Blog (Page 198)

[ad_1] Franck Kessie has been ruled out until club football the World Cup after picking up an injury in Barcelona’s win over Viktoria Plzen. Kessi has spent most of the season on the bench since joining Barcelona in the summer but was given his fifth start of the campaign in their final Champions League group match. Playing as the holding midfielder in place of Sergio Busquets, he was performing his duties well when he was forced off after 67 minutes. Speaking afterwards, Xavi confirmed that his player has a hamstring issue and will now be out until after the World Cup, missing the team’s twoRead More →

[ad_1] La Liga president Javier Tebas has taken a dig at Ligue 1, saying that football has missed Lionel Messi since the seven-time Ballon d’Or left Barcelona and joined Paris Saint-Germain. Messi is currently playing his second campaign in France after joining PSG in the summer of 2021 and has been on fire thus far this season. After a somewhat disappointing first year in Paris, the Argentine looks to be getting back to his best, bagging 12 goals and 13 assists in 17 matches so far in 2022/23. With his contract expiring at the end of the season, there is talk that he could returnRead More →

[ad_1] Arsenal defender Auston Trusty insists he hasn’t given up on earning a spot on the United States Men’s National Team’s World Cup roster. The 24-year-old center-back, currently on loan at Championship outfit Birmingham City after moving to England from the Colorado Rapids in January, is yet to be capped for the USMNT but has received call-ups for two January training camps in 2019 and 2022. However, Trusty has been in excellent form since moving to St. Andrew’s, sitting first among his teammates for tackles (48), interceptions (27), clearances (75), blocks (27), and recoveries (94), while also scoring twice in 17 appearances. It’s late inRead More →

[ad_1] Son Heung-min was left with a swollen eye after taking a blow to the head against Marseille, and Tottenham aren’t yet sure about the severity of the injury. It proved to be a good night for Spurs who, on the verge of being knocked out of the Champions League after going 1-0 down, bounced back to win 3-1 and top their group. However, things weren’t quite perfect with key player Son having to be subbed off after being hit in the head by Chancel Mbemba as the two challenged for the ball. Pictures have now emerged of the South Korean and his team-mates celebratingRead More →

[ad_1] Four of the eight 2022/23 Champions League groups are now complete after the first half of matchday six was played out across Europe on Tuesday night. Some clubs already knew that they have a space in the knockout stages in the New Year, but not everything was assured and even some of those that had already secure progression still had top spot and therefore a last 16 seeding to play for. Liverpool had to wait for late goals to beat Napoli at Anfield, but it went some way to exacting revenge for a heavy defeat at the Estadio Diego Armando Maradona earlier in theRead More →

[ad_1] Barcelona signed off from the Champions League with a win against Viktoria Pizen as they now prepare to embark on a Europa League adventure instead. Barcelona dominated possession but had fewer shots, and shots on target, than their opponents, but they were in clinical mood in front of goal. Barça knew they were unable to catch Bayern Munich and Inter in the group’s top two places prior to kick-off in Czech Republic, and that Plzen also couldn’t leapfrog them into third. It took only six minutes for Marcos Alonso to fire the visitors into an early lead, poking the ball in from pretty muchRead More →

[ad_1] The MLS Cup is set for Saturday, as LAFC hosts the Philadelphia Union at Banc of California Stadium. The Union reached the Cup after triumphing 3-1 over New York City FC in the Eastern Conference Final, while LAFC earned hosting rights when defeating Austin FC 3-0. These are the goals that helped both teams reach the final… Opoku makes it 3-0 and @LAFC are 10 minutes away from their first trip to #MLSCup!#LAFCvATX // Audi #MLSCupPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/jKy5Tel3AB — Major League Soccer (@MLS) October 30, 2022 Let’s kick off with Opoku’s strike against Austin FC. The player came off the bench in the 71st, replacingRead More →

[ad_1] Sarina Wiegman has insisted the door is not closed for Hannah Hampton, despite the goalkeeper not being included in an England squad since Euro 2022 and being dropped by Aston Villa boss Carla Ward following an unspecified incident. Hampton was handed her England debut by Wiegman in February and was understudy to Mary Earps at the European Championships, alongside Ellie Roebuck. However, she has not been selected in the three subsequent post-Euros squads, with Sandy MacIver called up in her place. MacIver has not played a minute in the WSL for Manchester City this season. After being declared fit for her side’s trip toRead More →

[ad_1] Nashville SC’s Hany Mukhtar has been named Major League Soccer’s Most Valuable Player for 2022. After leading the league with 23 goals to capture the MLS Golden Boot, the 27-year-old German-born forward stands the first in Nashville SC history to win MVP. Mukhtar also helped his side with 34 goal contributions in 2022, tied for the fifth-most in a single MLS season to inspire Nashville to fifth place on the Western Conference table. He won the vote with 48.03% of the vote, defeating Austin FC’s Sebastián Driussi and Philadelphia Union’s Andre Blake, who finished in second and third respectively. Nashville became the fourth expansionRead More →

[ad_1] Aston Villa have underlined their commitment to new boss Unai Emery by handing him the longest managerial contract in the club’s history. Emery was confirmed as the Villans new boss last week, although he is yet to officially start the job yet as he awaits his work visa. Aston Villa pushed the boat out to get the former Arsenal boss, paying £5.2m in compensation to release him from his deal at Villarreal and a bumper pay deal. It has also now emerged that the deal commits the Spaniard to Villa for at least four-and-a-half years. That eclipses the three-and-a-half years offered to previous bossRead More →