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Dan Ndoye’s goal secures a 1-0 win over Milan and sparks scenes of joy in the Piazza Maggiore once again

Vincenzo Italiano knew there was a little bit of poison in the chalice offered to him last summer but accepted it anyway. The opportunity to manage Bologna was a chance to lead a Champions League team for the first time in his career. It was also an invitation to become the public face of a project that had nowhere to go but backwards.

What could he possibly do to improve on the work of the previous manager, Thiago Motta, who led Bologna back into Europe’s top club competition for the first time in 60 years? Italiano would not even have the same group of players to work with. Joshua Zirkzee, the top scorer, was on his way to Manchester United and the newly capped Italy defender Riccardo Calafiori to Arsenal. Lewis Ferguson would be out for months with a cruciate ligament tear.

Elegant player and legendary coach looks back on some of his finest moments at ‘iconic’ Goodison Park

Standing outside a pawnbrokers on Goodison Road, waiting for his dad to emerge through the crowd after the match, a young Colin Harvey could not have imagined what lay in front of him. Standing in the same place today, the great Evertonian would face a statue of himself immortalised alongside fellow members of “The Holy Trinity”, Howard Kendall and Alan Ball. Time has not diminished the 80-year-old’s wonder at his life and legacy at Goodison Park.

“How do you go from being a kid watching Everton from the Boys’ Pen to having a statue on Goodison Road?” he says, with genuine astonishment. “If someone had presented me back then with a history of my life in football I’d have said: ‘Don’t be silly, nothing like that is ever going to happen to me.’ But it did. When I was told the statue was going to be made it was one of my proudest moments. I’ve had a fantastic football life and it amazes me when I look back on it.”

• 38-year-old to miss away finale and bow out at home
• Title-winning teammates expected for Sunday’s game

Jamie Vardy is expected to call time on his Leicester career after his 500th appearance for the club this weekend. Vardy, regarded by many as Leicester’s greatest ever player, has spent 13 years at the club and is poised to make his final appearance for themat home to Ipswich on Sunday and then not feature in their final Premier League match, at Bournemouth.

The 38-year-old striker, who is poised to captain Leicester for the final time, announced last month, after relegation to the Championship was confirmed, that he would leave the club at the end of the season. He was central to Leicester winning the Premier League against all odds in 2016 and the FA Cup in 2021 but conceded he wanted to exit on a better note, after a desperate season in the top flight, describing his own campaign as a “total embarrassment”. He will hope to score a 200th goal in a Leicester shirt against Ipswich.

• Spurs captain said to be target of false pregnancy claim
• Son is ‘clearly the victim of this incident’, his agency says

Son Heung-min has filed a complaint to South Korean police alleging he was the victim of a blackmail attempt, his agency said, after media reports that a woman had threatened the Tottenham captain with a false pregnancy claim.

“The police are currently investigating, so we will let you know the results as soon as they are available,” his agency, Son & Football Limited, said. “We’d like to tell you that Son Heung-min is clearly the victim of this incident.”

• Striker puts focus on FA Cup final against Crystal Palace
• ‘We need to finish well and get a trophy,’ he says

Erling Haaland has described Manchester City’s season as “horrific” and “boring” owing to the champions losing so many games, and said that makes winning Saturday’s FA Cup final against Crystal Palace even more vital.

City, the Premier League title winners in the past four seasons, are fourth, 18 points behind the champions, Liverpool, having lost nine times. They were eliminated by Real Madrid in the Champions League playoff stage and by Tottenham in the last 16 of the Carabao Cup.

This may have done no more than delay the inevitable and no one truly believes in a miracle, but suddenly there was a roar, a release, some life at the Santiago Bernabéu. The day before, Carlo Ancelotti had talked about the many wonderful comebacks over his years at Real Madrid, moments he said would never be forgotten, and now here in his penultimate game in this stadium was another, the 20-year-old centre-back Jacobo Ramón scoring with the last touch of the game to defeat Real Mallorca and keep the league title alive for another day at least.

It came late, very late on a grey, wet Wednesday night in front of perhaps 30,000 empty seats, with a manager whose departure was announced two days earlier and with a dozen players missing. Ultimately it may not matter and it arrived at the end of an evening that had often felt empty. Yet now it was full of noise, it meant the world to Ramón and for a moment everyone could just go wild, the defender’s strike in the 95th minute and Kylian Mbappé’s goal a quarter of an hour earlier overturning Martin Valjent’s 11th-minute opener.

Leyton Orient held their nerve in a penalty shootout to reach the League One playoff final after a gripping semi-final battle with Stockport.

Jack Diamond and Ryan Rydel missed from 12 yards as Orient prevailed 4-1 on spot-kicks after an absorbing tie had ended 3-3 on aggregate following a breathless 1-1 draw at Edgeley Park.

• ‘Hell yes’ investment believed to be for 10% of club’s value
• Ohanian is married to tennis legend Serena Williams

Alexis Ohanian, the co-founder of the social media platform Reddit and husband of the tennis legend Serena Williams, says he has invested in the Chelsea women’s team in order to “finally match their talent with the resources and respect they deserve”.

It was reported earlier on Wednesday that the American entrepreneur had bought a 10% stake in the Women’s Super League champions for £20m and, while there has been no official comment from Chelsea, Ohanian confirmed the news on social media.

As Crystal Palace and Manchester City prepare to meet at Wembley, how well do you recall the previous 143 finals?

By The Football Mine

Manchester United’s captain, her dad and a youth team coach reminisce about the first steps of her career before Sunday’s FA Cup final against Chelsea at Wembley

Black and white jerseys hang from a washing line tied to a shipping container and, inside the adjacent clubhouse, a group of lads are sipping cold beers on a bank holiday Monday afternoon. This is St Martin’s AC, a quintessential community club hidden down the narrowest of side roads on the island of Guernsey. Hanging proudly in a frame above the club’s bar is a No 4 shirt bearing the name: “Le Tiss”.

As the Manchester United captain enters her old clubhouse to greet former teammates, they immediately exchange banter. Maya Le Tissier is back home among those who saw her grow up from a toddler kicking a ball around to a 23-year-old who will, on Sunday, lead her team out at Wembley.

Everton won the first derby they hosted, Dixie Dean set his goals record there and Pelé made World Cup history

Goodison Park is officially opened by Lord Kinnaird, president of the Football Association and the only man to have played in nine FA Cup finals. Everton directors had purchased Mere Green Field, as it was known, after a rent dispute with John Houlding, the club’s former president and landlord of their previous home of nine years – Anfield. The new stadium was built in three months by the Walton building company Kelly Brothers, and at a cost of about £3,500, with stands on three sides and a bank of cinders on the Goodison Road side. The turf came from Aintree.

One of the most beloved Italian clubs of the past 40 years now face a long way back to return to glory days

It was not meant to go like this. On a Tuesday evening on the outskirts of Naples, Sampdoria – one of the most beloved Italian clubs of the past 40 years – slipped into Serie C with a whimper – the first time in the club’s history that they have been relegated to Italy’s third tier.

At the final whistle, following a dismal goalless draw at Juve Stabia, Sampdoria’s players wept on the pitch. Back home, fans of the club’s intercity rivals, Genoa, spilled out on to the shared streets in celebration, setting off fireworks, chanting “Sampdoria is no more”. That is not quite the case, but it’s going to be a long way back for Il Doria, who have long been more accustomed to battling with Juventus than Juve Stabia.

• Coach clarified claim he could quit after West Ham loss
• ‘What I am saying is we must perform or they will change’

Ruben Amorim has insisted he is “very far from quitting” Manchester United, the head coach moving to clarify his suggestion after Sunday’s loss to West Ham that he could walk away.

After the 2-0 defeat at Old Trafford that left his team in 16th Amorim stated that if next season started with the same dismal form it may be time for “new persons to occupy this space”.

• Late Ross County penalty sends Saints down
• Tackle on Hatate in 5-1 win angers Celtic manager

St Johnstone were relegated from the Scottish Premiership after Ross County scored a penalty in the sixth minute of stoppage time to rescue a 1-1 draw away to Dundee.

County’s Ronan Hale smashed home from 12 yards following a handball decision against Dundee’s Antonio Portales to condemn Simo Valakari’s side to the drop after they lost 2-1 away at Hearts.

• Deal with former Wycombe owner ratified by EFL
• Fan campaign group: ‘We are incredibly relieved’

Dai Yongge has sold Reading to Rob Couhig, ending the Chinese businessman’s turbulent reign. Couhig, the 76-year-old former Wycombe owner, has acquired the League One club, their stadium and training ground.

The English Football League said it wished Reading and their supporters “a successful future following a difficult period for all associated with the club”. A deal had been agreed for several weeks and has now been ratified by the EFL.

The Argentine superstar has been top-class, but a lack of structure behind him has been his team’s undoing. Sound familiar?

Inter Miami are used to having a target on their back by now, but no opponent has hit them harder than Minnesota United did on Saturday in a 4-1 rout. As if inflicting Lionel Messi’s heaviest-ever defeat in Major League Soccer wasn’t enough, the Loons took the opportunity to rub it in on social media, labelling South Florida’s Galacticos a “Pink Phony Club” – a jibe that irked David Beckham.

Beckham’s frustration, along with everyone else’s at Inter Miami, has built over a number of weeks. The Herons are experiencing an early-season reckoning. Their Concacaf Champions Cup challenge was ended by a rampant Vancouver Whitecaps who ran up a 5-1 aggregate scoreline to make the final despite Inter Miami making the competition a big priority.

The club’s success has brought hope, unity and a voice to millions of Azerbaijani- Turks, the largest minority in Iran

The league title was won with games to spare by a coach in his first season, leaving fans in the north-west of the country to wait for the official presentation of the trophy. Jamie Carragher said on Sunday that “Liverpool as a city feels like it is ‘us against the world” but that is nothing when compared to those who follow Tractor SC, a club that brings hope, unity and a voice to millions of Azerbaijani Turks, the largest minority in Iran. Now they have a first Iranian championship to celebrate.

That journey to the very top took 55 years. It started when the state-owned tractor company set up a team for its workers and residents in Tabriz, the biggest city in the Iran’s East Azerbaijan province as a whole, not far from the border with Turkey, Armenia and Azerbaijan. The relationship with the club and Tehran has been mixed ever since, especially as Tractor, after not doing much for quite a while, started to become a force on the pitch as well as a focal point off it.

The former Newcastle stalwart on his admiration for Eddie Howe, a brutal pre-season with Paolo Di Canio and a fairytale finish to his career captaining Portsmouth

It is not the first time Matt Ritchie has heard the line suggesting he should have been driving Newcastle’s open-top bus when the squad paraded the Carabao Cup before 300,000 supporters between St James’ Park and the Town Moor. “I’m not sure I could because I think it’s a different licence for commercial use,” he says, smiling, alluding to the LGV Category C one he obtained in the last of his eight seasons at the club.

There is no haulage sideline but rather he and his wife, Emma, who enjoys equestrian and showjumping, took the tests so they could drive a horsebox. “It is easy … you just have to take the corners a bit wider. I loved doing it because it was out of my comfort zone. The theory test was the hardest, hazard perception … there are tricks in there. It was like being a kid again: ‘I want to get this right.’”

Plus: hat-trick heroes who didn’t get a medal, shot-shy matchwinners and Jimmy Hill being caught off guard

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“The Inter keeper Yann Sommer was named player of the match against Barcelona despite conceding three goals. He made some great saves so it wasn’t undeserved, but I wondered if there were other unusual PotM awards,” says John Barrow.

This season’s Champions League tie between Real Madrid and Atlético will be remembered for Julián Alvarez’s two-touch penalty being ruled out. Before that Alvarez had inspired Atlético to a 1-0 victory on the night that took the tie to a penalty shootout; he was Uefa’s player of the match. Nick Berry could have written a song about it.

Our cartoonist details some notable moments from the 133-year history of one of Britain’s most iconic stadiums

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

Having waited so long to win his first title, England striker reflects on his journey amid beer-soaked revelry in Munich

It is late in Munich, approaching midnight, when Harry Kane appears. The nondescript, windowless TV interview room below the Allianz Arena could not be more of a contrast to the giddy, beer-soaked, firework-lit riot of celebration going on outside as Bayern Munich savour a 34th league title. There’s also something different about Kane, and it’s not just the gold medal.

The Kane visage that usually accompanies him at the end of a cup final, that little-boy-lost look of overwhelming disappointment, is gone. You cannot help but notice the broad grin, the relaxed body language and the tactile ease in the greeting, a man intoxicated by euphoria. “It’s been a long night,” he says, beaming. “And it’s just the beginning.”

New home and away kits for the US men’s and women’s national teams are bound to elicit opinions. Here’s what our experts think

The primary kit, white with a star print, will be worn only by the US women to start. Dubbed the “Brilliant Kit,” the marketing pitch says it’s a “tribute to the trailblazers who have shaped soccer and inspired generations. Star details are drawn directly from iconic past WNT kits, fused with a modern silhouette to reflect the optimism, leadership, and evolution of the game.” Does the kit accomplish this, to you?

I appreciate Nike saying the modern silhouette is reflecting all of those very nice-sounding buzzwords and not just “we put this design on one of our current kit models instead of reproducing shirt sizes from 1999 because no one wants to run around in baggy polyester any more.” Are the star details from past USWNT that are referenced supposed to be the stars they got from winning World Cups? If so, that’s a good flex. Unfortunately, the biggest visual reference this one conjures to me is the ‘94 men’s denim kit (which the women did not wear – the USWNT and USMNT designs didn’t match up until a couple decades later). I like the retro feel of it all and so that look-back-at-the-past direction succeeds. I can do without the rest of the blurb. AS

Captain has swapped rejection for affection and added to a season of unbelievable highs in thrilling clásico

Barcelona couldn’t get the player they wanted so they just had to settle for the best. At the end of another wild, joyous and exhausting afternoon, another clásico won their way, the captain called them all into the middle of Montjuïc. And where Raphael Dias Belloli calls, his teammates follow, all the way to the title. Which was why, an arm raised, a wrist wrapped in a blue bandage lifted above the crowd like a symbol of strength, the Brazilian who has been better than anyone anywhere, now gathered them round and led them into a lap of honour together. It was time to give thanks; time to get thanks, too.

They had earned it. Real Madrid, who were supposed to be invincible, had been beaten again. Sunday was the fourth time time this season, a record unmatched in 125 years: four victories in as many cities, Barcelona scoring four goals to go with the three, five and four in the previous clásicos, a circle closed. The first was the statement that started it all, a declaration of intent at the Bernabéu; the second won the Super Cup in Saudi Arabia; the third brought the Copa del Rey back from Seville; now they had virtually secured the league, a 4-3 win taking them seven points clear with nine left, double almost done.

An astonishing array of outcomes remain possible with two games left in tantalisingly unpredictable end to season

Antonio Conte characterised it as Napoli’s “bonus” game, a free swing, the mistake they could yet afford. A 2-2 draw at home to Genoa left a bitter taste, after having taken the lead in both halves, but this was no time to panic. “Before this we needed seven points to win the Scudetto,” said Conte. “We took one, so now we must win our last two games.”

It sounded so simple, put like that, but we had just been reminded of why it will not be. Genoa at home was supposed to be the most straightforward of Napoli’s remaining fixtures, against opponents with no objectives left to play for.

• Australia skipper not included among 23 players to face world No 33
• New-look team to play two matches in Melbourne and Canberra

The long wait for Sam Kerr’s return to competitive football continues with the Matildas skipper missing from Australia’s squad for upcoming friendlies against Argentina.

Kerr is into a 16th month of recuperation after undergoing surgery on a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament sustained in January 2024, and while she tentatively returned to the training field at her club Chelsea towards the end of the Women’s Super League season, she is not yet deemed ready for a recall to the national set up.

The town was ripped apart and the economy decimated. But now the football club will make an emotional return

It was about 7pm when UMF Grindavík’s players finished training in the club’s indoor hall. There had been seismic activity in the area all day but, in this harbour town to the south of Iceland’s famous Blue Lagoon, everybody had become wearily used to that. Earthquakes and volcanic eruptions had been a discomfiting, menacing backdrop to the previous three years. Everyday life had continued but now, on 10 November 2023, nature was to have its say. Four hours after its football team had completed their session, the danger had become intolerable and Grindavík was evacuated. Their once-thriving home quickly turned into a ghost town.

Nobody would dream of using the hall for football now. Its pitch is cleaved in two by a fissure up to 25 metres deep; one of the most striking images in a settlement that has been ripped apart. A chasm has destroyed their outdoor practice pitch too. But something remarkable will happen in Grindavík on Saturday: football will lead the way in a recovery few could have foreseen over the past 18 months. Grindavík will play at their Stakkavíkurvöllur home for the first time since the town’s abandonment, hosting Fjölnir in a second-tier fixture whose outcome feels distinctly secondary.

Stormy Anfield reaction to news of full-back’s exit on a free gives Liverpool coach a choice to make as trophy lift nears

A large portion of Liverpool’s match‑going support delivered a damning verdict on Trent Alexander-Arnold’s career choice on Sunday and, in one short sentence, Virgil van Dijk explained perfectly why there is no need for an encore when the champions return to Anfield to collect the Premier League trophy on 25 May. “There’s a lot more players that also deserve an amazing day,” the Liverpool captain said. There is no division or dissent on that score.

Arsenal’s visit to Anfield should also have been one long celebration, as well as an opportunity to demonstrate the gulf between the Premier League’s first and second-placed teams this season. The first half played out exactly that way. Arsenal may have produced a reaction that increased Mikel Arteta’s anger before Alexander‑Arnold’s introduction – “I hate reaction, I like action” – but the party was over as soon as the Real Madrid‑bound defender replaced Conor Bradley in the 67th minute.

Murals of McTominay in Naples? Don’t rule that out with the volatile manager who never stays long despite serial success

There’s always a Tottenham exception. Since leaving Siena in 2011, since he got his first break with a club that had a realistic chance of winning trophies, Antonio Conte has won league titles with Juventus, Chelsea and Inter. Going into Sunday’s matches, with three games remaining, his Napoli lead Inter by three points. In a decade and a half he has won a trophy with every club he has managed, apart from Tottenham.

Maybe Tottenham simply aren’t a club that had a realistic chance of winning trophies. Certainly it’s not as familiar to them as it is to Juventus, Chelsea and Inter. Napoli were Serie A title winners the season before last. Conte led Tottenham for 17 months and although he has the fifth-best win record of any Spurs manager, although he took them to fourth in his first season, having replaced Nuno Espírito Santo in the November, and although they were fourth when he left in March 2023, by the end the situation was so toxic as to be unsustainable.

While Fifa’s chief of global development focuses on offside toes and noses, VAR needs a helping hand somewhere else

Five years ago, Fifa’s chief of global development, Arsène Wenger, outlined his bold plans to change the offside law.

“The most difficult [issue] that people have [with VAR] is the offside rule,” he said. “You have had offsides by a fraction of a centimetre, literally by a nose. It is the time to do this quickly.

I am not a Liverpool fan but this week I have crossed a sacred line – and I’m struggling to feel sorry

This column begins with a confession. One I am afraid and not a little ashamed to make. One that my instincts tell me I should be taking to a priest who is bound to silence, or at the very least an understanding therapist. Certainly not to a forum of sports fans with strong opinions and keyboards full of potential swears.

Scourging rods at the ready, then: this week I have been wearing a Liverpool top. And I am not a Liverpool fan.

Our cartoonist on intense motivational techniques and banter in north London before European semi-finals

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Memories of a pie and pint at the football seem worlds away as hospitality folk will be charged up to £20,000 for a ‘world-class matchday experience’

The Premier League has become a place where not just the other half reside but the 1%. If money follows money then England’s top tier is a place to be seen, to do business, to entertain, for those who can afford the corporate facilities increasingly important to football’s bottom line.

On Saturday, before Fulham’s loss against Everton, a grand opening of Craven Cottage’s Riverside Stand. Its exoskeleton was a feature of the Thames during pandemic times, the bottom of the stand has been in partial service for the past three seasons. When contractor Buckingham Group in September 2023 collapsed it left the interior fit to be completed, plus much of the exterior; Buckingham’s collapse also delayed Liverpool’s Anfield Road redevelopment. Portview, the fit-out contractor, took control and full rollout comes before Fulham see out the 2024-25 season.

Fans protested against the leveraged takeover but were offered little support and the toxicity has had a lasting impact

The first time the Glazer family visited Old Trafford, in June 2005, they paid a visit to the megastore. Outside, hundreds of furious Manchester United fans turned up with banners and placards, shouted slogans such as “Die Glazer die”, and a few clashed with police. Inside, the Glazers were doing a spot of – and here we must stretch the word to its broadest possible definition – shopping.

For Joel, Avram and Bryan had no intention of doing anything quite as undignified as parting with their own cash. Instead they swarmed the aisles, scooped up armfuls of replica shirts and merchandise, which shop staff dutifully ran through the tills and bagged up. When the time came to leave, the Glazers simply took the bags and left. This was, after all, all their own property, theirs to take and use as they pleased. And as a metaphor for how they intended to run Manchester United over the next 20 years, it is about as good as any.

Now the subject of a documentary, the former striker opens up on his strict upbringing in Argentina, the heart troubles that ended his career and that Manchester City goal

During a visit to Madrid in 2007, Anatoliy Byshovets, the then head coach of Lokomotiv Moscow, said watching Sergio Agüero was like visiting the Prado. Pep Guardiola said he was a legend. Jorge Valdano said he could invent anything, anywhere, a unique footballer who had lost all fear, although he was wrong on that. Lionel Messi said he did the impossible. Diego Maradona said Agüero reminded him of himself, phoning one day to apologise for not playing him more. “I was a dickhead,” Maradona said.

Sometimes it can feel like the one person who never said Agüero was good was the one person he really wanted to. When the former Manchester City striker announced he was retiring at the age of 33, forced to stop by a heart problem, all the stress accumulated beneath the surface since his debut at 15, his dad called and said he had never seen a better footballer. He had played 786 games and scored 427 goals by then. “You waited until I retired to tell me that?!” Agüero replied. “I was happy and sad at the same time,” he says. “At last, he said something good.”

From rocks being thrown at cars to spectators being given the red cards, readers share their experiences of the most shocking scenes at children’s soccer games

The first manager my son had, when he was seven, got the parents together and told us how shouting could affect our sons’ development and behaviour, not only as players but as human beings. Usually, I don’t behave so badly. The worst I’ve done is to complain to the referee and I’ve sworn once or twice. But mostly I’ve been civil. There was one time, though, when a game was interrupted because the other team had fielded ineligible nine-year-old players. There was a lot of swearing and shouting from managers and dads. My wife decided enough was enough and took our son from the field to go home. He was the team’s only keeper so without him there was no game and several of the other team’s dads taunted us, shouting: “Are you running?”, “Are you scared?”. My wife ignored them and headed for the exit but one of the dads pushed her. Another guy punched me from behind and I completely lost it and punched back. Both teams were expelled from the tournament.
André Pereira Leme Lopes, 53, Brazil

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“Til the End”. That was the message that flashed up on the Stadium of Light’s advertising hoardings as Enzo Le Fée lined up a corner with three seconds left in extra time. Back at the halfway line, both managers were scribbling out lists of penalty takers. Sunderland, having produced an early knockdown by winning the first leg of this Championship playoff semi-final, had spent much of the previous 121 minutes and 57 seconds of Tuesday’s second leg against Coventry on the ropes. Yet here they were. Le Fée lifted the ball towards the near post, where Dan Ballard mistimed his leap spectacularly, ending up in a sort of crouched star jump as the ball deflected off his head, on to the crossbar, and into the net. The pin-drop silence was replaced by an almighty roar, a collective outpouring of relief and joy that seemed to move in waves as the home fans realised what it all meant. After 15 seconds of letting the crowd be heard (and watching Ballard struggle to get his own shirt off), Sky’s Gary Weaver picked up the mic. “An incredible noise that can almost be heard at Wembley!”

My dream now is coming to an end. You have to reinvent yourself. I’m starting to take the blinkers off, opening my eyes. What can I learn? I travelled back and forth from Newcastle to Bournemouth with JT [Jason Tindall] and Purchey [Stephen Purches] for two years. You’d get on the plane: they’d be on the laptop. In the airport, on the laptop, phone. ‘Have you seen this, Purch?’ You can’t switch off. They are constantly thinking about the next game. ‘How can we improve?’ I am thankful for those experiences, I’ve sucked it all up. It has given me a picture of what management might look like” – Matt Ritchie gets his chat on with Ben Fisher about his admiration for Eddie Howe, brutal pre-season training with Paolo Di Canio and a dream finish to his career captaining Portsmouth to safety.

That settles it. England are not one of the great football nations (yesterday’s Football Daily). Thanks for setting the record straight” – Steve Mintz.

Let me be one of 1,057 people to wonder about ‘In the modern era none of the great football nations have countenanced appointing a foreign manager’. It seems only yesterday that Sven took England to Munich and beat Germany 5-1. If that wasn’t the achievement of a great football nation, I have to wonder about your definition of ‘the modern era’” –Mike Walsh.

So, Sunderland are going to a Wembley final as underdogs. Now that’s never happened before (and as a Leeds fan of over 55 years standing, I was only just getting over it)” – Allastair McGillivray.

Could I use your space to defend myself against Nick Jeffery at the head of his hoard of 10000100001 barcode supporters (yesterday’s Football Daily letters). The Newcastle strip is clearly not a barcode. The stripes are equal width and equal spacing, and there is no obvious start or end point. Add to that the puzzle of working out a player’s arm and sleeve position which leaves handball calls looking like no-brainers. And obviously, not everything that is black-and-white is a barcode. Why, think of a badly scorched polar bear on a pedestrian crossing ... The RFID chip may solve many of Newcastle’s 21st-century digital desires, but it’s hard to imagine a goalscorer proudly thumping or kissing an anonymous area of shirt to demonstrate his allegiance to an invisible piece of firmware. No, the QR code it has to be. I’m already picturing some massive QR tifos, with dubious messages, sending the suits off to decode is it just Geordie vernacular or is it genuinely inviting Mr Infantino to do 000001?” – Ken Muir.

Mikel Arteta has explanations for his team’s shortcomings that may hold water, but ultimately the Gunners simply couldn’t get it done when needed

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The problem is that when the game doesn’t matter, other elements begin to take over. In other circumstances, Arsenal’s 2-2 draw at Liverpool on Sunday would have been an intriguing minor classic; but then, in other circumstances, it might not have gone like that. As it was, with the title won and Arsenal secure in the Champions League qualification slots, a clash between the top two became the stage for discussion of the booing of Trent Alexander-Arnold and a weird confected online fury about whether Myles Lewis-Skelly had applauded Liverpool with sufficient gusto in the guard of honour.

At least, from Arsenal’s point of view, the game followed the opposite pattern to the one with which we’ve become familiar. Arsenal have dropped 21 points from winning positions this season (Liverpool just 13), while Liverpool have gained 22 (Arsenal just 13). If they’d matched each other in those respects, Arsenal would be two points clear at the top of the league; that essentially is the difference between them.

The Copa do Brasil is back after a nine-year break but there are concerns about Brazil’s top flight before a first World Cup in South America

After a nine-year hiatus, fans of Brazilian women’s football will once again be able to support their clubs in the Copa do Brasil. The cup will bring together 65 clubs from the three divisions of the national women’s football league, starting with a preliminary round on 21 May and concluding with the final in November. It is a return that has long been requested by the women’s football community in Brazil in order to expand the calendar for lower-division clubs and gives high-profile teams such as Flamengo, Corinthians and Santos another opportunity to compete for silverware.

However, all is not rosy on the Brazilian club scene only two years before Brazil are to host the Women’s World Cup for the first time. There have been a few years of growing sponsorship and visibility in the top tier, the Brasileirão A1, but this season has exposed the challenges facing the game.

This is an extract from our free weekly email, Moving the Goalposts. To get the full edition, visit this page and follow the instructions. Moving the Goalposts is back in to its twice-weekly format, delivered to your inboxes every Tuesday and Thursday.

Union captain Lisa Heiseler, who has been at the club since she was 13, talks about promotion to the Frauen-Bundesliga

“I can’t describe how I feel,” Lisa Heiseler says as she reflects on a momentous weekend for Union Berlin Women. Just three days after her side secured a historic promotion to the Frauen-Bundesliga, the captain is clearly still processing everything that has happened to her and her teammates.

27 April 2025 will be a date for ever etched in the memories of Union Berlin’s women’s team and their supporters. A 6-1 victory over Borussia Mönchengladbach in front of more than 14,000 jubilant fans at the Stadion An der Alte Försterei saw Ailien Poese’s side secure promotion with three games to spare, one that will see them play in the top echelon of German football for the first time and at the first time of asking.

Faye Carruthers is joined by Suzy Wrack, Tom Garry and Chris Paouros to dissect a dramatic final WSL day

On the final Women’s Football Weekly of the WSL season, Chelsea cap off an unbeaten campaign with a last-gasp win, Arsenal edge Manchester United in a 4–3 thriller, and the final league table is locked in after 27 goals fly in across six games.

The panel assesses every team’s performance in the season, and Chris Paouros delivers her assessment in true school report style, covering everything from Chelsea’s relentless excellence, Arsenal’s attacking flair, Manchester City missing out on Europe, to Crystal Palace's relegation and Spurs and West Ham's underwhelming campaigns.

In a campaign notable for exciting imports and spectacular goals, there was consensus on the outstanding manager

Phallon Tullis-Joyce looked assured for Manchester United all season, unfazed by the Mary Earps-sized gloves she had to fill. Her command of the goal and her ability to make crucial saves propelled Manchester United up the table. With 13 clean sheets she shares the Golden Glove with Hannah Hampton. Xaymaca Awoyungbo

PSG and Inter will play for the crown at the end of the month but there were plenty of twists and turns before the finalists were decided

Inter