MANCHESTER — Manchester United's slim chance of a Champions League last-16 spot ended with a 1-0 defeat by group winners Bayern Munich at Old Trafford on Tuesday, piling more misery on Erik ten Hag's beleaguered team in an already rocky season.
The three-time European champions needed to beat Bayern in their group stage finale on Tuesday and hope Copenhagen's game against visiting Galatasaray ended in a draw.
Former Italy and Juventus defender Giorgio Chiellini has decided to retire from professional football, the 39-year-old announced on Twitter on Tuesday.
Chiellini, who played for Major League Soccer (MLS) club Los Angeles FC this season, retires after losing the MLS Cup final 2-1 to Columbus Crew on Saturday.
Chiellini retires
Cristiano Ronaldo is closing the year as one of the top goalscorers of the world and while the goals and assists keep coming, fans in Saudi Arabia have made it their duty to remind the legendary striker of his ultimate rival, Lionel Messi.
Classic Ronaldo.
Inter Miami and Lionel Messi are going worldwide in 2024 with the preseason schedule taking the Herons to El Salvador, Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong and who knows where else. The Inter Miami preseason travel will be intense.
The idea of Miami touring the world and fans getting to see one last Lionel Messi vs. Cristiano Ronaldo game is exciting on paper. When you start adding up the miles that the club will travel you start to feel a little bad for the Miami players.
Here are the dates and opponents announced so far.
Inter Miami 2024 preseason schedule
The Columbus Crew outlasted LAFC 2-1 to win MLS Cup on Saturday in front 20,802 fans at Lower.com Field in Columbus, Ohio. An unbelievable Malte Amundsen assist to Yaw Yeboah gave the Crew their second and game-winning goal.
Amundsen might just have won himself the assist of the season as the Danish center back delivered an inch-perfect ball that cut LAFC’s back line wide open.
Amundsen assist vs LAFC in MLS Cup
TWO FOR THE CREW
United States men’s national team and AS Monaco striker Folarin Balogun turned provider on Saturday as he assisted both of his side’s goals in a 2-1 Ligue 1 victory vs. Rennes.
Balogun entered the match with just one goal contribution in his last six games for Monaco and needed a solid performance. Monaco signed Balogun for roughly $43 million this summer.
The 22-year-old USMNT star delivered on Saturday this time with his passing rather than goal scoring.
Balogun assists vs Rennes
Italy legend and now manager of Serie B side Sampdoria Andrea Pirlo led his team to a 2-0 victory on Saturday. The celebrations were quite intense as you can watch as a player shakes Pirlo quite aggressively after coming off.
Pirlo getting shaken by his players pic.twitter.com/oRn08DBSzx
— Theo (@Thogden) December 9, 2023
TURIN — Juventus delivered an efficient performance as they moved back to provisional top spot in Serie A on Friday, securing a 1-0 home win against a wasteful Napoli thanks to a header from Federico Gatti.
Juve had their best chance of the first half when Dusan Vlahovic's close-range attempt was blocked by Natan, and Weston McKennie's subsequent rebound with an overhead kick was denied by Napoli goalkeeper Alex Meret.
Weston McKennie bicycle kick vs Napoli
The anticipation for Copa América 2024 continues to grow especially with the recent reveal of the group stage. In the months leading up to the tournament The18 will be doing power rankings and list our picks for the best 2024 Copa América teams.
The United States men’s national team will face Uruguay, Panama and Bolivia in Group C of the 2024 Copa América. The USMNT Copa América group is looking great.
The draw for the tournament took place on Thursday. It took 50 minutes until a ball was drawn, but the groups for the 2024 Copa América are now official.
2024 Copa América groups
The CONMEBOL Copa América 2024 draw is set