9:11 AM ET Don’t look now, but after years of one-sided champions across the majority of Europe’s “big five” leagues — English Premier League, German Bundesliga, Italian Serie A, Spanish Primera Division and French Ligue 1 — we’re staring at the very real scenario of new titleholders almost across the board. With the exception of
Football
11:53 AM ET Sid LoweSpain writer Ronald Koeman described the Copa del Rey as the shortest route to a trophy for a team that, he admitted, “isn’t in a position to win much,” and yet by a little before 11 o’clock on Wednesday night, even that looked like a very, very long way away. They
5:41 AM ET Adriana Garcia The Spanish Football Federation’s Competition Committee has opened disciplinary proceedings after Brazilian striker Vinicius Tanque suffered racist abuse during a third division league game at Atletico Madrid’s B team last weekend. While fans are not allowed at first and second division games in Spain due to COVID-19 restrictions, supporters can
5:23 AM ET Former Manchester United striker Odion Ighalo has joined Saudi Arabia’s Al Shabab from Chinese Super League side Shanghai Shenhua. – Stream ESPN FC Daily on ESPN+ (U.S. only) Ighalo, who spent the last year on loan at Old Trafford, was unveiled by the Riyadh-based team in a video posted on the club’s
5:16 AM ET Rob DawsonCorrespondent Marcos Rojo found out his Manchester United career was over on social media after reading that his contract would not be extended, sources have told ESPN. Rojo was still waiting to hear from United officials about whether they would take up their option to extend his deal by another 12
5:25 AM ET Andre Onana has made over 100 appearances for Ajax. Eric Verhoeven/Soccrates/Getty Images UEFA has banned Ajax Amsterdam goalkeeper Andre Onana for 12 months for a doping violation, just days after the club’s record signing Sebastien Haller was mistakenly left off their Europa League list. Following a drugs test on Oct. 30 last year,
4:10 AM ET The president of Italian Serie C side Novara has resigned after police stopped him with a bag containing €2000,000 ($240,000), which he could not explain. Marcello Cianci, 50, was detained by the financial police in the southern region of Reggio Calabria and the money was seized. – Stream LIVE games and replays
6:27 PM ET MLS announced that it has once again extended its deadline for negotiating a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) with the MLS Players Association (MLSPA) for 24 hours until 11:59 p.m. ET on Feb. 5. The extension is the second one granted by MLS in the last week after the league said on
6:28 PM ET Jose Mourinho was right: It is easy to manage Chelsea, especially if their opponents play like his Tottenham Hotspur team did in a 1-0 loss to the Blues. The Tottenham manager had a wry smile on his face when suggesting in the prematch press conference that “I don’t think it’s very difficult
5:48 PM ET Barcelona defender Gerard Pique has weighed in on a debate about refereeing by saying many officials in Spain were likely to favour his club’s great rivals Real Madrid. Pique, in an interview on YouTube show “Post United” on Thursday, said that if the vast majority of La Liga referees supported Real Madrid,