By J Hutcherson (Mar 28, 2019) US Soccer Players - It's hard to get a realistic feel for the Europa League these days. By design, UEFA's secondary tournament crowns a non-champion each May a few days ahead of the Champions League final. Attempts to make the Europa League matter crashes into that basic problem. Giving a Champions League group stage spot to the winner makes it as important as . . .
The Premier League moves on
It's been quite the week for Premier League clubs in European competitions. English clubs now have both finalist spots in the Champions League and Europa League, something few if anybody predicted at the start of the season. That was bad news for Timmy Chandler's Eintracht, exiting on penalties to Chelsea in the Europa League semifinals. With Chandler on the bench at Stamford Bridge and the . . .
Another chance for the Red Bulls
It's a stalled season for the New York Red Bulls. Last year's Supporters' Shield winners are suffering the general malaise affecting the Eastern Conference, with no team really pushing through to contender status. It's a strange circumstance considering how the New York clubs and Atlanta were already pushing each other at the top of the table this time last season. There's almost always an . . .
Win for Sporting KC, loss for Atlanta in the Champions League
Once again, the soccer news starts with MLS in the Concacaf Champions League round of 16 first-legs and once again it's mixed results. Sporting Kansas City shutout Toluca 3-0 at home. Krisztian Nemeth scored in the 35th with Gerso Fernandez doubling the lead in the 52nd. Ilie Sanchez finished off the scoring in the 72nd minute. Sporting goalkeeper Tim Melia kept the clean sheet with three saves. . . .
Club Brugge takes the lead in the Europa League
Friday's soccer news starts in the Europa League round of 32 first-legs. Ethan Horvath was in goal for Club Brugge's 2-1 home win over Red Bull Salzburg, making four saves. Club Brugge fell behind in the 17th minute with Stefano Denswil equalizing in the 64th. Wesley Moraes scored in the 81st minute. "A Club Brugge wrecked by stress in the first-half, afraid of making mistakes. I was livid at . . .
The Europa League tries to compete
Friday's soccer news opens with Europe's other club tournament. The Europa League began its group stage on Thursday. now facing a coverage issue in the United States. In English, the games are only available on B/R Live, the new streaming service launched by Turner Sports. In Spanish, Univision has coverage but mainly on their Deportes channel. UEFA has tried to raise the status of the Europa . . .
UEFA and its Super Cup
By J Hutcherson (Aug 14, 2018) US Soccer Players - Wednesday's UEFA Super Cup doesn't officially start anything. It's not the kickoff for either of Europe's club tournaments, both well into qualifying at this point. UEFA's Champions League couldn't even get out of the way for the World Cup, playing games while that tournament was still underway in Russia. The domestic leagues in Europe stagger . . .
The Scottish Premier League question
The 2018-19 Scottish Premier League season starts this weekend, a league that is now only occasionally identified with USMNT players. Perry Kitchen's time at Hearts was the latest example, but it's a list that includes the Alejandro Bedoya - Carlos Bocanegra - Maurice Edu era at Rangers and prior to that DaMarcus Beasley and Claudio Reyna spending time with the club. The collapse of Rangers' . . .
La Liga in the Europa League
We start the soccer news with La Liga's dominance in the Europa League. Since revamping the UEFA Cup and merging in the Cup Winners' Cup for the 2009-10 Europa League, Spanish clubs have won it five out of eight times. The only time over that period that a La Liga team lost a Europa League final was when both finalists came from Spain. Sevilla accounts for three of those titles with their . . .
Arsenal exits the Europa League
The soccer news starts with a familiar story. Arsenal is out of Europe, exiting the Europa League at the semifinal stage after a 2-1 aggregate loss to Atletico Madrid. Following the 1-1 home draw, Arsenal lost 1-0 at Atletico. The result isn't necessarily surprising, continuing a streak of disappointment for the club in European competition. The last time Arsenal won a European competition was the . . .
