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The thorn that Carlo Ancelotti said was wedged in Atlético Madrid’s side remains buried in their flesh, deeper and more painful than ever before, never to be removed. For a sixth time they faced their city rivals in Europe – 2025 joining 1959, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017 – and for a sixth time they were defeated. Utterly, perhaps eternally defeated. The team that lost one European Cup final derby after a 93rd-minute goal and another on penalties fell once more, and this time may even have been the worst of all, another chapter in the never-ending story.

All of which may sound a bit much for a last-16 tie but the pain accumulates, each loss crueller than the last, and if the final result was oddly inevitable, how it happened was unthinkable, even for a battle between these two. If Atlético didn’t beat Real this time, they may feel they never will. Just when it seemed that fate might have shifted their way at last, it twisted the knife again. “I go in peace,” Diego Simeone said after, insisting that in their silent, lonely moments Real will reflect that over all these years no one made them suffer like his team. Perhaps they will, yet they always survive, and here they did it again.

While the sense of alienation at Stamford Bridge runs deep, formulaic football is not helping the manager’s cause

Andoni Iraola does not want automatons. If space is there to be attacked, Bournemouth’s manager asks his players to be bold and seize the initiative. It is about having faith in creative instincts, throwing off the shackles as the shift away from Pep Guardiola’s positional football gathers pace. It would be unlike Iraola to threaten to substitute a goalkeeper for kicking long or a midfielder for trying a risky pass when a safer ball would allow his team to maintain their shape.

Enzo Maresca sees the game differently. Chelsea’s head coach is from the Guardiola school and has built his tactical vision around carefully hoarding possession, which leaves little room for improvisation and is contributing heavily to the sullen atmosphere at Stamford Bridge. “The people have to understand this is our way,” Maresca has said of the lukewarm reaction to his more sedate style. “This is the way we’re going to play.”

Premier League almost won but contracts are ending and key players ageing, necessitating a summer of change

It’s the 94th minute at Estádio da Luz in October. Benfica are winning 4-0 and Atlético Madrid are in utter disarray. Zeki Amdouni runs the ball into an entirely unpatrolled Atlético area, gets a free shot from 14 yards and misses a glorious chance to make it 5-0. Nobody cares. Least of all Liverpool, even though this miss will in effect end up, five months later, knocking them out of the Champions League.

Of course, we’re in the realm of the absurd here, although when it comes to the new Champions League format this is a system with margins exactly, and absurdly, this fine. By virtue of this one goal not scored – and of course you could pick out many others – Benfica end up finishing 16th in the 36-team group phase rather than 15th: a position from which they, rather than Paris Saint-Germain, would probably have ended up facing Liverpool in the last 16.

When Unai Emery accepted the challenge of reviving Aston Villa at a time when the club was fretting about relegation to the Championship, he voiced his desire to return to European competition.

It was punchy, part of a grand plan and, for supporters, a particularly exciting soundbite, but back then the prospect of a Champions League quarter-final date with Paris Saint‑Germain, one of Emery’s former clubs, felt fanciful. The Villa manager has delivered unequivocally on his wish. The Champions League furniture – the oversized badges, the giant tifos and 3D signage – will get at least another outing this season.

On a night when Arsenal ended the game with four left-backs on the pitch, this may not have been the biggest stage of Raheem Sterling’s illustrious career. But after a dismal loan spell from Chelsea during which the former England forward has failed to live up to his reputation, Sterling will be relieved to have finally made a contribution as Mikel Arteta’s side eased into a quarter-final with Real Madrid.

Sterling provided two assists in the first half as goals from Oleksandr Zinchenko and Declan Rice ensured Arsenal were never in danger of surrendering their record-breaking 7-1 advantage from the first leg. This time PSV Eindhoven proved more of a challenge and deserved to come away with a draw on the night thanks to equalisers from Ivan Perisic and then a sublime chip from Couhaib Driouech that denied Arteta’s side a place in the history books for the joint-biggest aggregate victory in the knockout stages.

• Leeds win 2-0 in south London
• Plymouth claim first away league win of season

Leeds moved back to the Sky Bet Championship summit after defeating Millwall 2-0. Jake Cooper’s own goal gave Leeds the advantage only three minutes into the game before Ao Tanaka wrapped up three points with a thumping finish in the 85th minute.

Victory means Leeds sit two points clear of automatic promotion rivals Sheffield United and four points clear of third-placed Burnley after both teams drew their respective games on Tuesday night.

• Sky/BBC deal runs for five years from next season
• No relegation would mean meaningless ties on TV

The Women’s Super League’s £65m TV contract with Sky Sports and the BBC will have to be renegotiated if it removes relegation from the top flight.

As revealed last month by the Guardian, the clubs are considering radical proposals to pause relegation from the 2026-27 season as part of a plan to expand the WSL and Championship to 16 teams each, with a vote expected at the end of the season.

Ange Postecoglou believes pressure can bring the best out of his Tottenham team in their second leg with AZ

When Ange Postecoglou does not like a question, usually from a broadcast journalist, he lets them know in pretty short order, latent hostility to the fore. The one he fielded on Wednesday was always coming.

Tottenham’s season will be on the line on Thursday night when they face AZ Alkmaar at home in the second leg of the Europa League last 16, trailing 1-0 from the first. And after the season Spurs have had, Postecoglou’s second at the club, it is plain that he could really do with a result. So, Ange, win or bust for the season and also for you and your project. How do you feel about that?

Complaints upheld against some former South Yorkshire and West Midlands officers but none will face proceedings

Dozens of allegations of misconduct against police officers relating to the 1989 Hillsborough disaster have been upheld by the police standards watchdog, bereaved families have been told.

However, none will face disciplinary proceedings because they have all left the police service.

• Austrian’s work with Eagles attracts Bundesliga clubs
• Jean-Philippe Mateta trains in Marbella after head injury

Crystal Palace have opened talks with Oliver Glasner over extending his contract in an attempt to ward off potential interest from RB Leipzig.

The Austrian celebrated his first anniversary as manager last month and Palace are 11th in the Premier League after Saturday’s win over Ipswich, having recovered from a poor start. They have also reached the last eight of both domestic cup competitions. Palace lost to Arsenal in the Carabao Cup and face Fulham in the FA Cup quarter-finals at the end of this month.

• United manager says criticism of his players is fair
• Yoro and Maguire ruled out of Real Sociedad second leg

Ruben Amorim has said that Sir Jim Ratcliffe was correct to criticise Manchester United players, saying he and they are “underperforming”.

Ratcliffe claimed on Monday that the squad was overpaid and not good enough, referencing Casemiro, Rasmus Højlund, André Onana, Antony and Jadon Sancho when doing so. Amorim was asked about the comments from the club’s co-owner.

In reaching the Champions League quarter-finals, Unai Emery’s side have taken a step closer to being immortalised

Glory comes in many forms. Perhaps the best Aston Villa could hope for on Wednesday was a game of little drama. They had in effect won the tie in Belgium last week; the last thing they wanted was to have to win it again. And yet, straightforward as it was, this was glorious, a night that in its outcome, if not the precise details, was epochal, marking Villa’s return to the European elite. Perhaps that will be a long‑term state, perhaps fleeting; either way, it is significant.

There is a tide in the affairs of clubs which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune. For Villa this was one of the nights fans yearn for, a night of destiny, a night to be spoken of for a long time to come. Even five years ago it would have seemed absurd that all that they had to do to reach the Champions League quarter-finals was avoid a two-goal defeat against the Belgian champions.

Plus: high-scoring Premier League games with no English-born scorer and club crests similar to logos

• Mail us with your questions and answers

“Liverpool’s 1-0 win against Paris Saint-Germain last week was the ultimate smash-and-grab victory. When was the phrase first used in a football context?” poses our very own Niall McVeigh.

Liverpool’s win in Paris was smash-and-grab bingo. They were away from home, like all burglars. They were battered and their keeper had the game of his life, which made it feel like they had stolen a result they didn’t deserve. The match was low-scoring, which meant there was a single, sudden moment of smashing and grabbing. And that moment came late on, in the 87th minute, increasing the dramatic impact to Hitchcockian levels.

SMASH AND GRAB

Audacious thief sentenced

Sentence of 20 months’ hard labour at Clerkenwell today on William Woolley (31), labourer, for breaking the window of one of Messrs Straker’s establishments in the East End.

Prisoner’s practice, it was shown, was to deliberately smash shop windows with a stone, and then bolt with whatever he could grab from the window.

Results and off-pitch changes contributed to coach going days before a cup final and months after all seemed rosy

On a cold Manchester night last November, as Gareth Taylor watched his team secure a 10th straight victory of the season by beating Hammarby, the idea that he would not be in charge of Manchester City by mid-March seemed fairly far-fetched. City were on a run of 21 wins and one defeat in 23 WSL matches, meaning that across 12 months they had the best league results in the country. Yet four months and four painful league defeats later, Taylor is out.

To some, who were surprised Taylor was given a one-year contract extension in May 2023 despite City finishing fourth, his departure has been on the cards because of a relatively low trophy return – the FA Cup in 2020 and League Cup in 2022 – and City’s eliminations in the qualifying rounds of the Champions League in 2022 and 2023. To others, who see him as the coach who was within a whisker of winning the league last term, his dismissal may seem brutal.

Local people are enthusiastic about regeneration, though some fans share Andy Burnham’s worries over where the money will come from

Even on a freezing, rainy day with no match scheduled, the area surrounding Old Trafford in Manchester is abuzz with football fans from far and wide.

Just a day since Manchester United revealed their plans for the new 100,000-capacity stadium in Old Trafford, there is a sense of excitement at the new proposals: the plans promise 92,000 jobs and a large-scale “regeneration” of the area, including 17,000 new homes.

The tournament will be leveraged for the glorification of a leader to a degree not seen since Benito Mussolini dominated the 1934 World Cup in Italy

Two men held a press event in the Oval Office last week to announce a taskforce that would work to resolve the logistical problems surrounding the 2026 World Cup in North America, which were largely created by one of them.

Both men were in their element. One, Donald Trump, received toady genuflection and a large, golden … thing (actually the Club World Cup trophy). The other, Fifa president Gianni Infantino, occasioned to bask in the proximity to real power, was affectionately referred to as “The king of soccer, I guess, in a certain way” by Trump.

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Following last week’s smash-and-grab victory by Liverpool at the Parc des Princes, Football Daily’s expected fun (xF) threshold going into Tuesday night’s second leg at Anfield was extremely high but caveated by several questions. Would Paris Saint-Germain be able to play as well again? Was there any chance Liverpool could be as bad? After Alisson’s heroics in the French capital, would he again be called upon to singlehandedly repel PSG’s attacking hordes? And while it’s OK for PSG fans to finally like Luis Enrique’s exciting team of apparently ego-free young whippersnappers, is it OK for neutrals who disapprove of nation states buying up football clubs in blatant attempts at image-laundering to row in behind them as well? And the answers … Not quite. No, up to a point once it got to penalties. And probably not but they’re so much fun to watch.

We’re going into eight weeks of your life now where you sacrifice everything – you’re not shopping tomorrow, you’re not bowling, your diet’s good … if your wife or girlfriend wants to go shopping, wants to do that, they have to make the sacrifices, it’s a massive sacrifice for us to achieve something because you can’t now go to Bluewater tomorrow walking around high-fiving and going Costa Coffee when you should be resting and all those things, now we have to be at it, now the professional has to be paramount, and everyone’s sacrificing, everyone’s family is sacrificing for the greater good if you like” – Nathan Jones does not appear to have become any less rambling or entertainingly intense since joining Charlton. A 1-0 win at Crawley leaves them fourth in League One.

Re: Stuart Pearce (yesterday’s Quote of the Day). From the man who walked away from a collision with a dustcart (at Newcastle) and tried to run off a broken leg (West Ham), I’m surprised the word ‘pain’ is in his vocabulary” – Paul Griffin.

Re: yesterday’s Football Daily. The proposed New Trafford Enormodome has three pylons, spires, or whatever you call them that are apparently inspired by the devil’s trident on the club badge. Are these the only three points home fans are guaranteed to see?” – Derek McGee.

Since you’re using the wisdom of Sebastian Coe to explain the rationale of Big Sir Jim’s Big Tent, does this mean New Old Trafford will host two games and then lie idle until West Ham move in on a peppercorn rent?” – Declan Hackett.

I know I will definitely not be the first of 1,057 readers to congratulate Ed Taylor on trying again and successfully winning letter of the day yesterday with exactly the same letter as he sent in for publication on Wednesday 5 March that didn’t. The only thing less surprising than a c0ck-up [intentional reader-baiting, no? – Football Daily Ed] with a tea-time email was Alan Shearer still not understanding the new offside law change as evidenced in his commentary on Liverpool v PSG” – Andy Morrison (and 1,056 others).

• Van Dijk: ‘If anyone says they know, they are lying’
• Alexander-Arnold set to miss final but no knee injury

Virgil van Dijk has said he has “no idea” whether he will be a Liverpool player next season. The captain’s contract expires this summer and he is yet to sign a new deal.

Unless Van Dijk, 34 in July, extends his stay he will have played his last European game for the club after Liverpool were knocked out of the Champions League by Paris Saint-Germain. His teammates Mohamed Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold are in the same situation. Talks have been held with all three players.

The last time the club played in Europe’s premier club competition, in 1980, they were the defending champions

By WhoScored

Nottingham Forest’s 1-0 win over Manchester City on Saturday was a statement. Nuno Espírito Santo’s side have claimed some impressive results at the City Ground this season. They beat Aston Villa and Tottenham at home in December; they smashed Brighton 7-0 last month; and they have taken points off Liverpool and Arsenal. Yet victory over the defending champions in a battle for a Champions League finish spoke volumes. It was Forest’s first home win against City since Jason Lee bagged a brace and Steve Stone added a third in a 3-0 victory in September 1995. It was a win a long time in the making.

Importantly, though, the result wasn’t a huge shock. Forest beat the drop by just six points last season, albeit with a four-point deduction, but they are now third in the table and on course to qualify for the Champions League. They are four points clear of fifth-placed City, with sixth-placed Newcastle a further point back. It feels more likely than not that Forest will return to Europe’s elite club competition for the first time in 45 years, particularly with fifth place in the Premier League likely to be enough to guarantee Champions League football. The last time the club played in the European Cup, in 1980, they were the reigning champions.

The PSG midfielder covered every blade of grass at Anfield as his side frustrated Liverpool for 120 minutes

Afterwards, they carried on running. They had run for two hours, run themselves into the ground, run themselves delirious, but at the moment of triumph the players of Paris Saint-Germain somehow managed to find a few more yards in them. Ran towards their fans in the corner, ran in wild circles, tore across the Anfield grass as if it were the Champs-Élysées.

One man did not run. As Désiré Doué’s penalty hit the net, Vitinha simply crumpled, his legs finally giving way, his last drop of energy exhausted. Eventually, with his teammates still celebrating 70 yards away, he hauled himself to his feet and was the first to commiserate with Liverpool’s beaten players. Then, after they had dispersed, he simply stood in the centre circle for a few moments, as if finally claiming the turf for which he had spent the whole night fighting.

On Manchester United’s job losses, finances and new stadium, it takes hawk-like focus to work out what the co-owner is actually saying

A core strength of Ineos is direct accountability. Matrix structures are by definition amorphous, confusing, and create places for people to hide.

Hmm. That does sound bad, Sir Jim. Talk me through it one more time, these frustrating corporate shields, these blame-avoidance tactics you’re so worried about. But first could you please just come out from behind the table. And stop doing that admittedly very good Donald Duck voice.

Our cartoonist on two larger than life presidents coming together to discuss Coldplay, a portal to hell and much more

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• David’s new book, Chaos in the Box: buy it now

The anarchic Barça goalkeeper may not be an idealised athlete but he is writing an extraordinary closing chapter to his career

Accounts differ on just how late Iñaki Peña was to that team meeting in Jeddah. Some reports say two minutes; some go as high as four. Either way, Hansi Flick is nothing if not a coach of fine margins, and by such fine margins was Peña summarily dropped for the Supercopa semi‑final against Athletic Club in January. His replacement: Barcelona’s third goalkeeper, a 34‑year‑old smoker by the name of Wojciech Szczesny.

I think it matters that Szczesny smokes. Not because smoking is cool, which any eye-rolling Gen Z will tell you is no longer actually true, but because there is the idea here of competing motivations: of instant versus delayed gratification, of compromise in a sport that brooks none. The bible of modern football reads: your body is your work. Hone it. Optimise every detail. Squeeze out every last drop of capital it has to offer. Szczesny responds by blowing a cloud of Marlboro Light right in your passive face.

The head coach does not want his players to be so passive yet there were glimmers against Arsenal of how this team can play

Something extraordinary happened at Old Trafford on Sunday, almost without precedent during Ruben Amorim’s four months as the Manchester United manager. His team enjoyed a half-time lead. The only time they had done so previously was in his third game in early December at home against Everton. Back then, they went in 2-0 up en route to a 4-0 win. Now, in match No 26, they were 1-0 ahead against Arsenal.

Drill a little deeper and there is more remarkable detail. United have scored before the interval in only seven of Amorim’s games – a total of 10 goals. They have held the lead on five occasions in first halves, squandering three of them.

Arsenal’s barren spell continues, Lauren James proves the difference and Marc Skinner has his eyes on the prize

Liverpool’s second win under the interim manager, Amber Whiteley, a 1-0 victory over Arsenal that saw them into the semi-finals of the FA Cup for the first time since 2016-2017, was one that defined “steadying the ship”. It would have been easy for the team to fold given the disruption of the last fortnight and the surprise change of manager. In Whiteley, however, they have a coach who understands the club and its players better than most and the game plan for a difficult cup tie away proved spot on. Disciplined and tireless, they shut down the spaces and pounced to create chances when the opportunity arose.

After Motta expresses gratitude to his former manager, Atalanta’s 4-0 win may end his plans for a second season

Thiago Motta has never been shy with his gratitude towards Gian Piero Gasperini. He cites the Atalanta manager extensively in the thesis he submitted while studying for his Uefa Pro coaching licence at Coverciano, describing how the season he spent playing under Gasperini at Genoa reshaped his approach to the game.

He offered thanks again on Saturday, recalling how he had arrived in Italy in a delicate moment of his career – seeking a way back from successive knee injuries at Barcelona and Atlético Madrid. “I’d just started training again and Gasperini asked me if I could play,” said Motta. “I said yes, and he said: ‘OK, I’ll bring you tomorrow and maybe you’ll play 10 minutes.’ Then he stuck me on in the first half when [Omar] Milanetto got hurt.

After his takeover in 2018, the early enthusiasm has long gone, and so mostly has he. Now he wants to get on his bike

At the end of training on Friday, as Real Valladolid’s players left the annex next to the José Zorrilla stadium and headed off under grey skies, rain preparing to roll in, a surprise waited for them. It was the final session before the weekend their coach said would show what hopes they had, an opportunity not so much to save their season as still have one, and there was he was: the Original Ronaldo, in the flesh. He came to encourage them, he said, going round the dressing room reminding them what it means to be committed, always. “Thank you for accompanying the team before the Valencia game!” the club tweeted, exclamation included. The Brazilian, after all, is one of the greatest footballers ever.

He is also their owner and president. But still this was unexpected: they hadn’t seen him for months and didn’t think they would see him now either. He had been in the directors’ box for Valladolid’s first game of the season, which they had won, and when they played Real Madrid at the Bernabéu the following week too, which they hadn’t. Since then, as they watched their team slide towards the second division, abandoned to an increasingly inevitable fate, he hadn’t been back. “Where is the president?” supporters had sung. One day in November, while they were playing Getafe, he was playing tennis. They knew that because he had broadcast it on Twitch. So the following week, they set up a game in the stands, giant foam rackets hitting a ball back and forth.

Bayern Munich were shocked at home by Bochum, but they still strengthened their hand after Leverkusen lost again

After all the big moments, the daring comebacks, the thrilling crescendos, it felt like they had finally run out of road. Having both been substituted, Florian Wirtz and Jeremie Frimpong sat on the visitors’ bench at the Allianz Arena as time ticked down, a seat apart, both yelling, maybe at each other, maybe just into the ether. Finally Wirtz covered his face with his hands.

Of all the images of last week’s all-German Champions League last-16 match between Bayern Munich and Bayer Leverkusen, this was the one that stuck. Frustration is to be expected, particularly in the dying embers of a bad defeat against a domestic and European rival, but this was something that we have rarely seen from Xabi Alonso’s Leverkusen. Setbacks happen, but he and his players have always maintained their poise, knowing that their path is the right one and that an answer is coming. This time? Maybe not.

• USMNT will play Panama in semi-final on 20 March
• Canada and Mexico are other teams in competition

The US men’s national team have announced a 23-player roster for the Concacaf Nations League finals that features three players who will be in camp with head coach Mauricio Pochettino for the first time.

The headliners among the trio are Tyler Adams and Gio Reyna. The players are considered to be key parts of the squad, but both last appeared with the US at the 2024 Copa América, where the team were eliminated in the group stage. Adams, who captained the US at the 2022 World Cup, underwent back surgery after the tournament and returned to action with Bournemouth late last year. Reyna has found consistent minutes hard to come by this season at Borussia Dortmund with the team struggling in the Bundesliga, although they made it through to the Champions League round of 16.

• The right back came on as a 67th-minute sub
• Dest in contention for USMNT Nations League squad

US men’s national team defender Sergiño Dest has returned from knee surgery after more than 10 months out of action.

The 24-year-old entered in the 67th minute for PSV Eindhoven against Heerenveen in the Eredivisie on Saturday, coming on in place of fellow American Richy Ledesma.

After a history-making appointment at Brentford, the former Leicester City boss is hoping to build a new legacy

After spending a month at the 2024 Under-17 World Cup with England, Lydia Bedford returned to her home in early November, ready to settle back into routine. She wasn’t looking for a new job. She wasn’t thinking about leaving Premier League club Brentford, where she managed the U-18 squad. If anything, she was eager to focus on the season ahead.

Then, she got a text from her agent.

• NWSL to look into report of ‘toxic’ environment at Bay FC
• San Francisco Chronicle published investigation Friday

An independent investigation has been opened into the coaching staff at Bay FC following publication of a report that described a “toxic” work environment at the club, National Women’s Soccer League Commissioner Jessica Berman said.

The San Francisco Chronicle published an investigation Friday that said at least two formal complaints had been made about the team under coach Albertin Montoya.

Thanks to a goalkeeper they own, Bayern’s anniversary celebrations were able to be marked by a victory

Last Thursday FC Bayern celebrated 125 years of existence. When the team travelled to Stuttgart for the opening game of the Bundesliga the following night their travelling fans unfurled a glittering red tifo, composed of “27. Februar 1900” – the club’s birthdate – and the original club badge.

Despite the sense of ceremony, which will continue with a series of commemorative events in the weeks to come, and the plethora of connections they share with Stuttgart, Bayern could not have expected quite the number of presents that came their way from the hosts. Stuttgart had been “clearly the better team in the first half-hour,” as Vincent Kompany put it. It was their best performance in weeks and yet it counted for nothing as they took a pistol to their collective foot in the second half. Less than a month ago, Sebastian Hoeness – just to remind, nephew of Uli and son of Dieter – and his side were just a solitary point from fourth place and six ahead of Borussia Dortmund after winning at Signal Iduna Park. Today, they are five adrift of the Champions League places and just a point ahead of Dortmund, everybody’s favourite Bundesliga crisis club.

An anti-gay slur’s at San Diego FC’s home debut prompted a strong response from the club. They’re not the first ones forced to address a tired trope

It all started as a bit of a joke, just not a funny one. Now infamous enough to be known as ‘the chant’ or ‘the p-word’ even in English, historical accounts say the homophobic chant that has remained persistent in Mexican soccer began in Guadalajara. Atlas fans were infuriated by goalkeeper Oswaldo Sánchez’s departure from their team and his eventual return to their rivals Guadalajara. That’s when they tweaked a traditional gridiron football ritual, building up noise before belting out an anti-gay slur whenever Sánchez took a goal kick.

The chant appeared again – this time with more venom – at a game between USA and Mexico in a 2004 pre-Olympic tournament in Guadalajara. Mexico fans were still smarting from El Tri’s loss to the US at the 2002 World Cup. That led to 60,000 Tapatios directing the slur at US goalkeeper DJ Countess during Mexico’s 4-0 win. The ugly trend has continued, and grown, despite campaigns from the Mexican football federation, Fifa fines, and efforts from Liga MX, who named a full season after an alternative chant in 2021.

Something seemed to break here, and it was not just Xabi Alonso’s proud unbeaten record over Bayern Munich. For Vincent Kompany’s side are cruising to the Bundesliga title and now they are cruising to the Champions League quarter-finals too. They may well sign Bayer Leverkusen’s best player in the summer, but here they played him off the park. It smells like game over, and in more senses than one.

This week the Bayern director of sport, Max Eberl, made an eye-catching comparison. He compared Alonso and Kompany to Pep Guardiola and Jürgen Klopp, the coaching duopoly that shaped modern football for almost a decade. Bit soon for all that, most people reckoned, but it feels just a little less fanciful now. The bloke who got Burnley relegated to the Championship may just be the next big thing in European coaching.

While Liverpool boss Arne Slot called the team's exit from the Champions League a shock, he took solace in losing to an excellent Paris Saint‑Germain team in a wildly entertaining two-legged tie that needed a penalty shootout to decide the outcome. In what Slot labelled 'the best game of football I've ever been involved in', PSG beat Liverpool 4-1 in a shootout to advance to the quarter-finals, winning Tuesday's second leg at Anfield 1-0 thanks to a goal from Ousmane Dembélé.

• Slot sanguine after Liverpool exit in ‘best game of football I’ve ever been involved in’

Sam Merson, son of the former footballer Paul Merson, scored an 'outrageous' goal for Hanworth Villa against Farnham Town. Merson's goal opened the scoring in the game which ultimately ended 1-1

Jeering fans from Internacional de Limeira provoked Neymar to score the first olimpico of his career, the Brazil international said on Sunday, after guiding Santos to a 3-0 win in the Paulista Championship. The former Barcelona and PSG player returned to his boyhood club at the end of January and helped Santos to another victory with a hand in all three goals. Neymar assisted the first and the third from corners, both scored by Tiquinho with his head, and he scored the second straight from a corner.

• Neymar responds to jeering fans by scoring for Santos directly from corner

A Watford Women's player was sent off after she, about to take a corner, removed the flag due to a puddle and was told by the referee to return it. Annie Rossiter did so before taking it out again and receiving a red card following an exchange with the official. Watford ultimately lost 3-2 to Lewes in their National League Southern Division game. 'I feel like the game was probably spoiled by some officiating decisions,' said Watford head coach Renée Hector

Amid a controversial proposal to suspend relegation in the WSL, decision-makers risk putting self-interest above all else

On Friday a shareholder meeting of the Women’s Professional Leagues Ltd took place to discuss the future of the women’s professional game. This was not unusual. The body responsible for running the Women’s Super League and Championship, owned by the clubs and having taken over from the Football Association last summer, holds quarterly meetings and each one has involved discussions on the professional women’s game in England as it enters a new phase.

There was caution ahead of the first season of WPLL ownership; no immediate expansion, no swift progression to full-time referees, no big moves to adopt the other recommendations in the fan-led government review of women’s football carried out by Karen Carney, despite a widespread desire for many of them.

Academics and medics are working to understand why hamstring injuries are keeping players sidelined for longer

The sight of a player pulling up with a hamstring injury has become all too familiar in the Premier League. Weary muscles are being stretched to the limit by an expanding calendar, but dealing with more games is not the only challenge for medical departments.

It is not that there has been a sudden explosion. It can simply seem that way when high-profile players such as the Arsenal forwards Bukayo Saka and Kai Havertz are long-term absentees. Using figures up to and including game week 26, that ended last Sunday, the Premier Injuries website says 100 of the 418 injuries this season related to hamstrings (24%), compared with 120 from 457 (26%) at the same stage last year.

Exiting the FA Cup on penalties at home to Fulham is a new low in a season full of them for Ruben Amorim’s side

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What links Jack Robson, Lal Hilditch, Herbert Bamlett and Ruben Amorim?

They’re the only permanent managers in Manchester United history with a career negative goal-difference. Other than Amorim, the other three worked between 1914 and 1931. Sunday’s FA Cup exit against Fulham, admittedly, did not contribute to that. It was possible, even, in the aftermath of a penalty shootout defeat, to argue it had been one of United’s better recent performances. They’ve only lost two of their previous eight games. But it’s also just 3 March and United already have no chance of winning any domestic competition this season.

Faye Carruthers is joined by Suzy Wrack, Tom Garry, and Robyn Cowen to discuss Gareth Taylor’s exit and the weekend’s games

On the podcast today: Manchester City part ways with Gareth Taylor just days before their League Cup final against Chelsea, with Nick Cushing stepping in as interim manager. What went wrong, and what does this mean for City’s season?

Elsewhere, Liverpool stun Arsenal to reach the FA Cup semi-finals, joining Chelsea, Manchester United, and Manchester City in the final four. Meanwhile, Liverpool’s Taylor Hinds was subjected to “sexually inappropriate comments” from a spectator. We break down all the action from the quarter-finals and discuss Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s latest eyebrow-raising comments on the Manchester United women’s team.

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Iconic. Ambitious. Exciting. Spine-tingling. All these adjectives and more greeted Tuesday morning’s announcement that Manchester United will build a 100,000-seater stadium to replace Old Trafford, and construct it within a five-year period. Add some context and one has to admire, above all, Big Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s chutzpah. Debts for his petrochemicals empire are forecast to reach almost £10bn this year. The All Blacks are taking legal action against Ineos for exiting a sponsorship deal early. Big Sir Jim has introduced a raft of cost-cutting measures at United, including more than 400 job losses and closure of the staff canteen.

I’m in good form, absolutely brilliant. On the flight I had chest pains and the crew on Virgin were brilliant … my heart rate was racing. From the time I was monitored on the aeroplane and for the few days in hospital, my resting heart rate was anything above 155 beats per minute. I had a virus that attached itself to my heart that just needed clearing, rebooting and going through the process. When I get home I will have some medical checks and go and see my GP, but I feel terrific now” – Stuart Pearce delivers some good news after his medical scare on a flight back from Las Vegas last week.

To be fair, Norman Foster has done a great job for Manchester United with his rendering of a new Old Trafford. Any chance he could also conjure up a couple of strikers who can score goals, a central midfield with some pace and a defence without Victor Lindelöf too while he’s at it?” – Noble Francis.

‘Not good enough and overpaid’: a moment of clarity from Big Sir Jim? Oh, he was talking about the players” – Adrian Riley.

Can I be the first of 1,057 readers to suggest that if Mikel Arteta’s side are serious about progressing beyond the Round of Arsenal, then they could really use an early goal in the second leg to settle the nerves?” – Ed Taylor (and no others).

I believe R Reisman (yesterday’s Football Daily letters) is on to something. I have filled out his feedback form and have successfully passed all conditions: a) this is funny; b) not too long; c) not offensive; d) I’m not Noble Francis; e) there are no links; f) hopefully no one else thought of this” – Mike Glogower (and no others).

Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Jonathan Liew and Nooruddean Choudry as Liverpool extend their lead at the top of the Premier League

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On the podcast today: Nottingham Forest record a huge win over Manchester City as their dream of Champions League football returning looks even closer to reality. Victories for Chelsea, Brighton and Aston Villa will also have left the champions concerned.

Plus: more tables as works of art, record numbers of away wins in league matches and 1-11 shirt numbers

• Mail us with your questions and answers

“The recent Merseyside derby showed that it’s no longer unusual for a referee to book and send off players and managers after they’ve blown the final whistle,” notes Jason Janduy. “Are there any instances where they’ve shown their cards before the match?”

Mykola Kozlenko has this one covered. “The most famous case is probably Patrice Evra, playing for Marseille against Vitória de Guimarães in the Europa League in 2017-18, when he kicked a Marseille fan before the game.”

After the final whistle the referee went into both teams’ changing-rooms and retrospectively booked every player who hadn’t already been booked, for dissent. One player was in hospital at that stage, having sustained a nasty cut to his head, but he got booked as well. Another player couldn’t go to the game at all, so found someone else to play instead of him using his name. He was booked too, despite being at a wedding at the time.

Keeper suffered an ACL tear in 2022. Now she is first-choice for club and country and a World Cup winner

“Confident, risk-taker and big character,” Catalina “Cata” Coll says without hesitation when asked to describe herself as a player. The much-heralded promise of Barcelona and Spain has now become the present and the future and all it took was one summer.

A dreadful ACL tear in February 2022 ended Coll’s season and, with that, her hope to become second-choice keeper, much less first. With Sandra Paños the undisputed choice in goal, Gemma Font had no competition in the second position she had already won.

Our cartoonist on the wild scenes, unlikely heroes and football royalty that breathed life into the old competition

• You can buy a copy of a cartoon in our Print Shop
• David’s new book, Chaos in the Box: buy it now

Faye Carruthers is joined by Suzy Wrack and Sophie Downey to break down major developments in the WSL and Championship, managerial departures, and a weekend packed with goals.

On the podcast today: The future of the WSL and Championship is in the spotlight as proposals emerge to expand the leagues and temporarily suspend relegation. What would this mean for the women’s game, and is it the right move for long-term growth?

Elsewhere, Liverpool and Crystal Palace make managerial changes, Chelsea drops points against Brighton, and Arsenal produce a stunning comeback to stay in the Champions League race. Plus, we reflect on England’s crucial victory over Spain in the Nations League and preview the upcoming international break.

What Ruben Amorim should do now, Danny Welbeck and an unlikely England call, and why Michael Oliver was right

“Pick the kids!” is a frequent cry when a team are playing poorly, and generally speaking it’s an incorrect one: the last thing a young player needs is to be hurled into a mess of the sort Manchester United are in. But sometimes it works – Mikel Arteta, for example, struggling at Arsenal, eventually promoted Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith Rowe because he had no other choice, and hasn’t looked back since. Now Ruben Amorim must make a similar call. A lack of alternatives forced him to persevere with Rasmus Højlund, but over the past week Chido Obi-Martin has earned a chance, contributing at Everton before asserting properly against Fulham, on both occasions more dangerous than Højlund, in less time. And, given United’s league season is over – and, given also, their lack of pace in defence – it might be worth seeing what Ayden Heaven can do, seeking to inject momentum and good feeling into a two-month stretch that threatens to be enervating in the extreme. Daniel Harris

Match report: Manchester United 1-1 Fulham (aet, 3-4 pens)

Match report: Newcastle 1-2 Brighton

Match report: Crystal Palace 3-1 Millwall

Match report: Manchester City 3-1 Plymouth Argyle

Match report: Preston 3-0 Burnley

Match report: Bournemouth 1-1 Wolves (aet, B’mouth win 5-4 on pens)

Match report: Aston Villa 2-0 Cardiff City

There is emotional and cultural heft to the story revealed in a film about the Hungarian football great’s time as coach of South Melbourne Hellas

Based on a blur of childhood memory that hardly equals sociology, Australia in the 1980s and 90s was a place obsessed with celebrity. A small population at the far end of the world, a gap unbridged by cheap flights and eternal internet: when famous people came to visit, it was a huge deal.

When Australians got involved in major events overseas, even bigger. There were years when Nicole Kidman just showing up at the Oscars felt like a national event. So it’s a hell of a story that one of the world’s greatest footballers coached a local soccer team in 1991, and hardly anybody noticed.

Think it is easy spending £1bn with no silverware in return? Leave it out! Letting down supporters is harder than it looks

“The one thing I’ve learned about the British press is they exaggerate a lot and leave stuff out.” The words of Todd Boehly there, the jaw-droppingly handsome Chelsea chair whose name was being sung so passionately by fans outside Stamford Bridge last week. “We want Boehly ! We want Boehly !” they sang in their thousands, alongside a sea of banners bearing the words “BOEHLY ” and “CLEARLAKE & BLUECO ”.

Clearly Chelsea fans cannot get enough of their hybrid-leadership apparat, and frankly who can blame them when their leaders are in this vein of form? Perhaps, as a functional human with a life, you missed Boehly’s appearance at the Financial Times Business of Football Summit on Thursday, where he treated the audience to a little of the privileged wisdom he has accumulated during his 33 months in the game.

The Arsenal forward, once England’s key player, is only 30 but his confidence is shot and his career on a downward curve

In Rafa Benítez’s first season in English football, he rested Steven Gerrard for an FA Cup tie at Burnley, who were in the Championship. When Liverpool lost, there was a predictable backlash and, from certain quarters, derision as Benítez explained his rotation policy and the need to manage the number of minutes each player played.

Social media being in its infancy, it wasn’t quite the culture war that it would have become today, but certain old-school football men clearly felt that players should just get on with it: hard work never hurt anyone. But at the same time a piece of ancient wisdom kept surfacing, usually from elderly coaches who had spent a lifetime in the game: as a rule of thumb, however much they play, whatever age they start, a player has 500 games in them.

Former Manchester United goalkeeper on Cantona, Keane, his double-agent dad and the hurt of Old Trafford misery

“There’s no doubt that I was born with a special talent,” Peter Schmeichel says as he avoids wasting time with false modesty. After a remarkable career in which he won the Champions League, five Premier League titles and three FA Cups with Manchester United, as well as the European Championship with Denmark in 1992, Schmeichel speaks with the conviction that characterised his performances in goal.

Yet during our revealing and surprisingly moving hour together, Schmeichel also explores the complex layers of his family history and tangled character as one of the world’s great keepers and now, at 61, a much more reflective man.

Rodri has beaten Vinícius Júnior and Erling Haaland to top our ranking of the most talented players in the world this calendar year

• How all the judges voted | Rodri heads 2024 list | Our methodology | The top 100 female players in the world
• 2023 edition | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012

The Manchester City midfielder becomes the sixth player to top our ranking of the world’s best 100 male footballers

• The 100 best male footballers in the world 2024

One of the worst things about seeing Rodri in agony on the pitch against Arsenal in September – and the subsequent news that he had ruptured an anterior cruciate ligament – was that in the buildup to the injury he had criticised the workload being put on players. It was as if he knew something bad was about to happen.

In April, after an epic 3-3 draw at Real Madrid the Manchester City and Spain midfielder said: “I do need a rest.” He added: “Let’s see how we speak, how we live the situation. Sometimes it is what it is. I need to adjust. It [rest] is something we are planning, yes.”

Aitana Bonmatí finishes top of our rankings for a second consecutive year, with Caroline Graham Hansen second and Sophia Smith third

• Bonmatí on top of world again | How every judge voted | Video top ten | 2023 list | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018
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The Spanish midfielder wins for a second consecutive year on a fast-moving list that sees 15 players appearing for the first time

• The top 100: check out the full list for 2024

Aitana Bonmatí emulates her Barcelona and Spain teammate Alexia Putellas and takes back-to-back wins in the Guardian’s 100 best female footballers in the world list.

The double Ballon d’Or winner received votes from all 99 of this year’s judges, finishing 667 points clear of her club teammate Caroline Graham Hansen, the Norwegian climbing to her highest ranking after a superb individual year for both club and country.

From Franco Mastantuono to Estêvão, we select some of the most talented players born in 2007. Check the progress of our classes of 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 … and look at the editions from further back

We pick the best youngsters at each club born between 1 September 2007 and 31 August 2008, an age band known as first-year scholars. Check the progress of our classes of 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 … and look at the editions from further back

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