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LEVERKUSEN, Germany — The unwanted moniker of “Neverkusen” that has hung over this club can be shelved. No longer are Bayer Leverkusen cast as perennial runners-up. The Werkself’s class of 2024 exorcised ghosts of painful failure Sunday evening, as they swept to their first Bundesliga title in the club’s history with a dominant 5-0 win over Werder Bremen. As Florian Wirtz rounded Werder Bremen’s defense and slotted home for his…

Manchester United’s affinity for chaos shows no signs of letting up as their run of madcap performances enters a fifth consecutive week. A warm and bright sunny evening on England’s south coast isn’t a typical backdrop for hedonism, but that is what Bournemouth and United served up in a reckless 2-2 draw, with only a tight VAR decision preventing the home side an opportunity to complete the double over Erik…

It’s another weekend of European football and, as we edge closer and closer to the end of the season, a number of clubs have one hand on some silverware. We start our Saturday in Spain as Real Madrid got their win over Mallorca which sees them edge closer to another LaLiga title, while Barcelona defeated Cadiz to put them in good form before their UEFA Champions League return leg against…

The Turkish Super Lig will assign foreign Video Assistant Referees (VARs) for crucial games until the end of the season, the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) said on Friday. The Super Lig has been marked by violence and controversial refereeing decisions in recent months, with a referee punched in the face in December by a club president, while Fenerbahce have also raised concerns about bias in a tight title race. –…

Manchester United are facing a decision: what to do with Mason Greenwood: keep him, loan him or offload him permanently? It’s a question that has hung over the club for almost two-and-a-half years and despite a season on loan in Spain with Getafe, the issue of the 22-year-old forward’s future is troubling minds again at Old Trafford. Greenwood’s season-long loan at Getafe ends next month, and sources have told ESPN…

PARIS — In a week that has seen some of the best clubs in world football facing each other and offering some superb games, Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona did not disappoint at the Parc des Princes on Wednesday night. Without reaching the height in intensity and quality of Tuesday’s 3-3 draw between Real Madrid and Manchester City, Barça’s 3-2 win was another rollercoaster of emotions and of domination. But as…

Nigeria and Zambia will represent Africa in the women’s football competition at the 2024 Olympic Games after the engrossing conclusion of the qualifying campaign. The final four teams in the qualifying campaign also represented Africa at the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand last year, and contested the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco less than 18 months ago. Will those campaigns, and the demoralising experience…

Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain boycotted interviews with Spanish broadcaster Movistar after Wednesday’s Champions League quarterfinal following a racist comment made by one of the on-air analysts. Germán “Mono” Burgos, Diego Simeone’s former assistant manager at Atlético Madrid, was responsible for the remark, which was made about the Barça forward Lamine Yamal, a Spain international with Moroccan and Equatorial Guinean heritage. “If football doesn’t work out for him, he can end…

MONTERREY, Mexico — Inter Miami CF head coach Gerardo Martino said Lionel Messi doesn’t need any “extra or special situation” to motivate him for the second leg of the Concacaf Champions Cup quarterfinal match with Monterrey on Wednesday. Messi and Miami come into the second leg trailing 2-1 on aggregate after last Wednesday’s match in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Although Messi was held out of that game due to injury, he…

MADRID — It was breathless in the Bernabeu, a night when Phil Foden and Fede Valverde delivered goals from the gods, when Real Madrid and Manchester City threw everything at each other in a bid to claim a crucial quarterfinal first-leg advantage and, ultimately, produced a 3-3 draw that leaves next week’s second-leg firmly in the balance. Yes, there were costly mistakes, foolish errors and lapses of concentration that will…