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    El Cholo’s Last Stand

    MADRID — Diego Simeone loved the way the sunlight hit the stands at the Vicente Calderón. First as an Atlético Madrid player, and then as its manager, he relished home games in the stadium in late afternoon, when he could look up from the field and see the red and white seats glinting in the […] More

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    Manchester City Vows to Fight, Because Losing Is Unthinkable

    MANCHESTER, England — Manchester City needed only a few minutes to come out swinging. It has been that way right from the start, right from the moment Der Spiegel, the German newsmagazine, started publishing the series of exposés that became known as Football Leaks. City responded to the allegations contained in those leaks — not […] More

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    Manchester City Banned From Champions League for 2 Seasons

    Manchester City, the reigning Premier League champion and one of the world’s richest soccer clubs, has been barred from the Champions League for the next two seasons for “serious breaches” of European soccer’s financial regulations. The decision, announced Friday by an independent financial control body of UEFA, the governing body for soccer in Europe, found […] More

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    Soccer’s Sleeping Giant, on the Sidelines Once Again

    The situation, as Zenit St. Petersburg’s players trooped back into their changing room in Lisbon’s Estádio da Luz, was encouraging. From the moment the Champions League’s groups had been drawn in August, Group G had the look of the most finely-poised, the least predictable: no obvious favorite, no vast financial disparity, no doomed makeweights. So […] More

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    Manchester City Cited Media Leaks in Failed Bid to Avoid Ban

    Last spring, days after news reports revealed the English soccer champion Manchester City was facing expulsion from the Champions League, European soccer’s governing body confirmed the club was indeed in danger. Its investigators had found the club had breached financial control regulations to such an extent that it recommended the team be punished. Manchester City […] More

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    N.F.L. Ends Myles Garrett’s Indefinite Suspension

    The N.F.L. has reinstated Myles Garrett, the Cleveland Browns defensive end, the team announced in a statement on Wednesday. He had been suspended indefinitely for pulling off the helmet of Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph and hitting him in the head with it during a game in November. Andrew Berry, the Browns’ general manager, said […] More

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    Jürgen Klinsmann Quits as Hertha Berlin Coach

    BERLIN — Jürgen Klinsmann, the former United States men’s national soccer team coach, resigned as manager of the Bundesliga club Hertha Berlin on Tuesday, abruptly abandoning his project to transform the German club into a powerhouse after only 76 days in charge. Klinsmann, 55, was hired in November, his first job since he was fired […] More

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    ‘It’s Cutthroat’: For U.S. Women, Toughest Battle Is to Stay

    CARSON, Calif. — A great example of the relentless competition for roster spots on the United States women’s soccer team might have been a short video clip that popped up on social media on Wednesday. In it, several United States players can be seen filing off a bus before a training session last week. Forward […] More