» Bournemouth’s Milos Kerkez: ‘Everything has changed quickly. It’s a bit crazy’
The defender is, like his club, a bundle of energy with grand ambitions – and he wants to build a lake
A broad smile unravels on Milos Kerkez’s babyface as he watches a clip of himself doing what he probably does best: putting his body on the line for the cause, in this case his previous club, AZ. It was May last year, deep into a 3-0 Eredivisie win at Nijmegen, when the ball squirted free after he executed an expert slide tackle on the touchline. Having gone to ground, Kerkez was surely at a disadvantage to beat Anthony Musaba to the punch?
“My teammate Tijjani Reijnders went: ‘No, no!’ I was like: ‘I have to do something,’” says the Bournemouth defender. So Kerkez, on his backside, scrambles towards the ball, throwing his body at it, twirling mid-air like a commando, to block and retain possession. “I wanted to hit it with my head but it came off my back. I mean, it’s still a good tackle, no?”
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» Jadon Sancho’s joy returns as his talent finds space to flourish at Chelsea
Winger’s move to London looks a smart piece of business now, with Manchester United dropping the ball again
A penny for Manchester United’s thoughts when a day that began with Dan Ashworth’s ignominious departure from Old Trafford ended with their discarded £73m winger, Jadon Sancho, sparking Chelsea’s thrilling comeback at Tottenham last Sunday.
Dysfunction has rarely operated on such a grand scale. United are a black hole, a place where young talent goes to disappear, but for Chelsea the opposite is true. Talent finding space to flourish at Stamford Bridge is not an issue any more. The development of Enzo Maresca’s side has moved at frightening speed and, after his struggles on and off the pitch at United, it has been fascinating to watch the joy return to Sancho’s game since joining Chelsea on loan in the summer.
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» Manchester City are not playing as badly as it looks – but emotion trumps data | Rob Davies
The champions’ confidence has collapsed during a run of bad results, but Pep Guardiola’s old rival might be able to help
Jürgen Klopp knew nothing about data before he arrived at Liverpool but his first meeting with Ian Graham, the physicist credited with helping to recruit the team that won the title, couldn’t have gone better. Graham, the director of research at Liverpool, decided to demonstrate to him how the metric Expected Goals (xG) worked. He went through Borussia Dortmund’s calamitous 2014-15 season, where Klopp’s team had slumped from being second to Pep Guardiola’s Bayern Munich the previous season to second bottom at Christmas. “Echter Schrott” was the take of tabloid Bild, which translates as “Absolute Rubbish”.
But Graham had a different interpretation, even before Klopp arrived. His data told him Dortmund remained the second-best team in the league. And when Klopp signed his Liverpool deal, Graham took him through Dortmund’s eight worst games of the season, demonstrating how unlucky they were.
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» Inside Crystal Palace’s season: how newcomers are stepping up to WSL
The Palace manager Laura Kaminski and midfielder Chloe Arthur discuss the step up from the Championship and what they need to do to show they belong
Laura Kaminski’s alarm rings at 5am every day, with the aim of her being as prepared as possible for training with forensic detail. She is clearly a “morning person” and exchanges a knowing look with Crystal Palace’s women’s team press officer when she hints that her “battery starts to run out at four o’clock”. Yet, as the clock ticks towards that time and she sits down for this interview, suddenly she has a new lease of energy, because she is discussing a topic that invigorates her: her parents.
“I owe everything I am to my parents. I was brought up with very good values and morals, with a mother who encouraged constant interpersonal skills, encouraging me to talk to different people, to play, to join in. Those traits in my personality that my parents encouraged [mean] my interactions with other people is probably one of my strongest points as a manager,” she says. “I spent a long time as an assistant coach, so I listened to a lot of moans and groans in groups because assistant coaches often get the conversations that head coaches don’t. I appreciate the players’ thoughts, their reflections, their honesty. Those connections, for me, are vital.”
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» Quiz time: can you guess the football stadium from its away end?
Sixteen stadiums and not a home fan in sight, but how good is your knowledge of football away-days?
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» Tottenham’s Ange Postecoglou will not spare ‘bruised egos’ amid injury crisis
- Manager stands by ‘assessment’ of Timo Werner display
- Mikel Arteta relaxed about finding new Arsenal director
Ange Postecoglou has stood by his “assessment” of Timo Werner’s performance in Tottenham’s 1-1 Europa League draw at Rangers, and insisted he has no time for “bruised egos” with his team in turmoil.
Injury-hit Spurs were able to fight back through Dejan Kulusevski’s 75th-minute leveller to leave Ibrox with a point, but Postecoglou insisted after Thursday’s game that the display of Werner, who was replaced at half-time, “wasn’t acceptable”.
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» West Ham mourn ‘unimaginably devastating’ death of 15-year-old academy goalkeeper
Oscar Fairs was diagnosed with a rare tumour in August 2023 and died on Friday, the club say
A teenage West Ham academy goalkeeper has died aged 15 after suffering from cancer.
Oscar Fairs from Benfleet, Essex, was diagnosed with a rare 7cm ependymoma brain tumour in August 2023 and underwent seven surgeries, one round of chemotherapy and one round of radiotherapy before being told palliative care was the only option.
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» Ruben Amorim insists he never spoke to Manchester City about manager’s job
- Amorim was linked with City amid Guardiola uncertainty
- Manchester United manager faces first derby on Sunday
Ruben Amorim has insisted he never spoke to Manchester City about becoming Pep Guardiola’s replacement as the Manchester United head coach prepares for his first derby game in charge.
The 39-year-old established himself as one of Europe’s finest up-and-coming coaches with his transformational work at the Portuguese champions, Sporting. United quickly moved to appoint Amorim after sacking Erik ten Hag in late October, when he had been linked to City amid uncertainty over Guardiola’s future.
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» Tuchel to seek advice from ‘gentleman’ Southgate for England’s World Cup bid
- England draw Serbia and Albania in 2026 qualifying
- Steve Clarke and Craig Bellamy pleased with draws
Thomas Tuchel intends to sound out “gentleman” Gareth Southgate and immediate England predecessor Lee Carsley before kicking off the qualification campaign for the 2026 World Cup. The new England head coach has signed an 18-month contract with the Football Association which starts on 1 January, and Tuchel is well aware that his mission is to add a second World Cup star to the England jersey.
Friday’s qualification draw pitted his team against Serbia, Albania, Latvia and Andorra, with the group winners securing an automatic place in the finals in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Tuchel is a hugely-respected club coach but is new to the international arena and confirmed he planned to set aside time to speak to Southgate, who bowed out in the summer after taking England to a second-successive Euros final.
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» West Ham players to visit Michail Antonio after ‘miracle’ car crash escape
- Lopetegui says team will visit hospital over weekend
- Lemina loses Wolves captaincy over Bowen incident
Julen Lopetegui has revealed the West Ham squad will visit Michail Antonio over the weekend as the forward continues his recovery after a “miracle” escape from a car accident.
Antonio was involved in a road traffic accident in Essex last Saturday, which had everyone fearing the worst before news came through that he was in a stable condition in hospital. The 34-year-old has since undergone surgery on a lower limb fracture, but still faces weeks in hospital recovering from multiple injuries.
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» A vote without a vote: the Saudi World Cup is an act of violence and disdain | Barney Ronay
The shamelessness of Fifa’s process was fully on show in Zurich during a display of contempt for governance, democracy, love, hope and good sense
Well, that’s that then. In the event there were only two notes of jeopardy around Fifa’s extraordinary virtual congress to announce the winning mono-bids, the vote without a vote, for the right to host the 2030 and 2034 World Cups.
First, exactly how disgusting would this spectacle turn out to be in the flesh? The answer to which, perhaps unsurprisingly, was: extremely disgusting. And second, how would the process actually work?
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» Scotland and Wales plot path to World Cup 2026 after helpful qualifying draw
- Steve Clarke senses ‘opportunity’ to end World Cup wait
- Craig Bellamy targets top of group after drawing Belgium
Steve Clarke has said Scotland’s qualifying draw “gives me an opportunity” to end the team’s long wait for a World Cup finals appearance. Scotland reached Euro 2020 and Euro 2024 but have not qualified for the men’s World Cup since France ‘98.
Friday’s draw in Zurich pitted Scotland – who were in pot three – against Greece, the beaten team in the Portugal v Denmark Nations League quarter-final and Belarus. It means Clarke’s side will face Greece four times in a year, with the teams also facing off in the Nations League promotion playoffs.
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» Russo at double for Arsenal in WCL, Greenwood injury mars Man City win
- Arsenal beat Vålerenga 3-1 to boost hopes of top spot
- Alex Greenwood injured in 2-0 win over St Polten
Two goals from Alessia Russo helped Arsenal claim a 3-1 win at Vålerenga in the Women’s Champions League to take a big step towards securing top spot in Group C.
The Gunners were already guaranteed a quarter-final berth after a narrow victory at home to Juventus last month, but knew three points in Norway would keep alive the prospect of beating current leaders Bayern Munich to first position in the group.
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» ‘We are sad’: Pep Guardiola laments Manchester City slump as derby looms
- Guardiola says schedule may call for a bigger squad
- City have one win from 10 games in all competitions
Pep Guardiola admits he is feeling the pain of Manchester City’s crushing loss of form but insists “the soul and the spirit of this team is there.”
Wednesday’s 2-0 Champions League defeat by Juventus made it seven losses and only one victory from City’s last 10 games. “We are sad,” said Guardiola. “I’m sad for the players because the way they run and they fight with the circumstances they have.
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» Postecoglou claims Werner’s first-half performance for Spurs ‘not acceptable’
- Werner hauled off at half-time against Rangers
- Manager: ‘This wasn’t an acceptable example’
Ange Postecoglou’s problems deepened as a disappointing Tottenham were held to a 1-1 Europa League draw at Rangers and the manager found it impossible to defend his striker Timo Werner.
“He wasn’t playing at anywhere near the level he should be,” said Postecoglou after substituting the German at half-time. “Timo’s first-half performance was not acceptable to me. I told Timo that he’s a German international, that I need everyone to be trying to give their best and this wasn’t an acceptable example. I expect a lot more from the senior guys.
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» Højlund double seals comeback win for Manchester United over Viktoria Plzen
Rasmus Højlund’s double secured Manchester United a much-needed 2-1 comeback victory in the Europa League at Viktoria Plzen as Ruben Amorim registered his first away win as head coach.
After making a promising start to life as Erik ten Hag’s successor, things were thrown off track as the shock exit of sporting director Dan Ashworth compounded back-to-back defeats to Arsenal and Nottingham Forest.
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» Chelsea cruise to victory against Astana as Maresca turns to youth
Chelsea confirmed passage to the last 16 of the Conference League with a 3-1 win against Astana in Kazakhstan as Enzo Maresca handed full debuts to two academy graduates.
Defender Josh Acheampong, 18, and 19-year-old midfielder Samuel Rak-Sakyi each played for the club at under-eight level and enjoyed comfortable first starts in the senior team, as the visitors triumphed in temperatures of around minus 10 in the Kazakh capital Almaty.
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» Dejan Kulusevski rescues draw for Tottenham to deny Rangers
Ange Postecoglou does not seem prone to introspection and rarely succumbs to self doubt but maybe, just maybe, a little part of Tottenham’s manager wishes he had never left Glasgow.
Things were so much simpler for the Australian when he was hoovering up trophies during his Celtic tenure. Back then Angeball not merely entertained but pretty much worked and he revelled in putting Rangers in their place.
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» The 100 best female footballers in the world 2024
Aitana Bonmatí finishes top of our rankings for a second consecutive year, with Caroline Graham Hansen second and Sophia Smith third
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» Aitana Bonmatí on top of the world again but England close gap on Spain
The Spanish midfielder wins for a second consecutive year on a fast-moving list that sees 15 players appearing for the first time
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.
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» See how every judge voted in the 100 best female footballers for 2024
This year we had 99 judges on our panel – here you can see how they all voted and the points each player got
This year we had 99 judges from around the world on the voting panel for the best 100 female footballers in the world in 2024. There was an extraordinary amount of knowledge in that group, including the current head coaches of Lyon, PSG, Eintracht Frankfurt and Ajax among others.
For full transparency, we now publish the spreadsheet with all the votes on it for our readers to see. For example, how many points did Mariona Caldentey finish behind Naomi Girma and therefore the top 10 (the answer is 66) or how close was Kika Nazareth to making the top 100 (very, only four points seperated the Portuguese and Jess Carter in 100th place).
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» The 100 best male footballers in the world 2023
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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» Champions League review: Resurgent Real and Weston McKennie’s gem
It was a mixed round for Europe’s biggest clubs. We hand out honours and dishonours from the latest round of action
Real Madrid: Are the serial champions finally stirring? The holders have been sleepy and tetchy amid the new format as the problems of assimilating Kylian Mbappé play out in public. But in a vital 3-2 away win over Atalanta, Mbappé played his part, scoring a fine goal before leaving with an injury. That left the stage open for Real’s other modern Galácticos, with Vinícius Júnior and Jude Bellingham scoring the goals that took the game away from last season’s Europa League winners. Mateo Retegui’s late effort had Madrid’s hearts thumping but it flew wide, and was probably offside anyway. To automatically qualify in a top-eight place Madrid need to rediscover the belief that winning games at this level is their right. Their final two assignments, against Salzburg and Brest, look very winnable, although Real sit 20th, four points off the automatic qualifying spots. If they qualify, the knockouts are where the Madrid machine can kick into action.
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» Local boy Myles Lewis-Skelly gets Arsenal buzzing on the biggest stage | Ed Aarons
The 18-year-old left-back excelled on his Champions League debut and showed he could be ready for more responsibility
It was the moment Myles Lewis-Skelly must have been dreaming about all of his young life. Making his full Champions League debut at left-back because of a defensive injury crisis, the 18-year-old born in Islington and raised in Arsenal’s Hale End academy for the past decade could easily have panicked when he was confronted by a charging Eliesse Ben Seghir just after the half-hour mark.
What he did next was absolute validation of Mikel Arteta’s decision not to recall 27-year-old Kieran Tierney for a victory that should go a long way to confirming that Arsenal qualify in the top eight of the new Champions League format. Neatly sidestepping the advancing Monaco forward, who at 18 months his senior was the next youngest player on the pitch, Lewis-Skelly penetrated the visitors’ defence with a piercing throughball that allowed Gabriel Jesus time and space to set up Bukayo Saka for the easiest of tap-ins at the back post.
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» The USWNT won Olympic gold. Why did none of their players make the Fifpro XI?
The Guardian’s ranking of the world’s best female footballers overflowed with Americans. But their fellow players largely shunned them
Women’s soccer has grown exponentially in the 22 years since Keira Knightley and Parminder Nagra marveled at the very existence of a professional game in the USA in Bend It Like Beckham.
In the film, the main characters went off to the USA to play collegiate soccer, while the UK had only the faintest whispers that local clubs might soon field professional teams. Today, the protagonists would have several professional options without ever straying from the reach of Greater London.
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» Saudi Arabia’s World Cup: what will the 2034 tournament look like?
It will be in the winter again and many stadiums and hotels are yet to be built but there is a genuine love for the sport
Fifa’s bid evaluation report left no doubt: Saudi Arabia had put together the most convincing, highest-scoring package of all time. Staggeringly the fact 11 of the 15 stadiums are yet to be built provided little obstacle; nor did the fact Fifa itself pointed to “associated unknowns or challenges”. Many of the new venues have been designed by the US firm Populous, which also has a headquarters in London. Its work includes Spurs’ home and Lusail Stadium, which hosted the 2022 World Cup final. The visuals are dramatic and the ambition sweeping: King Salman Stadium in Riyadh will hold 92,000, staging the opening game and final. Prince Mohammed bin Salman Stadium, another Riyadh venue, has perhaps been the most widely trailed with its futuristic design and open side that looks out over cliffs. Numerous promises have been made regarding the arenas’ post-tournament legacies and sustainability prospects; hopefully those plans will be effected more quickly than those made for Qatar, where Stadium 974, yet to be dismantled and reconstructed elsewhere as mooted, is one example of a ground running beyond borrowed time.
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» Juventus go off script to leave City searching for their forgotten lines | Nick Ames
Even the reliable elder statesmen can’t help Pep Guardiola’s side move a game closer to a shock Champions League exit
Three minutes into the second half of a game that had very rarely threatened to defrost, Kyle Walker looked up and slid a simple 10-yard pass for Kevin De Bruyne. There was space on the right and here was the most routine opportunity to get things moving. Nobody would think twice about a combination near halfway between teammates who, over tens of thousands of rehearsals, could complete that drill blindfolded.
The pass might have been for De Bruyne, but it never reached him. It skipped out of play, no opponent providing an excuse by applying the faintest pressure, and anyone could have been forgiven a moment to pause and wonder how it had come to this. How had two brilliant, supremely reliable elder statesmen of Manchester City’s all-conquering era become so paralysed as to fluff a move both have had off pat for seven years?
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» Hera we go: the Dutch club hoping to change women’s football landscape
This week’s newsletter looks at a historic vote next Monday whether to grant an independent women’s club a licence to compete in the female Eredivisie for the first time ever
A historic moment awaits for football in the Netherlands on Monday, as the country’s national governing body, the KNVB, puts a highly consequential vote to its members on whether to grant an independent women’s club a licence to compete in the Eredivisie for the first time.
For the three women who have co-founded the new club hoping to “change the system”, the irony is not lost on them that everyone voting in this crucial ballot is a man. Yet they have high hopes that their dream is going to become a reality. If they get the yes vote they crave, their new club Hera United, based in Amsterdam, will play in the country’s top division next season and stage matches in the city’s historic Olympic Stadium.
This is an extract from our free weekly email, Moving the Goalposts. To get the full edition, visit this page and follow the instructions.
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» Saudi Arabia waved through as 2034 football World Cup host at virtual Fifa congress – video
Saudi Arabia has been confirmed as the host for the 2034 men’s World Cup, after the solitary bidder for the tournament was waved through by acclamation at a Fifa congress in Zurich. The news confirms an outcome expected for more than a year since Fifa expedited its bidding process for the event. The decision has been widely condemned by human rights organisations, who cite arbitrary detentions, the abuse and deaths of migrant workers and suppression of the rights of women and LGBTQ+ people in the country among their concerns.
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» The Guardian's top 10 female footballers in the world 2024 – video
A panel of 99 judges have submitted their verdicts on the best female players in the world in 2024. Together their votes determined a list of the top 100 players in the world. Here, Guardian football writer Suzanne Wrack talks through the top 10 players and why they made it to the top of the list this year.
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» 'Maybe I deserve to be sacked': Guardiola laments loss as Slot says he needs 'no sympathy' – video
Manchester City suffered their fourth successive Premier League defeat for the first time under Pep Guardiola after a 2-0 loss away to Liverpool. During the game Liverpool fans serenaded Guardiola with 'sacked in the morning' chants.
'Maybe I deserve to be sacked, honestly,' the Manchester City manager said. 'Maybe I'm still in the job because we won six Premier Leagues. A lot of titles. Otherwise the hierarchy maybe would be thinking that this does not work.'
When asked on Guardiola's struggles, the Liverpool manager, Arne Slot, said: 'You feel sympathy or empathy with the managers that are in a really bad place. They've either lost many games or they are down at the bottom of the league ... Last season City were eight points behind Arsenal I think in February. No one has to feel empathy or sorry for Pep. Maybe for other managers but not for Pep. He has won so many things and he will be able to bring City back.'
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» Manchester United fans protest 'unethical' increase in ticket prices – video
Hundreds of Manchester United fans gathered in front of Old Trafford to protest against a recent increase in matchday ticket prices. Prices, which previously started at £40 for adults and £25 for children, were raised to £66 per game, with no concessions for children or pensioners. The move comes as part of the co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s efforts to make United more financially sustainable in the face of losses.
Fans outside the ground called the move 'unethical' and directed a number of chants at the ownership. Some Everton supporters also joined their United counterparts while Manchester City and Liverpool fans staged their own protest at Anfield in solidarity to support the Football Supporters' Association's 'Stop Exploiting Loyalty' campaign.
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» 'One of them now': Ruben Amorim thanks fans after Manchester United's win over Bodø/Glimt – video
Ruben Amorim thanked Manchester United supporters after his team came from behind to beat Bodø/Glimt 3-2 in the Europa League on Thursday night. Despite Alejandro Garnacho's early goal the hosts found themselves trailing 2-1 before Rasmus Højlund's double secured victory.
"Half of the stadium doesn't know me and I have done nothing for this club – yet – but the way they support me in the beginning, I feel like I am not alone," Amorim said. "Like I am one of them now. It was really special."
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» Football team take to pitch despite floodwaters during Storm Bert – video
Footage shows players from Lydney Town AFC in Gloucestershire heading the ball and swimming in waist-deep floodwaters as they refused to let Storm Bert stop them from taking to the pitch. The club shared the footage on social media alongside the caption: 'Can’t believe I’m saying this … but GAME ON! Teams are out and kick off is imminent'
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» Red Bull Arena becomes Sports Illustrated Stadium in 13-year naming rights deal
- MLS runners-up sign 13-year deal for naming rights
- Stadium will be training site for 2026 World Cup
Red Bull Arena has become Sports Illustrated Stadium in a 13-year partnership agreement announced Wednesday by the Major League Soccer runners-up.
The 25,000-seat soccer specific stadium had been called Red Bull Arena since it opened in 2010. It is the home of the MLS team owned since 2006 by Red Bull GmbH, which also controls RB Leipzig in the German Bundesliga and Red Bull Salzburg in Austria.
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» Swedish prosecutors drop rape investigation reportedly linked to Kylian Mbappé
- Hotel incident case closed due to lack of evidence
- Swedish media had reported Mbappé was suspect
- Mbappé’s legal team had dismissed reports as false
Swedish prosecutors have dropped a rape investigation that was reportedly launched in connection with Kylian Mbappé’s visit to Stockholm in October.
In a statement released on Thursday, lead investigator Marina Chirakova said there was not enough evidence to continue the investigation, which had centred on an incident at a hotel.
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» ‘Little Prince’ holds shield aloft as thriller has Atlético plotting epic route | Sid Lowe
Antoine Griezmann caps a 4-3 victory over Sevilla with a galvanising moment that has the faithful dreaming big
When at last the battle was over, the Little Prince picked up his shield, their shield that they had fought for, and raised it to the dark night sky. If a picture tells a story, try this one from Denis Doyle late on Sunday night, something epic in it, football made film, a gift: Antoine Griezmann and the grand gesture. A cliche, sure, yet cinematic too, a poster for the premiere and possibly even planned, overblown the way it’s supposed to be. Taken from the final scene, The End and also a beginning, another saga starting. “We go together,” the Frenchman said. “This is the path towards dreaming something big.”
With 93 minutes gone against Sevilla, a man falling at his feet, Griezmann turned and smashed a shot in off the bar, victory secured at the last with the 5,000th goal in the club’s history, From 3-1 down, Atlético were now 4-3 up, heading to victory while their opponents slipped to their knees. As the ball bounced back out the net, Alexander Sørloth sent it sailing over the bar and into the north stand and Griezmann ran west, throwing his shirt almost as high. It floated and fell, then he gathered it from the field. Now he stood in the wind, blond hair swept back, a little Legolas, red against a black sky, shield raised, sleeves like ribbons around it.
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» Striker-light Leverkusen lifted as Alonso manages way through mini-crisis | Andy Brassell
Bundesliga champions fend off a late St Pauli scare for third straight league win as injuries and schedule bite
Bayer Leverkusen had been here before so many times that deja vu doesn’t really cover it. Swarming over inferior opponents with a swagger and a nonchalance that few can match, only to be left sweating in the final stages over whether the reward would arrive. This time, though, they had the answer. Just about.
We always knew that Leverkusen’s 2024-25 season would be different; the morning after the night before, and what a night it had been. A below-elite stature of club might be expected to have its team dismantled after the sort of unprecedented season of success that they’d had but Leverkusen were about as future-proofed against that as it was possible to be – particularly after Xabi Alonso planted a flag by declaring that he would stay.
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» Nostalgic Serie A five-a-side teams: picking a line-up for … Atalanta
The series continues in which writers have the task of choosing a boiled-down team from club’s entire history
Stephen Kasiewicz for The Gentleman Ultra
The queen of the provincial clubs were crowned Europa League winners last season. Yet Atalanta have rarely been mentioned alongside the established Italian football royalty, the Bergamo side claiming just one domestic trophy before stunning Bayer Leverkusen in Dublin.
Despite this relative lack of success, plenty of recognisable names have featured for Atalanta in their 117-year history. I decided on an offensive-minded blend of players from three different generations, a combination of hair and flair which includes two forwards from the era of the notoriously demanding master tactician Gian Piero Gasperini.
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» Rayan Cherki pounces on chance to showcase maverick talent at Lyon | Eric Devin
Though out of favour early in the season, the 21-year-old now benefits from Pierre Sage’s possession-based tactics
By Eric Devin for Get French Football News
The unfortunate truth about many footballing mavericks, especially in the attacking third, is that they are defined by inconsistency. Within a career, within a season or even within a match, the same level of audacity that allows the sport’s most mercurial talents to succeed can also prove their undoing. One too many stepovers and possession is lost, pressing and tracking back is an afterthought, while the desire to arrow a shot into the top corner from a tight angle looks a misstep when a cutback to a late-arriving midfielder would be the better choice.
We’ve seen these outcomes time and again, but our love for these players, those capable of a moment of magic, never seems to cease, even as they are far less frequently seen in the modern game. Ligue 1 is no exception to this – witness the many lives of Hatem Ben Arfa, the meteoric rise and rapid decline of Eden Hazard, and even the contemporary hair-pulling over Ousmane Dembélé.
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» Lazio raise expectations with two victories over Napoli in 72 hours | Nicky Bandini
Marco Baroni’s team have been a surprise package this season: shaking off a wobbly start to win 11 of 12 games
Less than 72 hours after kicking off a Coppa Italia game at home to Napoli, Lazio lined up to face a different team dressed as the same one. Their opponents on Sunday wore the club badge of the opponents they had beaten 3-1 on Thursday, yet none of the faces were familiar.
That was because Napoli’s manager, Antonio Conte, had made a full 11 changes to his starting team. He would not say outright that he had deprioritised the cup, but it was clear he viewed the players used on Thursday as his second string.
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» ‘We speak to everyone in Spanish’: Oli McBurnie and Scott McKenna on embracing life at Las Palmas
Scotland internationals discuss facing Real Madrid, doing ‘far less’ heading and their linguistic horror stories
So, what was it that first attracted you to the island of Gran Canaria with its 235km of coastline, beautiful beaches, glorious golf courses, a climate where it’s 25C today, not nudging zero like back in Nottingham or Sheffield, and a football team where you can get the better of Kylian Mbappé and beat Barcelona? “Oli was here,” Scott McKenna says. There’s a smile and then the man sitting next to him starts laughing.
On 25 July Unión Deportiva Las Palmas announced they had signed Oliver Robert McBurnie, the first Scottish footballer in their history, and only the second Briton after Vinny Samways, an icon on the island. Two weeks later, they had another, McKenna joining his old mate. Now here they are in the sunshine at the Barranco Seco training ground: the original odd couple. One defender, one striker. One quiet, that first line delivered deliciously deadpan, the other forever falling about. “Me and Scott are so different, opposites,” McBurnie says. “He’s so laidback. In the best possible way, he’s like a grumpy old man. I call him mi abuelo, my grandad.”
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» Matildas outclass Taiwan in thumping win to send off Clare Polkinghorne in style
- Australia beat Taiwan 6-0 in women’s friendly in Geelong
- Retiring great signs off with victory in 169th and final international
The Matildas’ 6-0 win over Taiwan was the end of at least one era. In the 64th minute, Clare Polkinghorne looked up from her position at the back and saw her No 4 displayed on the fourth official’s board. This signalled her substitution for Jessika Nash and, in game 169, marked the last time she would leave the field as a member of the Matildas.
As Polkinghorne moved towards the dugout, she paused to embrace interim boss Tom Sermanni, the coach who had given her an international debut in 2006, and who was again taking charge in her final game as the side’s caretaker. “I just said, can you believe we were both here?” Sarmanni smiled post-game. “I mean, who would have thought, from 18 years ago, and then suddenly it’s back to that stage again.”
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» Next Generation 2024: 60 of the best young talents in world football
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
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» Next Generation 2024: 20 of the best talents at Premier League clubs
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
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» Next Generation 2023: 60 of the best young talents in world football
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
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» Gianluca Busio, Gio Reyna and the rest of Next Generation 2019: how have they got on?
The two Americans were on our list five years ago but their paths show the professional game is rarely straightforward
Career paths are rarely straightforward, whether in football or any other area of life. Circumstances often change. Injuries and illnesses happen, there are often changes in leadership which have an impact on the individual while personal lives also play a part.
Career paths are therefore very difficult to predict. Looking down the list of our 2019 Next Generation, which we have now followed for five years, there were no guarantees any of the players would become household names. OK, Alex Holiga, who covers the Balkans for us, was confident that Josko Gvardiol would make it big – which he has – but apart from him, and perhaps Ansu Fati, Eduardo Camavinga and Jérémy Doku, there were no certainties.
A remarkable year for the youngster. Made his Bundesliga debut on 18 January and has not looked back since. He now has 23 first-team appearances and has established himself as a starter and one of the most talented young players in Europe. “I’m still learning a lot tactically,” he said in August. “There is a very big difference between youth and professional football. Making the right movements and creating space for myself and others is what I still need to learn the most.
A tumultuous year for the young American who was caught in the crossfire of a feud between his own family and the USMNT coach, Gregg Berhalter, after the World Cup, during which he played a mere 52 minutes of the US’s four games. Injuries have once again hampered him but he is back to full fitness now and a US return seems likely too after talks with Berhalter.
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» ‘Diversity is our weapon’: inside Monaco’s eclectic football approach
Arsenal’s Wednesday opponents reveal how an integrated policy of buy young, pay well, sell high works for them and their sole sister club, Cercle Brugge
Monaco’s training ground, carved into a hillside above the principality, overlooks the Côte d’Azur. It is the sort of glamorous setting expected for a football team in one of the world’s richest corners. Fifteen nationalities file out of the changing rooms and on to the pitch to be coached by an Austrian, driving home the club’s eclectic nature.
They are the senior partner in a multi‑club operation that involves one other team: Cercle Brugge, who were bought in 2017. Whereas others stockpile clubs, two is the height of the ambition here, the thinking being that it provides agility but ensures focus is not diverted. Clubs live and die by recruitment and investing in another team allows more access to talent and increased scope to develop it.
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» Ashworth’s departure suggests farce at heart of Ratcliffe’s Manchester United
The sporting director’s exit after only five months is further testing supporters’ faith in direction of travel at Old Trafford
To avoid rot: the characterisation employed by a powerful Manchester United executive to explain Dan Ashworth’s departure. As in: better that he left after five months as sporting director rather than stay and allow festering damage to Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s reset of the club.
In play, partly, here was a face‑off between Omar Berrada and Ashworth that had the chief executive emerging as victor. Ratcliffe’s recent interview with the United We Stand fanzine featured profuse praise for Berrada and none for the man now history.
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» Steven Gerrard grimaces in joyless Saudi slide into sporting irrelevance | Jonathan Liew
As a player he could always manifest greatness but the club that adored him and the game he bestrode has left him behind
Occasionally, at various opportune or triumphant moments in his career – posing for a photograph, say, or receiving a medal or trophy – Steven Gerrard has been called upon to smile. This is a challenge that has almost invariably proven beyond him. Take – by way of illustration – his famous goal against Olympiakos in the Champions League, 20 years ago last Sunday. We all remember what happens: header, ball drops, Gerrard smashes it in from distance and tears off in celebration, fists flying, teammates in pursuit.
But is he smiling? Not really! Something is definitely happening to his face: a sort of simultaneous compression and explosion. And clearly he prefers this state of affairs to any alternative. But you would probably characterise his expression – at one of the most memorable and satisfying moments of his career – as more of a growl, a scream of rage and defiance and exorcism and vindication. Happiness: by and large, this was something Gerrard preferred to leave to others.
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» David Squires on … Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s attempts to improve efficiency at Santa’s grotto
Our cartoonist on how Manchester United’s head of football operations could shake things up at the North Pole
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» Football Daily | In praise of Brest, the Champions League’s Pirate kings
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You will be shocked, shocked, to learn the 2034 World Cup is going to be held in … Saudi Arabia. Niall McVeigh has all the latest news.
Here is an idea I’ve been incubating for quite a while now. I suggest that Premier League clubs are seeded for the FA Cup third-round draw. Year after year we get all-Premier League ties when most clubs below that are hoping (desperately in many cases) to land one of the big boys and boost their coffers. TV only add to the farce when they decide to televise the all-top-flight tie (see Aston Villa v West Ham this year) and awarding the rights/fees to clubs already financially better off. Elitism in football continues to get worse by the day” – Tony Dunbar.
Further to Jonathan Kendal’s missive on FC United (yesterday’s Football Daily letters), I’d like to note (as a founder member of AFC Liverpool) that the benefits of non-league are not just financial. The sense of community among fans, players and staff at clubs below the professional-ish league is worth the (low) cost of entry itself and would warm even the cold heart of a Fifa official. I implore those that don’t already have a second team to look for a local one in a lower division and enjoy yourself, or at least get rained on watching a 6-0 thumping for less than a mortgage payment for a change” – (not that) Andrew Tate.
Ah, Jonathan, get real. Your proposed model of supporting football offers me nothing. Why on earth should I support a club I can only read about by struggling to find an informed local paper that Reach hasn’t destroyed, when I can have constant vacuous clickbait piped into my very phone? Why should I actually bother going to a match and smelling Bovril and turf when I can go to a generic pub and drink the same overpriced lagers, and have constant hyped factoids deafeningly boomed into my ears? Why should I exert myself to travel to an away game when I can sit at home with football blaring in the background, while I distractedly scroll on about Strictly or Timothée Chalamet or some death that’s nothing to do with me? Look, I just want to don expensive nylon and claim to be into football without needing to support a team I ever go and see or even live anywhere near to. That way, when every game gets moved to the Middle East, I won’t even notice the difference” – Jon Millard.
Fulham certainly are coming up in the world. Not only did we appear in yesterday’s letters but we also got an honourable mention in David Squires’ latest take on modern-day football. Whatever next? By the way, please note that the Spursy equivalent term is Fulhamish and has long been established, in fact it’s the subject of a very well-produced podcast and more” – Marisa Cardoni (and others).
This is an extract from our daily football email … Football Daily. To get the full version, just visit this page and follow the instructions.
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» Liverpool clear in Champions League and a Bergamo belter: Football Weekly - podcast
Max Rushden, Barry Glendenning, Nicky Bandini and Philippe Auclair discuss big wins for Liverpool and Villa, while Brest’s dream continues. Plus, David Squires joins to chat about his new book
Rate, review, share on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Audioboom, Mixcloud, Acast and Stitcher, and join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and email.
On the podcast today: wins for Liverpool and Aston Villa in the Champions League. Ross Barkley grabs a late winner in Leipzig and Liverpool keep up their 100% start with a somewhat unconvincing performance in Girona.
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» West Ham win thriller, FA Cup latest and Wales make history – Women’s Football Weekly
Faye Carruthers is joined by Suzy Wrack, Chris Paouros, and Sophie Downey to round up the weekend’s Women’s Super League action
On the podcast today: there was a seven-goal thriller at the foot of the WSL table as West Ham came from behind to beat Crystal Palace 5-2, with five different scorers and Rehanne Skinner’s side climbing up to eighth. Is this a turning point for West Ham?
Chelsea notched their ninth consecutive win in a 4-2 victory over Brighton, while Manchester United and Arsenal cruised to 4-0 victories. Bunny Shaw leads Manchester City to a dominant win against Leicester. The panel also responds to Marc Skinner’s comments about criticism of his team.
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» Premier League: 10 talking points from the weekend’s action
Fulham’s Antonee Robinson shines against Bukayo Saka, Tottenham squander another lead and woe at Old Trafford
There are numerous issues when taking over a team mid-season. One is that a new head coach might not have the right players for his plan and he has very little time to implement what he wants with those he does. Ruben Amorim has arranged his players – in various combinations – into his preferred 3-4-3 formation and it is clear what the strategy is, although there are flaws. The defence is struggling, where the three centre-backs are not performing their main duty of keeping clean sheets. Against Forest every set-piece looked like it might result in a goal. Only Nikola Milenkovic did score from a corner but the others were more farcical as André Onana got confused by Morgan Gibbs-White and a seemingly harmless Chris Wood header was allowed to drop in off the post. Maybe chopping and changing is Amorim’s issue and he needs to back a first-choice back three to allow them to settle and offer a foundation to build on. Will Unwin
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» Women’s Super League: talking points from the weekend’s action
Sonia Bompastor continues to impress, Palace remain spirited and Liverpool’s formation switch backfires
West Ham may have got the better of Crystal Palace at Victoria Road but the WSL newcomers look far from destined for the drop. Palace took an early two-goal lead in the fierce wind before the Hammers rallied. By the break it was 3-2 to the home team and at the final whistle 5-2. Rehanne Skinner said afterwards that she does not think Palace will go down, comments Laura Kaminski took heart from. The south London side may sit bottom but they are in the mix, separated from Leicester only on goal difference and just five points from sixth place. “The team that went up last year [Bristol City] showed how difficult the gap is,” said Kaminski. “We’re in and around, before Christmas, the number of points they got on the board for all of last season.” She is right, Palace have five points, one away from the six accrued by Bristol across the course of last season. The gap between the WSL and Championship may be big but Palace have the foundation of a side capable of bridging it. SW
Match report: West Ham 5-2 Crystal Palace
WSL roundup: Chelsea equal record as Russo inspires Arsenal
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» How period poverty is affecting players in Ghana’s Premier League | Moving the Goalposts
Luxury tax on foreign sanitary pads is tainting the experience of some players and harming their progress
Portia Prempeh believes being comfortable brings out the best in every player, especially women – which is why she is particularly wary of how period poverty has tainted her experience as a footballer in the Ghana Women’s Premier League.
On days when Portia did not have enough sanitary towels, she had to lie that she was not well enough to play. This is the case for most footballers in the league.
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» David Squires on … the Fifa Man’s plan to make Saudi dreams come true
Our cartoonist looks at the hard work that has gone on at the football factory to pave the way for Saudi World Cup
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» Pien Meulensteen: ‘Commentary was never something I thought I was going to get into’
Daughter of former manager René Meulensteen on overcoming her doubts and the growth of women’s game
Clipboard in the centre, teamsheet at the front and Rowntree’s Randoms to the right. Pien Meulensteen likes everything to be in the correct place and jokes that her commentary setup is almost as meticulous as Rafael Nadal’s water-bottle arrangements.
Most striking is what is on the clipboard: carefully crafted notes, printed on sticky paper using a document template she formatted to ensure everything fits precisely. The substitutes’ details, attached to a monitor to the left, flap gently in the Arctic-temperature wind, and as each one is brought on, that player’s sticky note is carefully placed on top of the player they replaced.
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» How Chelsea became unexpected Premier League title challengers | Jonathan Wilson
Enzo Maresca’s team started the season in chaos and uncertainty. But that was the case the last time they claimed the league crown
Nobody saw Chelsea coming the last time they won the title. The key moment came in the sixth game of the season when they found themselves 3-0 down at half-time away at Arsenal. They’d lost at home to Liverpool the previous week and drawn at Swansea the week before that. Their manager, Antonio Conte, having tried to accommodate himself to the squad decided enough was enough: the squad had to bend to him. At half-time he switched to his preferred back three and in the comforting drabness of a goalless second half of a game that was already lost, was born the revolution.
Chelsea won their next 13 league games and by the time anybody had worked out how to deal with their 3-4-2-1, with N’Golo Kanté and Nemanja Matić an apparently impenetrable shield at the back of midfield, it was too late. There was no European football to worry about – the previous season had seen José Mourinho’s meltdown and a 10th-placed finish – and so Victor Moses and Marcos Alonso remained fresh enough to keep tearing up and down the field at wing-back. Elsewhere the stars aligned: Manchester City were still getting used to Pep Guardiola in his first season in English football, Arsenal were still in their late-Wenger drift, Liverpool still building under Jürgen Klopp, and so Mauricio Pochettino’s Tottenham were Chelsea’s closest challengers. But 93 points would probably have won the league whoever came second.
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» Are Champions League goalfests down to new format or deeper disparities?
Eye-catching thrashings have been a feature of the revamped competition, but the cause is up for debate
If Paris Saint-Germain take an early lead at Red Bull Salzburg on Tuesday they may wonder whether to stick or twist. The new Champions League format has, at least in part, been designed to ensure Europe’s superpowers have fewer opportunities to fail, so their position risks embarrassment. They will not even qualify for the playoff round in February unless they improve on 25th place and, with three league-phase games remaining, are two points and three goals shy of the cutoff.
A tight 1-0 would prise the door back open but that might not cut it in this season’s competition. Salzburg are a shadow of their former selves and it should be an invitation to rack up a big score. The majority of PSG’s rivals have done so at least once: this edition of the tournament has been hallmarked by booming scorelines and the question, in a week that promises more of them, is why.
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