MLS stars beat Liga MX on penalty kicks
New England goalkeeper Matt Turner made two penalty-kick saves and FC Dallas’ Ricardo Pepi converted the final chance to lift the MLS team past a team of Liga MX stars in the MLS All-Star Game on Wednesday night in Los Angeles.
The MLS team won the shootout 3-2 after finishing regulation tied 1-1.
Liga MX MVP Jonathan Rodriguez scored in the 20th minute of regular time, and Jesus Murillo evened it on a header off a cross from Los Angeles FC teammate Eduard Atuesta early in the second half.
The penalty shootout was a thriller: Turner won the game’s MVP award by stopping shots by Rogelio Funes Mori and Salvador Reyes, and Pepi — an 18-year-old Mexican American prodigy from Texas — finally ended it on MLS’ fifth attempt.
The first-ever matchup of these leagues’ top players in MLS’ midseason showcase was the latest step in the increasingly close ties between the U.S./Canadian league and Mexico’s top division. The
leagues already hold two team cup competitions with hopes for even more interleague play, and both leagues agree a full merger is a real possibility in the coming years.
Newcomer to Champions League: There will be a new Sheriff in the Champions League draw Thursday, giving Moldova its first entry in the group stage alongside rebel clubs who tried to launch their own elite breakaway.
Sheriff advanced easily with a 0-0 draw at Dinamo Zagreb on Wednesday after winning 3-0 in the home leg of their playoff last week.
The low-ranked club from Tiraspol in the breakaway region of Transnistria had to get through all four qualifying rounds to reach the groups.
The draw Thursday includes 10 of the 12 clubs whose owners tried to wreck the Champions League by launching their own European Super League in April.
Wealthy Salzburg returned to the group stage with a 4-2 aggregate score against Brondby, adding a 2-1 win in Denmark to victory by the same score in Austria last week.
Super League rebels: Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus will play in this Champions League while still fighting tournament organizer UEFA in court for the right to organize a rival competition.
The European Court of Justice in Luxembourg is considering the rebels’ case after they won a decision from a local judge in Madrid to stall UEFA from disciplining them.
Nine more clubs — including seven in Thursday’s draw — quickly renounced their Super League membership after agreeing to UEFA’s settlement terms, including paying fines and forfeiting some of next season’s prize money.
Prize money: The Champions League’s prize money keeps going up despite the pandemic, which is good news for the many clubs whose finances have been hit hard over the last year.
The 32 clubs will share just more than $2.35 billion in prize money from UEFA, compared with $2.3 billion last season.