Europe

MUNICH, Germany - Hosts Bayern Munich had to battle back from two goals down to rescue a 3-3 draw against strugglers Arminia Bielefeld on Monday and had their lead at the top of the Bundesliga cut to five points.

Four days after lifting the Club World Cup for a sixth title in less than nine months, Bayern crashed back to Bundesliga reality with Bielefeld racing to a 2-0 lead in the first half.

As a player whose obsession with football has only increased over the course of a glittering 17-year career, Cesc Fàbregas never grows tired of learning. That’s why, after a career spent entirely in England and Spain, the World Cup winner opted to give France a try by signing for Monaco back in 2019.

After playing 11 full seasons in the Premier League and three in LaLiga, the 33-year-old admits that the differences in Ligue 1 were pronounced. 

Bayern Munich have signed defender Dayot Upamecano from RB Leipzig with the French center back set to join the European champions in July before the 2021-22 season, the Bundesliga club said on Sunday.

Upamecano, 22, agreed to sign a five-year contract that will keep him at Bayern until 2026. Financial details of the transfer were not provided but German media reported Bayern had triggered his release clause which is worth around $51.5 million.

It’s been 10 years since Lille OSC captured its last Ligue 1 title, but one look at the table sees the club from northern France setting the pace ahead of last season’s Champions League semifinalist Lyon and, of course, three-time defending champion Paris Saint-Germain. 

If it’s a position that Lille didn’t anticipate being in with just 14 matches remaining, 20-year-old American forward Timothy Weah isn’t letting on to any sense of disbelief. 

TikTok will be the global sponsor for the rescheduled Euro 2020 soccer tournament set to begin in June this year, the sport's European governing body UEFA announced on Thursday.

The popular Chinese short video app, the first digital entertainment platform to sponsor a major international tournament for UEFA, also has broadcast sponsorship rights as part of the deal.

Sevilla FC, anyone? Julen Lopetegui’s side is the hottest commodity in Europe not named Manchester City following Wednesday’s 2-0 win over Barcelona in the first leg of their Copa del Rey semifinal matchup.  

That’s now eight straight wins in all competitions for Sevilla (four in LaLiga and four in the Copa), results that’ve pushed the side to fourth in the league (just one point behind Barça) and the cusp of the Copa final.