Leagues

Associated Press May 9, 2024, 12:47 PM ET Open Extended Reactions FIFA has been warned of legal action from players and national leagues if it does not backtrack on adding new and bigger competitions to the congested calendar of men’s international football. In a letter sent by global players union FIFPRO and the World Leagues

ESPN News Services May 9, 2024, 08:34 PM ET Open Extended Reactions Bayer Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso said his team deserve all three titles available to them this season after they qualified for the Europa League final by overcoming AS Roma on Thursday. Furthermore, added the Spanish coach, his team had the look of group

Bayer Leverkusen staged a late comeback to move into the Europa League final with a 2-2 draw at home against AS Roma on Thursday to win 4-2 on aggregate as they set the longest unbeaten run in all competitions including European matches. Leverkusen, who will meet Atalanta in the final, played their 49th match without

Sam Marsden Moises Llorens May 9, 2024, 03:54 PM ET Open Extended Reactions PSV Eindhoven will not exercise their option to sign Sergiño Dest permanently after the United States defender tore his ACL in training last month, sources have told ESPN. Dest, 23, has been a mainstay in the PSV side this season as they

Open Extended Reactions The 2024 Champions League final is set — 14-time winners Real Madrid will face 1997 champions Borussia Dortmund at Wembley on June 1 aiming to succeed Manchester City by lifting the trophy in London. Madrid be overwhelming favourites with Carlo Ancelotti’s side having just clinched a record-extending 36th LaLiga title. In contrast,

May 9, 2024, 04:00 AM ET Open Extended Reactions The 2023-24 Champions League semifinals are all wrapped up with plenty of drama, an upset and heartbreak. Borussia Dortmund delivered the final blow to beat Paris Saint-Germain on their own ground in France, leaving Kylian Mbappé without a European trophy as he prepares to make his

Sam Marsden, Barcelona correspondentMay 9, 2024, 06:20 AM ET Open Extended Reactions The auction for the napkin which famously launched Lionel Messi‘s Barcelona career as a 13-year-old opened this week with a guide price of £300,000-£500,000 ($374,700-$624,500). Bidding for the item stands at £220,000 and will be open with the British auction house Bonhams until

Open Extended Reactions Amnesty International has challenged FIFA to publish a review investigating its responsibilities towards migrant workers harmed while building stadia and infrastructure in Qatar for the 2022 World Cup. The independent review, commissioned by FIFA following the tournament between November and December of 2022, had its findings approved by the FIFA Council in

May 8, 2024, 01:43 PM ET Open Extended Reactions Former Spanish football federation (RFEF) chief Luis Rubiales will stand trial for his unsolicited kiss of national team player Jenni Hermoso after a High Court judge admitted the case, the court said on Wednesday. Rubiales faces one count of sexual assault and one of coercion for

Alex Kirkland, ESPN FCMay 8, 2024, 07:24 PM ET Open Extended Reactions MADRID — Before this Champions League semifinal second leg, coach Thomas Tuchel said his Bayern Munich players needed to “connect with their inner child” at the Santiago Bernabeu, remembering childhood dreams of playing in games like this. On Wednesday, Real Madrid showed why

Real Madrid‘s Joselu scored twice in the final minutes as they fought back from the brink of elimination to reach the Champions League final with a dramatic 2-1 second-leg win over Bayern Munich on Wednesday that sent them through 4-3 on aggregate. Real progressed to their sixth Champions League final in 10 years and will

May 8, 2024, 10:01 AM ET Open Extended Reactions Champions League soccer is back for the semifinals! Europe’s premier club competition returns with a high-stakes, heavyweight match on Wednesday, providing exciting storylines, top talent and drama. Enjoy the play-by-play as Real Madrid host Bayern Munich in the second leg of the semifinals after a thrilling

Julien Laurens, CorrespondentMay 8, 2024, 09:41 AM ET Open Extended Reactions On one hand, there are positives to celebrate at Paris Saint-Germain: They’ve clinched yet another Ligue 1 title and a French Super Cup, they face a French cup final against Lyon (a team they’ve beaten by a combined 8-2 score over two games this

Associated Press May 8, 2024, 07:08 AM ET Open Extended Reactions Football fans around the world will now have a day to celebrate the world’s most popular sport every year — May 25. The United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution Tuesday proclaiming May 25 as World Football Day. The sport is called soccer in

Daniel Hajducky May 8, 2024, 05:00 AM ET Open Extended Reactions The English Premier League and Fanatics have announced that, starting in June 2025, Fanatics Collectibles will become the exclusive provider of EPL trading cards, trading card games and stickers in a multi-year deal. “We are delighted to welcome Fanatics as the official sticker and

ESPN News Services May 7, 2024, 02:24 PM ET Open Extended Reactions United States youth international Keyrol Figueroa has signed a professional contract with Liverpool, the Premier League club said Tuesday. The 17-year-old forward has impressed since moving to the Merseyside club when he was 14 and has consistently scored at different age levels. Liverpool

ESPN News Services May 7, 2024, 07:42 PM ET Open Extended Reactions Marco Reus called his return to the Champions League final — 11 years after first playing in it with Borussia Dortmund for the first time — “indescribable” as his team beat Paris Saint-Germain 2-0 on aggregate to cap an improbable run. Mats Hummels

Open Extended Reactions PARIS — Score this one for the unwanteds. The motley crew of strays and mutts, old yellers and foundlings from Dortmund scampered into the Parc des Princes and, just as they did in front of the Yellow Wall six days earlier, felled mighty Paris Saint-Germain, the team with the highest budget and,

Borussia Dortmund reached their third Champions League final after Mats Hummels‘ second-half goal earned a 1-0 victory at Paris Saint-Germain for a 2-0 aggregate win on Tuesday. Hummels headed home from a corner five minutes into the second half to send the German club, who lifted the trophy in 1997, into their first final in

ESPN News Services May 7, 2024, 12:00 PM ET Open Extended Reactions Burnley co-owner and NFL legend J.J. Watt’s Burnley squad will face former NFL punter and ESPN personality Pat McAfee’s Concafa SC team in the first round of The Soccer Tournament, the 7-on-7, $1 million, winner-take-all event June 5-10. The tournament will take place