Soccer

Gabriele Marcotti, Senior Writer, ESPN FCJan 15, 2024, 11:59 AM ET Open Extended Reactions It’s been another wild weekend in European soccer, with the return of the German Bundesliga aligning with some eye-opening results in the Premier League, Spanish Supercopa and Serie A. We had the transcendent return of Kevin De Bruyne, as Man City

Alex Kirkland Rodrigo Faez Jan 14, 2024, 07:57 PM ET Open Extended Reactions Vinícius Júnior defended his on-field behaviour after scoring a hat trick in Real Madrid’s 4-1 Clásico win over Barcelona in the Spanish Supercopa final, while admitting that “I’m no saint.” The Brazil forward scored twice in the first ten minutes to put

Sam Marsden Alex Kirkland Jan 14, 2024, 05:00 PM ET Open Extended Reactions Vinicius, second from left, scored three times and set up he fourth as Real Madrid thumped their biggest rivals, Barcelona, to claim the Spanish Supercopa. FAYEZ NURELDINE/AFP via Getty Images Sunday’s Clasico between Real Madrid and Barcelona in the Spanish Supercopa final offered

Open Extended Reactions Sir Jim Ratcliffe expects the Premier League to ratify his move to take charge of Manchester United‘s football operations by “mid-February” as he spoke for the first time about his investment in the club ahead of Sunday’s game against Tottenham. Ratcliffe, 71, agreed to buy 25% of United from their American owners

Sam Marsden Alex Kirkland Jan 13, 2024, 07:00 AM ET Open Extended Reactions Real Madrid play Barcelona in the Spanish Supercopa final on Sunday, giving the competition the climactic El Clasico clash its new “final four” format was designed to showcase. It’s the first time since 2020 — when the Supercopa was expanded and moved

Jan 13, 2024, 05:29 PM ET Open Extended Reactions After the recent round of domestic cup matches across Europe, league soccer returns with exciting performances and surprise results happening in the Premier League, Serie A, LaLiga, Bundesliga and Ligue 1. On Saturday, we saw Chelsea edge Fulham 1-0 after Cole Palmer put away a penalty

Open Extended Reactions LONDON — Deep in stoppage-time, Chelsea were frantically defending a single-goal lead with five at the back and no discernible presence up front against a team without a win at Stamford Bridge since 1979. These are desperate days for manager Mauricio Pochettino and his young side. Holding on for a 1-0 victory

Field Level Media Jan 12, 2024, 09:09 PM ET Open Extended Reactions The Utah Royals FC selected North Carolina midfielder/forward Ally Sentnor with the first overall pick of the 2024 NWSL Draft on Friday night. It marked the Royals’ first draft choice since being revived for the league’s expansion this year. Utah played in 2018-20

ESPN News Services Jan 12, 2024, 06:43 PM ET Open Extended Reactions Burnley co-owner J.J. Watt hit out at the decision to allow Luton Town‘s controversial last-gasp equaliser in Friday’s Premier League draw, calling it “truly disgraceful.” The NFL legend was incensed after a lengthy VAR check failed to rule out Carlton Morris‘ stoppage-time goal,

Sam Marsden, Barcelona correspondentJan 12, 2024, 03:43 AM ET Open Extended Reactions Girona broke their transfer record last summer to sign Artem Dovbyk. The Ukraine striker joined for a €7.5 million fee from Dnipro-1. That’s around 7% of what Real Madrid paid to bring in Jude Bellingham. It’s not even 5% of the €160m transfer

Sam Marsden Moises Llorens Jan 11, 2024, 06:04 PM ET Open Extended Reactions Barcelona coach Xavi Hernández wants to dominate Real Madrid in Sunday’s Spanish Supercopa final after his side beat Osasuna 2-0 in Thursday’s second semifinal in Saudi Arabia. Second-half strikes from Robert Lewandowski and Lamine Yamal extended Barça’s stay in Riyadh and set

Robert Lewandowski and Lamine Yamal scored second-half goals to give Barcelona an 2-0 win over Osasuna in a dour Spanish Supercopa semifinal in Saudi Arabia on Thursday. Barca setup a dream showpiece clash on Sunday with Real Madrid, who had beaten city rivals Atletico Madrid in a breathtaking 5-3 derby earlier in the week. –

Rob Dawson, CorrespondentJan 11, 2024, 04:14 AM ET Open Extended Reactions Aside from Pep Guardiola pulling the ball down with a deft touch that provided a brief glimpse of his illustrious past as a silky Barcelona midfielder, the biggest cheers at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday were reserved for Kevin De Bruyne. It happened first

Alex Kirkland Rodrigo Faez Jan 10, 2024, 02:56 PM ET Open Extended Reactions Antoine Griezmann became Atletico Madrid‘s all-time leading goalscorer on Wednesday, scoring with a brilliant finish for his team’s second goal against Real Madrid to overtake club legend Luis Aragones. Atletico and Real were playing in the semifinals of the Spanish Supercopa at

Alex Kirkland Rodrigo Faez Jan 10, 2024, 06:34 PM ET Open Extended Reactions Toni Kroos was whistled continuously by fans during Real Madrid‘s 5-3 Spanish Supercopa semifinal win over Atletico Madrid in Riyadh on Wednesday, after the Germany international previously criticising the growing trend of top players moving to Saudi Arabia. The midfielder was introduced

Jon Molyneux-Carter, Senior EditorJan 10, 2024, 04:00 AM ET Open Extended Reactions Once again, men’s soccer clubs around Europe spent an incredible amount of money to sign players in the summer transfer window, breaking multiple records. According to Deloitte, Premier League clubs’ gross spend of £2.36 billion was almost £440 million higher than the previous

Open Extended Reactions Ajax are interested in signing Jordan Henderson from Al Ettifaq, sources have told ESPN, but face competition from the Premier League and the Bundesliga for the England midfielder’s signature. Former Liverpool captain Henderson, who left Anfield last summer, is reportedly keen to return to the Premier League only months after moving to

Chelsea suffered a surprise 1-0 loss at second-tier Middlesbrough in the first leg of their League Cup semi-final on Tuesday with Hayden Hackney’s goal giving Mauricio Pochettino’s wasteful side plenty to do in the return. The 21-year-old Hackney’s silky finish from an Isaiah Jones pass stunned the visitors in the 37th minute at the Riverside