After more than a decade of being dominated by Mexican teams, MLS clubs will be looking to lift the league’s first title

Major League Soccer’s growth has been clear to see over the course of the past decade, with rapid expansion and the continued improvement of the talent pool. But one measuring stick used to gauge the league’s quality has continued to prove unflattering.

The Concacaf Champions League is the long-standing obstacle standing in the way of MLS attaining the international respect it craves. For the past two decades, MLS has been dominated by Liga MX in Concacaf club competitions, first in the old Concacaf Champions Cup, and over the past decade in the CCL. No MLS team has lifted Concacaf hardware in 19 years, and only three MLS teams have even reached the final in the decade since Concacaf changed to a Champions League format.

MLS has managed to close the gap with Liga MX, delivering stronger challenges to the Mexican teams, but winning the tournament has eluded MLS teams, most recently in 2018 when Toronto FC came within a penalty shootout of winning the title.

This year, MLS is sending a strong contingent of contenders to try and secure that first CCL trophy, led by reigning MLS Cup champions Atlanta United and Supporters’ Shield winners New York Red Bulls. The path to that first title will be difficult for both Eastern Conference powers though, with Atlanta United likely to face Liga MX leaders Monterrey in the quarterfinals and the Red Bulls positioned to take on Santos Laguna if they can dispose of Dominican side Atletico Pantoja.

Making those challenges even more difficult for the MLS contingent is the reality that Mexican teams are seven matches into their new season while MLS teams are still in preseason, a handicap that MLS teams have always had to deal with in the CCL knockout rounds.

“I can see why MLS teams have had difficulty in this tournament, and that’s without even having kicked a ball yet,” Atlanta United captain Michael Parkhurst told Goal. “It’s a quick turnaround from MLS Cup. It’s a balance between getting fit versus not wanting to be too sore, too overworked like you usually are in preseason because the games come up very quick.

“Basically if you get any type of injury in preseason you’re going to miss games. Knowing our fitness needs to be tip top before the season even starts is a challenge as well, but we understand there’s pressure on us as MLS Cup champions to go out there and represent the league well.”

As difficult as the challenge will be for all five MLS teams competing in the CCL round of 16, which kicks off on Tuesday, there is a sense that the gap between MLS teams and Mexican teams has been closing. The Red Bulls firmly believe that, having eliminated Club Tijuana in last year’s quarterfinals before losing to eventual champions Chivas Guadalajara in a tightly contested semifinal series.

“The biggest takeaway from last year is that we have the confidence to compete with anybody,” Red Bulls midfielder Sean Davis told Goal. “We have some really important experiences under our belt. You can talk about the Tijuana series, and the Chivas series, where we more than held our own. We are confident about who we are as a team, and that we can compete with the top Mexican teams.”

“It’s a tournament that we take seriously, but as far as we got last year and as close as we were to making it to the finals, I think it makes it that much more special and real that we want to duplicate that,” Red Bulls defender Aaron Long told Goal. “I think that experience is going to help us in a big way.”

Sporting Kansas City is the lone MLS team set to face a Mexican opponent in the round of 16, and will be taking on struggling Toluca, which is winless in five straight matches. A win over Toluca could set up Sporting KC with a quarterfinal matchup against Toronto FC, a team that came close to winning CCL a year ago, but comes into this year’s competition as an underdog after enduring a nightmare 2018 MLS campaign and then losing star performer Sebastian Giovinco.

The Houston Dynamo are the biggest underdog of the five MLS teams in the competition, having qualified for the tournament by virtue of their U.S. Open Cup championship. The Dynamo failed to make the MLS playoffs in 2018, but do boast enough firepower to be favored over Guatemalan side C.D. Guastatoya in the round of 16. A potential quarterfinal against Mexican powerhouse Tigres would be another challenge altogether.

Like the Dynamo, the Red Bulls and TFC both face unfancied opponents in the round of 16. The Red Bulls meet Dominican side Atlético Pantoja while TFC takes on Panamanian side Independiente. Atlanta United has a tricky test against reigning Costa Rican champions Herediano, a club that should present a good challenge but one that also saw several top players leave after the team won the Costa Rican league in December.

If MLS is going to break the Liga MX stranglehold on the Concacaf Champions League, it will be up to Atlanta United or the Red Bulls, and potentially dark horse pick Sporting KC, to not only make a deep run, but also handle the pressure of a final that will have the hopes of an entire league riding on it.

“When we were watching Champions League in previous years, last year included, you’re rooting for the other MLS teams to do well,” Parkhurst said. “You want somebody to win that championship and go represent the league. Hopefully we’ve got the opportunity to make a good run and be that team this year.”

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The England international full-back has entered the final 18 months of his Reds contract and is currently taking in a loan spell at Bournemouth

Nathaniel Clyne is reluctant to speculate on his Liverpool future, with the defender currently on loan at Bournemouth having entered the final 18 months of his contract at Anfield.

The England international was acquired by the Reds from Southampton in the summer of 2015.

He has made more than 100 appearances for the club, but has slipped down the pecking order after suffering some untimely injuries.

With the likes of Trent Alexander-Arnold and Joe Gomez now ahead of him on Merseyside, Clyne took the decision to link up with a Premier League rival in January.

He is enjoying his time with Bournemouth and is unsure as to whether fresh terms will be presented to him by Liverpool when his short-term stay with the Cherries comes to a close.

“I haven’t really spoken [to Jurgen Klopp] or thought about what’s going to happen at the end of the season,” Clyne told Sky Sports.

“I’m just concentrating on playing football right now and staying match fit, and improving. I am starting to get my rhythm back and that comes with playing matches – and it’s part of the reason I came here.”

While Clyne’s focus now lies away from Merseyside, he is keeping a close eye on the Premier League title race being run by his parent club and believes the crown remains Liverpool’s to lose.

He added, with the Reds having edged a point clear of defending champions Manchester City: “You can see right now in the dressing room they will just be enjoying the opportunity they have.

“They’re top of the league – it’s on them really. All they need to do is do their best in their games and that will lead them over the line.”

Next up for Liverpool is a home date with Watford on Wednesday, but Clyne’s attention will be focused elsewhere as Bournemouth prepare to take on top-four hopefuls Arsenal at Emirates Stadium.

“We’ve done really well against Arsenal and hopefully we can do the same again – but it’s not going to be easy going to the Emirates against a tough Arsenal side,” said the 27-year-old full-back.

“Everyone is going to have to be at the top of their game to get something. With any big team you have to be at 100 per cent. I always relish playing against the big teams and putting on big performances. It shows your character.”

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The Welshman has failed to learn Spanish in almost six years and is increasingly isolated within the Merengue dressing room

During his brief spell with Real Sociedad, former Liverpool and Republic of Ireland sharpshooter John Aldridge assured that he needed to learn just three words in Spanish in order to get by on the pitch. Once he had mastered the ubiquitous phrase hijo de puta (son of a bitch), Aldridge joked, he felt more than comfortable communicating with team-mates, referees and opponents alike.

Fast forward three decades and little seems to have changed for Brits abroad. The general consensus is that, after almost six years in Madrid, Gareth Bale still has severe difficulties in gelling with his multi-national dressing room companions.

Those issues, moreover, combined with a noticeable drop in performances on the pitch itself, now threaten to spell the end of the Welsh wizard’s time at the Bernabeu as he becomes ever more isolated.

According to those closest to Bale he rarely integrates with the rest of the squad away from games or training, preferring more solitary pursuits. “We call him The Golfer,” goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois revealed in a recent interview with HLN .

“I would say he has so much talent, but that it is such a shame that so often that talent is blocked from shining. I live like somebody who is born and bred in Madrid. I eat late, I go bed late… it is their way of life.

“The other night we had a dinner with the entire squad. But Bale and (Toni) Kroos did not turn up. They reckoned the dinner was too late at night.

“We had arranged to be in the restaurant at 9.30pm and we started out the meal around 10.15pm and by midnight we were having coffee. We go to bed at around 1am. We have to train every morning at 11am. I think that is a perfect time.

“But Bale had told us ‘I am not coming to join you, guys. I go to bed at 11’.”

Marcelo too has let slip his frustration at trying to communicate with Bale, who has taken Kiko Casilla’s place at his side in the dressing room. “[Kiko] sat next to me and we used to talk all day, now I have nobody to talk to,” he confided to Esporte Interativo .

“Bale is now on that side but we have to speak in English, we communicate via gestures and with three words, hi, hello and goodbye.” A Madrid insider was even more scathing of the team’s shrinking violet after netting against Atletico: “He has less blood (passion) than an eel”.

On the pitch, meanwhile, Bale has lost his privileged position as an undisputed member of the Madrid starting line-up. The Welshman has not completed 90 minutes for his team since December’s Club World Cup final win over Al-Ain and has started just twice in their last seven outings, as Santiago Solari continues to place his faith in the raw, electric talents of Vinicius Junior.

Although he scored a hugely controversial penalty off the bench on Sunday to win the three points at Levante, reports in Spain suggest that Bale used up his final credit in an ineffective cameo in the shock home defeat to Girona on February 17.

It is the much-maligned Karim Benzema who has stepped up to score the goals once netted in such startling quantities by Cristiano Ronaldo, with Bale’s 20 Liga appearances this term yielding a disappointing seven strikes.

Benzema is the old head Madrid want around the Bernabeu to continue supporting youngsters like Vinicius and Marco Asensio. Even at 18 the former Flamengo man is showing an easygoing, extroverted personality that has made him an instant hit with the dressing room, even appearing in Ronaldo’s place alongside compatriots Casemiro and Marcelo in the travel photo the Blancos take as a matter of superstition prior to Champions League away games.

Bale has become expendable, meanwhile, and could well be used as a make-weight this summer to facilitate the transfer of Eden Hazard, Christian Eriksen or another of Madrid’s expensive targets. Despite his many achievements, it is likely that few at the Bernabeu would mourn his departure with any great vehemence.

British players over the years have proved themselves extremely awkward travellers. With a few notable exceptions – the likes of David Platt and Gary Lineker in a different generation, and young bucks such as Jadon Sancho in the current day – they have found it difficult to adapt to foreign climes, holding a sense of being out of place that often has adverse consequences on the field.

Bale has doubtlessly overcome those obstacles to become one of the cornerstones of Madrid’s last four Champions League victories, a stunning feat by any measure.

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But he has never been able to shed that feeling of failing to really belong to his adopted home, and truly integrating into an unfamiliar culture. And his current mood was clear to see on Sunday when he refused to celebrate his goal with Lucas Vazquez who had come over to embrace his team-mate.

With no Spanish to speak of, no friends and fewer and fewer minutes on the pitch, Bale’s reasons to stay at Madrid beyond the current season are fast fading away.

The Blues saw their goalkeeper refuse to go off during the Carabao Cup final, with a former boss refusing to buy the excuses offered up afterwards

Kepa Arrizabalaga has undermined manager Maurizio Sarri by refusing to be substituted in the Carabao Cup final, says Ruud Gullit, with talk of a misunderstanding merely “a political answer” to a problematic situation.

Chaotic scenes at Wembley Stadium saw the Blues goalkeeper summoned from the field after requiring treatment in extra-time.

Willy Caballero was readied to come on a matter of minutes before a goalless clash with his former club, Manchester City, headed into a penalty shootout.

Kepa, though, ignored the calls of those on the touchline and stubbornly stayed on the field, before going on to concede four times from the spot as City collected the first major silverware of the season.

The Spaniard’s actions sparked bemusement among many, while there have been calls for the world’s most expensive goalkeeper to be sacked or dropped indefinitely over his act of defiance.

Both Kepa and Sarri attempted to play the spat down in the wake of a frustrating afternoon for Chelsea, but former Blues boss Gullit is not buying the excuses offered up in public.

He told BBC Sport: “The captain [Cesar Azpilicueta] should have gone up to him and said ‘go off’.

“This is just a political answer for the newspapers so there is no confusion the next day. Everybody knows what happened. The way he [Sarri] reacted on the touchline says everything.”

Sarri was clearly angered by Kepa’s actions at the time and set off down the tunnel at one stage after seeing his authority undermined.

He did return to the bench but the damage had already been done.

Gullit added: “I think he wanted to take him off because he wanted a goalkeeper who knows the players of Manchester City.

“I think the goalkeeper, because he was injured, feels they wanted to substitute him because of his injury. That’s why he goes ‘no, no I’m fine’.

“In that moment I don’t know if someone came to him and said ‘look, there is a reason for this’. But he refused to go off and I think that undermines the manager and his authority.”

Asked how he would have reacted to such a situation, the former Netherlands international said: “You would go crazy.

“After a while he had to accept the fact that he didn’t want to go off. That was crazy.

“He had to stay there and say you have to come off now.”

Chelsea are due back in action on Wednesday when they play host to London rivals Tottenham and it remains to be seen whether Kepa will once again be selected to operate between the sticks.

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The midfielder has struggled for game time under the current boss and the Real Madrid coach had now explained why he’s been left out

Real Madrid coach Santiago Solari has criticised Isco’s fitness, seemingly revealing why the midfielder has been out of favour this season as he was omitted from the squad once again.

Isco, 26, has made just five La Liga starts this campaign, and none since Solari took charge in late October.

The Spain international reportedly opted not to travel with Madrid on the bus for the second leg of their Champions League last-16 loss to Ajax on Tuesday after being dropped from the matchday squad.

While Solari was unwilling to be drawn into that matter, the Argentinian hinted that the midfielder was struggling to maintain his appropriate fitness levels as his exile continued this week when he was left out of the squad for Sunday’s trip to Real Valladolid on Sunday.

“Disciplinary issues are handled internally,” the coach told a news conference. 

“To play, you have to be in the right physical shape first and then you have to maintain it.”

Solari’s future with the club remains very much in doubt, with Goal understanding that  Jose Mourinho is being lined up to replace the Argentine in an interim role after a wretched 11-day period that some critics have dubbed the worst in Madrid’s history .

In that span the club lost twice to Barcelona at the Bernabeu, once in the Copa del Rey and once in La Liga, before taking a 4-1 loss to Ajax that saw the club knocked out of the Champions League.  

And Isco is not the only player to have drawn the ire of the current manager, who claimed that he had directly spoken to the players he didn’t think had fallen in line . 

Other star names like Gareth Bale and Marcelo have had their struggles, and a bust-up with Florentino Perez has left the future of club captain Serigio Ramos in some doubt as well . 

Madrid are third in La Liga, 15 points behind rivals and leaders Barcelona heading into Sunday’s match and have just 12 matches remaining to try and close the gap on the runaway league leaders. 

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The defender is linked with a move from the club, but the former Dutch winger wants him to stay a little longer

Ajax great Johnny Rep believes star centre-back Matthijs de Ligt should stay with the Eredivisie giants for another year amid links with a move.

De Ligt, 19, is widely regarded as one of the best young defenders in Europe and is already the Ajax captain.

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The Netherlands international, who has amassed 13 caps with the senior team, is linked with a switch to several of the world’s biggest clubs, including the likes of Barcelona, Juventus, Manchester City and Manchester United.

But Rep, who helped Ajax to two Eredivisie titles and a pair of European Cups in the early 1970s, hopes De Ligt stays in Amsterdam a little longer.

“It would be good for him to stay another year at Ajax,” he told AS.

“He is 19 years old, he is the captain. He should not be in a hurry.”

Rep came up through the Ajax academy in the 1970s, eventually moving to Valencia after winning seven total trophies with the club.

He retired in 1987 and remains the most prolific Dutch player in World Cup history having scored seven goals across two tournaments.

Ajax visit Real Madrid on Tuesday looking to overturn a 2-1 deficit in the Champions League last-16 tie.

Rep believes Erik ten Hag’s men still have a chance against Madrid, who have lost three of their past four games.

“I haven’t seen from the beginning that it was certain Madrid would get through this tie,” he said.

“I’ve been watching Madrid this season with many problems. Ajax still has a chance.”

Ajax currently sit five points behind PSV Eindhoven in the league, but hold a game in hand on their title rivals.

After the Real Madrid tie, Ajax will face Fortuna Sittard in their return to Eredivisie play.

The Netherlands international’s ability to read the game puts him in a class of his own, says the retired striker

Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk is the best centre-back in the world, according to Stan Collymore, and has been compared to Rio Ferdinand and Sergio Ramos by the former Reds striker.

Van Dijk has had a significant influence at the back for Liverpool this term and has helped turn the Reds into the best defensive side in the Premier League.

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Jurgen Klopp’s men have conceded just 15 league goals this term and kept a clean sheet against Bayern Munich in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie, although some claimed the Bavarians sat back in that game.

“Van Dijk reads the game better than any other defender in the Premier League and is a bit old-school in that respect,” Collymore wrote in the Mirror.

“I’d put him in the Rio Ferdinand bracket when it comes to his reading of situations — he sees the danger, acknowledges the danger and has the physicality and athleticism to be able to deal with it.

“Some players can read the game but don’t have the pace and some have the pace but not the instinct. He has the lot and on top of that he exudes a calmness that rubs off on the rest of his side’s back four.

“I see in Van Dijk someone who is unflustered and will go on, either with Liverpool or another club, to win many, many titles.

“And by the time he hangs up his boots, we could be talking about him in the same venerable tones as Sergio Ramos if he gets the chance to win as many titles either at Liverpool or elsewhere.”

The Dutch international became the world’s most expensive defender when Liverpool paid £75 million to sign him from Southampton in January 2018, but Collymore thinks that now looks a bargain price.

“Van Dijk has to be worth at least £175m of anybody’s money and, while it’s easy to throw around statements such as ‘best in the world’, I really believe he is,” the former striker added.

The centre-back could still lift the Premier League and the Champions League this season with Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson having said the Reds are targetting both titles.

They need either a win or a scoring draw when they travel to Bavaria next week if they are to make it through to the quarter-finals of Europe’s elite club competition. 

Former Spurs star Clive Allen believes a Wales international forward is being “unfairly treated” in Spain and should be given the support he deserves

Tottenham have been urged to make a “massive statement” by bringing Gareth Bale back to the club, with Clive Allen saddened to see a former favourite being “unfairly treated” at Real Madrid.

Speculation regarding the Wales international’s future has resurfaced over recent weeks.

Bale has faced criticism from former Blancos stars in Spain, while his apparent reluctance to integrate fully with those at the Santiago Bernabeu has been questioned by Marcelo and Thibaut Courtois.

A disgruntled fan base, amid a testing season for Madrid, has also made a scapegoat of the 29-year-old after growing tired of his form and fitness issues.

Bale’s agent has spoken out in defence of his client, slamming a supposed lack of respect and branding those involved “a disgrace”.

Jonathan Barnett has also sought to play down the mounting transfer talk, with Manchester United and Chelsea being credited with interest, but Allen believes a homecoming could be the best option for a man still given the appreciation he deserves in north London.

The former Spurs striker and coach told talkSPORT of the links to Bale: “I would love to see that happen.

“Gareth Bale coming back to Spurs, with the new stadium and the way the club is moving forward, I think that would be a massive statement.

“Obviously I was there when he arrived and I worked with him for a number of years.

“I saw him become an incredible footballer, he matured as a person and he has gone to extraordinary heights and achievements.

“We don’t appreciate him enough. What he has produced at Real Madrid has been nothing short of exceptional. It’s absolutely incredible what he’s done there.

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“I think Gareth has been very unfairly treated at Real Madrid. It’s just incredible they feel that way about him.”

Bale has spent almost six years in Spain, during which time has won the Liga title and four Champions League crowns.

He has also taken in three Club World Cup triumphs and passed the 100-goal mark for Madrid.

Expectation has always been high around him, though, following a record-breaking transfer in 2013 and he is not considered to have stepped out of the shadow of Cristiano Ronaldo following the Portuguese’s switch to Juventus last summer.

The Reds will be looking to keep pace with Premier League leaders Manchester City as they welcome Sean Dyche’s Clarets this weekend

Knocked off top, but have Liverpool been knocked out of the title race?

We will find out this week, as the Reds resume their Premier League campaign at home to Burnley.

A run of four draws in six league games has given the impetus to Manchester City, but Jurgen Klopp’s side know that with nine games remaining, there will be plenty more twists and turns to come between now and May.

Liverpool were 3-1 winners when visiting Burnley back in December, coming from behind to grab all three points at Turf Moor.

Here, Goal takes a look at everything you need to know ahead of Sunday’s meeting…

Liverpool’s injury worries appeared to be easing, with Roberto Firmino shaking off an ankle problem to feature at Everton.

But James Milner, Dejan Lovren and Alberto Moreno all missed training at Melwood this week, with Lovren still no closer to a return after two months out with a hamstring issue.

Joe Gomez, injured in the reverse fixture, should be back later this month.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain featured for the Reds’ under-23 side at Derby County on Friday and is nearing a comeback, while young striker Rhian Brewster is also back in full training after 14 months out with a knee injury.

Liverpool do not have any suspended players for this game.

We can expect at least one change from last weekend’s draw at Everton, with Firmino almost certain to come in for Divock Origi up front.

After that, the big question surrounds Klopp’s midfield. Will he return to the 4-2-3-1 formation he has used in the past, with Naby Keita (left) or Xherdan Shaqiri (right) brought in? Both were unused at Goodison.

Keita could also be used as a third midfielder in a 4-3-3 formation, with either Gini Wijnaldum or Jordan Henderson missing out. That, for now, appears likeliest.

Peter Crouch could face his former club, though he is likely to be used from the bench with Ashley Barnes and Chris Wood both in good form of late.

The game will kick off at 12 noon GMT, and will be screened live on BT Sport 1.

In the United States, the game can be watched live on television on NBC Sports, kick-off 7am ET. 

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After ugly scenes after the final whistle in the play-off first leg encounter between the teams, NEUFC are seeking action against Bengaluru officials

NorthEast United FC have lodged an official complaint with the match commissioner after distasteful incidents after the conclusion of the first leg of their Indian Super League play-off tie against Bengaluru FC.

The Highlanders had triumphed 2-1 after a dramatic injury-time penalty, awarded after Harmanjot Khabra had wrestled Juan Cruz Mascia down in the penalty box, was converted by the Uruguayan forward.

Following the final whistle that soon blew, there were ugly scenes with Bengaluru FC players and technical staff seemingly involved in a fracas which also featured NorthEast United assistant coach Shaun Onteng and winger Nikhil Kadam.

Though the situation was diffused soon, the Highlanders have gone on to register an official complaint against Bengaluru FC assistant coach Gerard Zaragoza and Spanish midfielder Dimas Delgado.

The Highlanders have accused Zaragoza and Dimas of physically assaulting Onteng and Kadam during the altercation.

More seriously, NorthEast United have also levelled charges against the aforementioned Bengaluru FC duo of abusing Kadam and Onteng verbally. They have also said that discriminatory language against Nikhil Kadam, highlighting his Indian nationality, was also used.

The League Secretary of the ISL and match commissioner now have a decision to make and Goal has come to know that the latter has already requested video footage of the incident from the TV broadcasters.

Should the Bengaluru FC duo be meted out any punishment, it could potentially endanger Dimas’ participation in the return leg in Bengaluru. With the Blues trailing the tie 2-1, coach Carles Cuadrat will be a concerned man.

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