“Andoni Iraola’s Liverpool ended a difficult week with a victory away to bottom-of-the-table Crystal Palace as Florian Wirtz got his first Premier League goal of the season. Liverpool, who lost at home to Arsenal last Sunday and at Fenerbahce in the Champions League midweek, struggled to assert themselves against Palace but, while their attack did not exactly click, there will be hope that Wirtz and Bradley Barcola, who got an assist, can build on this. …”
NYT/ATH

Barcelona move clear at the top after Fermín López’s double stuns Atlético Madrid
“They had been in a battle, they had been behind and they had been on edge, but Barcelona found a way through, holding on to their place at the top of the table and holding the doubts at bay for another day. A fortnight in which they were defeated by Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid, in which they might have wondered if something was not right, ended with a 2-1 win at Atlético Madrid. This was a proper test and a proper game, 10 World Cup winners on the field and first place awaiting the winner, and at the end of an intense enjoyable night, that was Hansi Flick’s side. …”
Guardian

Juventus long for a return to the pedestal
“It seems a long time now since Juve were dominating Italian football, winning no less than 14 trophies in 10 years, but they have won just a single major prize since the period between 2011-12 and 2020-21. In 2025-26, they finished sixth in Serie A and qualified for the UEFA Europa League, but they are a long way from regaining the position they enjoyed in their last golden age. The club has just announced that they need to raise € 250 million to bolster their finances and to remain competitive. …”
Game of the People

Infantino caught in the web as tide turns against Trump in midterms and leaves Fifa exposed
“Oh baby, clamp me in your repulsive mouthparts. Sink your unusually large and venomous fangs into my abdomen. And yes, we are doing this in the White House cabinet rooms, out there in plain sight of the watching world, just a gleaming golden ball between us. But it’s fine. Probably. Now take a sip of those sweet, sweet tiny male arachnoid entrails. An exciting new study was published over the summer into the habits of the Australian redback spider. The research made headlines for its focus on reproductive behaviour, specifically the male’s urgent and very willing engagement in what is known as sexual cannibalism, AKA copulatory suicide. …”
Guardian