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• Manager happy with half-time argument in win over Everton
• ‘My winning teams, we had big fights in the team’

José Mourinho described the half-time confrontation between Hugo Lloris and Son-Heung min during Tottenham’s 1-0 win over Everton as “beautiful” and said that he does not want to manage a team capable of winning nothing more than the Fair Play Cup.

Mourinho wanted a response after last Thursday’s insipid defeat to Sheffield United and the Spurs manager was happy to see Lloris erupt at Son in public after the winger’s failure to track back almost led to Richarlison cancelling out Michael Keane’s own-goal just before the interval. In Mourinho’s eyes his goalkeeper’s anger was proof that his players are ready to grow up.

• Club release statement over ‘disrespectful’ incident
• Everton say statue has not suffered permanent damage

Everton have confirmed they are “assisting Merseyside Police with their inquiries” after a red flare was ignited and left on the Dixie Dean statue outside Goodison Park.

Footage of the incident was widely shared on social media and prompted outrage from Everton fans, with flowers and tributes to loved ones surrounding the bottom of the statue.

• Former RB Leipzig manager to take over from Stefano Pioli
• German may also become club’s sporting director

Milan have reached a deal with Ralf Rangnick to become the club’s new manager for the 2020-21 season. The German will replace Stefano Pioli, who has been in charge since October last year.

The 62-year-old Rangnick has already agreed to become the club’s new manager but will also hold discussions with the Milan hierarchy to combine that role with that of sporting director, a position currently held by Paolo Maldini.

• Talks continue with midfielder’s parent club Real Madrid
• Further loan agreement or player swaps are a possibility

Mikel Arteta has said he would like to keep Dani Ceballos at Arsenal beyond this season and that talks are continuing with the midfielder’s parent club, Real Madrid, about a deal.

Ceballos has shaken off a mixed start to his loan in north London, which included two months out with a muscle problem, to play an important role in the side’s recent revival. He scored a late winner in the FA Cup quarter-final at Sheffield United last week and his run of form has coincided with Arsenal winning four matches in a row for the first time in 2019-20. Arteta had urged him in January to “take a step forwards” and now appears convinced of his longer-term potential.

The Italian has lost his place and could depart this summer, with Frank Lampard preferring more flexible options

When N’Golo Kanté went down with a hamstring injury during the closing stages of Chelsea’s win over Watford on Saturday, it was revealing that Frank Lampard turned to a teenager instead of his vice-captain. Billy Gilmour came on and Jorginho remained in the stands, wondering when he will get to take part in Project Restart.

The impression is of a player fighting to prove his worth all over again. Derided as the face of Sarriball last year, Jorginho has not featured at all since the season resumed last month. After working hard to win the Chelsea faithful over at the start of the campaign, the Italy international is back on uncertain ground.

• Heidenheim 2-2 Werder (2-2 agg; Werder win on away goals)
• Tim Kleindienst scores two late equalisers in vain for underdogs

Werder Bremen have preserved their Bundesliga status on away goals after a 2-2 aggregate draw with second-tier Heidenheim in their promotion/relegation play-off.

The underdogs had earned a creditable goalless draw in Bremen last week, but fell behind at home in the third minute when defender Norman Theuerkauf, who started his career at Werder, turned the ball into his own net.

• Oxford 1-1 Portsmouth (2-2 agg; 5-4 on penalties)
• Wycombe 2-2 Fleetwood (6-3 on aggregate)

Oxford United will take on Wycombe Wanderers in the League One play-off final at Wembley after the U’s prevailed in a penalty shootout to decide their semi-final against Portsmouth.

Simon Eastwood was the hero for Oxford, the keeper going the right way to deny Cameron McGeehan as the hosts won 5-4 on penalties at the Kassam Stadium. Wycombe booked their place later on Monday night, earning a 2-2 draw at home to Fleetwood to go through with a 6-3 aggregate win.

• ‘Dream come true for me,’ says 17-year-old winger
  
• Jürgen Klopp praises his ‘attitude and bravery’
  

Harvey Elliott has signed a first professional contract at Liverpool, with Jürgen Klopp describing the deal as “brilliant news” for the champions.

The 17-year-old Elliott, who joined from Fulham last summer, became Liverpool’s second youngest debutant when playing in a Carabao Cup game against MK Dons in September and has made eight appearances in total. The most recent was the winger’s late appearance in the 4-0 win against Crystal Palace at Anfield last month.

An erratic side have been flawless since the league turned into a mini-knockout contest. Now the writing seems on the wall

Casemiro couldn’t look but pretty much everyone else could see. Crouched right on the centre spot, the Real Madrid midfielder turned his back and brought his hands to his face. To the left, Éder Militão stood by him, gently laying a hand on his shoulder. Fifty metres away Athletic’s Iker Muniain was pacing, blood boiling. “Explain it, then,” he was demanding. “Always the effing same. Not even you lot can understand it.” And to the left of him Sergio Ramos was waiting to take a penalty, blood running cold. He was 12 yards from goal or “11 metres closer to the title” as Marca put it, which was easy to say afterwards.

Easy to say at the time too, at least for some. There were 17 minutes remaining, a little over four games left at the end of the longest season, and it was 0-0 at the ground they call the Cathedral – the last great obstacle between Madrid and the league. There was a lot at stake but if Casemiro was nervous, he needn’t have been. There was silence, the place not the same when the only spectator is the bust of Pichichi. And Ramos had been here before: only Paco Gento had won more times at San Mamés, and not for long, while these moments and this spot had become his.

Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Jacqui Oatley and John Brewin to discuss young English strikers making an impact over the weekend, and Jamie Vardy’s incredible 100 Premier League goals

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Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Jacqui Oatley and John Brewin to discuss young English strikers making an impact over the weekend, and Jamie Vardy’s incredible 100 Premier League goals after a late start. And we look at the Championship, where there have been manager sackings, hat-tricks, and sarcastic police tweets.

Kick4Life FC in Lesotho hope their move will serve as an inspiration and help to drive social change across the world

Football in Lesotho does not often generate stories of international significance but when Kick4Life FC became the world’s first top-flight club to fund men’s and women’s teams equally, an important point was made.

The coach of the women’s team, Puky Ramokoatsi, is not exaggerating when she says the move could serve as a global inspiration. “The equal budget we’ve got is going to send a powerful message and give us a platform to expand our work in promoting our rights as women.”

This is no time for grand architectural blueprints or bold tactical experiments. No time for building blocks or moral victories. That moment may yet arrive for José Mourinho and Tottenham, if their chances of European football evaporate in the next couple of weeks. That moment may now be imminent for Carlo Ancelotti and Everton, whose defeat here gives them a formidable climb in that respect.

But at this stage of the season, with the days ticking down and the games coming thick and fast, you get no points for style. Which is just as well, because if you did, this fractious and largely drab game would have been a persuasive argument for relegating both Spurs and Everton on the spot.

• New Premiership season to kick off on 2 August
  
• Winter break scrapped to make room for cup ties

Neil Lennon said he was encouraged by the possibility of having fans back inside stadiums in time for the first Old Firm game of the new Scottish Premiership season, which will kick off on 2 August with Celtic aiming to win a historic 10 successive title.

As it stands, fans are still unable to attend matches, although the first Old Firm game of the season, at Celtic Park, has been scheduled for Saturday 17 October – a date subject to change for TV reasons – when the SPFL is hopeful that restrictions on social distancing may have been relaxed enough to allow some supporters through the turnstiles.

• In-form Serbian midfielder given three-year contract extension
• Solskjær: ‘He understands the values of playing for United’

Nemanja Matic has signed a new contract that will keep him at Manchester United until 2023.

The deal follows a noticeable return to form from the 31-year-old Matic, his midfield performances impressing during the current 16-match unbeaten run. “I am very happy that I will continue to be part of this great club,” he said. “As a player I still have a lot more to give and achieve, and to do that with Manchester United will be a huge honour.

It is a moment that Che Adams will cherish forever. Making his 30th appearance for Southampton, following his £14m move from Birmingham City last summer, the striker finally scored his first goal for the club and what a goal it was.

Seizing on a loose ball as Manchester City tried and failed to play out from the back, initially through Ederson, Adams sent a glorious chip over the back-pedalling goalkeeper from 40 yards to shape what became a contest of attack versus defence.

• Scot acted as ad-hoc agent in transfer from Old Trafford
• Gillespie was 19 and earning £230 a week before move

Keith Gillespie has revealed how Sir Alex Ferguson secured him a five-fold pay-rise when the Scot acted as his ad-hoc agent in the £7m deal that took the Northern Irishman from Manchester United to Newcastle United and Andy Cole the other way.

Gillespie made his United debut under Ferguson in 1993. Yet when Ferguson moved to sign Cole two years later from Newcastle, Gillespie was the makeweight in the transfer, being valued at £1m. Gillespie was 19 and earning £230 a week and when it came to finalising his personal terms at Newcastle Ferguson became a temporary representative.

The headline figures will come as no surprise. Liverpool maintained their 100% home record in the Premier League at the expense of a relegation-threatened team that have not kept a clean sheet on the road all season. Scratch below, however, and this was a precious opportunity lost for Aston Villa.

Jürgen Klopp’s new Premier League champions were in procession mode once again, not to the extent of Thursday’s drubbing at Manchester City but enough to encourage any ruthless and solid team seeking a desperately needed point or three. Villa did not have it in them to capitalise.

No other club was more anxious to see this season completed, but the Biancocelesti have seen their title dreams recede

The resumption of this Serie A season was supposed to rescue Lazio from another century of ‘what ifs’. They had lost a chance to become champions of Italy on the only previous occasion that football was suspended mid-season – back in 1915. When the country went into lockdown this March, there were fears of history repeating.

Related: European roundup: Barcelona find top gear against Villarreal to stay in title race

The midfielder, who started his career at Chelsea, is back in the UK after five years in South Africa. He accepts it will be tough to find a new club but hopes to inspire aspiring Jewish players

“I always knew it was going to be difficult in the best of circumstances after being away for five years,” Dean Furman says, pondering his attempts to make a comeback in England after leaving South Africa. “Now the pandemic has taken over it’s going to be tough. I’m joining probably over 1,000 players on the free agent list. But I’m confident we’ll find a club.”

Furman, one of the few Jewish footballers to make it as a professional in the United Kingdom, knows the financial impact of coronavirus has altered the landscape in the lower leagues. “There’s a lot of concern,” says the former Oldham and Doncaster midfielder. “I guess we have to play the patient game.”

You can count the number of British Asians in Premier League history on one hand and it is not much different lower down the pyramid

There’s a story the academic Daniel Kilvington tells in a new book – Race, Ethnicity and Racism in Sports Coaching – that speaks volumes about how far football has to go to tackle its final frontier. It concerns a British Asian who used his real name when applying for jobs in football only to fail to gain any interviews. So instead he adopted his racially ambiguous nickname instead, and found himself increasingly shortlisted for positions. The kicker? According to Kilvington: “This individual is now a relatively high-profile and respected figure within the game.”

How many other sliding-doors moments might be out there? I ask because amid all the important and overdue discussions about the lack of diversity in the game’s boardrooms and management, another topic is being overlooked: the lack of British Asian players on the pitch. While there are the odd exceptions, such as Neil Taylor at Aston Villa or Hamza Choudhury at Leicester, you can count the number of British Asians in Premier League history on one hand. It is not much different lower down the pyramid. Kilvington notes that while a quarter of the 3,700 professional players are black, only 0.25% are British Asian.

Thirty years on from starring in Italia 90, the full-back talks David Rocastle, Manchester United and his experiences with racism

Paul Parker is getting goose bumps. He has spoken in the preceding hour and a half about the racism he faced in the 1970s and 80s, of having a starring role in England’s journey to the 1990 World Cup semi-final, and the pros and cons of playing football at Old Trafford. But it is the memories of his mate David Rocastle that catch him off guard.

“For the 1990 qualifiers, Dave and I shared a room together,” says Parker. “Normally we’d go away with England on the Saturday night and not play until Wednesday. Rocky would sneak in some drinks before training on Monday. I would bring four cans of lager, Rocky would arrive with brandy and Babycham. But that was him. He was the happiest man, always smiling and would often call his wife, Janet, late at night, just to hear the sound of his baby daughter’s voice. You would hear him just singing to Melissa down the phone.”

Blues captain has had a busy season on and off the pitch and he is hoping for a third successive win since lockdown in Monday’s game at Tottenham

Between spending far more time than he is used to with his two young children, and acting as an intermediary between the Everton hierarchy and his teammates in negotiations that led to substantial wage deferrals, Everton’s captain, Séamus Coleman, is glad to be finally back playing football, if only for a modicum of respite after the game’s enforced break.

“It was definitely a busier time than I would have expected and being a captain of a football club, it’s not something that you would have ever expected to have been getting involved in,” he says of his role as Goodison Park shop steward. “I need to look after my players and there was no issue with the club at all. They were fantastic, so having to do it with Everton was probably an easier job than at other clubs, but it was definitely a busy time.”

Critics are already out in force after Liverpool lost to City but the German is well practised in ignoring knee-jerk judgments

Liverpool have lost three games in the past two Premier League seasons, but as the most recent defeat was by four goals it has already been suggested that the new champions have been enjoying their title success a little too much.

Jürgen Klopp has heard it all before. Not on Merseyside, where he has just delivered the first title since 1990, but in his native Germany, where he followed up his unexpected Bundesliga title with Borussia Dortmund in 2011 with an even more unlikely retention a year later. “We didn’t do anything different the second season, all we did was continue to train hard and try to keep improving,” the Liverpool manager said.

The Liverpool manager, Jürgen Klopp, says being crowned Premier League champions last week had no impact on his team's 4-0 drubbing at the hands of Manchester City. Klopp said the defeat hurt, and that says City had a point to prove while Liverpool failed to capitalise on their chances. The result is the Reds' second league loss of the season, but still leaves them 20 points clear of Pep Guardiola's side

• Sterling and Foden star as Manchester City rain on Liverpool's title parade

The Premier League chief executive, Richard Masters, has hinted that the Newcastle takeover saga could be concluded shortly, but he was warned by MPs that it would be 'humiliating' to allow a Saudi Arabian consortium to take over a club given the country’s record on piracy and human rights. The SNP’s John Nicolson also pointed out that the Premier League’s owners’ and directors’ test would be considered bizarre if it gave approval to Prince Mohammed bin Salman, given that it failed to allow One Direction singer Louis Tomlinson to take over Doncaster Rovers

Liverpool Football Club has condemned the behaviour of crowds of fans who gathered in the city to celebrate the club winning their first ever Premier League title. On Saturday the club, Liverpool City Council and Merseyside Police issued a joint statement saying: 'Our city is still in a public health crisis and this behaviour is wholly unacceptable.' Footage published on social media showed fireworks aimed at the Liver Building and thousands of people packing the streets.

Aston Villa manager Dean Smith blamed fatigue for his team's 1-0 loss to Wolves at Villa Park. 

'I think the biggest winner today was fatigue,' he said. 'It is not a spectacle at the moment anyway without supporters there and even less so when you are asked to play the amount of games we are playing in so many days.'

Villa are yet to win since the Premier League restarted and currently sit 19th in the league. 

Premier League managers congratulated Liverpool and their manager Jürgen Klopp after they sealed a first league title in 30 years. Pep Guardiola, manager of previous champions Manchester City, said: 'Congratulations for Liverpool – the fans, manager, the players. Well deserved.'

Frank Lampard, Ole Gunnar Solskjær and Brendan Rodgers, who came so close to the title with Liverpool in 2014, also praised Klopp's success. 'It's an absolutely brilliant achievement' said Rodgers, who is now Leicester manager. 'They've been consistently the best team'. 

• How Klopp transformed Liverpool into champions

An 'overwhelmed' Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp has hailed his squad for their Premier League triumph after Manchester City's defeat at Chelsea gave the Reds an unassailable lead. The German manager has led the club to their first domestic title since 1990, and dedicated the success to the club's fans

• Liverpool win Premier League after Manchester City are beaten by Chelsea
• Tearful Jürgen Klopp hails 'incredible moment' for title winners Liverpool

Sergio Ramos was the hero from the penalty spot again as Real Madrid won 1-0 at Athletic Bilbao on Sunday, a seventh consecutive victory that tightened their grip on the La Liga title.

Zinedine Zidane’s side temporarily moved seven points clear of second-placed Barcelona, who cut the gap back to four by winning 4-1 at Villarreal later on Sunday. After the game, Zidane hit back at suggestions his team have benefited from refereeing decision in recent games, saying his team “deserve more respect”.

• Robert Lewandowski reaches 50 goals for the season
• Buffon passes Paolo Maldini’s record with 648 appearances

Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich kept their hopes of a treble alive after beating Bayer Leverkusen 4-2 at the Olympiastadion in Berlin on Saturday to win the German Cup for the 20th time.

David Alaba gave Bayern the lead with a free-kick in the 16th minute after Robert Lewandowski was fouled at the edge of the box.

Gian Piero Gasperini’s side continue to win relentlessly amid the shared trauma of a city that was hit hardest by Covid-19

Not even Gian Piero Gasperini knew if Bergamo was ready to start watching football again this June. Before the coronavirus outbreak, his Atalanta team had been enjoying the finest season in their 113-year history. A club representing a city of 120,000 people sat fourth in Serie A, outscoring the giants from Milan, Rome and Turin. Competing in the Champions League for the first time ever, Atalanta reached the quarter-finals by smashing Valencia 8-4 over two legs.

Theirs was the latest great footballing fairytale. And then it was overwritten by tragedy. Bergamo became the one of the cities worst hit by the pandemic, with an estimated 6,000 deaths across the wider province. It is feared that their first leg against Valencia – played in neighbouring Milan, as all of Atalanta’s European home games have been this season, to allow for bigger crowds – contributed to the virus’s rapid spread.

• Victory over Brescia moves Inter closer to Champions League
• Valencia beaten 2-0 by Athletic Bilbao in La Liga

Alexis Sánchez produced an imposing performance to inspire Internazionale to a 6-0 win over Serie A strugglers Brescia at San Siro. Sánchez scored for Inter for only the second time but helped set up other goals as they consolidated third place and moved closer to a berth in next season’s Champions League.

“Sánchez is starting to do well,” said Inter manager Antonio Conte. “He’s still not the Sánchez I liked in England, but he’s on the right track. He did well against Parma, coming in with the right attitude. Today there was great commitment on his part, he played an excellent game.”

Missing out on the Spanish title is perhaps Barça’s smallest problem – decline is setting in and most key players are above 30. This will take a long time to sort out

Leo Messi was the first off the pitch, heading down the tunnel alone as Barcelona’s anthem began echoing around a stadium as vacant as the look in the team’s eyes. It was almost midnight on the last day of the financial year and it was over.

Looking down at the scene were the club’s directors who had made it to July, surviving another season, but only just. Any lingering hope of winning La Liga had gone. Ten days before Gerard Piqué said it would be “very difficult”. Now, held 2-2 by Atlético Madrid, a third draw in four, it was virtually impossible.

Barcelona met Atlético Madrid at the Camp Nou and neither of them won. Six hundred kilometres away, Real Madrid did. An own goal and three penalties, one of them retaken to bring the total to four, delivered a draw that suited no one except the team watching from home. Barcelona are a point behind Real having played a game more.

It is a week now since Gerard Piqué said that winning the league would be “very, very difficult” – a second 2-2 draw in four days leaves it seeming impossible now, even if Barcelona win all of their last five games – and on this evidence, they won’t.

Spanish playmaker got the winner against Fiorentina but Lazio needed a fortunate bounce and a questionable penalty to keep Juventus in their sights

“It’s alive!” The front page of Sunday’s Corriere dello Sport shrieked out like Doctor Frankenstein at the awakening of his creature. As late as 10pm the previous evening it had seemed one of the most compelling Serie A title races in years was coming to a premature end. And then, with a jolt, it wasn’t.

The newspaper gave credit to a Spanish sorcerer. Luis Alberto – Il Mago, as they know him in Rome – had scored the winning goal as Lazio came from behind to beat Fiorentina, dragging his team back to within four points of the leaders, Juventus.

Bayern Munich celebrated in front of empty stands at Wolfsburg but completing the season safely was the biggest victory of all

There were no torrents of beer being thrown, no families invited on to the pitch and no full stands. As Bayern Munich were presented with the Bundesliga trophy for the eighth time in a row on Saturday, it was not even at the home but at vanquished Wolfsburg’s Volkswagen Arena.

Bayern’s players made their own amusement, with Lucas Hernandez dummying his lift of the trophy to widespread laughter and Leon Goretzka’s teammates ambushing him and rolling up his sleeves, exposing his recently augmented biceps.

The Frenchman’s assist has put Real Madrid on course for the title, but it wasn’t even the most dazzling piece of skill on an extraordinary weekend in Spain

Sometimes there’s so much brilliance you don’t even know where to begin, let alone which words to use. Stendhal Syndrome, they call it, which is a disappointingly functional phrase to define those moments when you feel overwhelmed by beauty, and Karim Benzema expressed it better. On the pitch most of all, but off it too. Not when he said pfff – because what else was he supposed to say – but when he smiled, shrugged a little and said: “that’s football.” The afternoon before, Fyodor Smolov had said it too without uttering a word. Instead, he took the ball in his arms and kissed it.

“Thanks, old girl,” Alfredo Di Stéfano used to say, addressing the ball that had given him everything. Sometimes it’s enough to be grateful for the game and this was one of those times, if only fans could have been there to see it themselves. The kind of weekend Iago Aspas scores a goal so good he tears off his shirt in an empty stadium, sliding to his knees before a solitary man in a mask; the kind that closes after midnight with Benzema trying to explain how he had dreamed up the backheeled, nutmegged assist – yes, it was a backheel, a nutmeg and an assist – that took Real Madrid clear and brought the title close now.

Guardian photographer Tom Jenkins has documented the Premier League since its restart in June. Here, he looks back on the experience of shooting matches in empty grounds amid strict Covid-19 precautions

Click on each image for more information

That bloody bird has been putting me off all game. High up in the stand above me at Carrow Road, a seagull is roosting and making a right old racket. It seems to be distracting the Norwich defence too, as Nathan Redmond strolls through and scores to put Southampton 3-0 up. There’s a brief cheer and a polite round of applause from a couple of Saints staff members in the stand before Redmond performs a Black Power salute. It’s all very surreal. Black Lives Matter meets Behind Closed Doors football. Welcome to the world of Project Restart, the Covid-19 version of the Premier League.

Liverpool’s captain talks pressing, politics, what makes Jürgen Klopp angry and the mentality that breeds success

“Through tough times, you can forget how much you love the game,” Jordan Henderson says. “You can take it for granted a little bit. When you’re a small kid, you don’t really think about trophies and winning things. You’re just thinking about playing football. But as you get older, your dreams get bigger. When you get to 16, 17, 18, it comes down to winning at all costs. Doing anything you can.”

We’re talking about trophies, and fulfilment, and happiness. When does pure enjoyment, the thrill of the game, give way to something larger? Why do footballers fixate so much on silverware, measure their lives in medals? At what point does it stop being about the taking part, and become about the winning?

On the day Au Yeung took ownership after a £41m purchase he decided not to fund the club, and an investigation is now due

The brutal, bizarre collapse of Wigan Athletic has raised many glaring and alarming questions, but one central contradiction lies in the ruins. The Championship club have become the first to fall into administration during the Covid-19 crisis which could claim many more, but Wigan’s own insolvency has little to do with the coronavirus shutdown.

It is one of the most unlikely and baffling scenarios ever thrown up even among the frequently outlandish sagas of football’s relationship with money.

Related: Wigan go into administration four weeks after Hong Kong takeover

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During a Zoom press conference last Friday, Séamus Coleman was asked about Everton’s latest false dawn and the Merseyside club’s captain put it down to mindset: that tonight’s match at Tottenham is the kind of game he and his team-mates should turn up for thinking they will win. In good news for Séamus and his team-mates, such is the current mindset of their opponents that tonight’s match in north London is almost certainly one Tottenham’s players also think Everton will win. Having been routinely thrown under the bus by their completely blameless manager in the wake of last week’s feeble surrender at Bramall Lane, Harry Kane and chums will have listened and read with interest as José Mourinho doubled down when it came to dishing out blame to everyone involved in that particular defeat except himself.

The best stories from the beautiful game that you may never have heard before, written by some of the world’s leading sports journalists, and spanning more than 100 years of sporting history from across the footballing planet.

In this episode: Primetime TV would prove the inspiration for one of the most shambolic managerial appointments in football history.

• How to listen to podcasts: everything you need to know

Read the text version here

David Squires on Liverpool’s 19th league title and the barren spell that preceded it, featuring Rafa, Roy, Craig Bellamy and Paul Jewell

• Buy copies of this cartoon at our print shop
  
• Take a look through David’s Guardian archive

Plus: Gooch and Smith, a journey into the mind of Roy Keane, the best of Nate Diaz and the Fash FC saga in full

1) On Wednesday, we will celebrate the return of Test cricket with England taking on West Indies. So here’s Sir Cuthbert Gordon Greenidge flaying England as was his wont: twin tons in 1976; 214 not out in 1984; 223, also in 1984; and a partnership with Desmond Haynes worth 289 in 1990. See also: Graham Gooch’s unbeaten 154 at Headingley in 1991, Robin Smith’s savage 148 not out a couple of weeks later at Lord’s … and Brian Lara’s 179 in the drawn final Test in 1995. And will anything this series touch this inspired spell from Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh?

A word for Sir Everton Weekes, who sadly died on Wednesday. The Bajan batsman was feted as one of the three Ws – the others being Sir Clyde Walcott and Sir Frank Worrell – and can be seen here limbering up before a Test series in England in 1950. A legend of the game. RIP.

Max Rushden, Barry Glendenning, Ceylon Andi Hickman, Andy Hunter and Gregg Bakowski discuss all the elements behind Liverpool’s first title win in 30 years. Plus the rest of the weekend’s Premier League and FA Cup action

In this podcast the team delve into Liverpool’s first title in 30 years and how it was achieved. Was it all Jürgen Klopp? Or are there other factors behind this season’s success, which is still on course to be a record-breaker?

In part two, we ask which Liverpool players have been most instrumental in the dominance we’ve seen. And we talk about the celebrations in the city, some of which were criticised by the club in a statement.

Finally, we round up the rest of the weekend’s football, with no upsets in the FA Cup quarter-finals and damaging defeats for Watford and Aston Villa in the Premier League. There’s also Championship action, Europe’s big talking points and a discussion over whether Barry should be rested for tomorrow’s podcast. Tune in then to find out.

See if you were paying attention as Liverpool stormed to their 19th league title by testing yourself with these questions

• Trust, patience and work: how Klopp transformed Liverpool

Who scored Liverpool's first goal of the season?

Ben Godfrey

Jamal Lewis

Grant Hanley

Teemu Pukki

Which opponent was the first to take points from Liverpool?

Watford

Manchester City

Burnley

Manchester United

Defending champions Manchester City's first defeat came against which opponents?

Bournemouth

Norwich

Leicester

Manchester United

Who scored the winning goal in the last minute of the 2-1 victory over Leicester at Anfield on 5 October?

James Milner

Sadio Mané

Virgil van Dijk

Jordan Henderson

Who followed up the winner in the Fifa Club World Cup with a Boxing Day double against Leicester?

Sadio Mané

Mohamed Salah

Roberto Firmino

Georginio Wijnaldum

Who scored the first goal in what proved to be a November title decider against Manchester City?

Sadio Manê

Fabinho

Trent Alexander-Arnold

Andy Robertson

“Ask Mike Riley and the big bosses about that. Don’t ask me. Ask Mike Riley and his people. I’m here to talk about the game. Every time I’m being asked why one day it’s handball, the next day it’s not. Don’t ask me. Ask them. I know the way we were champions last two seasons, I’m so proud of that." Before that Fabinho goal the ball struck a player's arm in the Liverpool penalty area prompting this reaction from Pep Guardiola after the game. Who was the player?

Virgil van Dijk

Trent Alexander-Arnold

Andy Robertson

Joe Gomez

Early in the season, Jürgen Klopp said that he had learned the English language from which TV programme?

M*A*S*H

Friends

Cheers

B.J. and the Bear

Andy Robertson scored his only Premier League goal of the season so far against which club in a dramatic comeback win in November?

Leicester City

Crystal Palace

Bournemouth

Aston Villa

“The world at the moment is a circus with us at the centre. I am not influenced by it.” Jürgen Klopp said this after Liverpool had done what?

Won their first three league games in a row

Won their first five league games in a row

Beaten Leicester 4-0 on Boxing Day

Won their first eight league games in a row

In which match did Liverpool fans on the Kop first sing "We're gonna win the league"?

In the opening match against Norwich on 9 August

After beating Manchester City 3-1 on 10 November

During the 5-2 defeat of Everton on 4 December

During the 2-0 defeat of Manchester United on 19 January

Adrian has deputised for Alisson in how many Premier League games so far this season?

Seven

Nine

11

13

Who scored two goals for Watford to deny Liverpool their chance of an unbeaten league season?

Ismaïla Sarr

Troy Deeney

Gerard Deulofeu

Etienne Capoue

The scorer of Liverpool's last Premier League goal before lockdown was?

Sadio Mané

Mohammed Salah

Roberto Firmino

Trent Alexander-Arnold

And who scored Liverpool's first post-lockdown goal?

Takumi Minamino

Trent Alexander-Arnold

Mohamed Salah

Sadio Mané

9 and above.

You walked through a storm and held your head up high

8 and above.

You may not be 19 forever.

5 and above.

You are more 2009 and 2014 than 2020.

0 and above.

You are an Everton or Manchester United pleading ignorance

The final goal at the old Wembley marked the end of an era – and the start of the golden generation’s big-stage letdowns

The final goal at the old Wembley had all the hallmarks of a footballing fairytale: it was a long-range thunderbolt that snatched an unlikely win and gave the complacent favourites their comeuppance. Only problem was, those favourites were the hosts of the party. In the final match at the old national stadium on 7 October 2000, England were beaten by the Germans. Again.

There’s an irony that the party pooper in question would go on to become one of his country’s most popular players on these shores: a German whose long career in England left him with a cricket obsession and an enduring scouse-Bavarian twang.

From the ‘Wizard of Dribble’ to Ryan Giggs, via Garrincha and Jimmy Johnstone, we celebrate touchline-hugging wonders

Formations in modern-day football, improved playing surfaces and the evolution of tactics have completely changed the role of the winger. Now it is more accurate to describe an attacking player who plays on one of the wings as a forward, because the modern-day “winger” rarely hogs the touchline and often plays inside-out. Players such as Johan Cruyff, Luis Figo, George Best and Cristiano Ronaldo all excelled as wingers but their talent was such that their positions evolved to the extent that they are rightly remembered as supreme all-round footballers, not just gifted wide men. Those celebrated in this list get to the essence of what a winger used to be, delighting in trickery, seeing their job as that of an entertainer/provider and never more at home than when within a few feet of a white touchline.

The Burnley manager has proved himself in the top flight and could move on after raising concerns about board decisions

An endgame seems to be approaching at Burnley, where Sean Dyche has expressed frustration at the tightness of the purse strings even as the club climbed into the top half of the Premier League table after another season of punching above their weight.

The manager is ostensibly unhappy that too many out-of-contract players have been allowed to leave without arrangements made to help tide the club over for the remainder of the restarted season.

Dyche has managed to secure the 35-year-old Phil Bardsley on a one-year extension but that appears to be the limit of the board’s present generosity. Joe Hart, Aaron Lennon and Jeff Hendrick are gone, and with Ashley Barnes, Chris Wood, Johann Berg Gudmundsson and Robbie Brady all injured, Burnley could manage only a seven-man bench at Crystal Palace on Monday and two of those were inexperienced goalkeepers.

Despite their lack of numbers Burnley won quite comfortably, which says a lot for the quality of the players Dyche still has at his disposal and the manager’s ability to deploy them effectively. It is well known Burnley are a model of how to succeed on limited resources, though equally obvious that money rather than magic beans will be needed if the club’s status is to be maintained.

The full-back discusses Brazil’s long love affair with Bayer Leverkusen and how his club can overcome Bayern Munich

By Joshua Law for Yellow & Green Football

For some Brazilians, the road to approbation in European football is bumpy. The most obvious obstacle is the playing style – higher paced, less forgiving – and there are the additional challenges of the climate, language, food and baffling local customs. But the route Wendell followed when he moved from Rio Grande do Sul to North-Rhine Westphalia as a fresh-faced 20-year-old in June 2014 had been smoothed by years of use.

Brazil and Bayer Leverkusen have a long-running and intense love affair. Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, Seleção stalwarts Jorginho, Emerson, Zé Roberto and Juan each racked up more than 100 games for the club. Paulo Sérgio was a Bayer player when he won the World Cup in 1994, as was Lúcio when he won football’s greatest prize in 2002.

Despite missing out on deeper levels of richness and connectedness, supporters around the globe remain devoted to their adopted team

It is a week since Liverpool ended their 30-year title drought and as they prepare to face Manchester City as champions, I am yet to unhook myself from the intoxicating red rush of eulogising articles, videos, podcasts and social media content I have been mainlining ever since. If it is going to be another 30 years until the next title win I am taking in everything, even grainy footage of Jürgen Klopp gegenpressing the hell out of a dance floor like a man six tequilas into his daughter’s wedding reception.

I should point out that, Like the vast majority of Liverpool’s estimated 700 million supporters around the world, I am not a Liverpudlian. Indeed, I grew up in Wollongong, New South Wales, and now live in Melbourne, Victoria. About as far from Liverpool as one can get. Depending on your view of such things, this might define me (though in a way it would not if I were, say, a Sunderland supporter) as a glory hunter.

Former physio with the Colombia Under-17 women’s team on the abuse she says she suffered at the hands of the coach Didier Luna

I was sexually harassed by the manager as soon as I went into the job,” says Carolina Rozo, the former physiotherapist of Colombia Women Under‑17s. “It started with words. He would tell me I was very pretty and then he would try to take advantage of me when we were together at mealtimes and other places. Saying goodbye he would push himself against me very hard and whisper into my ear how much he liked me.”

Rozo reported to the Colombian Football Federation (FCF) her allegations and those relayed to her by the players she treated, before speaking out publicly after it failed to deal adequately with the claims. Two and a half years since she went public with her allegations against the-then head coach of the under‑17s team, Didier Luna, finally Rozo has some form of justice.

Eidur Gudjohnsen’s son, the new Paul Pogba and Barça’s Ansu Fati are among our 60 most talented players in the world born in 2002. Check the progress of our 2018 picks | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014

^{Photographs by DZfoot, BackpagePix, Club Atlético Belgrano, EFE, EPA, Getty Images, Uwe Gruen/Hoffenheim, AMA/Getty Images, Rex/Shutterstock, Zuma Press/PA, FIFA, Tigres, Damir Krajac/CROPIX, Alamy, Daniel Reyes/Ecuafutbol, Reuters, Atromitos, Imago/PA, fotoBERNAMA, New Straits Times, José Alonso Paredes Sánchez, Agencja Gazeta, David Price/Arsenal FC/Getty, AP, Asian Football Confederation, Danubio FC and Championat Asia}

The Guardian selects the best young players at each club born between 1 September 2002 and 31 August 2003, an age band known as first-year scholars. Check the progress of class of 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014

_{Photographs by David Price/Arsenal/Getty Images, Neville Williams/Aston Villa/Getty Images, AFC Bournemouth, Paul Hazlewood/BHAFC, Paul Dennis/TGS/Shutterstock, Clive Howes/Chelsea/Getty Images, Danny Loo/PPAUK, Emma Simpson/Everton/Getty Images, Nick Taylor/Liverpool/Getty Images, Manchester City/Getty Images, Ash Donelon/Manchester United/Getty Images, Jason Dawson/Jasonpix, James Wilson/Sportimage, Simon Bellis/Sportimage, Robin Jones/Digital South/Southampton FC, Tottenham Hotspur/Getty Images, Alan Cozzi/Watford, Arfa Griffiths/West Ham United and Sam Bagnall/AMA}

From Rashford to Tielemans, we check in on how our initial Next Generation players have got on before the 2019 ones are announced this week

• Harley Willard: what happened next to one 2014 selection?

In 2014 we decided that it would be interesting to pick the best young players from each Premier League club – as well as 40 from around the world – and follow them for five years to see how they progressed.

The idea was to try to get a sense of how difficult it is to become a professional footballer despite being one of the best in that country at the age of 16 or 17.