Tag: Celtic

Chelsea vs. Celtic: How to watch friendly, live stream

The two European powers meet at Notre Dame Stadium

Chelsea will face Celtic on Saturday afternoon as both sides continue their preseason tours of the United States.

The two sides will meet at one of the most famous venues in the U.S. — Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana, which last hosted a major soccer match in 2019 when Liverpool faced Borussia Dortmund.

Scottish champion Celtic has had a successful tour of the U.S. so far, defeating D.C. United 4-0 and then beating Premier League champion Manchester City 4-3 on Tuesday.

This will be the final game of the tour for Celtic, which kicks off league play on August 4 against Kilmarnock.

[afflinkbutton text=”Watch Chelsea vs. Celtic on ESPN+” link=”https://go.web.plus.espn.com/Y9KaQm”]

Chelsea began a five-game tour of the U.S. on Wednesday with a 2-2 draw against Wrexham in Santa Clara, California.

After the match against Celtic, Enzo Maresca’s side will face Club América, Man City and Real Madrid.

Here is everything you need to know ahead of the game.

Chelsea vs. Celtic (friendly)

  • When: Saturday, July 27
  • Where: Notre Dame Stadium (South Bend, IN)
  • Time: 4 p.m. ET
  • Channel/streaming: ESPN+ (WATCH LIVE)

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Manchester City vs. Celtic: How to watch friendly, TV channel, live stream

The champion of England will face the champion of Scotland in a preseason clash in Chapel Hill

The champion of England will face the champion of Scotland in a preseason clash in Chapel Hill, North Carolina on Tuesday.

Manchester City and Celtic will meet at Kenan Memorial Stadium in the first of four preseason matches in the United States for Pep Guardiola’s side.

City will be aiming for a fifth straight Premier League title this season, and has returned to the U.S. ahead of the new campaign after touring Asia last summer.

[afflinkbutton text=”Watch Man City vs. Celtic on ESPN+” link=”https://go.web.plus.espn.com/Y9KaQm”]

After the game against Celtic, City will face AC Milan in New York, Barcelona in Orlando and Chelsea in Columbus to close out its tour of the United States.

Celtic, meanwhile, has already begun its U.S. tour with a 4-0 win over D.C. United over the weekend. Brendan Rodgers’ side will conclude its three-game tour against Chelsea at Notre Dame Stadium in Indiana on Saturday.

Here’s everything you need to know ahead of the match.

Man City vs. Celtic (club friendly)

  • When: Tuesday, July 23
  • Where: Kenan Memorial Stadium (Chapel Hill, NC)
  • Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
  • Channel/streaming: ESPN2, ESPN+ (WATCH NOW)

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USMNT players in UEFA Champions League 2023-24

11 U.S. players are in the world’s biggest club competition

There was once a time where a U.S. men’s national team player being on a Champions League squad list — even if they might have no shot at playing in any actual games — was a very big deal.

It’s safe to say those days are gone, with no fewer than 11 U.S. players on the books for clubs that qualified for this year’s competition.

Sure, in some cases the player in question is probably a major longshot to even dress on gameday, but between Christian Pulisic’s sublime start to life at AC Milan and a USMNT trio at PSV, USMNT fans are likely going to be watching games on multiple screens just to keep up.

Here is the complete list of U.S. men’s players to make it to this year’s Champions League proper:

Celtic defender Carter-Vickers out two months with hamstring injury

The defender will miss the USMNT’s friendlies against Uzbekistan and Oman next month

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers has said defender Cameron Carter-Vickers will be out eight weeks with a hamstring injury.

Carter-Vickers left at halftime of a league match against Aberdeen on August 13. Following scans, the injury has been revealed to be worse than originally expected.

Speaking to the media on Thursday, Rodgers said that Carter-Vickers, along with fellow center backs Maik Nawrocki (hamstring) and Stephen Welsh (ankle) would all miss around two months.

“It is obviously disappointing for us in terms of Cameron Carter-Vickers, Maik Nawrocki and Stephen Welsh, probably about eight weeks,” Rodgers said.

“Stephen Welsh had an operation just the other day so he has come through that well.

“The other two we were hopeful would come back sooner, but we sought further scans on them and it puts them probably about eight weeks from now.”

With so many injuries in defense, Rodgers said he was hopeful Celtic could bring in reinforcements before the transfer window closes next week.

“I think we have to look at it, there’s no doubt. It’s an area that we are light on,” the manager said.

“When you are losing three players for that length of time, and knowing the number of games we will have and the importance of every game, then it’s definitely something we have to look at.”

Celtic qualified for the Champions League group stage after winning the Scottish Premiership last season. With the group stage set to begin on September 19 and 20, the injured trio will miss the beginning of Champions League play.

Carter-Vickers will also miss the U.S. men’s national team’s friendlies next month, with the USMNT facing Uzbekistan on September 9 and Oman three days later.

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Jesse Marsch reportedly in the mix at Monaco and Celtic

Marsch has been unemployed since leaving Leeds in February

If the U.S. men’s national team intends to make Jesse Marsch its new head coach, it may want to get moving.

As the European season comes to a close and teams begin to plan for 2023-24, Marsch has appeared on the radar of at least two big clubs.

Monaco has sacked Philippe Clement after a disappointing campaign in which the Ligue 1 club missed out on Europe entirely. According to multiple reports, Marsch is one of the top candidates to take over at Stade Louis II.

Meanwhile in Scotland, treble-winning Celtic is on the lookout for a new manager after Ange Postecoglou moved on to Tottenham. Marsch is among the top contenders to succeed the Australian, according to Sky Sports.

This presents something of a conundrum for U.S. Soccer, which is methodically conducting a search for its USMNT head coach.

Marsch is considered one of the top candidates for the job, which is now being filled by B.J. Callaghan — the second interim head coach the team has had in 2023.

Callaghan will be in charge for both of the USMNT’s summer tournaments, the Nations League and Gold Cup, which will see him in his position through July at least.

U.S. Soccer sporting director Matt Crocker will oversee the coaching search and although he’s said the federation has already spoken to some candidates, he won’t even start his full-time role until August.

Should U.S. Soccer wait until the end of the summer, some names on its list will surely be unavailable. Marsch, who has been unemployed since leaving Leeds in February, looks like he could be one of them.

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Carter-Vickers, Tillman make PFA Scottish Premiership Team of the Year

It was a good year for USMNT players in Scotland

It’s been a good year for U.S. men’s national team players in Scotland.

Cameron Carter-Vickers and Malik Tillman were both named to the PFA Scotland Premiership Team of the Year for 2022-23, which was announced on Tuesday.

Carter-Vickers was one of seven Celtic players named to the squad, which is not particularly shocking when you account for the club winning the league by 13 points and winning 31 of their 34 matches. Carter-Vickers started 29 of those games, captaining Celtic seven times in the process. With Carter-Vickers in the lineup, Celtic conceded just 21 goals; their only loss to Scottish opposition this season (a 2-0 defeat at St. Mirren all the way back in September) was in one of the rare games he didn’t play.

Tillman, meanwhile, joined Rangers on loan from Bayern Munich this past summer, and has been a clear success at Ibrox. The 20-year-old became a critical part of the recipe for Rangers right away, going on to score 10 times and adding four assists in 28 league appearances. He joined James Tavernier — who leads Rangers in goalscoring despite being their right back — representing the blue half of Glasgow on the team of the season.

While Carter-Vickers has a contract running for the next three seasons at Celtic, Tillman’s future is far less clear. His loan from Bayern expires at the end of the season, and Rangers manager Michael Beale has repeatedly said he’d love to see the club make the move permanent. However, even if Rangers did opt to lay out the required fee, Bayern reportedly has a buy-back clause and could end up retaining him regardless of the Scottish side’s plans.

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Police investigating Rangers coach for post-game headbutt on Celtic coach

Not the ideal way to react to conceding a late equalizer

Police are investigating Rangers women’s assistant coach Craig McPherson, who delivered a post-game headbutt to Celtic head coach Fran Alonso following Monday’s 1-1 draw between the rivals.

A late equalizer by Caitlin Hayes earned Celtic a point in the match, which was followed by players and coaches shaking hands on the pitch.

As Alonso was shaking hands, an angry McPherson came up behind him and headbutted the Celtic boss, which led to a minor scuffle as Celtic players rushed in to defend the manager.

Speaking after the game, Alonso told Sky Sports: “Someone pushed me from behind. I never talked to him the whole game.

“I was called a little rat, but I don’t know why.”

In a statement to the BBC, Police Scotland said it had received a complaint over McPherson and added: “Inquiries to establish any criminality are at an early stage.”

The Scottish Women’s Premier League also released a statement, saying: “This incident is currently being investigated by Police Scotland and the Scottish FA. The SWPL will not make any further comment at this time, whilst these investigations are ongoing.”

Watch McPherson’s headbutt on Alonso

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Celtic and USMNT defender Carter-Vickers to miss Real Madrid game with injury

The 24-year-old did not travel with his team to Madrid

Celtic defender Cameron Carter-Vickers will miss Wednesday’s Champions League game against Real Madrid with an injury, his coach Ange Postecoglou has confirmed.

Postecoglou said at Tuesday’s press conference that Carter-Vickers picked up the undisclosed injury in a 3-0 win over Livingston on Sunday, and did not travel with the team to Madrid.

“Cameron Carter-Vickers pulled up a bit sore after the game on Sunday,” Postecoglou said. “The artificial pitch wasn’t great for him so we’ve left him home.”

Carter-Vickers is in the midst of a strong season for the Hoops, and has even served as a stand-in captain in recent weeks with Callum McGregor injured.

The 24-year-old’s injury is also a worry for the U.S. national team with just three weeks to go until the World Cup kicks off in Qatar.

Carter-Vickers looks likely to make the USMNT roster and could even be a candidate to start in defense alongside Walker Zimmerman.

The USMNT is suffering from a host of injury concerns as the tournament approaches, with center back a problematic position. Presumed starter Miles Robinson tore his Achilles in May and won’t be fit for the World Cup.

Another candidate to start, Chris Richards, hasn’t played since August, with Crystal Palace coach Patrick Vieira saying last week the defender is still 7-10 days from starting training.

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Cameron Carter-Vickers to miss USMNT September friendlies

Berhalter is now dealing with a fifth injury-related absentee

Cameron Carter-Vickers is the latest player to end up unavailable for the upcoming U.S. men’s national team friendlies against Japan and Saudi Arabia.

The Celtic center back was on Gregg Berhalter’s initial roster, but will not participate in the USMNT’s September friendlies after picking up an as-yet-unspecified injury in training.

Celtic boss Ange Postecoglu told the Daily Record early on Sunday that the 24-year-old would likely miss the USMNT camp, and that they hoped to have him available coming out of the international break.

“We’ll see how he is. I think he’s out of the US camp,” said Postecoglu. “We are hoping, post-international break, he won’t be too far away.”

Speaking at halftime of ESPN‘s broadcast of the Columbus Crew hosting the Portland Timbers, Berhalter confirmed that Carter-Vickers would not participate in friendlies against Japan (September 23 in Dusseldorf) and Saudi Arabia (September 27 in Murcia).

“Cam will be out of this camp, which is unfortunate,” said Berhalter. “We wanted to get him in and get him around the group this camp, but unfortunately he won’t be in. We are working on a replacement as we speak.”

Carter-Vickers is the latest USMNT player to end up unavailable in this window. Antonee Robinson and Tim Weah are both dealing with ankle sprains, though both players are believed to be close to a return. Zack Steffen was supposed to be out in order to rest and overcome a knee injury, but started for Middlesbrough on Saturday.

Berhalter then called in Internacional midfielder Johnny Cardoso as a replacement for Yunus Musah, who picked up what Valencia has said is a minor groin injury after the initial roster was announced.

Who will Berhalter call in to replace Carter-Vickers?

There was no immediate announcement of the USMNT’s choice to replace Carter-Vickers, but it stands to reason that Berhalter will add a center back to a squad that is currently down to just three (Aaron Long, Chris Richards, and Walker Zimmerman) rather than boosting numbers at a different position.

Mark McKenzie and Erik Palmer-Brown feel like the leading candidates at this point. While McKenzie has been in and out of Genk’s lineup so far this season, he has more of a history under Berhalter. However, Palmer-Brown has started every game for Troyes in Ligue 1, which may be enough to see him push ahead in what is probably a last chance to stake a claim on a World Cup spot for both players.

Berhalter also mentioned Matt Miazga as someone he’s been monitoring after announcing his squad, meaning the FC Cincinnati man is also a candidate here. While Berhalter also mentioned Fulham captain Tim Ream, it came with a note about how the style of play Ream does well in is not a good mesh with the USMNT’s system. A similar situation is likely to keep John Brooks out of the reckoning, even after the USMNT veteran sealed a move to Benfica.

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Joe Hart roasts himself after errant pass hits reporter

Who said goalkeepers need to be able to pass in the modern game?

Joe Hart may not be the most accurate passer in the world, but at least he’s quick to apologize.

Following his side’s 1-1 Champions League draw with Shakhtar Donetsk, the Celtic goalkeeper offered a self-deprecating mea culpa to a reporter he struck with an errant pass attempt during the warm-up.

“Sorry! I was begging to say sorry but you didn’t turn around,” Hart said to reporter Ingrid Halstensen, who was looking straight into the camera when Hart’s attempt to distribute out to his right missed its intended target, bouncing into the unsuspecting Danish journalist instead.

“Literally my goalie coach is probably five yards (away),” said Hart before dunking on himself and, arguably several clubs that have employed him. “Yeah, that’s why my career’s gone where it’s gone.”

Hart was rather infamously dropped by Pep Guardiola almost immediately when the Spaniard took over at Manchester City, owing to the passing ability required of any goalkeeper in his system. Since then, he’s undergone multiple loans and short stays before joining Ange Postecoglu at Celtic, where he has established himself as first-choice for the Scottish champions.

Watch Hart roast himself while apologizing

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