Christian Pulisic returns, Weston McKennie snubbed from USMNT squad; Champions League playoffs conclude

Hello! UEFA Champions League qualifying matches will be closed on Wednesday prior to Thursday’s draw, but even while the club competition is central, the national team of the American gentlemen is already preparing for the international break of September. I am Pardeep Cattry with the newest.

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Always us/eastern

Wednesday 27 August
🇪🇺 UCL -qualification: Qarabag vs. Ferencvaros 12:45 pm ➡️ Paramount+
🇪🇺 UCL -qualification: Benfica vs. Fenerbahce, 3 p.m. ➡️ Paramount+
🇪🇺 UCL -qualification: Copenhagen versus Basel, 3 pm ➡️ Paramount+
🇪🇺 UCL -qualification: Club Brugge vs. Rangers, 3 pm ➡️ Paramount+
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 EFL Cup: Grimsby Town vs. Man United, 3 p.m. ➡️ Paramount+
🇺🇸 Leagues Cup: Inter Miami vs. Orlando City, 8:30 PM ➡️ MLS Season Pass

Thursday 28 August
🇪🇺 UCL Draw, 12 pm ➡️ Paramount+

⚽ The forward line

🇺🇸 USMNT Player Pool -Expansion project continues

Head coach Mauricio Pochettino of the American men, Mauricio Pochettino, leans on a group less well -known talent and calls a group of inexperienced players for the friendly September against South Korea and Japan, a camp that he describes as “the last chance to bring some new faces” with less than 300 days to go to the Selection.

• Keepers: Roman Celentano (FC Cincinnati), Matt Freese (New York City FC), Jonathan Klinsmann (Cesena)
• Defenders: Max Arfsten (Columbus Crew), Noahkai Banks (FC Augsburg), Tristan Blackmon (Vancouver WhiteCaps), Sergino Dest (PSV Eindhoven), Alex Freeman (Orlando City), Nathan Harriel (Philadelphia Unions), Crylot stalace,)) (Crystal Palace) (Crystal Palace) (Crystal Palace) (Crystal Palace) (Crystal Palace).
• Midfielders: Tyler Adams (Bournemouth), Sebastian Berhalter (Vancouver Whitecaps), Luca de la Torre (San Diego FC), Diego Luna (Real Salt Lake), Jack McGlynn (Houston Dynamo), Sean Zawadzki (Columbus Crew)
• Forward: Damion Downs (Southampton), Christian Pulisic (AC Milan) Josh Sargent (Norwich City), Tim Weah (Marseille), Alex Zendejas (Club America)

Only seven players in the team have more than 30 caps, while 11 members from this summer’s retter-decorator were able to earn Concacaf Gold Cup and five their first limit next month. The friendly matches of September will see the return of Christian Pulisic A summer of bickering between USMNT players over and present After the player’s decision to unsubscribe from the Gold Cup, a chapter said that Pochettino was “behind us” with months to go to the World Cup on a home floor. Sergino Dest is also ready to play his first match for the USMNT since he recovered an ACL injury he sustained last year, while Josh Sargent is back in the mix after he has been left in a “football decision” of the Gold Cup team. Weston McKennie, meanwhile, heads the list of pillars who have not cut, something that Pochettino described as part of the Spirit of Player Pool extension.

• Pochettino: “All players are important for me. The individual situations are important, and to analyze and take the decisions and to have a plan for them. We have a selection of 65 players that we will judge every week and it is for them to perform and for us to select the best players to make a good balance.

The USMNT will meet next week in New Jersey prior to a friendly against South Korea on 6 September in Sports Illustrated Stadium, followed by a friendly against Japan three days later on the LoWower.com Field of Columbus.

See how the season will unfold

🔗 Midfield link game

🇪🇺 Champions League qualification is coming to an end

The final round of UEFA Champions League qualification will complete on Wednesday, with eight teams that compete for the last four places in the competition on time for Thursday’s competition stretching in Monaco. Here is a look at the first Beenscores for the last incomplete tires on the qualification schedule.

• Ferencvaros 1, Qarabag 3
• Rangers 1, Club Brugge 3
• Fenerbahce 0, Benfica 0
• Basel 1, Copenhagen 1

These eight teams go on the field in Europe on Tuesday after a dramatic day, when three first participants in the Champions League-Bodo/Glimt van Norway, Pafo’s FC from Cyprus and Kazakhstan’s Kairat-All at all, in some cases the regulars of the competition to book their spots. The 5-0 first leg victory of Glimt on Sturm Graz made the way free for a simple 6-2 aggregated victory on Tuesday, while Pafo’s Crvena Zvezda defeated aggregated thanks to an 89th minute of Jaja. Kairat, however, completed the longest and most heavy path to the Champions League by bringing Celtic to penalties after 210 minutes of aimless game over two legs, with goalkeeper Temirlan Anarbekov who made three saves in the shootout. Kairat arrived in the first qualifying round at the beginning of July and is now the second Kazakh team ever made the Champions League after Astana did this in the 2015-16 season.

The Headlining -Law of Wednesday’s action will take place in Lisbon, where Benfica hosts in Istanbul last week after a scoreless draw. Fenerbahce manager Jose Mourinho returns to Benfica, where he held his first management role in a short period almost exactly 25 years ago in a short period, but enters the match like the Underdogs – the Portuguese team is regularly a Champions League, while his side has not played in the competition in almost 20 years. It means that Mourinho’s pre-match reflections come with a touch of usability, even if he is still prepared and able to talk a big game.

• Mourinho: “This is where it all started. I went here with Manchester United. I never lost because my teams were better. My port was much better, Manchester United was better; in this case Benfica is a team with a greater force with a greater force for mine. Good structure, dangerous, my target is not win.”

🔗 Top stories

🇺🇸 Usmnt people in motion: After a busy summer for a handful of USMNT players, you can win the most here if the competition for World Cup roster spots starts.

🔥 Can you feel the heat? Pressure is already on Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim, so much that one EFL League Cup match against Grimsby Town is crucial for them to win.

🇦🇷 A rising star: The next great talent from Argentina is perhaps just Nico Paz. But Why would the Italian club be rejecting $ 70 million in the world for a player, but maybe sell him for $ 10 million?

🔴 Meet Rio Ngumoha: Liverpool has a new young star, and He already makes a lot of noise.

✨ NWSL team of the week: USSWNT’s Alyssa Thompson Leads the best XI of this week.

🔴 Liverpool’s nice imbalance: The attack -oriented rebuilding of Liverpool can make them a defensive liability, but their flair must be encouraged for the dramatic because of entertainment.

💰 The back line

💵 Dear bets

• UEFA Champions League: 2025-26 winner
  💰 The Pick: Liverpool to win the Champions League 2025-26 (+600) -Paris Saint-Germain is perhaps the favorites of the Oddmakers, but Liverpool is not far away and will certainly be a team to keep an eye on this season. Their attack -oriented reconstruction can make them unbalanced, but with the will of Florian Wirtz and Hugo Ekitike, they need what is to overpower most opponents in Europe and to follow in the footsteps of PSG and Barcelona, ​​who made in -depth runs in the Champions League on the back of game.

For more choices, predictions, expert tips and the latest bet news, you don’t miss the homepage of CBSSports.com.

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