Midfield

It was a big day for Americans in Europe on Tuesday as Brenden Aaronson’s RB Salzburg took on Brøndby in the first leg of their Champions League playoff, while over in Germany Gio Reyna’s Borussia Dortmund welcomed Bayern Munich to the Westfalenstadion for the DFL-Supercup.

Brøndby had taken a surprise 1-0 halftime lead at Red Bull Arena, prompting 33-year-old manager Matthias Jaissle (who used to be an assistant at Brøndby) to turn to Aaronson for the second 45.

That change brought good things for Salzburg.

MANCHESTER — Bruno Fernandes scored his first hat-trick in English football in front of a raucous Old Trafford as Manchester United thrashed Leeds United 5-1 to get their Premier League season off to a flying start on Saturday.

French midfielder Paul Pogba also starred with four assists - one more than he managed in the whole of last season in the league - to help United run riot in front of their first full crowd in 17 months.

In football, as in life, sometimes it's better to be lucky than to be good. And if you were a decent French-speaking footballer in the first half of the 2010s, there was a chance that Newcastle United's bulging pocket book and obsession with Ligue 1 players would make you a very rich man.

The "French Revolution" began after Newcastle's Premier League promotion in 2010, as the club signed French winger Hatem Ben Arfa and Ivorian holding midfielder Cheick Tioté. Ben Arfa and Tioté were just two of the 20+ French-speaking players Newcastle signed over the next half-decade.

The New York Red Bulls are transferring 18-year-old midfielder Caden Clark to RB Leipzig of the Bundesliga.

Clark will remain with New York for the rest of the 2021 MLS season, the club announced Thursday.

Hey, Caden!

MUNICH, Germany - Four German players nursing injuries from their 4-2 victory over Portugal skipped training on Monday, the team said, with attacking midfielder Thomas Müller's availability in doubt for their next Euro 2020 game against Hungary.

Müller, recalled for the tournament after more than two years out of the team, suffered a capsule injury in his right knee towards the end of Saturday's Group F win over Portugal as he attempted to clear a ball.

MADRID - Spain have called up four players to take part in a parallel training bubble following captain Sergio Busquets's positive COVID-19 test at the weekend, the national team said on Monday.

The new additions — Rodrigo (Leeds United), Pablo Fornals (West Ham United), Carlos Soler (Valencia) and Brais Méndez (Celta Vigo) — will not stay at Spain's Las Rozas training base or be involved with the rest of the preparations of the squad, who are currently isolating.

Manchester City playmaker Kevin De Bruyne fractured his nose and a bone around his left eye socket in Saturday's Champions League loss to Chelsea, the 29-year-old said on Sunday.

The Belgium international had to go off on the hour mark with a concussion injury in City's 1-0 defeat at Porto's Estádio do Dragão after an accidental clash with Chelsea defender Antonio Rüdiger left him on the ground.

ZAGREB - Striker Bruno Petković is expected to fill Mario Mandžukić's big boots at Euro 2020 as Croatia aim to reach the last 16 at the June 11-July 11 tournament, coach Zlatko Dalić said as he named his 26-man squad on Monday.

Mandžukić, who scored an extra time winner in a 2-1 victory over England in their 2018 World Cup semifinal, is one of several stalwarts who hung up their international boots after Croatia were beaten by France 4-2 in the final.

TOKYO - Former Barcelona midfielder Andrés Iniesta said on Tuesday he has extended his contract with Vissel Kobe by another two years and wants to keep working towards making the Japanese side the best in Asia.

Spanish World Cup winner Iniesta, who also celebrated his 37th birthday on Tuesday, signed a three-year contract with Kobe in 2018 after leaving Barcelona, where he won nine LaLiga and four Champions Leagues titles.

Un gran día! ❤️⚽️