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Bayern Munich Midfielder Jamal Musiala Badly Injures His Leg Against PSG at Club World Cup

Football - FIFA Club World Cup - Quarter Final - Paris St Germain v Bayern Munich - Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia, US - July 5, 2025 Bayern Munich's Jamal Musiala sustains an injury after a collision with Paris St Germain's Gianluigi Donnarumma. (Reuters)
Football - FIFA Club World Cup - Quarter Final - Paris St Germain v Bayern Munich - Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia, US - July 5, 2025 Bayern Munich's Jamal Musiala sustains an injury after a collision with Paris St Germain's Gianluigi Donnarumma. (Reuters)
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Bayern Munich Midfielder Jamal Musiala Badly Injures His Leg Against PSG at Club World Cup

Football - FIFA Club World Cup - Quarter Final - Paris St Germain v Bayern Munich - Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia, US - July 5, 2025 Bayern Munich's Jamal Musiala sustains an injury after a collision with Paris St Germain's Gianluigi Donnarumma. (Reuters)
Football - FIFA Club World Cup - Quarter Final - Paris St Germain v Bayern Munich - Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia, US - July 5, 2025 Bayern Munich's Jamal Musiala sustains an injury after a collision with Paris St Germain's Gianluigi Donnarumma. (Reuters)

Bayern Munich midfielder Jamal Musiala badly injured his left leg and was forced to leave his team's match against Paris Saint-Germain on Saturday in the Club World Cup quarterfinals.

Musiala was hurt late in the first half following a 50-50 challenge with PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma. The replay of the gruesome injury was not shown on the big screens at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

PSG went on to win the match 2-0.

The injury came in Musiala's first start for Bayern in three months following a hamstring injury in April.

“I believe the boy has really had a tough few months behind him and he has pushed through well,” Bayern forward Thomas Müller said. “We all keep our fingers crossed.”

The 22-year-old Musiala, who also plays for Germany's national team, entered Saturday’s match with three goals in the tournament — one behind golden boot leaders Ángel Di María and Marcos Leonardo. His Club World Cup goals brought his tally to 21 this season, including 12 in the Bundesliga and three in the Champions League.

Musiala’s injury came just before halftime. The referee whistled for the break as the midfielder received treatment on the field. Serge Gnabry replaced him in the lineup to begin the second half with the score 0-0.

“I want to send a small message to him,” PSG defender Achraf Hakimi said. “We support him, and we want to see him back soon on the pitch because he's a great player.”

Musiala is a rising star, earning Player of the Year honors for the German national team in 2024. He was also runner-up for the Golden Boy award in 2023, which is awarded to Europe’s brightest under-21 talent.

Musiala debuted for Bayern Munich in 2020 when he was 17, becoming the team’s youngest ever player at the time of his debut. In 2022, he became the first teenager to appear for the German national team at a World Cup since 1958.

Because of the injury, Bayern may have to start next season without Musiala. The German club lost out on Bayer Leverkusen's Florian Wirtz to Liverpool in the transfer market, leaving Bayern short in the attacking midfield position.

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Chelsea Injuries up 44% After Club World Cup but Report Says Event Has Had ‘Minimal’ Impact

Chelsea's Reece James, center, lifts the trophy following the Club World Cup final soccer match between Chelsea and PSG at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., Sunday, July 13, 2025. (AP)
Chelsea's Reece James, center, lifts the trophy following the Club World Cup final soccer match between Chelsea and PSG at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., Sunday, July 13, 2025. (AP)
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Chelsea Injuries up 44% After Club World Cup but Report Says Event Has Had ‘Minimal’ Impact

Chelsea's Reece James, center, lifts the trophy following the Club World Cup final soccer match between Chelsea and PSG at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., Sunday, July 13, 2025. (AP)
Chelsea's Reece James, center, lifts the trophy following the Club World Cup final soccer match between Chelsea and PSG at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., Sunday, July 13, 2025. (AP)

Chelsea suffered a 44% spike in injuries after competing in the supersized Club World Cup this year, according to findings published on Tuesday.

But the newly expanded tournament has so far had a “minimal impact” on injuries overall, the latest edition of the Men’s European Football Injury Index found.

There was fierce opposition to FIFA's new flagship club event when it was confirmed in 2023 that it would increase from seven to 32 teams, with players' unions warning of physical and mental burnout of players due to an ever expanding match schedule. But FIFA pressed ahead and staged the tournament in the United States in June-July.

Chelsea went on to win the inaugural competition, receiving the trophy from US President Donald Trump at MetLife Stadium and taking home prize money of around $125 million. But, according to the Index, from June-October, Chelsea picked up more injuries — 23 — than any of the nine clubs from Europe's top leagues that participated in the Club World Cup.

They included star player Cole Palmer, and was a 44% increase on the same period last year.

While Chelsea, which played 64 games over the entire 2024-25 season, saw an increase in injuries, the Index, produced by global insurance firm Howden, found that overall there was a decrease.

“In principle you would expect this increased workload to lead to an increase in the number of injuries sustained, as a possible rise in overall injury severity,” the Index report said, but added: “The data would suggest a minimal impact on overall injury figures.”

Despite the figures, the authors of the report accept it was too early to assess the full impact of the Club World Cup, with the findings only going up to October.

“We would expect to see the impact to spike in that sort of November to February period,” said James Burrows, Head of Sport at Howden. “What we’ve seen previously is that’s where the impact is seen from summer tournaments."

Manchester City has sustained 22 since the tournament, which is the highest among the nine teams from Europe's top leagues — England, Spain, Italy, Germany and France.

Those teams have recorded 146 injuries from June-October, which is down on the previous year's figure of 174.

From August-October that number is 121, the lowest for that three-month period in the previous six years of the Index.

Sports

Sunderland Worst Hit by Losing Players to African Cup of Nations 

14 December 2025, United Kingdom, London: Sunderland's Habib Diarra (L) and Leeds United's Gabriel Gudmundsson battle for the ball during the English Premier League soccer match between Brentford and Leeds United at the Gtech Community Stadium. (dpa)
14 December 2025, United Kingdom, London: Sunderland's Habib Diarra (L) and Leeds United's Gabriel Gudmundsson battle for the ball during the English Premier League soccer match between Brentford and Leeds United at the Gtech Community Stadium. (dpa)
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Sunderland Worst Hit by Losing Players to African Cup of Nations 

14 December 2025, United Kingdom, London: Sunderland's Habib Diarra (L) and Leeds United's Gabriel Gudmundsson battle for the ball during the English Premier League soccer match between Brentford and Leeds United at the Gtech Community Stadium. (dpa)
14 December 2025, United Kingdom, London: Sunderland's Habib Diarra (L) and Leeds United's Gabriel Gudmundsson battle for the ball during the English Premier League soccer match between Brentford and Leeds United at the Gtech Community Stadium. (dpa)

Premier League Sunderland will have to do without six players over the next few weeks and are the club worst hit as the Africa Cup of Nations takes its toll on European clubs competing over the holiday season.

Sunderland, eighth in the standings, had four of their African internationals in action when they beat Newcastle United on Sunday, but like 14 other English top-flight clubs will now lose those players to international duty.

The timing of the African championship, kicking off in Morocco on Sunday and running through to January 18, has long been an irritant for coaches, with leagues in Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain also affected.

Hosting the tournament in the middle of the season impacts around 58% of the players at the Cup of Nations, though the Confederation of African Football did try to mitigate the impact by moving the start to before Christmas, so it is completed before the next round of Champions League matches.

The impact on European clubs was also lessened by allowing them to release players seven days, rather than the mandatory 14 days, before the tournament, meaning they could play for their clubs last weekend.

Sunderland's Congolese Arthur Masuaku and Noah Sadiki, plus full back Reinildo (Mozambique), midfielder Habib Diarra (Mali), and attackers Chemsdine Talbi (Morocco) and Bertrand Traore (Burkina Faso) have now departed for Morocco.

Ironically, Mohamed Salah’s absence from Liverpool to play for Egypt should lower the temperature at the club after his recent outburst against manager Arne Slot, but Manchester United will lose three players in Noussair Mazraoui, Bryan Mbeumo and Amad Diallo, who scored in Monday’s 4-4 draw with Bournemouth.

France is again the country with the most players heading to the Cup of Nations, and with 51 from Ligue 1 clubs. But their absence is much less impactful than previously as Ligue 1 broke after the weekend’s fixtures and does not resume until January 2, by which time the Cup of Nations will be into its knockout stage.

There are 21 players from Serie A clubs, 18 from the Bundesliga, and 15 from LaLiga teams among the 24 squads at the tournament in Morocco.

Sports

Rodgers Takes Charge of Saudi Team Al-Qadsiah After Departure from Celtic 

Then-Celtic head coach Brendan Rodgers greets supporters after a Europa League soccer match between Red Star and Celtic at Rajko Mitic Stadium in Belgrade, Serbia, Sept. 24, 2025. (AP)
Then-Celtic head coach Brendan Rodgers greets supporters after a Europa League soccer match between Red Star and Celtic at Rajko Mitic Stadium in Belgrade, Serbia, Sept. 24, 2025. (AP)
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Rodgers Takes Charge of Saudi Team Al-Qadsiah After Departure from Celtic 

Then-Celtic head coach Brendan Rodgers greets supporters after a Europa League soccer match between Red Star and Celtic at Rajko Mitic Stadium in Belgrade, Serbia, Sept. 24, 2025. (AP)
Then-Celtic head coach Brendan Rodgers greets supporters after a Europa League soccer match between Red Star and Celtic at Rajko Mitic Stadium in Belgrade, Serbia, Sept. 24, 2025. (AP)

Brendan Rodgers has returned to football as the coach of Saudi Arabian club Al-Qadsiah, six weeks after resigning from Scottish champion Celtic.

Al-Qadsiah, whose squad includes Italian striker Mateo Retegui and former Real Madrid defender Fernandez Nacho, is in fifth place in the Saudi Pro League in its first season after promotion.

Rodgers departed Celtic on Oct. 27 and has opted to continue his managerial career outside Britain for the first time, having previously coached Liverpool, Leicester and Swansea.

In its statement announcing the hiring of Rodgers on Tuesday, Al-Qadsiah described him as a “world-renowned coach” and said his arrival “reflects the club’s ambitious vision and its rapidly growing sporting project.”

Aramco, the state-owned Saudi oil giant, bought Al-Qadsiah in 2023 in a move that has helped to transform the club’s status.

“This is a landmark moment for the club,” Al-Qadsiah chief executive James Bisgrove said. “The caliber of his experience and track record of winning reflects our ambition and long-term vision to establish Al-Qadsiah as one of Asia’s leading clubs.”

Rodgers is coming off winning back-to-back Scottish league titles with Celtic, where he won 11 major trophies across his two spells. He also won the FA Cup with Leicester.

Al-Qadsiah's last two coaches were former Liverpool striker Robbie Fowler and former Spain midfielder Michel.