Find a Football Team

The title race reaches the finish line, it’s the end of an era at Liverpool and Spurs face two trips in quick succession

Only the most grim-faced of churls would refuse to recognise the progress Mikel Arteta’s outstanding Arsenal side have made this season. The very fact a title win is on the table this weekend says more than enough and now they must make sure that, just in case West Ham cause an almighty stir at the Etihad, they do not taint it with unnecessary regrets. When Everton pitched up in London on the final day two years ago the home side cruised to a 5-1 win; nostalgia buffs among the support might prefer the 4-3 rip-roarer in 2002 that rubber-stamped the double winners’ season and ended with a Premier League trophy presentation. Even if the latter scenario is an outside bet this time, Arteta will expect his players to block out any noise – including dispatches from Manchester – and put an opponent to the sword one last time, making sure they at least do their bit. An opportunity to make dreams come true may yet present itself. Nick Ames

Arsenal v Everton (all games Sunday 4pm BST)

Brentford v Newcastle

Brighton v Manchester United

Burnley v Nottingham Forest

Property experts believe Leeds is becoming an increasingly fashionable home for bright young professionals priced out of London but, as compelling as their arguments are, the city lacks one vital magnet: a Premier League football team.

Or at least it does at the moment. If the outstanding Crysencio Summerville, Wilfried Gnonto, Archie Gray and company play as intelligently and incisively as this in the Championship playoff final at Wembley on Sunday week that deficiency will surely be rectified.

Angst suffered by Spurs supporters about doing Arsenal a favour was a rarity. It’s already time to move on

Son Heung-min is running through in the 87th minute at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. A draw does virtually nothing for Spurs, but it hands Arsenal a great advantage in the title race. Did I, a Spurs supporter, want him to score? The honest answer is – with apologies to Ange Postecoglou – that I’m not totally sure.

Most of my natural instincts were willing him to slot it into the gaping chasm to Stefan Ortega’s left. But it wasn’t categoric, and after the Manchester City substitute keeper blocked Son’s effort, I didn’t have that empty sensation normally reserved for missed one-on-ones.

Leaky Old Trafford roof was almost a too perfect sign of neglect by owners who love the money but don’t seem to like the club

In February, the NFL players’ union carried out its second annual survey of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and let’s just say it wasn’t pleasant reading. Tampa Bay players reported that the changing room was “not clean, constantly smelly and has a persistent bug issue”. The sauna was described as “dirty and/or mouldy”. This barely a decade after an MRSA outbreak infected three Buccaneers players, two of whom never competed again.

In addition, players complained about being forced to pay $90 (£72) for childcare on match days (most teams offer this for free), being charged $1,750 a season for the privilege of having their own hotel room on away trips and being made to sit at the back of the plane while club staff travelled first class. Most of the blame for this state of affairs was laid squarely at the team’s ownership, whom the survey ranked 29th out of the 32 NFL franchise owners, and who go by the name of the Glazer family.

• Prominent club figures think it would be wise to keep manager
• Some of board undecided but unanimity needed to sack him

Mauricio Pochettino has the support of key figures at Chelsea before an end-of-season review that will determine his future.

The manager has been under pressure for much of his first campaign at Stamford Bridge but is on increasingly strong ground after guiding his young side to within touching distance of Europa League qualification thanks to a four-match winning run.

• Manchester City goalkeeper injured in win at Tottenham
• Brazilian understood not have been concussed in collision

Manchester City’s goalkeeper Ederson will miss Sunday’s final Premier League game and the FA Cup final after sustaining an eye socket fracture against Tottenham.

The Brazilian was forced off during the victory at Spurs on Tuesday which put the club on the verge of an unprecedented fourth successive title. Scans have confirmed Ederson sustained a small fracture to the right eye socket in a collision with Cristian Romero.

• ‘They can score three or four in five or six minutes’
• Manchester City manager upbeat before Villa showdown

Gareth Taylor has backed his side to score enough goals to overhaul ­Chelsea on the final day of the ­Women’s Super League season. ­Manchester City are level on points with the champions but their title rivals have a better goal difference of two. City make the trip to Aston Villa while Chelsea visit Manchester United.

Taylor, however, is confident his side can recover from the disappointing 2-1 home defeat to Arsenal 11 days ago to turn on the style against Carla Ward’s Villa side, despite the absence of Khadija Shaw, the WSL’s top scorer, through injury. Lauren Hemp is fifth in the scoring charts. “You’ve seen with this team, they can score three or four goals in the space of five or six minutes,” he said. “They are more than capable. That doesn’t mean you’re able to go and do it on the weekend, there are many factors that go into that. It’s about me constantly realigning them with what we have to do. The more we’ve done that this season the better we’ve been.”

Not watching the television when rivals were in action helped in focusing on promotion for a club – and town – that is reborn

Three weeks from the end of a Championship promotion race whose pace and tension were almost unparalleled, Ipswich held meetings across all their departments. They were close to an achievement that, to most outsiders, seemed unthinkable and it was time to brainstorm for the smallest possible gains that could push them over the line. One of the ideas implemented was simple but effective: turn off televisions around the club whenever Leicester, Leeds and Southampton, the parachute-funded clubs battling to supplant Kieran McKenna’s team, were playing. Nobody needed to waste emotional energy on rivals’ fortunes when Ipswich had control of their own destiny.

Ipswich did not blink. Their staff resisted temptation to obsess over what they could not control and, having confirmed second place, they will spend the summer preparing for a first Premier League season in 22 years. There will be plenty of goodwill towards a club where the air still feels a little bit different; an institution whose historical achievements still linger in the consciousness, and whose manager has become one of Europe’s rising stars. They now face their biggest challenge of all: ensuring a smooth-sailing ship does not run aground on rocks that are crueller and more jagged than in their last top-flight spell.

Former La Liga winners have been languishing in Spain’s third tier but, led by their devoted captain, hope is returning

There was a moment late in Deportivo de La Coruña’s win over Barcelona on Sunday in which they got a corner and Lucas Pérez went to take it, gazing up at Riazor en route. When he got there, bouncing the ball before laying it down by the flag, he held out his arm for the linesman to inspect and leant in to whisper something. The linesman leant back, looked at the evidence presented and nodded. Then he smiled. It was true what Depor’s captain said: the hairs on his arm really were standing on end.

You and everyone else, Lucas.

What makes the situation most striking is Arsenal’s apparent willingness to allow the Dutch star’s contract to run out

• Moving the Goalposts: sign up for our free newsletter

“Miedema … still Miedema … magnificent Miedema.” A line of commentary that could be used to sum up most of Vivianne Miedema’s 125 goals in an Arsenal shirt. In her seven-year career in north London in which she appeared 172 times, the Dutch international has broken records left, right and centre, unstoppable on the pitch and a quiet, determined force off it.

In this instance, the commentator was describing a strike against Everton in 2022. Having turned Karen Holmgaard inside out, she instinctively unleashed her wand of a right foot to send the ball nestling into the back of the net. It was not the first time, nor the last, a defender would be undone in this fashion.

Raccoon runs through pitch during game between New York City FC and Philadelphia Union before being captured in trash can

Four men, including one with a trash can, were temporarily thwarted in their efforts to capture a wayward raccoon who invaded the soccer pitch during a game between New York City FC and the Philadelphia Union at Subaru Park on Wednesday night.

The adult raccoon ran almost the length of the pitch, and swerved into the penalty box, as Major League Soccer staff attempted a capture. The furry fugitive was ultimately caught by one of the trash can men, but not before match commentators at the game in Chester, Pennsylvania, signaled their approval.

German’s tenure has been littered with big lows but supporters will always cherish the big highs and a unique connection

It was a lovely spring afternoon in Liverpool. The sun was out, the temperature was high and, around Anfield, so were spirits. There were smiles and laughter among the thousands in the nearby streets, cafes and pubs that they carried into the stadium, where soon there were also chants and songs from the masses, rising to a pitch during an enthralling encounter with Tottenham the hosts ultimately won. All in all a great day and, being among it, the very real sense that this, then, is what the fifth stage of grief looks like.

Because acceptance is very much the mood among most Liverpool supporters when it comes to Jürgen Klopp’s impending departure. All were shocked when, in January, he announced he was going at the end of the season and each, in their own way, has gone through the various phases of losing a loved one in the following four months. It has been tough but it’s safe to say that collective emotions have centred on recognising that Klopp wasn’t kidding when he said he was running out of energy. The big German with the big grin is, quite clearly, not the man he once was.

Manager, who is leaving Chelsea after 12 years, remains a fearless advocate of the women’s game but never lost her human touch

It was a rainy Saturday evening a few weeks ago and Chelsea were playing Barcelona in the Champions League semi-final. I made the journey from east to west London and emerged out of Fulham Broadway station to join my friends outside the Kona Kai cocktail bar opposite a busy Stamford Bridge.

Once we had squeezed past some punters and climbed up to assume our position in the Matthew Harding Stand, it hit me: I was sitting in a sold-out stadium. All around me fans were chanting and waving blue flags in support of Emma Hayes and the Chelsea team she had built brick by brick. If ever there was a moment when I fully appreciated her impact, it was then.

Sign up now! Sign up now! Sign up now? Sign up now!

There are no fairytale endings in football but the Divine Ponytail came close when he said goodbye at San Siro in 2004

By Emmet Gates for The Gentleman Ultra

It’s become one of the iconic images of Italian football in the 21st century. Roberto Baggio is taking a corner for Brescia at a sold-out San Siro on a beautiful afternoon on 16 May 2004. Baggio is looking to his left, the game’s most famous ponytail – greying and more bountiful than in the 1990s – resting on his slender shoulders as he scans the penalty box to see which teammate to pick out. The sheer scale and concrete beauty of the Giuseppe Meazza is on full show in the background.

Surprisingly, there is scarcely anyone else in the frame except for referee Antonio Giannoccaro and two Brescia players so far away it’s impossible to make them out. The picture gives the impression Baggio is in the San Siro alone, with a paying audience of 80,000 fans there solely to see him. In many ways, they were.

• Manchester United left-back has not played for three months
• Ten Hag says Harry Maguire has ‘fair chance’ for Cup final

Luke Shaw’s availability for this summer’s European Championship is in greater doubt than ever after the Manchester United manager, Erik ten Hag, said the left-back was struggling to be fit for the FA Cup final after a setback.

Shaw has not featured for United for three months, after coming off with a muscle problem during their victory against Luton in February. His England colleague Harry Maguire has not played since United’s draw with Burnley at the end of last month and Ten Hag offered a mixed update on the pair.

Manager has brought silverware and Champions League football back to Juve but it may not be enough

At a certain point you started to wonder if Massimiliano Allegri would strip all the way down to his underwear. The Juventus manager had already thrown off his jacket, and then a few moments later, his tie. Now he was furiously undoing the buttons of his shirt and bellowing toward the crowd.

Juventus were moments away from winning the Coppa Italia. They had led Atalanta from the fourth minute, when Dusan Vlahovic ran beyond Isak Hien and swept a right-footed finish past Marco Carnesecchi. The Serb put the ball in the net again in the 73rd, only for this goal to be disallowed for offside.

Brendan Rodgers has grown salty during his second stint in charge, largely because he craves investment and ‘bravery’

This has been a season of great paradoxes for Celtic and a prime example of that will be seen on Saturday, when wild celebration surrounds the final home game of the season. Celtic are deserving champions of Scotland – a 12th title in 13 seasons emphasises their dominance – but this situation appeared barely feasible in mid-December. They were being comfortably defeated by Hearts at home; venomous chanting from the stands was being directed at the club’s board; the team had already made their cursory, lame exit from Europe.

Brendan Rodgers may now confidently assert his side were always likely to discover rhythm when a number of players returned from injury. The point is valid. He has been in spiky form, asserting he has been “treated like a novice” since taking on the Celtic managerial post for the second time. This salty version of the Northern Irishman is entertaining and he is perfectly entitled to settle scores, but Rodgers has been in frequent danger of playing to a gallery that lap up the “put-upon Celtic” routine.

• Bruce Mwape accused of touching female worker’s breast
• Incident said to have happened at last year’s World Cup

Zambia’s coach, Bruce Mwape, has been accused of intentionally touching a Fifa contractor on the breast during last year’s Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. A few days before that, similar claims were made against him by a player, the Guardian can reveal.

Fifa is investigating allegations made in August that Mwape – who remains in charge of Zambia and is expected to lead them at this summer’s Olympic Games – rubbed his hands over the chest of a player after a training session before their historic victory over Costa Rica at the end of July in Hamilton. It has been revealed that before the tournament Mwape – who has previously denied the accusations – was the subject of an investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct by a number of players in the squad that had been referred to world football’s governing body by the Zambian Football Association (FAZ).

Efforts to cut down on time-wasting are laudable. But there are flaws in the new scheme that need to be tweaked before a worldwide rollout

Lionel Messi was not happy. It was a little over 40 minutes into Inter Miami’s trip to Quebec to take on CF Montréal this past Saturday and the star-studded Eastern Conference leaders were 2-0 down. But it was not that Miami were losing that had vexed Messi. He just wanted to be on the pitch.

Miami had won a free kick 30-yards from goal, slightly right of centre – prime Messi territory. Yet he was not allowed to take it. He’d received treatment on the pitch a minute earlier after being fouled by Montréal defender George Campbell. Due to a new set of rules adopted this season to crack down on time-wasting, Messi had to wait on the sideline for two minutes before being allowed to re-enter the game.

Fans started their preparations four days before games and would release pigeons to celebrate goals, this book extract reveals

Football in Albania is a national obsession. Yet between the late 1960s and Stalinism’s slow, lingering death in 1991, it became more than mere fixation. In a country where the 1967 rewriting of the constitution denied people their freedom of faith, football became the new religion, with pilgrims from Gjirokastër to Shkodër, Lezhë to Sarandë, filling stadiums every Sunday afternoon in worship of their new, auxiliary gods.

In those moments of ordered chaos, Albanians appeared free from the trials and injustices of their moribund, regime-subscribed lives, transported – via the vehicles of football and shared human experience – to a higher plain; a vista of harmony and liberty.

League of Ireland club welcome women’s national team over for their first match in Europe which carries great significance

“We have a reason to tell the people that we are human beings,” says Mira Natour, a defender for the Palestine women’s national team, as she reflects on their friendly against Bohemians in Dublin on Wednesday night. “We have rights the same as you, to play, we have the right to express our feelings, we have the right to be recognised by the world. With this event, we’re telling them we exist.”

It will be the first time the Palestine team have played in Europe and their League of Ireland hosts have sold out, with a 4,500 crowd expected at Dalymount Park. Bohemians are fan-owned and their membership’s strong allegiance with the Palestinian cause mirrors a sentiment shared by many in Irish football and the country as a whole.

They won’t win any trophies or player of the season awards, but these players have been integral to their teams this season

By Ben McAleer for WhoScored

Having scored just six league goals last season, Dominic Solanke has really stepped up this season with 19 – the best return for any Bournemouth player in a Premier League season. The appointment of Andoni Iraola has proven a blessing for the 26-year-old, who is finally realising the potential he showed when breaking on to the scene with Chelsea. Alexander Isak and Ollie Watkins have earned high praise for their performances; Solanke warrants just as much adulation.

Premier League champions are often thought of as a machine but they do feel the pressure before big games

Kyle Walker revealed he did not sleep the night before and was left “scrambling” for a half-hour power nap on game-day, while Pep Guardiola said he had “suffered” throughout. This was only a snapshot of the emotions felt by Manchester City players and management leading up to and during their pivotal match at Tottenham on Tuesday night.

It is easy to see City as a machine; the eviscerating runs to Premier League title after title; No 6 under Guardiola and an unprecedented fourth-in-a-row now close after the 2-0 victory over Spurs. City have made a cold-hearted business out of the accumulation of silverware and records.

More strength in depth is now apparent after influx of overseas talent but league’s competitiveness is hard to assess

England kick off Euro 2024 against Serbia on 16 June and if Jordan Henderson is called up then the former Al-Ettifaq midfielder should be able to give Gareth Southgate an idea of the form Aleksandar Mitrovic and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic are in. They are two of a growing number of European internationals who will be acting as unofficial ambassadors for the Saudi Pro League (SPL) this summer – especially if they underperform.

The two Serbs have played a major part in Al-Hilal becoming champions of the SPL for a 19th time. The deal was sealed on Saturday but it was all a bit of a stroll. Portugal’s Rúben Neves, another standout, will also head to Germany with a league winner’s medal in his suitcase ready to show Cristiano Ronaldo.

Our pick of the best rants, musings and carefully worded statements from the Premier League and beyond this term

Jürgen Klopp has given the media plenty to work with during his nine years at Liverpool, including poking fun at them during press conferences. From complimenting a translator's "erotic voice" to being unaware of his own player's child being born, here are a few of his most memorable moments.

• For good and bad, Jürgen Klopp gave Liverpool fans the time of their lives

Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou raged over the 'fragile foundations' he said had been revealed at the club over the last 48 hours. Large sections of the fans cheered their 2-0 defeat to Manchester City which dented the title hopes of arch-rivals Arsenal. Postecoglous admitted that 'the last 48 hours revealed a fair bit, and that's all right. That's just means I’ve got to go back to the drawing board with some things'.

• ‘He saves us – otherwise Arsenal are champions’: Guardiola hails Ortega

• Ange Postecoglou’s Spurs project is a magnificent act of misdirection

Manchester City striker Erling Haaland scored twice in the second half against Tottenham to send the three-time defending champions two points clear of second-place Arsenal with one game left to play. Reserve goalkeeper Stefan Ortega was the unexpected hero, coming on to replace Ederson before making two big saves. In Sunday's final round of matches, Guardiola's side host West Ham, while Arsenal entertain Everton. City's win also meant Aston Villa secured fourth place and qualification for the Champions League ahead of Tottenham in fifth

• Manchester City edge towards Premier League title after Haaland sinks Spurs

Old Trafford flooded with water at the end of Manchester United's game with Arsenal on Sunday, leaking through the roof and cascading through the stands. Footage also shows the roof in Arsenal's dressing room leaking water on to the players. The Glazers, Manchester United's long-time owners, have often been criticised by fans for their apparent reluctance to invest in updating and adequately maintaining the increasingly ageing stadium.

After losing to Chelsea in last year's FA Cup final, Manchester United Women stormed to a 4-0 win against Tottenham this time around to claim their first major trophy. The team celebrated on and off the pitch with the usual singing and champagne spraying.

Arsenal made sure the Premier League title race will go to the last day of the season with a 1-0 victory at Manchester United. Leandro Trossard struck in the 20th minute to put Arsenal back on top of the table and ensure the Gunners will take their title fight with defending champions, Manchester City, to the final round of matches.

‘Live the final day’: Arteta dreams of title after win at United sets up climax

Arsenal keep up title pressure as Trossard sinks Manchester United

• Miami lead MLS in payroll with $41.7 on salaries
• Argentinian also has estimated endorsements of $70m

Lionel Messi’s annualized pay from his MLS contract with Inter Miami is just over $20.4m in his first full season, exceeding the payrolls of all but four teams in the league.

Messi joined Inter Miami last summer and has a base salary of $10.4m and annualized compensation of $20,446,667, the MLS Players Association said on Thursday in its first salary release of 2024.

• NSW, Queensland and Western Australia to host all matches
• 2023 Women’s World Cup co-hosts placed only a bid for tournament

The Matildas will get another chance to thrill local football fans on home soil with Australia named as the host nation for the 2026 Women’s Asian Cup. The decision was confirmed at a meeting of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) executive committee in Bangkok on Wednesday, after Australia was the only member nation to submit a bid to host the tournament.

The 2023 Women’s World Cup, co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand, was a huge success with the Matildas making it all the way to the semi-finals before losing the third-place playoff to Sweden. The AFC’s women’s football committee made a strong recommendation for the 12-nation Asian Cup to also be held down under for the second time, and the executive committee agreed.

• Dutchman will join Jürgen Klopp in leaving Anfield this summer
• Lijnders: ‘I am moving to another exceptional club’

Pepijn Lijnders is to become head coach at Austrian club Red Bull Salzburg following his departure from Liverpool.

Lijnders, who had initially worked as assistant coach under Brendan Rodgers at Liverpool, will leave Anfield along with Jürgen Klopp at the end of the season.

Vinícius Júnior scored twice as the newly-crowned La Liga champions Real Madrid thrashed visitors Alavés 5-0 on Tuesday after the hosts had paraded the trophy in front of the home fans before the game.

Jude Bellingham and Vinícius scored a goal each inside 30 minutes before Federico Valverde put Real 3-0 up at the break, unleashing an unstoppable shot into the roof of the net in first-half stoppage time.

• Striker will reunite with former teammate Hugo Lloris
• World Cup winner expected to play for France this summer

World Cup-winning French striker Olivier Giroud is signing with Los Angeles FC.

LAFC formally announced the long-anticipated move on Tuesday for the 37-year-old Giroud, who leaves Europe after 18 years in the top professional leagues in France, England and Italy. Giroud confirmed on Monday that he would leave Milan for an MLS club this summer.

• Victory and Phoenix locked on 0-0 after first leg at AAMI Park
• Hosts had 20 shots to the Nix’s six but could not break deadlock

Melbourne Victory and Wellington Phoenix have it all to play for after a cagey 0-0 draw in the first leg of their A-League Men semi-final at AAMI Park. In a clash of two styles, the Victory were allowed to control the tempo and territory for much of the contest but were unable to create enough clear-cut chances to unlock a determined Phoenix defence on Sunday.

The hosts were the more positive throughout with 20 to six attempts, and five shots on target, while the Nix were content to sit back and play on the counter without managing a single shot on goal. The Victory pushed hard in the dying stages to find a goal to take to Sky Stadium as the Phoenix all but settled for a stalemate from halfway through the second half, with the return leg to be played in New Zealand on Saturday 18 May.

Ademola Lookman, Matteo Ruggeri and El Bilal Touré scored in Atalanta’s 3-0 win over Marseille for a 4-1 aggregate victory in their Europa League semi-final. The Italian side will meet Bayer Leverkusen, who overcame Roma, in their first European final, in Dublin on 22 May.

Lookman put Atalanta ahead in the second leg on the half-hour with a long-range strike past Pao López before setting up Ruggeri to double the lead seven minutes after the break.

• Llamas report focuses on responsibilities to workers
• Amnesty International calls on Fifa to reveal findings

Fifa must publish an independent report into its responsibilities to migrant workers in Qatar and begin the process of providing financial compensation, Amnesty International has said.

The human rights organisation has called on Fifa to finally publish the report by Michael Llamas, president of the Gibraltar Football Association, before its congress in Bangkok next week. According to those familiar with the process, the Llamas report has found Fifa has a responsibility to provide financial remedy to workers or the families of workers involved in 2022 World Cup projects in Qatar and that its conclusions were approved by the executive Fifa council in March. The Guardian understands the report is under review by Fifa stakeholders but that the governing body remains committed to its publication.

• Goalkeeper to hang up gloves after nearly 19 years and 103 caps
• She appeared at five World Cups and won the Asian Cup in 2010

After five World Cups, six Asian Cups, 103 caps and nearly two decades in a Matildas shirt, Lydia Williams says it is the right time to call time on her international career. One of the most experienced Australian footballers of all time on Thursday announced her intention from retire after the upcoming Paris Olympics – what would be her third Olympic football tournament.

“It’s been a wonderful ride over the last 19 years and I’m so thankful for the opportunity to not only wear the crest and perform for my country, but also to the wonderful memories and fantastic people that I’ve met along the way,” said Williams, who turns 36 next week.

Erling Haaland has been voted the best player in the world for 2023 by our 218-strong panel, with Jude Bellingham finishing second

• 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012
• Meet the judges | Best female footballers to launch in January

Aitana Bonmatí, Sam Kerr and Salma Paralluelo top the list of female footballers in the world in 2023 according to our judges

• Putellas tops 2022 list | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | Meet the judges
• Spain and Barcelona lead the way after year of success
• Subscribe to our free women’s football newsletter

The Norwegian is only 23 but his devastating goal record has seen him voted as the No 1 player in the world by the Guardian’s expert panel

When Pep Guardiola tearfully claimed Manchester City could not replace the departing Sergio Agüero in May 2021, he didn’t just create a meme. Guardiola was soft-launching a global audition for his team’s new attacking talisman. An unsuccessful pursuit of Harry Kane in the summer of 2021 came between two title-winning seasons where Ilkay Gündogan (13) and Kevin De Bruyne (15) were the club’s top league goalscorers. Guardiola’s slick creative machine needed a new front man, and they found him in Erling Haaland.

Like Agüero before him – and in contrast to many of City’s most successful Pep-era signings – Haaland arrived as a bona fide superstar, a plug-and-play addition to an already stellar lineup. Whether he was a bargain is another question. The release clause paid was €60m (£51.2m), but some reports suggest Haaland’s five-year deal could cost the club in the region of £300m. And while there was an ominous logic to the move for City’s rivals, questions remained.

Aitana Bonmatí the clear winner of the Guardian’s best 100 female footballers in the world with 15 Spaniards on the list

• The 100 best female footballers in the world 2023

After Alexia Putellas reigned in 2021 and 2022, her Barcelona and Spain teammate Aitana Bonmatí has been crowned the top female footballer of 2023 by the Guardian’s panel of 112 experts. The World Cup winner triumphed by a clear margin, finishing more than 500 points ahead of second-placed Sam Kerr.

Injuries and a World Cup meant there was a definite changing of the guard feel to this year’s list, sadly emphasised by the fact last year’s top two – Putellas and Beth Mead – missed a large chunk of our 12-month voting period with ACL injuries.

There is no shame in losing to the champions and Tottenham manager has made the same failure taste much better

The open-top bus parade begins at Monday lunchtime. Thousands of fans are expected to line the streets to pay tribute to Ange Postecoglou and his team as they wind their way down the High Road, before a civic reception at Tottenham town hall. There, captain Son Heung-min will end 16 long years of silverware famine by hoisting aloft the Denying Arsenal The League Trophy, and frankly few men have done more to earn it.

Of course Spurs have never made things easy for themselves and there were plenty of heart-stopping moments during that crucial defeat by Manchester City on Tuesday when it looked like they might salvage a draw, or even a disastrous win. To come through in the end was a genuine team effort, key players standing down when it mattered most: that reliably unreliable defence, Pierre-Emile Højbjerg failing to plug the gaps in midfield, Son gloriously fluffing that one-on-one chance in the closing stages.

Multiple approaches are needed to stem vitriol aimed at officials but it is clear that examples need to be set at the top

“Szymon Marciniak you son of a whore”. “Don’t come to Germany for your safety.” “How much money did you get?” “FUCK YOU MARCINIAK YOU DISGUSTING BASTARD #RMAFCB.”

This is a snapshot of X and Instagram after Bayern Munich crashed out of the Champions League last week. Marciniak’s crime? Blowing for offside too early, which meant that a possible Matthijs de Ligt equaliser could not be reviewed by the VAR. Even a freeze-frame image could not confirm whether De Ligt was onside or not. But that didn’t stop Bayern’s manager, Thomas Tuchel, saying the referee’s decision “felt like a betrayal” – or the bile on social media.

The club has been awarded a 999-year lease on the Den and its surrounds, bringing down the curtain on a fraught few years

Bermondsey has always been a fluid, ever-changing kind of place, shoved up into a bend of the Thames, surrounded on all sides but also oddly isolated.

For hundreds of years that whole strip of land south of the city was an interlude of leisure and licentiousness. In his biography of London Peter Ackroyd mentions “bear pits, stew-houses and pleasure gardens”, plus a flourishing grassroots industry of cutpurses and dandy highwaymen, a place where “flashy women come out to take leave of thieves at dusk and wish them luck”.

Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Nedum Onuoha and John Brewin as Manchester United and Chelsea get important wins in their hunt for European football next season

Rate, review, share on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Audioboom, Mixcloud, Acast and Stitcher, and join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and email.

On the podcast today: the race for fifth/sixth and Europa League football next season is still alive – Chelsea could still catch Spurs and only Manchester United winning the FA Cup would earn Newcastle a spot.

Sign up now! Sign up now! Sign up now? Sign up now!

Whether it was the eerie silence occasionally punctuated by half-hearted chants of disparagement at the expense of Arsenal, Rodrigo Bentancur’s violent and protracted shoeing of a vacant dugout seat next to that occupied by a visibly frightened Bryan Gil, or Ange Postecoglou’s none-too-matey touchline exchange with a loud fan urging the Spurs boss to instruct his team to tank a contest they were probably going to lose anyway, Tuesday night’s match at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium was a decidedly weird affair. But then it was always going to be strange when a very sizeable percentage of Spurs fans were desperately hoping their team would lose against Manchester City, all the better to deal Arsenal’s chances of winning the title a potentially fatal hammer blow.

Parenting can be tough, with kids exposed to social media and drugs and terrible music … but that said, the toughest conversation I’ve ever had with my son happened today, when I had to explain that sometimes good people have to do bad things and support Tottenham. He hasn’t been so disappointed since the day I told him the player he kept calling Santa Cannoli was actually named Santi Cazorla” – Christopher Jersan.

Our cartoonist on the Premier League doing strange things to mascots (and people) as it nears its finale

• Get yourself a copy of this cartoon in the Guardian Print Store
• Like what David does? Consider supporting our journalism

Manchester United’s Aoife Mannion joins Faye Carruthers and Suzanne Wrack to discuss her team’s 4-0 FA Cup final win over Spurs and more

A big weekend of football calls for a star guest. This week, Faye Carruthers and Suzanne Wrack are joined by Manchester United’s Aoife Mannion to discuss her team’s 4-0 Wembley win over Tottenham. Then Chris Pauros joins Faye and Suzy to preview the final weekend in the WSL and the league’s record scorer, Vivianne Miedema, saying goodbye to Arsenal. They also look at the England squad announced by Sarina Weigman.

To sign up for our bi-weekly women’s football newsletter – all you need to do is search ‘Moving the Goalposts sign up’ or follow that link. Here’s an extract from the latest edition.

Arsenal can still improve, Erling Haaland perplexes and Thomas Frank feels the love from his players

Though Arsenal have enjoyed another fine campaign, the likelihood is that they will again finish second, victims of the almost unbeatable combination that is state wealth plus Pep Guardiola. And regardless of whether they finish as champions or runners-up, they must improve next term – not easy given they’ve followed an 84-point season by racking up 86 with three still to play for. However, on five occasions this term, Arsenal have failed to score in a league game – as well as in the FA Cup against Liverpool and the Champions League at Bayern Munich – which is to say that, unlike Manchester City and unlike Liverpool in 2019-20, they lack superstars able to override poor performances with individual brilliance, finding crucial goals where there appeared to be none. This is not an issue easily resolved, but Jürgen Klopp found a way, completing an already excellent side by adding Alisson and Virgil van Dijk to his back five; Mikel Arteta must now do similarly to Arsenal’s attack. Daniel Harris

Match report: Manchester United 0-1 Arsenal

Match report: Tottenham 2-1 Burnley

Match report: Nottingham Forest 2-3 Chelsea

Match report: West Ham 3-1 Luton

Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund booked their spots in the final at Wembley thanks to a pair of unlikely match winners

Two second legs that both reached a dramatic climax, one with late goals, the other with late misses, set up a Wembley final between Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund.

Goalkeeper: Andriy Lunin, Real Madrid

Plus: the same losing teams in the playoffs in consecutive seasons and even bigger cumulative cup crowds

• Mail us your questions or tweet @TheKnowledge_GU

“Newcastle have beaten Sheffield United 13-1 on aggregate this season,” tweets Craig. “Has there been a larger margin before?”

Newcastle romped to an 8-0 victory at Bramall Lane in September, then beat Sheffield United 5-1 at St James’ Park last month. The aggregate score is a Premier League record, pipping Manchester City 12-0 Watford (2019-20) on goals scored. But won’t somebody think of the rest of the world, and women’s football, and the years 1888-1992? Yes, yes they will. And we’ll stick with league matches, too, as that was the basis for the question.

The competition latched on to the Matildas’ success but some feel that more could have been done to move the game forward

• Moving the Goalposts: sign up for our free newsletter

Was the 2023-24 A-League Women (ALW) season the best in the competition’s history? Possibly. There were certainly enough standout games, players, narrative, and intrigue to provide enough fuel to carry a long pub debate. What can be said more definitively, though, is that the campaign just concluded with Sydney FC edging Melbourne City to win a record fifth title was one of, if not the most consequential since the league’s inception.

Generally, you only get one post-World Cup season to capitalise and, after the 2023 tournament, this was the year for the ALW. And the ground was fertile. Putting aside their historic achievements on the field, what the Matildas achieved across that tournament was unprecedented, taking hearts and minds of the country in a stranglehold and altering what was thought achievable not just in women’s football, football, or sporting context, but on a cultural level itself.

The outgoing manager deserves another WSL title but her replacement will inherit a lot of quality young players

Many will look at Emma Hayes’s 12 years as Chelsea manager and think her lasting legacy is six – potentially seven – Women’s Super League titles, five FA Cups and two League Cups but for me her impact has been felt far beyond west London. By turning Chelsea into the benchmark for others to follow, she has forced up standards throughout the women’s game.

People forget that the early years were difficult for Hayes, with Chelsea narrowly avoiding relegation in her first full season, but there was always a clear plan of how to improve. Her spell managing in America at Chicago Red Stars, where I was in the squad, I think was pivotal in her career and shaped what she wanted to do at Chelsea. At the Red Stars we arguably had the most talented group of individuals but we were not the best team and I think she realised it was imperative she recruited the right characters, not just the best players. I think this resulted in a big shift in Hayes’s outlook.

Captain hails belief and togetherness that has powered an often written-off squad to the Champions League final

Emre Can is not the most obvious example in the Borussia Dortmund team but he is an example nonetheless; a player who has experienced rejection, who has had to battle to re-establish himself.

It is probably easier to see the narrative strand in, say, Jadon Sancho, who was pushed out of Manchester United in January and sent back to Dortmund after his falling-out with the manager, Erik ten Hag. Sancho’s poor form and rock-bottom confidence made it easier for United to sanction the loan.

Fresh doubts of deal being completed paint bleak picture and could leave troubled club unable to meet their financial obligations

Everton’s owner, Farhad Moshiri, has always sounded extremely confident that he will be selling the Premier League club to the US investment firm 777 Partners. In October last year he told Sky Sports News: “The more time that I have spent with the 777 team, the more my confidence increases that we have found the right people to take the club forward in the modern era.”

That comment is ageing less and less well.

What was the point of such a spectacular player spending seven seasons of his prime playing for Paris Saint-Germain?

Farewell then, project superstar. By the end of this Champions League semi-final second leg it seemed oddly fitting that the final act across 180 minutes should be Kylian Mbappé falling over his own feet.

Mbappé was through on goal at the time, the most beautifully balanced footballer on the planet haring away from a clutch of yellow shirts in emergency battery mode, then slipping over on the Parc des Princes turf just as the final whistle was blown.

From Warren Zaïre-Emery to Endrick, we select some of the best players born in 2006. Check the progress of our classes of 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018

• Next Generation 2023: 20 of the best Premier League talents

We pick the best youngsters at each club born between 1 September 2006 and 31 August 2007, an age band known as first-year scholars. Check the progress of our classes of 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 … and look at the editions from further back

• Next Generation 2023: 60 of the best talents around the world

Five years ago we picked 80 of the most talented players in the world to follow their progress in a cut-throat business

It is the time of year when we check in on the Next Generation players we picked in 2018 to follow for five years, to assess their progress amid success, setbacks, injuries, trophies won and transfers made.

Next Generation started in 2014 with the aim of showing the difficulties that even the best prospects in the Premier League (we pick one from each club at first-year scholar age) and the rest of the world (we choose 60 born in a specific calendar year) face on their way towards the top.

A defensively minded midfielder who is incredibly strong (he used to be a wrestler) but with an excellent touch to go with his physicality. Made his debut in the Swedish top flight as a 16-year-old last year and captained Sweden as they reached the quarter-finals of the Euro Under-17 tournament in England this summer. Has taken an unusual path to the top. He left the top-flight side IFK Göteborg for sixth division Angered MBIK as a 14-year-old as he felt that he was not getting the right support for his football education. Another Gothenburg club, Häcken, snapped him up in 2017 and he made his senior debut that season. Has signed a new contract with the club from Hisingen until 2021 despite interest from Real Madrid and Benfica and trials at both Manchester clubs.