Find the biggest stories from across the soccer world by visiting our Top Soccer News section and subscribing to push notifications. Emiliano Martinez will miss the first leg of Aston Villa's UEFA Europa Conference League semifinal against Olympiacos due to suspension. The Argentine goalkeeper picked up two yellow cards during Villa's quarterfinal triumph over Lille on Thursday, with the second coming in the dramatic penalty shootout. Yellow cards don't carry over to penalties, so Martinez was allowed to finish the game. But Martinez will be forced to watch from the stands when Olympiacos visi ..read more

Find the biggest stories from across the soccer world by visiting our Top Soccer News section and subscribing to push notifications. Italy's Serie A will get an extra place in next season's revamped Champions League. With next season's tournament featuring an expanded field of 36 teams, the two leagues with the best overall performance across all European competitions this campaign will be rewarded with an additional berth each. Serie A has built an insurmountable coefficient advantage over the other leagues in contention, as detailed by Dale Johnson of ESPN, thus sealing one of the extra plac ..read more

Find the biggest stories from across the soccer world by visiting our Top Soccer News section and subscribing to push notifications. The teams battling for Europa League and Conference League glory were cut down to eight for each competition during a thrilling Thursday of action, and we've now got some tantalizing quarterfinal matches to look forward to following Friday's draws. Europa League Liverpool and Bayer Leverkusen could potentially meet in the Europa League final after being kept apart in the quarterfinals and semifinals. Atalanta are Liverpool's last-eight opponents, while West Ham U ..read more

Find the biggest stories from across the soccer world by visiting our Top Soccer News section and subscribing to push notifications. Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said Wednesday that the return of Michael Edwards to the club as Fenway Sports Group's chief executive of football will have no bearing on his decision to leave at the end of the season. The German has spoken to Edwards, with whom he had a successful relationship as the club's sporting director until he left in 2022, but there will be no dramatic U-turn. "We had that conversation, (but) that is not a subject to talk about," Klopp to ..read more

Find the biggest stories from across the soccer world by visiting our Top Soccer News section and subscribing to push notifications. A late tap-in from Michael Gregoritsch gave Freiburg a 1-0 victory against West Ham in the first leg of their Europa League last 16 tie on Thursday. After a testy opening, Conference League holders West Ham almost took the lead on the 65-minute mark, but Freiburg goalkeeper Noah Atubolu denied Jarrod Bowen with a superb diving save. Gregoritsch scored just 11 minutes after coming on, tapping in from a metre out, his fifth goal in seven Europa League games. "We pl ..read more

Find the biggest stories from across the soccer world by visiting our Top Soccer News section and subscribing to push notifications. Mohamed Salah played for more than 16 minutes on his return from injury Thursday, nearly adding gloss to Liverpool's impressive 5-1 victory over Sparta Prague with a goal that was later disallowed for offside. He should now have a decent shot of playing in Sunday's Premier League title clash against Manchester City, who are one point behind Liverpool in second. Salah replaced Luis Diaz in the 74th minute with Liverpool already holding a sizeable advantage in the ..read more

Find the biggest stories from across the soccer world by visiting our Top Soccer News section and subscribing to push notifications. PARIS (AP) — A change of coach has given Marseille's demanding fans the attacking soccer they so crave. Since Jean-Louis Gasset took charge, the side scored 12 times in three games going into the home game against Villarreal in the Europa League late Thursday. With 10 games remaining in the French league, there is even room for ambition. Seventh-placed Marseille has closed the gap on third-placed Monaco to six points and has an outside shot at qualifying for the ..read more

Find the biggest stories from across the soccer world by visiting our Top Soccer News section and subscribing to push notifications. LISBON, Portugal (AP) — Gianluca Scamacca scored for Atalanta in a 1-1 draw at Sporting Lisbon in the first leg of the Europa League round of 16 on Wednesday. Paulinho put the hosts ahead after collecting a through ball early the first half before Scamacca canceled it out from the edge of the area in the 39th minute. The return leg will be played in Italy on March 14. The teams had also met in the group stage with Atalanta winning 2-1 in Lisbon and drawing 1-1 at ..read more

Find the biggest stories from across the soccer world by visiting our Top Soccer News section and subscribing to push notifications. The Champions League will have a distinctly different look next season after UEFA announced sweeping changes to its marquee club competition starting in 2024-25. Following more than 20 years under the current format, UEFA finally revealed plans for its highly anticipated revamped Champions League, apparently in response to the brief threat posed by the European Super League last year. What's different about the new format? The removal of the group stage format is ..read more

Find the biggest stories from across the soccer world by visiting our Top Soccer News section and subscribing to push notifications. AC Milan overcame a spirited Rennes 5-3 on aggregate despite a 3-2 loss in Thursday's play-off second leg to reach the Europa League last 16, where they will be joined by fellow former European champions Benfica and Marseille. Benjamin Bourigeaud scored a hat-trick for Rennes, including a pair of penalties, but goals from Luka Jovic and Rafael Leao ensured Milan were never really in danger of blowing a 3-0 lead from the first leg. Benfica also saw off French oppo ..read more