Football

5:56 PM ET Rob DawsonCorrespondent MANCHESTER, England — Pressure? What pressure? Manchester City watched Liverpool take top spot in the Premier League table on Tuesday night and then promptly claimed it back. For now it’s as you were in the title race with six games to go, although Pep Guardiola and his players were reminded

6:21 PM ET LONDON — One is an academy graduate without a Premier League goal to his name all season, the other is a £97.5million striker signed to win his team the title. Both are out of favour and may well be playing their football at different clubs next season after publicly voicing concerns about

8:17 AM ET Rob DawsonCorrespondent Manchester United have confirmed that senior scouts Jim Lawlor and Marcel Bout have left the club. Lawlor will step down from his role as chief scout in the summer after 16 years at Old Trafford while Bout, who arrived under Dutch manager Louis van Gaal in 2014, has ended his

6:32 PM ET Rob DawsonCorrespondent LIVERPOOL, England — Ralf Rangnick insists that he believes Manchester United might only be two or three transfer windows away from catching Liverpool but judging by the latest thrashing at Anfield, the gap looks more like two or three thousand light years. After Liverpool’s 4-0 victory on Tuesday, the Premier

3:09 PM ET Fans at Tuesday’s Premier League match between Liverpool and Manchester United honoured Cristiano Ronaldo following the death of the player’s newborn son. Ronaldo and his partner Georgina Rodriguez announced on social media on Monday that one of their newborn twins had died. Manchester United confirmed that Ronaldo would not travel to face

5:00 AM ET When Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema finally wins his first Ballon d’Or, as he surely must in 2022, I sincerely hope that his first words are… “I have to thank Vinicius Jose Paixao de Oliveira Junior.” Right now, Benzema is playing the most beautiful football of any player in any major league,

6:44 PM ET Sam Marsden Moises Llorens Barcelona coach Xavi Hernandez was annoyed with his team’s lack of determination as their slim LaLiga title hopes were shattered on Monday with a 1-0 defeat to Cadiz at Camp Nou. Lucas Perez scored the only goal of the game after 48 minutes to silence the home crowd

5:34 PM ET Jeff Carlisle Close U.S. soccer correspondent Jeff Carlisle covers MLS and the U.S. national team for ESPN FC. Dan Hajducky Close ESPN Hajducky is a reporter/researcher for ESPN. He has an MFA in creative writing from Fairfield University and played on the men’s soccer teams at Fordham and Southern Connecticut State universities.

8:38 AM ET Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has said his relationship with Manchester United interim head coach Ralf Rangnick is “on hold” ahead of Tuesday’s Premier League’s clash between the two clubs. Both managers faced each other during their time in the Bundesliga and Rangnick has influenced Klopp and other contemporary German coaches with his

6:00 PM ET What a weekend! With the FA Cup final set (it’ll be Liverpool vs. Chelsea on May 14, ESPN+) and several big clubs needing dramatic heroics to win, Europe’s top leagues did not disappoint. There’s drama in Serie A, another string of big results in the Bundesliga and a late comeback by Real

3:34 PM ET Valentin Castellanos recorded his first-ever four-goal MLS performance to lift New York City FC to a 6-0 victory over visiting Real Salt Lake on Saturday afternoon. The goals were the first four of the season for Castellanos. Castellanos’ second and third goals came from the penalty spot for defending MLS Cup champions

8:03 AM ET Sam Marsden Moises Llorens Xavi Hernandez has said Barcelona‘s players felt like they were “robbed in their own home” after around 30,000 Eintracht Frankfurt fans gained entry to Camp Nou for Thursday’s Europa League quarterfinal. German side Frankfurt won the game 3-2 to set up a semifinal against West Ham United, with

1:53 PM ET Rob DawsonCorrespondent MANCHESTER, England — On the pitch on Saturday, Cristiano Ronaldo kept alive Manchester United‘s hopes of qualifying for next season’s Champions League but off it, the 3-2 win over Norwich City was set against a backdrop of more supporter unrest. The day ended with United three points closer to the

1:44 PM ET The debate over which of Liverpool or Manchester City are superior at full strength will continue for some time yet but the Reds are beginning to make an irresistible case for possessing the better squad. Liverpool’s hunt for four major trophies is still alive with a 3-2 FA Cup semifinal win at

8:25 AM ET Alex Kirkland Rodrigo Faez Diego Simeone has said he is “proud” of his Atletico Madrid team after their explosive Champions League quarterfinal elimination by Manchester City, which ended with a touchline brawl and police needing to intervene in the tunnel. City will face Real Madrid in the semifinals after Wednesday’s goalless draw

5:30 PM ET Rob DawsonCorrespondent Ralf Rangnick says he has “no regrets” about taking the Manchester United manager’s job. The German heads into Saturday’s Premier League clash with Norwich at Old Trafford having won just three of his last 12 games in charge. It has left United facing the prospect of missing out on a

2:54 PM ET Madison Shanley spent 14 years as a volunteer anthem singer for the Portland Timbers and Thorns. Kayla Plummer Portland Timbers and Thorns volunteer anthem singer Madison Shanley’s run of 14 years has ended after she opted not to continue in protest over the organization’s handling of multiple allegations of abuse of women by

7:00 AM ET They may have only six games remaining of their Serie A season, but Juventus have chosen now as the perfect time to release a new fourth kit for 2021-22. 2 Related As is often the case with the club’s jerseys in recent years, this new offering is likely to divide opinion among