Spanish Clubs

MADRID - Real Madrid's Karim Benzema netted a hat-trick as they capped their return to the refurbished Santiago Bernabéu stadium with a thrilling 5-2 comeback win over Celta Vigo in LaLiga on Sunday.

The Frenchman was unplayable at times as Madrid were reunited with their fans for the first time since March 1, 2020.

They played the whole of last season at reserve team Castilla's Alfredo Di Stéfano ground at their training complex.

BARCELONA - Thomas Lemar scored in the ninth minute of added time to give Atlético Madrid a last-gasp 2-1 victory at newly-promoted Espanyol in LaLiga on Sunday.

THOMAS LEMAR IN THE 98TH MINUTE!! pic.twitter.com/e9NG6CC0CW

— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) September 12, 2021

The USMNT injury updates include a mixed batch of good and bad news.

Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel gave a Christian Pulisic injury update after the American forward suffered a knock to the ankle during the USMNT’s 4-1 victory against Honduras. Good news U.S. and Chelsea fans, Pulisic will only be out for 10 days.

“For Christian, unfortunately he came yesterday on crutches and he has an ankle injury with about 10 days," Tuchel said.

For the first time, the UEFA Women’s Champions League will feature a 16-team group stage instead of jumping straight into a large knockout phase. And for the first time, the Real Madrid Women have qualified for the Women’s Champions League. 

Imagine traveling back in time to March 1, 2020, for El Clásico at the historic Santiago Bernabéu in Madrid. After Sergio Ramos captained his side to a 2-0 win over Lionel Messi’s men, you could’ve stood up and screamed, “Well, I guess I won’t see any of you for 550 more days, and when we meet again here both Ramos and Messi will be at PSG!”

You would’ve been correct, but they would’ve put you in an asylum. 

On Sunday, Sept. 12, Real Madrid finally returns to the Bernabéu with a LaLiga match against Celta Vigo after opening the campaign with three away games.

In a surprising development, which, perhaps understandably given the past few days of transfer market madness, went under the radar, RCD Mallorca has signed attacking midfielder Lee Kang-in on a free transfer from Valencia. 

You had to feel a bit bad for ESPN. The Worldwide Leader shelled out a significant fee to obtain the U.S. TV rights to LaLiga, only for the league’s best player to leave soon thereafter. Fortunately, a Matthew Hoppe transfer is here to save the day.