Middlesbrough and both Chelsea and West Ham were made to struggle past Plymouth Argyle and Kidderminster Harriers, Pep Guardiola’s team allowed Fulham to dream for

6:00 PM ET Manchester United console Anthony Elanga after his penalty miss in an FA Cup loss to Middlesbrough. Getty Middlesbrough shocked Manchester United in an 8-7 penalty shootout win to advance from the FA Cup fourth round at Old Trafford on Friday night after 120 minutes of regular and extra time ended in a 1-1

7:09 PM ET MANCHESTER, England — There will be no FA Cup triumph to paper over the cracks for Manchester United this season. Unless they win the Champions League — and that seems as likely right now as Ralf Rangnick’s team taking a midseason break on the moon — the club’s trophy drought will stretch

3:45 AM ET Manchester United are plotting a midfield overhaul after a quiet January window — ESPN’s Insider Notebook has the latest. Jump to: Spotify Camp Nou? | West Ham wary of Rice interest | Real Madrid keen on Brazil wonder kid | Dembele seeks bumper pay deal | Why Jones’ United exit broke down

3:19 AM ET It’s now five long years since Arsenal last played in the Champions League, and in fact this season is their first without any kind of European football since 1995-96. Mikel Arteta is trying to put that right, but finds his team in sixth place which, at best, is only going to be