Soccer Monday: Barca rains on Real's parade, pro-rel debate and Trin for the win
Kick the week off with all the news from this past weekend
Good morning and happy Monday!
This is the time of year where everyone is focused on the coming club season in Europe. While that’s true this summer, it’s also a fact that there’s plenty of really good soccer that matters being played right now.
I’m specifically talking about the Summer Olympics and the U.S. women’s team. In fact, the USWNT — after last year’s World Cup debacle — have a chance at winning a gold medal in Paris.
Whether they will or not remains to be seen. In the meantime, enjoy the Olympics — all the sports and not just soccer — since four of Europe’s top give leagues are just two weeks away from starting up again.
Here are the biggest stories from this past weekend:
Barcelona wins preseason edition of El Clasico
Pau Victor scored twice as Barcelona defeated rivals and defending European and Spanish champions Real Madrid in a friendly on Saturday night at MetLife Stadium in suburban New York.
The game was paused after just 12 minutes because of a heavy rain. Following a delay of more than an hour, Barcelona took the lead just before halftime when 22-year-old striker Victor headed in a ball off a Robert Lewandowski pass.
Real Madrid — minus England midfielder Jude Bellingham and France striker Kylian Mbappe — struggled to draw level. Victor scored a second in the 54th minute to put Barcelona up 2-0.
Real pulled within one eight minutes from time with Nico Paz.
Nonetheless, the defeat was Real’s second of their U.S. tour after losing 1-0 to AC Milan last week.
“We’re working on our preparations and the players are gradually coming back to the team,” said Real manager Carlo Ancelotti. “The result is not so important.”
Argentina could do away with promotion-relegation
Argentina’s FA is studying a proposal to introduce a 30-team first division starting next season, part of a plan aimed at reshaping the country’s Primera Division.
This shift could also include doing away with the beloved (and hated) soccer tradition known as promotion and relegation.
Olé, a sports daily, reported that the AFA is considering expanding the league — which includes storied clubs such as Boca Juniors and River Plate — to the existing 28 teams in the top flight starting next year.
One of the most notable aspects of this proposal, however, would be the suspension of relegation. The current season was supposed to see two teams relegated — one determined by the points average over multiple seasons and the other by their standing in the annual table.
However, if the new plan is approved, no teams would face relegation next year, a move akin to what we currently see in MLS.
USWNT advances to semifinals at the Paris Olympics
Trinity Rodman scored in extra time and the USWNT advanced to the semifinals at the Paris Olympics with a 1-0 victory on Saturday against Japan.
The United States will face Germany in Lyon on Tuesday. The 2016 Olympics champion Germany advanced on penalties after a scoreless draw with Canada in Marseille.
The U.S., who beat Germany 4-1 in the group stage, went into the knockout stage undefeated after outscoring opponents 9-2 under new coach Emma Hayes.
Brazil face Spain in the other semifinal, also scheduled for Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the U.S. men lost 4-0 to Morocco on Friday in their quarterfinal battle. Soufiane Rahimi, Ilias Akhomach, Achraf Hakimi and Mehdi Maouhoub scored for the North Africans, ending any U.S. hope of a medal.
In other news: Fulham signed midfielder Emile Smith Rowe from Arsenal on a five-year contract with the option of a 12-month extension. The deal for the 24-year-old England international was worth a club-record $43.6 million. … Greece has hired veteran manager Ivan Jovanovic as the new coach of its men’s team, which has failed to qualify for major tournaments for a decade. The 62-year-old Serb replaces Uruguayan coach Gus Poyet, who narrowly failed to take Greece to the European Championship this year, losing to Georgia on penalties in the qualifier playoffs. … In another notable national team managerial hire, Jamaica inked a two-year deal with Steve McClaren to be head coach of the men’s national team. McClaren leaves his role as first-team coach at Manchester United, having returned to the Premier League club in 2022 as part of manager Erik ten Hag’s backroom team after previously working with the Dutchman at FC Twente.