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6:19 PM ET Danny Lewis The summer transfer window is closed for the top leagues in Europe! After a summer full of international football, countless clubs waited until the last minute to pull off their transfers. See all the major deals here and check out how we graded the biggest signings. But just because the

4:00 AM ET Sid LoweSpain writer The ball dropped out of the night sky to where Karim Benzema had appeared, undetected again, between Martin Valjent and Brian Olivan. As it fell from high, he controlled it, ran to one side and, right-footed, scored his second goal of the evening, the ball taking a deflection on

5:23 AM ET Europe’s leading clubs have accused FIFA of attempting to “railroad” through plans for a biennial World Cup which they claim would have a “destructive” impact on the club game. The European Club Association, which represents 234 clubs and is chaired by Paris Saint-Germain owner Nasser Al-Khelaifi, believes there has been a clear

8:17 AM ET Lionel Messi has been ruled out of Paris Saint-Germain‘s match against Montpellier on Saturday as he has not fully recovered from a bone bruise, the Ligue 1 club said on Friday. Messi suffered a knock on his left knee, and an MRI scan earlier this week confirmed signs of a bone contusion.

12:18 PM ET Alex Kirkland Rodrigo Faez Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti has backed Karim Benzema to be a Ballon d’Or contender this year after an extraordinary start to the LaLiga season which has seen the forward contribute eight goals and seven assists in just six games. Benzema’s fine form continued in Real Madrid’s 6-1

1:51 PM ET ESPN News Services Embattled Barcelona manager Ronald Koeman has received a two-match ban on Friday for complaining at the end of a 0-0 draw at Cadiz in LaLiga action the day before. The result extended Barcelona’s winless streak to three matches and increased the pressure on Koeman. Koeman was sent off deep

5:30 PM ET Aramide Oladipo Jurgen Klopp has said he is concerned about Liverpool‘s fixture schedule after the international break next month. Liverpool face a trip to Watford on Oct. 16 but could be without a number of players who might need to quarantine on returning from international duty. – Stream ESPN FC Daily on

5:30 PM ET Rob DawsonCorrespondent Pep Guardiola says Manchester City are missing a goalscoring “weapon” after missing out on Harry Kane. While Manchester United signed Cristiano Ronaldo and Chelsea landed Romelu Lukaku during the summer transfer window, Kane remained at Tottenham Hotspur rather than moving to the Etihad Stadium. – ESPN+ guide: LaLiga, Bundesliga, MLS,

5:30 PM ET Rob DawsonCorrespondent Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer says he has spoken to his players about their tendency to start games slowly and joked that he has written to the Premier League to ask to kick-off matches a goal down. Solskjaer rapped his team for their slow start in the 1-0 defeat

4:43 AM ET It’s still too early to talk about title-deciding games, after all it’s not even October, but Saturday’s Premier League clash between Chelsea and Manchester City is significant in terms of who sets the early pace. Chelsea are off to a red-hot start, winning four and drawing once in their first five games,