Trent Alexander-Arnold is on course to be available for Liverpool‘s upcoming clashes with Real Madrid and Manchester City after avoiding serious injury in his team’s 2-0 win over Aston Villa, sources have told ESPN.

The defender was substituted just 25 minutes into Saturday’s clash with Unai Emery’s side. However, scans have revealed he only suffered a low-grade hamstring injury, with his early withdrawal having limited the severity of the issue, according to sources.

The 26-year-old is therefore only expected to be sidelined for around two weeks and has not yet been ruled out of Liverpool’s next fixture away to Southampton on Nov. 24.

It is a huge boost for Arne Slot’s side, who face the European champions Madrid at Anfield on Nov. 27 before hosting City in the Premier League on Dec. 1.

Alexander-Arnold is set to miss England‘s upcoming UEFA Nations League games against the Republic of Ireland and Greece, having started each of the Three Lions’ last four games under interim head coach Lee Carsley.

The right-back’s future has been the subject of intense speculation over the past few months, with his Liverpool contract set to expire at the end of the season.

He has been heavily linked with a move to Real Madrid, and ESPN understands he is the Spanish club’s top defensive target following a season-ending injury to Dani Carvajal last month.

Sources told ESPN there is an understanding at Madrid that agreeing a deal with Liverpool in January would be difficult, meaning Alexander-Arnold is more likely join Carlo Ancelotti’s side as a free agent next summer.

The president of the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) has denied making contact with Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola over the men’s national team role.

Brazil are fourth in the CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying standings having lost four of their 10 games, with existing head coach Dorival Júnior taking over from Fernando Diniz in January 2024.

“Although he is one of the greatest coaches in the world, there was no involvement from the CBF to make any contact,” Ednaldo Rodrigues, CBF president, said to ESPN Brasil.

“We’ve been working with the coaching staff led by Dorival Júnior and we’re satisfied. Yes [Dorival continues], the point is that he has a contract, the CBF has until 2026, he goes until the World Cup … It’s up to him.”

Sources have told ESPN that CBF intermediaries have in the past sought information about Guardiola’s availability, the most recent contact being made in 2022, long before Dorival Júnior was chosen.

Guardiola’s future is up in the air as his contract with Man City expires at the end of the season.

He has led the club to four Premier League titles in a row and six of the last seven, as well as winning a Champions League in the 2022-23 season.

In October Guardiola told a news conference that he had yet to make a decision on his future while expressing sadness over the departure of City’s football director Txiki Begiristain.

Brazil take on Venezuela and Uruguay in the upcoming international break. The top six teams in the CONMEBOL standings qualify automatically for the 2026 World Cup, with the seventh-placed nation entering an inter-continental playoff.

Mikel Arteta has said he is “praying” for Arsenal to avoid further injury setbacks during this month’s international break after suffering an “absolute nightmare” with fitness problems this season.

The Arsenal boss cast doubt over Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice‘s availability for England’s UEFA Nations League matches against Greece and Republic of Ireland next week after the pair were unable to finish Sunday’s 1-1 Premier League draw at Chelsea.

Rice started despite suffering a broken toe a week earlier at Newcastle while Saka limped off nine minutes from time at Stamford Bridge with an unspecified problem.

Martin Ødegaard started his first Arsenal game since Aug. 31 after picking up an ankle injury on international duty with Norway while Gabriel Martinelli suffered a calf strain while away with Brazil last month.

Arsenal have been without Jurriën Timber, Thomas Partey, Ben White and Takehiro Tomiyasu among others at times this season and do not play again until hosting Nottingham Forest at Emirates Stadium on Nov. 23.

Arteta said: “What I’m praying is that after the international break we have the team fully physically equipped. That they are available and that they are fit because it’s been a nightmare for eight weeks.

“Doubt after doubt, issue after issue, not only with the ones that are not able to play, but with the ones who are able to play only for certain moments and not able to play.

“So I’m just asking that, because the desire the team has and how much we want it there’s no question. It’s going to come. We just need that on our side to be more consistent.”

Asked specifically about whether Saka and Rice would be able to play for England, Arteta replied: “It doesn’t look good, because for two players of that importance to tell you they cannot continue in the game, obviously it’s not good news.

“[They are] two players that just came off, I don’t know whether to expect them to be fit because if [they are] they don’t come off,” he said.

Arteta also plans to speak to Ødegaard before deciding whether he will join up with Norway this month. On Sunday, Martinelli opened the scoring on the hour mark with a close-range finish before Pedro Neto secured a point for Chelsea with a fine 20-yard drive ten minutes later.

Arteta rued Arsenal inability to close out a winning, losing a total of eight points this season from winning positions.

“That’s not very much like us,” he said. “I think today in that sense with the way we conceded, we have to fault ourselves.

“That’s something that we have to do better, especially when you’re not scoring two or three goals and, at the moment, we are not.”

Enzo Maresca is adamant Chelsea are on the verge of knocking over one of their title rivals after seeing his side draw 1-1 with Arsenal at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.

Chelsea are third in the Premier League, and had Pedro Neto‘s 70th minute goal to thank for their point against Arsenal after Gabriel Martinelli opened the score for the visitors after 60 minutes.

The result means Chelsea are still waiting for a statement win in the league under Maresca having fallen to defeats to both Manchester City and Liverpool.

But after their 1-1 draw with Arsenal, Maresca is confident Chelsea will soon get the elusive win over those teams at the top of the table.

“I said many times, do you think we deserve to lose to Liverpool? No. Very soon we will win these kinds of games — the performance is important as if you draw tonight and you didn’t play well, you would be happy. But look — Bournemouth away we didn’t deserve to win, and we did. Against Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest, we deserved to win, and we didn’t. Soon we will win — the performance was good.”

He added: “We are very happy. For me we are behind these kinds of clubs like City and Arsenal as they’ve worked every day with the same manager. We are behind them, but Chelsea is one of the biggest clubs in the world and we need to compete and try to win games. We tried to compete and very soon we will win these kinds of games.”

Chelsea started Cole Palmer after he picked up an injury against Manchester United last weekend after being on the wrong end of a robust challenge from Lisandro Martínez. He was seen limping after the draw with Arsenal, but Maresca allayed any concerns over his fitness ahead of the international break.

“I don’t think we took any risks,” Maresca said. “He was a doubt, but his performance was very good. He’s painful now, but it’s not something important.”

And Maresca said he had no concerns over Noni Madueke‘s reaction after the winger looked angry at being substituted in the 68th minute.

“The problem is when you change a player, they are never happy,” Maresca said. “Probably the only way to be happy is after a hat trick, but it’s not only about Noni, it’s about the players as they want to be there through to the end.

“At that moment [in the match] we saw a different way. We thought Pedro [Neto] with [Jurrien] Timber could be more aggressive — so it was a tactical decision.”

Barcelona coach Hansi Flick criticised the “wrong decision” to disallow Robert Lewandowski‘s goal for offside as his team were beaten 1-0 at Real Sociedad on Sunday in LaLiga.

Lewandowski thought he had opened the scoring at Anoeta in the 14th minute, but semi-automated offside technology (SAOT), introduced in Spain at the start of the season, ruled the striker’s toe was marginally ahead of La Real defender Nayef Aguerd‘s foot.

The hosts went on to win the game through Sheraldo Becker‘s strike, ending Barça’s seven-game winning streak in all competitions as Flick’s team failed to find the net in a game for the first time this season.

“It was the wrong decision, clear,” Flick told Barça One after the match. “I saw the picture. It’s clear, it’s clear, but we have to accept it.

“It was not the referee’s fault. At the end of the day, we are humans, we make mistakes, and today was a big mistake.”

SAOT is not used universally across Europe. Italy‘s Serie A was the first major league to implement it and there is a desire to introduce it in the Premier League, but its roll out in England has been delayed as testing continues.

Flick was adamant it failed in Lewandowski’s goal, airing his thoughts to the referee at half-time, although he played down the idea he had come across as “angry” in the discussion.

“It was not so angry,” he laughed in his post-game news conference. “I said only to him ‘It was a goal, it was wrong decision, it was not offside.’

“But it was not his fault. We have to accept it. Until there, with the 1-0 for us, it would be a different match. But at the end, it was different and it was not our day.

“At the end, it’s a defeat, but the matches before and after the last break were fantastic. I really appreciate the team and how they are doing.”

Barça’s second league defeat of the season also came with Lamine Yamal watching from the stands after bruising his ankle in the midweek Champions League victory over Red Star Belgrade.

The 17-year-old, who has six goals and eight assists in 16 appearances this season, did not start the last time Barça lost in LaLiga, either, against Osasuna in September.

“I think it would be an easy answer to say ‘OK, we lost because Lamine wasn’t there,'” Flick said when asked if it was just a coincidence they have lost both matches the teenager has not started.

“Of course a player like this quality Lamine has, every team will miss it. But at the end, we started good. I think the goal, what I can say it was wrong decision, absolutely, but we have to accept it.

“After the La Real goal we suffered a little bit. I think today was not our day, also in the offence we had not the clear chances to make goals. We made wrong decisions in the last third. We have to accept it today.”

Flick added that Barça’s and Spain’s doctors will now decide whether Yamal joins up with the national team for upcoming fixtures against Denmark and Switzerland in the UEFA Nations League.

The defeat to La Real sees Barça’s lead at the top of LaLiga cut to six points, while second-placed Real Madrid also have a game in hand. They return to action after the international break against Celta Vigo on Nov. 23.

Rúben Amorim is facing a further delay before officially starting as Manchester United‘s new head coach as the club await confirmation of his visa, a source has told ESPN.

United announced Amorim as their new boss on Nov. 1 “subject to work visa requirements.”

Amorim, 39, is set to arrive in Manchester on Monday, but a source has told ESPN he is still waiting for the official green light to start his employment. United are not expecting any issues with the paperwork.

However, until confirmation is received, Amorim cannot begin his official duties, including overseeing training sessions.

A number of players will not be at Carrington anyway after joining up with their national teams following the 3-0 win over Leicester at Old Trafford on Sunday. Players not called up for international duty have been given time off.

Amorim’s first game in charge will be against Ipswich Town at Portman Road on Nov. 24.

The Portuguese coach will take over from caretaker Ruud van Nistelrooy, who has overseen a run of four games unbeaten. His interim spell ended with a comfortable win over Leicester, and afterwards, he revealed he is still waiting to hear whether he will be part of Amorim’s backroom staff.

“I appreciated the clear communication of the club; it was an interim spell for a short term,” Van Nistelrooy said. “It could have been one or two games — they kept me in the loop — it was four, and for me, it was important to have that clarity.

“For me, the most important thing is the football club, and I am here to support that and I want to continue that. The communication was that after the block of four there will be communication towards you and your colleagues.”

Pep Guardiola is discovering the meaning of “crisis” at Manchester City. It is a new sensation for the 53-year-old manager, who has transformed the fortunes of every club he has coached and influenced football like no other in the modern game. But cracks are beginning to appear in his empire at the Etihad.

Saturday’s 2-1 Premier League loss at Brighton saw Guardiola suffer a fourth-consecutive defeat for the first time in his senior managerial career — a run dating back to 2008 when he started at Barcelona. Brighton’s win also marked City’s first four-game losing streak since 2006, two years before the club were taken over by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al Nahyan and his Abu Dhabi-backed billions.

Tottenham, Bournemouth, Sporting CP and Brighton have all beaten City in the space of 10 days, albeit in three different competitions — not quite the “four-in-a-row” that their fans have boasted about since winning a fourth-successive Premier League title last season.

It is always dangerous to write off a great champion and herald the start of their decline, but it comes to everyone, no matter the sport. The problem with an end of an era is that it is almost impossible to predict. The signs only become clear when you look back with hindsight and everything seems obvious. But if Guardiola was to take a glimpse over his shoulder at recent months, the signposts will be there.

“Today in the press conference I was asked if it was the end of the era,” Guardiola told reporters after the defeat at Brighton. “I know people want that. I smell it for many, many years. What we have done in these years, people have said it’s so difficult, but if somebody would like to beat us it is going to happen because in the next 50 years, we’re not going to win all the Premier Leagues. It’s impossible.”

In isolation, the pitfalls that have befallen City would not be enough to destabilise the team and raise questions over their ability to bounce back. But once you start to stack them up, the pressures and distractions of each one suddenly seem overwhelming.

The off-field battle against the Premier League’s 115 charges for breaching financial regulations — City vehemently deny all of them — has been a cloud over the club for months; one which has impacted on their ability to attract new players to the Etihad. Why? Because no top player would risk signing for a club facing potentially unprecedented financial penalties, a massive points deduction, or even expulsion from the Premier League.

The announcement in October that Txiki Begiristain will leave his post as director of football next summer after 13 years at the club was also a significant blow to Guardiola, who has worked in tandem with his close friend and former Barcelona teammate throughout his time as City manager. City announced that Begiristain will be replaced by Sporting CP’s Hugo Viana, but his exit has raised further questions over Guardiola’s future beyond the end of his contract which expires next June.

These issues are the slow, ominous drumbeat heard in the background, but events on the pitch are now turning up the volume to an uncomfortable level.

It is too simplistic to attribute all of City’s problems to the loss of defensive midfielder Rodri, after he suffered season-ending cruciate ligament injury against Arsenal in September. But the 28-year-old, who was recently crowned the 2024 Ballon d’Or winner, is a hugely important figure for City and the stats back that up.

Since the start of the 2023-24 season, and up to the Arsenal game, Rodri played in 53 games for City in all competitions and lost just one: the FA Cup final against Manchester United. When Rodri plays, their win percentage is 73.6%; without him, it drops to 58.3%.

However, City won six and drew one of the seven games that immediately followed Rodri’s injury, so they had found a way to play without the Spain international. But injuries to other key players like Kevin De Bruyne, John Stones, Manuel Akanji, Rúben Dias, Jack Grealish and Jérémy Doku have hit them hard through this season too.

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Is Man City’s Rodri replacement hiding in their own backline?

Janusz Michallik says Joško Gvardiol has all the attributes to be a success in Rodri’s role with the Ballon d’Or winner out injured.

City are arguably paying the price for offloading forward Julián Álvarez to Atletico Madrid in the summer without replacing him. Having only signed winger Savinho, from partner club Girona, and former midfield captain Ilkay Gündogan this summer, City failed to replenish their squad sufficiently, leaving them with a smaller number of first-team players than others in the Premier League.

Added to this is the fact that a number of key figures in Guardiola’s side are reaching the end of their careers: De Bruyne (33), Kyle Walker (34), Mateo Kovacic (30), Gündogan (34), Bernardo Silva (30), and Éderson (31) will all need to be replaced sooner rather than later.

One of the factors in Manchester United’s alarming decline following Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement in 2013 — after 13 Premier League titles in 20 years — was the age of his squad and the club’s failure to plan ahead with replacements for Patrice Evra, Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic, Michael Carrick and Paul Scholes.

The United team selected by Ferguson for his final home game as manager had an average age of 27.54; the XI who started City’s defeat at Brighton this weekend had an average age of 25.72. Though figure is skewed by the presence of two 19-year-olds in Rico Lewis and Premier League debutant Jahmai Simpson-Pusey.

Man City and Guardiola are fighting fires on several fronts, on and off the pitch, and the impact is being shown in their recent results. But they have too much quality to be written off. They are only five points behind leaders Liverpool and are due to travel to Anfield on Dec. 1, so City can still rescue their season.

“When the players come back, I don’t have any doubt that we will be back to our best,” Guardiola said after the Brighton defeat. But for the first time since arriving at City, and maybe for the first time in his managerial career, Guardiola might be trying to convince himself and his players of that message as much as he is attempting to prove it to everybody else.

Did you ever have a nightmare that seemed so real it took every fiber of your being to wrench yourself back into consciousness, at which point the relief that it was just a dream washes over you? Then imagine what MLS commissioner Don Garber and the folks at MLS HQ are experiencing right now. Except in their case, there is no waking up from their worst-case MLS Cup playoff scenario.

Inter Miami and its band of stars — including Lionel Messi — were eliminated from the postseason by Atlanta United, 3-2; their chance at a Supporters’ Shield and MLS Cup double turned to dust by a heroic effort on all fronts from the Five Stripes.

At the MLS Cup final in December, there will be no opportunities for Inter Miami and MLS to party in South Beach, Miami Beach or even Ft. Lauderdale Beach. The chance to attract celebrities to the league’s signature event is vastly diminished now that the chances of Messi gracing the event are zero. (Though if Los Angeles ends up hosting the final that will ease the sting a bit.) And more importantly, the viewership for the rest of the playoffs on Apple TV is bound to take a massive hit given the crater-like hole Miami’s elimination has created.

When asked how the Miami locker room was after the match, manager Tata Martino said: “Sad … as one should be when there are so many expectations, and the team cannot meet them. In this last part of the year we get used to achieving the objectives that we set for ourselves and we have not been able to achieve the most important one.”

But honor is due to Atlanta. The Five Stripes were deserving of their win and were by no means intimidated by their opponents. They are now playing with a truckload of house money.

Just how big an “MLSCupset” was this? The fact that the Supporters’ Shield winners were ousted isn’t that unusual in the MLS postseason. Only four teams in the past 20 years have managed to pull off a Shield/MLS Cup double. Upsets are common as well. The bracket in the Eastern Conference has been blown wide open this year, with the second-seeded Columbus Crew and third-seeded FC Cincinnati also eliminated.

That said, Atlanta’s triumph is easily the biggest shock in MLS postseason history. The Five Stripes transferred two of its biggest stars — Thiago Almada and Giorgos Giakoumakis — in midseason. They then barely squeezed into the playoffs on the last day of the regular season thanks to a 2-1 road win over Orlando — the opponent in the next round — combined with the Philadelphia Union and D.C. United both losing. That allowed Atlanta to finish ninth in the 15-team Eastern Conference, and a whopping 34 points behind Messi’s side. Then Atlanta had to survive a penalty shootout in the play-in round against CF Montreal. Atlanta was given next to no chance of getting past Miami, with its cast of stars and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.

All seemed to be going according to plan in Game 1, when Miami prevailed 2-1 at home. But Atlanta’s 2-1 win at Mercedes-Benz Stadium last Saturday, thanks to a late winner from Xande Silva, kept them alive and then they finished the job in Ft. Lauderdale thanks to a pair of goals from Jamal Thiaré, some stellar goalkeeping from Brad Guzan and a 76th-minute winner from Bartosz Slisz.

All of this was accomplished under the leadership of interim manager Rob Valentino, who in postmatch interviews projected a vibe akin to a young Bob Bradley, complete with a steely visage and bald head. If Atlanta goes in a different direction for its permanent manager, Valentino should make sure his phone is on and fully charged. Given the way he’s resurrected Atlanta’s season, some team is bound to take interest.

As for Saturday’s festivities, how precisely, did Atlanta get this done?

“Grinding, believing, resilience. I don’t know,” Guzan told Apple TV. “There’s some fairy dust in our locker room, man. And I couldn’t be more proud of our guys.”

Valentino added: “You can see the emotion in the players. We’ve got the ownership there, everybody. There’s been some tough times in the club and I’m happy that everybody’s getting a little bit of joy. But I hope we’re not done now.”

Miami is done, and in some respects only have themselves to blame. The team’s defense was suspect all season; only once in the past 20 years had a Supporters’ Shield winner conceded more goals than the 49 goals the Herons let in. (That was Seattle’s 50 back in 2014.)

But Miami was usually able to bury teams with an avalanche of creativity, led by the likes of Messi and Luis Suárez. Not this time, despite Matías Rojas putting Miami ahead in the 17th minute, as Thiaré got Atlanta on top with a pair of goals in a span of two minutes, and Miami knew it had a fight on its hands.

There also appeared to be something deeper at work. After claiming an MLS record 74 points in the regular season, the Herons seemed to have difficulty wrapping their collective head around that this, by itself, wasn’t enough to be crowned league champion. Instead, it had to go through the hard slog of a postseason. Intuitive to someone from Europe? No. But in MLS it’s reality. Miami seemed unable to accept this.

“This format seems a little unfair to me,” Miami defender Jordi Alba said. “It is clear that it has been done this way for many years, but if you ask me, I think that if it were up to me, I would have it be the champion of one conference against the champion of the other, to make it as fair as possible.”

On the field, Miami’s composure began to fray, with Suarez up to his old dark-arts antics. Even when Messi tied the match at 2-2 with a 65th-minute header, Leo Campana shoved goalkeeper Guzan into his own net in the aftermath. Miami was playing on the edge, but Atlanta had no compunctions about engaging in a street fight.

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Atlanta scores 2 goals in 2 minutes to take lead vs. Inter Miami

Atlanta’s Jamal Thiaré nets a pair of goals to give United the lead over Inter Miami.

The capper came on Slisz’s game winner. With Miami defender Tomás Avilés down with an apparent injury, the rest of the Miami players switched off, thinking that Atlanta or the referee would stop play. — Martino said afterward that Miami had done just that during Game 2 in Atlanta — but that kind of professional courtesy, once common, simply can’t be taken for granted these days. The old adage of playing to the whistle was ignored. Atlanta carried on, as is their right, and with Miami’s defenders half asleep, Slisz’s thumping header from Pedro Amador’s cross easily beat Drake Callender.

What bordered on ironic overload was that two of the key architects of Atlanta’s win were a pair of lunch-bucket guys, long-time MLS veterans in midfielder Dax McCarty and Guzan. McCarty, who recently announced his intention to retire at the end of this season, assisted on both of Thiaré’s goals and ran the show in midfield until fatigue set in at the 60th minute. In fact, Atlanta looked a little wobbly in the minutes after he left the match. Guzan delivered seven saves, some of the spectacular variety that angered Suarez. It’s a reminder that for all of the star power the likes of Messi and Suarez have brought to the league, winning an MLS Cup still requires some local knowledge as well.

Afterward, Guzan was hugging everyone in sight; McCarty settled for his two children. Martino and the Miami players were left to rue a missed opportunity.

“The comparison of the last game of last season, back in October with today’s third game in the playoffs and this bitterness that we all have for not having passed, is clear that the club’s objectives have been modified and I think there is no reason for the club not to continue trying next year,” the Miami manager said. “What happened this year, the bad and the good in general have been better than everything that happened last year and I would say even from the [beginning] that the club has.”

That is a generous reading of the situation given how Miami fell short in the face of high expectations. There is something else to think about as well: Messi has but one year left on his contract. While he always could extend his deal, the clock is ticking, not only on Messi’s time in South Florida, but for the league’s ability to capitalize on his presence.

Meanwhile, Atlanta’s championship dreams are still very much alive.

Jude Bellingham blamed a change in his Real Madrid role for his lack of goals this season after scoring his first of the campaign in Saturday’s 4-0 LaLiga win over Osasuna.

The England midfielder found the net in the 42nd minute at the Bernabéu — running onto a long ball from defender Raúl Asencio and lobbing goalkeeper Sergio Herrera — while Vinícius Júnior also scored a hat trick, although the victory was marred by injuries to Éder Militão, Rodrygo and Lucas Vázquez.

Prior to Saturday, Bellingham’s last goal for Madrid was scored at the end of the 2023-24 campaign on May 14. He scored 19 league goals last season.

“I felt like I did what I normally do,” Bellingham told Real Madrid TV after Saturday’s game. “But the only difference is that I managed to add a goal. A lot of people were talking about it because last year I scored loads of goals, but I think I’m playing a different role this year.

“I’m doing different things in different parts of the pitch. It’s one of those things, I’ll do anything for the team. Maybe I’ve done a bit too much and been a little bit too nice. From now on I think I’ll get a feeling for it and I’ll try to carry on but if not I’ll keep trying to help the team in any way I can.”

Madrid’s fans have supported Bellingham despite his lack of goals, and the player received a standing ovation when he was substituted in the 75th minute.

“I still feel like the most privileged person in the world to play for this club, even in the bad times, I’m still grateful to be here,” Bellingham said. “Coming off with that ovation, I felt really proud. That’s who you do it for. You want people to go home happy. It’s a really good feeling.”

Bellingham praised teammate Vinícius, whose hat trick made it eight goals in 12 LaLiga appearances for the Brazil forward, having missed out on the Ballon d’Or last week.

“He has such a strong mentality,” Bellingham said. “We get on well, on and off the pitch. I’m proud of how he conducts himself. He’s a leader for us. When he has those kind of games he’s pretty unstoppable.”

Jordi Alba criticized the Major League Soccer postseason format, labeling the system “unfair,” after Inter Miami was eliminated by Atlanta United when falling 3-2 at Chase Stadium on Saturday night in the decisive third match of the round one best-of-three playoff series.

Alba participated in the postseason for the first time this season, after Inter Miami failed to qualify in 2023 when concluding the season in 14th place in the Eastern Conference.

“It was a good season, but what we wanted was to win this more. In my opinion, I am not the one who is going to change now. This format seems a little unfair to me,” he said after the game.

“It is clear that it has been done this way for many years, but if you ask me, if it were up to me, I would have to be the champion of one conference against the champion of the other, to make it as fair as possible, that’s how it is. I repeat, congratulations to the rival team. I think they competed very well against us, they knew their weapons, the goalkeeper was spectacular and good, I think that is what clearly marked the difference.”

The 2024 MLS playoff format sees teams compete in a best-of-three series before moving on to a knockout style for the conference semifinals, finals and MLS Cup.

Inter Miami initially defeated Atlanta on October 25 at Chase Stadium before going on to lose the second match at Mercedes-Benz Stadium to tie the series and force a decisive third game. Despite boasting dominant statistics and goals from Lionel Messi and Matías Rojas, the Herons struggled to overcome the team led by goalkeeper Brad Guzan.

“Today I think we have been superior, we have dominated, but they attacked four times and they scored three goals. And well, there’s things to correct, clearly,” Alba said.

Inter Miami qualified to the playoffs after concluding the 2024 MLS campaign as leaders of the Eastern Conference, and clinched home-field advantage by winning the Supporters’ Shield. The team also managed to break the league record for most points recorded in a single season.

Still, head coach Gerardo Martino revealed he would not label this season a success. “No, success, no. When one is eliminated here in the quarterfinals, no. It had good things; it had bad things,” he said in the post-match news conference.

“If you think about where we were in November last year, obviously there is progress as far as the club is concerned, not just the team. If you think about the expectations we had for these playoffs, obviously we have fallen short.”

The team now heads into the offseason and will shift its focus to building out a roster for the 2025 campaign.

United States men’s national team manager Mauricio Pochettino has named a 25-player roster to compete in the Concacaf Nations League quarterfinals this week against Jamaica.

Among those included are AC Milan‘s Christian Pulisic and the Juventus duo of Weston McKennie and Timothy Weah.

The quarterfinal matchup will be contested over two legs, with the first leg to be played in Kingston, Jamaica on Nov. 14, and the second leg contested in St. Louis four days later. In 10 meetings in Jamaica, the U.S. has a record of 3-1-6.

Players will report to the camp on Sunday and Monday, with the team departing Wednesday afternoon for Jamaica.

Pochettino will have a greater number of first-choice players available compared to last month’s international window, the Argentine’s first in charge. Weah is recalled for the first time since his red card against Panama in the Copa América, and his subsequent suspension will carry over into the first leg in Kingston.

Other returnees include Crystal Palace defender Chris Richards, Fulham defender Antonee Robinson and Real Betis midfielder Johnny Cardoso. Pochettino will also get his first looks at Barcelona Atletic goalkeeper Diego Kochen and CD Guadalajara forward Cade Cowell.

However, a host of regulars miss out for the U.S. with fitness concerns. Bournemouth midfielder Tyler Adams just recently returned to play after a lengthy injury layoff due to back surgery. Monaco forward Folarin Balogun continues to recover from a separated shoulder, while Norwich City striker Josh Sargent recently underwent groin surgery that is set to sideline him for up to eight weeks. Coventry City’s Haji Wright also suffered an ankle injury late in Sunday’s match against Sunderland.

The injuries to Balogun, Sargent and Wright mean plenty of eyes will be on the group of forwards which in addition to Cowell includes PSV Eindhoven’s Ricardo Pepi and Monterrey FC’s Brandon Vasquez.

The roster does seem light on outside defenders, with just Robinson and Joe Scally having extensive experience in those roles. That hints that Pochettino may resort to playing with three defenders plus wingbacks, though Richards and Charlotte FC defender Tim Ream have played played at outside back in the past in a four-back system.

The USMNT is aiming to win its fourth straight CNL, having previously claimed every edition of the tournament since the first final was held in 2021.

USMNT Nov. training camp roster:

Goalkeepers: Diego Kochen (FC Barcelona Atletic), Patrick Schulte (Columbus Crew), Zack Steffen (Colorado Rapids), Matt Turner (Crystal Palace)

Defenders: Mark McKenzie (Toulouse), Tim Ream (Charlotte FC), Chris Richards (Crystal Palace), Antonee Robinson (Fulham), Miles Robinson (FC Cincinnati), Joe Scally (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Auston Trusty (Celtic)

Midfielders: Brenden Aaronson (Leeds United), Gianluca Busio (Venezia), Johnny Cardoso (Real Betis), Weston McKennie (Juventus), Aidan Morris (Middlesbrough), Yunus Musah (AC Milan), Tanner Tessmann (Lyon), Malik Tillman (PSV Eindhoven)

Forwards: Cade Cowell (Guadalajara), Ricardo Pepi (PSV Eindhoven), Christian Pulisic (AC Milan), Brandon Vázquez (Monterrey), Tim Weah (Juventus), Alex Zendejas (Club América)

Eintracht Frankfurt midfielder Hugo Larsson is being monitored by Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal, while Manchester City are plotting an audacious January move for Martín Zubimendi. Join us for the latest transfer news, rumors, and gossip from around the globe.

Transfers homepage | Done deals | Men’s grades | Women’s grades

TOP STORIES

– Real Madrid suffer triple injury blow; Militão tears ACL– De Zerbi threatens to quit Marseille amid poor home form– Tottenham want to work with South Korea on Son fitness

TRENDING RUMORS

– Liverpool, Spurs and Arsenal are monitoring the progress of highly rated Eintracht Frankfurt midfielder Hugo Larsson, Florian Plettenberg reports. The 20-year-old has impressed at the German club since joining from Malmö FF in 2023. Despite attracting strong interest from the Premier League and other Bundesliga clubs, Larsson reportedly feels “comfortable” in Frankfurt having recently extended his contract at the club, which runs until 2029.

– Manchester City could try and tempt Martín Zubimendi into a January move, Football Insider reports. The Real Sociedad midfielder previously rejected a transfer to Liverpool but has since had second thoughts over that decision. As such, City are poised to test the Spaniard’s resolve this winter, as they aim to sign a midfielder to deputize for the injured Rodri. Zubimendi, 25, has made 15 appearances for Real Sociedad this season, starting in all but one of those games.

– Bayer Leverkusen and Union Berlin are ready to make a move for winger Reiss Nelson, says Ekrem Konur. The 24-year-old is currently on loan at Fulham from Arsenal, but could well be on the move once he returns to his parent club next summer. Nelson is no stranger to the Bundesliga, having scored seven times in 23 games for Hoffenheim during a 2018-19 loan spell.

– Kepa Arrizabalaga has a £5 million release clause in his Chelsea contract that is expected to become active at the end of the season, the Daily Mail reports. The Spain international is currently on loan at AFC Bournemouth but has been in and out of Andoni Iraola’s starting XI of late. Kepa isn’t expected to be in the hunt for the No. 1 jersey when he returns to Stamford Bridge next summer, as Robert Sánchez and Filip Jørgensen remain firmly ahead of him in the pecking order.

– Manchester City are set to hold a crucial meeting with Pep Guardiola next week regarding a possible contract renewal at the club, Relevo claims. While some reports have suggested the Spaniard will step away from the club at the end of his current deal, it now seems that Guardiola will extend for another season. According to the report, next week’s meeting will finalize negotiations for the one-year extension, keeping him in Manchester until the summer of 2026.

LIVERPOOL, England — Head coach Arne Slot has turned back the clock to 2019 at Liverpool. Eleven games into the Premier League season, Jürgen Klopp’s successor has made such an impact at Anfield that his team are pulling clear of the chasing pack and threatening to cruise to the title.

Saturday’s 2-0 home win against Aston Villa moved the Reds five points clear at the top of the table heading into the international break, the same margin they built at the top after 11 games during the club’s title-winning season in 2019-20.

But while some things are the same, there are also big differences and if Slot’s team are to emulate the 2019-20 side this season, it will look more like a team managed by Jose Mourinho than the swashbuckling team built by Klopp.

Slot’s approach is all about control. Klopp’s team would score and keep their foot on the pedal, but Slot’s Liverpool apply the handbrake. The new Liverpool might be a little less exciting than Klopp’s so-called “mentality monsters,” but 15 wins from 17 games in all competitions so far this season suggests that Slot’s way can be just as successful as Klopp’s.

But the new Liverpool head coach is as measured when speaking as his team are when playing and when asked about his team’s title chances, he pointed to the pitfalls that might yet be ahead: particularly with testing league games against Manchester City at Anfield, and away matches to both Newcastle United and Everton over the next month.

“If I look at the games that are ahead they are tough,” Slot said. “It will be a tough season in general. Margins are small, we have a margin, but it is small. Many challenges to come for us.”

Liverpool midfielder Alexis Mac Allister was less cautious than Slot, however, when asked whether the club were title contenders.

“If we are top of the league by five points then it means something,” Mac Allister told TNT Sports. “But we have to go step by step. If you asked me before the season started, I would not say we were candidates but now it looks like we are.”

With last season’s top two — City and Arsenal — out of form and falling off the pace, Liverpool are at least taking advantage of the slips of their rivals.

In 2019, Klopp’s Liverpool set a breathtaking pace at the top by registering 10 wins and a draw from their first 11 games, scoring 25 goals and conceding nine. This time around, they have managed nine wins, a draw and a defeat, scoring 21 goals, but conceding only six. Yet they still lead by five points, with struggling champions City their closest challengers in second position.

Against Villa, Liverpool had chances to score more than the two goals they managed through Darwin Núñez and Mohamed Salah — both from rapid counterattacks. But rather than attack in waves as they did under Klopp, Liverpool took the pace out of the game once they went ahead by playing deeper, keeping the ball and inviting Villa to try to break through.

At times, Unai Emery’s team went close and Liverpool goalkeeper Caoimhín Kelleher produced two stunning reflex saves inside 30 seconds to keep out headers from Amadou Onana and Pau Torres in the first half. But for the majority of the game, Liverpool were in control and it was on the counterattack that they looked most dangerous.

“It wasn’t easy like most of our games have been now,” Slot said. “Villa were maybe not as aggressive as we thought they would be, but we were patient. In general, we had control over the game and scored from two counterattacks, which is maybe not what we would expect.”

Klopp’s team had the attacking pace to beat teams on the counterattack, but they were set up to win possession in the opponent’s half and use it with devastating effect. Slot doesn’t have a Sadio Mané or Roberto Firmino in his squad and Salah is now five years older. The Egypt international remains a potent force, but not even his most ardent supporter would suggest he is at the same level as he was in 2019.

Yet, Salah is still a creator and scorer. He made the first goal for Núñez and scored his own late in the game, while Luis Díaz is a key part of Slot’s front line. However, it is the central defensive axis of Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konaté, in tandem with midfielders Mac Allister and Ryan Gravenberch, that give Liverpool their grip on games.

And that is the most obvious difference from Klopp’s team. Slot’s side dictated games from the centre of the pitch while Klopp’s team did it from the attacking third.

But there are many different ways to win a league title and Slot’s blueprint has given Liverpool a healthy lead at this early stage of the season. There will be difficulties ahead, and the next batch of fixtures will be a stern test of Liverpool’s credentials, but make no mistake, they are now the team to beat.

City will come back, and they might do so by denting Liverpool’s challenge when they travel to Anfield on Dec. 1, but Slot’s team are the real deal and they will go into that game as favourites.

NWSL Golden Boot winner Temwa Chawinga scored the Kansas City Current‘s lone goal in a 1-0 quarterfinal victory over the North Carolina Courage on Saturday at CPKC Stadium.

Chawinga also hit the ground and stayed there several times in the match, something that drew criticism from Current head coach Vlatko Andonovski after the victory.

“It wasn’t just this game. If you look at the season, every game they’re overly physical against her,” Andonovski said. “It’s not fair for Temwa. They’re targeting her. They’re going directly at her. And I just hope that as we go forward, she gets more protection from the referees.”

Chawinga was on her back deep into second-half stoppage time after a tackle by Courage reserve Bianca St-Georges, who then stood over Chawinga with her hands in the air and appeared to yell something at the Current forward.

Kansas City defender Ellie Wheeler rushed over and shoved St-Georges in the back, resulting in yellow cards for Wheeler and St-Georges.

“I think [Chawinga] has a lot of attention on her,” Current midfielder Vanessa DiBernardo said. “And just, I think when we see that happen over and over again, and her not get the calls that she should be getting, it gets frustrating, and you want to protect her and stand up for her.

“She does so much for us, offensively and defensively, and we really want to stick together and show up for our teammates, especially in moments like that.”

The Courage were whistled for just one foul on Chawinga during the game, per the NWSL’s official statistics.

Kansas City’s win sets up a much anticipated semifinal meeting next week with the Orlando Pride, the NWSL Shield winners and No. 1 seed.

Chawinga opened the scoring in the eighth minute on Saturday, finishing a counterattack on the fourth shot of a chaotic sequence. Her initial shot was saved by Courage goalkeeper Casey Murphy before Kansas City forward Debinha put the rebound off the post. The ball bounced off the post and back to Chawinga, whose next shot was blocked by North Carolina defender Kaleigh Kurtz. But the ball came back to Chawinga again for an empty-net tap-in.

“That was their one really bright moment,” Courage head coach Sean Nahas said. “We just gave the ball away cheaply in the first 10 minutes for whatever reason, but I felt once the game settled in, and we dictated it later in the first half, we just couldn’t muster final chances. We had the one that was called back — probably the right call — but we were never able really to get behind and that’s just been the story of our season.”

Nahas said his team, especially Kurtz, “did a fantastic job with Chawinga today.”

Chawinga entered the match listed as questionable due to a knee injury that caused her to miss last week’s regular-season finale. She scored 20 goals in the regular season, breaking the single-season NWSL record (previously 18, held by Sam Kerr).

After conceding the goal, the Courage dominated on the ball, finishing the game with 65% possession. North Carolina forward Kerolin, last year’s league MVP, started and played 75 minutes in the loss after missing last week’s game with muscle tightness.

But Kerolin’s return wasn’t enough to solve the Courage’s season-long scoring troubles. She came off the field in the 75th minute, 10 minutes after leading scorer Ashley Sanchez was removed from the match.

“We had to make a few changes just to throw numbers higher up the field, and obviously it didn’t work out,” Nahas said. “But you have to go for it, whether you lose 1-0 or 5-0, at that stage, it doesn’t matter. But we weren’t really providing anything dynamic in the final third.”

The Current finished the regular season 16 points clear of North Carolina despite being separated by one place in the standings.

Kansas City now travels to face an Orlando team that started the season unbeaten through 23 games and trounced the Chicago Red Stars 4-1 in Friday’s quarterfinal.

The Pride defeated the Current in Kansas City in June in a battle of unbeatens before the teams played to a scoreless draw in Orlando in September.

“Orlando showed in this season that they’re the best team, no question,” Andonovski said. “All we can do is congratulate them for a great season. But for us, we know that it’s going to be a hard task. We’re gonna enjoy today and tomorrow we’re gonna start preparing for Orlando.”

Pep Guardiola is enduring the worst statistical run of his managerial career after Manchester City lost their fourth straight game on Saturday.

Brighton came from behind to beat the English champions 2-1 in the Premier League to leave second-placed City five points behind leaders Liverpool.

City hadn’t lost four games in a row in all competitions since 2006 — two years before the Abu Dhabi takeover of the club and 10 years before Guardiola’s game-changing arrival on the blue side of Manchester.

As for Guardiola, widely regarded as the world’s best coach, he had never lost four straight matches anywhere in his illustrious time in management that began in 2007.

The closest he had come was in the 2014-15 season when, at Bayern Munich, his team lost in a penalty shootout in the German Cup followed by three straight defeats — two in the Bundesliga, when Bayern had already clinched the title, and once in the Champions League.

So, Guardiola was asked, is this the end of the era, after leading City to an unprecedented four straight top-flight league titles?

“It’s what the people want, right?” he posed. “That’s normal — we won a lot. I would just like to have all the squad [available].”

That won’t be happening anytime soon considering star centre-midfielder Rodri, this year’s Ballon d’Or winner, is out for the season with an ACL injury. Guardiola also had his best four centre-backs — Rúben Dias, John Stones, Manuel Akanji and Nathan Aké — unavailable, while playmaker Kevin De Bruyne is clearly not sharp or fit enough on his return from injury.

“When we play bad, I am the first to say, ‘Oh, oh, I don’t like it.’ But I don’t have that feeling,” Guardiola said.

Indeed, City were dominant in the first half and went in front when Erling Haaland scored his league-leading 12th goal of the campaign.

However, as in the 4-1 loss at Sporting in the Champions League on Tuesday, City couldn’t sustain its level in the second half and Brighton fought back, with Joao Pedro equalizing in the 78th and setting up Matt O’Riley for the winner in the 83rd on his Premier League debut.

City’s losing run started at Tottenham in the Carabao Cup last week, before a 2-1 defeat at Bournemouth in the league — their first league defeat in 11 months.

For Guardiola, it’s simple. City’s squad cannot cope with all its injuries while the fixtures are coming thick and fast.

“We cannot do it every three days, three days, four days, three days with the [injury] situation we have,” he said, adding with an air of desperation, “I would love to have the players [back].”

Captain Kyle Walker was more blunt on what Man City need to reverse their slump.

“It’s down to us as a group of players to make sure that we’re fighting for this great club,” he told Sky Sports. “It’s tough to take, and I can assure you everyone wants to turn it around as quickly as possible.”

Information from The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

RB Leipzig make their stance on Benjamin Sesko regarding a possible move away, while Barcelona want to land Bayern Munich left-back Alphonso Davies. Join us for the latest transfer news, rumors, and gossip from around the globe.

Transfers homepage | Done deals | Men’s grades | Women’s grades

TOP STORIES

– Real Madrid eye January deals amid Trent Alexander-Arnold interest – sources– NYCFC coach Nick Cushing denies links to Arsenal– San Diego makes Byars NWSL’s 1st NCAA signing since end of draft

TRENDING RUMORS

– Barcelona manager Hansi Flick wants to bring Bayern Munich left-back Alphonso Davies to the club, according to Bild journalist Christian Falk. Davies, 24, is a free agent in the summer and is reportedly keen for a new challenge. Real Madrid currently lead the race to sign the Canada international, but Manchester United are also interested and the pair could make a €50m offer to sign him in January. Bayern are also keen to start talks over a new deal, but the lure of playing under his former manager Flick could see him head to Camp Nou.

– Benjamin Sesko doesn’t have a release clause in his RB Leipzig contract, but he does have a “gentleman’s agreement” with the club over a potential exit next summer, Sky Sports Deutschland reports. The 21-year-old already has seven goals this season and has recently been linked with several Premier League sides, including Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea. Though the German club are not contractually obliged to let Šeško depart next summer, there is said to be an understanding that he is free to leave if an interested club submits an offer worth €70m-€75m.

– Contrary to talk of a contract termination, Neymar is set to remain at Al Hilal until next summer, reports Florian Plettenberg. Reports have recently suggested that the Saudi club are preparing to cut his time short, but the Brazilian superstar is “unaware of any such developments.” The 32-year-old is currently sidelined for six to eight weeks because of a muscle injury. But Plettenberg asserts Neymar’s main goal remains to participate in the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

– Manchester City are “seriously interested” in AC Milan midfielder Tijjani Reijnders, reports Calciomercato. The Italian outlet also links Barcelona and Real Madrid with the player, who has turned plenty of heads this season with his performances in the UEFA Champions League. The 26-year-old is likely to cost more than €60m next summer, having only joined Milan in 2023. Despite his current deal running until 2028, the Serie A club are in the process of negotiating a contract extension.

– Newcastle United are working on a deal to sign highly rated Sevilla centre-back Loïc Badé, Football Insider reports. The report suggests that Badé has been identified as an alternative to Marc Guéhi, whom the Magpies unsuccessfully attempted to sign in the summer. The France international could be available for as little as £30m, less than half of what Newcastle were prepared to spend on Guéhi back in August. Crucially, Sevilla are struggling financially and could be tempted to accept significant offers for Badé in an attempt to raise funds.

EXPERT TAKE

play

How Hansi Flick has silenced his critics at Barcelona

Jurgen Klinsmann joins “ESPN FC” to give his thoughts on Hansi Flick’s fantastic start at Barcelona.

ESPN’s Barcelona correspondent Sam Marsden explores why the club might be looking at Bayern Munich left-back Alphonso Davies.

Davies arguably played his best football at Bayern when Hansi Flick was in charge, so a reunion with his former coach at Barcelona would understandably be tempting. With his contract up in the summer, it also makes sense that all of Europe’s top clubs would be interested in landing one of the best left-backs in the game as a free agent.

Barça are among those clubs keen to strengthen in the full-back position. Jules Kounde has been converted from centre-back to right-back and young Alejandro Balde has returned from an injury layoff to reclaim the left-back role. The cover comes from two relatively untested players in Hector Fort and Gerard Martín. So you can see why Barça want to grow their full-back pool.

However, signing Davies also brings complications. Balde, at 21, is constantly improving and the arrival of the Canada international could halt his progression. The competition could help both players in the short-term, but it feels unsustainable in the long-term as both will want to be the No. 1 choice.

Barça are also keeping close tabs on young left-back Alex Valle, who is out on loan at Celtic, and his chances of making the grade would decrease if Davies signs. What seems like a no-brainer — signing a brilliant player who previously excelled under Flick for no cost — is not as simple as it appears on paper. And that’s before you add in the potential competition from Real Madrid, Manchester United and others.

OTHER RUMORS

Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga could leave Chelsea for £5m next summer due to a release clause in his contract, meaning they would make a £66.6m loss on his £71.6m transfer from Athletic Club in 2018. (The Athletic)

Real Madrid’s 19-year-old midfield star Arda Guler is frustrated about his game time and could be looking to move away if things don’t improve. (Marca)

Tottenham defender Cristian Romero would halt talks over a new contract if Real Madrid were interested in signing him in 2025. (GMS)

Arsenal, Brighton and Bayer Leverkusen are keen on Red Star Belgrade’s 17-year-old defender Strahinja Stojkovic, after his impressive UEFA Youth League performances. (Ekrem Konur)

Atalanta defensive midfielder Ederson is on Pep Guardiola’s radar as Manchester City struggle with injuries. (iNews)

Arsenal want 17-year-old midfielder Ethan Nwaneri to sign a new contract now he has established himself in the first team. (TEAMtalk)

Christopher Nkunku is not planning on leaving Chelsea in January. However, if the France international’s current situation at Stamford Bridge doesn’t improve then a departure next summer could become a “possibility.” (Florian Plettenberg).

Bayern Munich have signed United States under-17 international Bajung Darboe from MLS side LAFC. The Bundesliga giants are set to pay a fee of $1.5m for the just-turned-18-year-old forward, who previously trained with the German club back in 2022. Darboe is yet to feature for the LAFC first team, although he has played 14 times for LAFC 2 in MLS Next Pro. (Tom Bogert)

Everton defender Jarrad Branthwaite is open to leaving the club in January. The 22-year-old has been heavily linked with Manchester United and Liverpool in recent months, with the former having a number of bids rejected in the summer. (Ekrem Konur)

Ex-Borussia Dortmund star Mats Hummels could return to Germany in January after a disappointing start to the season with Roma. The 35-year-old defender has been in Italy for just a few months, but has found game time hard to come by under Ivan Jurić. (Corriere dello Sport)

However, former Manchester City and Italy manager Roberto Mancini is a candidate to replace Ivan Juric as Roma boss. If Juric fails to secure a win for Roma against Bologna on Sunday, the Croatian could well face the sack. (Nicolo Schira).

Celtic’s 18-year-old striker Daniel Cummings is being tracked by several English clubs amid a contract standoff at Parkhead that could see him leave the club for a minimal compensation fee of €310,000. (Football Insider)

Villarreal and Zenit are interested in AC Milan forward Luka Jovic, who has one year left on his deal. (Ekrem Konur)

Schalke are in talks to sign former Borussia Dortmund striker Anthony Modeste. The 36-year-old is currently a free agent, having last been under contract with Egyptian giants Al Ahly. (Florian Plettenberg)

The Brazilian Football Confederation is making a “major play” to recruit Man City boss Pep Guardiola as the country’s new men’s head coach. (The Athletic)

Napoli’s Giovanni Simeone remains an option for several clubs around Europe, including Torino, Fiorentina, Lazio, Genoa, Atalanta, Galatasaray and Real Betis. (Ekrem Konur)

Éder Militão, Rodrygo and Lucas Vázquez all had to be substituted during Real Madrid‘s 4-0 LaLiga win over Osasuna on Saturday, adding to the club’s extensive injury list.

Vinícius Júnior scored a hat trick for Madrid, and Jude Bellingham netted his first goal of the season, but the victory was soured by the triple injury blow to Militão, Rodrygo and Vázquez.

“It was a good game, we controlled it well from the start,” coach Carlo Ancelotti said in his post-match news conference. “From when we opened the scoring, the team looked good. The shame is the injuries in the first half. We’re assessing them now, and we’ll see.

“Three injuries in the first half is quite strange. The calendar is demanding and doesn’t allow the players to rest, they go into games tired, so the risk of injuries is higher.”

Forward Rodrygo — who had only just returned to the team after recovering from a hamstring problem — was withdrawn in the 20th minute at the Bernabéu, and replaced by Brahim Díaz.

Centre-back Militão needed treatment 10 minutes later before being stretchered off, with youngster Raul Asencio being introduced in his place.

Full-back Vázquez was then withdrawn at halftime, and was replaced by Luka Modric.

Madrid are short in defence, with Dani Carvajal out for the season with a serious injury, and David Alaba not yet fully recovered from his ACL tear.

They are also without goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, who has a thigh injury, and midfielder Aurélien Tchouaméni — who sometimes fills in at the back — who has an ankle sprain.

“We have to thank the academy for the work they’ve done with [Asencio],” Ancelotti said. “He’s a player we need at this time … Raul has been doing well with [reserve team] Castilla and now he’ll be with us.”

Ancelotti wouldn’t say if the string of injuries made January signings more likely.

“We’ll assess it in the coming months,” he said. “Right now there’s nothing we can do. We’ll evaluate what we can do in January.”

“I don’t want to talk about it, because it hurts me to see my teammates crying,” Diaz said post-match when asked about the club’s injury woes.

“It breaks my heart. I’ve come back from a long injury and now it’s their turn. It seems like they could be longer than usual … It breaks my heart.”

Madrid had gone into the Osasuna game under pressure, after being beaten twice at home in their previous two matches, against Barcelona and AC Milan.

They now have a two-week break, before returning to action against Leganés on Nov. 24 and travelling to Anfield to play Liverpool in the Champions League on Nov. 27.

Saturday’s win leaves Madrid six points behind LaLiga leaders Barcelona, who play on Sunday.

LaLiga giants Barcelona have announced a new multi-year agreement with kit supplier Nike which will help to further alleviate their financial problems.

Barça have not disclosed how much the deal is worth annually, but president Joan Laporta previously claimed it is set to be the biggest of its kind in world football.

Sources told ESPN the club expect the deal will total significantly more than €100 million ($107m) per year, but that the agreement is incremental and that the total amount is also dependent on certain add-ons.

Figures for these types of deals are not always public in football, but Manchester United committed to a £1 billion ($1.1bn), 10-year partnership with Adidas in 2023.

Meanwhile, Real Madrid are reported to raise around €120m annually from their agreement with Adidas, although that was signed in 2019.

“Barcelona and Nike, two leading brands in the sport industry, are pleased to announce a new start with a multi-year partnership agreement, starting effective this season, that brings a new collaborative strategic partnership model between the two organisations,” Barcelona said in a statement.

“This new partnership consolidates Nike as a main partner of the club and the official technical partner across all professional and amateur teams, bringing a unique model that strengthens the brands association and fuels the global retail and licensing business growth.

“Nike has a key strategic role in the club’s retail operations and together with Barça Licensing & Merchandising will join forces in the development of specific plans related to product creation, supply chain and global distribution.”

Barça and Nike have worked together since 1998 and the new agreement helps consolidate the club’s finances as they attempt to get back within their LaLiga imposed spending limit.

As of September, their cap was set at €426m, with Laporta saying recently they were in excess of that limit by around €60m.

The new deal with Nike will help bridge that gap, although to what extent is unknown, as Barça look to get back into a position whereby they are able to make signings more freely after having problems registering players in recent years.

Despite those problems, the club have made an encouraging start to the new campaign under coach Hansi Flick.

Barça have won 11 of their opening 12 league games to top LaLiga and have won three of their four Champions League games.

They travel to Real Sociedad in the league on Sunday for their final match before the November international break.

Manchester United first-team coach Darren Fletcher has been given a three-match extended touchline ban for confronting the match officials during last month’s 2-1 win at home against Brentford, the Football Association (FA) said on Friday.

The former United midfielder was also fined £7,500 ($9,705.75) for his protests when Brentford scored the opener at the stroke of half-time to go 1-0 up.

United protested when Ethan Pinnock scored when the home team were reduced to 10 men after referee Sam Barrott instructed Matthijs de Ligt to go to the touchline to stem the bleeding from a gash on his head.

United’s then manager Erik ten Hag and assistant Ruud van Nistelrooy received yellow cards for their protests but Fletcher went one step further and confronted the match officials at half-time near the tunnel.

“The coach acted in an improper and/or confrontational manner and/or he used abusive and/or insulting words towards the fourth official and the referee and/or assistant referees,” the FA said in a statement.

Fletcher admitted to the charge of misconduct but denied that he had been abusive. However, the regulatory commission said they had proof of his actions and imposed the sanctions.

Norwich forward Josh Sargent underwent surgery for a groin injury and will be out for two months, the second-tier English club has confirmed.

The 24-year-old United States international has scored four goals in nine games this season for midtable Norwich.

“He has had the surgery and it will be eight weeks from there, which was Monday or Tuesday,” manager Johannes Hoff Thorup said ahead of Saturday’s home game against Bristol City. “Now it’s just about rehab and nice and easy getting back in.”

Sargent missed the early part of last season because of an ankle injury but returned in late December and scored 16 goals in 30 appearances.

The Missouri native joined Norwich ahead of the 2021-22 Premier League season and remained with the club after it was relegated at the end of that campaign.

Sargent started for the USMNT in new head coach Mauricio Pochettino’s first game in charge against Panama last month. But he will now miss the team’s two-legged Concacaf Nations League quarterfinal against Jamaica on Nov. 14 and Nov. 18.

Information from The Associated Press contributed to this report.

LONDON — Ange Postecoglou is hopeful that Tottenham Hotspur and South Korea can work collaboratively to ensure Son Heung-Min‘s long-term fitness but recognises that, ultimately, the attacker’s international workload is the domain of his country’s coach.

Arriving back in London in the early hours of Friday morning after suffering a 3-2 defeat to Galatasaray, Spurs will host Ipswich Town in the Premier League on Sunday, their last game before Son links up with South Korea for World Cup qualifiers against Kuwait and Palestine.

With the star attacker still working to full fitness, Hong Myung-Bo, who was named Jurgen Klinsmann’s permanent replacement as coach of South Korea in July, has vowed to “protect his health,” during the coming international window.

“I don’t think it’s appropriate for us to push him hard on the national team just because he has returned to action for his club,” said Hong.

“I obviously understand he wants to play for the national team but first and foremost we have to protect his health.”

Postecoglou, for his part, has taken a cautious approach to reintroducing his skipper to action and is hopeful that both club and country can work together to optimise the talisman’s performances for both.

“I’m reticent to get involved with national team managers and their plans,” Postecoglou told ESPN. “I certainly didn’t appreciate it when I was [Australia’s] boss if club coaches told me how to handle things.

“But you’d like to think there’s a collaborative approach there; that they’re looking at what he’s been through in recent times for both us and for the national team. We want a healthy Sonny, somebody who’s feeling good physically so he can contribute.

“I think within that sort of context. I’m sure that both of us will get a positive outcome.”

After missing multiple games for Spurs as well as Korea’s wins over Jordan and Iraq, Son re-aggravated a hamstring injury upon his return in a 4-1 win over West Ham last month, a setback that caused him to miss a further three fixtures.

Returning against Aston Villa last week, he played 56 minutes before being subbed off in his side’s 4-1 win and came off at half-time of the loss in Istanbul on Thursday.

“He had the injury, we brought him back and in the first game back he had a relapse,” Postecoglou told media at a news conference on Friday.

“We don’t want to put him into that cycle, it’s very easy to fall into it by pushing players particularly when they’re coming back from injury. We’re managing his minutes and building him up.

“It’s about making sure we get him back and keep him back. We can’t afford more injuries in that position. We’ve already got Wilson [Odobert] with a long-term injury, [Richarlison] with a long-term injury, and Mikey [Moore] out now.”

Midfielder Sergio Busquets has given Inter Miami a surprise boost on the eve of the deciding game of its round one the best-of-three playoff series against Atlanta United.

Despite head coach Gerardo Martino saying earlier in the day that Busquets remained unavailable due to a knock he suffered during the first playoff match against Atlanta on Oct. 25, the team announced late on Friday that the former Barcelona midfielder is questionable.

“We’re confident in the progression of his recovery, and are hopeful he’ll be available for [Saturday’s] match,” Miami said.

The team will still face Saturday’s challenge without Yannick Bright, though Martino added that he would likely return to the roster should Miami advance to the conference semifinals.

Though Inter Miami gained the advantage in the series by winning the first game 2-1 in Fort Lauderdale, defensive errors cost the Herons as they lost the second game by the same score at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

And Martino agreed with forward Lionel Messi that the team has committed “silly mistakes” throughout the season, but insisted players can overcome the errors to triumph in the final game of round 1.

“We’ve made a lot of mistakes that we can avoid, because many times they were silly mistakes to put it nicely,” Messi said in a recent interview. “That cannot happen during the playoffs, because the mistakes can cost you and get you eliminated.”

In reference to that comment, Martino said Friday: “It is true that we have had some mistakes that almost permanently have cost us goals.

“There are times that teams make mistakes that go unnoticed because they do not end up inside the goal. And we have had some mistakes that put us in a difficult situation, and better yet within the same game. But it is also true that we have had a team that has overcome these types of situations and that throughout the year we have solved it in the best way.”

After a historic 2024 MLS campaign, winning the Supporters’ Shield and setting the league record for most points recorded in a single season, the pressure is on Miami to perform back at its home Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on Saturday.

“We know what we have in the team and that we are the favorites to win the Cup,” said Leo Campana. “Obviously all the teams that come here or that play with Inter want to show what they are capable of.

“We are a team that is all over the world today and I think everyone wants to play against us. That is why I believe that all players give their all every time they play against Inter.”

MANCHESTER, England — Pep Guardiola and Lee Carsley are on a collision course over Jack Grealish after the Manchester City boss revealed his England counterpart did not contact him before calling up the injured star.

Grealish hasn’t featured for City since the 2-1 win over Wolves on Oct. 20, but was included in the England squad for games against Greece and Republic of Ireland when it was announced on Thursday.

The decision has perplexed Guardiola, who insisted Grealish is not available for City’s Premier League fixture against Brighton on Saturday.

Asked whether he spoke to Carsley before the England squad was released, Guardiola said: “No.”

“I’m not the guy to say you cannot go,” he later added. “But for my team tomorrow [Saturday] he’s not fit, he cannot play. The people from England believe he can help. So go.”

Carsley said on Thursday that Grealish has been training with City “for the last couple of days,” something that Guardiola disputed.

“He was in the gym for a few minutes, yes, the last two days,” Guardiola said.

“It’s a question for the manager from the UK. I’m not involved. They can select who they want. All I’d say is the day after Wolves, he was injured. Then 17 days out and today [Friday] was the first training with the team.”

Guardiola also revealed he has spoken to Grealish since his call-up and that the midfielder intends to join up with the squad next week.

“He said he wants to go to the national team,” Guardiola said.

City head to Brighton looking to break a three-game losing streak. They haven’t lost four games in a row in all competitions since 2006, while Guardiola has never lost four in a row during his managerial career.

“We know the reason why we struggle,” Guardiola said.

“We are looking forward to the game and then the international break. After that, a few [injured] players come back better.”

Outspoken Fenerbahce coach Jose Mourinho has been issued a one-match ban and fined following his diatribe about Turkish football, when he said he was fighting “the system” and suggested officials are biased against his team.

The Turkish Football Federation’s disciplinary board described Mourinho’s comments as unsportsmanlike and fined him 900,000 Turkish lira ($26,200) for questioning the impartiality of referees and other match officials.

The board banned the former Chelsea manager for one match and additionally fined him 58,500 lira ($1,700) for unsportsmanlike conduct toward opposing fans. The ban also prevents Mourinho from entering his team’s locker room. He’s set to serve the ban Sunday when Fenerbahce host Sivasspor.

Mourinho, who is in his first season at Fenerbahce, had said the Turkish league “smells bad” and questioned why any international fans would watch it.

He said he wouldn’t have taken the job if club officials had told him “the whole truth” about how the league allegedly works.

The rant came Sunday even though his team beat Trabzonspor 3-2 after scoring a winner in the 12th minute of stoppage time, leading to wild celebrations where the Portuguese coach ran onto the field and tried a knee slide that led to him tumbling face forward onto the grass.

On Thursday, Mourinho watched from the stands as Fenerbahce lost 3-1 at AZ Alkmaar in the Europa League. He was serving a one-match ban after his red card against Manchester United.

At that time, the 61-year-old Mourinho said he would go coach a team that doesn’t play in a UEFA competition: “So you find a club in England from the bottom of the table [that] needs a coach in two years, I’m ready to go.”

Mourinho joined Fenerbahce in June, tasked with returning the club to the top. Fenerbahce haven’t won the league title since 2014.

After 10 league games this season, Fenerbahce trail leader and archrival Galatasaray by five points.

France Football, the magazine that organises the Ballon d’Or award, has revealed the margin by which Manchester City midfielder Rodri controversially beat Real Madrid‘s Vinícius Júnior to the prestigious individual prize.

Rodri won the Ballon d’Or with 1170 points, just 41 more than Vinícius (1129).

Vinícius and his Madrid teammates, as well as the club’s coaches and executives, refused to attend the ceremony in Paris on Oct. 28 after learning the result ahead of time, deeming it to be a miscarriage of sporting justice.

The voting report, published by French outlet L’Equipe ahead of France Football’s print version being released on Saturday, details that each of the 99 judges for the men’s award listed a top 10 for the Ballon d’Or, with each first-place vote worth 15 points, followed by 12, 10, eight, seven, five, four, three, two and one point for the 10th-place slot.

That means there were 6,633 points voted for in total, showing Rodri’s 41-point lead over Brazil winger Vinícius to be razor-thin.

France Football’s data also showed other surprising trends, with Atalanta and Nigeria forward Ademola Lookman joining Kylian Mbappé, Erling Haaland, Lautaro Martínez and Rodri as the non-Madrid players to receive a first-place vote.

Of the players who won the Champions League with Madrid last season, Jude Bellingham (5), Dani Carvajal (4) and Toni Kroos (2) all earned multiple considerations as the best player for 2023-24 by judges.

Five jurors did not select Rodri in the top 10 of their ballot, with three omitting Vinícius.

RB Leipzig make their stance on Benjamin Šeško regarding a possible move away as Neymar appears poised to remain at Al Hilal. Join us for the latest transfer news, rumors, and gossip from around the globe.

Transfers homepage | Done deals | Men’s grades | Women’s grades

TOP STORIES

– Real Madrid eye January deals amid Trent Alexander-Arnold interest – sources– NYCFC coach Nick Cushing denies links to Arsenal– San Diego makes Byars NWSL’s 1st NCAA signing since end of draft

TRENDING RUMORS

– Benjamin Šeško doesn’t have a release clause in his RB Leipzig contract, but he does have a “gentleman’s agreement” with the club over a potential exit next summer, Sky Sports Deutschland reports. The 21-year-old already has seven goals this season and has recently been linked with several Premier League sides, including Manchester United and Chelsea. Though the German club are not contractually obliged to let Šeško depart next summer, there is said to be an understanding that he is free to leave if an interested club submits an offer worth €70 million to €75 million.

– Contrary to talk of a contract termination, Neymar is set to remain at Al Hilal until next summer, reports Florian Plettenberg. Reports have recently suggested that the Saudi club are preparing to cut his time short, but the Brazilian superstar is “unaware of any such developments.” The 32-year-old is currently sidelined for six to eight weeks because of a muscle injury. But Plettenberg asserts Neymar’s main goal remains to participate in the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

– Manchester City are “seriously interested” in AC Milan midfielder Tijjani Reijnders, reports Calciomercato. The Italian outlet also links Barcelona and Real Madrid with the player, who has turned plenty of heads this season with his performances in the UEFA Champions League. The 26-year-old is likely to cost more than €60m next summer, having only joined Milan in 2023. Despite his current deal running until 2028, the Serie A club are in the process of negotiating a contract extension.

– Newcastle United are working on a deal to sign highly rated Sevilla centre-back Loïc Badé, Football Insider reports. The report suggests that Badé has been identified as an alternative to Marc Guéhi, whom the Magpies unsuccessfully attempted to sign in the summer. The France international could be available for as little as £30m, less than half of what Newcastle were prepared to spend on Guéhi back in August. Crucially, Sevilla are struggling financially and could be tempted to accept significant offers for Badé in an attempt to raise funds.

– Bayern Munich have signed United States under-17 international Bajung Darboe from MLS side LAFC, Tom Bogert reports. The Bundesliga giants are set to pay a fee of $1.5 million for the just-turned-18-year-old forward, who previously trained with the German club back in 2022. Darboe is yet to feature for the LAFC first team, although he has played 14 times for LAFC 2 in MLS Next Pro.

It’s time for a logical and decisive step to rebalance — and, to some degree, future-proof — Real Madrid. What does that mean? With news that they’re already considering big moves in the winter transfer window, it’s time to go big in the pursuit of Joshua Kimmich in January.

Kimmich, who turns 30 in February, is in the final year of his contract with Bayern Munich. A month ago, all the reporting suggested he was having “positive talks” over an extension to his contract that runs through June 2025. Maybe he is, but until he signs, the reality of the situation is that he is heading to free agency. The fact he has yet to put pen to paper on a deal that, you’d assume, would be comparable to his current one — he’s already among the club’s highest-paid players, with wages in excess of $20 million a season — suggests he’s open to hearing other offers, even if only to gain leverage in a negotiation.

–LIVE: Real Madrid vs. Osasuna, Saturday, 8 a.m. ET, ESPN+ (U.S. only)

That’s the reality Bayern and Kimmich face. The clocks tick, the screws turn, and Real Madrid would be foolish not to try to exploit this. For it to work, it would have to come down to numbers. Two of them: the contract Real Madrid offers Kimmich, in both duration and salary, and the fee they would need to agree with Bayern.

Both obviously are subject to negotiation, but neither seems beyond reach. Let’s break it down.

Why it makes sense for Kimmich to join Real Madrid

This is Kimmich’s 10th season with Bayern, and he has won eight league titles, four German Cups and the Champions League. If he ever wants a new experience while still at the peak of his powers, the time is now. Real Madrid would give him another massive stage; he’d experience a different environment with different teammates, which is likely to help him grow further. And if he wants to win another Champions League? Well, the odds at Madrid are pretty good.

Why it makes sense for Bayern to let him leave

The obvious point is if you think you’re at serious risk of losing Kimmich as a free agent, at least you can get something for him now. It won’t be his full market value because he’ll be six months from leaving for free, but it will be something, and you’ll be getting his wages off the books for six months. Between the savings on wages for half a season and the fee you’d be getting, that could be anywhere between €30-50m — maybe more — which is a lot more than, well, zero.

Yes, you want to be competitive this season and you’ll need to replace him. Do you trust Aleksandar Pavlovic, who is expected back from injury in December, to take over Kimmich’s role alongside one of João Palhinha and/or Konrad Laimer? Would you need to go back and search for a Kimmich alternative straight away, and how much it would cost?

Big questions, I know.

Obviously it would mean Bayern are worse off this season, but would it preclude a Bundesliga title and a run in Europe? I don’t think so. And how much is that worth to you, and to the medium-term well-being of the side? My hunch is, especially with a new manager (Vincent Kompany) in charge this season and Jamal Musiala growing in stature, moving on wouldn’t be the end of the world. Or, at least, it’s a contingency for which the club have planned, whether now or in the summer.

It’s not just Kimmich whose deal is up at the end of the season. Goalkeepers Manuel Neuer and Sven Ulreich, forwards Thomas Muller and Leroy Sané, and defenders Eric Dier and Alphonso Davies are out of contract in June too. Some might stay on “team-friendly” deals, and it’s true that only Neuer and Davies are starters, but that’s a lot of churn in the squad. The extra financial resources will come in handy when it comes time to reload.

Why Kimmich makes sense for Real Madrid

This won’t solve all their problems, let’s be clear. There will still be wobbles at the back. Up front, Vinícius Jr. and Kylian Mbappé will still need to figure out how to play together, while the absence of pressing and off-the-ball work from those two will still place an extra onus on the rest of the side.

But you will be adding somebody who is a legitimate, tried-and-tested, creative passer in midfield. Maybe not like Toni Kroos was last season, but potentially not that far off. And there’s simply nobody like that right now in the team, at least among the cohort of players aged 38 and under. (Yeah, Luka Modric is still great at 39, but he obviously can’t play regular minutes.)

Thomas Tuchel might not have been a fan, but Kimmich brings order in possession. That matters because when opponents sit deep, Vini and Mbappé don’t have space in which to work, and their movement and patterns of play aren’t quite there yet. Because they rarely press and generate turnovers in the final third, you won’t be creating chances that way either. And so you rely on set pieces or moments of individual skill, which is hardly a game plan. With Kimmich, you’d have somebody who can unlock opposing defences and who generally plays on the front foot.

Beyond that, Kimmich’s versatility would also open up a whole range of options. In certain situations, you could try dropping Aurélien Tchouaméni (when he’s back from injury) into the back three if that’s what you want to do. Or Kimmich himself: he’s done it in the past. And, of course, he can play right-back too, and with Dani Carvajal out for the season, you need an alternative to Lucas Vázquez in that role. (The nice bonus here is that signing Kimmich wouldn’t preclude you chasing another free-agent-to-be at right back, such as Trent Alexander-Arnold, since Kimmich prefers playing in midfield.)

Sure, he won’t come cheap, but Real Madrid became the first club to pass the billion Euro revenue mark last year, while staying profitable, and they expect to do so again this year. They’ll want to invest in a defender this summer, but beyond that, if you get Kimmich, the squad is settled and there won’t be any glaring priorities transfer-wise. (Put differently, if you don’t get Kimmich now, you’d still need to find a creative Kroos/Modric type in the summer, and if you have to acquire him for a fee, it will cost you a darn sight more than whatever you’ll pay now for Kimmich.)

There’s more. You’d be getting a guy who already worked with your current manager (Carlo Ancelotti) and played alongside your potential future manager (Xabi Alonso). And you’d be getting a natural leader, captain of Germany, a guy who is already battle-tested on a high-pressure big stage such as Bayern, which makes him more adaptable to the Bernabeu than most.

We’ve heard rumblings of this scenario for a while, but previously it felt like contract negotiation histrionics from the Kimmich camp. Defeats in the Clásico and the Champions League, however, have brought this issue into focus for Real Madrid. And in just over 50 days, should he so choose, Kimmich can sign for any club in the world as a free agent before next season.

Bayern and Real Madrid are clubs who, for all their success, have minded the bottom line, recording a profit for most of the past few decades. This would be a business decision as much as a sporting one, but if they can reach the right number — and if Kimmich is on board — it could help everyone involved.

Find out who is missing through injury, who’s in a race against time to prove their fitness and who has been ruled out through suspension for the next round of LaLiga fixtures.

And as you plan your fantasy team for the next gameweek, check out the predicted XIs for all 20 clubs.

Positions: Goalkeeper (GK), Defender (D), Left-back (LB), Right-back (RB), Centre-back (CB), Midfielder (M), Defensive midfield (DM), Central midfield (CM), Left midfield (LM), Right midfield (RM), Attacking midfield (AM), Left winger (LW), Right winger (RW), Forward (F), Left forward (FWL), Right forward (FWR), Striker (ST)

(All predicted XIs and injury news powered by Rotowire and subject to updates.)

NOTE: Espanyol vs. Valencia is among the games postponed amid fatal floods in Spain

Rayo Vallecano v Las PalmasEstadio de Vallecas, MadridFriday, 3 p.m. ET / 8 p.m. UK

Latest Rayo Vallecano team news

Expected Lineup:

GK Augusto BatallaLB Pep Chavarría | CB Aridane Hernández | CB Florian Lejeune | RB Andrei RatiuLM Álvaro García | CM Gerard Gumbau | CM Óscar Valentín | RM Jorge de FrutosST Sergio Camello | ST Isi Palazón

Injury/suspension updates:

Alfonso Espino, D, fracture, OUT, estimated return Nov. 24Unai López, M, suspension, due back Nov. 24Abdul Mumin, D, suspension, due back Nov. 24

Latest Las Palmas team news

Expected Lineup:

GK Álvaro VallesLB Álex Muñoz | CB Scott McKenna | CB Álex Suárez | RB VitiCM José Campaña | CM Dário Essugo | CM Kirian RodríguezFWL Alberto Moleiro | ST Fábio Silva | FWR Sandro

Injury/suspension updates:

Marvin, M/D, hamstring, OUT, estimated return Nov. 23Jasper Cillessen, G, undisclosed, DOUBTEnzo Loiodice, M, undisclosed, OUT, estimated return Nov. 23

Real Madrid v OsasunaSantiago Bernabéu, MadridSaturday, 8 a.m. ET / 1 p.m. UK

Latest Real Madrid team news

Expected Lineup:

GK Andriy LuninLB Ferland Mendy | CB Éder Militão | CB Antonio Rüdiger | RB Lucas VázquezLM Eduardo Camavinga | CM Federico Valverde | CM Luka Modric | RM Jude BellinghamST Vinícius Jr. | ST Kylian Mbappé

Injury/suspension updates:

David Alaba, D, knee, OUT, estimated return Nov. 24Dani Carvajal, D, knee, OUT, estimated return Aug. 1Thibaut Courtois, G, groin, OUT, estimated return Nov. 24Brahim Díaz, F/M, hip, OUT, estimated return Dec. 15Aurélien Tchouaméni, M, ankle, OUT, estimated return Nov. 24

Latest Osasuna team news

Expected Lineup:

GK Sergio HerreraLB Abel Bretones | CB Flavien-Enzo Boyomo | CB Alejandro Catena | RB Jesús AresoCM Jon Moncayola | CM Aimar Oroz | CM Lucas TorróFWL Bryan Zaragoza | ST Ante Budimir | FWR Rubén Peña

Injury/suspension updates:

Juan Cruz, D, leg, OUT, estimated return Nov. 24

Villarreal v AlavésEstadio de la Cerámica, VillarrealSaturday, 10:15 a.m. ET / 3:15 p.m. UK

Latest Villarreal team news

Expected Lineup:

GK Diego CondeLB Sergi Cardona | CB Raúl Albiol | CB Logan Costa | RBLM Álex Baena | CM Santi Comesaña | CM Dani Parejo | RM Ilias AkhomachST Thierno Barry | ST Ayoze Pérez

Injury/suspension updates:

Eric Bailly, D, shoulder, DOUBTJuan Foyth, D, knee, OUT, estimated return Nov. 24Gerard Moreno, F, hip, DOUBTAlfonso Pedraza, D, ankle, OUT, estimated return Dec. 15Denis Suárez, M, undisclosed, DOUBT

Latest Alavés team news

Expected Lineup:

GK Antonio SiveraLB Manu Sánchez | CB Abdel Abqar | CB Adrián Pica | RB Nahuel TenagliaDM Antonio Blanco | DM Ander GuevaraLW Tomás Conechny | AM Jon Guridi | RW Carlos VicenteST Enrique García

Injury/suspension updates:

Hugo Novoa, M, abdomen, OUT, estimated return Nov. 23Carlos Benavídez, M, undisclosed, OUT, estimated return Nov. 23

Leganés v SevillaButarque, Leganés, MadridSaturday, 3 p.m. ET / 8 p.m. UK

Latest Leganés team news

Expected Lineup:

GK Marko DmitrovicLB Enric Franquesa | CB Sergio González | CB Javi Hernández | CB Matija Nastasic | RB Adrià AltimiraDM Renato TapiaCM Darko Brasanac | CM Seydouba CisséST Miguel De la Fuente | ST Juan Cruz

Injury/suspension updates:

Naim García, F/M, undisclosed, DOUBTDiego Garcia, F, strain, DOUBTSébastien Haller, F, thigh, DOUBTYvan Neyou, M, suspension, due back Nov. 24Raba, F, hamstring, OUT, estimated return Nov. 24Jorge, D, strain, DOUBT

Latest Sevilla team news

Expected Lineup:

GK Álvaro FernándezLB Adrià Pedrosa | CB Marcão | CB Enrique Salas | RB José Ángel CarmonaDM Nemanja GudeljCM Albert Sambi Lokonga | CM Juanlu SanchezLW Dodi Lukebakio | RW Jesús NavasST Isaac Romero

Injury/suspension updates:

Loïc Badé, D, thigh, OUT, estimated return Nov. 24Chidera Ejuke, F, hamstring, OUT, estimated return Dec. 1Suso, F/M, groin, OUT, estimated return Nov. 24Stanis Idumbo, F/M, groin, OUT, estimated return Nov. 24Tanguy Nianzou, D, hamstring, OUT, estimated return Nov. 24Saúl Ñíguez, M, thigh, OUT, estimated return Nov. 24Ørjan Nyland, G, knee, OUT, estimated return Dec. 1

Real Betis v Celta VigoBenito Villamarín, SevillaSunday, 8 a.m. ET / 1 p.m. UK

Latest Real Betis team news

Expected Lineup:

GK Rui SilvaLB Romain Perraud | CB Marc Bartra | CB Diego Llorente | RB Héctor BellerínLM Abde Ezzalzouli | CM Sergi Altimira | CM Johnny Cardoso | RM Pablo FornalsST Chimy Ávila | ST Vitor Roque

Injury/suspension updates:

Isco, F/M, leg, OUT, estimated return Dec. 1William Carvalho, M, achilles, OUT, estimated return May. 4Giovani Lo Celso, F/M, thigh, DOUBTMarc Roca, M, ankle, DOUBTAitor Ruibal, D, thigh, OUT, estimated return Nov. 23

Latest Celta Vigo team news

Expected Lineup:

GK Vicente GuaitaCB Javier Manquillo | CB Carl Starfelt | CB Marcos AlonsoLM Hugo Álvarez | CM Ilaix Moriba | CM Hugo Sotelo | RM Óscar MinguezaFWL Jonathan Bamba | ST Borja Iglesias | FWR Iago Aspas

Injury/suspension updates:

Fran Beltrán, M, undisclosed, OUT, estimated return Nov. 10Sergio Carreira, D, ankle, OUT, estimated return Nov. 23Luca de la Torre, M, ankle, OUT, estimated return Nov. 10Anastasios Douvikas, F, undisclosed, OUT, estimated return Nov. 10Jailson, M, groin, OUT, estimated return Nov. 10

Mallorca v Atlético MadridEstadi Mallorca Son Moix, MallorcaSunday, 10:15 a.m. ET / 3:15 p.m. UK

Latest Mallorca team news

Expected Lineup:

GK Leo RománLB Johan Mojica | CB Antonio Raíllo | CB Martin Valjent | RB Pablo MaffeoDM Samú Costa | DM Manu MorlanesLW Dani Rodríguez | AM Sergi Darder | RW Robert NavarroST Vedat Muriqi

Injury/suspension updates:

Takuma Asano, F, strain, OUT, estimated return Nov. 23Valery Fernández, M, undisclosed, DOUBTJavi Llabrés, F/M, thigh, OUT, estimated return Nov. 23

Latest Atlético Madrid team news

Expected Lineup:

GK Jan OblakLB Javi Galán | CB José María Giménez | CB Clément Lenglet | RB Nahuel MolinaLM Samuel Lino | CM Pablo Barrios | CM Koke | RM Giuliano SimeoneST Julián Álvarez | ST Antoine Griezmann

Injury/suspension updates:

César Azpilicueta, D, leg, OUT, estimated return Nov. 23Robin Le Normand, D, concussion, OUT, estimated return Nov. 23Thomas Lemar, M, undisclosed, OUT, estimated return Nov. 10Marcos Llorente, M/D, thigh, OUT, estimated return Nov. 10

Getafe v GironaEstadio Coliseum, GetafeSunday, 12:30 p.m. ET / 5:30 p.m. UK

Latest Getafe team news

Expected Lineup:

GK David SoriaLB Diego Rico | CB Omar Alderete | CB Djené | RB Juan IglesiasLM Álex Sola | CM Mauro Arambarri | CM Luis Milla | RM Carles PérezST Álvaro Rodríguez | ST Bertug Yildirim

Injury/suspension updates:

Juan Berrocal, D, suspension, due back Nov. 22Djené, M/D, hamstring, DOUBTPeter González, F, hamstring, DOUBTBorja Mayoral, F, strain, DOUBTBertug Yildirim, F, undisclosed, DOUBT

Latest Girona team news

Expected Lineup:

GK Paulo GazzanigaCB Daley Blind | CB Ladislav Krejcí | CB David LópezLM Miguel Gutiérrez | CM Yangel Herrera | CM Silvi Clua | RM Arnau MartínezAM Bryan Gil | AM Donny van de BeekST Bojan Miovski

Injury/suspension updates:

Ricard Artero, M, ankle, OUT, estimated return Nov. 24Yáser Asprilla, M, ankle, DOUBTArnaut Danjuma, F/M, hamstring, OUT, estimated return Dec. 8Alejandro Francés, D, hamstring, DOUBTJastin García, F/M, shoulder, OUT, estimated return Dec. 22Pau López, G, hand, OUT, estimated return Nov. 24Portu, F/M, ankle, OUT, estimated return Nov. 23Juan Carlos, G, suspension, due back Nov. 23Iván Martín, M, groin, DOUBTGabriel Misehouy, M, hamstring, OUT, estimated return Dec. 10

Real Valladolid v Athletic ClubJosé Zorrilla, ValladolidSunday, 12:30 p.m. ET / 5:30 p.m. UK

Latest Real Valladolid team news

Expected Lineup:

GK Karl HeinLB Lucas Rosa | CB Javi Sánchez | CB David Torres | RB Luis PérezDM Mario Martín | DM Eray CömertLW Raúl Moro | AM Selim Amallah | RW AnuarST Mamadou Diallo

Injury/suspension updates:

César De la Hoz, M, back, DOUBTJuanmi, F, ankle, DOUBTKenedy, F/M, undisclosed, DOUBTCenk Özkacar, D, hamstring, DOUBT

Latest Athletic Club team news

Expected Lineup:

GK Julen AgirrezabalaLB Yuri Berchiche | CB Aitor Paredes | CB Dani Vivian | RB Óscar de MarcosDM Beñat Prados | DM Iñigo Ruiz de GalarretaLW Nico Williams | AM Álex Berenguer | RW Iñaki WilliamsST Gorka Guruzeta

Injury/suspension updates:

Gorka Guruzeta, F, undisclosed, DOUBTUnai Simón, G, wrist, OUT, estimated return Dec. 15

Real Sociedad v BarcelonaReale Arena, San SebastiánSunday, 3 p.m. ET / 8 p.m. UK

Latest Real Sociedad team news

Expected Lineup:

GK Álex RemiroLB Javi López | CB Nayef Aguerd | CB Igor Zubeldia | RB Jon AramburuDM Martín ZubimendiLM Sergio Gómez | CM Brais Méndez | CM Luka Sucic | RM Takefusa KuboST Mikel Oyarzabal

Injury/suspension updates:

Ander Barrenetxea, F/M, ankle, DOUBTPablo Marín, M, undisclosed, DOUBTHamari Traoré, D, knee, OUT, estimated return May. 4Beñat Turrientes, M, calf, DOUBTArsen Zakharyan, M, ankle, OUT, estimated return Nov. 24

Latest Barcelona team news

Expected Lineup:

GK Iñaki PeñaLB Alejandro Balde | CB Iñigo Martínez | CB Pau Cubarsí | RB Jules KoundéDM Marc Casadó | DM PedriLW Raphinha | AM Dani Olmo | RW Lamine YamalST Robert Lewandowski

Injury/suspension updates:

Ronald Araújo, D, hamstring, OUT, estimated return Nov. 24Marc Bernal, M/D, knee, OUT, estimated return Sep. 1Andreas Christensen, D, achilles, OUT, estimated return Nov. 26Eric García, D, groin, OUT, estimated return Nov. 23Pau Cubarsí, D, face, DOUBTMarc-André ter Stegen, G, knee, OUT, estimated return Apr. 6Ferran Torres, F, hamstring, OUT, estimated return Dec. 15

Liverpool boss Arne Slot is not surprised by his team’s fine start to the season, saying he was well aware of the strength of the side he was inheriting when he arrived at Anfield as Jürgen Klopp’s successor.

Slot’s team, who have won 14 of 16 games across all competitions since he took charge, look to remain top of the Premier League table when they host Aston Villa on Saturday. Liverpool have a two-point lead over holders Manchester City.

They also top the Champions League table as the only team with four wins in four games.

“I don’t think surprise is the right word to use because I knew the quality of our team,” Slot told a news conference on Friday. “But quality is one thing and consistency is another. I am not surprised because I saw the energy my players put in on a daily basis.

“Sometimes a bit of luck comes with that as well. Most of our results were deserved but some have been a close call,” he added. “[Also] when I started working with them I saw how much effort they put in to get these results.”

Slot does not expect forward Diogo Jota, who has not played since Liverpool’s 2-1 win over Chelsea on Oct. 20 due to injury, to return until after the international break, but would not divulge any details about his injury.

“There is privacy about this,” he said.

“He will be back one or two games after the international break.”

Curtis Jones, who was named in interim England manager Lee Carsley’s squad for the upcoming international break, has shone for Liverpool in recent weeks, playing a sumptuous through ball for Luis Díaz to score in Tuesday’s 4-0 Champions League rout of Bayer Leverkusen.

Slot said Jones has taken his game to another level since the birth of his daughter Giselle on Oct. 13.

“Since the moment he became a father, he started putting great performances in,” Slot said.

“He has a lot of qualities on the ball, when he has it he’s never afraid to do something special.

“Sometimes he is a bit too over-confident but confidence is important. He also has an incredibly high work-rate and we can trust him defensively.”

Carsley has included Jones in both his England squads but he has yet to make a senior appearance for his country. That could change when they travel to Athens to take on Greece on Thursday. England then face Ireland three days later at Wembley.

Midfielder Frenkie de Jong is back in the Netherlands squad and in line to play his first international in 14 months after being selected on Friday for this month’s Nations League matches against Hungary and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

De Jong, who has struggled with an ankle injury, last competed for the Dutch in a European Championship qualifier against Ireland in Dublin in September last year.

The Barcelona midfielder was included in the Netherlands squad for the Euros in Germany, but had to pull out due to persistent injury and was a big loss for the side.

There is no return for striker Memphis Depay, who has scored twice in the last two months for his new Brazilian team Corinthians. The 30-year-old last played at Euro 2024.

Manchester City defender Nathan Aké has also not been included despite his return to fitness last month.

Ajax right back Devyne Rensch and PSV Eindhoven winger Noa Lang return to the squad for the matches against Hungary in Amsterdam on Nov. 16 and then away in Bosnia-Herzegovina three days later.

Rensch won his only cap in 2021 and this is the first time he has been selected by coach Ronald Koeman. Lang is rewarded for some good form with PSV and is back after more than a year without being picked.

Netherlands are second in Group A3, five points behind leaders Germany and ahead of Hungary in third on goal difference.

They need to at least remain in second spot to earn a place in the quarter-finals next March.

Netherlands squad:

Goalkeepers: Mark Flekken (Brentford), Nick Olij (Sparta Rotterdam), Bart Verbruggen (Brighton & Hove Albion)

Defenders: Matthijs de Ligt (Manchester United), Stefan de Vrij, Denzel Dumfries (both Inter Milan), Jorrel Hato, Devyne Rensch (both Ajax Amsterdam), Jurriën Timber (Arsenal), Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool), Jan Paul van Hecke (Brighton & Hove Albion)

Midfielders: Frenkie de Jong (Barcelona), Jeremie Frimpong (Bayer Leverkusen), Ryan Gravenberch (Liverpool), Teun Koopmeiners (Juventus), Tijjani Reijnders (AC Milan), Quinten Timber (Feyenoord), Mats Wieffer (Brighton & Hove Albion)

Forwards: Brian Brobbey (Ajax Amsterdam), Cody Gakpo (Liverpool), Justin Kluivert (Bournemouth), Noa Lang (PSV Eindhoven), Donyell Malen (Borussia Dortmund), Wout Weghorst (Ajax Amsterdam), Joshua Zirkzee (Manchester United).

Ruud van Nistelrooy’s future at Manchester United is up in the air ahead of the arrival of Rúben Amorim as manager but goalkeeper André Onana said the players are keen for the Dutch coach to remain with the club.

Van Nistelrooy stepped into his role as interim manager following the sacking of Erik ten Hag and is unbeaten in his three games in charge, guiding United to a 2-0 win over PAOK in the Europa League on Thursday — their first win in Europe in over a year.

A former United striker, Van Nistelrooy has said he would like to remain part of the club’s restructured management team after his interim stint ends on Sunday with a Premier League home game against Leicester City.

Asked if United’s players wanted the same, Onana told TNT Sports: “100%. He’s a very good guy, a very good coach.

“He has so much experience and he advises us a lot.

“It’s fantastic what he’s doing and the players are happy. But at the end of the day, it’s not something we can decide. The club make the decision and we have to accept it.”

Van Nistelrooy said his sole focus was preparing the team for his last game in charge.

“I’m only busy with one thing in my mind,” he said.

“I want my last game as an interim, I want to prepare it as good as I can and give the players everything they need to get the best performance out of them … And other than that, I don’t look too far ahead, to be really honest.”

Arsenal are weighing up whether Declan Rice can play through the pain after tests revealed he had a broken toe, sources have told ESPN.

Rice sustained the injury in Arsenal’s Premier League defeat at Newcastle last weekend and subsequently missed their midweek 1-0 Champions League loss at Inter Milan.

Mikel Arteta’s side travel to Chelsea on Sunday, and a source has told ESPN that Rice is hopeful of being able to manage the issue and start at Stamford Bridge in a game of huge significance to Arsenal.

The north London side are seven points behind leaders Liverpool and five adrift of defending champions Manchester City. Another defeat — which would be their fourth in seven games across all competitions — would be a damaging blow to their title hopes.

“I have to be very vague on that one because there’s no clarity if he’s going to be fit or not on the weekend. That’s for the doctor. What I can say is he hasn’t trained yet and it’s not clear if he’ll be available or not to play,” Arteta said at a news conference on Friday.

Rice has also been named in Lee Carsley’s latest England squad for upcoming UEFA Nations League matches against Greece and Republic of Ireland.

It remains to be seen whether Rice actually joins up with the group at St. George’s Park but the source told ESPN that the 25-year-old is keen to continue representing club and country if his body allows.

Meanwhile, Arteta said no team would reach 100 points this season as he suggested the title race was more wide open than in recent years.

Only City — in 2017-18 — have reached that milestone in Premier League history while Liverpool amassed 99 in 2019-20 and City secured 98 the year before.

However with every team having lost at least once in their opening 10 league games, Arteta suggested the margins are tighter throughout the league and one team is less likely to surge clear of the rest.

“I think everybody has been consistently struggling with the level there is in this league and playing in Europe every three days at that level,” Arteta said.

“The temperature has gone up another level, the level has gone up another level. I don’t think anybody is going to do 100 points this year. It will require perfection to keep winning.

“We don’t know how it’s going to play out, if there is a team that is able to do something like this [City’s consistency in previous years]. Everybody is struggling, even if they’re winning. That’s the thing, sometimes the margins were bigger in games. They’re not at the moment.

“I’ve not seen a team being that superior to other teams, but at the end the fact is you have to win and find ways and details to keep the right to win games.”

Chelsea coach Enzo Maresca hopes to have Cole Palmer fit and raring to go when they face Arsenal in a Premier League London derby on Sunday after the playmaker injured his knee in the draw with Manchester United last weekend.

Palmer has started this season with seven goals and five assists in 10 Premier League games, helping to lift Chelsea up to fourth in the standings.

Palmer was not registered in Chelsea’s Conference League squad for the group stages, which meant he did not play in Thursday’s 8-0 win over Noah, but the 22-year-old has not trained this week.

“Cole is getting better, but because he can walk and have dinner doesn’t mean he is completely fit,” Maresca said.

“He is getting better and we still have two days to prepare for the game. Hopefully, we can have him for a session — at least on Saturday — and then we take a decision.”

Arsenal are level with Chelsea on 18 points as the north London side look to get out of a slump and gain a foothold in the title race with Liverpool and Manchester City surging ahead.

“I like to get pressure from these kinds of games. The pressure is also for us. For sure, they are the closest one with City. Both I consider better than the rest,” Maresca said.

“The reason why is because one club is working with the same manager for nine years and the other one is working with the same manager for five years. This is a big advantage compared to the rest.

“But we’re going to try to make life difficult for them on Sunday.”

Arsenal beat Chelsea 5-0 in their last meeting before Maresca took charge and the Italian said he is wary of their set-piece threat.

“Mentally it will be very tough. Set pieces, they are very good. I watched the Champions League game against Inter Milan and every corner was smelling of a goal,” Maresca said.

Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti has said he believes he has found the solution to his team’s problems and is hopeful results will follow.

Ancelotti’s side head into Saturday’s league game against fifth-place Osasuna on the back of two painful home defeats.

Ancelotti’s side lost 3-1 to AC Milan on Tuesday having previously fallen 4-0 to Barcelona in the league Clásico.

“It’s a difficult time for everyone,” Ancelotti said on Friday. “We have evaluated the situation with the players. We think we have found the solution. But we need to put that into practice. That is what we are hoping to do, to play differently.”

Ancelotti also demanded more from his players.

“It’s about sacrifice, focus and team work,” he said. “That’s nothing new.

“We have to be a tight unit and that takes sacrifice, focus to choose the right pass. If you play as a team, you defend as a team and we did that brilliantly last season.”

Madrid’s biggest problem has been their injury-hit defence. Without goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois and defenders Dani Carvajal and David Alaba, they have conceded nine goals in three games.

“We’ve had time to think and find solutions,” he said. “We know we can do better.”

Madrid trail Liga leaders Barcelona by nine points but have a game in hand. They are 18th in the Champions League league table.

“We are not accustomed because things have gone perfectly well for a long time,” Ancelotti said of his team’s poor spell. “Now it’s a difficult time and we accept this moment but we can’t give up.

“I’m happy to be at this club because it’s the best club in the world to bounce back even stronger. This is a healthy, strong, motivated group. “We are in the best club in the world to try to come out of this difficult situation. We are all in the same boat, the players, the club, me. We are united more than ever.”

Ancelotti is confident they can turn things around.

“Despite the issues we are having, I believe this season can be successful,” he said.”We will fight for every title in every competition. That’s how I see it and that’s how it will be.”

While Madrid may need reinforcements, Ancelotti said the focus should not be on the transfer window.

“Now is the time not to talk about signings,” he said. “To think about signings now is not doing a good job of evaluating the problems that we have. We can’t sign now, we will talk about that in the coming months.”

Meanwhile, Ancelotti said he believes Kylian Mbappé will rediscover his best form.

The French captain was again left out of France‘s squad after failing to shine for Madrid since joining the club in the summer.

While Mbappé has scored six goals and provided one assist in 10 games, he has not yet found chemistry on the pitch with Madrid star Vinícius Júnior.

“I haven’t spoken to him and I will not talk to him about that [being left out of the France squad],” Ancelotti said. “We have to accept it.

“Mbappe is well, motivated. He is going through a difficult time just as all of us. It’s an opportunity when things are not going well to bring that run to an end and face those challenges head on. We are not playing our full potential. I’m certain he will just as the others will.”

Matchday 4 of the 2024-25 UEFA Champions League is in the books and the 36-team table is starting to take shape.

Shock losses for Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain have set alarm bells ringing, while Viktor Gyökeres‘ three-goal performance against Manchester City has made the entire football world sit up and take notice.

ESPN writers Gab Marcotti, Mark Ogden and Julien Laurens reflect on some of the burning questions after four rounds.

Are Real Madrid in crisis, and what does Carlo Ancelotti need to do to get this team firing again?

Ogden: Madrid are absolutely in crisis. Back-to-back defeats shouldn’t be a big deal, just something that goes with the territory, but this is Real Madrid, where no defeat is acceptable. And when you are hammered 4-0 at home by Barcelona and then lose again in the next game, against a fellow European heavyweight in AC Milan, things have gotten really bad.

There are mitigating factors, such as the retirement of Toni Kroos, Dani Carvajal‘s season-long injury, Jude Bellingham having to tone down his attacking game to accommodate Kylian Mbappé, and Mbappé himself, who is nowhere near the player Madrid expected him to be. Mbappé’s best position is wide left, but the same applies to Vinícius Júnior, so how do you solve that problem?

It’s a tough one for Ancelotti, who will know that his job will be on the line if Madrid don’t emerge from their slump quickly. Ancelotti has said before that his number-one job is keeping the club president happy — and Florentino Perez won’t be happy right now.

Marcotti: It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that Real Madrid are a team made with Panini stickers, and that it would be a challenge to make the pieces fit together. We’ve said all along that the team was unbalanced and Ancelotti would need to somehow make it work. He hasn’t been able to (yet) and, while they have more firepower than anyone and that can paper over a lot of cracks, at some point it catches up to you (especially when Thibaut Courtois isn’t between the sticks).

Their possession game hasn’t been great and obviously Kroos is a huge loss (as is the fact that Luka Modric is now literally the oldest player in the history of the club and obviously can’t give you as many minutes as in the past). Solutions? I’d imagine you’d have to turn to the transfer window in January.

Short-term I think you have to accept that neither Vinícius nor Mbappé will work off the ball, so pressing and winning possession high isn’t going to happen. That means you need to control games and hopefully not just end up with a bunch of sterile possession. You can try giving more playing duties to Eduardo Camavinga, or possibly try to get Bellingham to go back to his original spot in midfield. At least that way you’d have some sort of a base. And maybe you can think of a hybrid back three with Aurélien Tchouaméni dropping in there in certain situations, allowing the full-backs to push up (but, again… do you want Ferland Mendy pushing up? I’m not sure).

The only other alternative is seeing if you can get Bellingham to play some sort of center-forward role with Mbappé around him. But that would mean Vinícius in left midfield, which isn’t ideal either if he’s not going to help his full-back. The ugly truth is that this is a collection of star individuals, not a team. Somebody needs to make a sacrifice. And even that may not be enough.

Laurens: “‘Allo Toni? It’s Carlo. Please come back, this is a mess! I need you, we need you. I beg you!”

This is what Real Madrid have to do right now. Get on the phone to Kroos and convince him to come out of retirement to sort the unbalance and add some technical leadership to the midfield. Ancelotti, Perez, sporting director Juni Calafat, Antonio Rüdiger, the tea lady, the Bernabéu cleaner, the Ciudad Deportiva groundsman — I don’t care who, but someone needs to make the call and get Kroos to come back. The team is in crisis and while the Germany legend returning would not solve all the problems, at least the team would be better structured and have more control on the ball.

Then there is the small matter of the forward line. Mbappé is not a No. 9 and will never be a proper one. But he can still do a job there if the team around him is set up right. Leave the left side to Vinícius, get Bellingham higher up closer to Mbappé, Federico Valverde on the right, and give more responsibilities to Camavinga at the heart of midfield.

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What is going wrong at Manchester City?

The “ESPN FC” crew try to make sense of Man City’s recent slump after they lost their third game in a row to Sporting Lisbon in the Champions League.

Has Gyökeres proved this season that he can deliver on the biggest occasions and deserves a major move? Or is this just a flash in the pan?

Ogden: He isn’t a flash in the pan. Gyökeres scored 43 goals in 50 games for Sporting CP last season having made the leap from Coventry City in the Championship to the Portuguese top-flight, and he is continuing to prove himself as a formidable centre-forward this season.

The big question is whether he can do it at a higher level than the Portuguese Primeira Liga. A Champions League hat trick against Manchester City is an emphatic way to silence his naysayers, but there is no doubt that Gyökeres has enjoyed a meteoric rise. Three years ago, Brighton & Hove Albion let him go for just £1 million to Coventry after unproductive loan spells at St. Pauli, Swansea City and Coventry, who nonetheless saw enough in him to sign the Sweden international permanently. To be nowhere at 23, but a sensation at 26 is remarkable, but my view is that he is the real deal. He is quick, strong, great in the air and a powerful finisher; Sporting will do well to keep him.

Marcotti: He’s obviously not a flash in the pan, because he’s done it for a while. Then again, Gyökeres being really good would mean that Brighton — a club known for their skill in spotting and nurturing talent — got it badly wrong because he was on their books for five years between the age of 19 and 24 and he never played.

There’s probably some prejudice against him because there’s a whole history of big, strong center-forward types who score a ton of goals in the Portuguese league and don’t exactly set the world on fire elsewhere (see Mehdi Taremi, Darwin Núñez, Carlos Vinícius… heck even Simon Banza scored 21 last year). Last year, he scored three goals from open play in the Europa League, this year he has three from open play in the Champions League. With Sweden, he has 10 in 24. He’s a serviceable striker, sure, but I think teams are going to be reluctant to pay Erling Haaland-type money, given he’s already 26 and is still rough around the edges.

Laurens: 66 goals in 66 games in all competitions for Sporting is not a fluke. But the Champions League is the best arena to judge him and his hat trick against Manchester City on Tuesday (albeit including two penalties), and five goals in four games (one against Lille and one against Sturm Graz) shows he can do it there too.

He is a proper finisher, clinical in front of goal, strong physically, and can run in behind too. Is he ready for the Premier League, the best and toughest league in the world? Probably yes. He will need to step up though as the Portuguese league is too easy for him. He needs to work on his link-up play and become a more complete all-round striker, but at 26, he has plenty of time for that.

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How Hansi Flick has silenced his critics at Barcelona

Jurgen Klinsmann joins “ESPN FC” to give his thoughts on Hansi Flick’s fantastic start at Barcelona.

Are Barcelona a force again on the European stage while their biggest rivals Real Madrid are in crisis mode?

Ogden: Barcelona are probably the best team in Europe right now, but it’s still only early November and the best teams tend to come good at the business end of the season. Hansi Flick has done better than anyone would have expected, especially with so many young players and the injuries that hit his squad. And don’t forget, Ilkay Gündogan jumped ship for a return to Manchester City late in the transfer window. Maybe Barça are just on the crest of a wave right now — Raphinha certainly is — but I would still back Madrid, City and Liverpool against Barcelona in the knockout stages. Let’s not overlook the fact that two of Barcelona’s wins have been against Young Boys and Red Star Belgrade, so not the toughest tests.

Marcotti: I mean, they were in the quarterfinals last year and beat Paris Saint-Germain in the first leg before self-destructing at home. So, I wouldn’t say “again”. Flick has done really well, but — before we get too excited — two of their four wins have come against Red Star and Young Boys. Another was against Bayern, sure, in a game that could have gone the other way. They play high-risk, high-reward football and it works for them. I think — and we saw at the weekend against Espanyol as well — they need to add a dimension to their game now that the injured guys (Frenkie de Jong, Gavi, Andreas Christensen, Ronald Araújo) are either back or coming back. I don’t think they can sustain this intensity or this style of play without doing that.

Laurens: Absolutely Barcelona are a force, but there is a “but” as well. They are because they have the best front three in Europe (along with Liverpool) in Lamine Yamal, Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha. They have great variety and depth in the midfield positions with Marc Casadó, Pedri, Fermín López, Dani Olmo, Gavi and De Jong. They have a clear identity, great momentum and confidence too, while more injured players are going to come back soon. They play the offside trap better than anyone and have already caught opponents 108 times offside so far this season.

However, the “but” is that they play a very risky brand of football with their all-attacking style and super-high defensive line. Red Star took advantage of it to score and make it 1-1 on Wednesday and, once teams have worked them out, they will concede many more chances, especially against good sides. Bayern got demolished but threatened massively in the first half. Real Madrid also had their moments too, despite their heavy Clasico defeat.

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Nicol: Leverkusen win best Liverpool performance ‘by far’

Steve Nicol loves what he saw from Liverpool’s dismantling of Bayer Leverkusen in the UEFA Champions League.

Now at the halfway stage of the league phase, what do you like — or dislike — the most about the new format?

Ogden: I’d be surprised if any of the big teams miss out on qualification — even PSG, who are stuck beneath the trapdoor right now — but the best element of the new format is the opportunity it has given to the likes of Brest, Aston Villa and Celtic to give themselves a chance of a place in the knockout stages. The old group stage made it tough for outliers to qualify, especially if they had two big clubs in the group, but every team knows they have chances to win games now and many of the less fancied teams have worked that out and started strongly. Celtic, for instance, have struggled to compete in the group stage in recent seasons, but they have now won two and drawn one and have a great chance of qualifying. That’s what we want: surprises and new stories.

Marcotti: I think it’s been great. Just this midweek we’ve had Manchester City, Real Madrid, Arsenal, PSG and Bayer Leverkusen all losing. Oh, and RB Leipzig have lost four in four, which is hilarious. We’ve seen some great goals and some good games. To me, that’s just as important in this phase of the competition, especially given two thirds of the teams are going to advance. And, by the way, we have Sporting, AS Monaco and Brest in the top five and VfB Stuttgart, Leipzig, Bologna, Girona and, yes, PSG currently missing out on the next round. So much for all that nonsense about big leagues and big teams dominating.

Laurens: Apart from my beloved PSG’s results so far in the competition, I’m loving everything about this new format. We are halfway through this league phase, and we have seen big games every week, big teams struggling, small teams excelling. Some big stars haven’t been good, some more unknown players are emerging. There has been late drama and controversy. Now, the second part will start to make things even more interesting and properly tense as every point will now really count. We will start looking at all the different scenarios on who needs what to do what. It will be fun!

New York City FC head coach Nick Cushing confirmed he will remain with the club in 2025, dispelling rumors linking him to the managerial role at the Arsenal women’s team.

Though Cushing quickly emerged as a potential candidate to take over Arsenal following the departure of former manager Jonas Eidevall in October, the MLS coach insists there has been no contact from the English club.

“Listen, I’ve been asked twice now, once last week if there’s been contact and then about the story still living,” he told ESPN. “It’s news to me, the story is news to me. I’ve obviously seen it out there, but from within myself and within here [at the organization], there is no story.

“I just confirmed I will be here next year, 100%. I’ve been in the group for 19 years. It’s gonna be my 20th next year.”

Cushing first joined City Football Group in 2006, boasting a junior role at Manchester City Women before earning the managerial position in 2013. He led the team to lift the 2014 FA Women’s League Cup and 2016 Women’s Super League title during his seven-year spell.

In 2020, Cushing moved away from Manchester City Women to become the assistant coach to Ronny Deila at New York City FC. He spent two years in that position, aiding the team during the 2021 MLS Cup-winning season prior to replacing Deila as interim manager in 2022 and permanent coach in 2023.

Despite the speculation, his focus remains on leading NYCFC to the MLS Cup once again.

“Hopefully we can take this team far this year. Ultimately the reality is my focus now is on playoffs and my team beyond the playoffs. My focus is how do we get this team from seven to four, where I believe we are going to get from three to one,” he said.

“Developing the style and the identity that we’ve got now because it’s the way I see the game. It is my character, right? How brave we are, how high we push the line, how aggressive we are in pressing, how offensive we are. I want to play a brave form of the game. I want to go on attack teams and be on the front foot. Developing that has been probably my favorite part of the training programme and the team now.”

New York City FC concluded the 2024 MLS campaign in sixth place on the Eastern Conference table with 50 points, and now heads into the third match of the Round 1 best-of-three series against FC Cincinnati.

The series is currently tied 1-1, forcing Cushing to earn a victory during Saturday’s game at TQL Stadium in order to advance to the Conference semifinals.

San Diego Wave FC announced Thursday that the club has signed University of Texas forward Trinity Byars, making Byars the first active NCAA athlete to sign with an NWSL team since the league’s recent elimination of the draft.

Byars, a senior at the University of Texas, signed with San Diego Wave through the 2026 season with a mutual option for 2027. The transaction was made before the Oct. 10 roster freeze.

The NWSL and NWSL Players Association ratified a new collective bargaining agreement this summer that eliminated all forms of player drafts and granted players full free agency, meaning this offseason marks the first in the league’s history that college and youth players are free to sign directly with teams of their choice.

In a shift toward competing with global leagues, the NWSL became the first U.S. league to voluntarily remove the draft mechanism.

“The draft is an antiquated model that treats people as property to be bought and sold,” the NWSLPA said in its August news release about the new CBA, which runs through 2030. “The new terms will empower players to decide which team environment is the best fit for their needs and their development.”

Byars joins San Diego after missing most of her senior season at Texas because of a serious knee injury sustained on Sept. 1.

Byars will report to San Diego with the rest of the roster in January in order to complete her rehab from a torn ACL, a Wave spokesperson told ESPN. The club is anticipating a nine-month recovery from the time of her injury, though that could vary based on her progress.

She has been a regular in the U.S. youth national team scene, representing the country from the U14 through U23 levels.

“We are thrilled to welcome Trinity to the San Diego Wave,” Camille Ashton, the Wave’s sporting director and general manager, said in a statement. “Trinity has proven to be one of the most dynamic and exciting forwards at the collegiate level. Her ability to play between the lines and threaten in behind is special and we believe she will be an incredible addition to our team.”

Real Madrid are considering making signings in the January transfer window and the club continues to retain interest in Liverpool right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold as their preferred option to address their defensive issues, sources told ESPN.

However, sources told ESPN there is an understanding at the club that agreeing a deal with Liverpool in January would be difficult and they are exploring other options as well.

A source told ESPN that reinforcing the defence is considered a priority after successive defeats at the Bernabéu to Barcelona and AC Milan.

Alexander-Arnold emerged as Madrid’s top candidate following a season-ending injury to Dani Carvajal last month. However, it was unclear whether Madrid would wait until the summer to sign the full-back as a free agent when his Liverpool contract expires or would try to sign him in the winter transfer window.

But Lucas Vázquez‘s struggles at right-back in the defeats to Barcelona and Milan have sped up Madrid’s pursuit of the England international and a source told ESPN they are keen to address their defensive problems in January.

While Ancelotti has publicly maintained that Madrid aren’t expecting any reinforcements, sources told ESPN that the Italian and his coaching staff believe they were short on players after the departure of Nacho Fernandez in the summer and are eager to make additions to the squad.

David Alaba has been injured for almost a year and sources told ESPN that there is pessimism about his recovery as the timetable has been repeatedly extended and his cartilage problem continues to persist.

With Jesús Vallejo out of Ancelotti’s plans, Éder Militão and Antonio Rüdiger are the only centre-backs available to the Italian. Aurélien Tchouaméni, who was often fielded at centre-back, has been ruled out for a month after spraining his ankle against Milan, a source told ESPN.