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⚽ Football updates heading into a busy weekend
⚽ Things to look out for this weekend | Mail Xaymaca

So, who has been left out of the squad? The big omission is Trent Alexander-Arnold. The defender has started seven of Real Madrid’s last nine games after being out of favour earlier in the season. Reece James is also unavailable as he picked up a hamstring injury against Newcastle. It seems strange to leave him out of a 35-man squad.

Goalkeepers: Dean Henderson, Jordan Pickford, James Trafford, Aaron Ramsdale, Jason Steele

Igor Thiago looms over Leeds, Newcastle need to bounce back from Barça and Viktor Gyökeres aims for hero status

• Premier League top scorers: latest top-flight standings

Though Manchester United continued to win after playing brilliantly against Manchester City and Arsenal in Michael Carrick’s first two games as manager, the quality and coherence of their performances decreased thereafter. Lacking balance without the injured Patrick Dorgu, they’ve been rescued on three separate occasion by Benjamin Sesko’s goals – goals that eventually forced him into the team at the expense of Amad Diallo. But though Amad is easier to omit than Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha, both of whom are older, dearer and more productive, without him United lacked a dribbler: a player eager to run at opponents, who isn’t necessarily seeking the quickest route to goal, and whose quick feet in tight spaces are invaluable against disciplined defences. It is no coincidence that on his return to the starting XI, against Villa last weekend, United delivered their best display since those early weeks. Sesko’s form will again demand his inclusion at some point soon, but next time it is unlikely to be Amad who makes way. Daniel Harris

Bournemouth v Manchester United, Friday 8pm

Brighton v Liverpool, Saturday 12.30pm

Fulham v Burnley, Saturday 3pm

Everton v Chelsea, Saturday 5.30pm

Leeds v Brentford, Saturday 8pm

Newcastle v Sunderland, Sunday 12pm

Max Rushden and Barry Glendenning went to the SXSW festival in Austin Texas last week. With only a few months to go before the World Cup, the pair are joined live on stage by The Guardian’s senior US soccer editor, Alexander Abnos, and star of the hit TV show Ted Lasso, Brendan Hunt.

Max Rushden and Barry Glendenning went to the SXSW festival in Austin Texas last week. With only a few months to go before the World Cup, the pair are joined live on stage by The Guardian’s senior US soccer editor, Alexander Abnos, and star of the hit TV show Ted Lasso, Brendan Hunt.

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Well, it wasn’t supposed to be like this. For Nottingham Forest, this was anything but the meek surrender widely feared, Vítor Pereira’s side advancing to the Europa League quarter-finals after triumphing 3-0 on penalties at Midtjylland, who missed all three spot-kicks. Elias Ólafsson had celebrated his captain, Mads Bech Sørensen, winning the toss to decide penalties would be taken in front of the hosts’ most ardent supporters, but it counted for nothing and ultimately Midtjylland, who lost 2-1 on the night, were punished for being lulled into a false sense of security.

Forest stunned the Danes by earning a 2-0 lead on the night, through Nicolás Domínguez’s early header and then captain Ryan Yates’s superb strike from distance, before Martin Erlic sent the game to extra time. After 127 minutes, perfect spot-kicks by the substitutes Morgan Gibbs-White, who entered just after the hour, Ibrahim Sangaré and Neco Williams reignited Evangelos Marinakis’s hopes of Forest’s European glory. Forest can fret about Sunday’s trip to Tottenham on Friday afternoon’s flight back to East Midlands airport.

Crystal Palace’s first taste of European competition has already taken them to Norway, Poland, France, Ireland and Cyprus. After Ismaïla Sarr finally broke down a stubborn Larnaca defence that had only conceded once in their previous seven matches in this competition, they needed more magic from their top scorer in extra time to set up a mouthwatering meeting with Fiorentina in the quarter-finals.

Everything was going to plan for Oliver Glasner’s side when Sarr – who was part of the Senegal side who were stripped of the Africa Cup of Nations title they won in January on Tuesday – fired in his 14th goal of the season early on. But in their 49th match of a marathon season, Palace again illustrated their vulnerability from set pieces when Enric Saborit equalised from a corner.

Progress to the quarter-finals of the competition that made Unai Emery’s reputation, the Europa League continues to offer sanctuary for Aston Villa. Their second leg with Lille was completed without drama, the welcome sight of John McGinn’s goal soothing fans’ nerves. Villa had sorely missed their Scottish standard bearer, though the contributions of Emi Martínez, in making a save then launching an attack, and Jadon Sancho in supplying McGinn in a flowing move that took 15 seconds were equally crucial.

“The matches were not so brilliant,” said Emery, who qualified for the competition’s quarter-final for the eighth time, a record; he has won it four times previously.

Transformative 999-year deal is a massive moment in the history of the club and the violent cultural push-pull of London

I have in my hand several hundred pieces of paper. Dog-eared, scribbled with rewrites, and stained with sweat and ancient Bermondsey vinegar. But a wodge of paper that may just guarantee, finally, what passes for peace around here.

There was a moment at the Den on Saturday afternoon that carried its own strictly localised sense of history. An hour before kick-off in Millwall’s Premier League playoff-push game against Portsmouth, the key personnel gathered in a wedding-style lineup around the centre circle.

• New law comes into force this weekend

• Measure aimed to coincide with Carabao Cup final

The government has made entering a football ground without a ticket a criminal offence from this weekend, with fans who tailgate to be given banning orders of up to five years and £1,000 fines.

The law has been introduced to coincide with Sunday’s Carabao Cup final between Arsenal and Manchester City, after the Metropolitan police made 68 arrests of fans who attempted to gain entry to Wembley without tickets at last year’s final.

Theories range from obvious mismatches to Premier League clubs not being able to defend from open play

There were 68 goals in the last 16 of the Champions League, which is not only a lot but goes against the trend of the previous four seasons. What’s going on? Has football suddenly become more attacking again? This surely can’t all be down to Premier League sides struggling to defend against teams who don’t just rely on corners but actually attack from open play, can it?

An average of 4.25 goals a game is highly unusual, particularly given the recent context. Before 2008-09 there was only one season when the knockout phase of the Champions League yielded more than three goals a game; between 2008-09 and 2019-20 there was only one season when goals per game dipped below three. There then followed four campaigns in which the average did not climb above 2.72 (and in 2022-23, it was as low as 2.34), before bouncing back to 3.29 last season (including the playoff round). The playoff round this season produced 3.94 goals per game – and there were no Premier League teams involved; this is not purely an English issue.

Today’s newsletter looks at the women who grew up in the 1970s, 80s and 90s loving football but had little or no opportunity to play. I was one of them

I screamed so loudly when Chloe Kelly scored the winning goal in the 2022 European Championship that our children ran from the room. They were too young to understand what it meant. Since then they’ve watched the Lionesses reach the final of the 2023 World Cup and seen them victorious at Euro 2025. They are growing up with women playing football on TV.

I cried at that win four years ago. I watched the Lionesses in awe, but also with a sense of loss for what I never had the chance to become. According to Fifa’s 2023 Member Association survey report, the number of women and girls playing organised football has grown by 24% since 2019, to more than 16.6 million, with 3.9 million registered female players. Fifa’s Women’s Football Strategy 2024-27 aims to achieve 60 million registered players by next year.

• ‘There are clear similarities to football,’ says Norwegian

• Compatriot Magnus Carlsen, the world No 1, likely to play

Erling Haaland has become a significant investor in a new world chess championship tour that is expected to star his fellow Norwegian Magnus Carlsen, the Guardian can reveal.

The deal was agreed shortly before Manchester City played at West Ham last Saturday, with Haaland shown on Sky Sports wearing a Norway Chess cap as he entered the London Stadium – without anyone noticing.

• Manchester United head coach admits to ‘aggressive’ feelings

• Holland defender De Ligt could miss remainder of the season

Michael Carrick has admitted to getting angry with his Manchester United players and said that was the emotion after the late defeat at Newcastle.

United lost 2-1 at St James’ Park this month after conceding a 90th-minute William Osula goal. This is the only defeat in Carrick’s nine matches in interim charge this season, his team recording seven wins and one draw to take 22 points from the 27 available.

• Clubs may be able to roll over squad cost ratio allowance

• £30 price cap on away tickets extended until 2027-28 season

The Premier League is poised to amend its new spending rules before they are introduced next season to give clubs greater flexibility in the transfer market.

Under squad cost ratio (SCR) rules approved last November, clubs will be restricted to spending 85% of their revenue on player costs, with a levy payable to the Premier League, for distribution among the other clubs, in the event of a breach. A six-point deduction would be imposed if a club’s spending reached 115% of revenue.

• ‘It’s not come from any place of malicious intent’

• Manager has spoken to Fernández ‘at length’ about future

Liam Rosenior has revealed that Chelsea have found the mole leaking team news. The starting XI was published by French media before the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie against Paris Saint-Germain. A week later, it also emerged before kick-off that Wesley Fofana was not in the lineup and that Trevoh Chalobah and Jorrel Hato were at centre-back.

“We know,” Rosenior said when asked if the source had been detected. “And it’s not come from any place of malicious intent to me or the team. We know where it’s come from and we’ve dealt with the situation.” Rosenior did not elaborate but it is understood that the information did not come from a player or staff member.

• ‘There is frustration because last year was amazing’

• Galatasaray threaten to sue Uefa after Lang injury

Virgil van Dijk has said the connection between Arne Slot’s Liverpool and the Kop remains intact and cited the rout of Galatasaray as evidence of what they can achieve by sticking together.

The Liverpool captain took issue with claims that the team’s relationship with supporters had broken down this season and insisted the focus should be on reaching the semi-finals of the Champions League for the first time since 2022. Scrutiny intensified after Sunday’s draw against Tottenham, when boos greeted the final whistle at Anfield and Dominik Szoboszlai admitted the team had been affected by the sight of supporters leaving early.

• 2027’s short season will precede full calendar switch

• Five Concacaf Champions Cup berths will be awarded

• No inter-conference play until MLS Cup

The typical cliche for a regular season is that it’s a marathon, not a sprint. In 2027, Major League Soccer will be the exception.

On Thursday, MLS revealed how its short 2027 “sprint season” will be formatted as it nears flipping its schedule to a fall-to-spring format next year. The competition’s structure will be familiar in many ways, with the regular season table seeding a postseason bracket and culminating with MLS Cup. Lasting just under three months, it’ll proceed at a breakneck pace that could be an enthralling departure from the league’s usual flow.

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Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Philippe Auclair and Mark Langdon to review Wednesday night’s Champions League action and to look ahead to the Carabao Cup final. Barcelona hit seven against Newcastle at Camp Nou. The visitors equalised a couple of times but Barça kept scoring and scoring and scoring. Liverpool made easy work of Galatasaray, with Mo Salah – in the second half at least – looking like 2024-25 Mo Salah. Dominik Szoboszlai was brilliant once again. A win for Spurs is a story at the moment, even if this was in vain against Atlético Madrid, while Bayern Munich had another stroll against Atalanta. The panel analyse the quarter-final draw, and then look ahead to the Carabao Cup final. Is this all about the psychology of the title race, or more about winning an actual trophy?

Only two of the Premier League’s last-16 teams made it to the quarter-finals while European giants are coming into form when it matters

Another traumatic week for the self-worth of the Premier League, one in which Europe’s big beasts got into their stride. The defending champions, Paris Saint-Germain, put on a devastating display at Chelsea. Bradley Barcola’s goal, their second, was the highlight of a 3-0 win. Barcelona ran out 7-2 winners over Newcastle, having been level at half-time at 2-2, 3-3 on aggregate. Real Madrid continue to be Pep Guardiola’s great tormentors, with Vinícius Júnior getting both goals at Manchester City. His crybaby celebration was aimed at those City supporters who mocked him after Rodri pipped the Brazilian to the Ballon d’Or in 2024. Bayern Munich continue to look irresistible. Harry Kane scored twice, and Lennart Karl’s strike continued his trajectory as German football’s next big thing in a 4-1 win over Atalanta, a mighty 10-2 on aggregate.

Tournament organisers point to strong TV audiences and reaching a wider range of fans even as Australia have failed to sell out matches on home soil

Sarah Walsh has heard the naysayers, heard the voices sniggering about half-empty stadiums and unsold tickets. The chief operating officer of the Women’s Asian Cup knows the insinuation behind them all: that the Matildas – clearly Australia’s favourite sporting team during the run to the World Cup semi-finals three years ago – have lost their lustre.

But the woman who played 70 times for Australia also has a voice, and she wasn’t shy in using it on Thursday to address “segments” of the country who want to see the Matildas fail.

Supporters of national side struggle to come to terms with decision to declare Morocco the winner of Africa Cup of Nations

Two days after the Confederation of African Football (CAF) stripped Senegal of its 2025 Africa Cup of Nations title and instead declared the host nation, Morocco, champions, Alhassan Hann remains in shock.

“We didn’t expect this at all,” the 23-year-old Dakar university student said. “This decision is unjust. Personally, I find it ridiculous. I think it doesn’t give a very good image of African football.”

The Herons are out of the Champions Cup after defeat to Nashville. Now it’s back to the same old hits for the club

Concacaf may not have the world’s most hallowed Champions League. The confederation is so aware of that fact that it rebranded the competition as a Champions Cup two years ago.

Nonetheless, winning the continental competition is the ultimate aim for MLS’s most ambitious clubs, even though (or perhaps because) only one of its last 25 installments has seen an MLS team crowned as Concacaf’s best. Liga MX continues to dominate the competition, boasting 21 winners since 2001, even as MLS improves. Even Costa Rica’s Liga Promerica has more titles since the turn of the century thanks to back-to-back victories for Alajuelense and Saprissa in the mid-2000s.

Two-goal display against Atlético gives Tudor hope his playmaker can inspire strugglers to Premier League safety

The kind of night that saves a season? That might be pushing it. A comeback for the ages was on, then off, then on again for a little while: a flickering traffic light that, like Tottenham’s season to date, stopped ultimately on red. But they will hoover up any morsels of hope at this point and at least, when a considerably sub‑capacity crowd applauded them off at the end, the appreciation was deservedly heartfelt. If the adage goes that a win can work wonders, perhaps Igor Tudor will be able to cajole a brand of magic now that he has finally achieved one.

Most of the inspiration here, on a night when nobody let a customarily depleted Spurs down, came from the sparkly feet of Xavi Simons. His year in north London has taken on the same stuttering pattern, weeks of liftoff and others of inconsequence. He had started Tudor’s first two games, a reward of sorts for the dynamic form that could not ultimately save Thomas Frank, but his new manager’s affections had quickly waned. Recalled to chase an essentially lost cause, Simons’ task was to display the ingenuity and drive that might propel Spurs out of peril in the longer term.

The Egypt forward led Galatasaray a merry dance for 17 second-half minutes to Anfield’s delight

Welcome back, Mo. The old place has missed you. How many more of these are we going to get?

It would be incorrect to say this was Mohamed Salah’s night at Anfield. It was instead Mohamed Salah’s 17 second‑half minutes, although these were the decisive 17 minutes in this Champions League tie, and one of those interludes at this ground where a kind of voodoo descends, the night goes a little wonky and ghosts flicker at the edge of things.

Nellie Pou’s bill follows refusal of ICE chief Todd Lyons to rule out enforcement near stadiums and fan festivals

A New Jersey congresswoman introduced legislation on Thursday to block immigration enforcement from conducting raids within a mile of a Fifa World Cup soccer match or fan festival in the US this summer.

The Save the World Cup bill, introduced by Nellie Pou, a Democrat, is meant to assure visitors that they will not be detained and to remove the chilling effect of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations on the events, she said in a release. The World Cup’s first US match begins on 12 June.

PSG were given the weekend off to help them in Europe, with little consideration for how it would affect other clubs

By Get French Football News

Paris Saint-Germain do not need a helping hand but they were given it: first by the French football federation, who postponed their match against Nantes at the weekend so they could concentrate on the Champions League, and then by Lens, who lost 2-1 to Lorient and failed to retake top spot in Ligue 1.

The decision to postpone PSG’s game was one agreed upon by all parties, one taken to aid their preparations for their second leg against Chelsea, and one not without precedent. The same Ligue 1 fixture was postponed last season so PSG could focus on their European tie against Aston Villa.

• Former left-back signs until June with option to stay on

• Cole has been coach at Chelsea, Everton and Derby

Ashley Cole has been appointed as the head coach of the Serie B side Cesena. It is a first management role for the former Arsenal, Chelsea and England full-back, who has been developing as a coach since retiring from playing in 2019.

Cole’s positions have included working with Frank Lampard at Derby, Chelsea and Everton, with Wayne Rooney at Birmingham, and with England and the Football Association.

Atlanta United ended a long drought, there were dramatic finishes to a batch of games and Carles Gil finally has some support

On 28 May 2025, Atlanta United thrilled their home fans with a stoppage-time winner against Orlando City. Jamal Thiaré’s match-winner pulled the club within five points of the playoff places after 16 games, and the team hoped to harness the momentum for a rosier second half of the season.

Ruling of the Caf appeals committee is against the laws of the game and casts another shadow over Motsepe’s stewardship as president

In more than three decades of reporting on African football, I have gone through the entire gamut of emotions: exhilaration over some of the continent’s great moments at the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) and World Cup; frustration over the errors its governors make; and deep despair, wondering whether its custodians will ever live up to their responsibilities and do their jobs diligently.

The decision on Tuesday, by the appeals committee of the Confederation of African Football (Caf), to strip Senegal of the 2025 Afcon title and hand it to Morocco, leaves me gobsmacked, as it did a former member of the appeals committee. “As a person who was on the appeals board for six years I know it does not have the power to change the on-field decision of a referee. I cannot understand how they came to this disgraceful decision,” he said.

The mood already appears to be turning against the earnest coach with the fashionable glasses and box-fresh trainers

The temptation is always to make excuses for Chelsea. They have a young and inexperienced side. They have lots of injuries. They’ve accidentally appointed a smart young entrepreneur as head coach. They actually played pretty well for part of the first leg. And then you remember they’ve spent £1.5bn to get to this point – and that from a position of strength an inquiry has concluded they achieved by illicit means.

The Premier League may have been lenient in its judgment, but pundits should not be. Chelsea were outclassed to an embarrassing degree. It was never going to be easy to overturn a 5-2 first-leg deficit, but 8-2 on aggregate is a humiliation. It wasn’t just the margin of victory, though; it was the sense that, after going 2-0 up inside 15 minutes, Paris Saint-Germain could essentially have scored whenever they felt like it. This was a Chelsea performance devoid not only of spark but of structure.

All the managers since Pochettino have drained life from the club, which appears interested in anything but football now

Sad news coming out of Tottenham this week: Ryan Norys’s talk at the South by Southwest festival on Friday will no longer take place. The club’s chief revenue officer, who has overseen a 40% rise in commercial revenue over the past three years, was due to speak on “how Tottenham is evolving beyond football to become a global cultural brand”. And given the rich seam of cultural content Spurs have been providing the world over recent weeks, you have to say it’s been a stunningly successful initiative.

Alas, when Norys posted an advertisement for the event on his LinkedIn page this week, Spurs fans exploded with anger, forcing the talk to be cancelled. Fortunately, those still interested to see how Tottenham are evolving beyond football can simply observe their recent performances on the pitch. Igor Tudor’s Tottenham Hotspur: proudly evolving beyond defending. Beyond possession. Beyond goalkeeping. Beyond tactics, beyond teamwork, beyond competence, beyond the basic bipedal human ability to stand up straight. And – who knows? – perhaps even beyond the Premier League.

Hat-trick hero played as an auxiliary right-back before excelling everywhere in midfield in one of the great European displays

Fede Valverde made his way down the tunnel at the Santiago Bernabéu wearing the captain’s armband and the No 8 shirt Toni Kroos had wanted him to have. He carried the pennant commemorating what was going to be the match of his life, touched palms with the kids in the sponsored shirts that lined the route on right and left, and then stepped out into the light.

When he headed back inside again 45 minutes later, the first off the pitch at half-time, he paused briefly and clenched his fist, which was a pretty low‑key reaction considering what he had just done.

Our cartoonist on the Gunners’ teenage saviour and a new springtime ritual at Stamford Bridge

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The National League South club have had some strange recent owners – their fans who made the trip to Enfield hope Youtube superstar KSI is the real deal

The Premier League seemed a long way away at the full-time whistle at Enfield Town. There were boos from the few hundred travelling Dagenham & Redbridge supporters who had just watched 90 minutes of drab football at a level in the pyramid they are experiencing for the first time since the very start of this century.

Their club’s new minority owner, the YouTuber KSI, was not there to hear the jeers. He wants to take Dagenham to the top flight. “And I’d like to marry Brad Pitt,” said Suzanne Collier, who has been coming to watch them for 43 years, from the away end.

After Antonin Kinsky’s Spurs woes at Atlético, we recall five more matches the keeper in question would sooner forget

The score at the City Ground was goalless as Manchester City’s Andy Dibble captured an aerial cross and assessed his options. Little did he know that the Nottingham Forest midfielder Gary Crosby had spotted that he had rested the ball, casually, on one hand. “All I thought was: ‘He’s got to have it in two hands,’” said Crosby, who would steal up behind Dibble before stooping to head the ball out of his grasp and tap into the net. Despite concerted visiting protestations, the referee, Roger Gifford, remained unmoved and the goal stood. “I can never escape it,” admitted Dibble in an interview 14 years later. Crosby, meanwhile, has said: “It’s the one thing I get remembered for.” Dibble, now 60, retired from professional football in October when knee replacement surgery prompted his departure from his role as Accrington Stanley’s goalkeeping coach. He played for 18 clubs in a 24-year career that earned him three Wales caps.

Former striker recounts experiences of racism at Atlético Madrid but says he ‘didn’t have it as bad’ as Vinícius Júnior

The sad thing for Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink is that the cycle of racism feels endless. It was prevalent in football before his playing days and throughout his career as a prolific striker, and it has persisted since he retired in 2008.

Football’s racism problem has been thrust back into the spotlight in recent weeks after Vinícius Júnior accused Gianluca Prestianni of racially abusing him in Real Madrid’s Champions League tie with Benfica, and four Premier League players were racially abused on social media across a single weekend, prompting police investigations.

The 77-year-old’s 21st managerial role could be a final act and even if it is brief he will sprinkle the sixth tier with quintessential quips and well-aimed digs

There is a specific, restless energy to Neil Warnock that defies the traditional laws of ageing and the modern conventions of football management. At 77, he still wakes up in the dead of night to obsess over the overlapping runs of a National League South full-back.

“When I was thinking about the system this morning at four o’clock, [I was like]: ‘What are you doing?’” he said, a smile cutting through the post-match gloom at Ebbsfleet. The setting was hardly Premier League-like – a crowd of 1,467 huddled under a gloomy sky – but for Warnock, the stakes of the dugout remain existential. Even if the reality of his years occasionally intrudes on his tactical scouting. “When you get to my age, you have to go to the toilet a few times [which is why he was awake] … but I’m enjoying every minute of this.”

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Another night in Bigger Cup and the hopes and dreams of another two teams from The Best League In The World™ were brought to an end in varying degrees of ignominy. Of the six teams that advanced to this season’s Round of Arsenal, only two (including Arsenal) made it into the quarter-finals. This state of affairs has prompted all manner of existential angst for assorted Premier League cheerleaders. Never mind the fact that Barcelona are simply much better than Newcastle, or that Spurs have been complete bobbins for the best part of three seasons, the media needs a narrative. Thus, the mass exodus of English top-flight clubs from the last 16 must mean something. And so it has come to pass that an army of chin-stroking statto types who in previous cycles have mused that the likes of Paris Saint-Germain couldn’t hack it in Bigger Cup because their domestic league isn’t competitive enough, have now decided the reason so many Premier League sides hit the bricks is because the English top flight is just too darned competitive.

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We look at the 14th regular season before it kicks off on Friday with two expansion sides: Boston Legacy and Denver Summit

The National Women’s Soccer League’s 14th regular season starts on Friday with a rematch of last year’s semi-final between the Portland Thorns and Washington Spirit. From there, 16 teams will compete in a 248-match season, with eight teams qualifying for the playoffs.

We look at four themes that may define the year.

Players and coaches demand more accountability from Caf after latest decision further disrupts preparation schedule

On 13 February, Patrice Motsepe, the president of the Confederation of African Football (Caf), promised that this year’s Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (Wafcon), scheduled to be played in Morocco between 17 March and 4 April, would go ahead as planned. One of the reasons he had to make that statement was the 2024 tournament had been postponed for a remarkable 19 months, until July 2025.

That supposedly solemn presidential promise was broken on 5 March, 12 days before the start of the tournament, with many of the teams – including Nigeria, the defending champions, Cameroon and Ghana – playing friendlies across Africa and Asia to prepare for the showpiece, which also determines which teams get to represent the continent at next year’s World Cup.

This is an extract from our free email about women’s football, Moving the Goalposts. To get the full edition, visit this page and follow the instructions. Moving the Goalposts is delivered to your inboxes every Tuesday and Thursday.

The leaders haven’t won the title in more than 20 years. Yet very few neutrals are excited about seeing them as new champions

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What was striking after Arsenal’s grim 1-0 win at Brighton on Wednesday was less Brighton manager Fabian Hürzeler’s attack on the Gunners’ style than the way his criticism seemed to resonate. In England, it feels as though almost nobody, other than Arsenal supporters or anyone-but-City fans, wants them to win the title.

“If I would ask everyone in the room: ‘Did you really enjoy this football game?’ I’m sure maybe one raises his arm because he’s a big Arsenal fan but, besides that, no chance,” Hürzeler said.

This is an extract from Soccer with Jonathan Wilson, a weekly look from the Guardian US at the game in Europe and beyond. Subscribe for free here. Have a question for Jonathan? Email soccerwithjw@theguardian.com, and he’ll answer the best in a future edition.

Plus: which team has played the most weekday league matches and more snubbed hat-trick heroes

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“What’s the earliest an uninjured goalkeeper has been substituted?” asks Sam Roberts.

Unless you’ve been at a digital retreat in the Kerguelen Islands for the past eight days, you’ll know the context of this question. With Spurs 3-0 down at Atlético Madrid last week, their goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky, who was at fault for two of the goals, was substituted after only 17 minutes.

He was one of the worst players I have ever seen. He’s another player like the others, why can’t we change the goalkeeper? Because the goalkeeper has a different coloured shirt?

Out there he behaved as the worst professional, arrogant, ignorant athlete I have ever seen.

Max Dowman’s magic, Konstantinos Mavropanos shows heart and Chelsea go all LinkedIn but fail to link up

It is easy to say that Tottenham have a goalkeeping problem. Antonin Kinsky was brought in against Atlético Madrid precisely because Igor Tudor was having doubts about Guglielmo Vicario. Back in the lineup at Anfield, Vicario didn’t cover himself in glory for Liverpool’s opener. Dominik Szoboszlai is good at free-kicks – a quarter of the 16 scored in the Premier League this season have been his – but he’s had to come up with extraordinary strikes to beat goalkeepers such as David Raya and Gianluigi Donnarumma. His effort on Sunday wasn’t too far off centre and Vicario should have saved it, a weak wrist letting him down. But the Italian rallied, producing an exceptional save down low to tip a Cody Gakpo shot on to a post. He and the rest of a sturdy, if makeshift, Spurs defence provided them with a platform to get back into the game. Tottenham can delve into the transfer market in the summer to sign a goalkeeper but, until then, they need Vicario to make vital interventions in big moments in their fight for survival – Kinsky is unlikely to get another opportunity. Billy Munday

Match report: Liverpool 1-1 Tottenham

Match report: Manchester United 3-1 Aston Villa

Match report: Arsenal 2-0 Everton

Match report: Chelsea 0-1 Newcastle

All six of the Premier League’s last-16 teams have plenty of work to do in their second legs. Bodø/Glimt, meanwhile, have eyes on a fairytale quarter-final

A rude awakening for the English Premier League, a week when European football reasserted itself; financial dominance need not mean dominance on the field. Real Madrid’s first-half destruction of Manchester City was chastening. This was a Madrid team shorn of Kylian Mbappé, Rodrygo and Jude Bellingham and yet City were soundly beaten 3-0. Arsenal’s drab 1-1 draw with Bayer Leverkusen showed Mikel Arteta’s team will require more than set pieces to prevail in the competition.

Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Nicky Bandini and Archie Rhind-Tutt as Premier League sides fail to win any of their games in this week’s Champions League last-16 first legs

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On the podcast today: another disappointing night for the Premier League clubs in the Champions League. Federico Valverde with one of the touches of the season, cushioning it over Marc Guéhi before hammering home a first-half hat-trick.

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

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

• 2024 edition | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012

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

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

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

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

• 2024 list | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018

• Meet the judges | See how every judge voted

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

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

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

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