Football News

Still no out-and-out No. 9 Barcelona opened the season with a 5-0 rout at Elche. The attack is humming. Deco is still hunting a proper centre-forward before the window shuts. The reason is plain enough. None of the Catalan forwards is a true No. 9, and Hansi Flick wants another option through the middle. The…

What happened around the stadium On the pitch on Sunday, nothing went wrong for Barca. A 5-0 rout at Elche, the perfect start to the season. Outside, another story. Trouble broke out around the Martinez Valero before kick-off and a Catalan supporter was detained. The club waited until Monday to respond. When it did, it…

Two outings, same warning sign Paris Saint-Germain lost 1-0 to Lens in the Trophee des Champions. Then they were pegged back to a 2-2 draw at Rennes on Sunday on the opening weekend of Ligue 1. Two results, one pattern. The style has not shifted. High line, immediate press, a desire to own the ball.…

Twenty-five minutes to make an impact Anthony Gordon came on in the 65th minute on Sunday at Elche. Five minutes later he had two assists. The first arrived off his very first touch, teed up for Raphinha. The second went to Fermin Lopez, from a position where plenty of 80 million euro signings would have…

Not the dressing-down everyone expected Everyone was waiting for the usual Special One blow-up. A player turns in a so-so display, ends up scrapping with half the opposition, and suddenly he is making headlines for everything except his football. The script almost wrote itself. It did not happen. According to Marca, Jose Mourinho spoke with…

A 170 million summer Strasbourg have spent the summer cashing in. The Alsace club, forced to straighten out the books, have banked close to 170 million euros since the window opened. Diego Moreira went for 50 M€ before bonuses, Valentin Barco for 40 M€, Julio Enciso for 30,5 M€, Abdoul Ouattara for 20 M€. Four…

Jeered by his own fans Julian Alvarez endured a miserable Sunday afternoon. The Argentina striker was at the Metropolitano for Atletico Madrid’s draw with Villarreal (2-2), and the home support booed and insulted him for most of it. At the final whistle he walked down the tunnel alone, to a fresh round of jeers. The…

Newcastle were 99 minutes into their season and one clearance from beating Liverpool. Then Lewis Hall caught Victor Munoz in the box, and Dominik Szoboszlai stepped up.

Ten league games, one left foot Juventus opened their Serie A season with a 1-0 win at Frosinone and left the pitch with the worst kind of souvenir. Kenan Yildiz hurt his left foot during the game. The Turkish forward has since been assessed at the J Medical centre in Turin. The results are not…