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There’s a cracking atmosphere at the London Stadium. Alas, no sign of Danny Dyer yet. The players look ready for action; they jolly well need to be. This is huge.

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Millie Bright is in the stadium, the Chelsea legend having retired last month.

Gordon gets in touch: “I am wondering if the Chelsea players will give their opponents today a guard of honour after City became WSL champions?”

For Nottingham Forest, just how precious might Elliot Anderson’s late equaliser at home to Newcastle prove? Vítor Pereira’s side knew they had to match or better West Ham’s result later against the Premier League leaders, Arsenal, and if West Ham fail to win at the London Stadium, then Forest’s mood will improve again and relegation fears will substitute. In a game devoid of quality, the Newcastle substitutes Jacob Ramsey and Harvey Barnes combined to seize Eddie Howe’s side a 74th-minute lead, but the former Newcastle youngster showed great endeavour to level.

For Forest, who Pereira warned had no time to wallow after exiting the Europa League on Thursday, the wait goes on to guarantee Premier League survival, but this point – and their vastly superior goal difference – could go some way to doing so. Anderson has been Forest’s best player this season by some distance and after playing a give and go with James McAtee, a Forest sub, the England midfielder burned into the six-yard box and sent an effort past Nick Pope from a tight angle. The likelihood is this was Anderson’s penultimate Forest game at the City Ground, the 23-year-old a target for Manchester City and Manchester United this summer.

It was always going to be difficult to follow up the glory of booking a Europa League final place for Aston Villa but a tired draw at Burnley fell below expectations. This was supposed to be the day Villa all-but-secured Champions League football by beating an already-relegated team but instead were held on an entertaining afternoon at Turf Moor .

Villa are four points clear of sixth-placed Bournemouth with Liverpool and Manchester City to come, making this a missed opportunity, even if they do have the backup of facing Freiburg for a place at Europe’s top table. Jaidon Anthony and Zian Flemming sandwiched goals from Ross Barkley and Ollie Watkins, ensuring Villa cannot afford to completely rest for the remainder of the domestic season.

David Moyes’s European dream is now hanging by a slender thread. Against a Crystal Palace side who have been distracted by their Conference League exploits, Everton were unable to close the gap on their rivals as Jean-Philippe Mateta came off the bench to deny them victory.

It could have been worse for Moyes had the referee, Tom Bramall, awarded a penalty when James Garner hauled down Jørgen Strand Larsen just before half-time or Adam Wharton’s shot not struck the outside of the post in the 90th minute.

Deep in stoppage time, Dario Vidosic’s staff tried to ask him about plans for extra time, but the Brighton head coach just had a feeling. “Just wait... I feel like it’s coming here.” He was right. Nadine Noordam pounced on a loose ball in the box from a free-kick and completed a remarkable comeback to book Brighton a place at Wembley for the first time in their women’s team’s history.

The substitute’s 95th-minute winner saw Brighton fight back from 2-0 down to win a classic Women’s FA Cup semi-final and leave Liverpool with a sense of despair, deja vu and heartbreak, as they were beaten in stoppage-time in the semi-finals of this competition for the second season running.

If the scale of celebration that met the conclusion to this derby is anything to go by, Celtic believe retention of the Scottish title is within touching distance. This felt a hugely significant afternoon, not only in respect of palpable optimism in Glasgow’s East End but for discussion around the Rangers manager, Danny Röhl. His side’s latest capitulation will raise further questions over whether Röhl is in the right movie.

Celtic have cut Hearts’ lead at the summit to a single point and three goals. The next chapter in this most thrilling of races is on Wednesday evening. Celtic travel to Motherwell as Hearts host Falkirk. The possibility of a final-day shootout – Hearts visit Celtic Park on Saturday – is rising. In Celtic, Hearts have direct opponents who have found their groove at precisely the right time. Falling short at this point, when seeking to become the first non-Old Firm title winner since 1985, would hurt Hearts badly.

• Middlesbrough apprehended alleged spy last week

• Saints may claim that the offender was an intern

Middlesbrough have been approached by fellow Championship clubs who harbour suspicions that their pre-match training sessions may also have been spied on by Southampton.

The English Football League has charged the south-coast club with misconduct after a member of Tonda Eckert’s backroom was allegedly caught breaching regulations by filming and making audio recordings of one of Kim Hellberg’s final practice sessions before his Middlesbrough side faced Eckert’s Southampton in Saturday’s playoff semi-final first leg at the Riverside Stadium. As Hellberg prepares his players for Tuesday’s second leg at St Mary’s Stadium with the score goalless, Championship rivals are understood to be examining any available CCTV training-ground footage from recent weeks.

Experts warn of ‘soft target’ vulnerabilities and intelligence gaps as federal agencies prepare to secure 78 matches across 11 cities

Fifa World Cup matches set to be held across the United States face heightened terrorism risks, with experts warning that vulnerabilities are being amplified by the US-Israel conflict with Iran and a depletion of counter-terrorism expertise within federal law enforcement.

The biggest threat stems from homegrown violent extremists, often lone actors that may have become radicalized online by extreme political views or jihadists such as the Islamic State (Isis), said four counter-terror experts interviewed.

Aston Villa and Crystal Palace’s runs to European finals are historic achievements, but symptomatic of a worrying trend

There will be no doubting Unai Emery’s supremacy in the Europa League if he is reacquainted with the trophy in Istanbul this month. A fifth title would add to the Aston Villa manager’s legend and it would show he can do it with an English club. The latter achievement, though, may be diminished in value. A greater concern lies in the way that Premier League clubs, gradually but discernibly, are dominating Europe’s smaller competitions in a way Uefa surely could never have intended.

Villa will be the eighth English finalists from the last 22 teams to reach the Europa League’s showpiece. Should they win, it would be the first time since the first two years of the Uefa Cup, its predecessor with the same trophy, that sides from England have won the secondary tournament in consecutive seasons. They would build on Tottenham’s haphazard triumph of last May and while neither consistency nor relative excellence should be sniffed at their progress contributes to a concerning broader trend.

The eggheads can argue the head coach is merely an interchangeable cog in a team’s fortunes – but emotion counts in an ever-changing game

Your manager has fallen out with the sporting director and results have gone awry, so you replace him. Easily done, it happens. But then it turns out that the new manager could not be more ill-suited to the squad, results go awry and so you replace him.

A bad leader would hesitate and hope things worked out, but you are ruthless and decisive and turn to a manager who was once a youth player at the club and has some anecdotes about the old days. But it turns out some people think his methods are old‑fashioned and results go awry, so you replace him.

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• Fàbregas’s team up to fourth in Serie A before later action

• Hamburg get better of Europa League finalists Freiburg

Como kept up their stunning bid for Champions League football on Sunday by beating relegated Verona 1-0 and moving to within two points of Serie A’s top four.

Tasos Douvikas rattled home the only goal of the game in the 71st minute at the Stadio Marcantonio Bentegodi as Como moved up to fifth and piled pressure on fourth-placed Milan.

• ‘It’s unfair, they saw everything’, says Boro manager

• Southampton’s Eckert walks out after questioning

Southampton’s manager, Tonda Eckert, walked out of the post-match press conference at Middlesbrough on Saturday after repeatedly refusing to answer questions about allegations that one of his analysts had spied on Kim Hellberg’s training session last Thursday.

Shortly afterwards Hellberg said his Middlesbrough team were victims of “cheating” in the lead-up to this vital Championship playoff semi-final first leg.

After a biblical downpour, the skies cleared, and Manchester City executed the gameplan: secure victory and three points to keep their breath on Arsenal’s neck.

The clincher arrived via Erling Haaland’s 26th Premier League goal of the season – as with his side’s performance this was hardly pretty but no one in blue cared. Antoine Semenyo marauded down the right, his cross hit at least one Brentford body, the ball came to Haaland who, with a second stab at it, bundled home, the No 9 facing away from goal.

• Teenager had performed well in 1-1 draw with Chelsea

• Coach: ‘He said that was enough … he was playing well’

Arne Slot said he understood the boos that greeted Liverpool’s draw with Chelsea and his decision to substitute Rio Ngumoha but remains “100% convinced” he can win back the Anfield crowd next season.

Anfield’s frustrations at an underwhelming season came to the surface as Liverpool were held 1-1 by a Chelsea team that had lost six Premier League matches in a row and conceded 11 goals in their three previous away games.

• Slavia could forfeit match and have stadium closed

• Slavia chair calls incident in derby ‘disgrace’

Slavia Prague face stiff punishment after their fans invaded the pitch during stoppage time in a derby against Sparta in the Czech league on Saturday night. At the time, Slavia were leading 3-2, a scoreline that would have secured their defence of the Czech league title with three games to spare.

The disciplinary committee of the country’s football association said after an extraordinary meeting on Sunday that “such behaviour will not be tolerated in professional football”. Slavia’s punishment could be announced on Tuesday, it said. It could include forfeiting the match, banning fans from the stadium and a fine.

Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Nicky Bandini and Paul Watson as Arsenal make a first men’s Champions League final in 20 years … and get an edge in the Premier League.

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On today’s podcast: Arsenal reach the men’s Champions League final for the first time in 20 years, a timely-in-form Bukayo Saka with the decisive goal. They defended like we know they can defend – limiting Atlético to virtually nothing.

The panel discuss why the whole affair wasn’t as nerve-wracking as it should have been. Elsewhere, this win is the second great result for Arsenal in two days after Manchester City dropped points in their 3-3 draw away at Everton on Monday night. It means the title is in Arsenal’s hands with three games to go.

Also, Nottingham Forest make eight changes and still beat Chelsea, Ewan Murray joins us from the jazz bar and we answer your questions.

Chapters:

00:00 - Coming up...

00:49 - Arsenal thought to UCL final

26:47 - City lose vital ground in the Premier League title race

35:08 - Are Chelsea the weirdest team in England?

45:10 - Ewan Murray's jazz corner

1:02:40 - Paul Watson's Vaduz corner

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The much-loved football sticker album is to be discontinued after 2030. Guardian writers recall their thrills and frustrations

With this summer’s World Cup already mired in controversy over politicisation, potential travel bans and rows over ticket prices, fans were dealt another piece of sad news this week: the tournament’s much-loved Panini sticker album will be discontinued after 2030.

Guardian writers recall their Panini memories from years gone by.

Footballer has 664 million followers but his boring presence is a reminder of how reel-life destroys what it touches

Buy the backpack airlines hate. Fawn strangely at a child athlete. This TV presenter drank olive oil for a month and absolutely nothing happened. The streets (no actual streets involved) won’t forget (robots can’t forget) Paul Pogba (or equivalent coding).

Nineties dance hits. Ruben Amorim loyalists. Argue with fake fans over a fake photo of fake empty seats. Buy a backpack that hates you because you once thought about buying a backpack, and like a Hungarian grandmother it will never, ever forget and you will be punished.

Former Chelsea forward is thriving on the south coast and targeting victory over Liverpool in the Women’s FA Cup

Fran Kirby knows what she brings. She always has. The Brighton forward is not young for a footballer but, at 32, she’s not old either and, injury free, is reminding people she still has it. “I know I am not the same player that I was when I was 25, I’m not naive,” she says. “That’s not who I am anymore, but I know what I can bring and that is creativity, the passes that other people won’t try. I’ve always said it: I will always try a pass, even if it doesn’t come off. That’s how I play. I play with risk. Sometimes it doesn’t work, sometimes it does.”

That eye for a pass is frequently on display. A recent standout was Kirby’s assist for Kiko Seike in Brighton’s thrilling 3-2 win over Manchester City. The obvious move was to play a pass into Seike’s feet; instead Kirby squeezed the ball between two defenders, taking them out of the action, and into space for her Japanese teammate to collect and fire in. It was vintage Kirby and, after her Chelsea career was blighted by injuries and pericarditis (inflammation of the heart lining), it is wonderful to see a woman who earned 77 caps for England playing at such a level.

As soccer fans turn their attention to the future of the sport in the States, we revisit four oft-overlooked moments – and one famous kick – that shaped its past

• This was originally published in the newsletter The World Behind the Cup. Sign up for it here.

The last time the US hosted the men’s World Cup in 1994, many Americans viewed soccer as a game they watched their kids play on Saturday mornings, not the world’s most beloved sport. Thirty-two years later, the sport has exploded in popularity and the USA have become a regular fixture at World Cups. But many people don’t realize the US’s World Cup history extends all the way back to the first tournament staged – when the US men had their best-ever finish, reaching the semi-finals.

The tale of those connected with the US team is often bleak, but it’s also more deeply rooted and richer than is often appreciated. As US soccer fans turn their attention to the future of the sport, we revisit four often overlooked moments – and one widely celebrated kick – of the USA’s early World Cup history.

This was originally published in the newsletter The World Behind the Cup. Sign up for it here.

Right-back has unique skill but there is more to his game as he targets European football and an Italy call-up

There is only one place to start with Brentford’s Michael Kayode: his unique baby gender reveal at an empty Gtech Community Stadium in February. The 21-year-old walked towards the West Stand, the frame of the goal covered in balloons, and after wiping the ball with a towel, it was time for his trademark long throw, though on this occasion only from the edge of the D. After the ball rippled the net, pink smoke confirmed his partner, Eleonora, is expecting a girl.

Given Kayode launched the ball 65.4 metres last September – further than any other player in the Premier League since Opta began recording such data in 2019-20 – it is hard not to think he was underselling himself. “I didn’t want to miss,” he says, breaking into laughter, “so I just kept it easy.” Family, friends, a videographer and photographer, plus the couple’s pomeranian, Kiri, were the only ones present. “It was a really special moment and celebrating like this was unbelievable … I just have to say thanks to Brentford for giving me use of the stadium.”

The club chair said the move to the London Stadium showed they were not a ‘tinpot club’ but now relegation threat looms

When David Sullivan was pressed on why West Ham bothered to move to the London Stadium, the lack of substance to his argument offered a window into the club’s dysfunction. “I just think we feel like a big club,” Sullivan said in an interview with the Guardian in December 2017. “Not a tinpot club. When players come to look at West Ham, they look at where you play.”

Look deeper, though. Analysing the club chair’s answer nine years on, the conclusion is that this is an owner whose desire to win is cancelled out by his listlessness. Feeling like a big club, after all, is not the same as being a big club. It is a decade since West Ham departed from Upton Park, their tinpot home, and told their fans that doing so would take them to the next level. “A world-class stadium with a world-class team,” was the infamous sell from Karren Brady, the recently departed vice-chair, to which the best retort may be that line in the club’s recent accounts “forecasting a liquidity shortfall in summer 2026”, as well as the “severe but plausible scenario” of relegation causing an even bigger financial crisis three years after victory in the Conference League was followed by the £105m sale of Declan Rice to Arsenal.

The tiny Italian club are flying high with the help of the former Arsenal player, ambitious owners and a scouting guru inspired by Football Manager

The serene sound of lapping water is broken only by the whir of a seaplane engine swooping to land. Outside the hangar to which the aircraft will soon return, a crowd has gathered well before kick-off. Later, most will scale the steep steps of the adjacent Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia.

To the right sits Villa Carminati, a new private members’ club that also houses hospitality guests on matchdays. It is a unique setting for a unique football club. When bathed in sunshine, as was the case for last Sunday’s goalless draw with Napoli, Como 1907 is a waterside paradise. Or, as their president, Mirwan Suwarso, puts it when drawing parallels between the club and Disney, it is the “theme park” division of the “main brand … Lake Como”.

Defeat to Arsenal could usher in a period of intense change, but whether coach will stick around is an open question

“I love you,” Diego Simeone said, but they only had 14 games to save the season. It was the night before Atlético Madrid faced Barcelona in the Champions League quarter-final first leg in early April and the manager was sitting alongside Antoine Griezmann, unexpectedly opening up in a press conference of all places, emotion and admiration expressed publicly as the end drew near. “A player first, then a friend,” in the coach’s words. Griezmann had recently announced that he was leaving for Orlando City. That was the bad news; the good news was that he would do so at the close of a campaign that could be for ever, that he was still here at all.

The threat had been that Griezmann would go with immediate effect, departing in March before the season was even finished, his American contract already agreed and not easy to change, faced by a reluctance to release him. But how, Atlético’s coach, CEO and teammates insisted, could he leave when the pinnacle of his 10 years at the club unexpectedly still lay ahead? So meetings were held, pressure applied, a solution found that allowed him to stay a little longer and leave a legacy unlike anything else. “The best is still to come,” Griezmann said. “I love you, but if you don’t run, I’m taking you off,” Simeone reminded him. “There are eight league games, one in the cup [final] and, if God wills it, five more Champions League matches.”

• ‘I crossed the line’ says 34-year-old Brazil forward

• Neymar hugs teenage teammate after Santos goal

Neymar has publicly apologised to his Santos teammate Robinho Júnior for slapping him during a training session, as the pair appeared to put the dispute behind them during a game on Tuesday.

Santos said they had opened an investigation this week after the altercation between Neymar and the 18-year-old son of Robinho, the former Real Madrid and Manchester City striker.

Visit will be the first time a North Korean women’s football team has competed on southern soil since the 2014 Incheon Asian Games

A North Korean women’s football club will travel to South Korea this month, marking the first visit by a northern sports delegation in nearly eight years, at a time of near-total estrangement between the two Koreas.

Naegohyang Women’s FC, based in North Korea’s capital Pyongyang, will face South Korea’s Suwon FC Women at Suwon sports complex, on 20 May for the semi-finals of the AFC Women’s Champions League.

Many of us struggle to not get sucked into the content machine, even if we simply say: ‘This doesn’t matter’

Last week a video did the rounds of Diego Simeone getting annoyed with Ben White for walking over an enormous Atlético Madrid crest-doormat placed literally in the middle of the tunnel entrance which Ben White had to walk into to get to the room Atlético Madrid had themselves selected for Ben White to get changed in.

Then on Tuesday night, Diego Simeone walked over an enormous Arsenal crest-doormat situated in the middle of the tunnel at the Emirates Stadium to get to the room Arsenal had themselves selected for Diego Simeone and the rest of his Atlético Madrid side to get changed in.

Something of an obsessive with tidiness, the interim coach has beaten all the club’s closest rivals in his short time in charge

We’ll get on to the more pressing business of whether Michael Carrick deserves the full-time Manchester United job in a moment. There’s plenty to discuss: tactics and philosophy, character and comportment, the squad he inherited from Ruben Amorim and how United might strengthen it in the summer window. But first: I want you to imagine eating an entire dover sole with the bones left in, while under the gaze of the former England international Trevor Francis.

You’re in a fancy restaurant in Birmingham. You’re 18 years old, and have ordered the fish with potatoes on the assumption that it will essentially be a posh chippy supper. The sole arrives, the waiter asks whether you want it filleted, and because you don’t know what that means, you say no. Immediately you feel the painful prickles on your tongue, the unsatisfying gnash of skeletal marine matter between your teeth. Naturally, you don’t want to look rude or foolish in front of your new manager. So you put on a brave face, and keep chewing. Meanwhile, Trevor Francis keeps watching.

Khvicha Kvaratskhelia’s trickery and imagination in Munich gave a reminder of the challenge facing Arsenal in the final

Well, it was never going to be quite the same. You only get one all-time high, one first kiss, one Catcher in the Rye, one loved-up alien-ball dreamscape of a game like the first leg between these two teams.

In the event Bayern Munich never really laid a glove on Paris Saint-Germain at the Allianz Arena. They trailed from the third minute to Ousmane Dembélé’s goal, drew level on the night through Harry Kane at the death, but looked in between like a team trying to generate energy from a standing start, always kept at one remove by the extended arm, the palm on their forehead, fists whirling in the empty air between.

In the space of a week the mood has changed, with positive energy replacing suffering, and two trophies are suddenly within reach

It was a soundbite designed to go viral, the kind the ex-pros in the TV studios are always looking to confect; snappy, heavy on hyperbole, bang in the moment. Thierry Henry made it pop on Tuesday night as he interviewed Bukayo Saka on CBS Sports after Arsenal had beaten Atlético Madrid to advance to the Champions League final. “We were the Invincibles. You will be the Unforgettables,” Henry said.

There it was, as laid out by one of the greats, the goalscoring hero of Arsenal’s unbeaten bolt to the 2004 Premier League title, the last one they won.

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Striker reflects on the ultimate high with Leicester and the role of the self-titled ‘Inbetweeners’ in his success

“I was just a little freak in the works.” Jamie Vardy is reflecting on his career with the usual levels of self-deprecation and pondering whether anyone could possibly board the same rollercoaster. “It’s not the common way of doing things, is it? I don’t think it will probably happen again, but it did happen for me and it was hard work. It really was tough, but all worth it.”

Humour has always been a preferred Vardy tool for removing the sting from a serious point. He is speaking to mark a new documentary about his rise, which brought him from warehouse work making walking frames and crutches to scarcely credible levels of Premier League success.

After 10 years without a Women’s Super League title, City are champions once more – here’s how they did it

The sight of Rebecca Knaak fighting back tears on hearing the full-time whistle last Sunday summed up what this means. The Manchester City defender had sustained a painful shoulder injury during a victory over Liverpool snatched by her late header so probably had her own reasons for finding the combination of relief, soreness and joy a little overwhelming. But her emotions could have been felt by any of the longer-serving season-ticket holders in the stands after a decade-long wait for a Women’s Super League title.

When City lifted this trophy in 2016, the landscape of the English women’s game was wholly different. The club, then managed by Nick Cushing, completed the 16-game campaign unbeaten and clinched the title on a day when they deployed a starting XI featuring nine English and two Scottish players from a squad that included only six non-English players. It was a time before the wider, full-time professionalism of the league and the influx of overseas talent.

It was an honour to be asked to help find talent for the men’s team and I am enjoying and benefiting from the responsibility

The buzz after I mentioned doing some scouting in the men’s game for Bayern Munich, during my appearance as an analyst on Swedish broadcaster SVT for the men’s team’s Champions League match against Real Madrid, is a bit of a double-edged sword.

On the one hand, I thought: ‘Why is this such big news? It shouldn’t be.’ On the other hand, I understand it and I’m happy there has been so much positivity and encouragement around it. I hope it widens people’s perspectives and helps break barriers for women working in men’s football, because I think we’re ready for that, men’s football is ready for it and it needs it. I hope it inspires other clubs to see it as a good idea. Why not give these opportunities to someone who wants them and wants to prepare for their career after football?

Having overseen a historic return to the Premier League, businessman is now aiming his sights even higher

Doug King is discussing the night Coventry clinched promotion to the Premier League after 25 years away. He had a tear in his eye when the moment arrived at Blackburn and, after eventually exiting the Ewood Park boardroom, the champagne flowing, the straight-talking owner worth hundreds of millions hunkered down at a Travelodge adjacent to a service station on the M65. “It was ... noisy,” he says, taking a second to land on the best adjective, “because all I could hear pretty much all night was: ‘We are Premier League.’”

It has led King to feel like a party planner of late. The biggest one yet was Monday’s open-top bus parade which started on Jimmy Hill Way, named after the manager who in 1967 led the club into the top flight for the first time. After Coventry were crowned champions last month, King guzzled from the trophy. “I didn’t think the lid would come off, so we had to make the most of that,” he says with a smile.

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This feels like a good day to distract ourselves from [gestures in general direction of outside world] … so let’s check in on the latest events at Real Madrid. Have they finally found dressing-room harmony? Ah. Eek. Oh boy. Two statements from the club on Thursday revealed an “incident in the first-team training session” involving midfielders Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni, with the former suffering “head trauma”. It’s now emerged that Valverde needed stitches after a second altercation in as many days with his teammate. After a full and frank exchange of views in Wednesday’s training session at Valdebebas, Valverde then accused Tchouaméni of leaking news of that exchange, resulting in an unseemly tussle where the Uruguayan fell and hit his head on a table. We can only imagine that poor Álvaro Arbeloa, who had just popped out for morale-boosting bocadillos, walked back in to find everything on fire, like Donald Glover in that Community episode.

If Arsenal fans find that they are getting ripped off by hotels in Budapest for the Bigger Cup final, they might try booking hotels in Vienna near the main train station. Vienna-Budapest is less than three hours by train; a pleasant trip along the Danube. Trains run every hour, cost about €53 one way, and the fastest train makes the trip in 2hr 20min. The hotel prices in Vienna should be back down to normal … the Eurovision Song Contest will be over on 16 May. Bratislava might also be a better place to stay and the beer is cheaper” – Eric Ries (“not a travel agent, nor a worker for the Austrian National Railway”).

On a similar vein to Declan Rice’s misquote (yesterday’s Football Daily letters), I remember sometime ago when Manchester United were having problems, Rio Ferdinand was being interviewed about how the players should react. He replied that ‘someone had to assume the mantelpiece’” – Peter Arnold.

This is an extract from our daily football email … Football Daily. To get the full version, just visit this page and follow the instructions.

The Wellington Phoenix coach reflects on the aftermath of the Olympic spying scandal and leading her team into a first A-League Women’s finals campaign

Football is not the kind of profession that lends itself to time off for birthdays and the like. Especially when you’re preparing to lead Wellington Phoenix into their first A-League women’s finals campaign, as Bev Priestman was last week. Yet, especially when contrasted with last year, when she was still in the midst of a one-year Fifa ban after the spying scandal that engulfed Canada’s women’s football team during the Paris Olympics, being among “her people” turned out to be a gift in and of itself.

“It was my 40th birthday [last week],” Priestman says. “And it’s those moments I think to a year ago, and how I felt.

Sunday’s edition of the famous rivalry felt like the least important in years, except for the uncertain futures of both managers

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It’s been a long time since a Manchester United v Liverpool game felt of less consequence. These are the two most successful sides in English league history, hailing from neighbouring cities and they have a rivalry that stretches back well over a century. Yet it felt perhaps only the seventh-most significant fixture of the weekend, behind the games involving the two title contenders, Arsenal and Manchester City, and the four sides still scrapping to avoid joining Wolves and Burnley in being relegated this season – Leeds, Nottingham Forest, West Ham and Tottenham.

United’s 3-2 win sealed their place in next season’s Champions League while, barring very odd swings of goal difference, Liverpool need just three points from their remaining three games to be certain of their own qualification. For both, the biggest issue now is deciding who manages them next season – and this was a ragged enough game to cast doubts over the suitability of Michael Carrick and Arne Slot for their respective sides.

Plus: youngest players to score a trophy-clinching goal, an apology to Albert Kidd and keepers seeing red

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“Sheffield Wednesday finished their Championship season on zero points, accumulating 18 points throughout their 46-game season after being handed an 18-point deduction for severe financial mismanagement,” notes Michael Butler. “But has any team finished on zero points simply because they lost every league game?”

There are many instances of teams finishing on zero points (with deductions), but one really has to delve deep to find those teams unfortunate enough to lose every single match in a full season. Even Fort William, famously branded as the “worst football team in Britain” after going 840 days and 73 matches without a win in 2019, managed to dig out a couple of draws in those seasons.

Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Mark Langdon and Archie Rhind-Tutt after PSG progressed past Bayern

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On today’s podcast: Bayern and PSG didn’t provide another nine-goal thriller, as per the first leg, but it was an entertaining game in Munich as PSG progressed with a 6-5 aggregate win to the final, as the French side seek consecutive Champions League titles. As scary as PSG look, at least Arsenal fans don’t have to worry about the prospect of Harry Kane winning the Champions League at their expense.

OL Lyonnes ended Arsenal’s Champions League hopes while Rebecca Knaak puts Man City on the brink of WSL title glory

Who is the best female player in the world right now? Melchie Dumornay continues to make a strong claim for that accolade after her starring role in OL Lyonnes’ comeback to beat Arsenal in the Champions League semi-finals. The fearless Haiti international won a first-half penalty and provided a superb assist for Jule Brand’s late winner in the second leg, as well as being a constant thorn in Arsenal’s side with her pace, trickery and energy. The attacking midfielder, having missed the first leg through injury, helped the French side come from 2-1 down to win 4-3 on aggregate. Tom Garry

Arne Slot is fuming, Mikel Arteta’s big risk pays off and Josh Dasilva enjoys an emotional return for Brentford

Arne Slot was seething as he lamented the decision to allow Manchester United’s second goal to stand despite claims of handball by Benjamin Sesko. “The curve on the ball changed so there must have been a contact,” argued the Liverpool head coach. “But it’s no surprise to anyone that if there is a VAR intervention then the decision goes against us. It’s happened to us all season.” As PGMO confirmed at the time, however, there “was no conclusive evidence that Sesko handled the ball before scoring”. Slot was stretching it to pin Liverpool’s latest defeat on poor refereeing. United’s movement pulled the visitors apart in the first half and, without the injured Mohamed Salah, Hugo Ekitiké and Alexander Isak, the threat from Liverpool was nonexistent until capitalising on two errors early in the second half. Defeat stemmed from an anaemic first-half performance, nothing else. Andy Hunter

Match report: Manchester United 3-2 Liverpool

Match report: Arsenal 3-0 Fulham

Match report: Newcastle 3-1 Brighton

Match report: Aston Villa 1-2 Tottenham

Match report: Brentford 3-0 West Ham

Match report: Leeds 3-1 Burnley

Ousmane Dembélé becomes our seventh winner as he beats Lamine Yamal into second and Vitinha into third on our list of the best players on the planet

• Premier League dominates list | How every judge voted | Our methodology | The top 100 female players for 2025

• 2024 edition | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012

The Frenchman, who has been named the best male footballer in the world by the Guardian, has benefitted from PSG’s focus on the team rather than individuals

What makes a good player great, and a great player the best? This question has been occupying me since 2014, when the Guardian first asked me to contribute to its inaugural Next Generation feature. My job was to look for a France-based talent born in 1997 who could go on to have a stellar career.

After a great deal of research, I narrowed it down from my shortlist of five by asking questions not about the players’ football ability, but about other attributes: resilience, adaptability, decision-making, creativity, work ethic, response to feedback and willingness to learn. Qualities we cannot see, and are harder to measure.

Aitana Bonmatí has been voted the best female player on the planet by our panel of 127 experts ahead of Mariona Caldentey and Alessia Russo

• 2024 list | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018

• Meet the judges | See how every judge voted

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The margin may have got smaller but the brilliant Spanish midfielder makes it a hat-trick of No 1 finishes

They say the best things come in threes, and Aitana Bonmatí has written herself into the Guardian’s top 100 history as the first player to finish at the top of the tree for a third consecutive year.

Last year the majestic midfielder emulated her Barcelona and Spain teammate Alexia Putellas by winning for a second year running, but the 27-year-old has now gone one better, establishing herself once again at the top of the women’s game.

From PSG’s Ibrahim Mbaye to Brazil’s next hope, we select some of the most talented players born in 2008. Check the progress of our classes of 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 … and go even further back. Here’s our Premier League class of 2025