Europe

Tottenham Hotspur reached the League Cup final after goals from Moussa Sissoko and Son Heung-min sank Championship (second-tier) Brentford 2-0 on Tuesday to set up a clash with Manchester United or Manchester City in April's showpiece.

Fellow London side Brentford, playing in their first semifinal in a major cup competition, started brightly but fell behind in the 12th minute when unmarked French midfielder Sissoko headed in a fine Sergio Reguilon cross from the left.

Watford's promotion push gained some more vigor at the advent of the new year, as the club announced the signing of winger Philip Zinckernagel on a free transfer.

The Premier League is reassuring fans that the season will continue after its latest round of COVID-19 testing produced 40 positive cases among players and staff in the past week. This is the highest amount of Premier League COVID cases reported since the start of the pandemic, breaking the previous week’s record of 18 positive cases.

Despite 58 positive cases since Dec. 21, the EPL said in a statement that the season will go ahead as scheduled.

New Paris Saint-Germain boss Mauricio Pochettino said on Tuesday that he fulfilled a dream to return and manage the French club he played for and captained during his career as a defender in the early 2000s.

Pochettino had been out of a job since being dismissed by Tottenham Hotspur in November 2019 and took over the reins at PSG after Thomas Tuchel was sacked last month.

Former Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson has said it is his personal duty and the game's responsibility to address the problem of dementia that has impacted several former players.

The issue of dementia in the professional game was sparked by the death of England's Nobby Stiles in October and there have been calls for the issue of head injuries in sport to be given further attention. Stiles and many of his 1966 World Cup winning teammates had been diagnosed with dementia before their deaths while United great Bobby Charlton also disclosed his diagnosis recently.

A superb second-minute lob by Danny Ings gave Southampton a surprise 1-0 home win over Premier League leaders Liverpool, with the Reds' attack looking rudderless as they were held scoreless for the second game in a row.

With the injury-hit champions fielding a makeshift center-back pairing of Jordan Henderson and Fabinho, striker Ings, who joined Southampton on loan from Liverpool in 2018 before making the transfer permanent a year later,was able to exploit some confusion at a set piece to secure the win.

Two names dominate the headlines as the January transfer window opens in Italy: Christian Eriksen and Alejandro "Papu" Gomez.

Two of the Serie A's most gifted players are expected to depart their respective clubs, Inter Milan and Atalanta, this month after ending 2020 disgruntled and out of favor.

Uruguay's players' union and big names like Luis Suarez and Diego Godín voiced their displeasure on Monday over the English Football Association's punishment given to Edinson Cavani. The Cavani ban drama appeared to be over after he had chosen not to contest the punishment, but now his international teammates are demanding that the FA overturns its decision.

In the year 2021, Lionel Messi will turn 34 while Cristiano Ronaldo turns 36 in just one month’s time. Playing in their first matches of the New Year on Sunday, the duo showed just how important they remain to their respective clubs by providing match-winning moments.

Over in Spain, Messi returned from his extended winter break to appear in his 500th LaLiga match for Barcelona. He’s the first non-Spanish player to reach the milestone, and among active players, only Real Madrid’s Sergio Ramos (505) and Real Betis’ Joaquín (565) have more.