Football

3:07 PM ET The 2020-21 European soccer season was a compact grind that produced some surprising results and offered all of us an opportunity to become experts in the field of soft-tissue injuries. It ended with Chelsea‘s Champions League final win over Manchester City, and while a lot of players have — or soon will

1:20 PM ET In the aftermath of Chelsea‘s 1-0 win against Manchester City in the Champions League final on Saturday, American star Christian Pulisic was joined on the field by his parents. He was passed the trophy for a photo, and as he gripped it with both hands, his father, Mark, rotated the winners’ medal

4:00 AM ET Tor-Kristian Karlsen So far there’s been little to indicate that a summer of big spending among the elite clubs in Europe will happen. If the failed European Super League breakaway attempt was proof of anything, it was that the football economy is not in a good place. Over a year on, the

11:36 AM ET The 2020-21 Premier League season was unlike any other. With the coronavirus pandemic forcing the 2019-20 season to conclude in late July, teams had a little over six weeks to reboot, reset and regroup. From there, the grueling calendar took hold, with a compressed league schedule and cup competitions squeezed around international

9:26 AM ET Jeff Carlisle Close U.S. soccer correspondent Jeff Carlisle covers MLS and the U.S. national team for ESPN FC. Kyle Bonagura Close ESPN Staff Writer Covers the Pac-12. Joined ESPN in 2014. Attended Washington State University. We have a new No. 1! The New England Revolution continue to quietly collect points in the

4:00 AM ET Ian DarkeESPN.com writer Close Darke, who called games for the network during the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, is ESPN lead soccer voice in the United States. He has covered the Barclays Premier League and the Champions League since 1982, and has one of the world’s most recognizable soccer voices.

6:13 PM ET Heading into this week’s CONCACAF Nations League Finals in Denver and, more importantly, World Cup qualifying in the fall, what the United States men’s national team needed more than anything was a step up in competition. Its nine-match unbeaten streak over the last 18 months was at least partially a product of

9:30 AM ET PORTO, Portugal — Nothing quite underlines the unusual dynamic between owner and head coach at Chelsea as the first meeting between Roman Abramovich and Thomas Tuchel taking place on the field after they had just won the Champions League. Almost an hour beyond the final whistle of the 1-0 victory over Manchester

Chelsea have been crowned Champions League champions for the first time in almost a decade after beating Man City 1-0 in the 2020-21 final. Thomas Tuchel’s side found success repeatedly hit Man City on the break in Porto to claim their first Champions League since Didier Drogba’s heroics proved pivotal in Munich, against Bayern Munich,

6:47 PM ET PORTO, Portugal — As Thomas Tuchel and Chelsea celebrated, Pep Guardiola walked straight past the Champions League trophy without giving it a single glance, Manchester City were outplayed in a 1-0 Champions League final defeat and this was the closest Guardiola would get to touching the European Cup since he last won

11:40 AM ET The Champions League final serves as one last celebration of the European club season. And the soon-to-be-concluded campaign has been one like no other for American players. U.S. performers have dotted some of the biggest clubs in Europe, be it Weston McKennie at Juventus, Tyler Adams at RB Leipzig or Giovanni Reyna

6:54 AM ET Noel Gallagher, a Manchester City fan who has also done some recording and touring, laughed and told me a story about his kids. His daughter is 21, and until she was 16, he said she believed all Manchester United fans had six toes. When she told him this, he said he looked

6:30 PM ET Major League Soccer has handed Inter Miami CF a $2 million fine — the stiffest in MLS history — over violations of the league’s salary budget and roster regulations. Along with the $2m fine to the club, MLS levied a reduction in allocation money of $2,271,500 spread out over the 2022 and

4:00 AM ET Graham Hunter Close Spain writer Graham Hunter is a Barcelona-based freelance writer for ESPN.com who specializes in La Liga and the Spanish national team. Sid Lowe Keep or Dump series: Arsenal | Bayern | Barcelona | Man United Manager Zinedine Zidane won’t be there next season, but Real Madrid have other things

3:00 AM ET It’s all about leverage — in business, in sports, in life. Or, at the risk of dating myself, it’s all about “hand,” in the Seinfeldian sense. When it comes to Harry Kane and a move away from Tottenham Hotspur, he simply has very little. Which is not to say he won’t move

5:30 AM ET Tom Hamilton Close Senior Writer • Joined ESPN in 2011• Covered two Olympics, a pair of Rugby World Cups and two British & Irish Lions tours• Previously rugby editor, and became senior writer in 2018 Stephan Uersfeld It’s over. On Saturday, Schalke 04 played their final Bundesliga match, meaning that for at least one season,

5:00 AM ET The Champions League final proves, in a sense, that money buys success. Chelsea vs. Manchester City is the team bankrolled by a Russian oligarch against the club that has been transformed by the financial might of Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al Nahyan of Abu Dhabi. They are two clubs that have gone

5:59 PM ET Villarreal beat Manchester United in an epic penalty shootout in the Europa League final in Poland on Wednesday night after the match finished 1-1 in regular and extra time. In the first European final to be played in front of a crowd in two years amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Villarreal survived a