With all the snow and ice still on the streets after Sunday’s storm, one mayor in Maryland asked for volunteers to help clear sidewalks.For middle and high school students in Baltimore, it’s a chance to get credit for volunteer hours. For adults, it’s just the satisfaction of being a neighbor helping a neighbor.Volunteers come armed with shovels and clear walkways within minutes. They’re part of the Baltimore City Snow Corps, and their job is to break the ice and clear the snow — free of charge for homeowners.”I’m not going to lie. It’s very tedious. I (have fun) doing it,” said Joel Rodgers-Turner, a Snow Corps volunteer.”A mess. It’s just a mess. You have to really dig it up and take your time, though,” said Martrell Marshall, another volunteer.The program started with a call from Mayor Brandon Scott.”We are asking for people to help their neighbor. We want volunteers to help shovel out their neighbors across the city of Baltimore,” Scott said in a video posted to Instagram.”Mayor Brandon Scott. Big encouragement to come outside to help Baltimore City,” said Jordan Carter.Volunteers sign up and go to those in need — older adults, people with disabilities and others who may not be able to pick up a shovel and clear snow and ice from sidewalks.”The trucks are doing what they have to do on the streets, so we have to do what we have to do,” Carter said. “When you bring people help, they may help someone else. It’s better when we all come together and get it done. It’s going to get done a lot faster.”The group of volunteers said it has removed snow outside of 60 houses and off 80 cars throughout 12-hour shifts.”We do it quick, like 15 minutes. We’ll be in and out,” said Donta Crosby. “It’s really fun. It’s a fun job. I encourage everybody to volunteer and do it, too.”When volunteers aren’t working, they’re singing about the volunteer job they do.
With all the snow and ice still on the streets after Sunday’s storm, one mayor in Maryland asked for volunteers to help clear sidewalks.
For middle and high school students in Baltimore, it’s a chance to get credit for volunteer hours. For adults, it’s just the satisfaction of being a neighbor helping a neighbor.
Volunteers come armed with shovels and clear walkways within minutes. They’re part of the Baltimore City Snow Corps, and their job is to break the ice and clear the snow — free of charge for homeowners.
“I’m not going to lie. It’s very tedious. I (have fun) doing it,” said Joel Rodgers-Turner, a Snow Corps volunteer.
“A mess. It’s just a mess. You have to really dig it up and take your time, though,” said Martrell Marshall, another volunteer.
The program started with a call from Mayor Brandon Scott.
“We are asking for people to help their neighbor. We want volunteers to help shovel out their neighbors across the city of Baltimore,” Scott said in a video posted to Instagram.
“Mayor Brandon Scott. Big encouragement to come outside to help Baltimore City,” said Jordan Carter.
Volunteers sign up and go to those in need — older adults, people with disabilities and others who may not be able to pick up a shovel and clear snow and ice from sidewalks.
“The trucks are doing what they have to do on the streets, so we have to do what we have to do,” Carter said. “When you bring people help, they may help someone else. It’s better when we all come together and get it done. It’s going to get done a lot faster.”
The group of volunteers said it has removed snow outside of 60 houses and off 80 cars throughout 12-hour shifts.
“We do it quick, like 15 minutes. We’ll be in and out,” said Donta Crosby. “It’s really fun. It’s a fun job. I encourage everybody to volunteer and do it, too.”
When volunteers aren’t working, they’re singing about the volunteer job they do.
“McArthur,” which arrived at midnight (Jan. 30), is more than a single — it’s a statement. Four of country music’s most defining voices unite on a song that’s as massive in message as it is in sound.
Told through four generations of one family, “McArthur” explores bloodlines, burdens, and the question that lingers long after we’re gone: “When you pass on, what you gonna pass down?”
Hardy takes the songwriting lead here, though fans know he’s always been generous with his creative circle.
In this case, he brought a personal spark — he’s a new dad as of last March — and lit a fuse big enough to include three of the genre’s most iconic artists.
John McArthur: A Depression-era farmer who “worked this dirt” until he was laid in it — proud, rooted, faithful.
Junior McArthur: Killed in Vietnam before he ever met his son, a man defined by sacrifice.
Jones McArthur: A working-class father who tries to raise his son right, only to face a new kind of generational divide.
Hunter McArthur: The future — torn between million-dollar deals and the voice in the pine trees telling him to remember where he came from.
It’s legacy as lyrics. And by the time the final chorus hits — four voices, four lives — it becomes clear that “McArthur” isn’t just about one family. It’s a generational reckoning.
So… What Is This?
Whether this is the lead single off Hardy’s next album or something more — like the beginning of a country supergroup — remains to be seen.
And if this is Hardy’s way of paying tribute to country music’s past, present, and future — with McGraw, Church, and Wallen representing three distinct chapters — then he might’ve just written himself into the next one.
“McArthur” Lyrics
My name’s John McArthur and I work this dirt ‘Til they lay me down in it in my one good shirt I kept my family fed with a mule and a plow I’m a whisper in the wind through the pine trees now
Chorus And my bloodline it bled on this ground Soon, we all find that’s where we’re bound And Father Time don’t leave anyone out When you pass on, what you gonna pass down
I’m Junior McArthur and I join my old man By way of a bullet in Vietnam Left behind my woman and my boy named Jones Never got to meet him but he’s carrying on
Chorus My bloodline that bled on this ground Soon, we all find that’s where we’re bound And Father Time don’t leave anyone out When you pass on, what you gonna pass down
I’m Jones McArthur and I tried like hell To teach my son why a man don’t sell But he came home from college seeing dollar signs Didn’t wanna go to work just wanted me to die
I’m Hunter McArthur and the deal looks good In eighteen months this’ll be a neighborhood I got a million dollar line I can sign my name on But there’s a whisper in the pines that’s tellin’ me gone
Final Chorus Sayin’ my bloodline it bled on this ground Soon, we all find that’s where we’re bound And Father Time don’t leave anyone out When you pass on, what you gonna pass down
Outro When you pass on, what you gonna pass down Gonna pass down Gonna pass down
27 Men Who Deserve To Be In the Country Music Hall of Fame
You could make a case for dozens of country stars to be next up in the Country Music Hall of Fame. Here are 27 men worthy of the medallion in 2026 or beyond.
Bill Connelly is a writer for ESPN. He covers college football, soccer and tennis. He has been at ESPN since 2019.
Multiple Authors
Say what you will about the new Champions League format, but it’s guaranteed to give you an absolutely ridiculous day.
The final matchday of the 36-team league phase gave us 18 matches and 61 goals in basically two hours. Benfica didn’t realize they needed another goal to advance until just about the last minute of stoppage time … and then their goalkeeper scored on the final kick of the match. Olympiacos were out, in, out and then in again. PSV were in, then out, then in, then out. Bodo/Glimt needed to win at Atletico Madrid and did it after falling behind. Sporting CP scored in the 95th minute to both officially eliminate Athletic Club and knock Real Madrid out of the top eight (the LaLiga double). Marseille would have been in if they had lost 2-0, but they lost 3-0.
After a breathless Wednesday, we now know who has and hasn’t advanced. We’ll find out the pairings on Friday, but in the meantime let’s look back at this nutty league phase in two ways: Let’s name its Best XI, and let’s grade each team’s performance based on the expectations they originally brought to the table.
Goalkeeper: David Raya, Arsenal. When you have even a rotated Arsenal defense in front of you, you aren’t going to have that much to do, and Raya indeed faced only 20 shots on goal in seven league phase matches. But he saved 18 of them! That’s a 90% save percentage. That would be pretty good in hockey. Backup: Nikita Haikin, Bodo/Glimt
Right back: Anan Khalaili, Union Saint-Gilloise. Granted, he’s as much a midfielder as a right back, but he made the second-most defensive interventions in the competition (133). He was also first on his team in goals (three), chances created (12) and ground duels won (44) and second in progressive carries (39) and touches (415). He did it all. Backup: Kieran Trippier, Newcastle
Center backs: Josko Gvardiol, Manchester City; Derrick Luckassen, Pafos. Gvardiol played only five matches in the competition before he suffered a leg fracture, but Gvardiol is one of the best ball-progressing defenders in the world, and in his five matches City allowed just four goals. (They allowed five in the other three.) Meanwhile, Pafos damn near reached the knockout rounds with pure defense, and Luckassen was at the heart of it all: His 140 defensive interventions were the most in the competition, and he won an impressive 70% of his aerial duels. Backups: Dan Burn, Newcastle; Lorenzo Pirola, Olympiacos
Left back: Nuno Mendes, PSG. He’s the best left back in the world, and he proved it throughout the league phase: He’s first in the competition in ball recoveries (60), fourth in progressive carries (83), 10th in ground duels won (39), 11th in progressive passes (61) and 20th in chances created (15), and he scored two goals with two assists as well. Backup: Nico O’Reilly, Manchester City
Defensive midfield: Joshua Kimmich, Bayern Munich. In terms of points versus expectations (discussed below), Bayern was the biggest overachiever in the league phase, and Kimmich is the quarterback. He led the competition in progressive passes (107), and he was top-two on his team in touches (778), pass completions (616), ball recoveries (35), chances created (17) and fouls suffered (15). Backup: Moisés Caicedo, Chelsea
Central midfield: Vitinha, PSG. The best midfielder in the world. He completed over 100 passes per match, and he was both first in the competition in progressive carries (121) and second in progressive passes (100). He also scored five goals, most on the team, and fizzed one in from 19 meters on Wednesday against Newcastle. Backup: Arda Güler, Real Madrid
Attacking midfield: Dominik Szoboszlai, Liverpool. The Reds’ season has been up-and-down so far, and a lot of the ups have come from Szoboszlai. He’s played at least 450 minutes this season at right back, defensive midfield, right wing and central attacking midfield, and in this competition he’s first in assists (four), fourth in chances created (21) and second in ball recoveries (58). He’s taken a ridiculous leap forward. Backup: Hans Vanaken, Club Brugge
Right wing: Lamine Yamal, Barcelona. He only played in six league phase matches, but he still produced three goals and three assists with 95 progressive carries (third in the competition), six successful 1v1s in the box (first) and 48 overall ground duels won (fourth). It almost feels like he’s had a disappointing campaign this season because of how high he’s set the bar, and he’s still been one of the best players in the competition. Backup: Michael Olise, Bayern Munich
Center forward: Kylian Mbappé, Real Madrid. For all of Real Madrid’s oddities and inconsistencies this season, Mbappe has delivered in the competition that means the most to the club.
Mbappe has scored 13 goals (10 non-penalties), and he’s been unlucky not to produce an assist — he’s generated 2.0 expected assists (xA) from pass completions, and his 25 chances created are tops in the league phase. Backup: Erling Haaland, Manchester City
Left wing: Anthony Gordon, Newcastle. Only Kylian Mbappe (13) has produced more combined goals and assists in this competition than Gordon (eight). He all but declared the Champions League more fun than the Premier League in a recent interview, and he certainly seems to be enjoying himself on European nights. Backup: Jens Petter Hauge, Bodo/Glimt
Grading all 36 teams in the league phase
Each team came into the competition with certain expectations. For teams like Kairat Almaty or FK Qarabag, there was only realistic hope of securing a result or two; meanwhile, for teams like PSG, Liverpool and Manchester City, a lofty point total was the assumption. Granted, the table is the only grade that particularly matters, but before we move on to the knockout rounds, let’s compare each team’s point total to their pre-competition projections from Opta and hand out some league phase grades.
Who overachieved and underachieved the most over the last eight matchdays?
It’s easy to forget now, but the schedule-makers did Bayern no favors. They opened at home against FIFA Club World Cup champ Chelsea, and they had to play PSG and Arsenal away, back-to-back, in November. The Opta projections therefore gave them the ninth-best average point total heading into the competition. Instead, they fell to Arsenal (3-1) and outscored everyone else by a combined 21-5. In 30 matches in all competitions, they’ve lost only twice, and Jamal Musiala only recently returned. He scored his first goal of the season on Wednesday.
If there’s a concern — and it’s a pretty minor one at this stage — it’s that Bayern’s form hasn’t been spectacular of late. In their past three matches (wins over Union Saint-Gilloise and PSV and a surprising loss to Augsburg), they’ve hinted at some issues in transition, and they’ve allowed as many open-play goals (two) as they’ve scored. This could be a brief blip or a hint of an oncoming funk, but for now they head into the knockout rounds as the biggest overachievers on the board.
Arsenal Points: 24 | Initial projection: 16.6 | Difference: +7.4
There’s tension in North London because of Arsenal’s iffy recent domestic form — they’ve taken just two points from their past three Premier League matches, cutting their lead over Manchester City and Aston Villa to just four points — but their underlying xG numbers have been perfectly fine in those matches, and quite simply, they’ve been the best team in Europe over the first five-ish months of the season. They’re 8-for-8 in the Champions League. The only other team that has come close to their overall form is Bayern, and Arsenal thumped them 3-1 in November.
This is a brilliant team. None of this will matter if they falter moving forward, but it’s worth mentioning.
(It might also be worth mentioning that since the Champions League expanded to 32 teams in 1999-2000, four teams have won their first eight matches — Barcelona in 2002-03, Bayern in 2019-20 and 2022-23, and Manchester City in 2023-24 — and only one advanced past the quarterfinals.)
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Should Havertz be starting for Arsenal over Gyökeres?
Gab Marcotti and Julien Laurens discuss Kai Havertz’s display in Arsenal’s 3-2 victory over Kairat.
As with last season, Spurs have saved their best performances for Europe. They’re currently ninth in the Premier League in goals allowed and 13th in the table, but they finished fourth in the Champions League table and only Arsenal allowed fewer goals. They’re overachieving their xG figures a bit — their xG differential is just +4.7 (ninth) compared to a goal differential of +10 (fourth) — but they’ve played very sound ball, and they responded to a wild 5-3 loss to PSG by outscoring their final three opponents by a combined 7-0.
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0:48
Has Frank finally found a solution for Tottenham’s problems?
Gab & Juls discuss Thomas Frank’s tactics in Tottenham’s 2-0 win over Frankfurt in the Champions League.
After the briefest of missteps following Ruben Amorim’s departure last year, Sporting have ignited again. Rui Borges’ squad has combined excellent defense (fifth in xG allowed, first in xG allowed per shot) with excellent attacking contributions from Luis Suárez and Trincao (combined: eight goals, two assists). But it was Alisson Santos who beat Athletic Club in stoppage time to secure a top-eight finish.
Granted, their league-phase campaign finished with a bit of a thud — losses in three of their last four matches, including a 6-0 pounding by Liverpool on Wednesday — but two early wins, a draw with Chelsea and a dramatic late winner against Eintracht Frankfurt allowed Qarabag to advance to the knockout rounds. Not bad for the team with the second-lowest expected point total heading into the competition.
They lost that wild match to Liverpool early on and got stomped by Arsenal, but they blew out Eintracht Frankfurt back before everyone started doing that, and they won three straight after the Arsenal loss. A quietly effective team, though they only pulled one point from matches against Galatasaray and Bodo/Glimt to finish up.
Like Atletico, Atalanta got their points locked up and then packed it in a bit early. They took 13 of 15 points from Matchdays 2 through 6, and got some tremendous play from Charles De Ketelaere (two goals and two assists from 20 chances created), so for now we can overlook that they finished the league phase with duds against Athletic Club and Union Saint-Gilloise.
Inter Milan Points: 15 | Initial projection: 13.1 | Difference: +1.9
Wednesday’s win at Borussia Dortmund was a nice confidence builder after three consecutive Champions League losses (albeit to Atletico, Liverpool and Arsenal). They had a backloaded schedule, and with a 10th-place finish they missed out on a knockout-round bye, but they’re second in goals allowed, and they create far more great chances than their opponents — they’ll have a chance to make a run.
Considering everyone they lost this past summer — Xabi Alonso, Florian Wirtz, Granit Xhaka, Jeremie Frimpong, Jonathan Tah, Piero Hincapié — and considering they misfired in hiring Erik ten Hag to replace Alonso (he was fired almost immediately), simply advancing comfortably is a good thing for Bayer Leverkusen. They suffered a 7-2 humiliation against PSG and a 2-0 upset against Olympiacos, but they beat Manchester City and got a final-matchday brace from Malik Tillman on Wednesday. Things could be much worse in a transition year.
One of the best UEFA stories of 2024-25 (when they made the Europa League semifinals) has become one of the best stories of 2025-26 too. Our favorite Arctic Circle club lost three matches in a row in the fall and had only two points after five matches. But they came back to snag a point at Borussia Dortmund, beat Manchester City at home, then beat Atletico Madrid in comeback fashion to reach nine points and advance. They had the third-lowest projected point total of the competition and faced a rough schedule, and they advanced all the same. And in the coming weeks, either Real Madrid or Inter Milan will have to visit Bodo’s Aspmyra Stadium. Fantastic stuff.
Barcelona Points: 16 | Initial projection: 14.5 | Difference: +1.5
Injuries and some early setbacks threw us off the scent a bit, but Barca have won 14 of their past 15 matches, 12 of them by multiple goals. Their 18 open-play goals were the most of the league phase, and they’ve both completed the most progressive passes and drawn people offside the most. Hansi Flick’s team is looking an awful lot like a great Hansi Flick team.
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0:46
Are Barcelona the Champions League favourites?
Gab Marcotti and Julien Laurens debate which team are the favourites to win the 25/26 UEFA Champions League.
Arsenal and Tottenham were responsible for most of the Premier League’s league-phase overachievement, but Newcastle handled their business nicely, suffering a misstep at Marseille and losing a tossup against Barcelona but otherwise going unbeaten. Anthony Gordon has been excellent up front, and aside from the Marseille match, the defense was outstanding too.
They didn’t beat anyone who finished higher than 23rd in the table, but they also only lost one match (1-0 to Real Madrid) and comfortably advanced. They counterattack well, and they’re in great form — only two losses in their past 20 under Luciano Spalletti — but it’s hard to figure out their overall upside at the moment.
Chelsea Points: 16 | Initial projection: 14.8 | Difference: +1.2
There are no questions about Chelsea’s upside — only their consistency. They pummeled Barcelona and withstood a desperate 90 minutes at Napoli on Wednesday thanks to a brilliant brace from João Pedro.
Of course, that was also their first good road performance after a no-show against Bayern, a draw at Qarabag and a loss to Atalanta. They’ve won four of five under Liam Rosenior, and their round-of-16 draw could be either very favorable (Qarabag or a fading Monaco) or very rude (PSG or Newcastle).
What a rally. Olympiacos play an almost frantic style — they had the most ball recoveries and second-most high turnovers — and most of their attacking ideas involve crosses trying to find a head in the box. But that frantic energy saved them. They had two total points after a wild 4-3 loss to Real Madrid in Matchday 5, and they needed three wins to advance. That’s exactly what they got.
Liverpool Points: 18 | Initial projection: 16.9 | Difference: +1.1
After a dire run of nine losses in 12 matches in all competitions, Liverpool have lost only once in their last 15. Of course, they’ve also only won three of their past eight, but two of those came by a combined 9-0 against Marseille and Qarabag. Mo Salah has created 10 chances with an assist in his first three matches since returning from AFCON, and perhaps more importantly he scored his first post-return goal on Wednesday too.
Manchester City Points: 16 | Initial projection: 15.3 | Difference: +0.7
With all the changes City have gone through in recent years, this is still a Pep Guardiola team, with the requisite high pass completion rate (90.8%, first in the competition), long possessions (8.9 passes per possession, first), massive field tilt (most touches in the attacking third, fewest shots against) and occasionally shaky transition defense (28th in xG allowed per shot). They can beat anyone at any time, but they still proved capable of losing to Bayer Leverkusen and Bodo/Glimt, too. They could face either Bayern or Arsenal in the quarterfinals, too, which makes them a major wildcard.
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0:49
Laurens: Jérémy Doku’s injury is bad news for Manchester City
Gab & Juls react to Manchester City’s 2-0 win over Galatasaray in the Champions League.
Real Madrid Points: 15 | Initial projection: 14.3 | Difference: +0.7
We’ve seen loads of attacking brilliance from Real Madrid here — not only from Mbappe, but also from Vinícius Júnior and Arda Guler (combined: eight assists from 41 chances created) — but defensive breakdowns and total inattention on set pieces (zero goals scored from them and three allowed, one in each of three losses) knocked them out of the top eight. They hired Xabi Alonso to modernize their game, but they pushed him out the door, and they’re now more reliant than ever on random moments of individual excellence.
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2:09
Marcotti: Real Madrid have a lot of chaos in the middle
Gab Marcotti and Julien Laurens analyse Real Madrid’s 4-2 loss to Benfica in the UEFA Champions League and examine what the club needs to fix moving forward.
Galatasaray Points: 10 | Initial projection: 9.4 | Difference: +0.6
While Olympiacos snagged a knockout-round berth with a late charge, Galatasaray did their damage early, winning three straight matches (including a 1-0 tone-setter against Liverpool) to get to nine points after four matches, then managing just one more point the rest of the way. They’re still dangerous if they can find their finishing form, but in their past three losses they’ve scored zero goals from shots worth 2.7 xG. Victor Osimhen has been almost invisible in the competition since his Matchday 4 hat trick against Ajax.
At least Galatasaray remained in the competition. Marseille couldn’t manage the same, working their way to nine points after six matchdays but losing their past two matches to Liverpool and Club Brugge by a combined 6-1. If they’d only lost 4-1, they’d have advanced, but the vibes plummeted, and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang didn’t score in his final three matches after a brace against Newcastle.
Pafos understood their assignment better than almost anyone in the competition. They knew their only way forward was to defend their pants off, and they did so. They brought 38-year-old David Luiz into the fold, kept three clean sheets, won set pieces (six goals scored, three allowed) and suffered only three losses. And in the end, they missed out on advancement because of basically a single goal. The collective effort level was brilliant.
They drew with Manchester City, Tottenham and Juventus and won away against Bodo/Glimt (something City couldn’t do), but they got throttled by Club Brugge early in the competition and by Real Madrid late. The positive results allowed them to advance, but thanks primarily to some dire finishing, they’ve scored just 10 goals in their past 14 matches in Ligue 1 and the Champions League. They don’t head into the knockout rounds brimming with confidence, but at least they made it.
Borussia Dortmund are a very specific type of team in 2025-26: They beat the bad teams, and they drop points against the good ones. In Bundesliga play, they’ve faced 11 opponents with an Opta power rating of 86.0 or lower, and they’ve taken 31 points from those 11 matches. Against six opponents with a higher rating? They’ve won once and taken seven points.
It’s the same story in the Champions League: In four matches against either teams from outside the Big Five leagues (Bodo/Glimt, Copenhagen) or teams suffering through disappointing campaigns (Athletic Club, Villarreal), they’ve taken 10 points with a goal differential of plus-9. Against their four best opponents, however (Juventus, Tottenham, Man City and Inter), they managed one point and a goal differential of minus-7. That probably doesn’t say good things about their prospects of advancing further in this competition.
This time last year, PSG had shifted into gear and become the best team in the world, and they would continue at that level deep into the summer (until the final of the Club World Cup). We’re still waiting on that form to arrive. They’ve won only two of their past six matches in all competitions and only one of their past five in the Champions League.
There’s nothing wrong with them, and lord knows the god of xG hasn’t been kind of late — in their past three Champions League matches they’ve scored two goals from shots worth 6.2 xG — but they’ll once again have to take the hard road in the knockout rounds: They might have to beat Barcelona or Chelsea, then Liverpool, just to reach the semifinals against Arsenal, Bayern or City.
They went down playing their style of ball, at least. No one attempted more ground duels in this competition, and almost no one made more ball recoveries, and they scored a trio of Champions League wins because of it. But when they were losing their duels, there was no Plan B. Four of their five losses came by multiple goals, and they missed out on the knockout rounds because of goal differential.
Like their countrymates USG, Brugge were spectacularly all-or-nothing, winning three matches by a combined 11-2 and losing four by a combined 12-1. But a wild 3-3 draw with Barcelona in Matchday 10 gave them a 10th point and a key to the next round. They’ll play either Juventus or Atletico Madrid and presumably either advance or lose by a combined eight goals or something.
Like Pafos, the Danish champs controlled what they could control: They attacked directly, they won their aerial duels (they attempted the seventh-most aerials with the seventh-best success rate), they nearly broke even on set pieces, and they played their way into the competition, taking just one point from their first four matches and seven from the last four. It was almost enough to advance.
If you watched PSV’s brilliant wins over Napoli (6-2 at home) and Liverpool (4-1 at Anfield), your only question would have been whether or not they earned a top-eight finish. But those were somehow their only wins. Their attack either generated loads of great chances or none whatsoever — they were over 2.1 xG in four matches and under 0.7 in the other four — and they were never going to have the defense to overcome attacking droughts.
A tough, front-loaded schedule (Arsenal, at Borussia Dortmund and at Newcastle in their first four matches), which meant they had a lot of work to do down the stretch. In the end, an unfortunate 0-0 draw with Slavia Prague in Matchday 5 — xG: Athletic 1.3, Slavia 0.6 — did them in, even if that wasn’t confirmed until the final matchday. Gorka Guruzeta (five goals) was solid up front, but getting just 320 combined minutes from the Williams brothers was too much to overcome in attack.
The 2025-26 campaign has been a two-act play for Ajax. They won just five of their first 18 matches of the season (three in their first five matches, then two in 13), and their Champions League form got sucked into that morass — first five matches: zero points and a minus-15 goal differential. But since the start of December, they’ve been genuinely strong, winning nine of 13 in all competitions and beating both Qarabag and Villarreal away in the Champions League.
The turnaround came too late for them to advance here, but at least they’re more likely to make it back next season now.
The victory was making it to the competition at all. They entered the competition in the first qualifying round and beat Olimpija Ljubljana, KuPS (with a two-goal comeback), Slovan Bratislava (in penalties) and, of course, Celtic (in penalties again) to reach the league phase. That earned them the right to host Real Madrid and both visit and score goals at both the San Siro and Emirates.
In one week in September, Benfica drew with Santa Clara in domestic play and fell to underdog heroes Qarabag to start the Champions League, and that was enough for them to fire Bruno Lage and bring in Jose Mourinho. They’ve suffered too many draws to keep up with Porto domestically, but after starting with zero points in four Champions League matches, they won three of their past four to advance by the skin of their teeth. And I mean the skin of their teeth.
GOALKEEPER ANATOLIY TRUBIN SCORES A 98TH MINUTE GOAL AGAINST REAL MADRID TO SAVE BENFICA’S #UCL SEASON WITH THE FINAL TOUCH OF THE MATCH! 😱
Napoli Points: 8 | Initial projection: 11.9 | Difference: -3.9
Antonio Conte has enjoyed Continental success before — his Inter reached the Europa League final in 2020, among other things — but Conte teams have definitely suffered some UEFA duds as well, and this one ranks high on the list. A dire early 6-2 loss to PSV was a bad sign, and their overall form wasn’t good enough to produce a late rally. They’ve currently won just one of their last seven matches (which has all but dropped them out of the Serie A race as well), and they could only take a point against 10-man Copenhagen and Chelsea.
Not good enough.
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2:28
Should Antonio Conte get a pass for Napoli’s Champions League exit due to injuries?
Gab Marcotti and Julien Laurens debate Napoli’s 3-2 defeat to Chelsea in the UEFA Champions League, which saw them knocked out of the competition.
Slavia couldn’t translate dominant league form — they’re unbeaten through 19 matches and hold a seven point lead over rival Sparta Prague — into anything worthwhile here. To their credit, they went for it: They made the eighth-most ball recoveries and tried to harass their opponents, but all it really earned them was defensive devastation: Opponents attempted 28 shots worth at least 0.2 xG, the second-most in the league phase.
First impressions are frequently misleading. Eintracht began the season brilliantly, with four wins (and an 18-6 scoring margin) in their first five matches in all competitions — a run that included a 5-1 Champions League pounding of Galatasaray. In their next seven Champions League matches, they earned one point and were outscored, 20-5. Horrid. They’re eighth in the Bundesliga, too, and they’ve fired manager Dino Toppmoller.
By far the most disappointing team of the league phase. Villarreal are fourth in LaLiga and are very well-established to earn a spot in next season’s Champions League field, but they were eliminated from this competition well before the final matchday. They didn’t play well very frequently, and when they did, they got nothing from it: They scored five goals from shots worth 9.8 xG, and they allowed 18 goals from shots worth 12.4. Bad and unlucky gets you eliminated quickly.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – The Big Game matchup has been set in pro football. The KRQE team discussed New England vs Seattle as both teams prepare for the game. Pro Football is the number one sport in the country, navigating the ins and outs can be difficult. That’s why Santa Ana is giving you an inside track. Welcome […]
“When you pass on, what you gonna pass down?” the country stars ask in the song, which tells the tale of a landowning family
Hardy assembles an all-star cast of male country singers to chronicle the history of a plot of land in the old-timey ballad “McArthur.” Featuring Tim McGraw, Eric Church, and Morgan Wallen, the song finds each artist inhabiting a specific member of the landowning (fictional) McArthur family.
McGraw is John McArthur, a farmer with a mule and a plow who’s now just a “whisper in the wind through the pine trees.” Church portrays his son, Junior, killed in Vietnam. Hardy embodies Jones McArthur, who raises an heir more invested in money than dirt. And Wallen voices Hunter McArthur, the money-focused son haunted by second thoughts over selling the family’s acreage.
“I’m Hunter McArthur and the deal looks good/In 18 months this’ll be a neighborhood,” Wallen sings. “I got a million-dollar line I can sign my name on/But there’s a whisper in the pines that’s tellin’ me don’t.”
In the chorus, the song poses one key question: “When you pass on, what you gonna pass down?”
Produced by Jay Joyce (Eric Church’s longtime producer), “McArthur” also features Old Crow Medicine Show’s Ketch Secor on fiddle.
“‘McArthur’ is a very special one,” Hardy said in a statement. “It came together pretty fast. I know I wrote the song, but I also feel like how did I end up on this song? It’s a lineup of absolute legends.”
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Hardy kicks off his Country! Country! Tour! in February. Church recently released the live album and film Evangeline vs. The Machine Comes Alive. And Wallen’s I’m the Problem spent 34 consecutive weeks topping the Billboard Country Albums chart.
McGraw, meanwhile, has been rallying support for those affected by Nashville’s crippling ice storm. “If you need help, ask. If you can help, go. That’s how Nashville works. We take care of our own,” he wrote on social media earlier this week.
On our latest Fantasy Football Today podcast, we talked about players we’re hoping to see rebound in 2026 after they struggled in 2025. Whether due to injury, poor play or just hoping for a change of scenery, these are guys we expect to get better next year.
Three excellent selections from Heath Cummings were Lamar Jackson, Justin Jefferson and Terry McLaurin. And, as you’ll hear in the show, Adam Aizer expects three offenses that struggled in 2025 to get better in 2026 with Philadelphia, Tampa Bay and the Chargers.
I’ll cover my guys here with a bonus in Brock Bowers. As of now, these are all players I plan to target in 2026.
In 2024, Daniels was the No. 5 Fantasy quarterback as a rookie at 23.9 points per game. His Average Draft Position in 2025 was the No. 4 quarterback, but he struggled with injuries and was limited to just seven games. He also averaged only 18.6 Fantasy points per game. But he averaged 22.4 Fantasy points in his first five outings, and it’s easy to see him getting back to a high level in 2026 if he can stay healthy. He passed for 3,568 yards, 25 touchdowns, and nine interceptions in 2024, along with 891 rushing yards and six touchdowns. His rushing potential is elite, and the Commanders will hopefully add some talent in the passing game, especially since Deebo Samuel and Zach Ertz are pending free agents. I like Daniels as a top-five Fantasy quarterback in 2026.
Herbert had a solid season in 2025 at 21.8 Fantasy points per game, but I’m hoping he’ll get back to the level of production he had in the first two years of his career when he averaged at least 26.3 Fantasy points per game over that span. For starters, getting tackles Rashawn Slater (knee), who missed the entire season, and Joe Alt (ankle), who was limited to six games, back healthy for a full year will be huge. With Alt healthy, Herbert averaged 25.1 Fantasy points per game in 2025. Along with a healthy offensive line, Herbert should benefit with the addition of new offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel, who helped Tua Tagovailoa lead the NFL in passing yards in 2023. This could be a huge season for Herbert in 2026, and he has top-five upside if things go right.
We’ll see how Walker finishes the 2025 campaign since he’s playing against New England in Super Bowl LX. But things are looking up for Walker in 2026 if he decides to return to Seattle. Zach Charbonnet (ACL) was injured in the Divisional Round of the NFL playoffs against San Francisco, and it’s doubtful he’ll be ready for the start of next season. Including the game against the 49ers, Walker played nearly three full games without Charbonnet in 2025 and averaged 24.9 Fantasy points over that span. Walker is a free agent this offseason, so we’ll see where he plays in 2026, but I’m hopeful he returns to the Seahawks. He could be worth drafting as early as Round 2 in the majority of leagues, depending on how much time Charbonnet might miss next year.
In the first four games of the 2025 season, when Irving was healthy, he looked like a star when he averaged 18 PPR points per game. He then missed seven games due to injury, and he struggled down the stretch by scoring 10.8 PPR points or less in each of his final four outings. Tampa Bay changed offensive coordinators this offseason, with Zac Robinson taking over, and he was just the play-caller in Atlanta with Bijan Robinson, which is a plus for Irving. Rachaad White is also an unrestricted free agent and isn’t expected to return, and Sean Tucker is a restricted free agent. Most likely, Irving will share touches with Tucker, but I still have high hopes for Irving in 2026. Along with what he did to start 2025, he also closed the 2024 campaign by scoring at least 16.3 PPR points in seven of his final nine games. Depending on what happens this offseason, I plan to draft Irving no later than Round 3 in the majority of leagues.
I thought Hall would struggle in 2025, and he averaged a career-low 13.1 PPR points per game. He had respectable stats with 243 carries for 1,065 yards and four touchdowns and 36 catches for 350 yards and a touchdown on 48 targets, but we know he’s capable of more. He averaged at least 15.1 PPR points per game in the first three seasons of his career, and I can see him getting back to that level of production — or better — in 2026. He’s a free agent this offseason, but Jets general manager Darren Mougey has already said the team would like to retain Hall, whether that’s on a new deal or the franchise tag. Ideally, he would leave the Jets and join a better offense, especially with an established quarterback, and then we can see just how good Hall really is in a better environment. But if he remains with the Jets, he can still be a standout Fantasy option, and hopefully the team keeps building on offense for 2026. I’m willing to draft Hall as early as Round 3 in the majority of leagues.
Lamb had the worst Fantasy season of his career since his rookie campaign when he averaged just 14.4 PPR points per game in 2025. In 14 games, he had 75 catches for 1,077 yards and three touchdowns on 117 targets. Lamb was overshadowed by George Pickens, who led Dallas with 93 catches for 1,429 yards and nine touchdowns on 137 targets, and he averaged 17.2 PPR points per game. The easiest path for Lamb to rebound is if Pickens leaves the Cowboys since he’s a free agent, and then Lamb would be a top-three Fantasy receiver in the majority of leagues. But I still value Lamb as a top-five Fantasy receiver even if Pickens returns. Dak Prescott still favors Lamb, who averaged at least 17.7 PPR points per game in each of the two previous seasons prior to 2025. That’s the level of production I’m expecting for Lamb, and he should be a first-round pick in all formats in 2026.
Brown had a down season in 2025 when he averaged just 15.1 PPR points per game, which was his lowest total since joining the Eagles in 2022. But it wasn’t as bad as you might think. From Weeks 12-17, which includes the Fantasy playoffs, Brown averaged 19.8 PPR points per game, which is standout production. He had four games with at least 10 targets over that span, and he was back to being the alpha of the passing game. The Eagles just hired Sean Mannion to be their new offensive coordinator, and hopefully that will make Brown happy. We don’t know if Philadelphia plans to trade Brown, although that seems unlikely given his contract. I’m still planning to draft Brown as a borderline No. 1 Fantasy receiver in the majority of leagues if he stays with the Eagles, and I’ll target him as early as Round 3.
McConkey, along with Herbert, should benefit with the addition of McDaniel as the offensive coordinator, especially if Keenan Allen leaves as a free agent. McConkey just had a terrible season in 2025 at 11.7 PPR points per game, which was a huge drop-off from his 2024 production when he averaged 15.1 PPR points. But in 2025, McConkey had 11 games with at least six targets, and he averaged 14.2 PPR points per game over that span. McConkey should be the No. 1 receiver for McDaniel, who helped Tyreek Hill have consecutive seasons with at least 119 catches, 1,710 yards, seven touchdowns and 170 targets in Miami in 2022-23. McConkey won’t do that, and he’ll compete for targets with Quentin Johnston, Tre Harris and Oronde Gadsden II even if Allen is gone. But I’m excited for McConkey entering his third season in the NFL, and I would draft him as early as Round 3.
Brock Bowers
Bowers was the No. 2 PPR tight end last season at 14.7 points per game, but he was far behind Trey McBride, who averaged 18.6. Bowers missed five games due to a knee injury, but he played hurt for three games after initially getting injured in Week 1. He missed three games after that and returned in Week 9 against Jacksonville and scored 43.3 PPR points. He has the potential to produce like McBride, if not better, but we still have questions for Bowers in 2026. We know he’ll have a new quarterback (likely Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza with the No. 1 overall pick) and a new head coach, and both of those guys should feature Bowers in 2026. I’m excited to see what happens in Las Vegas this offseason, and Bowers is worth drafting toward the end of Round 2 or beginning of Round 3 in all leagues.
LaPorta missed the final eight games of the season in 2025 with a back injury, but he’s expected to be fine for the start of 2026. And I like the addition of new offensive coordinator Drew Petzing for LaPorta. Petzing was on Cleveland’s offensive staff from 2020-22 (tight ends coach and quarterbacks coach), and the Browns tight ends had a target share of at least 26.2 percent over that span, with Austin Hooper twice being second on the team in targets. Then, Petzing went to Arizona as the offensive coordinator from 2023-25, and McBride led the Cardinals in targets for three years in a row. Arizona tight ends also had a target share of at least 32.4 percent in all three seasons. LaPorta averaged 14.1 PPR points per game as a rookie in 2023 and scored at least 13.3 PPR points in six of his final seven outings in 2024. He only averaged 11.9 PPR points per game in 2025 before getting hurt, but I plan to draft him as a top-seven Fantasy tight end with a mid-round pick in all leagues in 2026.
Bayern Munich
Arsenal
Sporting CP
FK Qarabag
Atletico Madrid
Inter Milan
Bodo/Glimt
Barcelona
Newcastle United
Chelsea
Olympiacos
Liverpool
Manchester City
Real Madrid
Galatasaray
Marseille
Pafos
Borussia Dortmund
Union Saint-Gilloise
Club Brugge
FC Copenhagen
PSV Eindhoven
Athletic Club
Ajax
Kairat Almaty
Benfica
Napoli
Slavia Prague
Eintracht Frankfurt
Villarreal
