Shocking

A bizarre Fiorentina disallowed goal vs. Braga confused just about everyone on Thursday when a VAR decision overruled goal line technology.

The introduction of technology to soccer has come with its problems, but most fans can agree the sport is in a better place now. Long past are the days of “no era penal” and Frank Lampard’s ghost goal vs. Germany. Goal line technology and VAR has seen to it that mistakes like those are incredibly rare nowadays.

I've been actively losing sleep due to feeling bad for Rennes defender Jeanuël Belocian. A freak Belocian own goal vs. Shakhtar Donetsk in the 119th minute of Thursday’s Europa League playoff match tied the aggregate score at 3-3 and sent the two teams to penalties.

Shakhtar would win the penalty shootout 5-4.

MANCHESTER, England - It was Groundhog Day for Barcelona at Old Trafford on Thursday as Manchester United fought back to earn a 2-1 win that knocked the Spanish side out of the Europa League, leaving the Catalans licking their wounds after another continental failure.

Last season they also ended up in the Europa League playoffs after finishing third in their Champions League group and were knocked out of Europe's second tier competition in the quarterfinals after a 3-2 loss to Eintracht Frankfurt at Camp Nou.

Heading into Thursday's Europa League playoff between Sevilla and PSV at Philips Stadion in Eindhoven, the Spanish side simply needed to protect the 3-0 advantage they'd earned at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán last week while the Dutch club needed its own remontada.

PSV supporters willed their side forward, but the opening 45 minutes passed without much goalmouth incident. Sevilla's strategy was clear as early as the 33rd-minute when Marcos Acuña was booked for time-wasting over a throw-in.

MADRID - Spain's most capped player Sergio Ramos announced his international retirement on Thursday after being told by new coach Luis de la Fuente that he was not part of his plans.

The 36-year-old Paris St Germain defender, who won the World Cup in 2010 as well as two European Championships, has not played for Spain since March 2021, yet said he should have been given the chance to show he could still be of service to his country.

Sunday's EFL Cup final is a tale of two clubs desperate to herald the beginning of a new era with silverware. For Manchester United, ending a six-year wait for a major trophy would affirm Erik ten Hag's revolution. For Newcastle United, a 68-year drought would be remedied by the wealth of the Saudi PIF and the tinkerings of Eddie Howe. 

Valencia's season plummeted to historically low depths on Monday after a 1-0 defeat at Getafe left Los Che on just 20 points from 22 matches, good for 19th-place in LaLiga and two points from safety.

ANKARA — Missing footballer Christian Atsu was scheduled to fly out of southern Turkey hours before last week's devastating earthquake, but Hatayspor's manager said the Ghanaian opted to stay with the club after scoring a winning goal in their Feb. 5 Super Lig match.

"Atsu wanted to play more and asked for permission from his coach to leave if he wasn't going to get it," Hatayspor manager Fatih Ilek told a radio channel on Friday.

"He bought a ticket to fly to Istanbul, and from there to France. He was going to look for a club to get more playing time."

Spain women's coach Jorge Vilda on Wednesday defended his depleted squad as the best he wants and bristled at questions about a revolt that has seen 15 players frozen out of the national setup for nearly five months.

The Spanish FA in September said the 15 had threatened to quit the team if Vilda was not fired and they would not be welcomed back until they recognized their mistake and asked for forgiveness.