Football

6:45 AM ET The Champions League group stage is underway, with Chelsea defending their title and 31 other clubs seeking to emulate them next May in Saint Petersburg. Following an exciting first round of games, we asked James Olley, Julien Laurens and Tom Hamilton to answer some big questions. What caught your attention on Matchday

5:58 PM ET LIVERPOOL, England — Trent Alexander-Arnold. You only have to mention the Liverpool defender’s name to spark an avalanche of opinion about the strengths and weaknesses — and best position — of the world’s best right-back, or most overrated, depending on your point of view. And Liverpool’s 3-2 win against AC Milan in

4:00 PM ET Messi, center, is confident about his prospects of a fifth Champions League title now that he’s in Paris. His new club, PSG, are feeling good about winning their first. JOHN THYS/AFP via Getty Images It’s the moment we never thought would happen. After 149 games, 120 goals, 41 assists and four final wins

1:30 PM ET After weeks of qualification and months of gnashing teeth over future format changes, the most important and high-quality continental club competition in the world, the UEFA Champions League, begins group-stage play on Tuesday. Somehow, this behemoth of a tournament almost snuck up on us, coming in on the heels of a particularly

5:19 PM ET Live to fight another day. That was likely what Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman was thinking around the hour mark on Tuesday when, 2-0 down at home and on the way to defeat against Bayern Munich, he hooked veterans Sergio Busquets and Sergi Roberto and did the football equivalent of a bedraggled basketball

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9:38 AM ET The Champions League is anything but predictable. The past four seasons have given us four different winners, while nine different teams have contested the most recent six finals. But as European football continues to shake on its axis through a combination of financial mismanagement and the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, that

9:42 AM ET Kyle Bonagura Close ESPN Staff Writer Covers the Pac-12. Joined ESPN in 2014. Attended Washington State University. Jeff Carlisle Close U.S. soccer correspondent Jeff Carlisle covers MLS and the U.S. national team for ESPN FC. It was another weekend of thrills in Major League Soccer, as the New England Revolution (Eastern Conference)

12:43 PM ET The European soccer weekend was full of highs and lows, ups and downs — as per usual. Cristiano Ronaldo returned to Manchester United and looked great, Antoine Griezmann returned to Atletico Madrid and didn’t. The Bundesliga’s best team, Bayern Munich, humiliated their closest rivals, RB Leipzig, while Serie A’s previous force, Juventus,

3:37 AM ET With the Premier League back in action for the first time since the summer transfer window closed, this feels like a good time to take stock. The clubs who have finished in the top four in each of the past two seasons — Chelsea, Liverpool, defending champions Manchester City and Manchester United

6:00 PM ET Two big players returned to their former clubs and had very different “debuts” in Cristiano Ronaldo at Manchester United and Antoine Griezmann at Atletico Madrid, while Bayern Munich showed how they’re still the clear front-runner to win the Bundesliga this season and make it a stunning 10 in a row. Here’s the

12:58 PM ET Harvey Elliott was hurt in Liverpool’s Premier League game vs. Leeds. Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images Liverpool have been dealt an injury blow after Harvey Elliott was hurt during the Premier League game against Leeds United on Sunday. The game was halted shortly before the hour when Elliott, who has become a member

1:23 PM ET Rob DawsonCorrespondent Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said the Manchester United squad made Cristiano Ronaldo introduce himself at the team hotel the night before his debut against Newcastle but joked that if any of the players didn’t know him before “they do now” after he scored twice in a 4-1 win at Old Trafford.

2:44 PM ET MANCHESTER, England — It’s never easy to turn back the clock and recreate magic moments — they say never go back, after all — but Cristiano Ronaldo‘s football career has always defied logic and by, making a spectacular return to Manchester United with two goals in a 4-1 win against Newcastle United,

11:55 AM ET Cristiano Ronaldo didn’t disappoint on his Manchester United return. Getty Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice as Manchester United beat Newcastle United 4-1 at Old Trafford on Saturday. United took the lead in stoppage time at the end of the first-half when Mason Greenwood‘s deflected shot was spilled by Newcastle goalkeeper Freddie Woodman and Ronaldo

Sep 8, 2021 ESPN’s lead Bundesliga commentator Derek Rae returns with his regular column, this week looking ahead to a back-to-back Saturday treat for all German football fans. Super-Samstag is almost upon us. There was a certain eeriness about that train journey from Cologne to Munich on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2020. My colleagues at the

Sep 9, 2021 RB Leipzig are familiar with Bayern Munich, their opponents on Saturday (12:20 p.m. ET, stream live on ESPN+), and not just in the sense of competing in the same league. Defender Dayot Upamecano and playmaker Marcel Sabitzer both left Leipzig for Bayern in the offseason, as did their former manager, Julian Nagelsmann.

9:21 AM ET The United States men’s national team finished the opening round of World Cup qualifying on a high note with a win at Honduras after drab draws against El Salvador and Canada. Amid mounting injuries and off-pitch drama, the team learned tough lessons as it seeks to book its spot at Qatar 2022.