Europe

There’s no substitute for experience. Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola, who’ll turn 50 this month, spent the buildup to Sunday’s match against Chelsea explaining as much.

“No, of course I am better, definitely,” Guardiola said of his current skill set. “Experience helps you — especially the way I live my profession. Before I thought I would retire soon, now maybe I am thinking I might retire older. I don’t know. 50 already, it is a nice age!”

It’s not everyday that Americans exchange goals in the 2. Bundesliga, but that was the case on Sunday when Julian Green’s Fürth defeated Leon Flach’s St. Pauli 2-1. 

The 25-year-old Green hasn’t played for the U.S. since 2018 and has fallen down the attacking midfield depth chart at the international level, but he opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the 24th-minute in a man of the match display.  

Lautaro Martínez's first hat-trick for Inter Milan helped his side crush Crotone 6-2, earning their eighth successive Serie A win on Sunday and sending Antonio Conte's team top of the standings above AC Milan.

After Kieran Tierney scored a stunning solo goal on Saturday, I texted a bad joke to a friend saying that was definitely Arsenal’s best goal of the year. Within minutes I had to take it back as the Gunners had combined for one of their trademark beautiful team goals on the way to a 4-0 win over West Brom on Saturday at a snowy Hawthorns.

French champion Paris Saint-Germain has named former Tottenham Hotspur boss Mauricio Pochettino as its new head coach after sacking Thomas Tuchel, with the Argentine signing a deal until June 2022, the Ligue 1 club said on Saturday.

Pochettino, who played for PSG as a defender in the early 2000s and also captained the side, has been out of a job since being dismissed by Spurs in November 2019, a few months after guiding the north London club to the Champions League final.

Tottenham Hotspur condemned the actions of midfielders Erik Lamela and Giovani Lo Celso and defender Sergio Reguilon after the trio breached COVID-19 protocols to attend a Christmas party.

Pictures on social media showed the three Spurs players together at a party along with West Ham United midfielder Manuel Lanzini.

Spurs players Sergio Reguilon, Giovani Lo Celso, Erik Lamela and West Ham's Manuel Lanzini were all pictured breaking lockdown rules over the Xmas period.

Rangers took a huge step toward winning its first Scottish Premiership title in a decade with a 1-0 win over Celtic in the Old Firm Derby on Saturday at Ibrox — and much of the thanks must go to the Hoops. 

The win sent Steven Gerrard’s side 19 points clear of Celtic atop the league standings, although Celtic has three games in hand. The two clubs meet again at Celtic Park on March 20, the penultimate match day. But the Bhoys, who have won the last nine league titles, will struggle to catch Rangers with such a large gap, even if they win out. 

Eleventh-place Leeds United takes on Tottenham Hotspur, which could have gone joint-top as little as two weeks ago but has now slipped to seventh, on Saturday.

BURNLEY, England — Burnley's new American chairman has vowed to back manager Sean Dyche in the January transfer window as the East Lancashire club look to pull further clear of the Premier League relegation zone.

The Clarets confirmed on Thursday that American investment group ALK Capital had purchased an 84 percent controlling stake in the club and that the deal had been ratified by the Premier League.

Coming into the latest edition of the Basque Derby, both Athletic Bilbao and Real Sociedad had endured a dry spell of form.

After winning eight of nine games through late November, Sociedad drew six consecutive games before losing its next three. Having spent time at the top of the table this season, La Real's poor run saw it drop down to third. Athletic, on the other hand, has experienced inconsistency all season. Traditionally the more successful of the Basque giants, it now sits 12th in the table.