Christian Polanco and Alexis Guerreros react to Mohamed Salah’s rumored potential move to San Diego FC — and whether he’d be the biggest signing in MLS history. Then, they speak with New York City’s mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani about FIFA’s skyrocketing 2026 World Cup ticket prices. Finally, the boys break down a strong Champions League week for American players and assess whether key USMNT stars are peaking at the perfect time.
Champions League review: Liverpool sidestep Salah saga as Chelsea slip up
Manchester City conquer the Bernabéu, Liverpool survive without Mohamed Salah and Atalanta find Chelsea’s flaws
• To say that Pep Guardiola and Real Madrid have history is to put it mildly. At Barcelona, Guardiola grew up amid an obsessive enmity on both sides, one deepened by his term as the Catalan club’s coach. They are highly familiar with Manchester City, too. City met Madrid for the fifth season in succession on Wednesday. Despite Madrid’s recent struggles under Xabi Alonso, winning at the Santiago Bernabéu is a huge result, a deserved win where City might have been out of sight by half-time. Rodrygo scored his habitual goal against City but one of Guardiola’s new generation in Nico O’Reilly equalised before a controversial penalty award, converted by Erling Haaland, decided the game. A player linked with a move to Madrid sometime in the distant future celebrated with a smirk; Jude Bellingham’s attempt to distract by trying to yank Haaland’s ponytail did not work. After the selection misstep that led to defeat to Bayer Leverkusen, Guardiola got it right in Madrid to leave a lifelong rival in flux. In acknowledging an opponent wracked by injury and infighting had made for an easier task than usual, high standards came to the fore. “I’ve been here [at the Bernabéu] many times in the last five years and we have played much better than today and not won,” Guardiola said. He talks – and his team plays – like he has his mojo back.
Continue reading...Pitch Points: will Inter Miami be better next year, and can Nancy succeed at Celtic?
The world of soccer throws up no shortage of questions on a regular basis. In today’s column, we endeavor to answer three of them
Lionel Messi is a MLS Cup winner. That might rank lowly on the GOAT’s list of career achievements, but it was clear in the Argentine’s celebrations after the 3-1 win over the Vancouver Whitecaps in Saturday’s championship game just how much this meant. Even for Messi, this was more than just another trophy. This was a ‘mission accomplished’ moment.
Continue reading...Champions League: Mourinho’s Benfica swat aside Napoli while PSG draw blank
Ajax win 4-2 at Qarabag; Juventus edge out Pafos
Copenhagen stun Villarreal; Bodø/Glimt hold Dortmund
Benfica’s Richard Ríos scored one goal and set up another to seal a vital 2-0 victory against Napoli on Wednesday, boosting the Portuguese side’s hopes of reaching the Champions League knockout stage.
The result reignited Benfica’s European campaign, clinching a second consecutive win after a poor start and lifting them to six points and up to 25th place, just one point outside the playoff spots. Napoli slipped to 23rd on seven points.
Continue reading...Real Madrid 1-2 Manchester City: Champions League – as it happened
City came from behind for a deserved win that puts Real coach Xabi Alonso under further pressure
1 min: A fierce old atmosphere in the Bernabéu. It’s Real Madrid in the Champions League after all. It’s Real Madrid versus a Pep team. And then …
Hats off to Erling Haaland, who goes out of his way to say hello to a couple of the tiny mascots and give them a high five. Once he goes off down the line, the little lads embrace each other with excitement, their day made. So sweet. Then City get the ball rolling.
Continue reading...Championship roundup: Boro close gap at top after Coventry held by 10-man Preston
Lampard tells Coventry players to stay ‘level-headed’
Boro win at Charlton; Millwall denied by late own goal
Frank Lampard insisted the title race was never over after his Coventry side were frustrated in a 1-1 draw at 10-man Preston as their Championship lead was reduced to five points.
After Andrew Hughes deflected Jack Rudoni’s shot into his own net, it seemed as if Coventry would bounce back strongly from their 3-0 defeat by Ipswich at the weekend. But despite that, and the man advantage after Liam Lindsay was sent off for dragging back Haji Wright when he was through on goal, Daniel Jebbison struck late to help Middlesbrough to move to within five points of the top.
Continue reading...Inter 0-1 Liverpool: Champions League – as it happened
Dominik Szoboszlai’s late penalty gave Liverpool a deserved victory after a strong performance in Milan
It’s a great fixture to look forward to. Like I said yesterday when people asked, not that many did, I told them how well Inter have started the season, that they made two of the last three finals.
[On his team selection] At this moment in time I have 13 outfield players with Champions League experience available. If you don’t have wingers available, apart from Rio [Ngumoha] who is very young, playing with two No9s is the most logical thing to do. The more [Isak and Ekitike] play together, the more they will find a connection.
Internazionale’s last home defeat in Europe was against Bayern Munich on 7 September 2022. Since then they’ve won 15 and drawn three, including victories over Barcelona (twice), Arsenal and Milan.
Continue reading...Champions League: Koundé double boosts Barcelona, Greenwood lifts Marseille
Bayern beat Sporting to move level with Arsenal at top
Atlético come from behind to burst PSV’s bubble
Jules Koundé’s two quickfire headers helped Barcelona to fight back and edge past Eintracht Frankfurt 2-1 in the Champions League at Camp Nou on Tuesday, marking a much-needed win for the Catalan side.
After a draw against Club Brugge and a defeat by Chelsea, Barcelona found their stride to climb to 14th in the standings, level on 10 points with several teams, as they aim for a top-eight finish to secure direct qualification for the last 16. Frankfurt are 30th with four points from six matches.
Continue reading...Tottenham’s Pride flag moved on ‘security grounds’ after Slavia Prague request
Czech club made request to Uefa for flag to be moved
Proud Lilywhites: ‘The flag will fly. It will still be seen’
Proud Lilywhites, Tottenham’s official LGBTQ+ supporters’ group, has expressed disappointment after the club’s rainbow flag was moved for Tuesday’s home fixture against Slavia Prague.
The flag to show support for the LGBTQ+ community is displayed in the north-east corner of Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, close to the away fans. It has been moved to the south-west corner for the Champions League match after a request to Uefa from Slavia.
Continue reading...Lionel Messi wins second straight MLS MVP award
Messi's 29 goals in 2025 were the fourth-most ever over a single MLS season.
Inter Miami star Lionel Messi is MLS’ first back-to-back MVP winner
The 38-year-old Argentine star — and captain of the MLS Cup champions — has become the first back-to-back MVP in MLS history.
Wolves 1-4 Manchester United: Premier League – as it happened
Manchester United thrashed rock-bottom Wolves to move up to six
Matt Burtz emails: “There are some who don’t believe in xG, and that’s fine. For those who do, Wolves’ xG per 90 minutes is -0.44. Not great, but it’s only the fourth worst in the Premier League. (Interestingly enough, it’s ahead of Sunderland’s -0.52.) But the main stat for Wolves is an xG against of 18.9, which is seventh in the PL (and better than that of third place Aston Villa). This means they’ve been incredibly unlucky in keeping goals out. Clearly they need to score more goals as one every two games isn’t going to cut it at any level, but if their luck balances out defensively there is a theoretical chance of them putting some results together.”
It’s a nice theory.
Continue reading...FA Cup third-round draw: Macclesfield to face holders Crystal Palace, Spurs will host Aston Villa – as it happened
National League North side Macclesfield have drawn the holders Crystal Palace, while Exeter City travel to Manchester City
Crouch and Cole are in the clubhouse … we are getting closer.
TNT are hosting the draw at Brackley Town before they face Burton Albion.
Continue reading...It’s Mohamed Salah v Liverpool, and nobody is coming out of it well | Jonathan Wilson
Handing the Egyptian a contract extension while also bringing about a new identity has backfired terribly
There is perhaps nothing in a career as hard as the leaving of it. Unless something utterly remarkable happens, Mohamed Salah has played his last game for Liverpool. Left out of the starting lineup for each of the last three matches, he trained on Monday after his extraordinary post-match tirade following the 3-3 draw with Leeds but he has not been selected for the Champions League against Inter on Tuesday. He may or may not be with the team for Saturday’s game at Anfield against Brighton (“I don’t know if I am going to play or not but I am going to enjoy it,” he said). After that, he will be in Morocco for the Africa Cup of Nations with the Egypt national team and the transfer window will have opened by the time the tournament is over.
How has it come to this? Salah is one of Liverpool’s all-time greats. He lies behind only Ian Rush and Roger Hunt in their all-time goalscoring charts. Across all clubs, only Alan Shearer, Harry Kane and Wayne Rooney have scored more Premier League goals. He played a key role in two Premier League titles and a Champions League. He’s won the Premier League Golden Boot four times and been named player of the year three times by both his fellow players and soccer writers – including last year. He’s only 33 and there has been no obvious sign yet of him fading with age. This is not the end anybody would have wanted.
Continue reading...Spalletti splits Napoli and Højlund downs Juve: welcome to Serie A Bizarro World | Nicky Bandini
Club legends in opposing dugouts, Turin giants as underdogs against the juggernaut Partenopei … it was a weird night at the Maradona
The man with the Napoli tattoo was met with hostile whistles on his return to the Stadio Maradona. Luciano Spalletti had the club’s emblem inked on to his arm, together with a Scudetto badge, after leading the Partenopei to their third Serie A title in 2023. The design made it appear as though someone had torn into his flesh, revealing his true essence, a connection more than just skin deep.
But then he accepted the manager’s job at Juventus. For many Napoli supporters this was the ultimate sin, joining the club they hate the most. From others there was a measure of understanding. Spalletti had been out of work for four months after being sacked by the Italian national team in the middle of an ailing World Cup qualifying campaign. The opportunity to succeed Igor Tudor in Turin at the end of October was a chance to get his career back on track.
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