Thursday May 7, 2026 Ousmane Dembélé struck inside three minutes and Paris Saint-Germain rode that lightning-fast start to a 1-1 draw with Bayern Munich on Wednesday, enough to send the defending champions back to the Champions League final. The move began in midfield with Khvicha Kvaratskhelia combining neatly with Fabián Ruiz before bursting into space. Kvaratskhelia then picked out the unmarked Dembélé, who swept the ball beneath the crossbar in the third minute of the second-leg semifinal. By the time Harry Kane…

By JEROME PUGMIREWednesday April 29, 2026 Paris Saint-Germain survived a Champions League semifinal unlike any other on Tuesday, racing to a three-goal cushion before hanging on for a breathtaking 5-4 victory over Bayern Munich in the highest-scoring semifinal in the competition’s history. And the tie is far from over, with the second leg still to come next week. PSG surged to a 5-2 lead early in the second half after Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Ousmane Dembélé each struck twice at Parc des Princes. “We deserved to win, we…

Champions League: Bayern and Atletico seize control as Liverpool and Barcelona face uphill second legs Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid took command of their Champions League round-of-16 ties with emphatic first-leg wins Tuesday, while Liverpool and Barcelona were left with narrow margins and nagging regrets heading into decisive returns next week. On a high-scoring night across Europe, Bayern thrashed Atalanta 6-1 in Bergamo despite starting without top scorer Harry Kane. Atletico punished Tottenham’s goalkeeping gamble to…

Munich — European leaders used the Munich Security Conference to step up calls for greater defense autonomy while seeking to stabilize transatlantic ties as U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio prepared to address the gathering, aiming to reassure allies after months of strain under President Donald Trump. Leaders pledged to shoulder more of NATO’s shared burden, casting the push as essential to counter a hostile Russia and to keep the alliance credible. NATO chief Mark Rutte said “a strong Europe in a strong NATO means that…

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio departed Thursday for the Munich Security Conference, vowing to press European allies on defense burden-sharing while striking a less confrontational tone than Washington deployed a year ago. Rubio will lead the U.S. delegation to the annual security and defense forum, which runs through Sunday in the Bavarian capital. The trip comes amid a delicate moment in transatlantic relations following a bruising year of rhetoric from Washington and a high-profile dispute over Greenland that rattled…