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Champions League Returns Missing Mbappe, Rodri, Barella as Injury Wave Hits European Soccer

Football - LaLiga - Real Madrid v Deportivo Alaves - Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid, Spain - September 24, 2024 Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe celebrates scoring their second goal. (Reuters)
Football - LaLiga - Real Madrid v Deportivo Alaves - Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid, Spain - September 24, 2024 Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe celebrates scoring their second goal. (Reuters)
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Champions League Returns Missing Mbappe, Rodri, Barella as Injury Wave Hits European Soccer

Football - LaLiga - Real Madrid v Deportivo Alaves - Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid, Spain - September 24, 2024 Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe celebrates scoring their second goal. (Reuters)
Football - LaLiga - Real Madrid v Deportivo Alaves - Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid, Spain - September 24, 2024 Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe celebrates scoring their second goal. (Reuters)

Key players will be sidelined when the Champions League resumes Tuesday after a wave of injuries within a week of the new-look competition starting.

Kylian Mbappe’s sore hamstring is likely to sideline him beyond Wednesday when he was due to return to France with defending champion Real Madrid to face Lille.

Serious knee injuries mean Manchester City midfielder Rodri is out for the season and Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen will miss at least most of it.

Inter Milan midfielder Nicolo Barella, who was a standout playing against Rodri on Sept. 18, will miss at least one Champions League game because of a thigh strain.

The injuries to four players who were involved at the European Championship into the knockout phase have sharpened the debate about player workload in a calendar made more congested by the bigger Champions League.

The extended program is what influential clubs all-but forced UEFA to create and the 18 games this week, split between Tuesday and Wednesday, still leaves each of them with six more to play through January.

Another final rematch

There were two repeats of past finals in the first week of games that relaunched the Champions League in a single-standings format. Man City and Inter drew 0-0 and Liverpool won 3-1 at AC Milan.

The next rematch comes Wednesday when Aston Villa hosts Bayern Munich, a giant of the European Cup era that was shocked 1-0 in the 1982 final.

Villa Park will host a first game in the competition since March 1983 when the English side’s title defense was ended by Juventus.

Both eased to winning starts two weeks ago. Villa won 3-0 at Young Boys and Bayern’s nine goals against Dinamo Zagreb was a record for any team in the 33-season Champions League era.

Harry Kane scored four in Bayern’s 9-2 win and has a good record visiting Villa, with five goals there in five Premier League games for Tottenham. He faces a late check on an ankle injury.

Kane edges Haaland

Kane’s fast start to the season with 10 goals in seven games for Bayern has outpaced even Erling Haaland’s 10 in eight games for Man City.

Haaland was kept quiet by Inter for the second time in 16 months, a fact he was reminded of in a post-game talk with the Italian champion’s center back Francesco Acerbi, who smiled and held up two fingers.

Haaland should find it easier on Tuesday in Slovakia when Man City faces Slovan Bratislava, which took the second biggest beating in the opening round, 5-1 at Celtic.

Crowd size and fan fervor

The pulsating atmosphere at Celtic Park for a rare European win by the Scottish champion stood out in an opening week where anticipation was not universal.

Pundits including former Man City goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel noted a quietness about the stadium for the Inter game. The attendance was nearly 2,000 higher five days later when Man City met Arsenal in a tempestuous Premier League clash where title ambitions were already in play.

Milan-Liverpool was a heavyweight European fixture yet far from sold out, with fewer than 60,000 at San Siro. The crowd topped 70,000 at each of Milan’s first two Serie A home games this season, and 66,000 on the equivalent Champions League opening night last season to see another English club, Newcastle.

Paris Saint-Germain drew at least 46,000 fans for each home game in Ligue 1 this season — and all three Champions League group-stage games last season — yet fewer than 40,000 were at Parc des Princes to see European debutant Girona two weeks ago.

Sporting Lisbon also had 40,000 fans for a Champions League opener against Lille that was 6,000 down on the crowd for a domestic league game against Porto.

The attendance and atmosphere trends will be watched as fans respond to the longer and more expensive program of four Champions League home games. The 36-team standings is set to be more dynamic for the final two rounds in January.

Tuesday's games

The raucous atmosphere should follow Celtic to Borussia Dortmund whose fans in the Yellow Wall tribune are among the noisiest in Europe.

Bundesliga champion Bayer Leverkusen hosts Milan after making a fast start in a 4-0 rout at Feyenoord. San Siro now reverts to Inter to host Red Star Belgrade.

Arsenal hosts PSG in a meeting of two teams chasing a trophy they never won. Each was a beaten finalist once. Also, Barcelona hosts Young Boys.

Wednesday's games Even without Mbappe, Madrid should have too much for Lille playing in the stadium that hosted basketball group-stage games at the Paris Olympics.

Premier League leader Liverpool hosts Bologna, and Girona’s first European visitor to the Montilivi stadium is Feyenoord.

Dinamo Zagreb fired its coach, Sergej Jakirovic, after the drubbing at Bayern and brought back Nenad Bjelica for a second spell. He starts in the Champions League hosting Monaco.

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Sports

Alcaraz Withdraws from Wimbledon with Wrist Injury

Tennis - Wimbledon - All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, Britain - July 14, 2024 Spain's Carlos Alcaraz poses for a picture with the trophy after winning his men's singles final against Serbia's Novak Djokovic. (Reuters)
Tennis - Wimbledon - All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, Britain - July 14, 2024 Spain's Carlos Alcaraz poses for a picture with the trophy after winning his men's singles final against Serbia's Novak Djokovic. (Reuters)
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Alcaraz Withdraws from Wimbledon with Wrist Injury

Tennis - Wimbledon - All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, Britain - July 14, 2024 Spain's Carlos Alcaraz poses for a picture with the trophy after winning his men's singles final against Serbia's Novak Djokovic. (Reuters)
Tennis - Wimbledon - All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, Britain - July 14, 2024 Spain's Carlos Alcaraz poses for a picture with the trophy after winning his men's singles final against Serbia's Novak Djokovic. (Reuters)

Carlos Alcaraz's hopes of regaining his Wimbledon title have been dashed with the two-time champion announcing Tuesday he is withdrawing as he recovers from a wrist injury.

"My recovery is going well and I'm feeling much better, but unfortunately I'm still not ready to play, I am obliged to withdraw from both Queen's and Wimbledon," said Spaniard Alcaraz, who lost to world number one Jannik Sinner in last year's final.

"These are two really special tournaments for me and I'll miss them a lot. We'll keep working to come back as soon as possible."

Alcaraz sustained the injury during the first round of the Barcelona Open and subsequently pulled out of tournaments in Madrid and Rome and then Roland Garros, where he is the reigning two-time champion.

The world number two became the youngest man to complete the career Grand Slam in January with his triumph at the Australian Open. The 23-year-old holds a 22-3 record this season and also won a title in Doha.

Wimbledon will be only the third Grand Slam that Alcaraz has missed since making his main draw debut at the 2021 Australian Open.

Alcaraz's injury has stopped him continuing his exciting rivalry with Italian Sinner, 24, who is firm favorite to triumph in Paris and London.

Sports

Guardiola Set for Emotional Man City Farewell After Era-Defining Decade

Manchester City's Spanish manager Pep Guardiola poses with the trophy on the pitch after the English FA Cup final football match between Chelsea and Manchester City at Wembley stadium in London, on May 16, 2026. (AFP)
Manchester City's Spanish manager Pep Guardiola poses with the trophy on the pitch after the English FA Cup final football match between Chelsea and Manchester City at Wembley stadium in London, on May 16, 2026. (AFP)
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Guardiola Set for Emotional Man City Farewell After Era-Defining Decade

Manchester City's Spanish manager Pep Guardiola poses with the trophy on the pitch after the English FA Cup final football match between Chelsea and Manchester City at Wembley stadium in London, on May 16, 2026. (AFP)
Manchester City's Spanish manager Pep Guardiola poses with the trophy on the pitch after the English FA Cup final football match between Chelsea and Manchester City at Wembley stadium in London, on May 16, 2026. (AFP)

Pep Guardiola is expected to take charge of Manchester City for the final time on Sunday, drawing the curtain down on a decade that has reshaped not only his club but English football itself.

When the Catalan arrived in 2016, he was already regarded as one of the game's great innovators. What followed was something even more profound: a transformational reign that turned City from wealthy contenders into the defining team of an era.

Ten years on, Guardiola leaves City having won 15 major trophies, not including the UEFA Super Cup and Club World Cup.

His trophy cabinet includes six Premier League titles -- including a record four in a row -- and the club's first Champions League crown, a haul that places him among the most successful ‌managers in English ‌football history.

This season alone, he has guided City to both the League ‌Cup ⁠and FA Cup ⁠titles, and pushed Arsenal right to the wire in the Premier League race.

His final match, expected to be Sunday's league game against Aston Villa, will close the book on a story of dominance, reinvention and influence that extended far beyond results.

And the Etihad Stadium crowd will surely soak up every second, singing their tribute song to their beloved manager: "We've got . . . Guardiola!" to the tune of The Dave Clark Five's "Glad All Over".

Guardiola's legacy at City is measured not just in silverware but in the scale of control his teams exerted. At their peak, ⁠they amassed points totals previously unimaginable, winning four straight league titles between ‌2021 and 2024 and forcing rivals into near-perfection just to keep ‌pace.

In 2023, they completed the treble, joining Manchester United's 1999 side as the only English teams to hoist the ‌league, FA Cup and Champions League trophies in the same season.

GAME CHANGER

The 55-year-old is credited with changing ‌the game by imposing a level of control and technical precision rarely seen in English football, turning City into the benchmark for how the game could be played.

His teams did not simply win; they dominated by keeping the ball, dictating tempo and suffocating opponents through positional play and relentless pressing.

Beyond the results, fans will surely miss Guardiola's entertaining, ‌restless presence. Usually dressed in his favored knit jumpers and smart trousers, he prowls the technical area, arms cutting through the air as he ⁠points, waves and barks instructions.

Frustration ⁠flashes quickly, sometimes with a sharp kick at a cooler. He has been known to cushion stray balls with a deft touch of a foot, or turn and encourage the crowd to cheer.

He frequently speaks to opposing players on the pitch after matches, to offer tactical tips or praise a performance.

City's players have praised his impact and marveled at his relentless quest for excellence.

"He changed the way I see football," City captain Bernardo Silva said after Saturday's FA Cup win.

"That winning mentality is nothing like I've ever seen," defender John Stones added.

For all the tactics, Guardiola's greatest legacy will have been cultural. He made style the norm and forced the Premier League to evolve around it.

If Sunday indeed ends his tenure, his influence will not fade.

Sports

Stuttering Sabalenka Seeks to Set Down Marker at Roland Garros

Belarus' Aryna Sabalenka returns the ball to Romania's Sorana Cirstea during their match at the Italian Open tennis tournament in Rome, Saturday, May 9, 2026. (AP)
Belarus' Aryna Sabalenka returns the ball to Romania's Sorana Cirstea during their match at the Italian Open tennis tournament in Rome, Saturday, May 9, 2026. (AP)
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Stuttering Sabalenka Seeks to Set Down Marker at Roland Garros

Belarus' Aryna Sabalenka returns the ball to Romania's Sorana Cirstea during their match at the Italian Open tennis tournament in Rome, Saturday, May 9, 2026. (AP)
Belarus' Aryna Sabalenka returns the ball to Romania's Sorana Cirstea during their match at the Italian Open tennis tournament in Rome, Saturday, May 9, 2026. (AP)

Aryna Sabalenka looked unbeatable when the clay-court season got underway last month, but now as the world number one arrives in Paris for her latest tilt at winning Roland Garros, her dominance of the women's game has started to show cracks.

The four-time Grand Slam champion still holds more than 1,000 ranking points on her closest challengers but foremost on her mind over the next fortnight will be going one better than her runner-up finish last year in the French capital, when she lost in three sets to Coco Gauff.

If her aims ahead of the tournament, which starts on Sunday, mirror that of her men's counterpart, Jannik Sinner who is also hunting a first title on the red dirt in Paris, Sabalenka's stranglehold over her competitors is suddenly a lot less dominant than the Italian's.

When Sabalenka swept to the Sunshine Double at the WTA 1000 hardcourt events in Indian Wells and Miami in March, she had then won three of the four tournaments she had played in this season -- the only blight on that record being a three-set defeat to Elena Rybakina in the Australian Open final.

And as she jetted into Madrid for the start of the European clay swing on a 15-match winning streak, it had seemed little would stand in her way to claiming a fourth career title at the Caja Magica as she began preparations for the French Open.

But a quarter-final exit at the hands of 30th seed Hailey Baptiste put paid to the Belarusian's ambitions in Spain, before she followed that up by crashing out of the Italian Open against a resurgent Sorana Cirstea in the third round, after which she said she felt like "my body was limiting me from performing on the highest level".

"I guess we never lose; we only learn, so it's OK," Sabalenka mused after exiting a 1000 tournament at the round-of-32 stage for the first time since February 2025.

With the 28-year-old top seed now looking uncertain on the clay, the draw again appears to be wide open.

- 'Big battles' -

Rybakina, who beat Sabalenka in last season's WTA Finals decider and then in Melbourne in January to claim her second major title, will be one of the main contenders despite having never progressed beyond the last eight at Roland Garros.

The Kazakh world number two is the player who has arguably enjoyed the best season on the tour this year, barring Sabalenka, and last month won indoor on the clay in Stuttgart but similarly had disappointing runs in Madrid and Rome.

Iga Swiatek, the erstwhile "queen of clay", has of late shown glimpses of the form that took her to world number one and four Roland Garros titles in the early 2020s.

Since her last triumph in Paris two years ago, the 24-year-old has struggled to find consistency but will be hoping her new collaboration with Rafael Nadal's former coach Francisco Roig can help her re-find her best tennis on the surface she had for so long dominated.

Defending champion Gauff will certainly not cede her title lightly and the world number four enters the fray on the back of a strong run in Rome, which ultimately ended in defeat at the final hurdle to the in-form Elina Svitolina.

The 31-year-old Ukrainian has won two titles already this year, including a first 1000-level crown in eight years at the Italian Open, and will certainly fancy a deep run in Paris, after reaching the final eight for the fifth time in her career last year.

"(Winning Rome) gives me a lot of confidence. Gives me a good look at Roland Garros," Svitolina said.

"But... There are really tough players. You cannot underestimate (them). You need to be ready for the first-round matches, big battles. Everybody's there to beat you."

Alongside Svitolina, Madrid Open winner Marta Kostyuk, rising starlets Mirra Andreeva, Iva Jovic and Victoria Mboko, as well as Amanda Anisimova will be dark horses for a maiden Grand Slam title.