PSG Sinks Barcelona with Late Winner in Champions League and Man City Held by Monaco

Paris Saint Germain's Goncalo Ramos celebrates scoring the 1-2 goal during the UEFA Champions League league phase soccer match between FC Barcelona and PSG, in Barcelona, Spain, 01 October 2025. EPA/Siu Wu
Paris Saint Germain's Goncalo Ramos celebrates scoring the 1-2 goal during the UEFA Champions League league phase soccer match between FC Barcelona and PSG, in Barcelona, Spain, 01 October 2025. EPA/Siu Wu
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PSG Sinks Barcelona with Late Winner in Champions League and Man City Held by Monaco

Paris Saint Germain's Goncalo Ramos celebrates scoring the 1-2 goal during the UEFA Champions League league phase soccer match between FC Barcelona and PSG, in Barcelona, Spain, 01 October 2025. EPA/Siu Wu
Paris Saint Germain's Goncalo Ramos celebrates scoring the 1-2 goal during the UEFA Champions League league phase soccer match between FC Barcelona and PSG, in Barcelona, Spain, 01 October 2025. EPA/Siu Wu

Goncalo Ramos struck a 90th-minute winner as Paris Saint-Germain sealed a statement win over Barcelona in the Champions League on Wednesday.

Trailing 1-0 at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys and without injured star forwards Ousmane Dembele, Desire Doue and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, defending champion PSG fought back for a 2-1 victory against one of the favorites to lift the trophy in May.

“It doesn’t matter which of our players are in the team. When they are wearing our shirt, carrying our badge on their shirt, then the amount of attitude and effort is non-negotiable," PSG coach Luis Enrique said.

Manchester City had to settle for a 2-2 draw with Monaco after Eric Dier scored a 90th-minute penalty for the hosts.

Villarreal and Juventus also ended 2-2 after Renato Veiga's late equalizer.
Arsenal beat Olympiakos 2-0, The Associated Press reported.

PSG is still the team to beat PSG's trip to Barcelona was always seen as the standout clash of matchday two. Both teams are expected to go far, with PSG aiming to join Real Madrid as the only other club to successfully defend the trophy in the Champions League era. Barcelona, a semifinalist last campaign, is intent on turning last season's domestic dominance into European triumph.

But despite the anticipation, neither team was at the height of its powers, with so many players missing.

While PSG was without the attacking trio that fired it to victory last term, Barcelona was also missing the injured Raphinha, while Robert Lewandowski was on the bench.

Lamine Yamal was available, but it was Ferran Torres who gave the home team the lead in the 19th minute.

Senny Mayulu leveled the game in the 38th and substitute Lee Kang-in came close to a winner by hitting the post late on.

But there was still more drama to come when Achraf Hakimi squared the ball beyond Barca's defense and Ramos slid in the winner.

It's now two wins from two for PSG at the start of its defense of the title and an early statement against one of its main rivals.

“We lost today, and I don’t like that. We have to accept this defeat and admit that Paris are so good," Barca coach Hansi Flick said. "We are disappointed, the fans are disappointed. We have to accept that we were beaten, but work on getting better.”

Haaland scores 2 but Man City held Erling Haaland did what Erling Haaland does with two more goals in the Champions League, but it wasn't enough to seal victory in Monaco.

Having become the quickest player to reach 50 goals in the competition last month, the Norwegian looks certain to become the quickest to reach 60. Lionel Messi managed it in 80 appearances. Haaland is on 52 after 50 games.

But that will be of little comfort to Pep Guardiola, who watched his team squander two points by conceding a late penalty that Dier converted to seal the draw.

“It isn’t good enough," Haaland said. "We have to try to win the next game. It is the only thing we can do.”

Hot shot Hojlund Discarded by Manchester United, Rasmus Hojlund is showing the type of form that earned him an $82 million move to Old Trafford in the first place.

He struck twice to earn Napoli a 2-1 win over Sporting Lisbon. That’s three goals in five appearances — after having scored two in his last 13 games for United.

It certainly helps when he can feed off the kind of service Kevin De Bruyne can deliver and the former Man City playmaker was provider of both of Hojlund’s goals.

Borussia Dortmund routed Athletic Bilbao 4-1 and Bayer Leverkusen was held 1-1 at home by PSV Eindhoven.

Perfect Arsenal Another win for Arsenal and another clean sheet.

The 2-0 victory over Olympiakos was its sixth shutout in nine games this season.

Goals from Gabriel Martinelli in the first half and Bukayo Saka in stoppage time maintained Arsenal’s 100% start in the competition.

Another team with a perfect record so far is Qarabag after its 2-0 win over Copenhagen. Abdellah Zoubir and Emmanuel Addai were on target for the Azerbaijani team.

Woltemade scores again Nick Woltemade is doing his best to make Newcastle fans forget about Alexander Isak.

The club-record $93 million signing scored his third goal in four starts for Newcastle to set up the 4-0 rout of Union Saint-Gilloise.

The Germany international was signed to fill the sizable void left by Isak's contentious move to Liverpool. And he has made an instant impact.

His 17th-minute goal at Lotto Park might not have been the prettiest — diverting Sandro Tonali's goalbound shot past Kjell Scherpen — but it got Newcastle off to the perfect start. It also highlighted his useful knack of being in the right place at the right time.

Woltemade has now scored in back-to-back games after his goal against Arsenal on Sunday. He still has some way to go to prove he can replace Isak, who scored 54 goals in 78 Premier League starts for Newcastle, but the early signs are promising after his move from Stuttgart.

Anthony Gordon struck twice from the penalty spot — scoring either side of halftime to put Newcastle in control and substitute Harvey Barnes added a fourth.

More thrills for Juve Last time out, Juventus was involved in an eight-goal thriller against Dortmund that ended in a 4-4 draw with all the goals coming in the second half.

By those standards, the 2-2 at Villarreal was relatively mild. But there was still a late twist as Veiga, who spent the second half of last season on loan at Juve, came up with the equalizer.



Sabalenka Apologizes for Outburst During Loss to Svitolina

13 November 2026, US, Indian Wells: Belarusian tennis player Aryna Sabalenka in action against Ukraine's Elina Svitolina during their women's singles group stage match of the FAGE WTA Finals tennis tournament at Indian Wells. Photo: Charles Baus/CSM via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
13 November 2026, US, Indian Wells: Belarusian tennis player Aryna Sabalenka in action against Ukraine's Elina Svitolina during their women's singles group stage match of the FAGE WTA Finals tennis tournament at Indian Wells. Photo: Charles Baus/CSM via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
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Sabalenka Apologizes for Outburst During Loss to Svitolina

13 November 2026, US, Indian Wells: Belarusian tennis player Aryna Sabalenka in action against Ukraine's Elina Svitolina during their women's singles group stage match of the FAGE WTA Finals tennis tournament at Indian Wells. Photo: Charles Baus/CSM via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
13 November 2026, US, Indian Wells: Belarusian tennis player Aryna Sabalenka in action against Ukraine's Elina Svitolina during their women's singles group stage match of the FAGE WTA Finals tennis tournament at Indian Wells. Photo: Charles Baus/CSM via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa

Aryna Sabalenka apologized on Saturday for her angry outburst during her defeat by Ukraine's Elina Svitolina at the WTA Finals.

Television footage appeared to show the Belarusian swearing during Friday's round-robin match, with some social media users interpreting her remarks as being directed at Svitolina or Ukrainians. The loss eliminated Sabalenka from the season-ending tournament.

"My comment was not directed at Elina," Sabalenka said in a social ⁠media post.

"I was ⁠frustrated with a small group of spectators who were aggressively cheering my mistakes, and I reacted emotionally in the moment.

"That said, I should have handled my frustration differently, and I apologize to anyone I offended.

"Elina played a great match, ⁠and I wish her all the best for the rest of the tournament."

Svitolina did not shake hands with Sabalenka after the match, maintaining her policy of not doing so with Russian or Belarusian opponents following Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, which Moscow launched with Belarus as a staging ground.

Asked about her reaction to Sabalenka's apology, Svitolina called for mutual respect, acknowledging that fans' passions ⁠can ⁠sometimes run high.

"We've played many times with Aryna. She has her fans, I have my fans," she told reporters after her semi-final win over Linda Noskova on Saturday.

According to Reuters, she expressed hope that matches between the two of them would be respected, "because yes, sometimes in some matches that we've played, also been not great comments towards me in regards of the war."

Svitolina, the 2018 WTA Finals champion, faces Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva in Sunday's final.


Portugal Changes How No. 7 Is Written to Honor Cristiano Ronaldo

Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates after scoring the 1-2 goal during the FIFA World Cup qualifying match against Hungary, in Budapest, Hungary, 09 September 2025. (EPA)
Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates after scoring the 1-2 goal during the FIFA World Cup qualifying match against Hungary, in Budapest, Hungary, 09 September 2025. (EPA)
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Portugal Changes How No. 7 Is Written to Honor Cristiano Ronaldo

Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates after scoring the 1-2 goal during the FIFA World Cup qualifying match against Hungary, in Budapest, Hungary, 09 September 2025. (EPA)
Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates after scoring the 1-2 goal during the FIFA World Cup qualifying match against Hungary, in Budapest, Hungary, 09 September 2025. (EPA)

The Portugal football team is making a change to how the No. 7 is written to honor the recently-retired Cristiano Ronaldo.

Ronaldo, who wore the number and went on to make it his own as “CR7,” retired from international soccer last week, ending a remarkable career that spanned six World Cups, a European title, and the men’s all-time international scoring record.

“Time to debut a new 7. Because there’s one that will be eternal,” the Portuguese national team wrote on social media on Saturday. The post included a goat emoji to signify “Greatest Of All Time.”

It also included a video that showed a horizontal crossed line through the No. 7 as it’s commonly written in Europe, suggesting that Ronaldo’s successors will all have that cross to bear when they wear the number.

Portugal, already assured of reaching the quarterfinals, was hosting Denmark in the Nations League later Saturday.

The 41-year-old Ronaldo quit on Nov. 5 after falling out with coach Jorge Jesus. His last appearance with Portugal was Sept. 24 in a 1-0 home win over Wales in the Nations League.

Jesus kept him on the bench for the following match and said he didn’t plan to start him in the next one, so the superstar forward decided to leave the team’s training camp.

Jesus later said Ronaldo would be welcome back and the decision to return was up to him.


Ronaldinho Poised for Ravenna Start and, Perhaps, One Last Goal

Brazilian football legend Ronaldinho waves during Ravenna FC’s team presentation for the 2026-27 season in Marina di Ravenna, Italy, Aug. 20, 2026. (AFP)
Brazilian football legend Ronaldinho waves during Ravenna FC’s team presentation for the 2026-27 season in Marina di Ravenna, Italy, Aug. 20, 2026. (AFP)
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Ronaldinho Poised for Ravenna Start and, Perhaps, One Last Goal

Brazilian football legend Ronaldinho waves during Ravenna FC’s team presentation for the 2026-27 season in Marina di Ravenna, Italy, Aug. 20, 2026. (AFP)
Brazilian football legend Ronaldinho waves during Ravenna FC’s team presentation for the 2026-27 season in Marina di Ravenna, Italy, Aug. 20, 2026. (AFP)

Ronaldinho will roll back the years this weekend when the 46-year-old Brazilian starts his first competitive match in over a decade, and in the unlikely setting of an Italian third-tier derby the World Cup winner may realize his dream of scoring one last time.

The Brazil great and Ballon d'Or winner signed for Ravenna in June, also taking a stake in the club, but because he had not played since his final appearance for Fluminense in 2015, doubts remained over whether fans would ever see him in action.

Ravenna revealed ‌three weeks ago ‌that the former Barcelona and AC Milan player ‌would ⁠make his return ⁠in Sunday's home clash with local rivals Forli, and on Friday, manager Andrea Mandorlini told reporters that Ronaldinho would start the match.

"He will play from the start, there's no doubt," Mandorlini said.

"Then together we will decide how long he plays. He is one of the greatest players of the modern era. And we have to get a ⁠result. We always play with three forwards. He will ‌be one of the three."

Ronaldinho was ‌welcomed by the Ravenna fans in August, without committing to a return ‌to the pitch. He returned to Italy on Friday afternoon and ‌will have just one training session with his teammates on Saturday before making his club debut.

A temporary stand has been erected at the Stadio Bruno Benelli to cater for the crowd, and if this does turn out ‌to be one last hurrah for Ronaldinho, he may well get the chance to score his 300th ⁠professional goal.

"I ⁠scored my first Italian goal in the derby," Ronaldinho told Corriere della Sera, referring to his first official goal for AC Milan, which came against Inter Milan.

"It was a special evening that will remain in the memory of all AC Milan fans. It was September 28, 2008. I scored with a header, which is not my specialty. Who knows if I'll be able to repeat that feat tomorrow."

"... Returning to the pitch at 46 is the best move of my career."

Simone Rabbi will play alongside the Brazilian up front for Ravenna, and in Friday's press conference he said that if his side are awarded a penalty on Sunday, Ronaldinho will take the spot kick.