Football

Alex Kirkland Rodrigo Faez Feb 11, 2025, 07:56 AM ET Open Extended Reactions A Spanish court has rejected an appeal by Real Madrid defender Raúl Asencio to end the investigation into his alleged role in distributing a sexually explicit video of a minor. Asencio — who has made 21 appearances for Madrid’s first team since

Alex Kirkland Rodrigo Faez Feb 10, 2025, 02:13 PM ET Open Extended Reactions Carlo Ancelotti said Manchester City vs. Real Madrid “feels like a Clásico now” as the teams prepare to meet in the Champions League for the fourth season in a row, and backed the tie’s winner to “go far in the competition.” In

Open Extended Reactions The European soccer weekend didn’t disappoint — does it ever? Let’s review. In LaLiga, Real Madrid and Atlético served up a feisty derby draw that both teams can ultimately feel good about as the title race and Champions League look like they’ll go right down to the wire. The English FA Cup,

Associated Press Feb 10, 2025, 08:02 AM ET Open Extended Reactions Spain women’s coach Montse Tomé told a judge Monday she was not trying to punish Jenni Hermoso by omitting her from the national team in the fallout of the kiss by former football federation president Luis Rubiales. Rubiales is accused of sexual assault for

Feb 9, 2025, 05:52 PM ET Open Extended Reactions This weekend, the magic of the FA Cup was akin to the sorcery of an episode of “Stranger Things.” It was an Upside Down in which the biggest teams in England’s grandest division fell victim to — or survived narrow escapes — against seemingly no-hopers from

Plymouth Argyle pulled off an enormous shock on Sunday as they dumped Liverpool out of the FA Cup at the fourth-round stage with a 1-0 win. Ryan Hardie‘s 53rd-minute penalty after Harvey Elliott‘s handball proved to be decisive as Arne Slot’s team lost for only the fourth time this season in all competitions. Slot rested

Real Madrid salvaged a 1-1 draw against city rivals Atlético Madrid in LaLiga on Saturday with Kylian Mbappé scoring a second-half goal to cancel out Julián Álvarez‘s first-half opener for the visiting side. That kept Real top of LaLiga on 50 points, one ahead of Atletico in second who missed a chance to leapfrog them.

Open Extended Reactions MADRID — Real Madrid‘s 1-1 draw with Atletico Madrid in Saturday’s derby means there’s no change at the top of the table, with just one point still separating the two teams. Julián Álvarez‘s first-half penalty had Atletico hoping they might secure their first win at the Santiago Bernabéu since 2016, but Kylian

Open Extended Reactions Pep Guardiola has joked that Manchester City‘s FA Cup fourth round win at Leyton Orient saved his job. City were facing one of the great shocks in the competition’s history as League One side Orient led at the break through a Stefan Ortega own goal as Jamie Donley’s stunning 45-yard strike hit

Feb 7, 2025, 06:18 PM ET Open Extended Reactions Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim said his side’s last-gasp winner against Leicester City in the FA Cup fourth-round showed the team believed until the final whistle, but it had “nothing to do with Fergie time.” In one sense, Friday night’s result brought a familiar feeling from

Open Extended Reactions MANCHESTER, England — Ruben Amorim will hope that one day, the FA Cup will slip down his list of priorities. Right now, though, with Manchester United languishing in the bottom half of the Premier League table, it’s offering some welcome respite for the under-pressure manager. Nothing is coming easy for Amorim at

Gustavo Hofman Feb 7, 2025, 04:10 PM ET Open Extended Reactions Real Madrid have approached Vinícius Júnior‘s agent to start talks about renewing his contract, a source has told ESPN. The Brazil forward’s contract at Madrid runs until June 2027. Typically, the Spanish club only begins negotiations on renewals with star players when they have

Open Extended Reactions Manchester City have included injured midfielder Rodri in their updated Champions League squad for the knockout phase while there are also places for new signings Omar Marmoush, Nico González and Abdukodir Khusanov. Vitor Reis, who also arrived in January in a €35 million ($36.2m) deal from Palmeiras, has been omitted. Marmoush, González

Open Extended Reactions LIVERPOOL, England — As the majority of Liverpool‘s players flocked to celebrate with Cody Gakpo after he had opened the scoring against Tottenham Hotspur, captain Virgil van Dijk had other ideas. Though there were only 34 minutes on the clock at Anfield when Liverpool drew level on aggregate in their Carabao Cup

Associated Press Feb 6, 2025, 10:58 AM ET Chelsea striker Sam Kerr denied that calling a police officer “white” was used as an insult as she was cross-examined in her trial on Thursday on a charge of racially aggravated harassment. Kerr, also the Australia captain, was speaking on the fourth day of the trial at

Open Extended Reactions Who did well and who struggled in the winter window? ESPN Illustration Welcome back to Onside/Offside! As we say goodbye to January, Luis Miguel Echegaray shares his thoughts on last month’s transfer window in the Premier League and assesses the clubs who failed and delivered. From Arsenal‘s hesitance to Manchester City‘s gung-ho approach,

Open Extended Reactions NEWCASTLE, England — The “never” men beat the “nearly” men. Newcastle United now stand a Carabao Cup final away from ending their interminable 56-year-old wait for a major trophy while questions grow about Arsenal‘s ability to cap their progress with silverware. There was an irresistible determination about Newcastle from the outset on

Feb 5, 2025, 09:29 AM ET Open Extended Reactions Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola faces a selection headache as he will need to leave out one of the club’s January signings from the Champions League knockout stages ahead of Thursday’s deadline. City, amid a prolonged run of poor form, spent €210 million ($219m) last month