Football

Alex Kirkland, ESPN FCOct 23, 2024, 08:00 AM ET Open Extended Reactions It was half-time during Real Madrid‘s first LaLiga game of the season vs. Real Mallorca, and midfielder Jude Bellingham had some feedback for forwards Kylian Mbappé, Vinícius Júnior and Rodrygo Goes: “You three, finish the attacks!” As the four players waited in the

Alex Kirkland, ESPN FCOct 22, 2024, 06:12 PM ET Open Extended Reactions MADRID — “Our crown, our trophy,” read the banner, held up by fans behind the Santiago Bernabeu’s south goal before kickoff. Real Madrid are the reigning European champions, the 15-time UEFA Champions League winners, and, of course, the comeback kings, as they showed

Oct 22, 2024, 11:29 AM ET Open Extended Reactions Welcome to matchday three of the 2024-25 Champions League season! Europe’s premier club competition returns in its new format with nine matches across the continent on Tuesday, providing exciting matchups, top talent and drama. Enjoy the play-by-play from all the games with a repeat of last

Oct 22, 2024, 04:00 AM ET Open Extended Reactions We are still only two gameweeks into the new 36-team, one-group UEFA Champions League format, but it has already caused quite a stir. Change can be difficult to process for soccer fans, especially to longstanding mechanisms in the game, and this latest one has been seismic.

Adam Brown Oct 21, 2024, 06:45 PM ET Open Extended Reactions The winter transfer window won’t reopen in Europe for a while yet, but there are plenty of moves in the works and gossip swirling around. Transfer Talk brings you all the latest buzz on rumours, comings, goings and, of course, done deals! TOP STORY:

Gabriele Marcotti, Senior Writer, ESPN FCOct 21, 2024, 10:38 AM ET Open Extended Reactions The European soccer weekend has passed, but it’s left us with a ton of things to talk about across the major leagues. In the Premier League, Liverpool edged past Chelsea in a game that honestly showed the best of both sides,

Open Extended Reactions Video Assistant Referee causes controversy every week in the Premier League, but how are decisions made, and are they correct? After each weekend we take a look at the major incidents, to examine and explain the process both in terms of VAR protocol and the Laws of the Game. In this week’s

Oct 20, 2024, 07:12 PM ET Open Extended Reactions Another topsy-turvy weekend of football is in the books and some of Europe’s top clubs are beginning to look ominous. Liverpool and Manchester City both eked out important, closely fought wins to steal a march on title-rivals Arsenal in the Premier League, while Real Madrid and

Oct 20, 2024, 01:35 PM ET Open Extended Reactions Manchester City‘s contentious last-minute winner against Wolves in the Premier League on Sunday was both correctly ruled and deserved reward for his players’ patience, manager Pep Guardiola said. With City seemingly heading to a frustrating 1-1 draw at Molineux despite their dominance of possession, John Stones

Lizzy Becherano Oct 19, 2024, 08:14 PM ET Open Extended Reactions Lionel Messi scored a stunning 11-minute hat trick to help Inter Miami break the Major League Soccer record for most points in a single season, after defeating the New England Revolution 6-2 Saturday at Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Miami concluded the MLS

Adam Brown Oct 19, 2024, 03:13 PM ET Open Extended Reactions Arsenal suffered their first loss of the season on Saturday as they fell 2-0 to Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium. The Gunners had control of the game until the 30th minute, when Leandro Trossard‘s careless pass left William Saliba in trouble before earning red

Oct 19, 2024, 03:29 PM ET Open Extended Reactions Declan Rice lambasted Arsenal for their “naivety” this season following their 2-0 loss to Bournemouth in which they were reduced to 10-men for the third time this season. The game at Vitaly Stadium turned on its head in the 30th minute when William Saliba was sent

Rob Dawson, CorrespondentOct 18, 2024, 05:30 PM ET Open Extended Reactions Erik ten Hag has admitted that the end of Sir Alex Ferguson’s employment at Manchester United will “impact” the club, but insists the former manager will still be available to offer advice to players and staff. United have decided to axe Ferguson’s role as

Oct 18, 2024, 10:40 AM ET Open Extended Reactions If he didn’t know before, Sir Jim Ratcliffe is finding out just how hard it is to be the man in charge of Manchester United. Three months into his first full season at Old Trafford, results are poor, pressure is mounting on coach Erik ten Hag

Lizzy Becherano Oct 18, 2024, 01:45 PM ET Open Extended Reactions Inter Miami is set to be announced as the final Major League Soccer participant for the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, sources told ESPN. Official announcement of the team’s involvement in the tournament is expected in the coming week. The 2025 Club World Cup

Jeff Carlisle, U.S. soccer correspondentOct 17, 2024, 04:54 PM ET Close Jeff Carlisle covers MLS and the U.S. national team for ESPN FC. Open Extended Reactions Gregg Berhalter acknowledged that his firing in August as U.S. men’s national team coach was “a really difficult moment,” but said he’s now hungry and motivated again to take

Luis Miguel Echegaray, ESPNOct 17, 2024, 09:38 AM ET Open Extended Reactions Life is a funny thing. You organize and scheme with the hope that your preparations will have you ready for whatever lies ahead, but as Mike Tyson once said, “Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face.” And when you’re

Jeff Kassouf Oct 17, 2024, 01:35 PM ET Open Extended Reactions U.S. women’s national team head coach Emma Hayes has a reputation for always thinking ahead, and her first post-Olympics roster announced on Thursday shows why. Rather than clinging onto the group that won Olympic gold in August, with her first call-ups since, Hayes is