Europe

LONDON — Arsenal survived a penalty shootout to scrape past Porto and reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League for the first time in 14 years after a tense last-16 duel had ended 1-1 on aggregate on Tuesday.

Porto, who won the opening leg 1-0, proved stubborn opposition for the Premier League leaders and Arsenal fans must have feared another night of European heartache.

But Martin Odegaard, Kai Havertz, Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice all tucked away their spot kicks with clinical precision.

Weston McKennie is in some of the best form of his career as the USMNT and Juventus midfielder has lit up Serie A this season.

He’s arguably been the best player for Juventus in the 2023-24 campaign and one of the top midfielders in the Italian league. One McKennie statistic raised eyebrows among fans.

Since the start of the calendar year only one player in Europe’s top five leagues has more assists than him. Kevin De Bruyne.

Bayern Munich fans have been banned from attending the away leg of their Champions League quarter-final tie after their supporters threw fireworks onto the pitch during their 3-1 win at Lazio earlier this month, the club said on Tuesday.

UEFA fined Bayern 40,000 euros after travelling fans set off fireworks during their 2-1 win at Copenhagen in October. Bayern were given a suspended one-match ban from purchasing away tickets in December. The incident at Lazio triggered the ban.

Bayern fans banned for fireworks

Christian Pulisic found the back of the net again for AC Milan on Sunday as he bagged the winner in the Italian side’s 1-0 victory vs. Empoli in Serie A at San Siro.

In the 40th minute Milan forward Noah Okafor found the American star open at the top of the box with a clever cutback pass. 

Pulisic didn’t get the full contact on his shot he would’ve hoped for, but the soccer gods were on his side as a deflection off Empoli’s Sebastiano Luperto saw the ball trickle into the goal.

Sergiño Dest scored PSV’s game-winning goal against Go Ahead Eagles in the Eredivisie on Friday in spectacular fashion. This was his second goal of the season and another sign of his comeback.

Let’s admire the goal first and then talk a little more about Dest’s season.

Sergiño Dest goal vs. Go Ahead Eagles

Wat een goal van matchwinner Sergino Dest

MUNICH, Germany — Harry Kane scored a hat-trick in Bayern Munich's 8-1 demolition of Mainz 05 on Saturday to set a Bundesliga record as the champions cut the gap on leaders Bayer Leverkusen to seven points.

Kane, who joined this season for a league record 100 million euros from Tottenham Hotspur, became the first player to score at least twice in eight different games in his first Bundesliga season.

He also equalled Uwe Seeler's record for most goals in a debut Bundesliga campaign by lifting his tally to 30.

Harry Kane sets a Bundesliga record

If you’ve already seen the Christian Pulisic goal from Thursday’s Europa League game between AC Milan and Slavia Praha, then you know we’re being sarcastic with our headline. 

Pulisic scored Milan’s fourth goal in a 4-2 victory at San Siro, but we’ll admit he may or may not have stolen a goal from Rafael Leão.

In the 85th minute Pulisic was involved in the build-up of what turned out to be a dazzling run and clever finish from Leão. Pulisic then helped it over the line at the last moment.

The internet is quick with the memes and joke videos.

Chelsea forward Sam Kerr has the Women's Super League club's "full support", manager Emma Hayes said with the Australia captain set to face trial in the UK having been accused of racially aggravated harassment of a police officer last year.

Kerr was charged on Jan. 21, almost a year after the incident in London was alleged to have occurred. The 30-year-old pleaded not guilty via video link at Kingston Crown Court on Monday.

Ligue 1 looks to be getting a new league sponsorship deal as RMC Sport has reported the top French league is close to teaming up with McDonald’s.

The league’s current name is actually Ligue 1 Uber Eats. The food delivery service has had the sponsorship name since 2020 and the naming deal runs until the end of the 2023-24 season.

McDonald’s is reportedly set to ink a deal with Ligue 1 worth $65 million over the next three seasons.

The deal isn’t confirmed yet but has already generated quite the storm online.

Ligue 1 McDonald’s