Europe

Joshua Kimmich has developed into one of the most well-rounded players in the world. Essentially the Crystal Dunn of men’s soccer, he’s one of the best players in Europe regardless of what position he lines up at, from fullback to midfield. In part because I built my FIFA Ultimate Team around him, it was devastating to watch him leave the pitch in tears with an apparent injury in a 3-2 Bayern Munich victory on Saturday in Der Klassiker.

Barcelona went into the locker room tied with Real Betis after Antoine Griezmann had a penalty saved. Lionel Messi came on to start the second half and completely turned the game around, starting with a masterful dummy run to help Griezmann atone for his missed PK.

Messi scored two goals to help Barcelona eventually beat Real Betis 5-2 on Saturday, including his first goal that wasn’t from the penalty spot this season (though his first was another penalty kick). His fake to set up Griezmann’s goal was the moment that changed the match.

LIVERPOOL — Manchester United eased the pressure on manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer with a 3-1 win at Everton in the Premier League on Saturday with Bruno Fernandes scoring twice and Edinson Cavani grabbing his first for the club.

United have failed to win at home in the league this season and there were questions over Solskjaer's future after the midweek defeat to Istanbul Basaksehir in the Champions League.

Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane said Eden Hazard's positive COVID-19 test had come at a difficult time for the player just as he was returning to full fitness, but added the Belgian was in high spirits.

Hazard has only played three times this season after missing the start of the campaign with a muscle problem, after his first campaign with Madrid was blighted by two serious ankle injuries.

It seems like we’ve been waiting forever for this moment, but it finally came Saturday. No, I don’t mean the U.S. presidential election was called; I mean the Alex Morgan Tottenham debut.

Alex Morgan came on as a sub in the 69th minute in Tottenham’s Women’s Super League match with Reading on Saturday. It was the American’s first appearance on the pitch in more than a year after she gave birth to her first child in May. 

LONDON — Tottenham Hotspur manager Jose Mourinho has called on Wales to be cautious with Gareth Bale while he is on international duty, saying he fears the work the forward has done to get back to full fitness could be destroyed.

Bale started for Tottenham in their 3-1 win away to Ludgogorets in the Europa League on Thursday and looked as sharp as he has done since re-joining the club on loan from Real Madrid in September.

Tottenham, third in the Premier League, travel to West Bromwich Albion on Sunday, before the international break.

There have been few soccer partnerships like Dani Alves and Lionel Messi. The free-flowing Brazilian fullback built an intuitive relationship with the Argentine maestro; Alves set up more goals for Messi than anyone else during his time at Barcelona. So when Dani Alves speaks about Sergiño Dest’s role as fullback at Barcelona, he knows what he’s talking about. 

LONDON — Two own goals helped Arsenal recover from falling behind to crush Molde 4-1 in Europa League Group B on Thursday, with Nicolas Pepe and Joe Willock also scoring for the Londoners.

Arsenal struggled to deal with Molde's aggressive pressing game and that led to Martin Ellingsen's opening goal as the Norwegians won the ball in midfield and he fired home a dipping shot from outside the area in the 22nd minute.

Harry Kane became the third Tottenham Hotspur player to score 200 goals for the club as he poached the opener in his side's comfortable 3-1 victory away to Bulgarian side Ludogorets in Europa League Group J on Thursday.

The England striker headed Tottenham in front after 13 minutes and then set up Lucas Moura to double the lead before the break.