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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 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.

• He tells staff to work at offices or ‘seek alternative employment’
• Ratcliffe feels it will boost productivity but some staff bemused

Sir Jim Ratcliffe cited email traffic statistics to Manchester United staff as the basis for a ban on working from home and told them to seek “alternative employment” if they are not willing to come to club premises.

United have had a flexible work-from-home policy since Covid but Ratcliffe signalled an end to this during an all-staff meeting held in person and via video call last week as part of his tour of Old Trafford and the Carrington training base.

Spurs’ fightback to book a spot in 2019 Champions League final was one for the ages. Where have the players ended up since?

André Onana
Of all the Ajax players, perhaps Onana has been on the wildest ride since 2019. Just over two years separated a 2021 doping suspension after a positive test for Furosemide – a substance he says was his wife’s and taken mistakenly – and his appearance in the 2023 Champions League final with Internazionale. A £44.1m move to Manchester United followed, where form and fortunes have fluctuated for both club and Cameroon.

Defender left Spurs having fallen out of favour but has become a mainstay for Tuchel and could still have England value

“Are you serious? Why? Just why? Now we know Bayern won’t be getting a trophy this season. Kane needs a friend. Thank you for taking him, love from north London.”

This was the kind of thing that Eric Dier would have seen on his Instagram page on 11 January – were he inclined to read the comments. The centre-half had posted for the first time as a Bayern Munich player, after his transfer from Tottenham, and it should be said that most of the messages were positive, Spurs fans thanking him for his nine and a half seasons with them, wishing him well for his next challenge.

• New Sky Sports + service can offer up to 100 events at once
• Broadcaster says it ‘takes seriously’ match-going fans’ concerns

Sky Sports plans to broadcast football during the 3pm Saturday slot as it gets set to increase its live sports coverage by 50% from next season.

As Sky insisted it “takes seriously” the responsibility of minimising disruption for match-going fans, it announced that every game in the opening weekend of the English Football League season would be broadcast live, including those scheduled to start at traditional kick-off times.

The English-born left back is the latest MLS academy graduate to draw interest from Europe’s elite clubs

Down the years, it has been common for US Soccer to track young English talent who also hold American passports. From Fulham’s Antonee Robinson to Milan’s Yunus Musah, the US has benefited from players gaining an education across the Atlantic. But New York City’s Christian McFarlane looks set to do the reverse, a sign of the growing influence of MLS academies.

The left-back was born in England but moved to New York at three years old. Over the past 18 months, McFarlane has represented the USMNT and England at youth level, keeping his options open before committing to any one country. The 17-year-old also has the option of playing for Jamaica, but why complicate matters more?

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

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“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.

• ‘If a good offer comes along, they would want to sell’
• Getafe keen to keep forward after loan ends in summer

Getafe’s president, Ángel Torres, has said the club hope to keep Mason Greenwood for another season and that he does not expect the forward to return to Manchester United at the end of the campaign.

Greenwood joined Getafe on loan in September after United said they wanted to avoid him becoming a distraction despite criminal charges against him being dropped after allegations, which Greenwood denied, of attempted rape, controlling and coercive behaviour and assault. The Crown Prosecution Service said there was “no longer a realistic prospect of conviction” after key witnesses withdrew their cooperation from the investigation.

All players have been asked to consider hiring bodyguards after the shocking incidents, one of which involved the use of acid

A little more than three months ago, the Malaysia international Faisal Halim gave the Bayern Munich defender Kim Min-jae a torrid time as he rabona’d the goal of the Asian Cup against South Korea. The game ended in a famous 3-3 draw (infamous for the Koreans) but now it is unclear whether the winger, known as “Mickey”, will ever play again.

On Sunday he was the victim of an acid attack and the images of his scarred body and stunned face shocked a nation and resulted in a hospital visit from Malaysia’s prime minister, Anwar Ibrahim. The incident was horrific and one of three attacks on high-profile players this month. No one knows for certain whether they are linked, but all are worried. Nothing like this has ever happened before in Malaysia.

Bolton secured their place in the League One playoff final despite being beaten by Barnsley at the Toughsheet Community Stadium as Ian Evatt’s side edged the visitors 5-4 on aggregate.

Holding the upper hand after last Friday’s 3-1 semi-final first-leg win at Oakwell, Bolton had their lead cut in the 36th minute by Sam Cosgrove before hitting back with a fine Aaron Collins strike and an Eoin Toal header in quick succession just prior to the break.

Change is probably coming with Manchester United playing so badly, so often, but this is a club trapped in constant transition

Erik ten Hag arrived at Manchester United promising to inspire flowing, thrilling transition football. And, you have to say, mission accomplished. You only had to watch Crystal Palace pouring forward at speed on Monday night, or Sheffield United bombing up the pitch at Old Trafford a couple of weeks ago, or indeed Coventry City in the recent FA Cup semi-final. Thanks to Ten Hag, United fans are being treated to sumptuous counterattacking fare on a near-weekly basis, even if – unhappily for Ten Hag’s job prospects – most of it these days seems to be getting played by the opposition.

Yes: it’s an even-numbered year, so we’re discussing whether the Manchester United manager should be sacked. And so to David Moyes (2014), Louis van Gaal (2016), José Mourinho (2018), Ole Gunnar Solskjær (a pandemic-delayed 2021) and Ralf Rangnick (2022) can almost certainly be added Ten Hag (2024), another well-credentialled manager who just didn’t have what it takes to manage a massive club like United. Seriously unlucky! How do they keep ending up with these guys?

Our cartoonist on the Tractor Boys embarking on another great adventure in the top flight after consecutive promotions

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

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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.

Early season disappointments put the Argentinian coach on the hot seat, but a resurgent Lionel Messi has shown the value of experience

Riding a six-game unbeaten streak in MLS, leading the race for the Supporters’ Shield and with their star players featuring at the top of the goals and assists charts, all is well in the world of Inter Miami.

Yet little over a month ago, head coach Gerardo ‘Tata’ Martino was on the hot seat. A humiliating 4-0 defeat to New York Red Bulls in late March was followed by elimination from the Concacaf Champions Cup at the hands of Mexican side Monterrey in early April.

Two female WSL managers are leaving for reasons of work-life balance. When it comes to sacrifice, it’s not the same for men

Famously, when Emma Hayes was agonising last autumn over whether to leave Chelsea and take the US national team job, she sought the advice of her son, Harry, at bedtime. “Let’s go to the USA, Mummy!” came the reply, a moment that Hayes later described as the “endorsement” she needed. And so we must at least brook the extremely funny possibility that an entire era of modern women’s football – from this season’s enthralling WSL title race, to the trajectory of Chelsea, Lyon and their European rivals, to the fate of the next Olympic Games and World Cup – will swing on the verdict of a sleepy five-year-old child.

And, frankly, why not? When you consider some of the decisions adults have taken for the health of the game in recent years, it’s hard to make the case that children would have done a markedly inferior job. A five-year-old child would certainly not have sanctioned the introduction of VAR, because waiting is boring, and they would have been right. A five-year-old child could have devised far better World Cup venues than Qatar or Saudi Arabia, although it remains to be seen whether Pizza Express would have had the capacity to host a gathering of such magnitude.

• Owner Acun Ilicali says ‘visions for the future are not aligned’
• Rosenior’s playing style and results at Hull widely admired

Liam Rosenior has been sacked by Hull City after his team narrowly missed out on a Championship playoff place.

Hull finished seventh, three points behind sixth-placed Norwich, who are preparing to face Leeds in a playoff semi-final. Despite that disappointment Rosenior had impressed many onlookers during an 18-month stint.

• Miami-based company accused of fraud amounting to £279m
• ‘We demand a decision now,’ Premier League is told

Everton shareholders have urged the club’s owner, Farhad Moshiri, and the Premier League to end the “farce” of a proposed takeover by 777 Partners after the troubled company was accused of fraud worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

The investment firm 777, co-founded by Josh Wander and Steven Pasko, agreed a deal to buy Moshiri’s 94.1% stake in Everton eight months ago but has been unable to meet the Premier League’s criteria for allowing the takeover to proceed. These include the repayment last month of a £158m loan to MSP Sports Capital and two local businessmen, Andy Bell and George Downing, with 777 having been granted a short-term extension to repay the loan. The Miami-based company was also reportedly late last week with a £15m loan to Everton for working capital. It has loaned the financially troubled club more than £200m.

• Forest three points above relegation zone with two games left
• Points docked for breach of profitability and sustainability rules

Nottingham Forest’s appeal against a four-point Premier League ­deduction for breaching ­profitability and ­sustainability rules (PSR) has been rejected.

Forest said when the ­punishment was imposed in March that they were “extremely ­disappointed” and claimed ­spending ­restrictions on ­promoted clubs ­undermined the league’s “integrity and competitiveness”.

It was a night when Borussia Dortmund penned one of the finest chapters in their history, a seemingly unremarkable team – low on stellar names – doing something utterly astonishing.

It has felt as though they have been written off repeatedly this season, starting with when they were plunged into the Champions League group of death. They won that with a measure of comfort, ahead of Paris Saint-Germain, Milan and Newcastle.

Italian formerly managed Bavarian club and claims he was not supported. He hopes to prevail in deep-seated rivalry again

Carlo Ancelotti said he was on the “good side” of European football’s grandest rivalry and, on the eve of the Champions League semi-final second leg between Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, revealed the ­Bavarian club did not support him when he was coach.

The Italian, though, insisted he remained friends with Uli ­Hoeness and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, the ­former president and chief ­executive ­respectively, and that the Bayern coach, Thomas Tuchel, would think he was on the good side too as the pair prepare for the most tense of ties, which starts level at 2-2. “Today, we enjoy; tomorrow, we will worry,” he said.

The Dutchman will head for Liverpool after a dream tenure and can emulate how Jürgen Klopp makes fans feel special

For most of Sunday, Rotterdam sat under a thick blanket of cloud, but as day ticked into evening, just as fans were streaming into De Kuip for Feyenoord’s penultimate home fixture of the season, the skies cleared. On what became a glorious, balmy evening the team comprehensively outclassed PEC Zwolle. Arne Slot, overseeing his 100th league game in charge, watched from the touchline and his son, Joep, who for the best part of three years had dreamed of being allowed into the noisiest part of the ground, stood among the ultras in the Gerard Meijer Tribune.

In the 82nd minute, the entire ground sung his father’s name and, just as Slot lifted his hands above his head to return their applause, Santiago Giménez scored the final goal in a 5-0 win. When the final whistle blew, and Slot walked towards the fans to bid farewell, the PA eschewed the ear-splitting techno that had soundtracked the rest of the night and played You’ll Never Walk Alone. Football rarely permits moments of such infinite perfection.

Oliver Glasner faces a battle to keep his stars but revitalised side have clearly bought into new manager’s philosophy

It is a measure of Oliver Glasner’s confidence in his own ability that the Austrian has never been afraid to crack a joke. Back in 2019 when he had just guided Wolfsburg to a nine-match unbeaten spell after joining from Lask – where he served simultaneously as the director of sport and head coach – the former defender was asked whether it had been a big step up to the Bundesliga. “For me it was 680 kilometres, a fairly big step,” he responded. “But other than that I don’t feel it’s such a big step up.”

Fast forward nearly five years and after less than three months in charge of Crystal Palace, Glasner has shown the Premier League he deserves to be taken seriously. Monday’s 4-0 thumping of Manchester United meant his side have scored 11 goals in their past three matches at Selhurst Park and taken more points – 13 – from their past five matches than anyone other than Manchester City. No wonder Glasner made light in February at his first press conference of a question about the possibility of following in the footsteps of Frank de Boer by being sacked by Palace after four games. “I could have stayed in Austria and gone skiing,” he said.

With facilities destroyed and lives cut short, the conflict has brought destruction to a previously thriving sporting scene

Mohammed Abu-Hujair was booked on a flight to Spain last October. A scout from Real Madrid had visited Gaza in August and invited Mohammed, a 17-year-old who plays on the left wing, to join a football academy with the hope that, if he did well, he would stay in Spain. Mohammed also had the promise of a contract with Gaza Sport Club, making him one of the youngest players to sign with the team.

Then came the 7 October attacks on Israel, and the war in Gaza. Mohammed didn’t make that flight. “My life has turned upside down in a blink of an eye,” he says.

Faye and Suzy are joined by Anita Asante and Jenna Schillaci to round up a dramatic weekend in the WSL, check in on what’s happening lower down the pyramid and preview the Women’s FA Cup final

Chelsea lost, then Manchester City lost then Chelsea won – that’s the week in a nutshell. After Emma Hayes waved the white flag on Wednesday, by Sunday she declared “it’s not over!”

The panel also preview Sunday’s FA Cup final between Manchester United and Tottenham.

The grumblings have begun. But Tottenham’s improvement from a year ago should not be forgotten

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The good news for Tottenham is that they did not concede a goal from a set play against Liverpool on Sunday. But there wasn’t much else. A 4-2 defeat meant they had lost four successive league games for the first time since 2004 and if Tottenham are to clinch fourth place from Aston Villa, they have to win their remaining three games, one of which is against Manchester City, and hope that Villa don’t win either of their two.

A measure of perspective is essential. Spurs finished eighth last year and the season ended in rancour and recrimination. Antonio Conte had left at the end of March, by which point he had made clear he didn’t much want to be at the club, while fans had tired of his grindingly negative football; what can be tolerated when it’s bringing results soon palls when those results dry up.

Kylian Mbappé admitted he was 'sad' and 'disappointed' after Paris Saint-Germain were knocked out of the Champions League, having lost 2-0 on aggregate to Borussia Dortmund in the semi-final. The forward however urged his team to keep working towards success. 'There's still the French Cup final and that's an important objective for the club and for us players. We're going to keep on working to try and win this final and another trophy.'

• Dortmund bring down curtain on Kylian Mbappé’s lost years at PSG

Borussia Dortmund's 1-0 victory over Paris St Germain, which secured a 2-0 aggregate win and a place in the Champions League final, was thanks to 'teamwork and maybe a little bit of luck,' said Dortmund coach Edin Terzić. His counterpart Luis Enrique rued hitting the woodwork six times over the two legs and failing to score despite 31 attempts at the Parc des Princes. 'I think if there is a team that had bad luck in this match, it’d be Paris Saint-Germain,' said the PSG coach.

• Hummels seals Champions League final place for Dortmund as PSG crash out

• ‘Indescribable’: Reus relishing Wembley return after Dortmund triumph in Paris

Ipswich Town supporters turned out in force to celebrate with their heroes after the Tractor Boys became the first team since Southampton in 2011 and 2012 to win successive promotions to the top flight from League One. The team celebrated their Premier League return with an open-top bus tour

• ‘Amazing achievement’: McKenna full of pride as Ipswich savour promotion

Erik ten Hag admitted that Manchester United’s season reached a new low after they were thrashed 4-0 by a rampant Crystal Palace. The result left Ten Hag’s side in eighth place in the Premier League with just three games to play, falling behind Newcastle and Chelsea in the race for European qualification. Ten Hag said: 'It was a team performance that was not correct, making big mistakes. Not following the plan or the script. We have individual mistakes but we should cover each other, we let each other down'

• ‘We let each other down’: Ten Hag admits Manchester United at new low

Jürgen Klopp launched an extraordinary rant at footballing authorities and broadcasters in a press conference ahead of Liverpool's Premier League clash with Tottenham Hotspur. The outgoing Liverpool manager specifically called out TNT Sports - referencing his side's quick turnaround between games and frequent 12.30 kick-offs - saying that players in England are overworked and play too many matches. 'I watch a lot of football all over the world, Premier League is the best league in the world. It's not overrated, the players are overworked,' he said. 'Thursday, Sunday, Wednesday, Saturday 12.30 is a crime. I was actually waiting for Amnesty International to go to them.'

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has denied reports that Manchester United are set for a summer clearout of their players in the transfer window, calling them a 'joke' and 'totally crap'. 'It's a joke,' he said. 'As long as I've worked here, every summer, every window, I think 200 players are getting interest from Manchester United. I think be calm and also take some responsibility when you make such a headline. Think, find a good source if there is some truth in it and this is totally crap.' The Dutchman also commented on Jadon Sancho's impressive Champions League performance for Borussia Dortmund and underlined his 'high value'

Departing legend played his part in helping his hometown club approach the second leg against PSG with spirits high

“He is,” said Edin Terzic, “a living legend.” The stars have not always aligned for Marco Reus as he has wanted or deserved but on this first weekend of May, everything clicked into place.

This was the first part of a two-stage tribute at Signal Iduna Park for one of Borussia Dortmund’s most beloved players of the modern era. It was emotional – and emotion is what this arena always does best. With his good friend Jadon Sancho looking on from the centre circle, clapping and spellbound, Reus approached the Yellow Wall for his applause at full-time, his young daughter in his arms.

Neroverdi have a reputation for running a tight ship but face a struggle to stay up despite doubling up against Internazionale

This was one of those results that felt like an instant piece of sports trivia, future material for the writers of football-themed pub quizzes. “In 2023-24, Inter won their 20th league title with a dominant league campaign in which they only lost two games. Which opponents beat them?” A trick question, as both defeats were to the same team. And an unlikely answer: Sassuolo, who are on course for relegation.

We might be getting ahead of ourselves. There are still three games left in this Serie A campaign, time enough for Internazionale to lose again, or Sassuolo to steer themselves to safety. Still, it will always be a peculiar truth that Simone Inzaghi’s formidable team had a 28-game unbeaten run sandwiched by slip-ups against one of the worst sides in the division.

Football manager who nurtured a free-flowing style of play and led Argentina to their first World Cup title in 1978

The football manager César Luis Menotti, who has died aged 85, led Argentina to their first ever World Cup trophy in 1978, a 3-1 victory on home territory against the Netherlands in the deafening noise of the Estadio Monumental in Buenos Aires on a pitch strewn with ticker tape. It was a joyful occasion, but one that for many – including Menotti himself – was soured by the fact that the country was led by a brutal military junta, for whom the win was valuable propaganda.

Long-haired and left-leaning, Menotti was, as Esquire magazine once said, “the embodiment of everything the junta opposed”. But there was a symbiotic relationship between the two parties, for Menotti’s job as manager was reliant on the patronage of the dictator Jorge Rafaél Videla, who had come to power in a coup two years earlier, and Videla was wise enough to recognise that Menotti represented Argentina’s best chance of glory.

• Messi has record-setting game with a goal and five assists
• Inter Miami remain top of East on six-game unbeaten run

Lionel Messi had a record setting night for Inter Miami.

He scored a goal and had five assists as Inter Miami trounced the New York Red Bulls 6-2 on Saturday night – with the Argentine great and eight-time Ballon d’Or winner as the game’s best player setting no fewer than three Major League Soccer records in the effort.

• Alou Kuol scores six minutes from time to settle final in Muscat
• Success adds to Mariners’ A-League Men premiership this year

Manager Mark Jackson was left pinching himself after a late Alou Kuol winner led the Central Coast to their first Asian title and kept an unprecedented treble bid alive. Kuol came off the bench in the AFC Cup final, scoring in the 84th minute to down Lebanese outfit Al Ahed at Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex in Muscat.

Kuol’s goal ensured the Mariners became the first Australian club to win an Asian title since Western Sydney Wanderers lifted the 2014 Asian Champions League. And the striker’s last-gasp heroics netted $2.3m in prize money while keeping the flame burning for an historic Mariners treble.

• Menotti led Argentina to success in home World Cup in 1978
• He also coached Barcelona and Atlético Madrid

The World Cup winning coach César Luis Menotti, who led Argentina to the title in 1978, has died at the age of 85, the Argentine Football Association (AFA) said on Sunday.

Menotti, who played for Rosario Central, Boca Juniors and Santos, began his coaching career at Newell’s Old Boys and won the Argentinian championship with Huracán in 1973, before taking over as head coach of the Argentinian national team in 1974.

• Real Madrid defeat Cádiz 3-0 before Barça suffer decisive loss
• Guerreiro injured for Bayern Munich in defeat at Stuttgart

Real Madrid are champions of Spain for the 36th time after their 3-0 win over Cádiz was followed by a 4-2 defeat for Barcelona at Girona that meant Carlo Ancelotti’s side’s lead at the top of La Liga is unassailable.

Goals from Brahim Díaz, Jude Bellingham and Joselu earned Madrid an eventually comfortable win over lowly Cádiz. With four games remaining, Real climbed to 87 points and extended their lead to 13 points over second-placed Girona and 14 clear of Barcelona in third.

Despite the team’s rise on the global stage, players are often underpaid so look for opportunities in the armed forces

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Despite the increasing interest in Zambian players from clubs abroad after their impressive recent performances, which have helped the women’s national team qualify for all major international tournaments in the past two years, including the Paris Olympics, there exists a desire among them to be recruited into the Zambian military.

In April, three Copper Queens first-team players – Margaret Belemu, Ochumba Oseke and Mary Wilombe – graduated from Zambia air force training as noncommissioned officers. As a result they missed the Olympic Games qualifiers in February, having also missed the 2024 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (Wafcon) qualification round last November.

• Melbourne City 0-1 Sydney FC
• Late strike by Connors clinches fifth championship for Sydney

Shea Connors was celebrating before the ball had even hit the back of the net, wheeling away as she scored what would prove the winning goal in the 69th minute of Sydney’s 1-0 triumph over Melbourne City in Saturday evening’s A-League Women grand final.

Connors had been on the park for all of 120 seconds to that point, brought on to replace Princess Ibini. Now she was being mobbed by teammates converging from the pitch and the bench, having put her side on the way to a historic fifth title.

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
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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.

Last year I logged into iFollow to watch Cambridge maintain their League One status. This year I did exactly the same

As middle age creeps along, I am continually finding new, and less interesting, ways to measure the passing of time. For much of my 20s and all of my 30s I lived on a street with a food market and after a couple of years of burritos and Turkish flatbreads, I realised the greatest advantage was the refuse collection. Every day was bin day.

I took this freedom and wild abandon for waste completely for granted. I didn’t have to plan or think or tear cardboard boxes to shreds. Just toss a plastic bag on the street before 5pm and it was whisked away. I was truly alive. Now it’s a Sunday evening ritual: peer down the street – is it recycling or garden waste? That time again, eh, Frank? Feels like it was only last week we were dragging the yellow bin on to the curb. Do you have space in your green bin, Janet? I’ve been doing some pruning. There we all are, wheel them out and wait for the 6am trash-truck Monday morning chorus. Another week closer to death.

The Argentinian’s afterlife – a horror story of allegations and legal wrangles – has taken another turn

The noise from the middle tier of the stand at the Spartak Stadium was strangely persistent, rising above the pre-match hum of Argentina versus Iceland in Moscow, the pitch a humid pocket of shade, the far end still pounded by heavy mid-afternoon sun.

It was a banging noise. And a rattling noise. And a yelling noise. People had already begun to turn and point. Looking up, the first thing you saw from below was the fold of chins and sub-chins. Then it was the cigar, protruding like a gun snub above the lip of the balcony. And finally it was the face of Diego Maradona craning over the rail, arms spread in a papal gesture, and looking like, if not the most excited man of all time, then surely the most excited man yet.

Player-led matches are one of the fresh concepts at academy that aims to give players tools for success beyond football

A few weeks ago AFC Wimbledon Under-18s won 4-3 at Cheltenham Town in the Youth Alliance Cup. The visitors went 3-0 down but did not panic, tweaking tactics and adjusting systems before storming back. It was a wild contest, a remarkable turnaround, but what was even more impressive was Wimbledon were in effect managerless for the day, with the game designated as one of their player-led matches, a pioneering concept at the heart of their academy programme. Apart from booking the team bus to Gloucestershire, the onus was on the youngsters to organise everything and cope with the challenges: absorb the pressure, problem-solve on the spot and play.

It is an idea that hands the initiative to players and one Wimbledon do a few times a season from the under-nines to under-18s. Safeguarding rules differ between age groups but a physiotherapist is always present, as legally required. “When you see 10-year-olds trying to dissect the game, looking at formations, telling people what position they are going to play in, it is empowering,” says their academy manager, Michael Hamilton, who has been asked to share the concept at Premier League and Football Association conferences. “Life is not easy. There are going to be ups and downs. You might get released when you think you shouldn’t, you might not get a run of games. It is about having a bag of tools you can go into and say: ‘What do I need today?’”

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Now then, where were we? The last time Football Daily preached to the masses [honk – Football Daily Ed], Jürgen Klopp was firing shots at TNT and waiting for Amnesty International to intervene over the crime that is the 12.30pm Saturday kick-off. By late Sunday, under the Anfield sunshine and in front of Sky cameras, the departing Liverpool manager was a much happier bunny, firing jubilant fist-pumps after his side’s 4-2 win over Tottenham. Yes, this was a long ol’ weekend built upon fierce mood and local election swings, which means it’s time for a recap Craig David would approve of. Saturday brought another routine Arsenal victory, their fourth on the bounce as Bournemouth were swept aside 3-0. Smiles all round, the Emirates still believing, bottles waiting to be popped … until, for the second weekend in a row, Manchester City cruised through their evening game to kill the mood in north London. Erling Haaland, clearly reeling from second-season syndrome after a staggering freshman year, scored just his, erm, wait … 33rd, 34th, 35th and 36th goals of the season. Trampolining at the far post to head home his second in a 5-1 demolition of Wolves, Haaland provided a reminder that he remains the biggest, meanest, scariest presence on the playground.

What is the matter with you? Where is the editor when editing is so badly required? The opening sentence on Jürgen Klopp (Friday’s Football Daily) was by my count 61 words long. Business English teachers suggest a sentence of 17 should be the maximum. Most of us can follow a line of thought quite well. Even sequences of related sentences, often referred to as ‘paragraphs’, are well within our grasp. Stop treating me as if I were stupid. The better technique is to write up to me, not down” – Murray Todd.

Let’s work this out together. David Moyes had a disastrous first go-around at West Ham. But the club brought him back, he sorted out the defence, and led them to European glory (well, Tin Pot). And he’s now available again. Moyes already had his first term at Manchester United, their defending is atrocious, and Europe beckons. Sing it with me. ‘♪ He’s coming home ♪ He’s coming home ♪ He’s coming ♪ Moyes is coming home’” – Mike Wilner.

One of the main reasons I think Arne Slot will seamlessly adapt to Anfield is that he is trading De Kuip for De Kop” – Peter Oh.

Can Mark Clattenburg be charged for bringing Gladiators into disrepute?” – Martyn Shapter.

As a rube from across the pond, I’m quite grateful for you alerting us to the presence of a Bank Holiday, as otherwise I’d be blaming a serendipitous glitch in the internet for the absence of a Football Daily missive. Just one question though: why do Brits celebrate certain holidays by going to banks? Seems terribly buttoned-down” – John Nielsen-Gammon.

Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Barney Ronay and Lucy Ward as both Arsenal and Manchester City refuse to blink in the Premier League title race

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; Arsenal comfortably beat Bournemouth before Manchester City comfortably beat Wolves, will this be the story until the end of the season?

Mikel Arteta keeps cool, Jacob Murphy proves his worth and Elijah Adebayo states his case for a top-flight stay

From touchline handbags in London with his manager a week ago to this: an individual performance of verve and efficiency to go with collective success, Mohamed Salah smiling once again. Much has been written and said about the Egyptian forward, of his recent struggles, future and behaviour. But a career as storied as his requires him to put aside the noise and go again, an internal wiring that is present among only the best. Salah was electric against Tottenham, striking the bar with a cross-turned-shot and forcing a strong save from Guglielmo Vicario inside the first 10 minutes. The post was struck not long after, though the offside flag went up too, and then came the goal just 16 minutes in, masterful movement at the far post preceding a clinical header. He was present in the build-up to Liverpool’s other three goals, allowing Jürgen Klopp a gorgeous afternoon of Anfield sunshine and fist pumps as that final goodbye inches closer. Taha Hashim

Match report: Liverpool 4-2 Tottenham

Match report: Manchester City 5-1 Wolves

Match report: Brighton 1-0 Aston Villa

Match report: Arsenal 3-0 Bournemouth

Chelsea made hay to reignite their title hope while Manchester City ran out of steam against the Gunners

Manchester City’s second-half collapse against Arsenal seemed unthinkable at half time. City’s pressing had been relentless, forcing errors from their opponents and denying them room to breathe, let alone move. That pressure dissipated after the interval, however, with City manager Gareth Taylor blaming “a mixture of energy [levels dipping] and a dropping off to protect what you have got”. Maintaining that intensity for 90 minutes against a top rival is never going to be easy, but the issue City had was that they had not put the game to bed when they were on top in the first half and they had no plan B for when their intensity dipped. Suzanne Wrack

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While anyone who actually watched last Saturday’s lunchtime draw in the Premier League could be forgiven for thinking Liverpool’s inability to beat West Ham was down to Liverpool’s inability to defend crosses into their penalty area and repeated insistence on firing shots wide of, over and against the woodwork, Jürgen Klopp used his press conference this morning to set them straight. Clambering aboard his soapbox ahead of his side’s 15-goal thriller against Tottenham on Sunday, the outgoing Liverpool manager laid the blame for the damaging draw in east London squarely at the door of TNT Sports, who had broadcast the game for armchair and bar-stool viewers in the UK.

With regard to the suit clearout at Manchester United, CFO Cliff Baty may have been asked to Do One at the end of the season but surely interim CEO Patrick Stewart has been encouraged to Boldly Go” – Declan Houton.

I’m one of those readers lucky enough to have friends to go to the football with regularly. My buddy will happily regale me with tales of being bought drinks by German fans after that night in Munich, or bunking off school to see his beloved (and sadly no longer with us) Nuneaton Borough play away in the FA Cup at Firewall FC’s Old Show Ground. Therefore when you posted your gallery of images from the new FSC book At The Match, I thought it would be something that he would enjoy, especially since he has a big birthday coming up. After scrolling through them, lo and behold there he was with his family staring back at me from the picture of Yorkshire v Parishes of Jersey. Thanks for saving me the hassle of thinking of something appropriate to buy him, and hopefully you won’t see through this blatant attempt to save the £40 by winning the prized Letter o’ the Day so I can spend more money buying him beer at the NCEL Premier Playoff Final on Saturday! Up the Miners!” – Chris Richardson.

Plus: Championship stalwarts who never played in Premier League, top-scoring for the longest streak and more

• Mail us your questions or tweet @TheKnowledge_GU

“In the 1975 FA Cup, I was surprised that in the quarter-final that season Ipswich and Leeds had taken four games to resolve their tie, with a total attendance of 143,000. My question is: which is the tie with the highest total attendance?” asks Nicholas Idoine.

“As the FA recently bowed to the Premier League and replays are to become a thing of the past, I was intrigued by this question and consulted 11v 11.com and Marching on Together websites to come up with an answer,” begins Michael Haughey. “The match quoted between Ipswich and Leeds (142,849) was seen by fewer people in four games than the 154,201 who saw the three games it took to settle Leeds v Sunderland in 1967. This included Elland Road’s record crowd at the replay.

As one of two WSL sides without Premier League backing this term, Lauren Smith’s team were up against it from the start

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As the clock hit full time at Ashton Gate on Sunday evening, Bristol City finally succumbed to the inevitable. Relegation was confirmed after a 4-0 defeat to Manchester City, a final nail in the coffin in their Women’s Super League campaign. Only 371 days after achieving promotion, the Robins were condemned to the Championship to start rebuilding once again.

The table does not lie. With only one win all season – a thrilling 3-2 triumph at West Ham in November – Bristol City’s struggles have been evident. Their defensive problems, in particular, have been impossible to ignore. Context is key, however, particularly in a sport where the parameters are quickly shifting.

Our cartoonist has a guide just for you to help choose which official to blame when your striker misses a sitter from six yards out

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Girona briefly promised the unlikeliest of triumphs but the sheer variety in Ancelotti’s side made them a cut above the rest

More than two hours had passed since the final whistle went on Real Madrid’s 3-0 victory over Cadiz and some of their players were still inside inside the Santiago Bernabéu watching on TV when they officially found out they were champions, but they had known for a long time. The title, eventually delivered by Girona’s 4-2 victory over Barcelona 681 kilometres to the north-east and confirmed at 8.30pm on the 34th Saturday of the season, did not see them board an open-top bus down the Castellana to Cibeles, although fans did gather by the goddess of fertility. There was more to do – Bayern Munich come on Wednesday night – and, besides, this was already done.

It had been for some time. Two weeks earlier, Jude Bellingham had scored a 94th-minute goal to win the clásico, their last remaining contenders eliminated, if you could truly call Barcelona that. Two months earlier they had put four past the nearest thing they had to genuine challengers, effectively eliminating Girona too: they were the most exciting, the most surprising team but they would not be champions. As for Atlético Madrid, the only team to defeat Real all season, they had eliminated themselves even sooner, gone by Christmas. This hadn’t been a race; ultimately, it had been a parade.

Our photographer Tom Jenkins was at Portman Road to witness the scenes as the Tractor Boys’ victory meant a return to the Premier League for the first time since 2002

There have been some glaring mistakes by VAR but it also appears to have increased officiating standards on the pitch

Seven months ago Englandthe country came the closest yet to entering thermonuclear war over a refereeing decision. When the referee Simon Hooper mistakenly ruled out a Luis Díaz goal at Tottenham for offside and the video assistant referee Darren England failed to correct him, the initial response was heated and only bubbled up from there.

“They said it was significant, that’s very significant,” said Gary Neville on Sky at full time when a Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) statement dropped acknowledging “significant human error” in ruling out the goal. “It makes you wonder how many others they’ve got wrong as well,” chipped in Jamie Redknapp.

Owner Farhad Moshiri once said the club were ‘robust’ enough to fund stadium but now they need working capital injections

At Everton’s annual general meeting in January 2019, the owner, Farhad Moshiri, made a dramatic promise.

Speaking about the club’s ambition to build a 52,888-seat stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock, the club’s majority shareholder pledged: “I’ll throw as much money as needed. Private markets will provide £350m, naming rights will give us some more and we will maybe have an equity gap of £100m.”

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.