• Europa League updates from 8pm BST kick-off
• Live scoreboard | Follow Spurs v Frankfurt live

It sounds like a number of Man Utd supporters are struggling to make it to the ground in time for kick-off. I’m sure we’ll hear more about that after the game.

Lyon will be missing their young wingers Ernest Nuamah and Malick Fofana when they host Manchester United on Thursday, which is a huge blow given their penchant for attacking down the flanks. The good news for Paulo Fonseca is that he will be able to call upon Rayan Cherki and Thiago Almada to carry out the attacking duties either side of Corentin Tolisso, with Georges Mikautadze leading the line.

• Europa League updates from 8pm BST kick-off
• Follow Lyon v Manchester United with Rob Smyth
• Live scoreboard | Read Football Daily | Mail Simon

4 mins: A pretty wild first few minutes, but Spurs have sensibly slowed the pace down with a long spell of not-very-adventurous possession.

2 mins: Chelsea have already wrapped up a handy away win in the first leg of their Conference League quarter-final. Here’s a report:

Tyrique George scored his first Chelsea goal as Enzo Maresca’s side eased past Legia Warsaw to take a commanding lead into the second leg of their Europa Conference League quarter-final.

Next week’s return at Stamford Bridge should be little more than a formality and it would take an almighty collapse for Chelsea not to reach the last four from here, after three second-half goals helped purge the memory of another uninspiring first period.

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Whether it’s Ed Sheeran at Ipswich, Michael McIntyre at Spurs or Hugh Grant and the Osman brothers at Fulham, celebrity fans always need to be on their very best behaviour, given the almost psychopathic obsession TV directors have with cutting away to them as the action on the pitch unfolds. Last night it was the turn of Prince William to find himself under constant surveillance in his VIP seat in nominative determinism’s Parc des Princes, where he and his son, George, were forced to abandon any plans they might have had to pick their noses, flick Vs at Paris Saint-Germain players or offer home fans out for a scrap on the concourse, for fear of being caught on camera and enjoying a surge in public popularity that no end of gladhanding elderly war veterans or official visits to former colonies could ever provide.

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

After a frenetic international window, here’s what we have learned about England and the 15 other contenders

The latest international window, with several high-profile games in the Nations League, provided goals, encouraging debuts, injuries and some shocks. Here, we run the rule over the 16 teams set to play in the European Championship in Switzerland in July.

• Striker argues PSG owe him unpaid wages and bonuses
• His lawyers have asked Paris court to start proceedings

Kylian Mbappé’s legal team are going on the attack with multiple lawsuits to try to resolve the legal dispute between the World Cup winner andhis former club Paris Saint-Germain.

The France striker argues PSG owe him €55m (£47.5m) in unpaid wages and bonuses, and his lawyers say they have asked the Paris court to start proceedings. Thomas Clay, one of the forward’s legal experts, said Mbappé had been authorised to make a precautionary seizure of the money, which was frozen from PSG’s bank accounts on Thursday. A legal hearing is scheduled for 26 May, he said.

• Relevent owns commercial rights for Uefa competitions
• Fifa, a former defendant, studying changes to policy

The long-running legal saga between the US Soccer Federation and US-based sports event promoter Relevent Sports is at its end, after Relevent filed on 9 April to dismiss the case from federal court, where it had been argued since 2019.

The case represented the last remaining legal hurdle to allowing worldwide domestic soccer leagues to play regular-season games within the United States, and its dismissal with prejudice means the path is now cleared for those games to take place should the leagues, clubs and fans allow it.

• Tristan Blackmon scored late to eliminate Pumas
• Whitecaps will face Lionel Messi, Miami in next round

Tristan Blackmon scored a stoppage-time equalizer to help Vancouver Whitecaps earn a 2-2 draw with Pumas on Wednesday and book a spot in the Concacaf Champions Cup semi-finals against Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami.

Sebastian Berhalter put Vancouver ahead in the 33rd minute but the Mexican club responded with goals from Guillermo Martínez in the 37th and Ignacio Pussetto in the 88th to take a 2-1 lead. Blackmon sealed the semi-final spot three minutes into stoppage time as the Whitecaps advanced on away goals.

The quarter-finals got going with some sparkling highlights. We hand out honours and dishonours from the latest round of action

Arsenal

Striker on his unusual path to England, his first sight of snow and how friends back home now wear Notts shirts

Football appears to be a small world but moving from the Gambia to Estonia still seems a little unconventional. It was a route the Notts County striker Alassana Jatta took when he left his homeland as a 20-year-old, desperate to make it in Europe as a professional. The journey from Sukuta to the banks of the Trent has been convoluted, complicated by absconding triallists, contract withdrawals and the weather.

Jatta’s CV is eclectic, featuring spells with Real de Banjul in his homeland, Paide Linnameeskond in Estonia and the Danish club Viborg. Currently he is second in the League Two scoring charts with 17 goals, spearheading the Magpies’ promotion push. They sit sixth, four points off automatic promotion, and face a trip to Salford on Friday.

Our cartoonist delivers an exclusive look at the remote Australian territory’s bid video and the penguin behind it

• He feels soul has been lost and criticises stadium plan
• Former striker says club rejected his offer of help

Eric Cantona has accused Sir Jim Ratcliffe of trying to “destroy� Manchester United and said the minority owner rejected his offer to help rebuild the club.

Cantona is considered one of United’s greatest footballers after playing for them for five years in the 1990s. On Saturday Cantona was at FC United of Manchester, who were founded by disaffected Manchester United fans in May 2005 as a protest against Malcolm Glazer’s leveraged purchase of United, which loaded about £500m of debt on the club.

• Coventry-born forward scores in stoppage time
• Bottom club Plymouth well beaten by Swansea

Coventry moved into the Championship playoff places after a dramatic 1-0 victory over visitors Portsmouth.

The game seemed destined for a frustrating stalemate from the hosts’ perspective, but substitute Jamie Paterson had other ideas. The 33-year-old attacker struck a high-class winner, volleying home in the fourth minute of added time as Coventry went above Middlesbrough and into sixth spot.

There is another game to be played but on this evidence Barcelona will do so just for the fun of it, and there may be no one having as much fun as they are right now. Their captain, Raphinha, refused to admit as much, flashing a knowing smiling as he said so, but a second Champions League semi-final in a decade is virtually secure already after all three of their fantastic forward line scored en route to a 4-0 victory against Borussia Dortmund at Montjuic. The last was taken by a 17-year-old who may already be considered the best player on the continent. And if he is not, perhaps it’s because a teammate is.

After all, while Lamine Yamal completed a near-perfect Barcelona performance with a gorgeous 14th goal of the season, Pedri continues to glide across a different plane and Robert Lewandowski, 20 years Lamine’s senior, scored his 39th and 40th. At 37, the Pole is the Champions League’s second top-scorer; the man above him is Raphinha, who also scored here as Barcelona reached 144 goals this season and almost certainly the next round, and perhaps beyond. They will take some stopping, that’s for sure.

Alyssa Thompson emerged as an attacking force while questions remain in midfield and at goalkeeper as Emma Hayes builds her team

The United States women’s national team were very much in the mode of trying out new stuff during friendlies over the last international window. A mostly first choice team looked sharp in a 2-0 victory over Brazil during the first match between the teams, but an extremely young, rotated squad showed their inexperience in a 2-1 defeat on Tuesday.

Head coach Emma Hayes has some tough decisions ahead of her to figure out difficult situations in midfield and goal. But in the forward line, Hayes mostly learned that she has a new star she can rely on.

Miami’s progress to the Champions Cup semi-finals shows the team now excel when they are the aggressors

Lionel Messi and Inter Miami are through to the semi-finals of the Concacaf Champions Cup after a wild, come-from-behind 3-1 victory over Los Angeles FC at Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Messi himself buried the decisive goal from the penalty spot in the 84th minute while LAFC missed a raft of chances late on to either put the two-legged series beyond doubt or snatch what would have been a shocking late victory.

• Progress made in talks over deal for Egyptian forward
• Van Dijk also likely to remain at Anfield past this season

Liverpool are increasingly confident Mohamed Salah will sign a contract extension beyond this summer after progress in talks over recent weeks. It is a significant boost with the captain, Virgil van Dijk, also likely to extend his stay beyond June. The Dutchman said this week that progress had been made with regard to securing his future at Anfield.

The pair have been instrumental for Liverpool this season, with the club closing in on a record-equalling 20th top-flight title. They have been ever-present in the Premier League under Arne Slot. Salah has scored 27 goals in 31 appearances while Van Dijk has helped Liverpool concede only 30 to put them top, 11 points clear of Arsenal, with seven games to play.

Lyon’s manager reflects on his nine-month domestic ban for confronting a referee and his Europa League hopes against Manchester United

“This kind of motivation can make miracles,� says Paulo Fonseca as he describes the glint in his Lyon players’ eyes before the visit of Manchester United. It is a clash of two giants who have lost their way – although something, at least, is stirring in France’s second city. They have won eight of their 11 games since Fonseca’s arrival less than two and a half months ago and that tells only part of a story with little precedent.

The Europa League quarter‑final first leg on Thursday will be a rare opportunity for Fonseca to do what he enjoys best: manage his team from the technical area, cajoling and tweaking from the sidelines. Early in March he was given a nine-month ban from domestic games for aggressively confronting the referee Benoît Millot towards the end of a win against Brest. He is barred from the dugout and from communicating with his bench until 30 November, but will be allowed access to the dressing rooms and tunnel area from 15 September. Recent Ligue 1 matches have been taken in from the press box. Uefa-run fixtures offer relief and he is still getting his head around a suspension with a duration which could have jeopardised his career.

PSG’s winger makes up his own moments – and he scored a beauty to set Luis Enrique’s side on course for victory

It took three minutes of the second half for Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, perhaps the most watchable footballer in Europe right now, to confirm the way this game was going.

Unai Emery had sent on Axel Disasi for Matty Cash at the break, with the score 1-1 and PSG hugely dominant on every metric. Cash was effectively doomed in this game from the moment he was booked pulling Kvaratskhelia back, just trying to stop the pain on Aston Villa’s right side, and already facing a case of terminal neck-crick from staring down at those shuffling feet. That was Cash’s fourth foul with just 17 minutes gone. Tick tock.

Arsenal’s ‘star boy’ is the player who epitomises Mikel Arteta’s team and he was hugely influential against Real Madrid

It was a brilliant teaser, one that had Arsenal fans smiling and shaking their heads, protesting loudly, essentially calling it immoral. Deal or no deal. They win the Premier League title. But they sell Bukayo Saka.

It was posted by the @goalglobal TikTok account at the start of last season and the reactions of those in front of the camera shone a light on just how loved Saka is at Arsenal. The consensus was no deal. It would not be worth it because some things just mean more. “That’s our star boy, that’s like your son,� one of the supporters said. The video was liked by 3 million people.

Midfielder has bounced back from tough Forest Green loan and is chasing Conference League glory at Legia Warsaw

Fourteen months ago, Maxi Oyedele was experiencing the lowest moment of a burgeoning career, being substituted after coming off the bench for a team destined for relegation from League Two. Now he is preparing for a European quarter-final with Legia Warsaw against one of the biggest clubs on the continent. Forest Green feels a world away.

When any teenager is loaned by Manchester United to a lower-league club, the aim is for them to gain experience that can help them progress. In theory, this is done through positive performances and playing against senior professionals, allowing a youngster to learn the tricks of the trade. Sometimes, however, a setback is the best learning curve. It has helped the midfielder earn full international honours, the Conference League battle with Chelsea in Warsaw on Thursday and a Polish Cup final next month.

It is Fifa’s own policies and hunger for monetization that has helped prevent American soccer from growing organically

Colin Cowherd peered down from his studio desk perched high above the chairs assigned to the guests on his Fox Sports talkshow. He had a simple question for Fifa president Gianni Infantino. More of a demand, really.

“Give me something about America that you really love,� Cowherd said.

Former England international on her own development, the need for Scotland to do well and winning silverware

“[Coaching] was always in my sights,� reflects the Rangers women’s head coach, Jo Potter. “I don’t know why because I don’t even think there were professional managers when I was coaching and trying to be a manager.�

“It’s something that I had clearly set in my mind from quite early,� she continues. “I was coaching from 18-19 years old and nobody knew. I did things so under the radar that people at the FA didn’t even know … It was really important for me to get all the experience because I wasn’t naive enough to think that just because I played for England, I could turn up and be a really good coach or manager.�

• Six neighbourhood associations join forces in letter
• Fears it would add to ‘touristification’ of city

Six neighbourhood associations in the Basque city of San Sebastián have asked Fifa to withdraw it as a venue for the 2030 men’s World Cup. The letter – which was criticised by the city’s mayor on Tuesday – comes three months after the city was named as one of 11 Spanish venues for the tournament taking place in Spain, Morocco and Portugal.

Signed by associations representing several areas around San Sebastián’s historic centre as well as a platform of residents pushing for “tourism degrowth,� the letter said: “Hosting the Fifa World Cup will only worsen living conditions in our city,� adding that it would “further exacerbate the touristification� of the city.

England’s puzzling form continued with a defeat in Belgium but Sarina Wiegman insisted she is unconcerned and believes the result will help her side in the long run.

From 3-0 down, the Lionesses attempted a stunning comeback, helped by a world-class debut goal from the striker Michelle Agyemang, but it was too little too late. Having seemed to be back to their entertaining best when emphatically beating Belgium on home soil on Friday, an injury-hit England side produced a wholly contrasting first‑half display in Leuven and could have no complaints about the scoreline.

• Club reportedly holds the Belgian’s MLS rights
• Signing would be complex under league’s rules

If Kevin De Bruyne decides to come to Major League Soccer for his next professional stop, the destination could very well be with Lionel Messi at Inter Miami.

The Athletic and ESPN each reported on Monday that the south Florida club have acquired the Belgian star’s discovery rights, giving them the right of first refusal to negotiate a contract with De Bruyne should he decide to move to the league after he leaves Manchester City. Inter Miami declined to comment on the reports.

Former Huddersfield coach has steered side away from relegation zone and claimed win at Bernabéu to savour

“You can’t let yourself be intimidated when you walk into this stadium,� Carlos Corberán said, although almost everybody is, better teams than his taking it in turns to fall to their fate. Valencia weren’t going to back down, even if there were 75,382 people waiting in the Santiago Bernabéu and just 150 of them on your side, wedged out the way high in the north-east corner. If their starting XI did cost €300m, another €120m coming at you off the bench, and only two of yours cost anything at all; if their striker’s signing-on fee would pay your whole squad, and if they’ve won more in 12 months than you have in 20 years. If they’re La Liga’s best home team and you’re its worst away, if they’re chasing the title and you’re running from relegation, 32 points, 47 goals and a world between you.

Not even if your captain is out and two more starters are absent precisely because Saturday at the Bernabéu isn’t really your fight, suspensions sought and served now, resources employed elsewhere. Not when your record against the big three this season says played five, lost five, conceded 20, your right-back is making only his third appearance and the other two ended 1-7 and 0-5. When you haven’t won away in 355 days, 12 cities visited without victory, and haven’t won here in 17 years, back when you were good. When none of your players ever have. Still, Valencia’s coach said the day he went for the first time, you need personality, belief. Even as the bell tolls, the bugle calls and the inevitable’s coming.

PSG have been flawless this season – something they never achieved with Leo Messi, Neymar and Mbappé in the team

By Get French Football News

“It’s only the start,� said Lucas Hernández as Paris Saint-Germain wrapped up their fourth consecutive Ligue 1 title in muted fashion against Angers on Saturday. To be crowned league champions is the climax of a season for many clubs; for PSG, it is merely the starting gun.

This isn’t the earliest that PSG have won the title. In March 2016, Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored four of his 38 league goals that season in a 9-0 win over Troyes, ensuring Laurent Blanc’s side wrapped up the title with eight games to spare. This term though, there weren’t the same fireworks as Désiré Doué’s solitary goal was enough to secure the all-important win but, make no mistake, this has been PSG’s most emphatic title win.

• Depleted Australia win 2-0 at McDonald Jones Stadium
• Record crowd watches as Fowler strike and own goal seal victory

Mary Fowler gave the Matildas cause for optimism ahead of next year’s Asian Cup after a fine first-half finish and some second-half wizardry helped secure a second friendly victory over continental rivals South Korea in the space of four days, this one ending 2-0 in Newcastle in front of a record crowd.

The Matildas were missing half their first choice line-up to injury and were well-matched against the visitors for much of this physical chess match, but proved resilient in keeping the opposition scoreless and accelerated away in a dominant second half.

The defender’s Singaporean club Lion City Sailors can ruin Sydney FC’s dreams of reaching an Asian final for the first time

Bailey Wright knows a thing or two about defensive resilience. Capped 29 times by the Socceroos, the Melbourne-born defender played an important cameo role in one of Australian football’s most significant victories – the 1-0 win over Denmark in the final group game at the Qatar World Cup which sealed progression to the last 16.

Australia had to withstand a late barrage that night in al-Wakrah, and Wright, who Graham Arnold deployed off the bench with 15 minutes to go, was at the very heart of it.

Former Liverpool midfielder was frozen out by Turkish club but has seized lifeline given by new manager

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is still just 31 years old, which feels very young for a man who made his first-team debut for Southampton when Gordon Brown was UK prime minister. It is just over 15 years since Oxlade-Chamberlain broke into Alan Pardew’s Saints squad, aged 16, and after successful and high-profile moves to both Arsenal and Liverpool, plus a trophy haul that includes a Premier League and Champions League title, plus three FA Cups, few can say that Oxlade-Chamberlain has not fulfilled his potential.

Yet his exit from Liverpool at the expiry of his contract in 2023, aged just 29, felt a little hollow. Presented with a photo collage after his final Anfield match and photographed on the pitch alongside his fellow departees, Roberto Firmino (to Saudi Arabia) and 37-year-old James Milner (to Brighton), who were both beaming ear to ear, Oxlade-Chamberlain looked a little lost, diffident almost. Where next?

• Yassine Cheuko had helped protect Inter Miami star
• MLS now using its own security on matchdays

Lionel Messi’s bodyguard, Yassine Cheuko, has been banned from from the touchline during Inter Miami matches.

The former Navy Seal has gained a cult following from social media videos showing him closely watching the crowd to stop rogue fans from harming the Argentinian star. He has also chased down fans intent on getting close to Messi on several occasions.

­Manchester United fans chanted abuse at Manchester City’s Phil Foden about his mother during Sunday’s goalless derby. City manager Pep Guardiola said the move 'lacked class' and added: 'I don’t understand the mind of the ­people ­involving the mum of Phil, it’s a lack of integrity, class, and they should be ashamed.' It is understood that City were shocked and disgusted by the chants and the number of people involved. United’s stance is that they condemn all abusive chants aimed towards players

• ‘Lack of class’: Guardiola hits out at United fans’ chant about Foden’s mother

Weston-super-Mare’s Luke Coulson scored from his own penalty area against Hornchurch in the National League South. With the hosts 3-2 down in stoppage time, goalkeeper Mason Terry went up for a late corner - but the ball instead dropped to Coulson, who kicked it from the penalty spot all the way upfield, where it bounced and rolled into an empty net.

Sir Gareth Southgate has expressed his concern that 'callous, manipulative and toxic influencers' are taking the place of traditional father figures in society and contributing to mental health issues among young men. He believes the decline in communities and a lack of mentors – or 'father figures' – are causing more young men to become reluctant to talk or express their emotions. Southgate voiced concern that 'this void is filled by a new kind of role model who do not have their best interest at heart'.

• Gareth Southgate rails against ‘callous toxic influencers’ in Dimbleby Lecture

Newcastle United beat Liverpool 2-1 at Wembley Stadium to win the Carabao Cup final. Goals from Dan Burn and Alexander Isak gave Newcastle a two-goal lead before Federico Chiesa scored a late consolation for Liverpool. The Newcastle manager Eddie Howe said: "With such a long wait for a trophy, this will be a day that I'm sure everyone will never forget." More than 32,000 Newcastle fans made the journey to Wembley and they celebrated the victory into the night.

• Eddie Howe ‘will never forget’ day Newcastle broke trophy drought

Loss to Belgium highlighted a lack of speed in the back four while Hannah Hampton looks set to be No 1 in Switzerland

England’s results and performances in 2025 suggest they are one of a relatively small group of teams to which the following two statements apply: they are good enough to win this summer’s European Championship title if they play at their best, while they are also vulnerable to crashing out in the group stages if they are off their game.

That great potential coupled with inconsistency could scarcely have been illustrated better than by their two matches this month: the first, an emphatic 5-0 win at home to Belgium on Friday in which the Lionesses looked unplayable at times; and the second, a concerning 3-2 loss away to the same opponents on Tuesday that exposed how easy it can be to score against Sarina Wiegman’s team. But what else can be gleaned from these two hugely contrasting matches?

With the title and relegation all but decided, fourth and fifth are the main spots of intrigue as the end of the season approaches

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Southampton’s relegation from the Premier League was confirmed on Sunday, with a record seven games remaining. Wolves beat Ipswich, so there is now a 12-point gap between the bottom three and the rest: Ipswich and Leicester look doomed.

The gap at the top, meanwhile, remains a seemingly unassailable 11 points. Leaders Liverpool lost at Fulham but, with Arsenal only drawing at Everton, it didn’t really matter.

Talented players are heading to club but there is uncertainty over their home and an awkward fixture list may deny them a top-five place

The promise of a better tomorrow at Chelsea divides opinion. While some predict disaster, others look on with fascination. Speaking to an analyst at a Premier League club last week, the feedback was glowing when the conversation turned to Chelsea beating Manchester United to the £44m signing of Sporting’s 17-year-old winger Geovany Quenda. Good players are heading to Stamford Bridge. The question is less whether Chelsea have an eye for talent, more whether they can put the pieces of the puzzle together.

They are not deviating from their chosen path. There is a sense that Chelsea, aware of the mockery about all the seven-year contracts, are waiting for the moment when they can silence the critics. They have faith their process will come off.

Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Philippe Auclair and Archie Rhind-Tutt as to talk over the Champions League action

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On the podcast today: PSG get a vital goal in injury time to give them a healthy lead over Aston Villa. There were four brilliant goals in the game but the best of the bunch came from Désiré Doué, whose long-range effort left Emi Martínez planted to the floor.

Plus: surnames that begin with the same letter, Gil Scott-Heron’s dad and Bradford Park Avenue’s unwanted record

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“Ipswich. Leicester and Southampton have a combined total of 47 points. Are they on course to be the worst bottom three in Premier League history?� asks Will Hollis.

In a 24-season period from 1999 to 2023, there were no cases of all three promoted clubs being relegated from the Premier League. Now it is probably going to happen for the second successive season. In 2023-24, Luton, Burnley and Sheffield United gained 66 points between them, easily the lowest combined total of the Premier League era.

Faye Carruthers is joined by Suzy Wrack, Tom Garry and Sophie Downey to discuss the Lionesses tale of two matches against Belgium

On this week’s Guardian Women’s Football Weekly, the panel, who are scattered across Europe, discuss the Lionesses’ two game in four days home and away against Belgium.

Last Friday was a very comfortable 5-0 win in Bristol but fast forward to Monday and it was a different story as Belgium got their revenge with a 3-2 win, leaving the Lionesses in second place in their group

United and City play out a deeply forgettable Manchester derby and Unai Emery gets his Aston Villa team right

• Premier League top scorers: the latest standings

This was a deeply forgettable derby, but it was Manchester United who looked the more likely to get a winner as time ticked down. Ruben Amorim spoke afterwards of using pace in transitions to try to carve out chances – and with a little more composure in the penalty area, it might have worked. Bruno Fernandes was the game’s standout player but Patrick Dorgu also caught the eye in just his fifth Premier League start. Signed from Lecce in January, the Danish wing-back is the first player Amorim has brought in that fits his system. Freed up by City’s narrow formation, Dorgu was able to get forward and test City’s backline at will. The 20-year-old’s red card at Ipswich sparked fears that, like some other young United recruits, he was too raw for regular Premier League football. Sunday’s performance should ensure he holds down the left-sided spot in Amorim’s 3-4-3 setup for the rest of this season, even with Luke Shaw nearing a return to fitness. Niall McVeigh

Match report: Manchester United 0-0 Manchester City

Match report: Fulham 3-2 Liverpool

Match report: Tottenham Hotspur 3-1 Southampton

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Despite having made 405 senior appearances for club and country/countries, Declan Rice had never scored with a direct free-kick before the match between Arsenal and Real Madrid at the Emirates Stadium. Indeed, not only had the Arsenal midfielder never scored from a direct free-kick, he had not even provided the slightest shred of evidence that he might be a mite handy over any dead ball that wasn’t placed near the corner flag, ready to be arced with precision on to the head of one of his teammates. So when Rice channelled his inner Roberto Carlos and defied both his instructions from the bench and the laws of physics to curl the first of two free-kicks around the four-man defensive wall and centimetres inside the upright, it seemed fitting that the Brazilian he’d just emulated was in the stadium to see his thunder(bolt) stolen by a 26-year-old Londoner playing in one of the biggest games of his career.

It’s just funny for my mum because she left Poland to come to England and make a life; I left England to go to Poland to start my journey� – Maxi Oyedele gets his chat on with Will Unwin about his life at Manchester United, a tough loan spell at Forest Green and finding his feet at Legia Warsaw, who play Chelsea on Thursday.

Top marks to The Guardian for its behind-the-scenes exposé of Real Madrid’s preparations on Monday, complete with a photo that told its own story. The Spaniards’ pre-game worries about dealing with Arsenal’s set-piece prowess were certainly realized in spectacular fashion last night, if not from the expected quarter. However, preparing Thibaut Courtois by having him make saves in a drastically reduced goal seems to have been a bad error of judgment, in retrospect� – Justin Kavanagh.

Our cartoonist on legacy fans being taken for granted and YouTube ballers taking the game in a new direction

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Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Jonathan Liew and Mark Langdon as Nottingham Forest beat Manchester United, taking a step closer to Champions League football next season

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On the podcast today: Anthony Elanga scores a wonderful solo goal against Manchester United and it proves enough for Nottingham Forest to claim a vital 1-0 win in the hunt for Champions League football.

England goalkeeper on how she has fine-tuned her game since moving to France and ‘loving the architecture’ in Paris

Many of us might perceive it as a bustling metropolis full of tourist hotspots. To Mary Earps, however, Paris is noise-free. Peaceful. Beautiful. It is very rare for anybody to spot the England goalkeeper in public – unless she is at the airport or waiting to catch the Eurostar from Gare du Nord – and, for a player who shot to fame so quickly that she was the 2023 BBC Sports Personality of the Year, such relative invisibility in the City of Light is a blissful feeling.

“It’s been more refreshing than I thought it would be,� Earps says of her move to Paris Saint-Germain, who she joined last summer. “The last few years have been unbelievable, a massive acceleration I could never have predicted, and what’s come with that is some incredible opportunities but also a lot of noise, and so I really wanted to get into a little focus zone and just totally concentrate on my development as a footballer. Careers are short and I really wanted to maximise mine. I’m trying to squeeze out every last bit of potential that I have in myself and put the blinkers on a little bit – it’s been nice to escape and just be totally all-in with trying to push myself to another level.�

Amid club’s scoring struggles we run through the centre-forwards, from Rooney to Zirkzee, since Alex Ferguson’s exit

Centre-forward only statistics: Games 63 Goals 26 Assists 14 Mins 5,196

Uefa’s president could yet do a volte-face and run for office in 2026 as he enjoys success of new-look Champions League

As Uefa’s delegates filed into a long, low-ceilinged room it was tempting to wonder what difference a year makes. Sava Centar in Belgrade places function ahead of form and there was little of the Parisian grandeur that adorned the governing body’s annual congress in 2024. Nor were there as many fireworks on display, although plenty of the issues that will define European football over the second half of this decade flickered persistently around the edges.

Last year’s event turned into the Aleksander Ceferin show, the Uefa president drawing a scandalised reaction by pushing through an extension to the term limits for his role before pulling the rug away by announcing he would step down in 2027 anyway. Uefa had already been rocked by the acrimonious departure of its head of football, Zvonimir Boban, and the sense was that internal posturing risked diverting focus from the real structural and existential concerns the sport continues to face.

Fulham were excellent in beating the champions-elect and credit should be given to the mid-table tier’s progression

Here it comes then. The much‑promised collapse. The improbable, but somehow also deserved and collectively willed disintegration of these champions by default. Something like that anyway. Tell you what though. Fulham are good aren’t they? And particularly so, it should be said, for a team that started the day 10th in an apparently mediocre league. Or is that not part of the story?

At the end of a fun, boisterous 3‑2 victory for Marco Silva’s excellent, vigorous upper‑midtable team the talk will of course be about Liverpool, and not necessarily in a very flattering way.

Chelsea and England defender on the power of football and praise for her teammate for talking about her ADHD and autism diagnosis

“When you experience the things we have in the women’s game, it does open your eyes to the struggles of others,� says Millie Bright. “It makes you more aware of all kinds of different barriers people might face. You really appreciate the struggles that people have to go through and the constant barriers and battles that have to be fought every single day just to exist. Literally just to exist. You’re not asking to be better than anyone, you’re just asking to exist and be able to do what you love doing, whatever that is, in sport or beyond sport; things that are just part of living a full life, and everyone deserves a full life.�

The Chelsea and England defender is sitting in the small stand at Cobham FC’s brilliantly named Leg O’Mutton Field talking about the power of football. Last year Bright was back in Killamarsh, the village in north-east Derbyshire where she grew up, visiting the “Millie Bright pitch� at her childhood club, Killamarsh Juniors. The club had previously benefited from Football Foundation funding. Since then, 30 3G pitches dedicated to prioritising women’s and girls’ football that have received funding via the Premier League, the Football Association and the government-backed Football Foundation’s Lionesses Futures Fund.

Rodri has beaten Vinícius Júnior and Erling Haaland to top our ranking of the most talented players in the world this calendar year

• How all the judges voted | Rodri heads 2024 list | Our methodology | The top 100 female players in the world
• 2023 edition | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012

The Manchester City midfielder becomes the sixth player to top our ranking of the world’s best 100 male footballers

• The 100 best male footballers in the world 2024

One of the worst things about seeing Rodri in agony on the pitch against Arsenal in September – and the subsequent news that he had ruptured an anterior cruciate ligament – was that in the buildup to the injury he had criticised the workload being put on players. It was as if he knew something bad was about to happen.

In April, after an epic 3-3 draw at Real Madrid the Manchester City and Spain midfielder said: “I do need a rest.� He added: “Let’s see how we speak, how we live the situation. Sometimes it is what it is. I need to adjust. It [rest] is something we are planning, yes.�

Aitana Bonmatí finishes top of our rankings for a second consecutive year, with Caroline Graham Hansen second and Sophia Smith third

• Bonmatí on top of world again | How every judge voted | Video top ten | 2023 list | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018
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The Spanish midfielder wins for a second consecutive year on a fast-moving list that sees 15 players appearing for the first time

• The top 100: check out the full list for 2024

Aitana Bonmatí emulates her Barcelona and Spain teammate Alexia Putellas and takes back-to-back wins in the Guardian’s 100 best female footballers in the world list.

The double Ballon d’Or winner received votes from all 99 of this year’s judges, finishing 667 points clear of her club teammate Caroline Graham Hansen, the Norwegian climbing to her highest ranking after a superb individual year for both club and country.

From Franco Mastantuono to Estêvão, we select some of the most talented players born in 2007. Check the progress of our classes of 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 … and look at the editions from further back

We pick the best youngsters at each club born between 1 September 2007 and 31 August 2008, an age band known as first-year scholars. Check the progress of our classes of 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 … and look at the editions from further back

From Warren Zaïre-Emery to Endrick, we select some of the best players born in 2006. Check the progress of our classes of 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018

• Next Generation 2023: 20 of the best Premier League talents

The two Americans were on our list five years ago but their paths show the professional game is rarely straightforward

Career paths are rarely straightforward, whether in football or any other area of life. Circumstances often change. Injuries and illnesses happen, there are often changes in leadership which have an impact on the individual while personal lives also play a part.

Career paths are therefore very difficult to predict. Looking down the list of our 2019 Next Generation, which we have now followed for five years, there were no guarantees any of the players would become household names. OK, Alex Holiga, who covers the Balkans for us, was confident that Josko Gvardiol would make it big – which he has – but apart from him, and perhaps Ansu Fati, Eduardo Camavinga and Jérémy Doku, there were no certainties.

A remarkable year for the youngster. Made his Bundesliga debut on 18 January and has not looked back since. He now has 23 first-team appearances and has established himself as a starter and one of the most talented young players in Europe. “I’m still learning a lot tactically,� he said in August. “There is a very big difference between youth and professional football. Making the right movements and creating space for myself and others is what I still need to learn the most.

A tumultuous year for the young American who was caught in the crossfire of a feud between his own family and the USMNT coach, Gregg Berhalter, after the World Cup, during which he played a mere 52 minutes of the US’s four games. Injuries have once again hampered him but he is back to full fitness now and a US return seems likely too after talks with Berhalter.