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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 Inter 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.

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

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

• Manager waves to supporters in apparent goodbye
• Dutchman says he will seek Jürgen Klopp’s advice on new role

Arne Slot has all but confirmed he will leave Feyenoord to join Liverpool at the end of the season after saying his goodbyes to the Dutch club’s fans at the end of Sunday night’s 5-0 thrashing of PEC Zwolle, saying: “I’m not worried at all about whether it will go ahead – the question is when it will be communicated.”

Though Feyenoord have one home game still to play, against Excelsior in two weeks, much of the main home end will be empty for that match as punishment for their use of fireworks during the KNVB Cup semi-final against Groningen. At the end of the game against Zwolle fans in those sections stayed behind as Slot approached and waved in what appeared to be a farewell, while his name and photograph appeared on the scoreboards behind the goal.

• Cristiano Romero and Emerson Royal in confrontation at Anfield
• Tottenham’s 4-2 defeat at Liverpool their fourth consecutive loss

Ange Postecoglou claimed he had no issues with the Tottenham defenders Cristian Romero and Emerson Royal becoming embroiled in a half-time row at Anfield as it showed “they care” about the club’s plummeting form.

Spurs were well beaten by ­Liverpool in Jürgen Klopp’s penultimate home game with Mohamed Salah, recalled to the starting lineup following a spat with his manager at West Ham, sparking the win.

• Club officials have held discussions with Sancho in Dortmund
• Manager may try to resolve dispute with player in close season

Manchester United have met with Jadon Sancho during his loan spell at Borussia Dortmund, with Erik ten Hag revealing his dispute with the forward will be resolved in the close season.

The 24-year-old joined Dortmund in January on a temporary basis having not played for United since August after he fell out with Ten Hag who left him out of the squad for the 3-1 loss at Arsenal in early September.

• 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.

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

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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?

Philippe Clement has accused Brendan Rodgers of disrespecting his Rangers side after they cut the gap to Celtic to three points with a 4-1 home win over Kilmarnock.

After Celtic’s convincing 3-0 win over Hearts at Celtic Park on Saturday, Rodgers looked ahead to next weekend’s Old Firm derby. “We can have a bit of fun,” was the manager’s verdict on Rangers’ visit next Saturday – and his opposite number hit back after Sunday’s comeback victory at Ibrox.

Daniel Farke faces his old side Norwich in the semi-finals and his striker’s return from injury could provide shot in the arm

News that the Hollywood actor Will Ferrell has become the latest in a series of celebrities to purchase a minority stake in Leeds United made headlines on Sunday but most Leeds fans are much more interested in a very different type of leading man.

Their team’s hopes of winning promotion via the playoffs could well hinge on whether the injections Patrick Bamford is receiving in a damaged knee enable Daniel Farke’s centre-forward to return to action in the semi-final first leg at Norwich next Sunday.

The miserable denouement to David Moyes’s time at West Ham stands in stark contrast to ­Mauricio ­Pochettino’s increasing joyfulness on the other side of the capital. European football is on the cards after Chelsea cruised through their second ­London derby in the space of three days and, for all the doubts hanging over Pochettino’s future, it would surely go down as an act of extraordinary self-sabotage if the Argentinian’s bosses make a change this summer.

The main takeaway from this 5-0 win over a supine West Ham is that something is beginning to stir at Stamford Bridge. Instead of ­crumbling after last month’s 5-0 defeat to Arsenal, Chelsea have responded by dominating Aston Villa, Tottenham and West Ham. Far from shrinking, these young ­players are starting to grow and mature. Above all, they are starting to ­resemble a proper team and, after a season so full of turbulence, the wisest thing that Chelsea’s owners can do now is accept that Pochettino is the man to bring coherence to their £1bn project.

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.

• Manager praises trio in Arsenal’s quest for title
• Iraola aggrieved over penalty and disallowed goal

Mikel Arteta was effusive in his praise of Arsenal’s signings from last summer and how they have driven the club’s challenge for the Premier League title. The 3-0 home victory over Bournemouth on Saturday was built on performances by Declan Rice and Kai Havertz while David Raya’s 15th clean sheet of the season confirmed him as the Golden Glove winner.

Rice made the second goal for Leandro Trossard and scored the third while Havertz won the penalty for Bukayo Saka to score the opener, albeit in controversial fashion. Havertz had hung out his trailing leg, waiting for contact from the goalkeeper, Mark Travers. When it came, he went down.

• Coach reflects on choice to stay course with club from third tier
• McKenna: ‘It’s come before anyone could have expected’

Kieran McKenna has pledged his future to Ipswich after leading them into the Premier League. On an emotional afternoon at Portman Road, McKenna was in a contemplative mood as he reflected on the journey taken to consecutive promotions, and the challenges that await them next season.

Naturally, McKenna’s success has earned him numerous admirers and he has been linked with a number of big jobs over recent months, West Ham and Brighton among them. But speaking after the 2-0 win over Huddersfield, McKenna argued that the hard work and focus he has displayed over the past two seasons were proof of his loyalty.

From Arsenal’s crucial goalscorer to another rudderless performance from Tottenham, we hand out honors (and dishonors) from the top-flight weekend

We witnessed man take flight in Manchester on Saturday, when Erling Haaland rose at the back post to impale a Rodri cross into the far corner. Behold: Haaland with his finest Michael Jordan impression.

Not content with His Airness moment, Haaland added another three goals in City’s 5-1 win over Wolves, taking his tally in club football to 200 in five seasons. “Not bad,” Haaland said after the game.

• Striker scores four in 5-1 win over Wolves
• ‘The second and fourth were unbelievable’

Pep Guardiola believes Erling Haaland is “back to business” after the striker’s four-goal haul in Manchester City’s 5-1 defeat of Wolves, with the manager urging the champions to win their final three Premier League games to ensure a record fourth consecutive title.

Haaland scored a first-half hat-trick, including two penalties, and added his fourth following the break to take his Premier League tally to 25 at the Etihad Stadium. Victory kept City a single point behind Arsenal – but Guardiola’s side have a game in hand. If they beat Fulham next Saturday and Mikel Arteta’s side lose at Manchester United the following day, City can retain the championship by beating Tottenham on Tuesday week.

• 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.

Stalwart defender is edging towards 940 games for the League Two club where he began his career among the Crazy Gang

Dean Lewington made his first professional appearance as an 18-year-old in April 2003, a few months before the launch of MySpace and 938 games later (814 in the league) he is preparing for the League Two playoffs, as driven and professional as ever. Lewington, who turns 40 in a fortnight and remembers the days when away games meant the team bus stopping at Trowell services on the M1 to stock up on beers for the journey home, is not the type to follow social media trends. “I had a MySpace page, a very bad one … that was probably where I peaked,” the MK Dons captain says laughing.

Little did Lewington think when Wimbledon visited Sheffield Wednesday in Division One, the old second tier, that it would represent the first of his 22 seasons in the game while he is now expected to sign a new contract to carry on playing next season.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Ineos have a big decision to make but will an unlikely FA Cup final win be enough to save the manager?

And so the real business begins. The four months since Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Ineos bought a little over a quarter of Manchester United have been the phoney war. No transfers could be done, so little could be changed on the pitch. The task of Ratcliffe and his advisers was to watch and learn and rejig the executive tier so that when the window opens they are ready to act.

That rejig has been more dramatic than many anticipated. The chief executive, Richard Arnold, and the football director, John Murtough, are just the highest profile departures. Omar Berrada will come in as chief executive from Manchester City when his notice period expires on 13 July while Murtough has effectively been replaced by Jason Wilcox, the new technical director, and Dan Ashworth, who will come in once the terms of his severance from Newcastle have been agreed.

Pep Guardiola’s side have not come near to scaling the heights of last season but remain unbeaten for five months

Perhaps this is just what happens when a team gets into the habit of winning: they keep on winning. They don’t have to dominate, they don’t have to carve out dozens of chances, they don’t have to hold possession for hours at a time. They just have to be, and by the quality of their being, they find goals when they need them.

Manchester City aren’t Real Madrid, not quite. They’re not yet able to doze away from kick-off, watching idly on as the opposition squander a handful of chances before, yawning, taking the first chance that comes their way. But equally they have gone 32 games unbeaten since the defeat at Aston Villa in December without being anywhere near the exceptional standards they set last season. Having exceptional players capable of turning games in a moment really helps.

Rapper says sport, music and gaming venture in south London is aimed at widening opportunities for young black community

Stormzy has won three Brit awards, headlined Glastonbury, persuaded Usain Bolt and José Mourinho to star in a music video, and bought AFC Croydon Athletic with the former Crystal Palace player Wilfried Zaha.

His skills on the pitch, however, are not up to much. “I’m shit at football. I was never going to be a footballer,” he said. “But maybe if I knew how to be a pundit [I’d have gone down that road]. Maybe if I knew how to be a data analyst or all the intricate jobs behind the scenes that people might not know about.”

At the end of a goalless first half against Bournemouth, the German bought a penalty that tickled at the lines of the law

This was a Premier League game that posed all kinds of existential questions. If Kai Havertz falls in a crowded penalty area and nobody touches him, but someone does also kind of touch him, is that a penalty?

Is simulation still simulation if the thing you’re simulating would have happened anyway because of things like legs, tangles, space, slide, path of run? And most importantly, is there any way of not having to talk about things like this ever again?

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.

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'

Leicester will return to the Premier League as champions after they sealed the Championship title with victory over Preston. The team celebrated wildly on the pitch surrounded by overjoyed fans before continuing the party into the dressing room and beyond.

Arne Slot caught the eye of Liverpool’s recruitment team with his track record of improving young talent, success on a relatively modest budget, European experience and a style of play that is not a dramatic departure from Jürgen Klopp’s. The Feyenoord coach has earned a reputation for high intensity on the pitch and has led his team to success multiple times.

Since joining the Rotterdam club from AZ Alkmaar in 2021, Slot has won the Eredivisie in 2022-23 and the KNVB Cup this season. He also led Feyenoord to the Europa Conference League final in 2022, where they lost to José Mourinho's Roma.

• Arne Slot: the overachiever and ‘good guy’ who can spark a revolution

Thiago Silva, Chelsea’s veteran defender, has announced that this season will be his last at Stamford Bridge. The 39-year-old Brazilian, a mainstay of the Blues team that lifted the Champions League in 2021, revealed the news on social media. An emotional Silva spoke of leaving the door open for a return, 'albeit in another role' saying 'goodbyes are for those that leave and don't come back. I intend on coming back one day'. Silva has made 151 appearances for the club and also won the Fifa Club World Cup and Uefa Super Cup.

• ‘An indescribable love’: Thiago Silva announces departure from Chelsea

Thousands of jubilant Internazionale fans took to the streets around San Siro Stadium to celebrate the club's historic 20th Serie A title with the players. The newly-crowned champions paraded through hoards of fans after a straightforward 2-0 win over 10-man Torino

• 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.

• 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.

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

• Moving the Goalposts: sign up for our free newsletter

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.

City Football Group’s New York branch is up and running, Orlando City are floundering and Wilfried Nancy has built a continental juggernaut

Welcome back to the Guardian’s MLS Power Rankings, where I have a beef with your specific team and your specific team alone. If you have complaints, toss ‘em in the comments down below, but be warned: I’m better at blocking out negativity than Pedro Gallese has been at stopping shots this season.

Now, as a reminder, these aren’t your standard, run-of-the-mill power rankings. We’re still ranking teams from worst to first. But along with the rankings, we’re diving deep into a handful of teams from around the league who are doing particularly interesting things.

League commissioner Jessica Berman talks ballooning franchise values, the merits of expansion and reducing injuries

No soccer league in the world is experiencing a boom comparative to the NWSL in 2024. Last month, the world’s first purpose-built stadium for a women’s sports franchise opened in Kansas City, marking the new home of the Current. San Diego Wave broke its NWSL home opener attendance record with over 32,000 fans, while the NWSL was listed at No 5 on the World’s 50 Most Innovative Companies of 2024.

“At the NWSL we are working to drive innovation, growth and increased investment in women’s soccer,” Jessica Berman, the NWSL’s commissioner, tells the Guardian. “I’m excited about the 2024 season and to see what else we can accomplish in the women’s soccer space.”

• Rangnick had been expected to take Bayern job after Euro 2024
• ‘I am national team coach of Austria with all my heart’

Ralf Rangnick will not take over at Bayern Munich next season but will remain in his role as Austria’s head coach after Euro 2024. Rangnick confirmed last week that Bayern had been in touch in their search for a successor to Thomas Tuchel and German media had reported a deal was imminent.

“I am national team coach of Austria with all my heart,” Rangnick said. “This task brings me a lot of joy and I am determined to continue down the road we have started. I want to clearly stress that this is not a rejection of Bayern Munich but rather a decision for my team and our common goals. We are fully focused on the Euro. We will do everything we can to go far.”

A third-tier goalkeeper stole headlines in Spain, where Rodrigo de Paul’s assessment of his team was a talking point

“Football is so capricious that when Sunday comes maybe he’ll make us happy,” Javi Rey said. For the first time ever, Club Deportivo Arenteiro, the team from O Carballiño that were playing in the Galician regional league six years ago that he now manages, were heading to Riazor, twice the size of their town, to face Deportivo de La Coruña.

Without a goalkeeper. Diego Garcia and Manu Figueroa were injured; Pablo Brea is on loan from their opponents, who had applied one of those clauses; and the emergency signing, Pablo Picon, fell through, leaving them no choice but to stick the goalie coach in nets, an unexpected hero waiting to happen.

• Club handed two-game partial closure and £17,000 fine
• Athletic Club player hit out at ‘stupid people’ after incident

Atlético Madrid have been ordered to partially close their south stand for two matches by the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) after Athletic Club player Nico Williams suffered racist abuse in Saturday’s La Liga game.

The referee, Juan Marténez Munuera, stopped the match in the 36th minute as part of La Liga’s protocol against racism after he heard racist abuse directed at the 21-year-old Spain international, who was born in Pamplona to Ghanaian parents.

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

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

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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.

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?’”

In 20 years, this Essex club has tumbled down the leagues and seen its ground fall apart. Is a revival finally coming – or will hopes be dashed again?

The Bentley was not on the driveway. By now, after nine months of protests, the Southend United fans knew that meant Ron Martin wasn’t home. Martin is the chairman of Southend United FC, and his almost 25 years in charge are widely seen – both by fans and more dispassionate observers – as one of the most disastrous chairmanships in modern football. Since 2007, Southend have sunk from the English game’s second tier, the Championship, down to the third and then the fourth. In 2021, the club fell out of the league entirely for the first time in its history. At this final indignity, a plaque at the Blue Boar pub, which marks the site where the club was founded in 1906, was painted over with the letters RIP.

On the late September day I attended, about 40 or 50 fans were amassed on the pavement outside Martin’s residence. A large coniferous tree dwarfed the two security guards who idled on the driveway. When fans had started protesting outside Martin’s house in early 2023, a few brought bags of beer as if it was an away day. The organisers, Southend Fan Protest Group, soon put a stop to this. If they were serious about their objectives – summarised by their banner, “ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. PAY UP. PACK UP. SELL UP” – they needed to do it properly. They replaced the cans with flyers, and their cause picked up more supporters.

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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.

Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Philippe Auclair and Archie Rhind-Tutt as Dortmund beat PSG 1-0 in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final, while Chelsea slip up in a WSL thriller

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On the podcast today: Dortmund beat PSG in front of the Yellow Wall. So many brilliant performances for the Bundesliga side but, in particular, Jadon Sancho. The panel try to figure out what happens to him this summer.

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

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“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.

Faye Carruthers is joined by Sophie Downey, Emma Sanders and Chris Slegg to discuss the second legs in the Women’s Champions League semi-finals, the weekend’s WSL action and focus on Crystal Palace’s ascent

On today’s episode, the panel discuss the Champions League semi-finals as a record attendance at Stamford Bridge in a women’s game witnessed Chelsea bowing out Barcelona. A departing Emma Hayes let her feelings be known following the game, but were the refereeing decisions fair?

The panel also look at all of the weekend’s WSL action as Manchester City extended their lead at the top, confirming Bristol City’s relegation in the process. They take your questions and weigh up the challenge ahead for Crystal Palace next season after they sealed promotion from the Championship.

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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Plus: players injured warming up on touchline, points-per-game differentials of long-serving players and more

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“Leverkusen’s Bundesliga title win has broken Kingsley Coman’s remarkable run of winning the league in each of the last 11 seasons (with PSG, Juventus and Bayern). Can any player in world football ever boast of a longer run of consecutive league titles?” asks Richard Forsythe.

“It’s worth bearing in mind that Coman technically won 12 league titles in 11 seasons,” writes Sean DeLoughry, who gets the ball rolling as we spin off from this 2022 question and answer. “He played once for Juventus in Serie A at the start of the 2015-16 season before joining Bayern.

Our cartoonist on the scrapping of replays, fixture congestion, drama at Wembley and that Nottingham Forest statement

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The former Arsenal midfielder has sought help from Uefa’s career transition expert, to navigate the world outside the dressing room

Robert Pires will never forget what it was like coming to terms with being a retired footballer. “You don’t want to say stop because I had been playing for 19 seasons and football meant everything to me,” says one of the stars of Arsenal’s Invincibles, who was part of the France team that won the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000. “Even now, football is my life and it’s in my blood, so that’s why when I said it was game over, it was very difficult to accept.”

Luckily for Pires, help was at hand. He first met Stéphane Ehrhart – a former player who is now Uefa’s career transition expert – in 2009 while playing for Villarreal, when the decision to hang up his boots had barely even crossed his mind.

An end-of-season wobble has ended any hopes of a dream send off. But it’s characteristic of Klopp’s managerial career

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And so there will be no glorious farewell for Jürgen Klopp. Saturday’s 2-2 draw with West Ham, coupled with victories for Manchester City and Arsenal, means any realistic hope of a second Premier League title is effectively over. Klopp is exhausted, his team is exhausted and the manic emotional energy that gripped the side during the League Cup final and immediately after has dissipated.

There will be questions about the wisdom of revealing when he did that he would be leaving. This has been a truism if English soccer since Alex Ferguson announced in 2001 that he planned to quit Manchester United. Do that, even if you’re as fearsome a figure as Ferguson, and the danger is that authority wanes. Something similar seems to have happened with Emma Hayes, who will leave Chelsea Women in the summer after a hugely successful 12-year stint to take charge of the USWNT. Would Saturday’s touchline spat with Mohamed Salah have happened had the Egyptian thought that Klopp would still be his manager next season? (It now seems likely that Salah, who has only a year left on his contract, will also leave in the summer).

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.”

The England manager’s honesty and systems expertise are just what is needed at the haunted house Old Trafford has become

And so we entered the age of the noble, blameless bald men. This is a pretty good moment to be Ineos at Manchester United. Nothing really matters yet. Every problem is someone else’s problem. Every solution is your own.

For now you’re just hope, blue sky. You’re a silent reproach on a gantry. You’re a tieless Tony Blair jamming with Shed Seven in the Downing Street garden. And even the bad things are kind of good, because you’re not the bad things.

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.