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New players have come in, too many of them, and that has meant a dilution of the collective will instilled by Klopp

Before this game Arne Slot had announced that he was “almost confused”. Which does at least raise some tantalising questions. Mainly, what is this Liverpool team going to look like when he gets there, when a state of full confusion is finally attained, when even Slot’s confusion stops being confusing and reveals its diamond-cut final form.

It’s hard to disagree with Ian Wright when he suggests the midfielder has been subjected to a timeworn double standard

Sir Alex Ferguson was there. Bryan Robson was there. Eric Cantona was there. The manager Ole Gunnar Solskjær was there, and yet even as these four club legends sold the dream of Manchester United to a 17-year-old from the Midlands, they could sense the elusiveness, the coldness, the drop of the shoulder. The nagging suspicion that, like so many defenders Jude Bellingham would later encounter, they too were grasping at pure air.

“He had it planned out,” Solskjær would later remember. “He knew what he wanted. X amount of minutes in the first team. The most mature 17‑year‑old I’ve ever met in my life.” Though five years have passed since Bellingham turned down United for Borussia Dortmund, for me this is still the story that explains him best of all. The origin myth. This is what you all think I’m going to do. So I’m going to step that way instead.

• Supporters ‘targeted with pepper spray and batons’

• French police used ‘excessive tactics’, claim Newcastle

Newcastle are to complain over the “unacceptable treatment” their fans endured after Tuesday’s 2-1 defeat at Marseille in the Champions League. The Premier League club accused French police of using pepper spray, batons and shields to subdue supporters in the wake of Tuesday night’s loss at Stade Vélodrome.

A club statement said: “We will be formally raising our concerns with Uefa, Olympique de Marseille and French police in relation to the unacceptable treatment of our supporters by police at Stade Vélodrome following Tuesday’s UEFA Champions League fixture.”

• Gray pleased team scored three goals in Paris

• He praises ‘helpful’ individual plans from coaches

Archie Gray believes Tottenham can take a number of positives from Wednesday night’s 5-3 Champions League defeat at Paris Saint-Germain despite describing the result as “not good enough.”

The pre-match talk at the club had been about effecting a reset after Sunday’s 4-1 derby humbling at Arsenal to boost confidence for Saturday’s home game against Fulham. Spurs are desperate for a victory at their stadium having won only once there in the league this season under Thomas Frank. More broadly, their home league record shows three victories in 20 matches.

The driving force behind the continent’s standout team resembled four players in one as Arsenal put their old nemesis Bayern Munich to the sword

Shortly before the goal that left Arsenal’s supremacy in no doubt, Harry Kane embarked upon a lonely jaunt up their left flank. Much like the majority of Bayern Munich’s attacking endeavours, it ended almost as soon as it had begun. In common with a sizeable percentage it was terminated by Declan Rice, who thundered in and took the ball cleanly with a hooked right foot to a cheer that rivalled the night’s loudest.

The Emirates Stadium crowd was always going to enjoy that one, as Rice knew full well. He responded in kind with a roar and an exhortation to the gallery, perhaps to his teammates too: keep it going, crank up that volume, let’s see this thing through. Rice is the best player in Europe right now and, with that, there are standards to drive.

• Real Madrid edge home 4-3 in Greece

• Giménez heads home in injury time for Atlético

Kylian Mbappé scored the second-fastest hat-trick in the Champions League as he helped himself to all four goals in Real Madrid’s 4-3 win at Olympiacos.

The La Liga leaders were trailing to Chiquinho’s early strike at the Stadio Georgios Karaiskakis before Mbappé intervened with a seven-minute treble after 22, 24 and 29 minutes.

• Blades beat Portsmouth after owners’ merger statement

• Wednesday rock bottom following defeat at Millwall

Sheffield United lifted themselves out of the Championship’s relegation zone on the day their owners reiterated their desire to take the club to the Premier League with a 3-0 win against 10-man Portsmouth.

Patrick Bamford scored on his full United debut, turning home a scrappy rebound early in the second half for his first goal in 19 months, after Sydie Peck’s penalty had given the Blades a 1-0 interval lead. Peck converted his first senior goal for the club after the Pompey defender Terry Devlin had been shown a straight red card for handling on the goalline shortly before half-time.

Englishman was not an obvious candidate to lead them but Swedes pushed Nottingham Forest all the way in 1979

Early in the 1979 European Cup final, Kenny Burns misjudged a long ball and ended up lobbing it up in the air for Jan-Olov Kindvall. He, in turn, attempted to knock the dropping ball over Peter Shilton but the goalkeeper was not as close as he had perhaps anticipated and Shilton ended up catching it simply. The chance was gone and, with it, Malmö’s hopes of beating Nottingham Forest.

“I had quite a good chance to score and then they were the better team,” says Kindvall. “But maybe if we had got the first goal, maybe we had a chance. We were very good when we didn’t have the ball ourselves. We had good organisation in the defence. And Forest were very good without the ball as well. It was more difficult for us to play against a team who were more like our team. We played the English way.”

The former England keeper discusses his sometimes borderline deluded outlook and being proud to defend the values of the club he loves

Tom Heaton wears a scowl. Sodden and frozen, he trudges off a pitch at Manchester United’s Carrington training base, gesticulating and muttering a goalkeeper-eyed analysis of the game his team have just lost. “We got pumped,” he says loudly, his annoyance clear.

Sometimes the obvious question must be asked: even on days such as this, does Heaton still enjoy it? “I love it,” is his response, his near‑permanent grin reappearing.

Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Lars Sivertsen and Sam Dalling as Chelsea beat Barcelona 3-0 in the Champions League, while Manchester City and Newcastle both lose

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On the podcast today: should we be taking Chelsea more seriously? They dominated Barcelona at Stamford Bridge and, in the battle of the wonder kids, Estêvão came out on top. Elsewhere, Newcastle lose in Marseille as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang rolls back the years, and Pep Guardiola rings the changes against Bayer Leverkusen and his vastly rotated side fail to get going as they lose 2-0 at home.

Plus, Manchester United go down 1-0 at home to Everton in quite hilarious circumstances, Cristiano Ronaldo gets a red card reprieve and we answer your questions.

Midfielder persevered through injury setbacks and nears completing her journey through the age-group ranks

When Freya Godfrey’s phone started ringing she glanced across, saw the call was from a number she didn’t recognise and ignored it. “I am a very cautious person – if I don’t have your number saved then I don’t answer,” she says. “It’s just spam.”

The 20-year-old London City Lionesses midfielder was on the road to visit her brother, who she hadn’t seen for a while, at university. A text swiftly came from the unknown number and Siri obliged Godfrey’s request to read it out: “Hi, it’s Sarina.”

Plus: long waits to play at a World Cup, champions being thrashed and title-winners with a negative goal difference

• Mail us with your questions and answers

“Idrissa Gueye’s red card for slapping Michael Keane at Old Trafford made me wonder – which other players have put hands on a teammate during a game?” asks Conor Humphries.

We covered this in a question back in 2004 – but 21 years is a long time in football, never mind intrasquad violence, so it’s due an upgrade. First, a brief summary of those we mentioned in the 2004 article.

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This was billed as a clash of two of the best teams in Europe and for most of a cold evening in north London it felt like it. An absorbing game that ebbed and flowed throughout had Bayern Munich’s rising teenager Lennart Karl cancel out Jurrien Timber’s opening goal from a corner before substitutes Noni Madueke and Gabriel Martinelli sealed a deserved win for the home side. It maintains their 100% record in the Champions League and sends them top of the table.

Harry Kane let it slip in the buildup that scoring against Arsenal gives him “a bit more joy” than any other club. But the England striker with 27 goals for his club to his name this season barely had a sniff as a Bayern Munich side that had also won their first four matches in the Champions League group stage and had been unbeaten in 21 previous games this season were taught a lesson. A place in the knockout stages now seems a mere formality.

• Player ingested a banned stimulant from rubber crumb

• She has been exonerated but talks of ‘terrible moment’

The Norwegian club Vålerenga have called for anti-doping regulations to be strengthened after an extraordinary case in which a player from their women’s team was found to have ingested a banned stimulant from rubber crumb in an artificial pitch.

A seven-month saga concluded on Wednesday when the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) chose not to appeal against the decision of Anti-Doping Norway (Adno) that the player was faultless. But the landmark case has highlighted the risks to footballers of environmental exposure to banned substances and opened up the possibility of further controversies emerging around the thousands of synthetic pitches across Europe.

Nine defeats in 12 games. The worst run in 71 years. By a team that coasted to the Premier League title last season and were then supposedly upgraded to the tune of almost £450m. Unbelievable, as Arne Slot would say. His Liverpool are stuck in reverse and his position could be under serious threat unless a way out is found soon.

PSV Eindhoven were the latest beneficiaries of woeful Liverpool defending and aimless attacking play as the Dutch side inflicted a comprehensive defeat on Slot’s team.

• Palmer is training with squad despite toe fracture

• Forward out since September with groin injury

Chelsea are hopeful that Cole Palmer can give them a major boost by declaring himself fit to face Arsenal at Stamford Bridge on Sunday. The forward has been out with a groin injury since September and his return to action was delayed when he fractured a toe in a freak domestic accident last week.

That forced Palmer to sit out Chelsea’s 3-0 win over Barcelona in the Champions League on Tuesday but there is optimism that his fitness issues are close to an end. The 23-year-old has trained with the squad this week and may be ready to play some part against Arsenal.

Plan to sell first-pick games to one global streaming company failed and that offers pointers for the future

Champagne corks were flying last Thursday after Uefa secured average annual increases of more than 20% in the value of its Champions League rights across its five biggest European markets, largely by luring the American entertainment company Paramount into the auction for the first time.

Paramount secured the UK rights by outbidding Uefa’s incumbent partner, TNT Sports, triumphed in Germany and forced Sky Italia to up its offer in Italy.

The final remains curious in a Celtic context because it is the showpiece occasion the club would rather forget

It feels cruel in part to use Thursday’s meeting of Feyenoord and Celtic to reflect upon illustrious times. The Dutch side are 29th in the 36-team Europa League table, with Celtic’s position in 27th only more slightly more palatable to supporters because Rangers are bottom of the pile.

Those fans disrupted an annual general meeting to the point of abandonment last week, demonstrating the disharmony that has engulfed Celtic for months. A club that progressed to the Champions League’s knockout phase playoffs last season, looking an overdue but serious European force, have starkly regressed. Celtic have the spending power to outshine clubs who routinely embarrass them in a bigger pond than St Mirren and Motherwell occupy.

Cheikh Touré died after being lured abroad in one of a growing number of extortion schemes tricking talented teenagers with dreams of making it big

The last time Diodo Sokhna spoke to her teenage son, he seemed subdued, his voice sapped of all the optimism he had set off with on a journey supposed to put him on the road to a career as a professional footballer.

After that call Cheikh Touré went silent. His mother’s WhatsApp messages to his phone received only the dreaded single tick, indicating they had not been received. Soon afterwards a man with a foreign accent rang her from a number she did not recognise. He told Sokhna her son was dead and then hung up.

Brazilian teenager’s goal in win against Barcelona was a classic and the winger could end up as one of the very best

Everything Lamine Yamal does oozes quality. Even when he is strolling about looking dejected, which he did quite a bit at Stamford Bridge, he does it with the nonchalant grace of a star. He caresses the ball rather than kicking it, generating remarkable power from limited back-lift. He plays on the balls of his feet, always alert, always able to go either way. He glides rather than runs, but does so at speed. He has already finished as runner-up in the Ballon d’Or. But he was not the best 18-year-old right-sided forward on the pitch on Tuesday, not even close.

In Estêvão, brought in from Palmeiras for a fee that could rise to £52m, Chelsea have recruited a player who could end up as one of the very best. He has been making more and more of an impression since scoring the late winner against Liverpool last month. His last four starts for Chelsea have brought four goals, and he also scored in both of Brazil’s friendlies during the international break. It’s very early, but Brazil may at last have found the player they desperately wanted to have found in Neymar.

Research is on ‘an upward curve’ and the next five years could be vital in trying to limit cruciate ruptures

Players who compete in the top two levels of German women’s football are four times more likely to rupture their anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) than their male counterparts, according to the German Football Association (DFB).

The governing body has funded a central injury and illness registry in women’s football for three years. So far in the Frauen Bundesliga, Germany’s top flight, there have been a reported seven ACL injuries 10 games into the current campaign. In the men’s Bundesliga, meanwhile, there have been three such injuries.

Eberechi Eze’s hat-trick and Manchester City’s loss to Newcastle means Arsenal are in control of their own destiny

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So it turns out those who had already handed the title to Arsenal were right after all.

It’s absurd, of course, to start handing out the title in November but a feature of modern football is how obsessed it becomes so early with title races. It’s perhaps a legacy of the Pep Guardiola-Jürgen Klopp rivalry’s peak, when being champion meant amassing more than 95 points. It made sense then to scan the track far ahead for any potential hurdles because there were so few. But less than a third of the way through this season, Manchester City, who remain probably the biggest danger to Arsenal, have already dropped as many points as they did in the entirety of 2017-18, their 100-point campaign.

Late equaliser was a kick in the teeth for Eder Sarabia’s plucky promoted side who threatened first win since 1970s

“It sounds a little crazy,” David Affengruber said but it didn’t sound crazy at all, not to anyone who had actually been watching. “We only come into this league this year and we’re a little bit disappointed to get a point against Real Madrid,” Elche’s Austrian centre-back concluded, standing at the side of the pitch where, Sunday’s game at the Estadio Martínez Valero finally over, a handful of kids and Endrick were now allowed to run about a bit. It was late and the stands had emptied, 31,024 people heading out the gates and into the night, but he was still in kit and sliders. Together, they’d had a lot of fun yet there was “frustration” too, he said.

Which was one way of putting it, as calmly understated as his play, but there were others. And if that was like him, this was like his coach, rarely one to hold back. A little bit disappointed? How about bloody annoyed? Eder Sarabia had just watched his side, runners-up in segunda last season, score as many in one night as Madrid had allowed in five; seen a team who hadn’t won since September and a club who hadn’t beaten Madrid since the 1970s get a 2-2 draw against league leaders who had only dropped points twice; and witnessed his men match a monster with a budget 19 times bigger, subs more expensive than all of Elche’s players ever, and a left-back whose cost could cover his entire club for a year. But was he happy?

More than two years of redevelopment at the storied ground later, feelings of relief and comfort greeted Barça’s return to time-honoured turf

There was no sign of Laszlo Kubala or Johan Cruyff, their statues still safely packed in storage, and Lionel Messi had sneaked in alone under cover of darkness a fortnight before but FC Barcelona’s current players were finally back at the Camp Nou as 45,157 fans and a handful of men in high-vis jackets and hard hats watched them return home 909 days later. It was like old times.

Athletic Club, ideal guests, had not won here in 30 matches and after two years away they didn’t win this time either, the last of four goals conceded soon followed by fireworks on an afternoon of reunion.

Brommapojkarna will have a close eye on Arsenal’s clash with Spurs as their talent factory continues to thrive

“We’re building Swedish youth.” The sign adorning the main stand at Brommapojkarna is simple, authoritative and accurate. Beneath it, in the lashing rain, the men’s side are training. But while their top-tier status is important, that is far from the primary focus.

Twenty-four hours before the men’s game, BP’s 5,000-capacity Grimsta IP stadium hosted a celebration of the under-19s, who secured a first national title since 2008. Youth development is at the heart of the club and on Sunday the fruits of Vällingby, a suburb in west Stockholm, will be consumed 1,100 miles away in north London.

• Ernst Tanner was subject of Guardian investigation

• Complaint alleged racist, sexist, and homophobic comments

• Tanner denies allegations, which initial MLS investigation did not corroborate

• Read our full investigation | Summary of our findings

Major League Soccer announced on Wednesday that it is re-opening its investigation into Philadelphia Union sporting director Ernst Tanner. The Union said in a statement to the Guardian that they have placed Tanner on administrative leave. The move comes a day after the Guardian published an investigation into Tanner’s conduct.

Tanner had previously been under investigation by MLS after the league received a complaint from the MLS Players Association in late January. In it, the MLSPA outlined a wide range of alleged issues surrounding Tanner, which included the use of racist, sexist and homophobic language and instances of inappropriate physical contact with a staff member.

Made multiple misogynistic comments, including saying “women don’t belong in men’s soccer” about a female MLS referee and telling a gathering of academy players that they “should never worry about a referee, unless she’s a woman.”

Directed a homophobic slur at an MLS referee in 2023

Spoke about Black players “like they were subhuman” and suggested that Black referees “lack intelligence and capability.”

Touched a co-worker inappropriately “numerous times,” an allegation for which he was reported to the Union’s HR department.

Hired an underqualified coach who was allegedly abusive toward players on the Philadelphia Union II, the club’s reserve team that is used as a proving ground for young players from its thriving academy.

• Draw with Curaçao ends automatic qualification hope

• He says team need ‘new energy and different perspective’

Steve McClaren has resigned as Jamaica’s head coach after a goalless draw with Curaçao ended the team’s hopes of automatic World Cup qualification and left them in March’s intercontinental playoffs.

Jamaica needed a win but hit the woodwork three times in the second half as Curaçao became the smallest country by population to win a berth at the World Cup finals. McClaren’s side finished second in Group B of Concacaf qualifying despite being the favourites.

A pension-pot World Cup looms and with Trump in the White House and a crown prince at his back, it is now a safe space

It was hard to choose one favourite photo from football’s double-header at the White House this week. In part this is because the pictures from Donald Trump’s state dinner with Mohammed bin Salman and his in-house hype men Cristiano Ronaldo and Gianni Infantino were everywhere, recycled feverishly across the internet, dusted with their own drool-stained commentary by the wider Ronaldo-verse.

Mainly there were just so many jaw-droppers. Perhaps you liked the one of Trump and Ronaldo strolling the halls of power, Ronaldo dressed all in black and laughing uproariously, like a really happy ninja. Or the one of Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez standing either side of a weirdly beaming Trump at his desk, holding up some kind of large heraldic key as though they’ve just been presented with their own wind-up wooden sex-grandad.

When you work in the game it is easy to get cynical but this week I’ve been consuming all the #limbs I can find

For the second time in a week, I’m welling up. This time in a cafe on Northcote High Street in Melbourne at 9am. I punched the air when Kieran Tierney curled that one in. But Kenny McLean. From the halfway line. As the ball sails over Kasper Schmeichel my hands involuntarily shoot to the sky. What a moment. The commentary is amazing. Before long I’m watching it on a loop. The unwritten rule of not talking over each other goes out of the window. In fact it’s better. You want the comms to feel like you feel.

On BBC Scotland, Liam McLeod, Steven Thompson and James McFadden absolutely nail it. McLeod: “They’ve given it away.” Thompson: “SHOOT, SHOOT.” McLeod: “He’s gonna shoot.” (McFadden is grinning wildly.) Thompson: “OH HE’S DONE HIM, HE’S DONE HIM, HE’S DONE HIM.” McLeod: “HAS THAT GONE IN? OOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAOOOOOOOOOO THAT’S UNBELIEVABLE …” The fixed camera set on Thompson and McFadden is wondrous. Two grown men jumping up and down in unison like 10-year-old boys. They are just so happy.

The Arsenal and England forward is backing new global campaign because talent and teamwork should decide the game – not the climate

I’ll never forget stepping out on to the pitch in Switzerland for the Euro 2025 tournament. The air felt heavy – not with pressure or expectation, but with heat. It was more than 30C (86f) that day. It makes your lungs sting, makes you feel like you’re running through water.

In the England camp, we had done everything to prepare. Ice vests before training, hydration breaks, modified warm-ups – things that just weren’t part of football life a few years ago. At our base in Zurich we even had cryotherapy and Slush Puppies to cool our core temperatures. During training, there were ice-cold towels, extra rest moments and constant reminders to hydrate. You could feel how carefully the staff planned every detail. But when the whistle blew, no protocol could change the fact that the climate itself has changed.

Troy Parrott’s last-gasp goal and DR Congo’s triumph proved once again why the best soccer is almost never about the soccer

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Last Thursday, Irish football was in a bleak place. They had two games remaining in World Cup qualifying and apparently no hope of making it to North America next summer. Another campaign had collapsed in predictable ways: they couldn’t score, they made bafflingly simple errors, too few of their players play for elite sides and those that do seemed unable to reproduce club form for their country.

Their one possible star, Evan Ferguson, had not been energised by a move to Roma – quite the reverse – and although there was vague talk of a new contract for their manager, the amiable Icelandic dentist Heimir Hallgrímsson, everybody thought he would be off after the game in Hungary and was vaguely dreading another Football Association of Ireland recruitment saga, which would inevitably take months, throw up a series of implausible names and result in the job being given to Hallgrímsson’s assistant, John O’Shea.

Our cartoonist on a simple win over Spurs that boosted the Gunners’ title hopes, smug Australians and more

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Former defender on his challenge as sporting director at Ligue 1 club and using Arsène Wenger as an inspiration

Returning to Brittany was the obvious choice for Laurent Koscielny. Having left Lorient for Arsenal in 2010, the former defender is back at the Ligue 1 side as the sporting director.

“My wife and I were keen to come back, it’s a beautiful region, and the people are welcoming and kind,” the Frenchman says of the seaside town, known for its annual Celtic music festival and military naval base.

Which players have run the furthest, taken the most long throws and fouled the most without seeing a card?

By Opta Analyst

You know that Erling Haaland is the top scorer in the Premier League and that David Raya is great at keeping them out at the other end of the pitch, but what about the quirkier metrics? Who covers the pitch but sees the penalty area as their kryptonite? Which defender loves one-v-one battles? Who prefers to shoot without taking a touch to settle themselves?

The former Liverpool and Osasuna player on his coaching journey, redemption in Spain and working with Sven-Göran Eriksson

“I went to a very good school, believe it or not. A grammar school. We had Spanish lessons, but I didn’t take Spanish. I thought: ‘What’s a hairy-arsed kid from the Liverpool ghetto going to need that for?’ And lo and behold …”

It’s late in Bilbao, back in the country that changed him, and a glass of wine rests on the table in front of Sammy Lee, who is grinning again. It’s been an emotional evening and a long night: a lot of laughs, some tears too, talking life at Liverpool and the life that came next. “For me, it’s about coaching even more than playing,” the European champion and former England assistant says. “And that started here.”

In an exclusive extract from her autobiography, goalkeeper reveals the painful road to her shock England exit

England felt like such a safe space for me. It was usual to have a team review after a big tournament and after the Euros in 2022 we came together in the Club England meeting room at St George’s Park, the team’s headquarters.

The emotional security that I felt within England was bolstered by the culture and values that had underpinned and contributed to our success. Non-collegiate behaviour was not tolerated. We came back together to the news that Hannah Hampton had been dropped from the squad: her behaviour behind the scenes at the Euros had frequently risked derailing training sessions and team resources.

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It is measure of just how much more shameless and obsequious Fifa has become under the presidency of Gianni Infantino that news of its decision to unsuspend Cristiano Ronaldo from Portugal’s first two group games at next year’s Geopolitics World Cup has been greeted with little more than an amused, weary eye-roll at the brass neckery of it all. Issued with a straight red card for violent conduct during a defeat at the hands of the Republic of Ireland, the preening Portuguese showpony was issued with a standard three-match ban, the first game of which he spent on the Naughty Step during his side’s subsequent 9-1 demolition of Armenia. His was an absence that didn’t so much make the heart grow fonder, as the team grow in stature and confidence.

Surely the benchmark for ‘lamping’ your teammate (yesterday’s Football Daily) was set in January 1979 by ‘Killer Hales’ and Mike ‘Flash’ Flanagan at the Valley. Without the benefit of today’s array of camera angles and pundits to know-it-all, it was difficult to judge who started it, but the football reasoning was that Killer thought Flash had delayed a pass and prevented him scoring. However, there were some mutterings about off-field tensions and they went their separate ways. Five years later, amazingly, they were both back in the Addicks’ front line” – Geoff Williams.

I found it interesting that a slap to the head did not cause Michael Keane to fall to the pitch and roll around in apparent agony. Surely Keane should have been booked for his embarrassingly flagrant act of simulated stoicism?” – Ian Potter.

Idrissa Gueye’s straight red might turn out to be the least of his worries. Apparently his reward for winning this eliminator is a crack at the title against local favourite, Duncan Ferguson” – Allastair McGillivray.

Gotham are underdogs against a potent Spirit side but they have the talent and resilience to cause another upset

At the close of quintessential NWSL playoffs rife with last-minute goals and upsets, the eighth-placed underdogs Gotham FC will face second-placed Washington Spirit for the trophy. Both teams have won the NWSL Championship once before: the Spirit in 2021 and Gotham two years later. Washington are the likely favourites, but Gotham’s talent cannot be discounted.

As we look forward to Saturday night in San Jose, here are a few key battles that could decide the game.

Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Lars Sivertsen and Sam Dalling as Chelsea beat Barcelona 3-0 in the Champions League, while Manchester City and Newcastle both lose

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: should we be taking Chelsea more seriously? They dominated Barcelona at Stamford Bridge and, in the battle of the wonder kids, Estêvão came out on top.

Faye Carruthers is joined by Suzy Wrack, Sophie Downey and Theo Lloyd-Hughes for an NWSL special, looking at the final between Gotham FC and Washington Spirit, as well as the season as a whole, and all of the latest news from the home nations

On today’s pod: we have a National Women’s Soccer League Special for you – after Gotham FC were handed the keys to New York City following their 1-0 Championship win over Washington Spirit in the final. We’ll reflect on the game itself as well as the season as a whole.

Also, it’s the International break so we’ll also take a look at how the home nations are looking and react to the news that Tanya Oxtoby has left Northern Ireland to become Newcastle United’s head coach.

Bellingham’s dramatic 95th-minute bicycle kick prompted an unfettered outpouring of emotion for England fans

How vociferously are you allowed to celebrate a goal as a 30-year-old? This was the only thing that tempered my jubilation on 30 June 2024, a moral quandary amid the elation, the beer sweat, the tears.

As I dragged my heavy legs away from the Greenwich beer garden which that day became a golden English garden, having inadvertently collided with my friend’s chin while celebrating Jude Bellingham’s brilliant bicycle kick, I was hit with a pang of shame.

Plus: chants celebrating old memories, Trevor Wood from Jersey and ‘a Genghis Khan-like thick moustache’

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“England qualified for the World Cup in perfect style, winning all eight games without conceding a goal,” writes Charlie Wilson. “How many teams have done this?”

This isn’t the first time England have qualified for a World Cup without conceding a goal. They did the same ahead of Italia 90 – but three of their six group games were 0-0 draws and they might not have qualified had Poland’s Rysard Tarasiewicz scored in the last minute of their final game in Chorzow. Instead his heatseeker hit the crossbar and England were through.

Switzerland (A) 5-0

Wales (H) 12-0

Wales (A) 12-0

Croatia (A) 7-0

Croatia (H) 8-0

Switzerland (H) 11-0

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

We pick the best youngsters at each club born between 1 September 2008 and 31 August 2009, an age band known as first-year scholars. Check the progress of our classes of 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 … and go even further back. Here’s our 2025 world picks

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