Europe

jEDDAH — Goals from Gavi and Lamine Yamal earned Barcelona a 2-0 win over Athletic Bilbao in the Spanish Super Cup semi-final in Jeddah on Wednesday to reach their third successive final.

Gavi opened the scoring in the 17th minute and Yamal doubled Barca's lead seven minutes after the break.

Gavi turned provider with a delightful pass played forward which Lamal controlled beautifully on the turn before taking the ball into the area and coolly driving his shot past Simon.

Lamine Yamal goal vs Athletic Bilbao

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta brought out an ancient excuse that we haven’t heard in 15 years for why his players couldn’t hit the target in their 2-0 loss to Newcastle on Tuesday in the Carabao Cup.

Arteta said the game balls were different.

The last time someone tried to blame the ball for their team’s failures was the 2010 World Cup with the infamous Jabulani ball. Arsenal’s boss now claims there are key differences between the Carabao Cup balls and Premier League balls.

Mikel Arteta Carabao Cup ball complaint

LONDON — Alexander Isak scored his 50th goal for Newcastle United as Eddie Howe's side took a huge step towards the League Cup final with a 2-0 victory at Arsenal on Tuesday.

Isak struck shortly before halftime in the first leg of the semi-final at a chilly Emirates Stadium and then had a big role in Newcastle's second scored by Anthony Gordon after the break.

Arsenal were left to rue their failure to convert several good chances with Gabriel Martinelli denied by the woodwork in the first half and Kai Havertz missing a golden opportunity.

Christian Pulisic is having an incredible return from injury for AC Milan, now showing up for the Italian giant in the Supercoppa Final.

After going down 2-0 against Inter Milan in Saudi Arabia, Pulisic helped seal the comeback against their rivals with a superb control and finish inside the box to beat Yan Sommer to the bottom corner. 

Watch: Christian Pulisic goal vs. Inter Milan | Supercoppa Italiana Final

A weak-footed strike to make it two goals in his last two games back from an injured hiatus.

Late strikes from Luka Modric and Jude Bellingham earned 10-man Real Madrid a 2-1 comeback win at relegation-threatened Valencia on Friday as the visitors moved top of the LaLiga standings.

Carlo Ancelotti's side were then reduced to 10 men in the 79th minute when Vinicius Jr was shown a straight red card for slapping Valencia goalkeeper Stole Dimitrievski.

Vinicius red card vs Valencia

Christian Pulisic played his first game in nearly a month and marked his return with a goal from the penalty spot in AC Milan’s 2-1 Italian Super Cup semifinal victory vs. Juventus. Moments after Pulisic scored his fellow U.S. teammate Yunus Musah forced an own goal to give Milan the lead.

Friday’s semifinal was the first game in charge for Milan’s new manager Sérgio Conceicão. He has his two American players to thank for a memorable victory.

Liverpool ace Mohamed Salah said in an interview on Friday that he’s playing in his final year at Anfield. The 32-year-old’s contract with the club ends at the end of the 2024-25 season and talks over a new contract have stalled in the past half year.

During an interview with Sky Sports, he doubled-down on the idea that this will be his final year with the club and that his goal is to win the Premier League in his last season.

The New England Revolution said farewell to Esmir Bajraktarevic and signed fellow forward Luis Diaz on Thursday.

The Revs transferred Bajraktarevic, 19, to Dutch side PSV Eindhoven for an undisclosed fee after three MLS seasons. New England retained a percentage of the homegrown player's future sell-on rights.

Bajraktarevic appeared in 45 matches (28 starts) from 2022-24, contributing three goals and three assists.