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At home in north London, a celebrated former Everton midfielder must have been tempted to raise a toast to his old club. Mikel Arteta will know it would have tasted sweeter but for Jérémy Doku’s superb 97th-minute equaliser for Manchester City. He will also know the pendulum has swung Arsenal’s way in the race for the Premier League title.

The last kick of a crazy second half salvaged what could prove a precious point for Pep Guardiola’s challengers, but they veered off course against Everton and also in the context of a title race with little margin for error.

• Chelsea lose six in a row for first time since 1993

• ‘We were nowhere near the level we needed to be’

Chelsea’s interim head coach, Calum McFarlane, admitted the opening 15 minutes of his side’s home defeat by Nottingham Forest were “not acceptable” as Chelsea lost a sixth consecutive Premier League match for the first time since 1993.

A second-minute header from Taiwo Awoniyi was followed by an Igor Jesus penalty in the 15th minute to leave Vítor Pereira’s second-string side able to keep their hosts at arm’s length throughout the contest. Awoniyi’s second later in the game ultimately sealed three crucial points for Forest in their battle against relegation.

• Champions League semi-final delicately poised at 1-1

• ‘We are so hungry to get the game we want tomorrow’

Mikel Arteta promised that Arsenal’s players will turn into “beasts” as they attempt to reach the Champions League final for the first time since 2006.

Arsenal drew 1-1 in the first leg of their semi-final against Atlético Madrid last week and will be confident of overcoming Diego Simeone’s side after winning five of their six matches in this competition at the Emirates Stadium so far this season, conceding only three goals. Viktor Gyökeres scored twice in a 4-0 win over Atlético during the group stage, although Arsenal will be wary of underestimating the team that knocked out Barcelona in the quarter-finals.

A three-horse race has witnessed a faller. This most magical of Hearts seasons has edged closer to delivering the ultimate prize, an outcome that would shake Scottish football to its very foundations.

This was a game Rangers and their manager, Danny Röhl, dare not lose. They did, courtesy of a stirring second-half comeback from Hearts. Rangers now trail the Edinburgh club by seven points. The Hearts lead over Celtic has been restored to three with the same number of fixtures to play.

It took six years and a lot of soul-searching for the coach nicknamed Salvador Milagros to return in 2023. After more miracles, he is off again

In the final minutes before Villarreal met Copenhagen in December, they came down the tunnel, marched on to the pitch, lined up before the ballboys holding out that starry tarpaulin like firemen waiting for a leap from a burning building, and listened to the Champions League anthem blasting out. Only there was no die besten that night, no grosse sportliche veranstaltung and no grandes équipes either. No lyrics at all, in fact. Someone somewhere had put on the Europa League tune by mistake, so they shifted their feet and looked awkward instead. Then they went out and got beaten again. But that was then and this was now and this time the DJ played the right record and everyone danced, singing along to the chorus, life good again.

That was December, before week six in the Champions League, and Villarreal were soon gone. Without a win, having picked up a single point in eight games, they were the second-worst team there and eliminated early: the continent’s premier competition, it seemed, was not their place, some kind of musical metaphor in that mix-up. But this was May, five months on, and they had just beaten Levante 5-1, securing the opportunity to go back and try again. They had done that early too. So at the full-time whistle on Saturday afternoon, week 34 in La Liga, the right anthem did go round the Cerámica, and so did the players, setting off on a lap of honour. Above them, a message appeared on the scoreboard. “We are a Champions League team (again),” it said.

• Carrick has taken side into Champions League as interim

• Matheus Cunha feels Carrick has Ferguson-era ‘magic’

Michael Carrick is expected to be offered the chance to continue as Manchester United’s head coach after qualifying for the Champions League.

Carrick has not held talks regarding turning his interim role into a permanent one because the executives were intent on waiting to see whether he could lead United into Europe’s top club competition.

Sunday’s edition of the famous rivalry felt like the least important in years, except for the uncertain futures of both managers

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It’s been a long time since a Manchester United v Liverpool game felt of less consequence. These are the two most successful sides in English league history, hailing from neighbouring cities and they have a rivalry that stretches back well over a century. Yet it felt perhaps only the seventh-most significant fixture of the weekend, behind the games involving the two title contenders, Arsenal and Manchester City, and the four sides still scrapping to avoid joining Wolves and Burnley in being relegated this season – Leeds, Nottingham Forest, West Ham and Tottenham.

United’s 3-2 win sealed their place in next season’s Champions League while, barring very odd swings of goal difference, Liverpool need just three points from their remaining three games to be certain of their own qualification. For both, the biggest issue now is deciding who manages them next season – and this was a ragged enough game to cast doubts over the suitability of Michael Carrick and Arne Slot for their respective sides.

• Jean-Jacques Ndala Ngambo in charge of first leg

• Several Caf officials want him replaced

Several members of the Confederation of African Football’s (Caf) executive committee are demanding the appointment of Jean-Jacques Ndala Ngambo to referee the first leg of the Caf Champions League final be overturned. Ndala was the referee at January’s Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) final when Senegal walked off against Morocco, leading to a legal dispute over who won the tournament that will be decided by the court of arbitration for sport.

Ndala, who is from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, has been selected for the game between South Africa’s Mamelodi Sundowns and AS Far of Morocco in Tshwane (formerly Pretoria) on 17 May.

OL Lyonnes ended Arsenal’s Champions League hopes while Rebecca Knaak puts Man City on the brink of WSL title glory

Who is the best female player in the world right now? Melchie Dumornay continues to make a strong claim for that accolade after her starring role in OL Lyonnes’ comeback to beat Arsenal in the Champions League semi-finals. The fearless Haiti international won a first-half penalty and provided a superb assist for Jule Brand’s late winner in the second leg, as well as being a constant thorn in Arsenal’s side with her pace, trickery and energy. The attacking midfielder, having missed the first leg through injury, helped the French side come from 2-1 down to win 4-3 on aggregate. Tom Garry

Only Alexis Sánchez and Thierry Henry have had more prolific first seasons for Arsenal in the Premier League era

By Opta Analyst

Viktor Gyökeres was at the heart of one of Arsenal’s best attacking displays of the season at the weekend, scoring twice and grabbing an assist as Mikel Arteta’s side dismantled Fulham 3-0 at the Emirates on Saturday.

The Swede’s opener, a close-range tap-in following excellent work down the right from Bukayo Saka, was his 20th goal in all competitions for Arsenal this term. A header on the stroke of half-time effectively sealed the result and took Gyökeres to 21 goals in his debut campaign.

Positions fourth to sixth are separated by goal difference as Hoffenheim rue being out of the Champions League spots

“This is perhaps the most difficult moment of my career.” It was not, it is fair to say, what Andrei Kramaric had expected on a day – and a week – that was going along like a dream. Two days after he had extended his expiring contract for two years at “my second home”, Hoffenheim’s all-time record scorer had dragged them even closer to a surprise return to the Champions League, scoring goals 157 and 158 for the club on a sunny afternoon with the mood of celebration in the air, as they dominated direct rivals Stuttgart. But in the 95th minute, up popped the visitors’ Tiago Tomás out of nowhere to shatter it all. In the race for the top four in the Bundesliga, life comes at you fast.

One could understand Kramaric’s difficulties in absorbing what had just happened. When he left the field in stoppage time to the warm applause of the PreZero Arena Hoffenheim were in fourth position, the (likely) final Champions League spot which they have worked so hard to recover in recent weeks after a big wobble either side of Easter. By the time that the Croatia striker got comfy on the bench his team had seen their lead improbably evaporate, and when he sat down for dinner they were in sixth, following Bayer Leverkusen’s 4-1 demolition of RB Leipzig in the early evening Topspiel.

Inter’s manager was not first choice to replace Simone Inzaghi but created a juggernaut that could not be stopped

It all felt inevitable, by the end, Inter becoming champions of Italy for the 21st time with a win over Parma they did not even need. A draw would have sufficed: in this game, or the next one, or either of the two after that. Their rivals for the Scudetto yielded one by one through the spring and then, finally, all at once. None of Napoli, Milan or Juventus won this weekend, not that it would have mattered any more if they had.

Inter were 10 points clear at the start of this round and 12 by its conclusion, the best team in Serie A by a mile. They have scored 82 goals in a league where no other team have yet made it to 60. Defensively, only Como can equal their 17 clean sheets.

Our editors’ favourite sporting images from the past week, from the spectacular to the powerful, and with a little bit of fun thrown in

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Arne Slot is fuming, Mikel Arteta’s big risk pays off and Josh Dasilva enjoys an emotional return for Brentford

Arne Slot was seething as he lamented the decision to allow Manchester United’s second goal to stand despite claims of handball by Benjamin Sesko. “The curve on the ball changed so there must have been a contact,” argued the Liverpool head coach. “But it’s no surprise to anyone that if there is a VAR intervention then the decision goes against us. It’s happened to us all season.” As PGMO confirmed at the time, however, there “was no conclusive evidence that Sesko handled the ball before scoring”. Slot was stretching it to pin Liverpool’s latest defeat on poor refereeing. United’s movement pulled the visitors apart in the first half and, without the injured Mohamed Salah, Hugo Ekitiké and Alexander Isak, the threat from Liverpool was nonexistent until capitalising on two errors early in the second half. Defeat stemmed from an anaemic first-half performance, nothing else. Andy Hunter

Match report: Manchester United 3-2 Liverpool

Match report: Arsenal 3-0 Fulham

Match report: Newcastle 3-1 Brighton

Match report: Aston Villa 1-2 Tottenham

Match report: Brentford 3-0 West Ham

Match report: Leeds 3-1 Burnley

Star lifting the Saudi Pro League trophy would go down well with authorities but success is down to coach Jorge Jesus

Cristiano Ronaldo is close to his first major trophy since signing for Al-Nassr in December 2022 but it is going to be tight. With three games of the Saudi Pro League remaining, his side are five points clear of their Riyadh rivals Al-Hilal, who amazingly are second despite not losing any of their 30 matches under Simone Inzaghi (also amazingly, the Italian is under some pressure). Al-Hilal have a game in hand, though, and the two meet next Tuesday in what could be a title decider. At a time when Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) is cutting back on certain sporting investments, one of its highest-profile acquisitions is poised to make headlines.

Some have complained that it is all a little too convenient and that the authorities are engineering a Ronaldo win. Ivan Toney has scored 27 goals for Al-Ahli but that has not been enough to stop the Jeddah giants from falling out of a race that until the last few weeks was a four-way affair.

Visit will be the first time a North Korean women’s football team has competed on southern soil since the 2014 Incheon Asian Games

A North Korean women’s football club will travel to South Korea this month, marking the first visit by a northern sports delegation in nearly eight years, at a time of near-total estrangement between the two Koreas.

Naegohyang Women’s FC, based in North Korea’s capital Pyongyang, will face South Korea’s Suwon FC Women at Suwon sports complex, on 20 May for the semi-finals of the AFC Women’s Champions League.

• Defender says mindset must be combined with quality

• Van Dijk denies players have had too many days off

Virgil van Dijk has said Liverpool need a lot of work behind the scenes this summer to avoid a repeat of their unacceptable season.

Arne Slot’s team suffered an 18th defeat of this campaign on Sunday when losing at Old Trafford, a Premier League double against Manchester United for the first time in a decade. Liverpool have a six-point cushion in the race for Champions League qualification with three games to play, starting at home to Chelsea on Saturday, and their captain is confident they possess the quality to get over the line.

• Spurs out of bottom three after win at Aston Villa

• Conor Gallagher: ‘De Zerbi makes you feel good’

Roberto De Zerbi said he was more satisfied with Tottenham’s performance than the three points after his team triumphed at Aston Villa to move above the relegation zone with three Premier League matches remaining. De Zerbi said the manner of the win should accelerate belief within his squad that they can avoid the drop.

Spurs, who host Leeds next Monday, are a point above West Ham and two behind Nottingham Forest, whose game in hand is at Chelsea on Monday. First-half goals by Conor Gallagher and Richarlison were sufficient to earn Spurs successive wins for the first time since August, Emiliano Buendía scoring a consolation in the 96th-minute with Villa’s first effort on target.

Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Jonathan Wilson and Barney Ronay to discuss all the weekend’s Premier League action

Gianni Infantino bungled one political move in Canada while also making it clear Europe is on the fringes of his thinking

Gianni Infantino’s final words of the 76th Fifa congress were the least surprising of an otherwise intriguing week.

“I wanted you to be the first to know,” the Fifa president said with a straight face of his decision to seek re-election next year, which has been an open secret since before his previous victory in 2023, as Fifa’s statutes were altered to permit such an outcome a few months earlier. (Having introduced a three-term limit after Infantino replaced Sepp Blatter in 2016, Fifa’s governance, audit and compliance committee ruled in December 2022 that his first 39 months in office did not count, as he was completing his disgraced predecessor’s term).

Manchester United midfielder broke the lines and scored the winner, while Liverpool’s midfield was pedestrian

‘You need someone like this.” So said Benjamin Sesko of Casemiro after the veteran’s commanding display against Brentford last Monday. Fast forward six days and the same sentiment applied to Kobbie Mainoo. Manchester United had two central midfielders like this – selfless, disciplined, destructive and creative – while Liverpool desperately need someone like this. Old Trafford revelled in the contrast, once it had recovered from a self-inflicted scare.

The redemption arc was strong at Old Trafford where United sealed their return to the Champions League by completing a Premier League double over Liverpool for the first time in 10 years. Mainoo savoured his own too. Cast aside earlier in the season under Ruben Amorim, his future with his boyhood club in serious doubt, the 21-year-old celebrated signing a five-year contract on Thursday by securing a deserved victory with his first Premier League goal since May 2024.

Tight decisions and Arsenal’s fragility from set pieces saw French side through to Women’s Champions League final

Fine margins defined this football match. Just a few centimetres in the key moments. As the OL Lyonnes owner, Michele Kang, celebrated on the pitch, arm-in-arm with her players with the Arsenal squad’s faces a picture of dejection, those tiny differentials will have felt wider than the Rhône that runs through the city. Arsenal’s reign as European champions has ended.

Up in the top tier, overlooking the scene with almost a bird’s-eye view, around 600 Arsenal fans had reason to be proud but ultimately were despondent. It was barely the thickness of a baguette that had kept Jule Brand onside when her late winning goal for Lyonnes was reviewed by the video assistant referee (VAR). In similarly agonising fashion, Arsenal’s Daphne van Domselaar stepped off her line slightly too early when saving a first-half penalty, which Wendie Renard retook and scored. But if those travelling Arsenal supporters were reflecting honestly, Lyonnes were worthy winners.

Devastating cameo highlighted the crucial role the winger has to play if Mikel Arteta’s men are to pip Manchester City

There was one name on everyone’s lips at the Emirates on Saturday night. Robert Pires, who wore Arsenal’s No 7 shirt with such distinction for Arsène Wenger’s Invincibles, could not stop smiling as he made his way downstairs from the press box for some half-time refreshments. “Bukayo’s back,” said the former France forward.

A frustrated spectator as he battled an achilles injury and his side’s quest for silverware spluttered, Arsenal’s talisman could not have picked a better moment to rediscover his golden touch on his first start since the Carabao Cup final six weeks ago. After leaving Raúl Jiménez on his backside to set up the first goal for Viktor Gyökeres, Saka settled everyone’s nerves with a brilliant second goal and also played his part in the third. The only disappointment was that the England winger didn’t emerge for the second half – a move that Mikel Arteta explained was precautionary ahead of the second leg of their Champions League semi-final against Atlético Madrid on Tuesday evening. Arsenal might live to regret not piling on the goal difference given how tight things are at the top of the Premier League. But with Saka on song again, anything seems possible.

Midfielder broke a Barça Dutch record last week and is potentially one win from a third league title with team he visited as a teenager for fun

A warm sun bathes the Barcelona training ground as Frenkie de Jong arrives to chat. The midfielder’s work is done for the day and the Netherlands international is in his comfort zone here, the first team’s longest-serving player, a regular captain and effortlessly fluent in Spanish. It is a far cry from the day just over 10 years ago when he visited the Camp Nou.

In late December 2015 De Jong made the most of the Eredivisie’s winter shutdown to take a city break in Barcelona with his now wife, Mikky. He was 18 and days from linking up with Ajax, who had signed him four months earlier but loaned him back to Willem II, and he managed to get tickets for Barcelona v Real Betis. It is an occasion that stuck in his mind.

The 34-year-old midfielder will leave Old Trafford after conclusively proving high-profile doubters wrong

It was two years ago that Jamie Carragher offered Casemiro a rather withering piece of advice: “Leave the football before the football leaves you.” Fast forward to this season and the Brazilian’s record for Manchester United reads: nine goals (second only to Benjamin Sesko), two assists, and 2,417 minutes played in 31 starts from a total of 32 appearances, with 13 games finished, including seven of the past nine.

Consider, too, how the January announcement of Casemiro’s departure from United at the end of the current campaign has led to supporters pleading with the 34-year-old to stay, and that Casemiro is again a midfield first-choice for his national team in the buildup to a World Cup.

• Australia coach talks up chances against Turkey, US and Paraguay

• Players to assemble in Florida ahead of squad deadline on 1 June

Socceroos’ coach Tony Popovic said he wants to spoil predictions his team will struggle to progress out of one of the World Cup’s most challenging groups, as he named the first players selected for training camp and revealed a shock selection lifeline for Qatar 2022 hero Mat Leckie.

Popovic departs for pre-tournament preparations in Florida on Wednesday, and will bring players in as they finish their seasons over the coming weeks, ahead of the deadline for naming squads on 1 June.

• Coach says basketball, American football have deeper ties

• Calls for more publicly accessible playing spots in US

• On World Cup expectations: ‘All is possible in football’

In a podcast appearance released Thursday, Mauricio Pochettino defended the tournament prospects of his US men’s national team, but gave a mixed answer when asked if the hosts feel excitement brewing stateside, questioning the “emotional relationship with the game” of the American public writ large.

“The kids don’t develop until they are 11, 12, or 13,” Pochettino explained in his appearance on Stick To Football. “The difference within other countries – for me, I know Argentina – the way that I developed my emotional relationship with football is before I started to walk because I started to kick the ball. That is the problem. The relationship is with basketball or American football. They take the ball with their hands, first thing. [Elsewhere] you kick the ball with your feet.”

• Campaigners hit out at striker’s role in ‘Let It Pour’ video

• ‘He is a great hero for many young people’

Erling Haaland’s collaboration with a leading American beer brand has caused a backlash in his native Norway, where alcohol advertising is banned.

World Cup sponsors Budweiser’s hiring of the Manchester City and Norway striker to help launch its “Let It Pour” promotional video together with the former Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp has led to criticism from campaigning groups, who described Haaland’s commercial deal in the buildup to this summer’s tournament as “tragic”.

• Case dismissed after court rules the charges were ‘invalid’

• 37-year-old had been accused of illegally accessing emails

Rui Pinto, the hacker behind the Football Leaks revelations that exposed dodgy dealings in world football, was acquitted on Wednesday of all charges in a second Portuguese trial, despite having previously been convicted for similar offences.

The 37-year-old had been on trial since January 2025 over 241 alleged counts of illegally accessing email accounts belonging to several Portuguese sports bodies, including Benfica, and law firms, magistrates and the tax authority.

Bournemouth face Crystal Palace this weekend before their successful head coaches move on with top level still unclear

On Sunday afternoon, Bournemouth face Crystal Palace: Andoni Iraola, in his fourth-last league game in charge of the home side, against Oliver Glasner in his fifth-last league game in charge of the away side – although the latter also has the Europa Conference League to deal with. Both managers are out of contract at the end of the season, and both hope to move on to a club with a substantially bigger budget.

That’s understandable. This has been an uncomfortable season for Glasner, whose frustration at the club’s financial limitations was perhaps expressed a little too publicly, but history will remember him as the manager who won Crystal Palace the FA Cup. More prosaically, with the 12th-highest wage bill in the Premier League, he has taken Palace to 10th and 12th, while they started the weekend 13th. And there remains the possibility of a glorious farewell with Conference League success in Leipzig.

The Premier League isn’t as fun and fizzy as PSG v Bayern but that’s the price of the twice-weekly churn that rewards discipline and sacrifice

In the novel Rabbit, Run, John Updike has one of his characters, a groovy and progressive 1960s priest, calling round to talk to his fellow minister, a hard German Lutheran, about the secret doubts he harbours about his faith. Is the doctrine really necessary? Is hell just, you know, a metaphor? He likes Jesus. But maybe he also likes sinful things, like sex and recklessly open attacking football.

The hard German Lutheran takes one look, curls his lip and tells the groovy progressive priest to get down on his knees in the kitchen and beg for forgiveness. Who is he to reason with divine suffering? Life is pain. Joy is pain. Pain is pain. Frankly, the groovy priest who likes flying full-backs and an open midfield disgusts him. He will burn in hell for his spineless debauchery. The groovy priest leaves in tears.

Atlético’s manic man in black is the personification of the club’s longing to be back in the Champions League final

Diego Simeone had patrolled the touchline all in black, heart racing and arms waving, applying all the pressure he could, seeking to impart his justice, as Danny Makkelie went to the pitchside monitor to make the decision that could have decided this game. Now, as the referee crossed the line back on to the pitch, signalling that there would not be a second penalty for Arsenal after all, Atlético Madrid’s manager followed him. There on the pitch, the force with which he pushed Dávid Hancko and Johnny Cardoso and the volume of the roar from around this stadium, spoke of relief, some kind of redemption.

In the end, then, this was a tale of two penalties, not three. On a night of extreme tension and tiny margins, Viktor Gyökeres and Julián Alvarez scored theirs; Leandro Trossard didn’t get the chance to take his, if it even was going to be his. He had stood by the spot, ball under his arm, waiting, but upon second glance – or third or fourth or 13th– Makkelie decided that Hancko’s challenge on Eberechi Eze, studs on boot, was not enough. Hancko, who had given away the first penalty too, had escaped punishment, apart from Simeone’s shove.

Run of five defeats could lead to awkward queries this week, including why £124m of attacking talent is being underused

Eddie Howe is braced for forensic questioning by Newcastle’s Saudi Arabian owners at a Northumberland country house hotel in the middle of this week. Matfen Hall sells itself as a venue for rest and relaxation but Newcastle’s struggling manager knows that, with his future at St James’ Park in the balance, a scheduled “summit meeting” with the club’s chair, Yasir al-Rumayyan, and other key figures from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) could prove stressful.

“It’s something we do every year,” says Howe, referring to the annual spring event at which the ownership quiz departmental heads. “But obviously things will be slightly harder for me this time.”

Our cartoonist on BlueCo’s ‘self-reflection’ as another normal week ended with a place in the FA Cup final

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After stalling at Real Madrid, the forward has found form on loan at Lyon and is desperate to make Carlo Ancelotti’s World Cup squad

With less than a month to go before Carlo Ancelotti announces the Brazil squad for the World Cup, Endrick has been reborn in his nation’s canary yellow shirt. But the 19-year-old prodigy has struggled this season and had to overcome “a night of doubts” before Brazil faced Croatia in late March.

With opportunities limited at Real Madrid after the arrival of Xabi Alonso, Endrick was loaned to Lyon, where his comeback began. He has played 18 matches in France, scoring seven goals and providing seven assists. His form caught Ancelotti’s eye but, before that match in Orlando, the Brazil head coach said Endrick was a player for the future, not for the present.

Former Arsenal, Chelsea and England left-back is in his first manager’s job, with playoff-chasing Serie B side, Cesena

It has been a long journey for Ashley Cole, but also for his wife, Sharon Canu. It took seven years for Cole to get his first job as a head coach, with Cesena in Italy, having retired from playing. During that time, Sharon had to endure many dinner table tactical briefings with salt and pepper shakers. The pair met a decade ago while Cole was playing for Roma – Canu is from Italy – and that period clearly left a lasting mark beyond the pitch. “I bored her a lot,” Cole says, smiling. Now that he has a dugout of his own, Sharon may finally get the seasoning back.

“It was always in our plans to live in Italy because we love the food and the calmness of the country,” Cole says. “She [Canu] told me the fans here are passionate about their team and their city. I had to embrace that, understand what makes them tick, so we can represent them properly.”

The then Newcastle manager’s on-air blast at Sir Alex Ferguson remains a classic Premier League moment

Premier League history is littered with red letter days and Monday 29 April 1996 will for ever rank among the most memorable. Thirty years on, recollections of the aftermath of Newcastle’s 1-0 victory at Leeds remain vivid. Keith Gillespie’s goal saw Kevin Keegan’s team move three points behind the leaders, Manchester United, with two fixtures remaining.

Before Newcastle’s visit to Elland Road, Sir Alex Ferguson craftily suggested that Leeds and Nottingham Forest – the team Keegan’s players would visit three days later – would not try as hard as they had against his own side. Ferguson also pointedly reminded everyone Newcastle had agreed to provide the opposition for Stuart Pearce’s testimonial by the Trent later in the year. This backdrop dictated that Keegan used a live post-match television interview with Richard Keys and Andy Gray of Sky Sports to claim the moral high ground while also walking straight into Ferguson’s psychological trap.

PSG 5-4 Bayern, arguably the wildest match in Champions League history, has sparked a debate about football’s finest dramas – here are six to savour

It’s hard not to start with the most recent World Cup final, which for entertainment is surely the finest in the tournament’s 96-year history. Two protagonists, each the heartbeat of their sides, stole the show: Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé, the former scoring twice and dictating play after he singlehandedly dragged Argentina to the final. Mbappé netted a hat-trick (including two inside 95 seconds) to haul France back into the game. A word, too, for the magnificent Ángel Di María and Emi Martínez, who made a save for the ages in extra time to deny Randal Kolo Muani and a stop in the penalty shootout against Kingsley Coman. But this will forever be known as Messi’s World Cup, and the moment where he finally stepped out of Diego Maradona’s shadow in the hearts of all Argentinians.

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By Monday morning, the shape of next season’s Premier League will be clearer. Saturday lunchtime stages the final round of the actual best league in the world, the Championship. One of Ipswich, Millwall and Middlesbrough will join Frank Lampard’s Coventry in being a top-division club by 3pm, Rochdale-esque pitch invasions permitting, as automatic promotion is boxed off. There’s also a race for sixth, another triple-header, where plucky, Disney/tech bro/Hollywood-backed Wrexham kick off a goal ahead of Hull and one point ahead of Derby in the chase for the playoffs. Will Ryan and Rob be there? Boro are the opposition, so will Chubby Brown and Jeff Winter be there?

Re: Scott Parker’s Burnley exit (yesterday’s Football Daily). A manager who has masterminded three promotions and two relegations clearly knows what practice makes” – Rob Crouch.

Just wanted to say thanks for the Wilco reference in the last line (yesterday’s Football Daily, full email edition). In the middle of a very busy work day, it really was a shot in the arm” – David Kramer (and others).

Regarding yesterday’s last line, there’s plenty of choice descriptions from that Wilco song for the end of the relationship between Burnley and Scott Parker, but the clear one is this: what Burnley once were isn’t what they wanna be any more. To be fair, Parker could be forgiven for thinking ‘oh, you’ve changed’ upon receiving the news, but the club could have told him they needed a shot in the arm and cut him loose six months ago” – Colin Durant.

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A dominant defender who set the standard for club and country, the Chelsea stalwart has called it quits after a long battle with injury

Millie Bright’s voice choked up very quickly and she could barely get the words out during an emotion-packed goodbye video to announce the end of her playing career. Bright may be from Derbyshire but she could not be more Chelsea and she leaves with a staggeringly big legacy at club level and with England.

It has been a tough, injury-hit year for the 32-year-old Bright. An ankle problem sustained in early February, against Tottenham, meant she played her last professional game, not realising it at the time. The injuries have taken their toll. In the emotional farewell Bright said: “I’ve been playing injured for the last six years and I’m tired.”

The Brighton and Nigeria goalkeeper is highly critical of the decision to push back Wafcon, but still has hope for the future of the women’s game in Africa

Chiamaka Nnadozie has, at the age of 25, earned her place in the pantheon of African goalkeepers alongside legends such as Cameroon’s Thomas N’Kono and Morocco’s Zaki Badou.

Nnadozie featured at her first World Cup finals for Nigeria at 18, then played at the 2023 tournament and is the only goalkeeper to have won the Confederation of African Football’s (Caf’s) Golden Gloves award three times on the trot: in 2023, 2024 and 2025. Nnadozie, a reigning Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (Wafcon) champion, is delighted and amazed that she has come so far, so quickly.

After recent seasons with a defined bottom three, a handful of nervous clubs are aiming to beat the drop to the Championship

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It was a good weekend for Nottingham Forest, although perhaps not as good as it looked like it might be on Friday night. That evening, when they handed Sunderland their record defeat at the Stadium of Light, winning 5-0, Forest must have been expecting to pull away from at least one of their relegation rivals. As it turned out, though, they ended the weekend where they began, five points clear of third-bottom Tottenham and three clear of West Ham with four games remaining after both the London strugglers also won.

It was a classic Saturday afternoon in the relegation battle, the sort that is rare these days with games so spread out over a weekend. But Tottenham’s match at Wolves and West Ham against Everton kicked off at the same time, which meant that Tomáš Souček’s goal six minutes after half-time not only prompted celebration at the London Stadium but also anxiety among the Spurs fans who had travelled to Molineux. Then João Palhinha put Tottenham ahead with eight minutes remaining and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall levelled for Everton with two minutes to go. Had it stayed like that, Tottenham would have been out of the relegation zone on goal difference. But Callum Wilson scored for West Ham two minutes into injury-time, lifting them back above Spurs and within three points of Forest.

Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Nicky Bandini and Lars Sivertsen to discuss Arsenal’s 1-1 draw in Madrid and preview the forthcoming Premier League fixtures

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On today’s podcast: Atléti and Arsenal were never going to deliver the entertainment of PSG vs Bayern, but it was an undeniably good game. It was tense and it was controversial, and Mikel Arteta and Diego Simeone probably covered more ground than anyone on the pitch. It’s impossible not to talk about VAR or handball here. So apologies in advance.

Plus: dramatic late drops into the relegation zone, the Italia 90 XI and teams wearing away kits in finals

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“York City won the National League, and achieved promotion to the EFL, thanks to a goal from Josh Stones in the 103rd minute of their final game,” writes Eddie Giles. “Which players have scored the latest title-winning goals?”

In case you’ve been at a digital detox retreat for the past few days, York’s Josh Stones scored a 103rd-minute equaliser at Rochdale on Saturday to win the title and secure promotion to League Two. Had Stones not scored, Emmanuel Dieseruvwe’s 95th-minute strike would have won the title for Rochdale.

Sánchez plays long game for McFarlane, Southampton can take heart, Arteta tries to gain edge and Isak will come good

One moment from their FA Cup semi-final to Chelsea will haunt Leeds. When Tosin Adarabioyo stretched for a through ball and couldn’t quite get there, quarter of an hour in, everything seemed to slow down. There was Brenden Aaronson with just Robert Sánchez to beat, with the chance to put Leeds ahead against a side that hadn’t scored in five Premier League games and had seemingly lost all confidence. Even at the time it felt a huge moment. The US international didn’t do much wrong, but Sánchez made a fine save with his foot. That, it turned out, was the game. There were other opportunities – most notably Anton Stach’s drive that Sánchez saved spectacularly and the Dominic Calvert-Lewin header just after that, aimed straight at the keeper. They came after Chelsea had taken the lead and the emotional tone was set, though. Sometimes one chance can define a game. Jonathan Wilson

FA Cup semi-final report: Chelsea 1-0 Leeds

Jonathan Wilson: Chelsea chaos theory delivers another trophy chance

FA Cup semi-final report: Manchester City 2-1 Southampton

Barça’s need to adapt on show in Bayern draw, while Sam Kerr’s ‘perfect hat-trick’ is denied by a lack of technology

Alexia Putellas said Barcelona have to “adapt our game” after a 1-1 draw away to Bayern Munich in the first leg of the Champions League semi-finals. The match, in which the scorer of Bayern’s equaliser, Franziska Kett, was sent off for pulling Salma Paralluelo’s hair late on, was a far cry from the 7-1 victory the Spanish champions earned over the German champions in their opening match of the league phase of the competition. “We knew this game would be different. As you’ve seen, we were right,” said the two-time Ballon d’Or winner. “The first half was different from the second half. In the end, they were in a medium block; we waited for more space in the middle. We have to adapt our game.” The key seems to be to let Barcelona have the ball and Bayern’s Giulia Gwinn said: “The biggest challenge against Barcelona is to accept that you’ll have very little possession without becoming passive. Every time we managed to go beyond that initial moment of pressing, we were dangerous. In the second half, we had the momentum. We could’ve made more of a couple of chances, but we could tell that they’re not unbeatable, that we can get something done.” Suzanne Wrack

Ousmane Dembélé becomes our seventh winner as he beats Lamine Yamal into second and Vitinha into third on our list of the best players on the planet

• Premier League dominates list | How every judge voted | Our methodology | The top 100 female players for 2025

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The Frenchman, who has been named the best male footballer in the world by the Guardian, has benefitted from PSG’s focus on the team rather than individuals

What makes a good player great, and a great player the best? This question has been occupying me since 2014, when the Guardian first asked me to contribute to its inaugural Next Generation feature. My job was to look for a France-based talent born in 1997 who could go on to have a stellar career.

After a great deal of research, I narrowed it down from my shortlist of five by asking questions not about the players’ football ability, but about other attributes: resilience, adaptability, decision-making, creativity, work ethic, response to feedback and willingness to learn. Qualities we cannot see, and are harder to measure.

Aitana Bonmatí has been voted the best female player on the planet by our panel of 127 experts ahead of Mariona Caldentey and Alessia Russo

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The margin may have got smaller but the brilliant Spanish midfielder makes it a hat-trick of No 1 finishes

They say the best things come in threes, and Aitana Bonmatí has written herself into the Guardian’s top 100 history as the first player to finish at the top of the tree for a third consecutive year.

Last year the majestic midfielder emulated her Barcelona and Spain teammate Alexia Putellas by winning for a second year running, but the 27-year-old has now gone one better, establishing herself once again at the top of the women’s game.

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