Champions League

Naby Keïta drilled a scorching volley to put Liverpool up two inside 13 minutes. He followed that up with defense so bad he was given the hook at halftime.

Antoine Griezmann scored twice in the first half and nearly had more. He followed that up by inadvertently kicked Roberto Firmino in the face and was sent off early in the second half. 

Liverpool blew a two-goal lead before pulling out a 3-2 win over 10-man Atlético Madrid thanks to a Mohamed Salah penalty on Tuesday in thrilling Champions League action in the Spanish capital. 

If European football wasn’t as familiar with American manager Jesse Marsch as it should’ve been, it sure as hell is now. On Tuesday, the RB Leipzig boss masterminded a stirring performance at the Parc des Princes that had the German side deservedly ahead 2-1 with just over 20 minutes to play. 

But a terrible mistake from American midfielder Tyler Adams allowed Lionel Messi to equalize before a rash challenge in the area gifted PSG another from the spot.   

Jesse Marsch’s first season as RB Leipzig manager was always going to be full of growing pains. He had impossibly large shoes to fill in replacing Julian Nagelsmann — who led Leipzig to the 2020 Champions League semifinals, becoming the youngest-ever coach to reach that stage — and Marsch inherited a side in transition with Dayot Upamecano and Marcel Sabitzer following Nagelsmann to Bayern Munich while Ibrahima Konaté signed with Liverpool.

Arsenal defeated Hoffenheim 4-0 in the Women’s Champions League on Thursday to move up to second-place in Group C. The Gunners’ victory saw the first Tobin Heath Arsenal goal, along with scores from Vivianne Miedema, Leah Williamson and Kim Little.

Heath got her first Champions League start with Arsenal. She previously made an appearance as a substitute in Arsenal’s Champions League opener against Barcelona, where Heath picked up an assist.

Wednesday’s Chelsea-Wolfsburg matchup in the UEFA Women’s Champions League was one of those games you just didn’t want to end. Thrilling action on either side of the pitch ended in a 3-3 draw featuring stunning golazos, horrifying mistakes and a late, late equalizer.

Chelsea, last season’s runner-up, opened its UWCL campaign on fire, scoring 12 minutes in through a Sam Kerr stunner only to concede the next three goals on howlers. But the reigning FA WSL champs dug deep to earn a draw to share the spoils in Group A. 

SAO PAULO — A Brazilian soccer player has been charged with attempted murder after he brutally kicked a referee in the head during a lower league game in the south of the country.

The player, William Ribeiro of Sport Club Sao Paulo, attacked the referee after he awarded a foul against him during a league game away to Guarani on Monday.

The UEFA Women’s Champions League will for the first time feature a 16-team group stage this year, eschewing the old format of jumping right to a 32-team knockout tournament. With some mouthwatering matchups across four groups of four, here’s everything you need to know about how to watch Women's Champions League matches in the U.S. from the group stage forward. 

Rangers fell 1-0 to Sparta Prague on Thursday, but the real loser was humanity. Rangers midfielder Glen Kamara — who was racially abused by a Czech player from Slavia Prague last season — was booed throughout Thursday night’s match.