SAN ANTONIO, Texas — Officials of the Texas Dirt Truck Series have unveiled an eight-race schedule for their second season, with the possibility of three more dates to be added in the coming weeks.

The series’ second year takes teams to new venues as interest in the trucks begins to grow.

For the second consecutive year, the series will have the friendly confines of I-37 Speedway in scenic Pleasanton, Texas, as its home base. The series will contest five points races on the racy quarter-mile oval run by R&M Promotions, beginning with the season opener on Saturday, March 28.

Along with five dates at I-37, the series will make its debut in Wichita Falls on Saturday, June 12, at the famed Monarch Motor Speedway. Shannon and Misty Kelton have worked hard to turn MMS into a thriving, well-organized facility. The series is truly honored to be headed there in 2020.

Along with the trip to north Texas, the series will also make its debut out east this year with two trips to 105 Speedway in Cleveland, Texas. Robert Hattenbach and his staff at 105 are known for running a good show on a well-prepared surface, and the TDTS is thrilled to have two races there.

“I think our second season is going to be exciting for our teams and Texas race fans,” series owner George Jones said. “We are anxious to take this series to new markets and entertain some new fans. Our new dates at Monarch Motor Speedway and 105 Speedway will allow us to do that.”

Three more dates may possibly be added as negotiations are still ongoing with three other tracks. It is hoped the series can return to South Texas Speedway (Corpus Christi) and the famed Cotton Bowl Speedway (Paige) for one race each, along with a new date at Big O Speedway up in Ennis at Jim Moon’s fine facility. This series is statewide in nature, not limited to south Texas tracks.

Series officials also announced the construction of a new Official Pace Truck/Fan Ride-Along truck. This vehicle will look and sound just like our race trucks, yet have a second seat so that one lucky fan per track gets the ride of a lifetime. Winning a ride in the new Ride-Along truck could be a bonus for the 50/50 winner.

Larry Baggett, of Burnet, Texas, earned the inaugural series championship. The North Carolina native will return to defend his crown in 2020 with a fresh ride and lots of notes to go on. Chasing him will be talented drivers like Tony Bernal, Russell Rust and Russ Parker, among others.

The Texas Dirt Truck Series was created in Oct. of 2018 and will be contesting its second season in 2020. It was formed on the concept of America’s love for full-size pickups and passion for short track racing on dirt.

This story by Robin Miller originally appeared on Racer.com.

He went from the anonymity of cutting hair in a little town in Illinois to a respected national stylist in a sprint car. His library consisted of SPEED SPORT, USAC News and Carl Hungness Indy 500 yearbooks, but nobody could read a dirt track better. He made it from motorcycle scrambles to the starting field at Indianapolis. Nobody talked slower or drove faster. And he finally figured out marriage on his third attempt and raised six great kids throughout the years.

Norman “Bubby” Jones, who died Saturday at the age of 78, was an old-school racer who should be remembered as one of the great sprint car drivers of all time and an endearing character that always gave you a helping hand as well as his unfiltered opinion.

“I was fortunate enough to go up and down the road with him and he won hundreds of races, but his greatest achievement was picking up two mph on the last day of qualifying at Indianapolis on his third and final attempt to make the show,” said Tim Coffeen, one of Jones’ best friends for the past 50 years who worked on sprinters and Indy cars for him.

“There are a lot of different adjectives to describe the guy, but the easiest way is that he was as honest as the day is long, and he didn’t always tell you what you wanted to hear but he wouldn’t lie to you. And there was no finer person.”

‘Ol Bub would have probably been happy as an 8-5 barber in Danville, Ill. that raced super modifieds and sprints on the weekends until 1971 when trucking honcho M.A. Brown offered him a ride on the outlaw circuit. He quit his day job and became a professional racer as well as a prolific winner, averaging 35-40 wins a season.

From Little Springfield to Eldora to Knoxville to West Memphis, Jones carved out a reputation as a smart, smooth and fierce competitor. He became friends and rivals with the great Jan Opperman as his success spread to Manzanita Speedway and Ascot Park.

“I always figured Bubby was the guy to beat if I was going to win,” said Opp back in the mid-70s.

The cruel irony of Jones’ career came in 1976. Opp had convinced him to start running USAC, and after winning his initial Silver Crown race at DuQuoin, Bub watched his pal get gravely injured in the Hoosier Hundred. When Jan tried to make his comeback in the spring of 1977 it was obvious he wasn’t ready, so he asked car owner Bobby Hillin to put Jones in his Longhorn cars – which also included the Indy 500.

A dirt specialist, Jones only had five previous pavement races when he got to the Speedway, and admitted that when the turbocharger kicked in the first time going down the backstretch at IMS he seriously thought about pulling in. But he bumped his way into the field, and stormed from 33rd to ninth in the race before his engine pitched.

Jones excelled in the Longhorn sprinter, racking up seven victories and also taking the prestigious Hut Hundred midget race.

“He had such a passion for race cars and not just driving them, but he was a big proponent of making the car do the work. His mechanical ability was second to none,” continued Coffeen. “Nobody knew more about tires, gears and suspension and how to make a car go fast.”

In 1979 he scored 11 wins for Don Siebert and Jim McQueen, but lost the USAC championship in the final race. Disillusioned by that and the reality that you needed money to get an Indy car ride, Jones packed up and headed west.

‘Ol Bub didn’t suffer fools and his hometown friend and longtime car owner Larry Henry once said that if he ever wrote an autobiography it should be titled: “Assholes, jerks and s*** boxes,” because that’s how he looked at racing and didn’t throw many compliments around.

From 1980-87 he became a master at Ascot Park’s famed half-mile and the California Racing Association – piling up 90 wins and two titles before “retiring” after ‘87. He returned briefly in 1990 and scored his final Ascot win in 1991 before taking over management of Perris Speedway.

Jones returned to Indianapolis in 2004 and worked for Tony Stewart’s team among others, sharing his knowledge with anyone smart enough to listen at Kokomo, Gas City, Bloomington, Putnamville, Paragon and Haubstadt. He built his own cars and they were always fast, but he began slowing down a few years ago with a myriad of health problems.

A cigarette and cup of coffee were his constant companions, along with a wry sense of humor. At a team lunch a couple years ago Lee Kunzman, Pancho Carter, Bill Vukovich, Merle Bettenhausen, Gary Irvin and Johnny Parsons were reminiscing about how much fun it was to race on the high-banked quarter mile of Little Springfield where Jones grew up and was a four-time champion. Asked how many races he won at Joe Shaheen’s famous bullring, Jones replied: “All of ‘em.”

He was a lover, not a fighter, and was knocked unconscious in his first and only bar fight at Champaign, Ill. by Bill Brown (the former Minnesota Viking). In between marriages, Jones was sweet-talking a woman one night and she suggested he come over and bring some coke, so he stopped at the 7-11 and got a six-pack. We laughed for days.

Third wife Patti was his rock and the best thing that ever happened to Jones and she gave him three daughters, Ashley, Jessica and Emily, to go along with his earlier children Gina, Davey and Tony. They cherished their old man like we all did.

There was only one ‘Ol Bub, and he certainly was an original in every way.

New York Rangers coach David Quinn called Sunday's game against the Columbus Blue Jackets perhaps their biggest of the season, as his team trailed the Blue Jackets by eight points for one of the Eastern Conference's two wild-card playoff spots.

After Oliver Bjorkstrand's tiebreaking goal with 26.5 seconds left in regulation, that gap is now 10 points. "We got what we deserved," said Quinn. "We didn't have a lot of energy for that third period."

About that energy: What would happen to it if there was a larger carrot dangling in front of the Rangers? What if a regulation victory meant three points for New York, cutting Columbus' lead in the standings to five points?

The 3-2-1 points system -- three points for a regulation win, two points for a win and one point for a loss in the shootout or overtime -- is the methodology championed by standings reformers. Advocates claim it would reward teams that perform best in those 60 minutes of "actual hockey" before the extra-time gimmickry of 3-on-3 and the shootout.

Detractors claim it would create too wide a gulf between the haves and have-nots in a league that's quite comfortable with parity. "You will have teams mathematically eliminated from the playoffs by Christmas. I really think so,'' former NHL GM Brian Burke told ESPN some years ago. "I have zero interest in that. None. I'd rather put a sharp stick in my eye.''

Would it make a difference in the standings this season? Like, for example, a completely wacky Pacific Division, where one point separates the first-place team (Vancouver Canucks, at 58 points) from the fifth-place team (Arizona Coyotes), mainly because the fifth-place team is tied with the second-, third- and fourth-place teams at 57 points?

We had the good folks at ESPN Stats & Information run some numbers through Sunday night's games not only for a 3-2-1 format, but for other suggested points systems in the standings. First, here are the current standings in the NHL. Gaze upon the Pacific Division in all its twisted glory. In this format, our playoff teams for the East are the Boston Bruins, Tampa Bay Lightning, Florida Panthers, Washington Capitals, Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Islanders, with the Columbus Blue Jackets and Carolina Hurricanes getting the wild cards. In the West, it's the St. Louis Blues, Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars, Vancouver Canucks, Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames, with the Vegas Golden Knights and Arizona Coyotes as the wild cards.

So how would things change in the alternative formats?

The 3-2-1 format

Here's how things would line up in this alternative reality for this season:

Playoff teams: Bruins, Lightning, Panthers; Capitals, Penguins, Blue Jackets; Islanders, Hurricanes as wild cards.

Playoff teams: Blues, Avalanche, Stars; Canucks, Oilers, Golden Knights; Coyotes, Flames as wild cards.

First, an important caveat: The lack of a carrot. These 3-2-1 standings exist in a vacuum, without the inherent motivation for teams to win as many games in regulation as possible to maximize those extra points. The Boston Bruins, for example, have had 15 of their 50 games go beyond regulation; how much more aggressive might they have been to close out a few of those in regulation with three points on the line?

From a seeding standpoint, Columbus and the Islanders would flip-flop spots in this format, giving the Jackets the Penguins in the first round (if the playoffs started today). In the West, the main deviation would be Calgary going from third in the Pacific to the final wild card. But other than that, not much has changed.

But the 3-2-1 format does create some gulfs that don't exist in the current format. The Blues currently hold a 10-point lead on the Stars; here it would be 14 points. Calgary is one point behind Vancouver; here it would be five points. Tampa Bay and Pittsburgh would have a little more daylight, too. Meanwhile, the mountain looks considerably higher to climb for teams like the Sabres, Canadiens and Rangers.

No points for overtime losses

An essential part of the NHL's parity parade -- or as commissioner Gary Bettman calls it, "competitive balance" -- is the charity point for an overtime loss.

What if we awarded teams two points for a regulation win, one point for a win in overtime or the shootout, and nothing for an overtime loss?

Playoff teams: Bruins, Lightning, Panthers; Capitals, Penguins, Hurricanes; Blue Jackets, Islanders as wild cards.

Playoff teams: Blues, Avalanche, Stars; Oilers, Canucks, Coyotes; Golden Knights, Jets as wild cards.

Now we're talking. The Hurricanes leap into the third seed, with the Islanders dropping to the last wild card, barely ahead of the Maple Leafs. This format does little good for two of the East's most frequent extra-time teams: The Bruins' cushion in the Atlantic is erased, and the Flyers end up knotted with the Rangers.

In the West, the biggest difference is in the wild card, as the Jets -- with the benefit of a tiebreaker -- nudge past the Flames into the last playoff spot. But the Oilers would also get a boost here, sitting atop the division through a tiebreaker.

Just wins, no 'loser points'

What if we did away with points altogether, something for which Islanders GM Lou Lamoriello has advocated in the past.

"I'm not one who personally is in favor of three-point games, but I'm also not in favor of getting a point if you don't win," Lamoriello said in 2017. "I'd rather see the game just be two and zero, or end up in a tie one and one. I'd rather see it that way than you just extend the number of points."

Here's what the season looks like in a 'just wins, no loser points' format.

Playoff teams: Lightning, Bruins, Panthers; Capitals, Penguins, Hurricanes; Islanders, Blue Jackets as wild cards.

Playoff teams: Blues, Avalanche, Stars; Canucks, Oilers, Coyotes; Flames, Golden Knights as wild cards.

The Lightning would leap over the Bruins into first place in the Atlantic. Carolina would go from the last wild card to third in the Metro. Columbus and Philadelphia are knotted in wins, but the Blue Jackets have more of them in regulation. The Flames again get the wild card, but it's Vegas that's the last team in.

But the biggest change in this format is aesthetic. The NHL's standards are, frankly, the most needlessly overcomplicated thing in sports -- yes, even worse than goalie interference penalties. As of 2019-20, there are no fewer than eight different categories to which one must pay attention in the standings: games, wins, losses, overtime losses, points, regulation wins, regulation and overtime wins and goal differential, which is the sixth of seven (!) tiebreakers in the current points system format. Going with just wins and losses, you have to pay attention to ... mainly wins and losses. Perhaps regulation wins, maybe overtime wins.

Looking ahead: Changes on the horizon?

Here's the thing about parity in today's NHL: It's all about inspiring hope, even if it's false. But do you know what inspired even more hope? Simplification. Let's say you're a San Jose Sharks fan. (Condolences, this season.) The current standings have them 11 points out of the final Western wild card. The "wins/losses" version of the standings has them four wins out. They're closer mathematically, and much closer rhetorically. See?

Different points system formats offer a few variations on the current standings. But outside of the Jets sneaking in through one alternative, we're not seeing any major swings in the 16 teams that hold down playoff spots compared to the current points system. This isn't what those who'd like to see a change in that format want to see, but is probably music to the ears of advocates for the status quo like Predators GM David Poile -- "I think this falls into the category of: If it ain't broke, don't fix it. ... The system works." -- and NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, who has said, "The point system is working extraordinarily well."

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – Gaby Lopez rolled in a 25-foot birdie putt at the seventh playoff hole Monday morning to win the Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions.

She took home the $180,000 winner’s check after Nasa Hataoka missed a 12-foot chance to extend the playoff.

Lopez, 26, wears her native Mexico’s colors on Sundays and did again in Monday’s playoff, peeling off her cold-weather gear to show off those colors for photos with the trophy, despite a frigid breeze than made the 45-degree temperatures feel even colder.

“Since I was a little kid, I fell in love with golf by representing Mexico outside Mexico, in the United States,” Lopez said. “It was always team events and we were always wearing red, white and green. I’m extremely proud to represent Mexico.”

Lopez represented Mexico in the 2016 Olympics and took a big step in qualifying to represent her country again in Tokyo this summer.

It was Lopez’s second LPGA title. She won the Blue Bay LPGA in 2018.

Hall of Fame pitcher John Smoltz successfully defended his title on Sunday in the celebrity portion of the pro-am.

Here's a look at what's happening in professional golf this week, and how you can watch it:

PGA Tour

Farmers Insurance Open

Thursday-Sunday, Torrey Pines GC (South/North), San Diego

Course specs: South – Par 72, 7,698 yards, designed by William Bell and William Bell Jr. (1957), redesigned by Rees Jones (2001 and 2019); North – Par 72, 7,258 yards, designed by William Bell and William Bell Jr. (1957), redesigned by Tom Weiskopf (2016)

Purse: $7.5 million

Defending champion: Justin Rose

Notables in the field: Rose, Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Jordan Spieth, Jason Day, Phil Mickelson, Patrick Reed, Rickie Fowler, Xander Schauffele

Tee times: TBD

TV schedule: Thursday-Friday, 3-7 p.m. ET (Golf Channel); Saturday, 1-2:45 p.m. ET (Golf Channel) and 3-6 p.m. ET (CBS); Sunday, 1-2:45 p.m. ET (Golf Channel) and 3-6:30 p.m. ET (CBS)

PGA Tour Live: Thursday-Friday, noon-7 p.m. ET; Saturday, 10:30 a.m.-6 p.m. ET; Sunday, 11:15 a.m.-6 p.m. ET

European Tour

Omega Dubai Desert Classic

Thursday-Sunday, Emirates GC (Majlis), Dubai, U.A.E.

Course specs: Par 72, 7,353 yards, designed by Karl Litten (1988)

Purse: $3.25 million

Defending champion: Bryson DeChambeau

Notables in the field: DeChambeau, Lee Westwood, Louis Oosthuizen, Sergio Garcia, Tommy Fleetwood, Bernd Wiesberger, Shugo Imahira, Viktor Hovland

Tee times: TBD

TV schedule: Wednesday, 11 p.m.-4 a.m. ET (Golf Channel); Thursday, 6:30-8:30 a.m. ET (Golf Channel); Friday, 2:30-8:30 a.m. ET (Golf Channel); Saturday, 3:30-8 a.m. ET (Golf Channel); Sunday, 3:30-8 a.m. ET (Golf Channel)

LPGA

Gainbridge LPGA at Boca Rio

Thursday-Sunday, Boca Rio GC, Boca Raton, Florida

Course specs: Par 72, 6,701 yards, designed by Robert von Hagge (1966)

Purse: $2 million

Defending champion: Inaugural event

Notables in the field: Nelly Korda, Lexi Thompson, Ariya Jutanugarn, Brooke Henderson, Jennifer Kupcho, Maria Fassi, Patty Tavatanakit, Albane Valenzuela, Yealimi Noh

Tee times: TBD

TV schedule: Thursday/Friday, 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m. ET (Golf Channel); Saturday, 3-5:30 p.m. ET (Golf Channel); Sunday, 3-5 p.m. ET (Golf Channel)

Kyle Beckerman has agreed a new contract with Real Salt Lake which gives him a shot at becoming Major League Soccer's all-time record appearance maker.

Beckerman's former RSL teammate Nick Rimando, who retired in the offseason, holds the record with 514.

The 37-year-old, who has signed on for his 21st MLS season in total and his 14th with RSL, said: "Over the last 13 seasons, Utah has been home for me and I'm proud of Real Salt Lake's role on and off the field in building the soccer community here.

"The fans have welcomed me from day one and I am eager to get back on the field for another season with RSL because there is still so much more to accomplish. I know I have a role to play in reaching those goals for myself and the club."

A former United States international, Beckerman is already the outfield leader in regular-season games with 488, games started with 456 and in minutes played with 40,772.

He won the MLS Cup with RSL in 2009 and is also a nine-time MLS All-Star.

Last season he made 24 starts as RSL finished third in the Western Conference.

Toronto FC captain Michael Bradley faces a lengthy stint on the sidelines for up to four months after club GM Ali Curtis said he needs surgery for a "severe and complicated" injury.

The U.S. international suffered an ankle injury in the 2019 MLS Cup in November, in which Toronto lost to the Seattle Sounders.

Curtis said the 32-year-old Bradley will have surgery on Tuesday in New York, a procedure to be performed by Dr. Martin O'Malley of the Hospital for Special Surgery, adding that the surgery was "the last resort."

"We are going to be careful and cautious about this," Curtis said. "But we're confident that once he has the surgery that he'll be able to return to play. It'll take probably approximately four months. Now that could be shorter or it could be lengthier depending on how we manage that process."

The news came as a surprise to Bradley's club and country teammate Jozy Altidore, who said on Monday that the injury "was handled poorly."

"In my opinion, it was handled poorly," Altidore told reporters. "This is an injury from two months ago and it's not the first time this happened in terms of ... we've seen our injury rate at this club [climb] since '18, and we're obviously trying to get it better, but it hasn't. Two months have gone by and now he's having surgery and he'll be out until June.

"I don't think it's good enough. He's a guy that takes care of himself in an incredible way. Incredible professional, he pushes himself, the group, he holds everybody to a high standard and I think he was let down," Altidore added.

Toronto opened up preseason camp this weekend and will travel to Florida and California to train before opening the regular season on Feb. 29.

The injury timeframe would also rule out Bradley for the United States friendlies against Costa Rica on Feb. 1 and against the Netherlands and Wales in March. The USMNT will participate in the inaugural CONCACAF Nations League tournament in June.

A son of former U.S. and current LAFC coach Bob Bradley, Michael Bradley has 17 goals in 151 international appearances.

Toronto head coach Greg Vanney called the loss of Bradley a "big blow."

"For sure we'll miss him," said Vanney. "It'll be time for somebody else to step up and we'll have an opportunity to fill those shoes. As a group, we have to do it because I don't think it's just one guy who's going to fill it."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Barcelona have made United States youth international Konrad de la Fuente an ultimatum, sources have told ESPN, as negotiations continue over a new contract.

The Spanish club have made De la Fuente an improved offer, with his terms up in the summer, but have told him if he doesn't accept it he risks being sidelined for the rest of the season.

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ESPN revealed last month that talks over a contract renewal had stalled with De la Fuente keen to move to Hertha Berlin, where he would link up with former U.S national team coach Jurgen Klinsmann.

There has also interest from other Bundesliga clubs.

Barca remain keen to hang on to the forward and have upped their offer to an initial salary of €450,000 annually rising to €600,000 over the course of a three-year deal, club sources said.

However, the latest offer comes with an ultimatum: sign the terms or risk not playing for the club again.

De la Fuente, 18, would initially play for Barca B in the Spanish third division, with a plan in place to eventually progress to the first team. He is playing for the U19s and made his first appearance of 2020 on Sunday following an injury, scoring after coming on as a substitute against Atletico Villacarlos.

The Miami-born forward has not yet responded to Barca's offer, with sources close to the player explaining the allure of playing top-level football in Germany is appealing to him.

He has been at Barcelona since 2014, though, and is grateful for everything the club have done for him so far.

Barca are aware of the interest from German sides but sources say they've received no bids for the player is this month.

De la Fuente will be free to leave in June if he doesn't renew, although any club would have to pay Barca development rights of up to €700,000.

De la Fuente, whose parents are from Haiti, is a regular with the U.S. U20s.

In an interview with ESPN last year, he described himself as a "dynamic winger, who is fast, skillful, tricky and likes to take players on."

In some ways, you have to admire Manchester United for their refusal to cave in to Sporting Lisbon's demand that they pay €80m for midfielder Bruno Fernandes.

Just over six months ago, Tottenham walked away from a deal for the Portugal international after Sporting resisted all attempts by the London club to chip away at their €45 million valuation of the player. Fast forward to January and Sporting believe that the 25-year-old, who signed a new contract just two months ago, is now worth almost double what they valued him at last summer.

Sources have told ESPN, however, that United's owners, the Glazer family, and executive vice chairman Ed Woodward have made it clear to Sporting that they will not do business unless they drop what United believe to be a vastly inflated figure for a player they scouted more than 20 times in 2019, but decided against pursuing when he was available for much less during the summer transfer window.

United, rightly or wrongly, are determined to bring some sanity to the transfer market by refusing to pay over the odds for players, and they will walk away from deals if the financial gap is too big to be bridged. But while it is an admirable stance, it also smacks of naivety on United's part and a failure to grasp that they are in a mess of their own making when it comes to improving the Old Trafford squad.

By failing to recruit properly last summer, United are now in a position of weakness in the transfer market, and selling clubs would be doing themselves a disservice if they allowed one of the richest clubs in the world to wriggle off the hook.

United need quality signings in all areas, and have for a while now, but don't be fooled into believing that this is all on Woodward, the man tasked with getting the deals done. United have been cutting corners in the transfer market for over a decade, attempting to find bargains and pay less than their rivals long before Sir Alex Ferguson and chief executive David Gill vacated the stage in the summer of 2013.

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Back in October 2010, Wayne Rooney threatened to leave United after voicing concerns over the club's ability to compete for the world's top players. This was three months after their summer window business amounted to signing Chris Smalling from Fulham, Javier Hernandez from Chivas, and Bebe, who cost £7m from Guimaraes and was signed despite Ferguson admitting he had only seen video footage of the winger's performances.

At the Old Trafford news conference when Smalling, Hernandez and Bebe were unveiled, Ferguson spoke about finding "value in the market" and condemned the "kamikaze" spending of Manchester City, who had just spent over £100m on Yaya Toure, David Silva, James Milner, Mario Balotelli and Jerome Boateng.

But time has shown that City were the smart guys in the market. They may have overspent and some players, such as Robinho and Roque Santa Cruz, were expensive flops, but they were playing catch-up and their self-styled accelerated acquisition strategy is what enabled them to become competitive as quickly as possible.

It is United who are now playing catch-up, not only to City, but Liverpool too, yet they are operating by the principles that they applied when the club was the dominant force in England, when they had the power to attract players because of the success they could almost guarantee. But now, they are in the position that City were 10 years ago and where Liverpool were in the early days of Jurgen Klopp in the sense that, to take a shortcut back to the top, they will have to pay inflated fees to get the players they want and need.

When City signed Carlos Tevez for £47.5m in 2009, they knew that a deal had already been agreed for United to pay £32m for the Argentine at the end of his two-year loan from his management company, but City did what it took to sign him. And when Liverpool needed a new centre-back and goalkeeper in 2018, they broke the world record for each position by paying £75m for Virgil van Dijk and £66.8m for Alisson.

United did the same last summer by making Harry Maguire the world's most expensive defender for £85m, but only after opening up with a £40m offer and taking almost two months to get the deal done. Their attempts to persuade Leicester to be sensible with their valuation proved utterly fruitless.

Now, they are haggling over a deal for Fernandes, with the two clubs almost €30m apart on valuations, yet it would be no surprise if United cave in once again and pay the asking price because they're in no position to tough it out and walk away. This is because the football world knows that United are in desperate need of new players and every club with a player to sell will look to cash in as best they possibly can.

United's failure to replace Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez with an experienced striker last summer, following their exits to Inter Milan, had already left them short of forwards even before Marcus Rashford's possible three-month absence with a back injury, but now they are faced with 11 days to find a replacement and are once again vulnerable to being forced to pay over the odds to get a new man in.

United have two choices. They either bite the bullet and pay more than they want to in order to sign the players Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's squad so desperately needs, or they continue to try to tame the transfer market by refusing to pay more than their own valuation. If they want to get back to the top, the second option may work in the end, but it will take an awfully long time to get there.

Missed any of the action around Europe this weekend? Have no fear: Gab Marcotti is here to catch you up with all the talking points in the latest Monday Musings.

Jump to: Man United's Rashford mistake? | Haaland's magic BVB debut | Setien wins Barca opener | Man City hurt by planning | Real lucky vs. Sevilla? | Juve still work in progress | Leipzig's success story | Lazio proving critics wrong | Arsenal's slump might be helpful | Inter breaking down? | Chelsea fans shouldn't worry | Coutinho no fit at Bayern? | And finally...

Did Man United make a mistake with Rashford?

The fact that Liverpool beat Manchester United -- this Manchester United -- 2-0 at home on Sunday obviously is no surprise. If there was some scenario where United could go to Anfield, park the bus, hope that Liverpool were somewhat sated by their gargantuan lead in the league (and their record-breaking 61 of a possible 63 points before the weekend) and nick something on the counterattack, that went out the window with Marcus Rashford's injury.

This being United, the fact that he had a stress fracture in his back, which became a double stress fracture after his substitute appearance against Wolves, led to more conspiracy and finger-pointing. Was it Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's fault for playing him in a (largely) meaningless cameo? Why did the club's medical team allow this?

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As ever, with injuries, we need to remind ourselves that we're not doctors (most of us, anyway) and we haven't examined Rashford's back (again, most of us) and, in any case, medicine isn't an exact science, which is why folks get second opinions. You would hope that if Rashford has been playing through injury all year, Solskjaer was aware of it and both he and Rashford were comfortable with the risks involved in doing so. The fact that he got hurt against Wolves is, frankly, irrelevant. If he hadn't played that game and had done it in the first 15 minutes against Liverpool, the outcome would have been the same.

Rashford's absence -- he's likely to be out until April at the earliest -- is of course a huge blow and puts further strain on an undermanned front line. It's pretty evident that Man United need another forward, even as a short-term option. It could make all the difference in reaching (or failing to reach) the Champions League spots next season. Coming up short would mean forsaking around $100 million in revenue in UEFA prize money and reduced commercial deals (the Adidas contract first and foremost).

The most frustrating thing is that you could see this coming. And while there has also been a good dose of bad luck -- whatever you think of Paul Pogba, he's their most gifted player by a country mile and has played just 72 minutes since September -- the reality is that this situation could have been avoided. (Also, oft-forgotten, is that two other top-four contenders, Arsenal and Spurs, are enduring difficult campaigns and have changed managers: that is a stroke of good fortune to partially offset the bad for United.)

As for the game itself, Liverpool railroaded them. They could have had five or six goals if their composure in the final third had been better, if David de Gea had been more ordinary and if Sadio Mane hadn't had an off day. In fact, it's pretty frightening how sharp Liverpool looked given their relatively humdrum performances (by their standards) in recent games and the fact that they knew they could have won this game at half-throttle.

Jurgen Klopp's crew showed the kind of form you want to see in the spring, at the business end of the Champions League. And given that they could seal the title by mid-March (possibly at Goodison, which would be interesting), you wonder whether at that point the focus won't shift entirely back on trying to repeat as European champions.

The most fun bit for the neutral was Alisson's mad sprint up the pitch to celebrate Mohamed Salah's goal that made it 2-0 in second-half stoppage time. There was just so much unbridled joy in that moment -- and so much nous in Alisson's quick thinking to hit it long previously, with Salah onside but behind the last United defender by virtue of still being in the Liverpool half -- that you can't help but conclude that, right now, this team is in the perfect state of mind. And that's on Klopp.

Haaland enjoys a magical Dortmund debut. Now what?

Sometimes you worry that you're needlessly overhyping players when you write stories like this. And maybe Borussia Dortmund executives Hans-Joachim Watzke and Michael Zorc at some point, in their most private moments, wondered if they got a bit carried away when they pulled off the January signing of Erling Braut Haaland, one of the sport's hottest prospects following his performance in the Champions League for FC Salzburg.

But then Haaland's first-team debut rolled around on Saturday and the doubts receded... at least for a while.

- Toe Poke: Why Haaland's 'hat trick' doesn't count in Bundesliga

Haaland came on with 10 minutes gone in the second half and Dortmund 3-1 down at Augsburg, a scoreline down to the usual mix of wayward finishing, cartoonish defending and a Marco Richter wonderstrike. All Haaland did was promptly score a hat-trick in an eventual 5-3 win, which could have been four if Jadon Sancho had squared the ball instead of netting it himself (not that he should have).

You want to say that Augsburg made it easy for him by failing to keep the ball while playing an absurdly high line? OK, sure. They didn't help themselves, but the technical ability, physicality and flat-out, rumbling speed (especially on the last goal) Haaland displayed were all very real. Equally real was the lift he gave his team when he came on and the sense we were about to see something special.

Dortmund manager Lucien Favre has a potentially generational player at his disposal. Using him correctly, keeping him fit (he wasn't 100 percent on Saturday) and letting him grow in his own time will be critical, though that won't necessarily be easy to manage.

Favre himself was close to getting fired in November. Until Haaland came on, it wasn't hard to see why they've been such a disappointment this season. They're fourth, level on points with archrival Schalke and with Leverkusen two points behind. Champions League football is by no means guaranteed next year, and given the big (once you factor in commissions) investment in Haaland, there will be pressure to play him.

Dortmund need to take a long view here. Thirty-one goals in 26 games this campaign is impressive, but they can't lose sight about why he's there: to fulfill his potential.

Setien gets off to a winning start at Barcelona

A Barcelona fan I know messaged me during Sunday's game with Granada saying "so happy to have my team back." I didn't need to ask what he meant. Quique Setien, who replaced Ernesto Valverde last week, had set up a side that was all about passing, possession and movement, with full-backs coming inside and the ball being at the center of the plan. It's not as if Valverde was some kind of long-ball devil (though his enemies depicted him that way), but it was pretty obvious that Setien's first Barca team was a throwback to a happier team, attempting to play the football we saw a decade ago when Pep Guardiola was there.

The crowd's appetite for this was evident in the way it greeted Riqui Puig when he came on. He's 20 and hasn't actually played a single minute of first-team football since last year. But he came to represent the paradigm of the "canterano" -- the home-grown kid with "Barca values" -- whom Valverde snubbed.

The problem was that Granada packed the box (as you'd expect a small club to do at the Camp Nou) and it turned into a ton of sterile possession. And, in fact, when Granada popped up at the other end, they even hit the woodwork. But 15 minutes from time, Lionel Messi, with a bit of help from Arturo Vidal (who some insist isn't a fit for Setien's "throwback" Barca), broke the ice and the three points were secured in a 1-0 win.

- Hunter: Barca's 'indefensible' treatment of Valverde
- Inside Story: How Barca replaced Valverde, brought in Setien
- Barca ratings vs. Granada: Messi, Puig lead the way

Getting the win under his belt will obviously make things easier for Setien. And while the vibe was very much that of the Guardiola era, he knows he can't just replicate that. His decision to play Messi through the middle in Luis Suarez' absence is testament to that: Antoine Griezmann may be a more obvious choice to impersonate a center forward, but if you want to press high and hard, you can't ask Messi to do it, so it's better to stick him centrally where there's less running.

Besides, not even Guardiola plays the Guardiola football of 2010. The game has moved on and, you hope, Barcelona's top brass understand this. Besides, Setien is his own man, a guy who has been in management for two decades. Let him be himself and then draw your conclusions based on performance.

Man City's poor planning to blame for failed title race

Those of us who maintained that "it ain't over until it's over" have to bow to reality now. Manchester City's 2-2 home draw with Crystal Palace leaves them 16 points back, which will become 19 points if Liverpool win their game in hand.

Yeah, I know what you're thinking: "OK, Captain Obvious! Liverpool wrapped this up ages ago!" Watch as much football as I have for as long as I've watched and you'll know that teams collapse, rivals go on runs, and seemingly cast-iron leads can disappear in the space of a month. But when you get to 16 points (and a game in hand) by late January, it really is over -- also because Manchester City's priority will, you'd imagine, shift to the Champions League.

Man City ratings: Stones a liability vs. Palace

Saturday's draw with Palace followed a familiar script: Man City controlled the game, created most of the chances, made a couple of blunders and dropped points. At the very least, this calls for a serious review from the top down in how this group was put together. I've mentioned it before, but the Leroy Sane and Aymeric Laporte injuries were heavy blows. We might not have a title race even if they had stayed fit, but it would be a darn sight closer. Instead, City have eight points fewer than last season and 14 fewer than the year before. They have just two more than they did in Guardiola's first season, when they spent much of the campaign in fourth place, before sneaking into third, 15 points off the pace.

This was poor planning, plain and simple. Logic would suggest addressing this in January in order to mount a sustained challenge for the Champions League. I know it's not a priority to a certain section of City fans for whom UEFA are tantamount to the devil, but I guarantee you it matters to Guardiola and to his players.

Real Madrid get some luck vs. Sevilla

Sevilla were furious that Luuk de Jong's goal against Real Madrid on Saturday was disallowed. And so they should be. Yes, Nemanja Gudelj effectively set a pick, basketball-style, that wiped out Eder Militao and gave De Jong a free run at the header. But Gudelj was standing still and it was Militao who ran into him. That's not a foul. Period.

That said, on the balance of play, Real Madrid were worthy for the 2-1 win. And they did it with a front line of Luka Jovic, Rodrygo and Lucas Vazquez: a center forward who has scored once all season in the league, a winger who turned 19 this month and another winger who hadn't featured at all since mid-November.

Zinedine Zidane is rummaging deep in his squad as he looks for answers and he's churning out results. That's what a manager is supposed to do. Those who accused him of being just a man-manager and Galactico whisperer are being proved wrong.

Juve keep winning but are a work in progress

Juve pulled away at the top of Serie A as Cristiano Ronaldo's two goals (one with the help of a big deflection) gave them a 2-1 win over Parma. He's on a tear right now -- 12 goals in his last nine games -- but on the downside, Juve struggled far more than you'd expect. (Or, as Maurizio Sarri put it, they didn't have a "clean" game.)

Once again, it feels like a version of Max Allegri's Juve and not what Sarri was supposedly brought in for. There's time to work on things, but you sense that as long as he's forced to keep changing personnel and formations it will be that much harder to build chemistry.

Time to praise Leipzig

OK, this is bordering on the ridiculous. Leipzig's 3-1 win over Union Berlin means they have scored three goals or more in nine consecutive Bundesliga games. They have failed to score just once all year in all competitions and, yup, they're sitting top of the league, with a four-point gap. (Equally weird is that their last 11 goals have come in the second half.)

Whatever you think of this club -- and yes, there's plenty not to like -- what Julian Nagelsmann is doing is remarkable. And, frankly, different from everybody else.

Lazio keep proving the skeptics wrong

It's now 11 wins in a row in Serie A for Lazio, after their 5-1 thumping of Sampdoria. Simone Inzaghi's magical moment endures: the record is 17 straight, set by Roberto Mancini's Inter and -- don't look now -- if they win the derby next weekend, it may even be within reach. Their next six outings are all either at home or winnable road games.

And, of course, you can't talk Lazio without mentioning Ciro Immobile. His hat-trick takes him to 23 league goals on the season. Not only is he on pace to break the Serie A record (held by Gonzalo Higuain), he's also well ahead of every other goal scorer in the Big Five. The skeptics (including yours truly) are being proved wrong.

Arsenal's slump might help their rebuild

If Arsenal lose at Chelsea on Tuesday night, they will be 13 points out of fourth place and, depending on results elsewhere, possibly out of the top half of the table. It sounds horrendous but it might actually prove liberating in the long-term and allow Mikel Arteta to continue his rebuild.

This reshaping at the Emirates is happening in baby steps and isn't comforted by results -- based on the run of play, they should have beaten Sheffield United on Saturday instead of drawing 1-1 -- but you can see what he's doing and how things are coming together. There's an identity being formed and while by the time Arsenal compete for the title again (or at least the Champions League) much of the cast will have changed, at least you feel they're moving in the right direction again.

Inter showing signs of wear and tear

Inter's 1-1 draw at Lecce on Sunday sees them slip four points behind Juventus and, yeah, there's a sense of deja vu. Once again, they huffed and puffed and scored first, but dropped points late in the game. They're not in a position right now to manage a lead as effectively as a big team should.

Conte continues to blame the fact that they need to play with intensity, otherwise his football won't work. And because they've had injuries and have older players, it's hard for them to do that sometimes. Fine. But if you don't have the conditions to play a certain way, maybe it's time to change up the way you play. If he gets his hands on Christian Eriksen, that option becomes much more viable.

Chelsea fans shouldn't worry about Newcastle defeat

Another reminder that if you care about future results, the best indicator football can offer is current performance, not current results.

Chelsea lost 1-0 at Newcastle after pretty much dominating the game. It happened in injury time; it happened thanks to an improbable touch and a goalkeeping blunder. That's football. It's not voodoo; you accept it. But it goes to reinforce just how wrong those who say "it's all about results" time and again are.

Performance matters. And while Chelsea have a long way to go, which is pretty normal when you've had a transfer ban and have a side packed with youngsters, they're well on their way.

Bayern smashed Hertha but Coutinho doesn't fit

As everybody knows, Jurgen Klinsmann and Bayern did not exactly part ways on the best of terms. So when they came face-to-face again in Berlin when Hertha hosted Hansi Flick's side and Klinsmann's crew kept a clean sheet in the first half, you could imagine the smoke coming out of Uli Hoeness' ears.

But it was a bit of an illusion. Hertha held the 0-0 that long because Bayern were either inaccurate or unlucky in the final third. They certainly created plenty of chances and when they broke through via Thomas Muller at the hour mark, the floodgates opened on their way to a 4-0 win.

On the pitch, Flick opted to play Philippe Coutinho behind the striker, with Muller wide. The experiments are clearly ongoing but the Brazilian still doesn't quite seem to fit. (And, for that matter, neither do the pieces around him.) Unless there's a big uptick, expect him to be back at the Camp Nou next summer, which, if Quique Setien is still in charge at Barcelona, might not be a bad thing.

And finally...

Bas Dost scored for Eintracht Frankfurt in their 2-1 away win at Hoffenheim, which takes them to 21 points in the table (good for 11th place) and snapping a four-game losing streak. He has five goals in 12 league appearances. Overall, he has seven goals in 16 appearances in all competitions, all of them from open play.

This concludes the latest installment of #BasDostWatch.