Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman has joined other managers in lashing out at the packed European football calendar after deciding to rest Lionel Messi for Tuesday's Champions League trip to Dynamo Kyiv.
Barca lost Gerard Pique and Sergi Roberto to serious injuries in Saturday's 1-0 defeat by Atletico Madrid in LaLiga, leaving them with only three defenders in the first team squad for the trip to Ukraine.
Borussia Dortmund striker Erling Haaland has won the 2020 Golden Boy award after an impressive start at the Bundesliga club, Italian newspaper Tuttosport announced on Saturday.
As a cultured Texan, I used to spend my Thanksgivings watching Texas A&M play football against Texas. Alas, this tradition died when the Longhorns, upset over the Aggies leaving for a new conference, refused to continue the tradition with a nonconference game nearly 10 years ago. Instead, my Thanksgiving football tradition has been replaced by watching Arsenal play in the Europa League, for better or worse.
My favorite Thibaut Courtois moments are when he looks like Frankenstein’s monster, letting out a world-weary scream while the football rolls through his way-too-long-legs.
“Why would my creator make me like this?! All men hate the wretched; how, then, must I be hated, who am miserable beyond all living things!” Courtois can frequently be heard saying.
Pizza, pasta, wine, espresso, gelato — and now this Lorenzo Insigne assist vs Bosnia and Herzegovina. Italy truly is home to some of the most delicious dishes in the world.
Italy went into Wednesday needing a win over already relegated Bosnia in Sarajevo to ensure qualification for the Nations League Finals. Andrea Belotti put the Azzurri on track for all three points in the 22nd minute. But the finish was pure lava Hot Pocket waste compared to the sublime brick-oven pizza that was Insigne’s assist.
Northern Ireland has been relegated from Nations League B after Romania was awarded a 3-0 win over Norway for their canceled match on Sunday.
Norway's health ministry prevented the team from travelling to Bucharest and insisted they went into quarantine following a positive test for Galatasary right back Omar Elabdellaoui, forcing the game to be canceled.
The matter was submitted to the UEFA Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body, who confirmed that Norway had forfeited the match.
Germany coach Joachim Löw was at a loss to explain his side's humiliating 6-0 loss to Spain in the UEFA Nations League on Tuesday which caused them to miss out on a place in the competition's final four.
"I really don't know what happened to the team," Löw told reporters after Germany's heaviest defeat in 89 years and their worst in competitive football. "We had hardly any chances and we didn't win a single individual battle out on the pitch."
Olivier Giroud bagged a double as he showed his worth for France again to help the world champions beat Sweden 4-2 at home in the Nations League on Tuesday.
Giroud scored either side of Benjamin Pavard's first-half strike as Les Bleus recovered from Viktor Claesson's early opener. Sweden, who reduced the arrears through Robin Quaison before France's Kingsley Coman wrapped it up in stoppage time, were relegated into League B.
Spain forward Ferran Torres scored a first career hat-trick as his side crushed helpless Germany 6-0 at home on Tuesday to storm into the final four of the Nations League.
Goals from Alvaro Morata, Ferran and Rodri gave Luis Enrique's side a convincing 3-0 lead at halftime, while Ferran struck again early in the second half and completed his treble with a classy finish. Substitute Mikel Oyarzabal tapped in the sixth goal in the 89th minute to adorn an incredible Spain display and deepen four-time world champion Germany's misery.
Former Iran striker Ali Daei has said he would be honored to see Cristiano Ronaldo break his record for the most goals in international soccer as the Portugal forward moves closer to his tally of 109.
Ronaldo, the only other centurion in the men's international arena, has scored 102 goals in 168 appearances since his debut in 2003.