Man I skip 1 week and lots of stuff happened. Awesome Scenes from Anfield as Liverpool clinched the EPL title at home Sat. – my coaching buddy Bill is thrilled!! Christian Pulisic Scored (highlights) Saturday to notch his 50th goal contribution in 2 seasons at Italian powerhouse AC Milan. I will be glued to Fox Sports 1 Wed night 8 pm as Messi & Inter Miami look to overcome a 2 goal deficit at home vs Vancouver in the 2nd leg Semi-Final of the Champions Cup. Awesome story on Bodo/Glimt below – the Norwegian side playing at Tottenham is in their 1st ever Semis of Europa – located just 30 miles from the Arctic Circle they have just 55 thousand people. We’ll see how many yellow toothbrushes get into Tottenham stadium. Games kicking off Thurs 3 pm on CBSSN and Golazo & Para+.
Champions League Tues/Wed, Europa Thurs
We are down to the Final 4 in Champions League Tues with Arsenal facing PSG on 3 pm and Barcelona hosting Inter Milan on Wed @ 3 pm on Wed on Paramount plus. Kind of sux that these games are not going to be on CBS or at least CBS Sports Network – of course they are gonna make us pay to see these games. Anyway lots over coverage below on the game coming up Tues/Wed.
Tues Champions League
Arsenal vs PSG on Para+ 3 pm
Wed Champions League
Barcelona vs Inter Milan on Para+
Thurs 3 pm Europa League on Para+
Athletic Club vs Man United
Tottenham vs Bode CBSSN
Djurgarden vs Chelsea
Real Bettis (Cordosa) vs Fiorentina
We Are Wrexham Wins League One – Back to Back to Back
Cool seeing the scenes from Wrexham as they became the first English team to ever win back to back to back promotions as they won League one – just 3 seasons after being in the lowest pro division in English soccer. The TV show on FX should be really exciting when it comes out following Ryan Reynolds & Rob McElhenney as they chronical the club they purchased 4 years ago. On to the Championship now just 1 league below their aim of the EPL. Stories below…
Indy 11 hosts Detroit City Wed Night 7 pm @ the Mike
Indy Eleven: 1-2-2 (+1) will face Detroit City FC on Wed night 7 pm @ the Mike. Single-game tickets for all matches are available via Ticketmaster. Season, Flex Plan, Group, and Hospitality tickets are available here. For questions, call (317) 685-1100 during business hours or email tickets@indyeleven.com.
GoalKeeper Training for Carmel FC Is outdoors
Coach James Pilkington will run sessions on Monday at Shelbourne 6-9 pm and Wed at Badger 6-9 pm. Keep your eyes here for info on the big Summer White Glove GK camp coming June 16-17 in Fishers. More info to come.
TV Games
Tues, Apr 29 Champions League
3 pm Par+ Arsenal vs PSG
Weds, Apr 29 Champions League
3 pm Par+, Uni Barcelona vs Inter Milan
7 pm ?? Indy 11 vs Detroit City
8 pm Fox Sport 1 Inter Miami vs Vancouver (0-2) Champ Cup
Thrus, Apr30 – Europa
2:30 pm USA Nottingham Forest vs Brentford
3 pm CBSSN Tottenham vs Bodo
3 pm Para+, Unimas Athletic Club vs Man United
3 pm para+ Real Bettis (Cordosa) vs Fiorentina
3 pm para+ Djurgarden vs Chelsea
10 pm FS2 Cruz Azul vs Tigrees Champ Cup
Fr, May 2
2:45 pm Para+ Torino vs Venzia (Busio)
3 pm Peacock Man City vs Wolverhampton
8 pm Amazon Prime Washington Spirit vcs ACFC NWSL
10:30 pm Gola, Para Seattle vs KC NWSL
Sat, May 3
7:30 am USA Villa vs Fulham (Robinson)
10 am Peaccok Everton vs Ipswich Town
12:30 pm NBC Arsenal vs Bournmouth (Tyler Adams)
2:45 pm Golazo, Para Inter Milan vs Hellas Verona
3 pm ESPN+ Barcelona vs Real Valladolid
2:45 pm Fox Atlanta United vs Nashville SC MLS
7:30 pm Ion Portland Thorns vs Orlando Pride (Marta) NWSL
9 pm FS1 San Diego vs Dallas MLS
10 pm Ion Utah Royals vs NC Courage NWSL
Sun, May 4
10 am CBSSN Monza vs Atalanta
11:30 pm Peacock Chelsea vs Liverpool
1 pm CBS Gothan FC vs Chicago Stars (Naher) NWSL
2:45 pm Para+, Juventus (Mckinney, Weah) vs Bologna
7 pm Apple TV Sporting KC vs LA Galaxy
8 pm Golazo, Para+ San Diego Wave vs Bay City NWSL
Mon, Tues May 7
2:45 pm Para+, FoxD Genoa vs AC Milan (Pulisic)
3 pm USA Crystal Palace (Richards) vs Nottingham Forest
Tues, May 6 Champions League
3 pm Par+, Uni Inter Milan vs Barcelona
Weds, May 7 Champions League
3 pm Par+ PSG (1-0) vs Arsenal
7 pm CBSSN Pittsburgh Riverhounds (Dick) vs NYC USL
7:30 pm Para+ Philly Union vs Indy 11 USL
USMNT midweek viewing guide: Johnny in Conference League semis
A fairly slow midweek features Johnny and Betis in the first leg of a semifinal.
Wednesday
- FC Barcelona vs Inter Milan, 3p on Paramount+, TUDN USA, Univision USA, FuboTV, ViX: Diego Kochen may be on the FC Barcelona bench as they take on Inter in the first leg of a Champions League semifinal first leg.
- Toronto FC vs CF Montréal, 7p on FS2, FuboTV, Sling TV: Jalen Neal and Montréal visit Toronto in the Canadian Championship.
- Inter Miami vs Vancouver Whitecaps, 8p on FS1, TUDN USA, FuboTV (free trial), Sling TV, Tubi, ViX: Brian White and the ‘Caps visit Benja Cremaschi and Inter Miami in a Concacaf Champions Cup semifinal second leg. Vancouver leads 2-0 on aggregate.
Thursday
- Real Betis vs Fiorentina, 3p on Paramount+, ViX: Johnny Cardoso and Betis host Fiorentina in a Conference League semifinal first leg.
Also in action:
- Mantova vs Cesena, 9a: Jonathan Klinsmann and Cesena visit Mantova in Serie B.
- Palermo vs Südtirol, 9a: Kristoffer Lund and Palermo host Südtirol in Serie B.
Champions League
FC Barcelona Vs Inter Milan: An Intense Battle of Giants in the UCL
Thanks to Flick and young stars, Barcelona are fun again as they eye trophy treble
How Mbappé’s arrival made Real Madrid worse, and his exit made PSG better
Inter Milan defensive mainstay ruled out of Barcelona encounter –
Ligue 1 Review | Troubling signs for PSG ahead of Arsenal semi-final
Inter Milan handed major Thuram injury boost ahead of Barcelona clash
De Jong, Lewandowski, Balde: latest Barcelona injury updates for Inter
Arsenal vs PSG predicted lineups, team news, analysis for Champions League semifinal first leg
Brazil Star Tipped To Start Barcelona Vs Inter Milan Champions League Showdown
4️⃣ things to look out for in the Champions League this week
How Premier League teams can qualify for Champions League, Europe this season
ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE
📊 Mo Salah sets new Premier League record with goal against Tottenham
🔬 The Debrief as Liverpool are crowned Premier League champions
Best Moments That Made Liverpool’s 2024/25 Season One to Remember
‘Congratulations, Liverpool – it took you long enough’
Premier League Glory Sees Liverpool Captain Praise Most Beautiful Club
Bernardo Silva believes Man City’s season cannot be saved by FA Cup or Champions League qualification
Five things we learned from the Premier League weekend
Mo Salah sets new Premier League record with goal against Tottenham
World
Wrexham clinches promotion to EFL Championship, notching third promotion in as many seasons
Ryan Reynold Excited for Wrexham SI
Real Madrid to send Ancelotti off with a proper farewell, will pay his full salary
Carlo Ancelotti to leave Real Madrid and take charge of Brazil
Serie A Table: Insane battle for Champions League, 5 teams within 3 points
Reffing
Official–French Referee Clement Turpin To Ref Barcelona Vs Inter Milan Champions League Showdown
Referee Michael Fabbri’s Penalty Horroshow In Inter Milan 0-1 Roma Clash Condemned As An Error By Italian Refereeing Association Chiefs
Starter Kit New Refs
Shane, and T Ray at The Girls Showcase at Grand Park this weekend
GK
PSG Donnarumma’s weakness under the high ball could be exploited by Arsenal in CL semis
Great Saves Europa League Last Round
Save of the Week NWSL
USL Championship Save of the Week – Week 7
USL Championship Save of the Week – Week 6
Goal Kick Technique
How to Throw the Ball Properly
6 exercises to protect your Ankles
June 16th: 9-4 / June 17th: 8-3 12383 Cyntheanne Rd, Fishers, IN $595 Register
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Bodo/Glimt: How a team from a small Norwegian coastal town became European semi-finalists
By Elias Burke April 30, 2025 The Athletic
Assessing the Europa League semi-finalists, there is a clear outlier in relation to European success.Manchester United are one of Europe’s most decorated clubs and won this competition in 2016-17. Athletic Club had spent six seasons outside European competition before this term, but they had been a fixture in Europe through the 2010s and reached the Europa League final in 2011-12, beating United en route. Tottenham Hotspur have not won a European trophy since 1984, but reached the Champions League final in 2019. Like United and Athletic Club, Spurs were grouped among the favourites to lift the trophy in Bilbao on May 21. For their semi-final opponents Bodo/Glimt, who knocked out Lazio in the quarter-final to reach the final four, the prospect of European glory is relatively new. As recently as 2017, Glimt were in Norway’s second tier — a footballing galaxy away from Old Trafford, the Stadio Olimpico or the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. After a season consolidating their position in Norway’s top flight, the club, based north of the Arctic Circle, finished second in 2019 to begin a rapid rise that has seen them become the nation’s undisputed top dogs.
Nikita Haikin saved two Lazio penalties in the quarter-final shootout win (Silvia Lore/Getty Images)
On their way, they collected four out of five Eliteserien titles between 2020 and 2024 and established themselves as a force in Europe, beating a Jose Mourinho-led Roma 6-1 in the 2021-22 Europa Conference League group stage, before thrashing Ange Postecoglou’s Celtic 5-1 over two legs in the play-off round.
This year, they’ve taken another leap, becoming the first Norwegian team to reach the semi-finals of a major European competition. It’s the club’s greatest accomplishment and the outstanding achievement of any Scandinavian side this century.
“Bodo is a small coastal town in the north,” says Lars Magnus Roys, a football journalist for Norwegian broadcaster TV2, based in Bergen. “There’s not really much happening in Bodo other than football. What they’ve done in the past few years has been just remarkable.”
Now they have their sights on Tottenham Hotspur, and what would be their most remarkable feat yet — earning a place in the Europa League final.
Unlike most of football’s recent risers, Glimt’s ascent has not coincided with a takeover from a billionaire or sovereign wealth fund. After yo-yoing between Norway’s second and first divisions for the decade prior, Glimt won promotion in 2017 and implemented a plan to revolutionise their culture and playing style — catching Norway’s biggest clubs with solid practise, not cash injections.
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Led by Kjetil Knutsen, promoted to head coach in 2018 after serving as an assistant, Glimt left a counter-attacking style behind and began dominating in the opposition’s half.
“The history of Bodo/Glimt until 2018 is that they were a counter-attacking team,” former assistant coach Morten Kalvenes told The Athletic in 2022. “So what we had to change at the beginning of 2019, to adapt but use that (counter-attacking history), firstly was to press higher as a team. Move the whole team much higher up the field, when the situation required it. When we were forced to defend low, then we defended low, but every week we were constantly looking for the signal where we can go from low to high.”
Inspired by the principles of Uruguay head coach Marcelo Bielsa, Knutsen is renowned in Norway for his “murderball” training sessions, preparing his players physically to carry out the energetic style that has provided the foundations for their success.
Knutsen is inspired by Marcelo Bielsa (Andrea Staccioli/Getty Images)
“Kjetil and I had a few meetings working on the preparation before pre-season,” said Kalvenes. “He told me, ‘No 1: when we do pre-season, I want you to highlight especially one thing, and that is the training culture, the training culture, the training culture’. That meant we raised expectations. We raised the bar in structure, discipline, consistency, everything.
“What I noticed immediately was how the players were in training. I felt that I really liked the attitude of the players, how they were reacting to our coaching, how open-minded they were about the feedback, how — if we are training for one hour — then all 60 minutes are of the same level of intensity. What I mean is that if you do some simple passing drills at the beginning of the sessions, then you get the players as focused even when you’re working on simple details.”
Knutsen’s success did not come overnight, despite these principles in place. After winning promotion from the second tier, Glimt lost four of their first five games in charge, and outside pressure began to grow. Still, the club did not flinch, believing in the style and culture he was building.“It was never, ever a discussion internally,” says sporting director Havard Sakariassen. “The way I see it, if you know something about football, you saw the team was on a really good path. The way we played was much more dominant than the years before. We didn’t manage to score a lot of goals, but we drew a lot of games. It was more, ‘If you go, we all go’. That was the internal thing.This is not a big club with a lot of decision-makers. There is no owner here. Nothing like that. In core, during that period, we were 100 per cent certain Kjetil was the right man — and he knew it.”
A joined-up focus between the coaching team and the recruitment strategy was crucial to the eventual success. Without hordes of cash to hoover up Scandinavian talent set for stardom, Glimt have typically recruited locally.
Only one senior player, goalkeeper Nikita Haikin, who was born in Israel and represents Russia, hails from outside Norway and Denmark. Patrick Berg, their midfield fulcrum and star player, is homegrown and part of a family dynasty. Berg’s grandfather Harald played 12 seasons for his hometown club and won 43 caps for Norway, and his three sons, Runar, Arild and Patrick’s father Orjan, also played for Glimt.
Patrick Berg scored 10 goals for Bodo/Glimt in the 2024 season (Kent Even Grundstad/Getty Images)
There’s never a guarantee of success when signing a player, but recruiting almost exclusively from Scandinavia brings unique challenges. Of the eight permanent signings Glimt have made in the last 12 months, only Jens Petter Hauge has featured for their national team in the past five years. Like Berg, who left for Lens in 2022 and returned six months later, Hauge was re-signed from Eintracht Frankfurt after leaving Norway for a top-five European league and struggling to adjust. Placed within an environment that allows incoming players to settle, it’s no coincidence that Glimt players tend to maximise their talent.
“The logistics are really, really hard,” says Sakariassen. “But the main thing is how you work with people because I know that we recruit good players. We have seen the potential. If they come here and don’t perform well for the first or second month, or everything is new, we still spend the time, and we try to get the potential out of them. We work hard with the people we have, and we believe that when we bring people in, we can help them release their potential. But it’s hard, and everyone is trying to do the same.
“We have a clear way of playing, which makes it easier to recruit players. We play 4-3-3. The demands of each role are really easy to identify, so we look for players with an X factor, players who can make a difference for us in Europe. We truly believe we can develop players and those players can get to their full potential. We need a blend of older players with experience, younger players and those peaking in performance, but they all have to be able to handle the intensity we demand, and that can be hard for older players.
“I think it has a value in itself, in your life, to be able to play at this level in your home town, also with your friends. So I think the culture in the club here is something they really enjoy. Also of course, over the years, we have become competitive in Scandinavia regarding salaries and the business part of it. But I think it has to be rare to be able to play football with your mates at this level anywhere in Europe, and that has a value.”
Time, which allowed Knutsen to thrive in his first job in Norway’s top tier and brought the best out of players who had difficulty with the initial adjustment, is a privilege not often afforded to big clubs in elite leagues. There is some parallel with Athletic Club, whose Basque-only policy emphasises long-term player development, but Ruben Amorim and Postecoglou are under pressure to deliver in Europe after disappointing league seasons at United and Spurs, respectively. As the leading light of Scandinavian football, there is regional pressure to maintain their relative overperformance, but the freedom to operate outside the intense microscope their semi-final counterparts are subjected to has helped their evolution.
“There is pressure around us, but not in the way you see in other clubs,” says Sakariassen. “That pressure is not just something for the club, but also with the players. If you get a lot of criticism, it’s maybe hard to perform. Bodo is 55,000 people, and it’s on another level. So it’s probably easier to get out their potential and have some time here, too.”
Bodo/Glimt fans salute Knutsen after the win over Lazio (Giuseppe Maffia/Getty Images)
“For us, it’s to ride the momentum, and that means that we have to be a performing club all the time. We have to work on that and try to be patient with the players that we have, to have the time to grow. Normally, it takes even the best players that we brought in… like Albert Gronbaek, it took him six to nine months. Hugo Vetlesen, it took him one and a half years before he showed his full self in the team. So patience is definitely a part of it. And luckily, we have people with some patience.”
Gronbaek later became a Denmark international and was eventually sold for €12million (£10m) to Rennes after two seasons in northern Norway. Vetlesen left for Club Brugge in 2023 and made seven appearances in the Champions League this term. While performance in European competition has propelled them into financial parity with Scandinavia’s biggest clubs, there’s an acceptance that when players shine, there will be interest from more affluent and prestigious sides.
Given this success has been under the watch of Knutsen, clubs around Europe have their eyes on the coach, too. He was reportedly on Brighton and Hove Albion’s list before they appointed Roberto De Zerbi in 2022 and had interest from Ajax and Celtic the following summer. As he has been the guiding light through this period, there’s an element of the unknown if he were to leave Glimt, but the club is confident that their culture — akin to Liverpool’s famous “boot room” succession plan — is strong enough to continue rising.
“Of course, Kjetil is one of the key personnel here. But we are very team-driven, also within the coaching room,” says Sakariassen. “Of course, Kjetil will take the decisions at the end, but it’s a kind of a flat structure where everyone is cautious on the pitch. Also, the way we work with the logistics, it’s not one person who makes the decisions; it’s not me who makes the decisions and ‘We do it this way’, we do it together. So I hope that if somebody quits or for other reasons can’t work in the coming year, we are spreading out the knowledge that could be a good and sustainable path into the future.”
The future appears to be in safe hands but all immediate focus is on the Europa League semi-final. Three Glimt players are suspended for the first leg, including Berg, and an injury to starting centre-back Odin Bjortuft in their 3-0 win over KFUM in the Eliteserien could weaken their preferred starting XI further. Glimt have learned to be savvy in European matches and have impressed away from home this season, including in a narrow 3-2 defeat away to United in November. But on the artificial pitch at Aspmyra, they truly fancy their chances against anybody.
“I think we will have the same belief that we had against Olympiacos, Lazio, Twente — it is not an easy way to play Tottenham,” says Sakariassen. “I hope we don’t focus on the occasion, play the game, and dare to be ourselves. Of course, it is a massive game, the interest around the club and the games are massive here in Bodo too, but I hope we have and I truly believe we have all the tools to be brave enough to go out in London and just be Bodo/Glimt.
“The experience that we have gained over the last few years makes us more confident in situations like this. I truly believe in the team and hope we make two great performances against Tottenham. Starting away.”
(Top photo: Tullio Puglia/Getty Images)
Champions League semi-finals: Breaking down the strengths and weaknesses of all four contenders
By Mark Carey and Conor O’Neill April 28, 2025 12:10 am EDT
From 36 clubs at the start of the season, just four remain.
After four quarter-finals filled with tension, it is Inter and Barcelona, and Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain who face off in two blockbuster semi-final ties.
While the remaining quartet still represent some of Europe’s heavyweight clubs, there is a refreshing narrative that is guaranteed to occur this year. Arsenal and PSG are still looking to win the competition for the first time in their history while Barcelona and Inter have not lifted the trophy for a decade or more. In a period dominated by Real Madrid and other English powerhouses, a new chapter is imminent.
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As things stand, Arsenal edge it as the favourites to lift the trophy with a 28.7 per cent chance of victory per Opta’s Supercomputer. In truth, the margins are paper-thin between the final four — and you could make a strong case for any of the remaining clubs to go all the way.
Where might each tie be won and lost? Allow The Athletic to walk you through the tactical wrinkles for each side, with the added inclusion of a few data nuggets to whet the appetite for this week’s matches.
Arsenal
Forget the Premier League, Arsenal are on a rampage in Europe.
Mikel Arteta’s men were good value for their victory against holders Real Madrid after progressing to their first semi-final since 2009 — showing different sides to their game in and out of possession across both legs.
For all that they have come unstuck against deep defensive blocks in recent seasons, Arsenal’s attacking style is arguably more suited to the Champions League as they face up to teams more willing to go toe-to-toe with them.
With greater space for their wingers to stretch their legs, Arteta’s side have doubled down on width when going forward in Europe. Of the remaining semi-finalists, Arsenal’s 24 per cent share of attacking touches through the middle of the pitch is the lowest.
Bukayo Saka’s return to fitness and form has been unanimously welcomed by Arsenal fans, with the 23-year-old having a crucial impact in Arsenal’s victory over Madrid. His two fouls drawn allowed Declan Rice to steal the headlines with his subsequent free-kick strikes, with a dead-eyed dinked finish at the Bernabeu capping off a pair of memorable performances.
The game in Spain took a different form to the first leg at the Emirates. For long periods, Arsenal set up in their typical 4-4-2 out of possession at the Bernabeu — staying compact to force Madrid into wide areas and rarely through the centre of the pitch.
However, there were plenty of occasions when this defensive shape dropped even deeper.
Such was the strong organisation that Arteta’s side showed out of possession that you could map different sequences dropping into a back five, a back six, a back seven, and even a back eight across the duration of their second-leg victory — with Rice or Thomas Partey dropping between the centre-backs, or Saka and Gabriel Martinelli tracking back to support their respective full-back.
While you would not expect Arsenal to perform in the same way across the entirety of their semi-final tie against PSG, there may be occasions when similar penalty-box defending will be required.
Given the fluid rotations of Luis Enrique’s forward line, Arsenal will need to ensure that they do not break their structure too often across both legs. Fortunately, Arteta’s side thrive out of possession, boasting the second-strongest defensive record across Europe’s top five leagues when looking at their 0.83 expected goals conceded per 90 minutes this season.
Add in the fact that Arsenal kept a clean sheet in their 2-0 victory over PSG during the competition’s league phase in October, and there is reason to be quietly confident of more memorable nights in north London and Paris.
Paris Saint-Germain
A second successive Champions League semi-final is not to be underestimated for PSG, particularly given the context within which Luis Enrique has achieved the feat this season.
A Kylian Mbappe-less PSG is one that is far more cohesive, co-ordinated, and coherent than recent years, and it is clear that this is the closest iteration to Enrique’s ideals — both in and out of possession — since he arrived in the French capital.
A 3-1 first-leg lead over Aston Villa should have made for a straightforward second-leg at Villa Park but Unai Emery’s men gave PSG a scare with some aggressive, direct attacks through the heart of their defence.
“Villa never managed to equalise the tie but for 10 minutes, we wondered whether we could keep the ball, if we could get the ball out of midfield or play long,” Luis Enrique said after the game.
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“I don’t think this team has been so dominated by another team in that way, but this opponent has to take risks because they were going out of the competition. They attacked with great intensity and we were playing in front of a great crowd too.”
Many clubs can get swept up in the atmosphere of a Champions League night under the lights but PSG stood firm with some help from goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma — and were deserving winners across the two legs.
Luis Enrique will be less pleased about PSG’s out-of-possession performance on that Tuesday evening at Villa Park, particularly when considering it has been one of the strongest parts of their game this season. A co-ordinated high-pressing approach has helped to force opponents to go long when building up as PSG look to regain the ball as quickly as possible and dictate the tempo of the game.
It feels disingenuous to discuss PSG’s defensive approach before acknowledging their incredible technical quality going forward. They might have had a slower start than they would have liked in this year’s Champions League but there is little doubt that they have clicked into gear at the perfect time.
Step off them and they have the technical quality of Joao Neves, Vitinha and Fabian Ruiz to pop the ball around you, with any of them dropping outside of the opposition block to kick-start PSG’s progression through the thirds.
Get tight to them and they have the individual quality to make some of Europe’s best look rather ordinary. For context, PSG’s 27.9 take-ons per 90 is more than any other side in the Champions League this season, with one-v-one specialists across the forward line.
It was less frequent at Villa Park but any one of Ousmane Dembele, Bradley Barcola, Desire Doue or Khvicha Kvaratskhelia will frequently rotate across the forward line and pop up in different positions across the pitch.
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Throw in the running power of full-backs Nuno Mendes and Achraf Hakimi — both of whom scored in their quarter-final second leg — to support attacks, and it is often a case of picking your poison when PSG throw bodies forward.
Mendes’ goal was a perfect example of the razor-sharp threat that Enrique’s side possesses. Third-man running, one-touch play and maximum width across the pitch make for a devastating combination.
It is fair to say that PSG were a little undercooked in their October game against Arsenal but Luis Enrique’s men have hit top gear in the months that followed. With a(nother) Ligue 1 title sewn up and a treble-winning season still on the cards, the momentum is with PSG as they look to lift the Champions League trophy for the first time.
Barcelona
A 3-1 second-leg defeat by Borussia Dortmund was an anomalous result for Barcelona.
Their 24-game unbeaten run had ended but a four-goal buffer from the first leg meant that Hansi Flick’s side were never likely to be at full tilt at Westfalenstadion, managing the tie more so than the game itself.
As well as their three strikes, Dortmund had the ball in the back of the net twice more after Pascal Gross and Julian Brandt made deep runs behind Barcelona’s defensive line to race through on goal.
Both efforts were chalked off for offside but the events were a microcosm of Barcelona’s season under Flick with a brave high line.
The numbers to support this are staggering. Barcelona have drawn opponents offside on 68 occasions in the Champions League this season, which is comfortably the most of any team to have made it into the knockout phase. For context, Aston Villa are the second-highest on the list with 34 — exactly half the number with the same number of games played.
With an average defensive line height of 33.7 metres — the highest of any side to make it to the knockout phase — Barcelona’s choreographed approach out of possession has been highly refined under Flick.
That being said, there are signs that such an approach is fallible. With Ronald Araujo coming into Flick’s defence against Dortmund, Barcelona fans must still wince when watching the bravery that is required to play such a high line.
That approach will gain increased focus against Inter’s attacking duo of Lautaro Martinez and Marcus Thuram. While neither has blistering pace to run in behind, their neat combination play is enough to worry any defence in European football.
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Of course, Barcelona’s strengths far outweigh any weaknesses under Flick as they push for another historic treble. Going forward, the versatility that they offer makes them perfectly suited to knockout football — resembling Luis de la Fuente’s Spain national team during their winning Euro 2024 campaign.
On the one hand, Flick’s side are one of the teams most likely to play nine-plus passes per sequence in the competition, regularly circulating possession with the technical quality of Pedri, Frenkie De Jong, and (earlier in the competition) Marc Casado.
However, do not be fooled into thinking Barcelona simply pass teams into submission. The pacy threat and tireless running of Lamine Yamal and Raphinha means that Flick’s side can punish you in transitional moments.
Eight of their goals in the Champions League this season have come from direct attacks, the most of any side in the competition. They might not employ it as frequently as others — for example, PSG boast double the volume of direct attacks this year — but when they do regain possession, Barcelona can pierce through opposition defences in the blink of an eye.
Raphinha has had a career-best season in Spain with 12 Champions League goals to sit alongside his 15 La Liga strikes — but Yamal is undoubtedly the jewel in Barcelona’s crown.
Many superlatives have already been attached to Yamal’s name but the teenager’s unpredictability is one of his strongest traits in his fledgling career. When mapping his progressive carries in La Liga this season, you can see below that he is equally likely to cut inside onto his stronger left foot, drive outside to his right, or direct his runs straight towards goal.
Whether Yamal will have the same joy against Inter’s defensive back five is another story. Simone Inzaghi’s side are one of the toughest teams in Europe to break down and will often double up in wide areas against opposition wingers — whether it is a supporting centre-back or midfielder to drop in and help their respective wing-back out of possession.
For all of the incredible talent on display for both sides, keep an eye on the flanks across both ties.
Inter
Inter might be viewed as underdogs but no remaining team has reached a Champions League final more recently.
The core of that side is still intact, with eight of the starters from the 2023 final — a narrow 1-0 defeat by Manchester City — still at the club. That continuity has allowed Inzaghi to mould the most tactically distinct team left in the competition.
While the other semi-finalists are broadly defined by high pressing and front-footed play, Inter favour a more measured, controlled approach. Of the teams to reach the last 16, only Club Brugge pressed less intensely, as shown on the PPDA graphic below.
Instead, Inter are comfortable sitting deep, holding their disciplined 3-5-2 shape, and building slowly from the back. Their direct speed — a measure of how quickly a team progresses the ball upfield — is slower than every Champions League side except for Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City.
This restrained approach complements their out-of-possession game. Like classic Italian sides of the past, they are comfortable defending without the ball — no team has conceded fewer than their five goals in this season’s competition. Inzaghi often speaks of Inter’s willingness to do the hard yards out of possession; ahead of their quarter-final second leg against Bayern Munich, he predicted the match would contain “moments where we’ll have to suffer”.
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That proved true across both legs as Inter conceded the bulk of possession to Vincent Kompany’s side. While they rode their luck at times, Inter’s methodical build-up means they are rarely caught out of shape when they forfeit the ball. They have conceded just 0.18 xG from fast breaks and their xG per shot against is the lowest in the competition.
Yet their disciplined approach should not be mistaken for being unadventurous. Inter are one of the most fluid sides in Europe, with positional rotations a key feature of their possession play.
Nicolo Barella’s touch map in this season’s competition reflects that fluidity — nominally a central midfielder, he has popped up on both wings, in deeper defensive zones, and in the final third behind the two strikers. Inzaghi gives his players the licence to rotate freely, making Inter unpredictable in attack and capable of creating overloads across the pitch.
Another strength of Inzaghi’s system is the blossoming partnership it enables up top between Martinez and Thuram. A two-man strike force is increasingly rare in modern football, but it has given Inter a unique edge.
Before facing RB Leipzig earlier in the competition, Inzaghi spoke of the importance of “keeping our shape, and knowing when to pick our moments”. Inter’s first goal away at Bayern was a textbook example — and the telepathic understanding between the two strikers was pivotal.
After launching a quick break, Thuram played an intelligent backheel from the middle of the box into the path of Martinez, who finished with the outside of his boot, in what was a real contender for goal of the competition.Against Barcelona, Inter will again likely be limited to fleeting moments on the ball. But with their defensive discipline, tactical flexibility, and ability to strike with precision, they remain more than capable of posing a serious threat.When Inter faced Barcelona in 2022, Inzaghi said: “It is a very delicate match, where we have to show our teeth.”Expect the same again. (Top photos: Bukayo Saka, left, and Lautaro Martinez; Getty Images)
Christian Pulisic ‘gave a lot’ during AC Milan Coppa Italia victory – Sergio Conceicao
By Pablo Maurer April 24, 2025 The Athletic
AC Milan head coach Sérgio Conceição praised U.S. men’s national team captain Christian Pulisic on Thursday, saying he has “great confidence” in the midfielder.Conceição’s comments were made following Milan’s 3-0 win over rivals Inter in the second leg of the Coppa Italia semifinals on Wednesday.Milan advanced to the finals with the 4-1 aggregate victory. A first-half brace from Serbian striker Luka Jović led the way for Milan, but Pulisic’s influence on both sides of the ball was also essential to the victory, according to Conceição.“He sacrificed himself for the team,” Conceição said in his post-game remarks. “He had a good game. We had to balance the central areas, he and Jovic were important on Asllani. He ran a lot, he gave a lot to the team.” Pulisic put in a 78-minute shift before being replaced by Ruben Loftus-Cheek. He had 41 touches during the match but lacked polish at times on the ball, completing 22 of his 28 pass attempts, though his defensive performance was sound. “Then it’s clear, he lacks a bit of freshness with the ball,” said Conceição. “When we spend more time without the ball, for players like Puli, it becomes more difficult. But I have great confidence in him.” Milan’s victory on Wednesday keeps their hopes of European soccer alive, with a spot in the UEFA Europa league awarded to the winners. Milan are in the midst of a bitterly disappointing league campaign and currently sit ninth in the Serie A table. The club are ever-present in European competition and have not missed continental play since the 2016-2017 season, when they finished seventh. They are eight points behind the final European spot awarded for league play. Those poor performances have put Conceição himself at risk. On Wednesday, he deflected questions about his own job security. “Conceicao is not important,” he said. “It is important to win against Venezia and then, when the final comes, we will be happy to do it. It’s not that we have already won it. I’m the same coach as two days ago, it’s not that everything is beautiful or everything is ugly. We need to find balance also on an emotional level, not just as a team.”
Milan will face the winner of Thursday’s semi-final between Bologna, who won the first leg 3-0, and Empoli in the Coppa Italia final at the Stadio Olimpico on May 14.What You Should Read NextBruce Arena questions if Mauricio Pochettino hire as USMNT head coach was a mistakeThe national team coach finds himself under fire again, this time from the most successful manager in USMNT history.
(Photo: Alessandro Sabattini / Getty Images)
Why this Premier League title meant everything to Liverpool
By Simon Hughes
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April 28, 2025Updated 8:07 am EDT
When Alexis Mac Allister struck the goal that made Liverpool’s title feel that bit more secure, the noise that followed prompted principal owner John W. Henry to adjust his hearing aid.
Yes, this isn’t baseball, John. This is football and this is Liverpool, where Henry and an entire generation of Liverpool supporters were experiencing something for the first time. It felt like the roof on the new Anfield Road stand was about to fly off. The boom at the other end seemed to rumble from the bowels of the Kop.
All day long in the city there was a sense that the place was going to go up, and at the moment of reckoning the detonation was even louder.
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The central figure in this scene was the referee, Tom Bramall. For four minutes of stoppage time, the focus of the crowd fell on him. With a blow of his whistle, all sorts of words applied: pandemonium, euphoria, mania. Scouse men, old enough to have been around when this club became relevant under Bill Shankly, were hugging one another. “Finally,” one said, though he did not seem to be talking about this game, but a much longer story.
(Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
It is easy to frown at such language and descriptions. After all, Liverpool emerged as champions elect some time ago. All they needed to do was get a point against opposition that had not won at this venue in 14 years. Their football now is methodical rather than thrilling, not the type to stimulate enthusiasm among neutrals — if they exist.
None of that matters to Liverpudlians who, it is fair to say, do not really care for the impressions of others anyway. This team has created its own mini-jeopardies along the way, adding to the suspense, and that included Spurs taking the lead via a former Liverpool player in Dominic Solanke. Yet inside 22 minutes of that goal, Liverpool were 3-1 up. And that was very much that.
It was tempting to look at the pitch during the celebrations, examining the reactions of the players. But the real stuff was in the stands. And by that, I don’t mean Henry and Mike Gordon, the man previously tasked with the running of Liverpool, high-fiving one another, or Richard Hughes, the sporting director less than a year into the job, earnestly shaking the hand of anyone congratulating him.
Arne Slot and John W. Henry share a moment after Liverpool’s title win is confirmed (Liverpool FC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
Nearby, the legendary defender Alan Hansen, having recovered from a health scare a year ago, was raising his fists. Hansen was the last Liverpool captain to lift the title in front of fans at Anfield. The tale after that achievement is well-told. Here are your medals. A few beers shared by the players. Enjoy the summer. See you in a few weeks’ time for pre-season training. We’ll be doing this again.
Except that did not happen. And even when it did, nobody was around to really share it. It explains why this meant everything.
To understand the scenes inside Anfield, you have to take a walk through the city and you have to wind back in time, stopping first at 2020. You have to stand at the Pier Head, overlooking the River Mersey, and remember the strangeness of the 24 hours after Liverpool secured their first title in 30 years.
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(Drew Jordan / The Athletic)
On the night that happened, crowds descended onto the streets around the stadium despite restrictions on mass gatherings owing to the spread of Covid-19. Dusk was settling and, within an hour, it was difficult to tell how many were there. Amid a whiff of cordite and the light of flares, shadows were everywhere. Everybody seemed faceless. There was energy and joy but the mood was thick with desperation and laced with danger.
Fans had to celebrate outside Anfield when Liverpool won the title in July 2020 owing to Covid-19 restrictions (Oli Scarff/AFP via Getty Images)
It was a carnal reaction, but it felt synthetic and, in pursuit of the real, the party trudged on. There was no official organiser for the Pier Head, but everyone seemed to know where to go. Local match-goers hung around chatting, reaching into plastic bags for warming bottles of beer. Songs went up and, eventually, a teenager from Southport attempted to change the pace by directing a couple of fireworks at offices owned by rivals, Everton. His mates cheered. Not many others did. After thousands of pounds worth of damage to the Royal Liver Building, an arson conviction followed. Liverpool had won the league but the response, in very unusual circumstances, felt a bit tryhard.
On a glorious Sunday morning nearly five years later, with Liverpool hours away from becoming champions again, it is easier to draw distinctions from the same, albeit quieter, setting about what the achievement means for club and place. Much can be gleaned from the Pier Head because of its connection to brown, scudding waters and the riches the river brought through shipping and trades as grim as slavery, which helped finance the resplendence of the civic structures marking its frontage.
(Simon Hughes for The Athletic)
The spread of wealth in Liverpool, however, was spectacularly uneven. By the 1840s, as its port grew to become the second largest in the British empire behind London, life expectancy on the shores of the Mersey fell to just below 26. Seventy-five per cent of young men who volunteered for military service were turned away for being unfit and many headed for the docks, where the work was casual.
Unlike in the manufacturing towns of England’s north west, where shifts were brutal but income was steady, dockers from Liverpool would assemble at the gates of the shipyards twice a day not knowing whether they were going to be allowed in and ultimately get paid. On top of that, clocking-on times were determined by the unpredictable tides of the Mersey. Liverpool’s geography therefore contributed as much towards a less structured way of life as an overriding employment culture without contracts or certainty.
Its geography also accounted for enormous challenges after the heavy bombing of the Second World War, including the rise of containerisation, because the Mersey simply wasn’t big enough to accommodate ships increasing in size. By the end of the 1970s, Liverpool’s social and economic struggle was visible inside the stadiums of Liverpool and Everton, where attendances slumped despite a period of unprecedented success on the pitch for both clubs. In 12 of the 15 seasons between 1975 and 1990, the old First Division title was won by a team from Merseyside. Football offered salvation, but sites such as the disused Albert Dock, crumbling beside the Pier Head, became a symbol of decay.
https://open.spotify.com/embed/episode/2yky8t1EfQIaYW6rcx7RZV?utm_source=generator
In 1981, prime minister Margaret Thatcher had received a memo from her chancellor, Geoffrey Howe, which proposed the abandonment of Liverpool through a process called “managed decline”. With Conservative popularity in the city collapsing as fast as living standards, her many critics in Liverpool believe that Howe’s recommendation was carried out. By the time Liverpool’s dominance of English football ended in 1990, you only needed to look around for proof.
That achievement came 12 months after Hillsborough, where 97 Liverpool supporters were crushed to death. Though authorities in South Yorkshire and centrally were to blame for the disaster, some of the deceased were still fighting for their lives when those responsible started shifting the focus away from their own failings, buttressed by support from craven sections of the media.
The subsequent fight for justice ran parallel with the story of the city’s football clubs trying to get back on track. In 2020, Liverpool’s younger supporters were close to experiencing something for the first time in their lives when events way beyond anyone’s control altered what felt right. It’s strange how moments you have rehearsed in your mind for so long end up with a very different script.
It was once claimed that the steel birds sitting on top of the Liver Building would fly away if Liverpool won the FA Cup but after that happened in 1965 for the first time, they remained and the team marked the achievement with a civic reception on the balcony of the town hall.
Bill Shankly addresses guests at a civic reception at Liverpool’s town hall in 1965 (PA Images via Getty Images)
There were huge crowds in all directions, choking Water Street, Dale Street and Castle Street. You would have thought that such a scene would be regarded as one of the most famous in Liverpool’s history. Perhaps that would have been the case had it not been for a reaction to a loss to Arsenal in the final of the same competition six years later.On this occasion, when the squad returned from London, they assembled on the steps of St George’s Hall, a mile or so inland from the Pier Head. Shankly turned to the 100,000 people in front of him, telling them that he’d “drummed it into our players, time and again, that they are privileged to play for you. And if they didn’t believe me, they believe me now.”Secretary Peter Robinson concluded the Liverpool manager’s power was total; that if he told supporters to “storm through the Mersey tunnel and seize Birkenhead, they’d have done it”. Yet the imagery from that day had a more profound effect because the fortunes of the club Shankly and Robinson guided was connected to somewhere other than Anfield.In defeat, the matrimony between manager, club and city had never been more visible. Shankly could say anything and his followers would believe it. You can imagine, then, the effect of his belief that the league title was the club’s “bread and butter — that’s what we want to win, all the time”.
Except for 30 years, Liverpool did not get there. Maybe that explains why, even with a 12-point lead at the top of the table and needing only one more, there remained some sense of caution in the city on Sunday morning. The “Liverpool Champions 2024-25” season t-shirts being flogged on the steps of St George’s were not exactly flying out. Liverpool had a slightly occupied feel to it. Everyone knew something was happening but until you got closer to the ground, it wasn’t clear exactly what that was.
(Simon Hughes for The Athletic)
The quickest route from the centre of the city to Anfield takes you via Scotland Road and through Everton, a district that defined the foundations of both of the city’s football clubs, as well as preconceptions nationally about Liverpool as a place. Everton has had several identities, but crucially in 1878, when the club that takes its name was founded, it was a desirable suburb for wealthy merchants who built mansions on the hillside and enjoyed the views. It was therefore more practical to build a stadium in the neighbouring borough of Anfield, but after a rent dispute 14 years later, Liverpool FC came along, pushing Everton further away from its roots and into Walton.
More development introduced a mass of terraced housing for working-class Catholic and Protestant communities and Everton became one of the biggest hubs of Irish immigration outside of Ireland. The influx contributed greatly to the way Liverpool feels about itself and how the rest of Britain tends to feel about Liverpool. A sense of otherness is at play on both sides. Some Liverpudlians do not think very highly of the rest of England and that augments the desire for its football team to prove itself as the best in the country.
From St Domingo Road, you can’t see Anfield, but on this day you knew exactly where it was because of the red cloud hanging over it. Ninety minutes before kick off, Liverpool’s squad had arrived.
Fans gather at Anfield before kick-off (Simon Hughes for The Athletic)
Closer more, in pubs like the Mere, the Grove and the Salisbury, it was impossible to avoid the chants of “We’re gonna win the league…” They were not quite saying they were champions yet. It was still too early. But a few hours later, it wasn’t.Liverpool were champions. Liverpool are champions. In the traditions of the past, it is now their job to keep it that way.(Top photo: Peter Byrne/PA Images via Getty Images)
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The miseducation of Yunus Musah at Milan
By Jeff Rueter April 22, 2025
Before Yunus Musah could collect a pass from Kyle Walker early in the first half, a Fiorentina opponent was converging. The quick action should not have come as a surprise for the 22-year-old. Musah’s stock rose on the back of some precocious play with Valencia and the U.S. men’s national team, particularly as a box-to-box midfielder. When presented with space into which to run, his athleticism and close-control dribbling has allowed him to quickly progress upfield. When presented with little room to roam, he has shown a willingness to keep it conservative and recirculate. On April 5, however, Musah was not playing as a number 8. Instead, AC Milan manager Sergio Conceição lined Musah up in a double-pivot alongside Youssouf Fofana, facing Fiorentina’s three-man engine room. It was a more withdrawn role than his preferred utilization, but the hope was that the similar role description would still set Musah up to succeed. Back to that ball from Walker. In the seventh minute, Musah was moving toward his defense to collect a pass up the channel from the England international. Fiorentina’s numerical advantage put Nicolò Fagioli in prime position to quickly pounce, and Musah attempted to dribble around the Italian. It’s a natural maneuver on the wing, but one that requires precise execution in the heart of the park. Unfortunately for him, he wasn’t so nimble on this occasion. The ball trickled away from Musah and right to Fiorentina, giving the visitors a chance for an unexpected short-field counter. Another midfielder, Rolando Mandragora, collected the ball and caught Fofana in two minds about whether to converge or let off and pick up another defensive mark. It created enough time for Mandragora to bypass Fofana with a quick pass to Albert Gudmundsson, who dribbled toward the touchline and crossed in front of the goalmouth for a clumsy tapped-in own goal.
A brutal start for Milan 😳
Yunus Musah gives possession away and ends in a own goal for the Rossoneri 👀 pic.twitter.com/gjMwMOK1RS
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) April 5, 2025
Merely seven seconds passed from Musah’s dribble attempt to Fiorentina opening the scoring. After tracking back in vain, Musah looked to the sky in dejection. No teammate approached to console him.
Minutes later, Fiorentina doubled its lead. Musah had done well to recover and defend Walker’s usual terrain down the right flank, but when he forced his opponent to pass backwards, it was to a player standing where Musah would usually be in midfield. His unmarked cross flew into the box, leading to an easy squared assist for a Moise Kean finish.Even after his team halved its deficit, Musah was visibly shaken. In the 23rd minute, Conceição made a dramatic first-half tactical substitution, pulling Musah for another striker and dropping Tijjani Reijnders back into midfield. Although Milan rescued a 2-2 draw, this was a missed chance to make up ground in Serie A against a team directly above them in the table. It was also an awful shift for Musah, who has been an unused substitute in each of Milan’s two ensuing matches. As the 2024-25 campaign nears its end – and the second leg of the Coppa Italia semifinals vs. rival Inter Milan beckons on Wednesday – he looks to be a shell of the prospect who was among Europe’s most promising midfielders less than two years ago. For a player whose trademark characteristic is his smile, there’s been little to celebrate in a setback of a season.
At this point of 2023, Musah looked to have outgrown Valencia. Then just 20, he had drawn plenty of praise for his breakout performance at the 2022 World Cup, teaming with Weston McKennie and Tyler Adams to give the U.S. a coherent midfield trio. Musah didn’t have McKennie’s vivacious personality, nor Adams’ tireless work rate, but his technical ability and linking of both the defense to the midfield and the midfield to the forward line made him an essential part of Gregg Berhalter’s side. He had also become a mainstay for his club, logging 2,120 minutes in La Liga. By and large, those shifts came as a central midfielder, just as they had in Qatar. It was easy to see why Milan was among his suitors, as then-manager Stefano Pioli’s team had a clear need for a progressive box-to-box midfielder. They got their man, spending £17 million ($21.8 million) to sign Musah shortly after acquiring Pulisic.
While Musah was still filling other roles, especially out wide, this was the year that saw Valencia work to refine his game in the heart of the park. Previously, the club had alternated him between midfield and right wingback, enjoying his progressive dribbles as an outlet to build up the pitch. The concentrated focus in midfield helped show he could fit the role, and this was the year (and set of shifts) that ultimately won Milan’s favor. Throughout 2023-24, Pioli experimented more with a base 4-3-3 formation. It was a natural alternative to the 4-2-3-1 that Milan used heavily throughout Pioli’s tenure, and one that provided Musah with shifts in his preferred role. While Musah was needed to play other roles, from a deeper defensive midfield spot to a few roles along the right flank, he still logged much of his minutes in central midfield.
More importantly, it helped Milan to a second-place finish in Serie A after finishing fourth a year prior. However, Pioli announced his plan to depart the club as the season neared its end. Paulo Fonseca was appointed before the start of preseason in early June. Fonseca operated in a base 4-2-3-1, only sparingly shifting to a three-man midfield. Poor results led to his sacking in late December, with Conceição stepping in to start the new year. While his approach asked for more long balls and direct attacks than Fonseca’s, Milan still predominantly stayed in a 4-2-3-1 with a double-pivot at its midfield base. In Serie A, Milan has used a three-man midfield just three times since changing coaches. As a result, Musah has had less time in his preferred role than at any point of his senior career.
To understand why Musah’s ever-changing role could directly lead to his awful 23 minutes against Fiorentina, let’s strip the situation down to its basics.
Here is a young midfielder who was signed on the back of his box-to-box work. Currently, Milan does not play with a true number 8, leaving Musah to bring his approach to either defensive midfield or attacking midfield. The more advanced role invites a player to take more risks: more of the dribbles Musah enjoys taking, more high-risk passing. This is where Musah has spent the most of his time in 2024-25.
Against Fiorentina, those same actions (like the dribble leading to the own goal) are more dangerous when attempted in a player’s defensive half. There are fewer lines of teammates to bail someone out after a mishap, and less time to form a makeshift defensive shape. An opponent of their caliber will hardly be wasteful when such a gift finds them. Each role also asks a player to read a game in different ways. This isn’t a new issue for USMNT players at the club level, with McKennie and Pulisic having to change roles throughout their careers based on teammates’ availability and their coaches’ wishes. A young midfielder like Musah may drift even further from their eventual home as their athleticism outpaces their game reading. Before establishing himself as a defensive midfielder, Adams logged many shifts at fullback and wingback with his boyhood New York Red Bulls.Another midfielder on the 2022 World Cup squad, Kellyn Acosta, did similar time upon breaking through with FC Dallas. For years, his midfield shifts were scattered in between starts at either fullback position. In his “My Game in My Words” installment on The Athletic, Acosta recalled that shifts at outside back allowed him to “take multiple touches and find my pass” without the quick decision-making necessary to navigate a crowded midfield.“As I was younger, it was one of those things where you don’t want to make a mistake,” Acosta said in 2022. “You’re like ‘OK, I received the ball from my center back; the safe option is often to go back to the center back.’ Eventually, I started connecting passes and being more daring. I started being more comfortable with overlapping, finding space, taking shots, getting assists, crossing. As the games went on, I felt more and more comfortable.”Eventually, those reps were put into action as Acosta carved a role in midfield. Across 58 senior international caps with the U.S., the overwhelming majority were as a central or defensive midfielder.Of course, the 29-year-old Acosta has spent his entire career to date in MLS. With Dallas, the Colorado Rapids, Los Angeles FC and the Chicago Fire, Acosta has been a primary target each time he moves clubs. Colorado, LAFC and Chicago all signed Acosta to fill a specific role in their midfield.
When a young player like Musah leaves a relegation-zone side in La Liga for a Champions League qualifier in Serie A, his immediate role is best defined as “a squad option.” He’s there to patch holes, and the versatile skillset that made him seem like such a promising midfielder can be transposed to fill a lot of gaps as first-choice options are hurt, need a rest or are out of form.
Musah and Real Madrid star Vinicius Junior vying for possession in the UEFA Champions League. (Photo by Florencia Tan Jun/Getty Images)
Tack on Milan’s pair of coaching changes and sustained poor form over the last 10 months, and there’s no room for a coach to ride out a developing midfielder in hopes that time will refine his rough edges. The stakes are too high for Milan to exhibit that kind of patience, and players will be graded on the same pass/fail curve whether they’re young or old.ake a mistake like Musah’s against Fiorentina, and the ensuing first-half hook and two games as an unused substitute are a sad reality of the situation he signed on to enter.Playing for the best club possible still provides a player with trade-offs. For someone in critical developmental years like Musah, who hasn’t looked any more evolved than he did in Valencia’s most hapless stretches, it may be too great a sacrifice without a makeweight payout. Even the nature of this latest gaffe suggests that playing in the defensive half is too negative of an assignment given how Musah approaches the game. That dribble was his instinctive reaction to a converging defender, rather than a safer recirculated pass attempt or clearance out of bounds.Milan will need to retool its squad again whether or not Conceição is brought back. Musah’s name has understandably been in transfer rumors, with his status as a homegrown in England (after years in Arsenal’s academy) inviting links to Premier League sides like Newcastle, Nottingham Forest and Tottenham.If Musah leaves, the global status of his suitors ought to be of secondary importance. With time running short before the 2026 World Cup, the priority has to be getting him into a situation where he can dependably earn the right to play in his preferred slot. If he can return to his best form and improve upon it with consistent playing time in midfield, he could ensure that Mauricio Pochettino builds his squad with Musah at its heart. If not, then one of the breakout players of the 2022 World Cup could be a non-factor altogether just four years later.
USWNT captain Lindsey Heaps says salary cap issue to blame for NWSL departures
By Melanie Anzidei April 19, 2025
USWNT captain and Lyon midfielder Lindsey Heaps says the NWSL salary cap may be to blame for some of America’s top players leaving the league for Europe.A small wave of Americans left the NWSL for Europe this summer, highlighted by Naomi Girma who became the first million-dollar transfer in women’s soccer. Girma left the San Diego Wave for Chelsea for a world-record $1.1 million fee in January.Speaking ahead of Lyon’s Champions League semifinal clash with Arsenal, Heaps called the cap an “ongoing issue,” when asked why Americans are coming to Europe.“There’s a salary cap in NWSL and I think that’s an ongoing issue there that hopefully can be changed or increased,” Heaps said at Lyon’s press conference. “It’s a factor in the NWSL and for players coming overseas.”Heaps will square off against USWNT teammates Emily Fox and Jenna Nighswonger, both defenders on Arsenal, on Saturday. She described the matchup as “so cool, so exciting and also very special for me, because these moments don’t happen a lot.”There are “a lot of things” that attract Americans to Europe, Heaps said. “You have two very, very good leagues. (When) you play a lot of time in the NWSL, like I did, I wanted a different challenge.“It wasn’t anything against the NWSL, but I wanted to come play in Champions League again. I wanted to play for a big club like this. I think I just needed a different kind of challenge.“Maybe that’s also what these players felt. Speaking with Nay [Naomi Girma], speaking with Jenna [Nighswonger], speaking with Foxy [Emily Fox], that’s what they need. That’s what they needed at the time.” At their recent national team camp, Heaps said she teased Fox ahead of their Champions League clash. “I was giving Foxy [Emily Fox] as much crap as I possibly could and trying to just chip at her a little bit.”She said it was “special” to see her U.S. teammate’s excelling in an environment like Arsenal’s. “To see [Fox] go and make that big move and play well and be a very impactful player for the team as well, I think that’s really special for me to see as a captain.“I want all of my players to be doing well – just not this weekend, I hope.”
Whisper it quietly, but Arsenal could go all the way (Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
Defeat at Lille is one of several Champions League low points for Real Madrid this season (Sameer Al-Doumy/AFP via Getty Images)
Raphinha and Yamal have Barcelona flying high again (David Ramos/Getty Images)
Dortmund’s chances of turning over a four-goal deficit are reflected in The Athletic’s projections (David Ramos/Getty Images)
Inter’s late win in Munich has boosted their chances of overall victory (Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images)
Can Bayern turn around their tie in San Siro? (Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images)
Momentum is with PSG, but can they maintain it? (Bertrand Guay/AFP via Getty Images)
Carter-Vickers celebrates with his Celtic team-mates (Andrew Milligan/PA Images via Getty Images)
Pulisic prepares to take a corner at Udinese (Alessandro Sabattini/Getty Images)
Richards nods in Palace’s second at the Etihad Stadium (Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
Reyna, centre, in training at Dortmund (Ina Fassbender/AFP via Getty Images)
Christian Pulisic and the USMNT struggled in the Nations League finals. (Photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images)
U.S. fullback Antonee Robinson was hailed for his performance against Liverpool and Mohamed Salah. (Photo by Henry Nicholls/AFP/Getty Images)
Brazil’s Kerolin Nicoli was a threat all evening. (Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images)
The USWNT fell to a defeat against Brazil in San Jose. (Eakin Howard/Getty Images)
Trinity Rodman and Alyssa Thompson celebrate the opening goal against Brazil at SoFi Stadium. (Bailey Holiver / Imagn Images)
Alyssa Thompson has worked herself back into the U.S. team after a long absence in 2024. (Bailey Holiver / Imagn Images)
Angel City teammate Riley has had a front-row seat to Alyssa Thompson’s rise. (Kiyoshi Mio / Imagn Images)
Michele Kang with U.S. Soccer CEO J.T. Batson. (Mike Lawrence / Getty Images for USSF)
Lily Yohannes celebrates scoring in her debut for the U.S. against South Korea last June. (Brad Smith / Getty Images)
Lily Yohannes and Catarina Macario have bonded in their short time together on the national team. (Ary Frank / Getty Images for USSF)
The Ole BallCoach 
