Soccer

Feb 17, 2024, 06:20 PM ET Open Extended Reactions It was a fun Saturday across European soccer, with talking points galore in the Bundesliga title race, LaLiga, Women’s Super League, English Premier League and Ligue 1. Bayer Leverkusen clinched a 2-1 win to further their lead at the top of the table, Barcelona edged Celta

Alex Kirkland Rodrigo Faez Feb 18, 2024, 11:53 AM ET Open Extended Reactions Carlo Ancelotti insisted that Real Madrid‘s players haven’t been distracted by talk linking the club with Kylian Mbappé after a 1-1 draw at Rayo Vallecano on Sunday opened up the LaLiga title race. Joselu put the visitors ahead in the third minute

Open Extended Reactions Manchester United won their fifth straight match across all competitions by beating Luton Town on Sunday. Matthew Peters/Manchester United via Getty Images LUTON, England — Manchester United found a way to beat Luton Town 2-1 in the Premier League on Sunday but their resurgent bid for UEFA Champions League qualification will surely only

Robert Lewandowski‘s penalty deep into added time earned Barcelona a fortunate 2-1 win at Celta Vigo in LaLiga on Saturday ahead of their Champions League game at Napoli. It was another uninspired performance by Barcelona until a moment of brilliance from Lewandowski gave the visitors the lead just before half-time. - Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga,

Rob Dawson, CorrespondentFeb 17, 2024, 04:19 PM ET Open Extended Reactions Pep Guardiola has insisted Erling Haaland was not to blame for Manchester City dropping points against Chelsea despite having nine shots without scoring. City and Chelsea drew 1-1 at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday to slip behind Liverpool and Arsenal — who both won

Rob Dawson, CorrespondentFeb 17, 2024, 04:13 PM ET Open Extended Reactions MANCHESTER, England — Manchester City and Chelsea played out an entertaining, and at times chaotic, 1-1 draw at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday and afterwards both teams were able to take both positives and negatives. City showed the occasional vulnerability of their high defensive

Feb 16, 2024, 07:28 PM ET Open Extended Reactions Jurgen Klopp has lauded Xabi Alonso, one of the frontrunners to replace him at Liverpool, as the “standout” manager of the new generation of coaches. From the moment Klopp announced last month that he would step down as Liverpool boss at the end of this season,

Open Extended Reactions Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has insisted he will not block any member of his backroom staff from taking a managerial job amid interest from Norwich City in Carlos Cuesta becoming their next boss. Sources have told ESPN that Norwich have identified Arsenal coach Cuesta as a possible replacement for manager David Wagner,

Charlotte Gibson, ESPNFeb 16, 2024, 12:55 PM ET Open Extended Reactions Nike has signed 13-year-old soccer phenom McKenna “Mak” Whitham to a name, image and likeness deal. Whitham becomes the youngest women’s soccer player and youngest athlete in any sport to sign an NIL deal with Nike. “It means everything to me,” Whitham told ESPN.

Open Extended Reactions Mikel Arteta has said he believes Arsenal should be targeting the world’s best players including Kylian Mbappé, but admitted the France international appears destined to join Real Madrid. ESPN reported on Thursday that Mbappé has informed Paris Saint-Germain of his intention to leave the club when his contract expires at the end

Julien Laurens, CorrespondentFeb 15, 2024, 11:55 AM ET Open Extended Reactions Kylian Mbappé has told Paris Saint-Germain he intends to leave the club when his contract expires this summer, sources told ESPN, paving the way for a move to Real Madrid. ESPN reported on Feb. 3 that Mbappé decided to join Madrid this summer —

Jon Arnold Feb 15, 2024, 11:57 AM ET Open Extended Reactions Compared to the summer of 2023, which saw Lionel Messi don the pink jersey of Inter Miami — and what may be coming this summer as MLS continues to be a player in the international transfer market — the 2024 winter transfer window in

Open Extended Reactions Dan Ashworth will be given the responsibility of rebuilding Manchester United‘s scouting department when he becomes the club’s director of football, with Brighton‘s head of recruitment, Sam Jewell, identified as the leading candidate to head up the new structure, sources have told ESPN. United are in talks with Newcastle United in an

Megan Swanick Feb 14, 2024, 09:00 AM ET Open Extended Reactions The 29th season of MLS kicks off in little more than a week with a Feb. 21 meeting between Real Salt Lake and Inter Miami CF. As a new soccer season dawns, the 29 teams open the new year with a clean slate, but

Julien Laurens, CorrespondentFeb 14, 2024, 11:26 AM ET Open Extended Reactions Karim Benzema has been left out of Al Ittihad‘s squad for their AFC Champions League game with Uzbekistani outfit Navbahor on Thursday amid a difficult relationship with his coach Marcelo Gallardo, a source confirmed to ESPN. Gallardo doesn’t consider Benzema fit enough for the

Open Extended Reactions When will Manchester City regret allowing Cole Palmer to join Chelsea: now, in the future or never? It is 192 days since City appeared to have unearthed a gem from their academy, as Palmer came off the bench to curl in an equaliser against Arsenal in August’s Community Shield at Wembley. City

Rob Dawson, CorrespondentFeb 13, 2024, 06:21 PM ET Open Extended Reactions COPENHAGEN, Denmark — It’s possible to have good moments against Manchester City. They can even be beaten over 90 minutes as Wolves, Arsenal, and Aston Villa have already proved this season. But beating Pep Guardiola’s team over two games — with one at the

Feb 13, 2024, 11:00 AM ET Open Extended Reactions Less than two weeks after signing Nigeria‘s Asisat Oshoala, NWSL expansion side Bay FC have completed the transfer of another leading African striker, Zambia‘s Racheal Kundananji. Kundananji, 23, joins on a contract until 2027 with an option to extend through to 2028, from Madrid CFF, where