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2 days ago
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De Bruyne signs with Serie A champion Napoli after 10 seasons at Man City
Manchester City's Kevin De Bruyne during the English Premier League soccer match between Fulham and Manchester City at Craven Cottage, London, Sunday, May 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Dave Shopland) Belgium's Kevin De Bruyne celebrates after scoring his sides fourth goal during the World Cup 2026 group J qualifying soccer match between Belgium and Wales at King Baudouin stadium in Brussels, Monday, June 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert) Belgium's Kevin De Bruyne, right, and Belgium's Romelu Lukaku walk during warm up before a World Cup 2026 group J qualifying soccer match between North Macedonia and Belgium at National Arena Todor Proeski in Skopje, North Macedonia, Friday, June 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Boris Grdanoski) Manchester City fans cheer Manchester City's Kevin De Bruyne after the English Premier League soccer match between Fulham and Manchester City at Craven Cottage, London, Sunday, May 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Dave Shopland) Manchester City's Kevin De Bruyne greets supporters after the English Premier League soccer match between Fulham and Manchester City at Craven Cottage, London, Sunday, May 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Dave Shopland) Manchester City's Kevin De Bruyne greets supporters after the English Premier League soccer match between Fulham and Manchester City at Craven Cottage, London, Sunday, May 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Dave Shopland) Manchester City's Kevin De Bruyne during the English Premier League soccer match between Fulham and Manchester City at Craven Cottage, London, Sunday, May 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Dave Shopland) Belgium's Kevin De Bruyne celebrates after scoring his sides fourth goal during the World Cup 2026 group J qualifying soccer match between Belgium and Wales at King Baudouin stadium in Brussels, Monday, June 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert) Belgium's Kevin De Bruyne, right, and Belgium's Romelu Lukaku walk during warm up before a World Cup 2026 group J qualifying soccer match between North Macedonia and Belgium at National Arena Todor Proeski in Skopje, North Macedonia, Friday, June 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Boris Grdanoski) Manchester City fans cheer Manchester City's Kevin De Bruyne after the English Premier League soccer match between Fulham and Manchester City at Craven Cottage, London, Sunday, May 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Dave Shopland) Manchester City's Kevin De Bruyne greets supporters after the English Premier League soccer match between Fulham and Manchester City at Craven Cottage, London, Sunday, May 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Dave Shopland) NAPLES, Italy (AP) — Two-time Premier League player of the season Kevin De Bruyne signed as a free agent with Serie A champion Napoli on Thursday. 'KING KEV IS HERE,' Napoli declared in a series of posts on X. Advertisement The 33-year-old De Bruyne's contract at Manchester City expired. Napoli did not announce the length of his new contract. Around 150 fans welcomed De Bruyne on his arrival at a clinic in Rome for his medical. They chanted his name before also singing about Napoli being champion after the player had gone into the facility. At Napoli, De Bruyne will reunite with Belgium teammate Romelu Lukaku. And follow in the footsteps of former Napoli great Dries Mertens, an ex-Belgium international. In Napoli's midfield, De Bruyne can team with Serie A player of the year Scott McTominay, who made a highly successful move from Manchester United. Advertisement Known as one of soccer's most complete midfielders, De Bruyne was named the best player in the Premier League for the 2019-2020 and 2021-22 seasons. In 10 seasons at City, he helped the English club to six Premier League titles, two FA Cups and a Champions League trophy. The addition of De Bruyne may have been one of the reasons that convinced Napoli coach Antonio Conte to stay on for another season after considering rejoining Juventus. ___ AP soccer:
Yahoo
23-05-2025
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Barcelona seeks 3-peat of Women's Champions League titles when it faces Arsenal in Lisbon final
FILE - Barcelona's Alexia Putellas runs during warmup before the women's Champions League semifinals, second leg, soccer match against Chelsea FC at Stamford Bridge in London, April 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Dave Shopland, File) FILE - Barcelona's Aitana Bonmati celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the women's Champions League semifinals, second leg, soccer match against Chelsea FC at Stamford Bridge in London, April 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Dave Shopland, File FILE - Barcelona's Aitana Bonmati celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the women's Champions League semifinals, second leg, soccer match against Chelsea FC at Stamford Bridge in London, April 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Dave Shopland, File FILE - Barcelona's Alexia Putellas runs during warmup before the women's Champions League semifinals, second leg, soccer match against Chelsea FC at Stamford Bridge in London, April 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Dave Shopland, File) FILE - Barcelona's Aitana Bonmati celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the women's Champions League semifinals, second leg, soccer match against Chelsea FC at Stamford Bridge in London, April 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Dave Shopland, File LISBON, Portugal (AP) — Barcelona is aiming to complete a three-peat of Women's Champions League titles and win its fourth European crown in five years when it faces Arsenal in Lisbon on Saturday. Barcelona is out to reaffirm its status as the dominant force in European women's soccer after it finally beat Lyon and successfully defended its title in last year's final. Its possession-hungry and high-scoring attack is led from the midfield by Ballon d'Or winners Aitana Bonmatí and Alexia Putellas and several other members of Spain's World Cup-winning team that beat England in the 2023 final. Advertisement Barcelona will be play its sixth Champions League final in seven seasons and a record-equaling fifth in a row at Lisbon's 50,000-capacity Estádio José Alvalade. The Catalan club has the chance to become the only team other than Lyon to lift the European Cup in three consecutive years. Standing in its way is an Arsenal team that has excelled as a spoiler this campaign and hopes it can pull off another upset and win its second European title. 'They're a fantastic team and they've obviously got the recent history to prove it,' Arsenal defender Leah Williamson said about Barcelona in the buildup to the final. 'We respect them a lot, but it's a final, so everybody turns up and everybody gives their best.' Barcelona's weapons Advertisement First-year Barcelona coach Pere Romeu has a side that can hit from all angles with multiple scoring options. It leads all the major team statistics in attack: most goals scored with 44 — to Arsenals' 25 — the highest possession, best pass accuracy and most shot attempts. Barcelona forward Claudia Pina leads the competition in scoring with 10 goals, ahead of Arsenal pair Mariona Caldentey, who joined from the Spanish club last summer, and Alessia Russo with seven each. Bonmatí and teammate Patri Guijarro lead the competition with five assists each. Barcelona added to its winning squad in the offseason by signing Poland striker Ewa Pajor, who went on to lead the Spanish league with 23 goals. Pajor, 28, is seeking her first European title after losing four finals with former club Wolfsburg, including the 2023 final to Barcelona after leading 2-0. Advertisement 'The final is played in the details and we can prepare the details before the game,' Pajor said. 'What I have also learned – because I've played in four finals – you have to be there in the first minute until the end.' Not unbeatable Barcelona has rolled to a sixth consecutive Liga F title and has reached another Copa de la Reina final, but at the same time it has proven beatable. Barcelona's home unbeaten run in Liga F came to an end after a record 64 games this season, and it lost to Real Madrid for the first time in 19 clasicos since its top rival founded a women's team. It also started the Champions League with a rare group stage loss to Manchester City. Advertisement 'We lost a couple more games than we are used to and we lost some games that hurt more than others,' Barcelona forward Caroline Graham said, adding about the City defeat: "A lot of people thought that our run to be good in the Champions League was a bit over. That was a motivation to show that we still are good and that we can still compete against the best.' Gunning from behind Arsenal remains the only English team to win the biggest title in women's club soccer after it won UEFA's Women's Cup in 2007 when it beat Umea, two years before the tournament was reformatted and renamed the Women's Champions League. Arsenal may be the underdog, but it is likely comfortable with that role given its recent run of comebacks. Advertisement Renée Slegers's side rallied against Madrid in the quarterfinals, and then shocked eight-time winner Lyon in the semifinals when rebounded from a 2-1 loss in London by winning 4-1 in France. This is the English club's only chance to win some silverware this campaign after finishing second to Chelsea in England's Women's Super League and failing to reach the finals of the FA Cup or League Cup. 'We've had to come back from a lot of difficult situations, from setbacks, but the persistence of the team and the (fact we) keep on believing, that's been key for us,' Slegers said. 'We've done some magical things.' ___ AP soccer:
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Sport
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Olympic final to FA Cup final: Mateta takes long journey to Wembley, via the hospital
Crystal Palace's Jean-Philippe Mateta, left and Bournemouth's Dean Huijsen vie for the ball, during the English Premier League soccer match between Crystal Palace and Bournemouth, at Selhurst Park, London, Saturday April 19, 2025. (Jonathan Brady/PA via AP) Crystal Palace's Jean-Philippe Mateta, left, celebrates with teammates after scoring his sides second goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Arsenal and Crystal Palace at Emirates stadium in London, Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Ian Walton) Crystal Palace's Jean-Philippe Mateta reacts during the English FA Cup semifinal soccer match between Crystal Palace and Aston Villa at the Wembley stadium in London, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Dave Shopland) Crystal Palace's Jean-Philippe Mateta, wearing protective headgear, warms up before the English FA Cup semifinal soccer match between Crystal Palace and Aston Villa at the Wembley stadium in London, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Dave Shopland) Crystal Palace's Jean-Philippe Mateta, wearing protective headgear, warms up before the English FA Cup semifinal soccer match between Crystal Palace and Aston Villa at the Wembley stadium in London, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Dave Shopland) Crystal Palace's Jean-Philippe Mateta, left and Bournemouth's Dean Huijsen vie for the ball, during the English Premier League soccer match between Crystal Palace and Bournemouth, at Selhurst Park, London, Saturday April 19, 2025. (Jonathan Brady/PA via AP) Crystal Palace's Jean-Philippe Mateta, left, celebrates with teammates after scoring his sides second goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Arsenal and Crystal Palace at Emirates stadium in London, Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Ian Walton) Crystal Palace's Jean-Philippe Mateta reacts during the English FA Cup semifinal soccer match between Crystal Palace and Aston Villa at the Wembley stadium in London, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Dave Shopland) Crystal Palace's Jean-Philippe Mateta, wearing protective headgear, warms up before the English FA Cup semifinal soccer match between Crystal Palace and Aston Villa at the Wembley stadium in London, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Dave Shopland) From an Olympic final to an FA Cup final — with a trip to the hospital to patch up a 'destroyed' ear in between. It's been quite the season for Jean-Philippe Mateta, an imposing striker seeking to be Crystal Palace's savior this weekend in the south London club's bid for a first trophy in its 120-year professional history. Advertisement When Palace lines up against Manchester City ahead of the FA Cup final at Wembley Stadium on Saturday, Mateta will really stand out as the TV camera pans along the two teams. The 27-year-old Frenchman will be wearing protective headgear that includes a thick cover over his left ear, which had to be saved by a plastic surgeon after Mateta was on the end of a horrific-looking, head-high challenge on Palace's path to Wembley. Mateta needed 25 stitches and nearly a month out of action following that attempted tackle by Millwall goalkeeper Liam Roberts early in Palace's fifth-round win on March 1. It was described by Palace chairman Steve Parish as 'the most reckless challenge on a football pitch I think I've ever seen.' Mateta's not been quite the same player since, scoring just two goals in 10 games since his return to Palace's team. Advertisement The psychological effects of the injury might still be affecting him. Maybe a long season has caught up with him, too. While most players were grinding away in preseason training in mid-July last year, Mateta was about to begin the Olympic men's soccer tournament as one of the over-age players selected by France for its gold-medal bid on home soil. Mateta started every game and scored five goals, including a stoppage-time equalizer in the final to take the game to extra time against eventual champion Spain at the Parc des Princes. Nine days later, he was starting for Palace against Brentford on the opening weekend of the Premier League season. Advertisement Nine months later, Mateta will be running out at Wembley — albeit with a new look. Turnaround under Glasner Mateta joined Palace from German team Mainz in January 2021, initially on loan before making the transfer permanent a year later. He took some time to adjust to English soccer, scoring three times in his first 20 games in a year-long span when he wasn't first choice. He then scored just two goals in 32 games in the 2022-23 season, by which time Palace fans might have given up on him. His fortunes changed following the appointment of Oliver Glasner as manager in February last year. Glasner was in charge for the final 13 Premier Leagues of the 2023-24 season and Mateta scored 13 goals. Advertisement Mateta has added 17 more goals this season, with 14 coming in the Premier League. Only Mohamed Salah, Erling Haaland and Alexander Isak have scored more league goals than Mateta since Glasner's arrival. Palace's pick-ups Mateta — who cost 11 million pounds (now $14.6 million) — is an example of the good recruitment done by Palace in recent years. Daniel Munoz joined from Genk in Belgium for around 7 million pounds ($9.3 million) in January last year and has been a revelation as an attacking right wing back. Center back Marc Guehi joined from Chelsea for 18 million pounds ($24 million) as a up-and-coming talent in 2021 and is now an established England international for whom Tottenham had a reported bid of 70 million pounds rejected in the winter transfer window. Advertisement Palace has become known as a club which specializes in signing the top young players from the second-tier Championship. In recent years, they include Eberechi Eze and Adam Wharton — both are now England internationals — as well as Romain Esse, who scored 25 seconds into his Palace debut in January after joining from Millwall. ___ Steve Douglas is at ___ AP soccer:
Yahoo
27-04-2025
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Defending champ Barcelona routs Chelsea 4-1 to reach women's Champions League final
Barcelona's Aitana Bonmati celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the women's Champions League semifinals, second leg, soccer match between Chelsea FC and FC Barcelona at Stamford Bridge in London, Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Dave Shopland) Defending champion Barcelona reached the women's Champions League final in dominant fashion on Sunday after winning 4-1 at Chelsea in their semifinal return leg to advance 8-2 on aggregate. Slick Barcelona stayed on course for a third straight Champions League title and fourth overall, and will meet either record eight-time winner Lyon or Arsenal in the final. Advertisement They played their semifinal return leg in France later Sunday, with Lyon 2-1 up from the first leg. Lyon and Barcelona have met in the final in three of the past six seasons. The final takes place on May 24 at Lisbon's 50,000-capacity Estádio José Alvalade. Barcelona took its goal tally in this season's competition to a whopping 44 and also recorded a ninth straight win. Chelsea was overwhelmed 4-1 in the first leg and fell behind midway through the first half when Aitana Bonmatí scored a brilliant solo goal. She picked up the ball inside her own half and broke down the right at pace before rifling a shot into the top right corner from just inside the penalty area. Advertisement Moments earlier, Chelsea midfielder Sjoeke Nüsken shot straight at goalkeeper Cata Coll from close range. Barcelona went 2-0 up in the 41st minute when Caroline Graham Hansen found space down the right and picked out Poland captain Ewa Pajor with a fine cross. Two minutes later, Clàudia Pina curled in a superb third from the left of the penalty area into the top right corner. Tired defending allowed Salma Paralluelo to poke in the fourth goal in the last minute following a ball over the top. Dutch midfielder Wieke Kaptein rifled in a stoppage-time consolation goal for Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Barca's success came the day after the men's team beat bitter rival Real Madrid to win the Copa del Rey. Advertisement The women's side is led by the flair and drive of two-time Ballon d'Or winners Alexia Putellas and Bonmatí. They have shared the last four awards and both scored in last year's final against Lyon in front of a record crowd of 51,000. Chelsea reached the final once, in 2021, but was routed 4-0 that day as Barca won its first title. This time it was another one-sided affair as coach Sonia Bompastor's side fell well short. ___ AP soccer:
