American Players Abroad

Arsenal climbed back to the top of the FA Women's Super League with a hard-fought 3-1 win over bottom side Bristol City, while Fran Kirby's early headed goal gave champions Chelsea a narrow 1-0 win over Birmingham City on Sunday.

Arsenal went behind to an Abi Harrison effort after six minutes, but goals either side of halftime by Jordan Nobbs and Caitlin Foord put them back in the driving seat, with Dutch ace Vivianne Miedema adding a third five minutes from full time.

A perfectly balanced contest between Barcelona and Sevilla at the Camp Nou on Sunday ended in a 1-1 draw with Luuk de Jong’s early strike being promptly cancelled out by Philippe Coutinho’s first goal for the club since May of 2019.

The meeting between second (Barça) and fourth (Sevilla) in last season’s table figured to be the sternest test of Ronaldo Koeman’s early reign despite the fact that Julen Lopetegui wasn’t on Sevilla’s bench after being sent off in Thursday’s 1-0 victory over Levante.

Bayern Munich's Robert Lewandowski scored four goals including a stoppage-time penalty to give the German champions a 4-3 home win over Hertha Berlin in a pulsating Bundesliga clash at the Allianz Arena on Sunday.

The result left Bayern fourth in the standings on six points from three games, one behind the top three led by Leipzig on goal difference, while Hertha slipped to 13th on four points.

Lewandowski fired Bayern into a 2-0 lead with two trademark goals before the visitors hit back through Jhon Cordoba and Matheus Cunha to set up a frantic climax.

CeCe Kizer is, like many Americans in the NWSL, playing in Europe this fall as the U.S. fails to contain Covid-19. The Houston Dash midfielder didn’t go on loan to a well-known club in England like Tobin Heath and Christen Press (Manchester United), Rose Lavelle and Sam Mewis (Man City) and Alex Morgan (Tottenham). Instead she found herself a club to get some playing time while the NWSL plays a mostly meaningless Fall Series back home.

In a way, it can be a bit exhausting following all the young American stars in Europe these days. As soon as we get used to Weston McKennie playing for Italy’s most famous club, Sergiño Dest moves to Barcelona. As soon as we finish gushing over a performance from Tyler Adams, Giovanni Reyna does something like he did on Saturday. It might just be a golden age for Americans abroad, and we’re not going to complain, nor are we going to stop celebrating these Americans, because everyone who grew up in the 90s or earlier can really appreciate just how special this moment in time is.

There is no better evaluation of a player’s talent than how he juggles the ball in an empty stadium upon his unveiling at a new club — we’ve already proven this to be infallible. So, was Sergiño Dest juggling upon his Barcelona introduction really as bad as the internet wants you to think? Is the American teenager a fraud?

New Barcelona signing Sergino Dest said he "followed his heart" by turning down a move to European Champions Bayern Munich in favour of the Catalan side.

Dest became the first United States international to join Barca on Thursday, signing from Ajax Amsterdam on a long-term contract at the Camp Nou.

USWNT star midfielders Sam Mewis and Rose Lavelle joined Manchester City in August. They’ve already got their new club within striking distance of winning the FA Women’s Cup.

Mewis scored her first City goal and Lavelle made her City debut in an impressive 2-1 win over Arsenal in the FA Women’s Cup semifinals on Thursday. 

The Gunners had won their first three matches of the season by a combined 19-2, including a 4-0 rout of Alex Morgan’s Tottenham on Saturday. 

The clubs competing in the 2020-21 UEFA Champions League group stage have been announced and boy oh boy do we have some great games to look forward to. Let’s skip the chit-chat and show you the full look of the groups and the takeaways.

The official result of the #UCLdraw!

Most exciting group stage match? pic.twitter.com/d7ynuEjPq3