Europe

The Scotland women’s national team gave the U.S. all it could handle on Tuesday at St Mirren Park, and although there was warm applause for Alex Morgan and an audible intake of breath amongst the 3,790 in attendance during the USWNT’s best passages of play, the Scots will have left their home supporters looking forward to next summer’s World Cup with keen anticipation. 

When Juventus paid Napoli over $100 million for Gonzalo Higuain in 2016, the belief was that the Argentine’s goals would fire the club to a continental title. However, after two seasons in the Champions League with a return of five goals in each campaign, Higuain was offloaded to AC Milan for about half the price this past summer.

Juve then turned to five-time winner Cristiano Ronaldo for the goods. Ronaldo, of course, hasn’t hit less than 10 goals in a single UCL campaign since the 2010-11 season. You can tell what Juventus is trying to achieve with the 33-year-old.

Even before fifth-place AC Milan and first-place Juventus kicked off at the San Siro on Sunday night, we were treated to an already excellent weekend in Serie A action. 

On Saturday, Napoli kept the pressure on Juve after defeating Genoa 2-1 at the Marassi. The match was pretty much played underwater, giving extra significance to the three points for the Neapolitan side. Here’s a little sampling of the play out there:  

Real Betis became the first side to score four at the Camp Nou in league play since 2003, and the Seville-based club registered its first victory at the legendary stadium in two decades during Sunday’s rip-roaring 4-3 encounter in Catalonia. 

Betis raced to a 2-0 first half lead, and every time Barcelona managed to pull a goal back in the second half, the Béticos found a response.  

All but one UEFA qualification spot has been filled for next summer’s World Cup. The battle for that coveted berth began Friday in Utrecht in front of a sellout crowd as the home side took on Switzerland in the first of two matches to decide their fate. The Netherlands won 3-0.

The United States didn’t look as fluid as it did last month when the USWNT cruised to a Women’s Concacaf Championship, but Jill Ellis’ group got it done. With a 1-0 victory over Portugal on Thursday in Lisbon, the USWNT recorded its 500th all-time victory.