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⚽ Champions League updates from the 8pm BST kick-off
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Newcastle’s league phase opposition: Barcelona (h), Union St Gilloise (a), Benfica (h), Athletic Club (h), Marseille (a), Bayer Leverkusen (a), PSV Eindhoven (h), Paris Saint-Germain (a).

Barcelona’s league phase opposition: Newcastle (a), Paris Saint-Germain (h), Olympiacos (h), Club Brugge (a), Chelsea (a), Eintracht Frankfurt (h), Slavia Prague (a), Copenhagen (h).

⚽ Champions League updates from the 8pm BST kick-off
⚽ Latest scores | Follow us on Bluesky | And mail Simon

He’s back! Kevin de Bruyne returns to Manchester, having only just left, this time plotting City’s downfall. “I’ve spoken to Kevin, I’ve asked him a few things,” said Antonio Conte, the Napoli coach. Well, it would probably be awkward if he hadn’t, but sure. De Bruyne, inevitably, has settled beautifully in Italy, and has already scored twice in three league games this season (a free kick and a penalty).

"He’s been a part of this club for 10 years and had a great coach like Pep Guardiola,” Conte continued of the Belgian. “Kevin will be excited to be playing but I’m hoping that after the starting whistle he will find his feet and remember he’s playing for our great Napoli.” Well, it would certainly be awkward if he didn’t, but sure.

Gianluigi Donnarumma has said he believes Pep Guardiola will help improve his ball-playing skills and that Manchester City were interested in signing him before the summer.

Donnarumma joined from Paris Saint-Germain for about £30m (€35m) on transfer deadline day. The move caused surprise because of the view that the 26-year-old is not as accomplished with his feet as Ederson, who left for Fenerbahce, or James Trafford, the £27m signing from Burnley in July.

• His contract to 2027 includes break clause this summer

• Benfica play at Chelsea in Champions League

José Mourinho has been confirmed as Benfica’s head coach on a contract until the summer of 2027, with a break clause at the end of this season. His fourth game, on 30 September, will take him back to his former club Chelsea in the Champions League.

The 62-year-old takes over from Bruno Lage, who was sacked after Benfica’s 3-2 Champions League defeat by Qarabag on Tuesday. Benfica said in a statement that a break clause would allow the club or Mourinho to end his deal in the 10 days after their final game of this campaign.

• Asencio and three former youth players to face trial

• Case relates to alleged incident in Gran Canaria in 2023

The Real Madrid defender Raúl Asencio and three former youth players at the club are to stand trial in connection with the alleged filming and distribution of sexual videos involving two women, one of whom was a minor at the time.

According to court documents, three of the defendants are accused of “one count of distributing child pornography, as well as two offences against privacy”. Their bail has been set at €20,000 each (£17,400). The fourth, who is understood to be Asencio, is accused of two offences against privacy and has had his bail set at €15,000.

• Bilic was club’s manager from 2015-17 and is out of work

• Potter’s future not thought to hinge on Palace match

West Ham will consider turning to Slaven Bilic if they sack Graham Potter, who is under growing pressure after a poor start to the season. Although there is a belief that Potter’s immediate future does not hinge on the outcome of Saturday’s home game against Crystal Palace, the wider picture is less than encouraging for the former Chelsea manager.

West Ham are 18th in the Premier League after losing four of their first five games and there is growing alarm at board level. David Sullivan, the largest shareholder, is not ready to make a change yet but contingency plans are being put in place.

With stadiums across the Women’s Super League varying widely, fans’ needs can often be short-changed

The Women’s Super League has built a reputation for its inclusive and welcoming environment for all, but does that feeling always ring true for supporters with disabilities or children with neurodiverse needs?

Experiences across the division can be hugely contrasting, often depending on whether your team are sharing their men’s team’s ground or a lower-league venue, meaning that half the WSL clubs do not currently have specially designed sensory rooms, for example.

Faustino Asprilla will be in attendance as Eddie Howe aims to prove his side are Champions League contenders

It is only two years since Eddie Howe attended his first Champions League match but now Newcastle’s manager is on a mission to disrupt Europe’s elite.

As Barcelona arrived on Tyneside on Wednesday Hansi Flick’s La Liga champions certainly displayed no sign of complacency. Indeed Flick warned of the “intensity” his players must be braced for at St James’ Park on Thursday night.

Prepare the tiny violins! Someone has been shouting at Diego Simeone! Famously thin-skinned and a bastion of all that is right and pure in this world, the Atlético Madrid manager was sent off on Wednesday night at Anfield after reacting to a fan’s jibes from behind the dugout, following Liverpool’s latest Slottage-time winner in their Bigger Cup tie.

While admiring John Waugh’s ‘more is more’ celebration of the extended Bigger Cup format (yesterday’s Football Daily letters), he evoked Albert Camus as justification for his case. As we all know, Camus owed everything he knew about morality and the obligations of men to football, but, whereas life may be meaningless, his love of his team RUA was so deep that when he went to Paris he went to watch Racing Club, because they wore the same kit as RUA, so he could pretend to still be watching his favourite team. ‘After all,’ he wrote (in French), ‘that’s why I loved my team so much – for the joy of victories, so wonderful when paired with the fatigue that follows effort, but also for that stupid urge to cry on nights of defeat.’ Were Algeria still French and RUA playing in Bigger Cup, and that Camus had been wearing a seatbelt on that fateful drive, and reached the ripe old age of 112 he would be have been ecstatic to watch them play against any old chaff they were drawn against” – Guy Cooper.

Has it occurred to our learned friend that Football Daily might be looking at the bigger picture (doubtful, I know)? Qarabag may be minnows in Bigger Cup, but they’ve won 11 of their past 12 domestic league titles because of the money they make in European competitions. I wonder how many fans find it fun watching non-Qarabag teams compete in the Azerbaijan Premier League? Contrary to John’s argument, I believe clubs having a chance of actually winning a competition would increase fan engagement and make the whole sport more appealing. Maybe a better idea than just cramming more teams into European competitions is to actually have fewer teams competing in them, but have Uefa distribute more money across those weaker leagues so teams are better able to compete?” – Thabo Caves.

What pleasure to read a reference to Larkin (yesterday’s letters) on a day when I myself had spent a little while reading part of an anthology of the great poet’s works. Noble Francis, and others, who may have found Larkin’s sometimes fruity language a little coarse for their sensibilities might have enjoyed attempts to sanitise literature that included: ‘They tuck you up your mum and dad’” – Michael Lloyd.

This is an extract from our daily football email … Football Daily. To get the full version, just visit this page and follow the instructions.

• He sees similarity in persona and dealing with pressure

• Coach praises in-form Malard before crucial Brann tie

Marc Skinner has likened the Manchester United striker Melvine Malard’s persona to that of Eric Cantona. The head coach compared the Frenchwoman to the club’s revered former forward as he reflected on the top form Malard appears to have hit before Thursday’s decisive Women’s Champions League qualifier.

Manchester United are 1-0 down going into the second leg against the Norwegian side Brann but were boosted by Malard’s double in their 5-1 victory at London City Lionesses in the Women’s Super League on Sunday.

Mauricio Pochettino has taken his fair share of criticism, but the US program is better off than it was when he took over one year ago

Mauricio Pochettino had enough. Just for a minute or two, quickly enough to miss it, he broke free from the unrelenting positivity he appears to have shackled himself to in his year-long spell in charge of the United States men’s national team. For only a few moments, the Argentinian was clearly … como se dice … cranky.

“People sometimes create debate and talk with no sense,” he said on the eve of the USA’s friendly against Japan. “If people want to talk about bullshit, they can talk about bullshit.

As non-goalscoring club debuts go, Isak’s 57 minutes at Anfield made for a fascinating spectacle

Now witness the firepower of this fully operational Death Star. Four months, one record transfer and an endless rolling multiverse of internet rage since his last club game, Alexander Isak has now finally rematerialised in physical form.

As rust-laden, non-goalscoring club debuts go, Isak’s 57 minutes at Anfield made for a fascinating spectacle. In part for the sheer event glamour, the rubbernecking aspect, like witnessing a personal appearance at a shopping centre by your favourite controversial reality TV star. But also for the sheer data overload in a thrillingly open game dotted with wildness: from a Diego Simeone crowd‑surf red‑card climax, to the endless tactical complexities that continue to flow from Arne Slot’s attempts to re-gear his Liverpool team along these giddily attacking lines.

• ‘To give you a red card, they need to see your blood’

• Tah booked for first-half challenge on João Pedro

Enzo Maresca blasted the officials after Bayern Munich made the most of Jonathan Tah avoiding a red card and gave Chelsea a rough introduction to life back in the Champions League.

Chelsea’s head coach did not hide his anger with the Spanish referee, José Sánchez Martínez, for only booking Tah for a cynical challenge on João Pedro during the first half at the Allianz Arena on Wednesday night. Maresca was insistent that the Bayern defender should have been sent off after bringing João Pedro down during the buildup to Cole Palmer’s goal for Chelsea, who ended up opening the league phase with a 3-1 defeat to the Bundesliga champions.

• Finalists of last season make winning starts to campaigns

• Pafos and Bodø/Glimt both earn draws away from home

Paris Saint-Germain picked up where they left off following the club’s triumph last season as they opened their new Champions League campaign with an impressive 4-0 win against Atalanta at the Parc des Princes on Wednesday.

Marquinhos opened the scoring inside the first three minutes, and PSG followed that up with goals from Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Nuno Mendes and Gonçalo Ramos, demonstrating the high pressing and fluid play that have become hallmarks of their game.

• Atlético head coach sent off following Van Dijk’s late goal

• Arne Slot hails side’s fitness and mentality after winner

Diego Simeone said he gave a “human” reaction when he confronted a fan after Liverpool scored a 92nd-minute winner to defeat Atlético Madrid 3-2.

The Atlético head coach, who was dismissed by the referee, claimed he received constant abuse throughout the match and his emotions boiled over after Virgil van Dijk’s goal.

The Allianz Arena will always hold cherished memories for Chelsea but when they pick through the wreckage of their first night back in the Champions League there will be plenty of moments that they would rather not have to think about again.

Back at the ground where they became European champions for the first time, there was the brief prospect of the team in blue pulling off another unlikely heist in Bavaria. Yet while there was defiance after Bayern Munich went 2-0 up inside 27 minutes, Cole Palmer halving the deficit with typical nonchalance, the problems at the other end were too great for Chelsea to overcome.

Ange Postecoglou, hands rooted in pockets, was still shaking his head in disbelief as he walked on to the pitch at the final whistle with What a Beautiful Day, an unofficial anthem in these parts, blaring over the speakers.

Swansea had just completed an incomprehensible comeback to advance to the Carabao Cup fourth round at Nottingham Forest’s expense, the hosts scoring twice in the final four minutes of second-half stoppage time.

Plus: national teams with top-10 scorers in the 21st century, different kits in the same match (2) and a referee’s coin toss

• Mail us with your questions and answers

“Who is the most prolific player with the initials XG?” asks Oliver Forrest. “And who has the highest goals and assists of players with the initials GA?”

There are only a handful of male* footballers with the initials XG – here is an exhaustive list. The diminutive journeyman Greek midfielder Xenofon Gittas scored 17 goals across his club career (plus three for Greece Under-21s) but cannot match the scoring exploits of Xhevdet Gela, who is our winner with 44 goals across all competitions including the Europa League with the Finnish sides MyPa and Lahti. Unusually, during a spell between 2019-2022 in which Gela was playing for Ekenäs in Finland, he was also the full-time manager of a fourth-tier side, Esbo, a club around 80km away. Gela returned to the manager’s role at Esbo in January this year, although not in a playing capacity.

After becoming first club from the country to win a regional trophy, team set their sights on the CAF Champions League

First there was Letsile Tebogo, who put Botswana on the sporting map when he won gold in the 200m at the Paris Olympics. Now, there is Gaborone United Ladies, who became the country’s first football team to win a regional trophy and will make history when they appear at the CAF Champions League this year.

United claimed the Cosafa Women’s Champions League Cup – a tournament played among southern African clubs – when they defeated the Zambian side Zesco Ndola Girls 4-3 on penalties after a 1-1 draw in August and their victory means they will represent the region at the eight-team CAF Champions League tournament this year.

Russo shines in the No 10 role, bluntness costs Liverpool and London City struggle with juggling act

Alessia Russo opened her account for the season in style, powering an effort from the edge of the box into the top corner and converting a second from the spot in Arsenal’s 5-1 defeat of West Ham. The England forward also provided the assist for Stina Blackstenius’s goal to put the visitors in front in the second half. Russo showed how effective she can be in the No 10 role as well, her goals and assist coming once she had dropped deeper after Blackstenius came on. “She is really good from those positions – that’s why we’ve been working with Less every now and then in that position,” said the head coach, Renée Slegers. “We have two really good 9s and sometimes we need a Russo player type in the 9 and sometimes we need the Blackstenius player type in the 9, and then we know that Less can do the 10 as well.” SW

Match report: West Ham 1-5 Arsenal

Match report: Everton 0-2 Spurs

Coach broke with tradition after first league win of season that helped calm talk about ability to take club forwards

Happiness was this once; now there is only relief but it is something. In fact, for a little while on Saturday night, it feels like everything. At the end of each game when the final whistle goes, so does Diego Simeone: sprinting down the tunnel and straight up the stairs, not a word to anyone and not outrun by anyone either, no stopping and no looking back. This time, though, is different. Juan Martínez Munuera brings Atlético Madrid’s 2-0 win over Villarreal to a close a little before 11pm, 63,312 fans erupting; a little after 11pm, at the top of the steps under the stand where the fourth official awaits his colleagues and the visitors trudge past tearing off tape and turning right, there’s still no Simeone.

Usually the first through, not even slowing here once he’s safely out of sight of supporters and cameras, a figure in a skinny black suit dashing past a pair of security guards, down the corridor to the left and into an empty dressing room, this time Atlético’s manager is outside under the lights instead. He heads on to the pitch, embracing his players. He screams at Koke, his captain, crushing him with a cuddle. Pulls Antoine Griezmann close and whispers something in his ear, only he has to shout to be heard over the noise. High fives his son Giuliano, who is also one of his wingers. And then joins the rest of them celebrating before the south stand, communion complete.

A sensational game had siblings as frenemies, an English defender’s first Serie A goal and a teenage match-winner

Igor Tudor sat down, straightened his tie and acknowledged we had all just witnessed a “particular game”. Seven goals (including some absolute screamers), back-and-forth lead changes, brothers as frenemies, a star turn from one of Serie A’s emerging talents and a deciding goal from a teenager. “Particular” was one word for this season’s first Derby d’Italia. “Completely bonkers”, might be two more.

Let us go back to the beginning. Juventus were hosting Inter on Saturday evening in a game that felt like it might have arrived a little too soon for everyone involved.

Striker does the simple thing well and gives Mikel Arteta an alternative to the robot parcel delivery droids at his disposal

Control. Fixed planes of movement. Positive metrics. Data victory. Safety in order. Strength through no joy. This is all good stuff. This is a matrix for winning at sport. This is how Mikel Arteta has transformed Arsenal from a flapping bead curtain made up of fun guys and leftovers into a hugely impressive team. You can definitely come second in the league like this.

But then there are other things, the need for a little blood and a little risk. Attack ships off the shoulder of Orion. Very positive underlying numbers in the first half against Liverpool. All these moments will be lost if the moments are not also seized, if a little ragged edge doesn’t enter the programme too. Or in the case of this 3-0 defeat of Nottingham Forest, a little bit of unprocessed Gyökeres.

• Italian club last played in the top flight in 2020-21

• ’Ndrangheta clans had infiltrated ticketing operations

The Italian third-tier club Crotone have been placed under judicial administration for a year because police found “sufficient evidence” of pervasive mafia infiltration, prosecutors said on Tuesday.

Crotone, based in the southern Calabria region that is home to the powerful ’Ndrangheta mafia, are seventh in Group C of the Serie C league, on five points from four games. They played in Serie A for two consecutive seasons almost 10 years ago, and in 2020-21.

Home team were heading for a win to celebrate their 80th, but then up popped Jakub Kaminski in the 14th minute of added time

“I thought we got off to a good start until the thunderstorm.” In context it was a standard, anodyne, flat-batted answer by Köln’s Marius Bülter as he strove to analyse his team’s efforts. Quite unwittingly, it captured the chaos of the afternoon perfectly. It was an afternoon that was supposed to be about VfL Wolfsburg as the club celebrated their 80th birthday with as much flourish as this industrial corner of Lower Saxony could muster, with billowing clouds of green and white smoke accompanying club legends including 2009 champion Grafite and iconic defender Naldo leading the team on to the pitch in front of a (rare) sold-out crowd.

Yet typically Köln, the club that does football drama like few others, rudely barged in and made it all about themselves. In Lukas Kwasniok they have a new coach who, like the club’s best down the years, knows how to lean into the emotion and Effzeh are already an invigorating watch. As they trailed 2-1 going into stoppage time, Kwasniok had thrown attacking substitutes such as Ragnar Ache and the lively teenager Said El Mala into the mix to make something happen. Little did the coach know his team would have to equalise not just once, but twice in that period.

The team is climbing up the Ligue 1 table but fans are sick of being treated like ‘pawns’ by the Chelsea owners

By Get French Football News

Strasbourg are a club torn between inertia and evolution. Change is visible all around the Meinau: in its recently developed stands and on the pitch where, in two years, they have gone from perennial relegation strugglers to Champions League candidates. The motor for change was BlueCo’s purchase of the club in 2023. The takeover was met with stout opposition and the team’s upward trajectory since has done little to remould public opinion.

“I feel like we are back at the beginning. I am so disappointed with the reaction,” complained Liam Rosenior on Sunday, exasperated by the latest fan protests. You needn’t scratch too much to uncover the resentment that bubbles beneath the surface of the Meinau. The 15-minute strike, where the club’s ultras remain silent at the start of matches, is now just a common feature of Strasbourg fixtures, and you are never more than a few weeks away from a lengthy and often explosive supporters group communique denouncing some facet of the management of the club.

Forty-eight teams will participate in next summer’s World Cup and 30 places are still up for grabs

Forty-eight teams will participate in next summer’s World Cup, with the hosts, Canada, Mexico and the United States, granted automatic entry. A further 43 places are determined by qualifying competitions from the six confederations and the remaining two will be decided at March’s six-team intercontinental playoffs in Monterrey and Guadalajara. After this month’s internationals, 18 countries have places booked. The draw is due to take place on 5 December at Washington’s Kennedy Center.

Decision to begin consultation is likely a sensible one and a break from the present way of doing things in world football

Never underestimate the attraction of a good can-kick. That would appear to be the message coming out of Tirana on Thursday when Uefa announced it had not taken the epochal decision on overseas league fixtures that the world of football had anticipated. Instead, the executive committee decided it would embark on a round of consultation, one that would even take in the considerations of supporters to boot.

This is likely a sensible decision. There has been a fair amount of surprise in some quarters that the question of whether and by how much football leagues should be allowed to move from domestic to international is only now being properly debated in the corridors of power. After all, the first writ in this debate was served by the promoter Relevent against the United States Soccer Federation in 2019. Only with the prospect of La Liga staging a fixture between Barcelona and Villarreal in Miami as soon as December has the issue come into focus. But to have discussion at all will be regarded by many as better late than never. It is also a break with the current way of doing things.

Portugal star will hand Gianni Infantino the perfect publicity coup if he does play in America for the first time in more than 10 years, having already begun cosying up to Donald Trump

Is it still safe to stage the World Cup in the United States? After more headline evidence this week of the extreme nature of American gun violence, some may conclude that the answer is no. Nine months out from the opening game, it is now almost impossible to ignore this. But believe it or not statistics suggest more than 300 people will have been shot in America last Wednesday alone.

The same number will also be shot on Friday, Saturday, every day next week, and every day of World Cup year. On average 127 of these unnamed, largely non-famous people not called things such as the superstar influencer Charlie Kirk will die each day. Within this, youth gun deaths will be both alarmingly high and a register of social injustice: a disproportionate 46% of all young people shot will be black.

Ruben Amorim is not the biggest problem at Old Trafford, but it is becoming harder to deny he is one of the issues

Perhaps the best that can be said of Ruben Amorim’s Manchester United is that you know exactly where you stand with them. It’s 10 months since he was appointed but he is yet to win back-to-back league games. Having beaten Burnley last time out, amid scenes of revealing euphoria, they were never going to win at Manchester City.

Which must have been a relief for City, who had lost two of their first three games this season for the first time in 21 years. There was, for them, particularly after half-time, a pleasing sense of normality returning. Rodri, shaky early on, began to dominate as he used to before his knee injury, while there were fine performances from Erling Haaland, Jérémy Doku and Phil Foden.

Two of the summer’s biggest transfer moves from Germany to the Premier League are starkly contrasting prospects

What must a footballer who costs €80m, €100m or more be able to do and prove? He should be a promising prospect at the age of 17 to 20; occupy a clear position on the pitch; be one of the five most important players in a team; perform consistently over many years; prove himself in international competition; and be physically strong. This applies to virtually all those players in this price range: Kylian Mbappé, Neymar, Ronaldo, Erling Haaland, Jude Bellingham and Ousmane Dembélé.

Two German footballers moved to the Premier League for such a sum in the summer. One of them meets these criteria. Florian Wirtz’s career has been impressive. He caught the football’s attention as a teenager. It was only a matter of time before he made his breakthrough.

Our cartoonist tells the ancient Greek tale of one godlike figure’s pursuit of glory at the City Ground

• Buy a copy of this cartoon in our Print Shop

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

With £125m Alexander Isak’s Liverpool debut near, we look back at five record-breakers that flew – and five who flopped

Southampton to Blackburn, £3.6m
Shearer’s move to Blackburn was a pivotal moment in the Premier League’s inaugural season, backed by the ambition of their new owner Jack Walker. After an injury-hit first campaign where he scored 16 goals, Shearer exploded in the 1993-94 season with 31 goals from 40 games. The following season, he formed a formidable strike partnership with Chris Sutton and his 34 goals were crucial to Blackburn’s title win, the only major honour of his career. He broke the British and world-record fee again in 1996 after his £15m move to Newcastle.

Exiles from the Taliban in England and Australia are using the sport to battle prejudice and give a voice to women and girls in Afghanistan

“I felt quite lost,” says the goalkeeper Elaha Safdari. “I didn’t know anyone, but little by little football gave me the strength and power to start again, to start from zero, to build, to keep going and to keep pushing myself forward.”

It is four years since a 17-year-old Safdari arrived in England, part of the Afghanistan women’s development team evacuated first to Pakistan then to the UK after the US withdrawal of troops and the concession of power to the Taliban.

Major step to qualification with win in Serbia brings back memories of Waddle, Gascoigne and Italia 90 for head coach

Thomas Tuchel has not been short of recommended reading material since his appointment as England’s head coach. Or documentaries to watch. The suggestions have come from everywhere, but especially the media, who are eager to help out with presumed gaps in his knowledge of the nation’s football history. This is the real cost of turning to a guy from overseas.

Has Tuchel seen the fly-on-the-wall programme with Graham Taylor from 1994: An Impossible Job? No? He has to put that right. In fact, wouldn’t it be great if Tuchel could allow the cameras in for a sequel as he targets glory at the 2026 World Cup? It was put to him a few months back. Strangely, he did not seem keen.

Former Brentford striker missed out on England’s qualifiers but he believes the standard of Saudi football should not be ignored

Ivan Toney is aware of the outside noise. He hardly needs reminding that plenty of people have had their say since he swapped the Premier League for the Saudi Pro League just over a year ago. An Asian Champions League winner’s medal and 35 goals for Al-Ahli later, the striker is defiant, even if he found himself on the outside as England played their latest World Cup qualifiers.

“Those that know me, know that I do what I want to do,” Toney says. “If there is something I want to go for, to try, then I will do it. If people want to talk, they can talk. It doesn’t hurt me, doesn’t bother me, I just concentrate on myself. I do what makes me happy.”

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A year ago to the day, Aston Villa’s 2024-25 Bigger Cup adventure – one that would take them to a mesmeric quarter-final with eventual winners PSG – started with a 3-0 victory over Young Boys, a performance with more fluidity than a Jamie Carragher drive-by and the Birmingham side’s first game back in Europe’s elite club competition in 41 years. In the next round of Bigger Cup fixtures, Bayern Munich were duly dispatched by Villa in a performance with more fluidity than a Bavarian title parade. Unai Emery could seemingly do no wrong and had everything from Jhon Durán’s left foot to John McGinn’s backside marching to the beat of his drum, with his team and tactics looking more fluid in the season’s early stages than Ozzy Osbourne’s long locks gently rocking in the soft Birmingham breeze (OK, that’s enough – Football Daily Ed).

I don’t want to talk about a single player but of course if you sub somebody at half-time you are not pleased with his performance. I will talk to him in person and then it’s up to him to show improvement. That’s it” – Oliver Glasner, there, not wanting to single out Romain Esse for criticism yet somehow managing to magnify his ruthless half-time hooking of his new Crystal Palace midfielder in the Milk Cup win (on penalties) over Millwall.

Qarabag ‘whipping-boy chaff’ (yesterday’s Football Daily). Funny, Bruno Lage thought so too” – Richie Philpott.

Has it ever occurred to my learned friends at Football Daily (OK, our sarcasm antennae is really starting to twitch now – Football Daily Ed) that perhaps one of the reasons three dozen teams are playing a dozen-dozen games in Bigger Cup’s first stage and some people still turn up to watch, is because they actually like football. Whether a particular fixture confirms their own team as crowned champions of Europe is maybe for most fans not of great import. I presume most followers of the ‘whipping-boy chaff’ go for the love of their team and some maybe even for the love of the game. Whilst no doubt generating a fat load of dosh, Uefa’s ‘Swiss Model’ also allows fans to watch more football and see their team play more other teams. Is this such a bad thing? Even if this means enduring ‘meaningless’ fixtures such as last night’s mind-numbing dead-rubber between Juventus and Borussia Dortmund. I also presume that the legendary Algerian goalkeeper Albert Camus enjoyed playing in goal for Racing Universitaire d’Alger, even though he was convinced that life was entirely devoid of meaning” – John Waugh.

Kevin Mac Allister (aka Alexis Mac Allister’s brother) scoring the winner for Union Saint-Gilloise away at PSV gives me the excuse to bring out one of my favourite, pointless pieces of trivia. He is named after the Kevin McCallister character in Home Alone played by Macaulay Culkin but he wasn’t aware of it and used to joke about the coincidence whenever it was mentioned, until he found out from his parents when he was 18 that he actually was named after him. To quote the great Philip Larkin, ‘They mess* you up, your mum and dad.’ The language has been changed as the original is far too rude, but Larkin was bang on …” – Noble Francis.

Re: ‘There’s a tradition in the Mediterranean, especially in Greece and Cyprus, of doing some olive oil really early in the season. It’s not new. It’s thousands of years old’ (Tuesday’s breakout section – full email edition). That endless Peloponnesian war between Athens and Sparta was sparked by a disputed offside call, it turns out” – Mike Slattery

This is an extract from our daily football email … Football Daily. To get the full version, just visit this page and follow the instructions.

The attacking midfielder sparkled against United, giving City a boost for the season and England hope for the 2026 World Cup

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One of the many mysteries of last season for Manchester City was Phil Foden. When he was a teenager, everybody knew how good he was. He had been probably the key player shortly after turning 17 as England won the Under-17 World Cup in 2017, and there had been a clamour for him to play for Manchester City long before Pep Guardiola began to start him regularly in 2020-21. For four seasons he was one of the best players in the league and then, suddenly, there was nothing – at least by the exceptionally high standards he had set.

Foden had not had a good Euros in 2024. He has never really produced his best for England, a function perhaps of him playing for a club with such a specific style of play. Take him out of that regimented environment where he knew exactly what runs to make, exactly where his teammates would be moving, and he found it hard to adapt. And England generally did not play well at that Euros, despite reaching the final; the front end of the team was a mess, lacking the balance of previous Gareth Southgate sides.

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After enduring the slog of one season of Bigger Cup with its “Swiss Model” 36-strong league table, where each team plays eight matches against different sides, Football Daily still hasn’t decided if Uefa’s experimental new format is better, worse or much the same as the fairly jeopardy-free group stage it replaced. Instead of needing what seemed like an already excessive 96 matches to whittle the 32 competing teams down to 16, as its name suggests, Bigger Cup now requires a whopping 144 matches to eliminate just 12 of the 36 teams lining up on this season’s grid. A $uper €eague in all but name, Uefa is painfully aware its flagship club competition is now an even more unwieldy, bloated mess that places unreasonable and unnecessary demands on the bodies of exhausted footballers but doesn’t appear to care. When it means it gets to pit Manchester City against Real Madrid for the 11th time in six seasons and the cash keeps rolling in, then who is Uefa to concern itself with Mikel Arteta looking increasingly forlorn at the sight of a succession of Arsenal players pulling up lame with hammy-twang as they sprint from the Duty Free checkout to the boarding gate for their flights to Bilbao, Prague or Milan?

With all the offers he has received, I think it is really, really brave [to stay]. Everyone says to him, ‘you should do this, or you should do that’ and I think he is true to himself. He believes in what we are doing here and knows the grass is not always greener on the other side. [Ole Gunnar] Solskjær went to Besiktas and he’s not there anymore. He has done a hell of a job and the loyalty he has to the club, to the people and the project is extraordinary … the easy part would be to go for the money and hop on to somewhere else” – Bodø/Glimt suit Havard Sakariassen tempts fate by praising manager Kjetil Knutsen’s “extraordinary” devotion to the Norwegian minnows, who he has led to Bigger Cup despite heralding from a fishing town in the Arctic circle that Football Daily could fit into its back pocket.

Chris Wilder has the ideal opportunity to out-Ange the new Forest boss at Sheffield United (yesterday’s Football Daily) and declare the arrival of trophies on his third tenure” – Callum Taylor.

Lovely quote of the day yesterday concerning the Thuram brothers and their dad. A far cry from the last time I played a match against my brother: he executed a double-footed, over-the-ball tackle into my knee that left me unable to walk for a month, and with a scar that’s still visible 40 years later. To add literal insult to injury, the referee (who happened to be our dad) didn’t even book him, let alone send him off, claiming not to have seen the incident, despite it happening three feet in front of him. Happy days” – Paul Taverner.

Re: yesterday’s News, Bits and Bobs (full email edition). The story of Manchester City rather churlishly firing a barman for wearing a United top (and fair play to him, I’m not that brave) reminds me of a rather amusing tale from my youth. Arriving unfashionably late to an FA Cup replay circa 2008 between Liverpool and Luton, which involved sprinting across Stanley Park, we were met by a steward at the away end who greeted us with a cheerful: ‘I hope you lads win tonight, I [expletive deleted]-ing hate Liverpool.’ [Narrator: Luton did not win.] Still brings a smile to my sadly less youthful face all these years on” – Patrick Brennan.

La Liga’s salary limit applies to the whole club and with six players leaving this summer, is the club’s golden era over?

How times have changed. For the past few years Barcelona have been the team everyone wanted to join: five consecutive Champions League finals, stylish football, leaders in women’s football, a stunning city and Ballon d’Or winners for teammates. However, 10 years after becoming professional, the three-time European champions are a club in trouble.

Restricted by La Liga’s financial fair play rules, the women’s team have had a calamitous summer transfer window. There have been six departures – all to the Women’s Super League – while the midfielder Alba Caño is leaving for the NWSL in January. They made only one signing, Laia Aleixandri on a free transfer from Manchester City.

See which hot shots are leading the way in the English top flight’s goalscoring charts this season

Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Nicky Bandini and Philippe Auclair as Arsenal win in Bilbao and Spurs host Villarreal to start this season’s Champions League

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On the podcast today: The Champions League returns - a great night for Gabrielle Martinelli as Arsenal win in Bilbao. He and fellow not really forgotten man Leandro Trossard come off the bench to win it. Spurs just about get the job done thanks to some disastrous goalkeeping. Thomas Frank will take the win in his first ever Champions League game however it came.

Faye Carruthers is joined by Suzy Wrack, Emma Sanders and Tom Garry to round up all the weekend’s WSL action

On today’s pod: the panel rounds up all the weekend’s WSL action as Manchester United and Arsenal both scored five in convincing wins, with Alessia Russo and Melvine Malard stealing the headlines. Chelsea were far from their best but still saw off Aston Villa, with Sam Kerr only needing 13 minutes to mark her return with a goal.

Elsewhere, Leicester held on for a gritty win over Liverpool, Spurs cruised past Everton at Goodison Park, and Manchester City came from behind to beat Brighton. The panel also touches on drama in the Championship, Ash Thompson’s suspension at Sheffield United, England’s newly announced autumn friendlies, and whether Barcelona could really sell off their women’s team.

Newcastle’s new striker makes his mark, Martínez is in Villa’s good books again and Madueke has dream week

• Premier League top scorers 2025-26: who is leading race?

Is Gianluigi Donnarumma a Pep Guardiola goalkeeper? He may or may not be, but he is an exceptional goalkeeper. Manchester United didn’t offer enough of a test even to begin to assess whether Donnarumma is good enough with the ball at his feet to allow City to play as Guardiola would like them to. Nor did they test whether his starting position is advanced enough to sweep up behind a high defensive line and prevent the sort of chances City yielded up to Tottenham and Brighton. But his save to keep out a Bryan Mbeumo volley, hurling himself to his right to push the ball wide, was spectacular, and drew congratulations from pretty much all his teammates. Even if he is not the perfect stylistic fit, Donnarumma’s presence, his commanding stature and the aura he projects make him the right goalkeeper for now as City begin the process of rebuilding with a notably young squad. Jonathan Wilson

Match report: Manchester City 3-0 Manchester United

Match report: Burnley 0-1 Liverpool

Match report: West Ham 0-3 Tottenham

Every deal in the NWSL, WSL, Liga F, Frauen-Bundesliga, Première Ligue and Serie A Femminile as well as a club-by-club guide

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