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The MLS expansion draft is now fun-sized
Atlanta and Minnesota won’t be building whole teams out of the original roster-building mechanism.
Shanna Lockwood-USA TODAY Sports
When New York City FC and Orlando City entered MLS, many wondered about the relevance of the expansion draft. The league has changed considerably since its expansion era started in 2005, becoming a more popular destination for international players. For that reason, NYCFC and Orlando grabbed very few key contributors from the expansion draft, despite taking 10 players each.
For next season, the format has changed. Minnesota United FC and Atlanta United FC will both pick just five players each. Every team can only lose one player, so they’ll be removed when they have a player picked. Half the league’s teams will lose no one.
Minnesota already operates an NASL team and is likely to retain some of their players for their MLS squad. Atlanta has seven players currently under contract and loaned out, including USMNT Under-17 star Andrew Carleton, young DP Héctor Villalba and Trinidad and Tobago star Kenwyne Jones.
Goal of the day
Barcelona had seven of them, but the best is probably this one, from Neymar to Luis Suárez. (r/soccer)
In the news
Aleksander Ceferin is the new UEFA president, and he’s promising to show the big clubs who’s boss. (BBC)
Manchester City vs. Borussia Mönchengladbach was rained out, so it’ll be played on Wednesday. (Guardian)
José Mourinho admits it was a lot of work to convince Paul Pogba to join Manchester United. (Goal)
RB Leipzig star Lukas Klostermann is out at least six months with a torn ACL. (Bild)
Sergio Ramos feels marginalized by Nike, so he’s going to black out the swoosh. (Sport)
Wayne Rooney didn’t travel for Manchester United’s Europa League game. (Mirror)
David Ospina is going to keep his spot as Champions League starter ahead of Petr Cech. (Telegraph)
You should be reading
Padraic McCafferty on Michy Batshuayi’s emergence as a star. (These Football Times)
Paul Wilson on the Champions League group stage becoming an excellent super league deterrent. (Guardian)
What happened on Tuesday
Here’s the Champions League results and table. (UEFA.com)
Dallas won the U.S. Open Cup at home. (Big D Soccer)
What to watch on Wednesday (click for listings, all times ET)
Champions League: Nine games (2:45 p.m,) -- We apologize to Tottenham fans, who got screwed by City’s rain delay.
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