Managers

With club soccer returning this weekend American fans might be asking questions like: Why is Pulisic not playing? Where’s Gio Reyna? 

Christian Pulisic will likely miss Chelsea’s Premier League game vs. Aston Villa on Saturday while Gio Reyna is set to sit out Borussia Dortmund’s massive Der Klassiker clash with Bayern Munich. Both American players are dealing with “severe colds.”

Christian Pulisic 'has a heavy cold' per Graham Potter and is likely to miss Chelsea's match against Aston Villa tomorrow.

MANCHESTER — Manchester City forward Erling Haaland is a doubt for Saturday's home game against Liverpool in the Premier League but may be risked, manager Pep Guardiola said, as his side maintain their chase of leaders Arsenal.

Haaland, who joined City this season from Borussia Dortmund, has scored 42 goals in 37 matches in all competitions, but suffered a groin injury against Burnley on March 18, and pulled out of Norway's squad for their Euro 2024 qualifiers.

PARIS - Hervé Renard has been named France women's coach until 2024 and will lead the team at this year's World Cup, the French federation (FFF) said on Thursday.

The 54-year-old Frenchman resigned as coach of the Saudi Arabia men's team this week after leading them to last year's World Cup in Qatar where they pulled off a shock group-stage win over eventual champions Argentina.

BERLIN - New Bayern Munich coach Thomas Tuchel needs a successful start after joining the German champions last week with his former team, Bundesliga leaders Borussia Dortmund, in town for Der Klassiker on Saturday.

With the match being broadcast to 200 territories globally, all eyes will be on the former Paris St Germain and Chelsea coach who took over after Julian Nagelsmann's shock sacking days after Bayern's 2-1 loss at Bayer Leverkusen on March 19.

In an unexpected twist, Julie Ertz was named on the 26-player roster for the United States women’s national team’s pair of friendly games vs. Ireland in early April. If Ertz appears in either game, it will be her first appearance for club or country since the bronze medal match in the Tokyo Olympics on Aug. 5, 2021.

Ertz has been away from the game for over a year and a half due to injuries and the birth of her child, Madden, in August 2022.

Former United States men’s national team manager Jürgen Klinsmann coached his first game for South Korea on Friday as the Taeguk Warriors drew Colombia 2-2.

Klinsmann was named the new manager of South Korea on Feb. 27. Friday, he faced his first test which was a friendly match against Colombia in front of the home crowd in Ulsan, South Korea.

MUNICH — Bayern Munich parted ways with coach Julian Nagelsmann on Friday and appointed former Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel as his successor, with the German champions in second place in the Bundesliga.

Nagelsmann, 35, had taken over in 2021 and led the Bavarians to their 10th straight German league crown but failed to win any other silverware last season.

Bayern crashed out in the German Cup second round after a demolition by Borussia Moenchengladbach and were then eliminated from the Champions League in a quarter-final defeat to Spanish underdogs Villarreal last term.