WTF

UEFA said on Friday it was investigating incidents in Rangers' Europa League clash with Slavia Prague after the Scottish club's midfielder Glen Kamara complained of being racially abused by a visiting player in Thursday's 2-0 defeat in Glasgow.

Rangers were knocked out of the competition following a 3-1 aggregate loss in the last-16 second leg after finishing with nine men in a heated encounter which saw a melee on the pitch and clashes in the tunnel after the game.

LONDON — Former England keeper Joe Hart apologised on Friday after an Instagram post from his account went out saying "job done" after Tottenham Hotspur's Europa League exit to Dinamo Zagreb.

Tottenham crashed to a 3-0 defeat in the Croatian capital to lose their last-16 tie 3-2 on aggregate, a result Tottenham keeper Hugo Lloris described as "a disgrace."

MANCHESTER - Next week's World Cup qualifying games in Europe and beyond are set to be heavily affected by clubs refusing to release players for international duty, COVID-19 quarantines and travel restrictions.

Inter Milan announced on Thursday that all of their players will be pulled out of international duty after two more positive COVID-19 cases at the club.

Heiko Vogel, a former Champions League coach at FC Basel now managing the Borussia Mönchengladbach U-23s, was charged with “unsporting behavior” toward referees during a recent match. His so-called punishment might have been more offensive than the transgression itself. 

Ángel Di María was experiencing a dream week with Paris Saint-Germain. On Wednesday, his side eliminated Barcelona to advance to the Champions League quarterfinals. On Friday, it was announced that the 33-year-old had extended his PSG contract through 2022 with the option of an additional year.

While we’d love for the VAR to fix all of soccer’s officiating problems, the truth is that it hasn’t really curbed one of the game’s most frustrating problems: simulation. Because any bit of contact can be picked up by the VAR, players are almost rewarded for going down under slight contact. 

But there has to be that contact, and if there is none, VAR will undoubtedly punish any offender trying to fool the refs. 

I know, it’s hard being a goalkeeper. They’re rarely praised for making game-changing saves and heavily criticized for any blunders they make. But Rune Jarstein’s effort on the Julian Brandt goal vs Hertha Berlin on Saturday left a lot to be desired. 

Borussia Dortmund beat Hertha 2-0 thanks to Brandt’s long-range goal. It was a vital win for Borussia Dortmund, which has fallen out of the Champions League places in the Bundesliga and sits fifth but will likely end the weekend back in sixth.