Football

3:30 AM ET Remember the soccer team that went viral after they released a tuxedo-themed kit? Perhaps you saw the stir caused by a muscular uniform that made the players look like figures in a medical school textbook? Or even the club that fielded a team of players all dressed as The Hulk? Well, behind

7:00 AM ET Multiple Contributors “In Barcelona, on Dec. 14, 2000, in the presence of [Josep Maria] Minguella and Horacio [Gaggioli], Carles Rexach, FC Barcelona’s sporting director, hereby agrees, under his responsibility and regardless of any dissenting opinions, to sign the player Lionel Messi provided that we keep to the amounts agreed upon.” The above

12:24 PM ET It was another wild weekend in soccer as Real Madrid shrugged off “crisis” talk to beat Atletico in the derby, the top three in England (Tottenham, Liverpool, Chelsea) all dropped points, Bayern’s flaws are proving hard to paper over and Dortmund responded to a humiliating defeat by firing manager Lucien Favre. The

6:30 AM ET Barcelona were drawn against Paris Saint-Germain in the standout tie of the Champions round of 16, which took place on Monday at at 6 a.m. ET (11 a.m. GMT). The clash means that, if fit, Neymar will return to Camp Nou. The last time these teams met in the competition, Barca recovered

3:02 PM ET LONDON — Liverpool’s 1-1 draw at Fulham was setback enough for Jurgen Klopp’s side, but as they played half the match without a recognised centre-back on the field, it further emphasised the need for the Premier League champions to find reinforcements in January. Liverpool were poor in the first half, and Fulham

Saves 1 Shots 0 0 Shots on Target Fouls Committed 0 0 Fouls Against Assists 0 Discipline 0 Yellow 0 Red Goals 0 Shots 0 0 Shots on Target Fouls Committed 1 0 Fouls Against Assists 0 Offsides 0 Discipline 0 Yellow 0 Red Goals 0 Shots 0 0 Shots on Target Fouls Committed 0

1:49 AM ET Caleb Porter couldn’t hold it in any longer. When the final whistle blew, making official the Columbus Crew‘s 3-0 MLS Cup final win over the Seattle Sounders, he sprinted over to the Nordecke — the corner of MAPFRE Stadium where, even amid the coronavirus pandemic, the Crew’s hardcore fans congregate — and

3:33 PM ET MANCHESTER, England — It has always irritated Manchester City and their supporters to be overshadowed by Manchester United and events at Old Trafford, where the two sides drew 0-0 on Saturday. Good, bad or indifferent, United’s historical might and global popularity has tended to claim the headlines, even when City have been

8:39 AM ET Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman has said it’s a “lie” the players are unhappy with his tactics and insists he still has their full support following back-to-back defeats against Cadiz and Juventus. Barca sit ninth in La Liga having lost four of their first 10 league games and Tuesday’s 3-0 defeat to Juve

3:30 AM ET Rob DawsonCorrespondent Ed Woodward doesn’t like the phrase “on the brink.” It’s too simple, according to Manchester United‘s executive vice-chairman, because it implies the next result can determine whether he will back or sack a manager. He has dismissed three since getting the top job at Old Trafford in 2012 — David

11:10 AM ET Seattle Sounders FC is contesting their fourth MLS Cup in five years, searching for a third championship in that span of time. Would a win mark them as the greatest dynasty in Major League Soccer history? Five years ago Columbus Crew SC manager Caleb Porter lifted MLS Cup at Mapfre Stadium. The

4:50 AM ET Mesut Ozil’s future and hopes of a move to MLS headlines this week’s Insider Notebook: PLUS: A row over a ‘shameful’ ham sandwich in Spain. Jump to: ‘Shameful’ ham sandwich row in Spain | Toronto FC want Blanc | Raiola takes aim at FIFA | Bayern battle for De Jong | Wenger’s

9:24 PM ET Columbus Crew SC‘s hopes of winning a second MLS Cup final suffered an immense blow on Thursday night when the team announced that midfielders Darlington Nagbe and Pedro Santos have been deemed “not medically cleared to play.” The Crew are scheduled to play the Seattle Sounders FC in the MLS Cup final

11:31 AM ET Paul Pogba‘s agent, Mino Raiola, caused outrage earlier this week when he said Pogba needed to leave Manchester United. “Paul is unhappy at United… he’s not able to express himself the way he would like to and the way others expect him to,” Raiola said. “His contract expires in 18 months, in

1:47 PM ET In less than four weeks, barring some sort of rethink or extension, the United Kingdom will leave the European Union. The impact extends to football. For example, as part of the EU, the Premier League could not impose restrictions on hiring foreigners from within the union and the larger European Economic Area

11:37 PM ET As 2020 nears its end, one would think that United States men’s national team manager Gregg Berhalter could rest easy a bit. In the last game of the year, his U.S. side cruised to a 6-0 win over El Salvador, this coming off a 6-2 win over Panama last month. On Wednesday

8:46 PM ET Exactly 4,632 days had passed since the first time Cristiano Ronaldo turned up at the Camp Nou and found that there was an impish little Barca-coloured magician in the opposition ranks. A fly in his ointment. That was Manchester United en route to winning the Champions League in 2008 — the first

2:06 PM ET This past summer, to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the USWNT’s 2019 World Cup title, I took a look back at each of the country’s Women’s World Cup squads and ranked them. It was a fun exercise, and it reinforced a pretty simple idea: age balance matters. A country will usually only