Clinical Lens beat Strasbourg 2-1 to provisionally cut Paris Saint-Germain’s once double-digit lead at the top of the Ligue 11 table to three points on Friday and open up the title race. Lens are second on 63 points, three ahead of third-placed Marseille, who travel to Lorient on Sunday. Strasbourg remain in 16th on 26 points. – Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, more (U.S.) Wing back Przemyslaw Frankowski opened the…
Football has a short memory. Barcelona’s three successive Clasico wins were quickly forgotten on Wednesday as they were blown away by Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey semifinal second leg. A second half hat trick from Karim Benzema and a Vinicius Jr. goal helped Madrid record a memorable 4-0 win at Spotify Camp Nou as they set up a final against Osasuna. Barca coach Xavi Hernandez put on a…
When it comes to racist abuse during football matches, some stuff is simple and easy, some stuff is complicated and hard. Until you figure out the latter, make sure you get the former right. Here’s the easy bit. Romelu Lukaku was racially abused by a number of spectators on Tuesday night when Juventus hosted Inter in the Coppa Italia semifinal first leg. There is no disputing this. There are videos…
England beat Brazil in a penalty shootout in a thrilling inaugural Women’s Finalissima on Thursday, the second straight international trophy hoisted by the Lionesses at a jam-packed Wembley Stadium. Tied 1-1 at full-time, Sarina Wiegman’s Lionesses beat Brazil 4-2 in the shootout to improve their unbeaten streak to 30 games, with Chloe Kelly hitting the decisive spot kick. “I feel privileged,” Wiegman said. “It’s such an incredible group, and the…
Leandro Trossard was Arsenal’s “Plan B” when he arrived at the Emirates in a transfer worth up to £27 million from Brighton & Hove Albion in January. But the winger might just prove to be the most significant Premier League signing of the season and the one who delivers the key ingredient to winning the title. Of course, if Manchester City overhaul the Gunners to claim a third successive title…
Lionel Messi is considering a move to Saudi Arabia that would see him join Al Hilal, the city rivals of Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Nassr, when his Paris Saint-Germain contract expires this summer, a source familiar with the negotiations told ESPN. Having opened talks with Messi and his advisers late last year, senior figures in the bid to take him to the Middle Eastern nation had initially believed they had no…
MANCHESTER, England — Marcus Rashford’s 28th goal of the season sealed a narrow 1-0 win against Brentford and lifted Manchester United back into the top four in the race to qualify for the Champions League. The win was United’s first in the Premier League since a 3-1 Old Trafford victory against Leicester City in February, and it also avenged their 4-0 loss at Brentford in August. United moved three points…
Karim Benzema scored a hat trick as Real Madrid beat Barcelona 4-0 in the second leg of their Copa del Rey semifinal in a fiery affair at Spotify Camp Nou on Wednesday night. The hosts came into the match with a three-game win streak over their biggest rivals, having beaten them in the Spanish Supercopa in January and the Copa del Rey first leg and LaLiga in March. However, a…
Imagine that you, like Franck Kessie, either caused or scored each of the winning goals in the past two Clasicos for Barcelona in your first season at the club. You’d feel like the king of the world, right? Now imagine that, despite beginning to look like Real Madrid’s kryptonite, despite you being a reigning champion of Serie A (having joined from AC Milan), and despite there being serious absences in…
What might go down as Aly Wagner’s greatest assist occurred long after she retired as a professional soccer player. It came in the summer of 2022, when she pitched Charlotte Waxman, the wife of Sixth Street CEO Alan Waxman, on the virtues of a NWSL expansion team in the San Francisco Bay Area. At the time, Wagner was hoping the couple would come on board as individual investors. “Charlotte comes…