Soccer

8:42 AM ET Paris Saint-Germain are exploring the possibility of signing Barcelona‘s Lionel Messi in the summer, sources have told ESPN. Messi wanted to leave Barca in August after the 8-2 Champions League elimination to Bayern Munich and sources told ESPN at the time that Manchester City led the chase to sign him. – Insider

4:51 PM ET Fans returned to the Emirates as Arsenal raced past Rapid Vienna 4-1 in their penultimate Europa League Group B match on Thursday. The Gunners, who qualified for the 32-team knockout stage the previous round, welcomed in around 2,000 fans before goals from Alexandre Lacazette, Pablo Mari, Edward Nketiah and Emile Smith Rowe

1:36 PM ET Tim Melia isn’t giving much away. Fresh off his penalty shootout heroics against the San Jose Earthquakes, one in which the Sporting Kansas City keeper saved all three San Jose attempts to put the West’s top team into the conference semifinals, Melia is holding firm to his trade secrets. In terms of

We’re nearly at the end of 2020, which means it’s time for ESPN’s annual ranking of the best men’s players and coaches in world soccer! Welcome to the FC 100. This year, our fifth edition of the countdown has a lot of surprises and new faces — more on that later — as well as

6:25 PM ET MANCHESTER, England — There is no hiding place in the Champions League. If you are not ruthless and decisive in key moments, the only guarantee is that you will pay a heavy price. It gets even worse when you throw naivety into the mix, as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Manchester United discovered

4:53 PM ET Reuters Facebook Twitter Facebook Messenger Pinterest Email Neymar scored twice as Paris Saint-Germain beat 10-man Manchester United 3-1 at Old Trafford on Wednesday to throw Champions League Group H wide open. United, PSG and RB Leipzig are all on nine points heading into next week’s final round of games in which the

6:00 AM ET This is a column mostly about Barcelona‘s little marvel, Pedri — Pedro Gonzalez Lopez, as he was christened — but it will contain comparisons with Leo (Lionel Andres) Messi, so we had might as well start with the great man himself. When Messi scored that brilliant goal against Osasuna on Sunday, it

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3:16 PM ET Alex Kirkland Real Madrid were left relying on results elsewhere to qualify from Champions League group B after they were beaten 2-0 by Shakhtar Donetsk on Tuesday. An encouraging start saw Marco Asensio hit the post from close range inside the first five minutes after being picked out by Karim Benzema. The

4:00 AM ET The transfer window is a month away, but clubs across Europe have been planning their January business for months after the COVID-19 pandemic cut short the summer break and injuries have been mounting around the top leagues. ESPN’s writers bring you everything you need to know about the top teams’ hopes and

12:55 PM ET Sid LoweSpain writer Diego Maradona’s laces were undone. Even when it was virtually done, even when the drugs ban was lifted 15 months after he had left Naples, even as Sevilla FC and Napoli negotiated his transfer, the Italians forced to the negotiating table by FIFA and the Spaniards bankrolled by Silvio

9:00 AM ET It has been the most unpredictable of seasons, with fixture congestion, mounting injuries and the impact of COVID-19 creating unprecedented challenges for the 20 Premier League clubs. 2 Related Heading into the arduous month of December, Tottenham are the surprise leaders, Manchester City are stuck in mid-table, while Arsenal are languishing in

6:05 PM ET Mikel Arteta is now discovering what it is really like to be Arsenal manager. Just like Unai Emery and Arsene Wenger before him, the Spaniard must ready himself for another winter of discontent at the Emirates after a 2-1 defeat at home to Wolves. The Gunners currently sit in 14th position in

2:57 PM ET One of the main motivating factors behind Chelsea‘s £220 million summer spending spree was the lack of a killer instinct during Frank Lampard’s maiden season in charge. Yet Sunday’s 0-0 draw against Tottenham now stands alongside a goalless draw at Manchester United and a 2-0 home defeat against Liverpool in a failure

3:30 PM ET Jeff Carlisle Close U.S. soccer correspondent Jeff Carlisle covers MLS and the U.S. national team for ESPN FC. Austin Lindberg The 2020 MLS Cup playoffs are upon us. With the 18-team field whittled down to eight ahead of the conference semifinals, ESPN’s Jeff Carlisle and Austin Lindberg have broken down the biggest

4:00 AM ET On Nov. 29, 2010, Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona subjected Jose Mourinho and his Real Madrid side to a record 5-0 defeat in El Clasico. The build-up to the game was dominated by the subplot of the world’s two best players, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, facing off against each other, but in the

9:44 AM ET Jose Mourinho loves to play the numbers game when he has a point to prove. An empty Stamford Bridge on Sunday will deny the Tottenham manager the opportunity to wave three fingers at home supporters, signifying his three Premier League titles as Chelsea boss, but you can guarantee that he will mention

9:50 AM ET Liam Wheeler Liverpool missed the chance to go three points clear at the top of the Premier League as a late Pascal Gross penalty cancelled out Diogo Jota‘s strike to earn Brighton a 1-1 draw at the Amex. The Reds were let off the hook twice as Aaron Connolly went close and