“It wasn’t pretty but Tottenham Hotspur’s return to the Champions League was a winning one. A calamitous own goal by Villarreal goalkeeper Luiz Junior in the fourth minute proved enough for Thomas Frank’s side in a low-key encounter in north London, although few Spurs fans were complaining at the relative lack of fireworks. Here, we analyse the major talking points. …”
NY Times/The Athletic
YouTube: Tottenham vs Villarreal 1-0 – Highlights & All Goals
Tottenham 1 Villarreal 0 – How did Spurs score such a bizarre goal on Champions League return?
Leave a reply
“Harry Kane scored twice as Chelsea’s return to Europe’s top table ended in defeat despite a promising performance in Munich. The England forward scored a penalty for Bayern before adding a second in a 3-1 victory at Allianz Arena in the first match of the Champions League league phase. A Trevoh Chalobah own goal from a Michael Olise cross after a drop ball had put the home side ahead before Kane doubled the lead from the spot after being fouled. …”
“Eddie Howe said it will be ‘magical’, ‘
“GUADALAJARA, Mexico – At Canteritos El Guero in the town of Tequila, Jalisco – a popular gathering spot for locals and tourists – a group of friends mingles with strangers, dancing to the sound of live banda music. Many of the men are wearing jeans and charros, a sombrero similar to a cowboy hat that is an emblem of Mexican identity. Tequila, the liquor that is most synonymous with Mexico, originated in this small folkloric community. The land that surrounds the region is replete with the blue agave plant that is the main component of the distilled spirit. Guadalajara, the largest city in the state of Jalisco, is also the birthplace of mariachi music and many other Mexican customs. …”
“Less than four months after Paris Saint-Germain lifted their inaugural Champions League title by thrashing Inter, the 2025-26 edition is upon us. The 36-team league phase of Europe’s premier club competition kicks off on Tuesday, with Arsenal facing Bilbao’s Athletic Club in one of the two early kick-offs. There are plenty of other highlights this week too, with Bayern Munich facing Chelsea in a 
“The league phase of the UEFA Champions League begins soon in what is the 70th year since the competition first took place. The first game took place on September 4, 1955 between Sporting Clube de Portugal and Partizan Belgrade, a 3-3 draw in Lisbon and the first British club to participate, Hibernian, made their bow on September 14 with a trip to Rot-Weiss Essen. … Meanwhile, Hibernian, who had finished fifth in the Scottish League in 1954-55, were confirmed as Scotland’s representative. Some sceptics wondered if Hibs were equipped to play in the competition, but Partizan had finished at the back end of their domestic top six. …”
“… In a tournament compromised by wet weather and therefore boggy pitches, hosts West Germany were not overwhelmingly popular winners. 
“This summer, the traditional ‘Big Six’ clubs signed more players from the rest of the Premier League than in any of the previous 15 seasons. 
“The map shows the average attendance of the 24 clubs of the 2025-26 EFL Championship (England/2nd division). The clubs’ badges are arranged around the coast of Britain, in grouped boxes. They are grouped by Counties or Regions. The circles-with-club-badges represent each club’s home league average attendance for 2024-25 – the larger the circle, the higher the club’s attendance last season. Each circle-with-badge points to the club’s home-venue location. That home-venue location is listed on the map, along with the club’s home-county or home-region. …”
“Aston Villa’s goal of the month for August was simple. They decided not to bother with it at all because, for only the second time in their history, Villa failed to score in their first three league fixtures. They are the only team out of 162 that make up England’s top seven leagues (Premier League down to the National League North and South) yet to hit the back of the net. A big caveat here is that they have played only three league matches, whereas some teams in lower leagues have played more than double that number. …”
“Barcelona’s Camp Nou return has been delayed again, with the club now having to play their first home match of the season at the 6,000-capacity stadium next to their training ground. On Tuesday evening, just five days before their La Liga fixture against Valencia on Sunday, the Catalan club confirmed the game will be hosted at the Estadi Johan Cruyff, which is where their reserve and women’s teams play. But we still do not know where Barca intend to play their other home games over this season. Can they really get back to the Camp Nou? Is returning to Montjuic an option? Might they even stay at the Johan Cruyff? Here is the latest on what we’re hearing, informed by sources at La Liga, Barcelona and the Barcelona city council — who all requested to speak anonymously to protect relationships. …”
“An early memory of visiting Milan involves walking through arrivals at Malpensa and being confronted by Andriy Shevchenko. Our meeting, then at least, was in portrait rather than in person. Shevchenko was the face, the masculine muse, of a monochrome Armani campaign. The poster showed him standing against a wall, pinstripe suit loosely buttoned at the lapel, his silhouette cast on marble tile. …”
“Tottenham Hotspur has been the club where everything changes but its owners. For all that managers and players come and go, ENIC has held power for almost a quarter of a century. No Premier League owner has lasted longer. The front-facing leader had always been Daniel Levy but 
“England made it four wins from four in their 2026 World Cup qualifying group, but it was far from convincing stuff. There was a fresher look to Thomas Tuchel’s starting XI, with the likes of Bukayo Saka, Phil Foden and Cole Palmer all out injured, but despite maintaining complete control of the match and never looking in any danger of dropping points, there was little to get the Villa Park crowd off their seats. A first-half own goal and a second half Declan Rice header were enough to preserve their five-point lead at the top of Group K, as they prepare to travel to Serbia — the biggest threat to their qualification hopes — on Tuesday. …”
“One of the charming aspects of following foreign football is realising that certain concepts are expressed in different ways to how it’s done in your own country. And one of these, for those of us accustomed to British conventions but who follow the game in continental Europe, is the simple passage of time. So whereas you’re generally more likely to find the 24-hour clock on the continent — a kick-off time might be listed at “19h” — it is somehow also more common for their television scoreboards to display a clock counting up from 00:00 at the start of the second half, rather than the 45:00 we’d be accustomed to in Britain. Similarly, if you read — for example — La Gazzetta dello Sport in Italy, you won’t read goals recorded as being scored in the 65th minute in its pages, but instead in the 20th minute of the second half. …”
“France struck early through Michael Olise and sealed the points with a late Kylian Mbappé breakaway to open their World Cup qualifying campaign with a 2-0 victory over Ukraine in Wroclaw, Poland. Mbappé’s 82nd-minute strike, set up by his Real Madrid teammate Aurélien Tchouaméni at the end of a rapid counterattack, took the forward to 51 international goals, drawing him level with Thierry Henry in second place on France’s all-time scoring list behind Olivier Giroud, who has scored 57. … Italy opened Gennaro Gattuso’s reign as coach with a 5-0 home win over Estonia in World Cup qualifying, wasting chances for almost an hour before exploding in the final stages of the second half to turn dominance into a rout. …”
Slovakia celebrate their second goal in the shock 2-0 win over Germany.
“As the final whistle went at Old Trafford after Arsenal kicked off their Premier League campaign with a victory over Manchester United, Josh Kroenke left his seat in the directors’ box and headed for the dressing room. Having made the trip from the United States, Josh was in Manchester to watch Arsenal’s first match of the season, something he does annually, and stayed on to watch their 5-0 win against Leeds United the following weekend at the Emirates Stadium. But after congratulating the players and manager Mikel Arteta at Old Trafford — it is not unusual for Josh to venture into the dressing room following a game — attention soon turned to planning and strategy meetings. …”
“In 1991, England travelled to Poland for their final qualification match for Euro 92. It was a crucial contest: the winners would qualify for the tournament, with a draw favouring England. Considering the importance of the game, it was a surprise that England manager Graham Taylor handed debuts to two players: Queens Park Rangers winger Andy Sinton and Crystal Palace midfielder Andy Gray. The latter was given an unusual role for the game’s opening moments. With David Platt and Gary Lineker taking the kick-off, Gray was instructed to stand just behind them and launch a diagonal ball downfield towards the corner flag, and out for a Poland throw-in. …”
“The transfer window is over. Over 150 senior players have been signed by Premier League clubs. Others have moved on to the continent. Much like every year, a club’s transfer window will likely be judged a success or a failure based on the season that follows — that big-money striker who fires his new side into the Champions League or the huge (and unresolved) hole in defence that means a club slips into a relegation scrap. But with the window having just closed, we asked The Athletic’s club reporters for their view on how it panned out for their side, and what grade they would give the club’s window. …”
“It is easy to get swept up by the excitement of a busy transfer window, the promise that a crop of talented reinforcements will rejuvenate and transform a side’s fortunes. Premier League clubs spent record sums chasing that promise this summer, but as tantalising as big-name arrivals and sweeping changes can be, can too much be disruptive? We have a recent case study: Liverpool were the biggest spenders in the summer 2025 window, but that came after a 2024-25 season in which they had barely added to their ranks at all. The result? A Premier League title in Arne Slot’s first campaign in charge. …”
“… Champagne Papi has been in Lombardy on his ‘$ome $pecial $hows 4 UK EU’ tour. He, in turn, missed Venezia, the team the Canadian hitmaker invested in, playing in Serie B. An away day in Castellammare di Stabia, hometown of Fabio Quagliarella down by the bay of Naples, either didn’t appeal or clashed with his schedule. Drake, as it happened, didn’t miss much. Venezia’s goalkeeper Filip Stankovic, son of Dejan, was the undisputed man of the match. Kitted out in 
“There was something quite poignant in Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, two of the managers who ultimately tried and failed to make sense of the post-Sir Alex Ferguson Manchester United, both being sacked by Istanbul clubs within 12 hours of each other. 
“More a meeting of the infirm than a battle of the Old Firm, Rangers and Celtic arrive almost apologetically to their biggest domestic game of the season so far, the bunfight at the Not OK Corral of Ibrox on Sunday. Rangers and Celtic have their own bespoke version of Newton’s Law – when one is up the other must be down – but that’s not the case this time. For once, there is equilibrium. It won’t last, but following their European humiliations during the week, they are for now in the horrors together, side by side. Their supporters enraged, their respective boards under siege, it’s hard to remember a time when both clubs were in such a grim place at the same time. …”
“It is just 90 days since Paris Saint-Germain claimed their first Champions League with 
“Welcome to the 13th edition of The Athletic’s Transfer DealSheet for the summer 2025 transfer window. Our team of dedicated writers, including David Ornstein, will take you inside the market to explain the deals being worked on. The transfer window is open and will run until September 1. The information found within this article has been gathered according to The Athletic’s sourcing guidelines. Unless stated, our reporters have spoken to more than one person briefed on each deal before offering the clubs involved the opportunity to comment. Their responses, when they were given, have been included. We aim to bring you analysis you can trust about what is happening at Europe’s leading clubs and the latest information we’re hearing from across the market. This year, The Athletic’s football finance writer, Chris Weatherspoon, will be adding to our analysis of the transfer market. …”
“In an era when football is criticised for its tactical homogeneity, an interesting debate has arisen around the idea of defending a crossed free kick. It had become the accepted approach to use a high defensive line, keeping opponents away from the box and leaving space in front of the goalkeeper. 
“There is no doubting the sizeable and growing divide between London and much of the rest of England. A 
“The Bundesliga is back and this season it will have its own weekly column, which will focus on major stories on the pitch, but also from German football as a whole — the terraces, the culture and, because it’s Germany, the governance too. On Matchday 1, Bayern Munich thumped RB Leipzig 6-0, Borussia Dortmund let a late lead slip against St. Pauli, drawing 3-3 at the Millerntor, and Koln celebrated their return to the top flight with a 90th-minute winner in Mainz. Not such good news for Bayer Leverkusen, though. …”
“Electric is how Eddie Howe describes the atmosphere he expects at St James’ Park tonight. First home game of the season, Bank Holiday Monday, under the floodlights and Newcastle United will have the pent-up emotions of a city behind them: their frustration unleashed not upon Alexander Isak this time, but Liverpool. All summer long a sense of indignation has brewed and bubbled on Tyneside. This could be the night it boils over. Isak’s actions — spurning Newcastle and their supporters’ adoration, turning his back on his manager and team-mates as he agitates for a transfer — have caused anger. Liverpool, whom Isak is set on joining, will feel the brunt of that resentment. …”
Crystal Palace fans protested against Uefa after being demoted from the Europa League
“In his first year in charge, Hansi Flick turned a Barcelona side struggling to find their identity into the ultimate entertainers. Barca won La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the Supercopa de Espana and also reached the Champions League semi-finals for the first time in six years, scoring 174 goals across 60 matches. Along with the intricate passing sequences they have traditionally been known for, the Catalans embraced directness and verticality, becoming one of Europe’s best counter-attacking sides. Here, The Athletic break down how this Barcelona side play the game. …”
“When Martin Scorsese saw Fellini’s 8½ for the first time he was a student at New York University. Upon returning home, he tried to sketch his favourite scenes from memory and then set about thinking what the film was about. ‘Then you realise you don’t have to because it’s very simple really,’ Scorsese explained. Dreams. Memory. ‘It’s total fantasy.’ There’s nothing to get. Don’t try to understand. Let it wash over you in all its beauty and absurdity. Following Serie A is similar. The main plot points — who will win the scudetto, qualify for the Champions League, suffer relegation — often feel secondary to the elaborate, often mind-blowing set pieces that happen simultaneously. …”
“Chilean president Gabriel Boric has criticised the “evident irresponsibility” of CONMEBOL, the governing body of South American soccer, after violent clashes between rival fans caused a Copa Sudamericana match on Wednesday to be abandoned. The second leg of the last-16 tie between Argentine side Independiente and Universidad de Chile in Buenos Aires was abandoned in the 48th minute due to security concerns after rival fans clashed in the stands. The visiting Universidad de Chile supporters were situated in the tier above Independiente home fans, with local media reporting the trouble started before half time as rocks, toilets, sinks, seats, pieces of masonry, excrement, and stun grenades were thrown between rival fans. …”
“At first, it was just a short delay to the start of pre-season training. Players at the clubs of the Indian Super League (ISL) were assured that there was nothing to be worried about, just some administrative issues with the country’s top-flight league that needed to be ironed out. It was when another two weeks were added to the delay that concerns started to grow. Communication was minimal. Players were baffled about what the problem was. Eventually, in early July, it was 
“Football quite often shows that it isn’t aware of its own absurdity, and a prime example of that came last week when Enzo Maresca was discussing Levi Colwill’s knee injury. Colwill is likely to miss most of the season after rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament, which given he started 35 league games in the 2024-25 campaign, is enough to put a wrinkle in anyone’s plans. Maresca’s immediate solution was to suggest that Todd Boehly further loosened the already pretty loose Chelsea purse strings and furnish him with a new signing to plug the gap. …”
“Two late goals from Liverpool in the opening fixture of their Premier League campaign papered over some very big defensive cracks. 
“C’est la vie is the motto Tijjani Reijnders lives by, the one that inspired his trademark shoulder-shrug celebration he performed on his debut for Manchester City. That’s life and, yes, this — running football matches — is what I do. Deal with it. The Premier League certainly got the message. He played a key role in all of City’s goals in their 4-0 away win against Wolves: orchestrating the first, scoring the second, assisting the third and doing the leg work for the fourth to rank among the best debuts the division has ever seen. …”
“Arsenal began their attempt to go one better in the Premier League title race this season with a 1-0 win over Manchester United at Old Trafford thanks to a ‘new’ set-piece routine. Avram Glazer was in attendance at Old Trafford and saw the team he co-owns line up without fit-again goalkeeper Andre Onana and striker Rasmus Hojlund, who 
“Have you missed football? Probably not, because it never really stopped. But if you were struggling, fear not, because the Premier League is back. Three hundred and eighty matches, 282 days, 20 teams, endless grumbling about VARs, and almost certainly a new officiating debate that none of us have dreamed up yet are waiting just around the corner, all starting when reigning champions Liverpool host Bournemouth on Friday at 8pm BST/3pm EST. 
“Richard Masters sat down in a low armchair and awaited the barrage. The Premier League CEO has been doing the rounds on the eve of the new season and on each occasion has been assailed by the same opening question. The Premier League’s legal battle with Manchester City is unresolved. There has been absolute silence in this calendar year. Can anyone, and especially the Premier League’s most powerful figure, explain what is going on? …”
“As the new season gets under way, the 20 Premier League managers will be grappling with key selection decisions that could make the difference between a good or bad start to the campaign. So to help them, The Athletic’s dedicated club correspondents and experts have picked their own strongest XI — and justified the reasoning behind it. So without further delay, here they are. …”
“Landing transfer targets at Newcastle United this summer has been a bit like trying to nail jelly to a wall. Last week, Benjamin Sesko became the latest player to turn them down, signing for Manchester United instead and joining a list that includes Hugo Ekitike, James Trafford and Joao Pedro. Newcastle made bids for all four players this summer and ended up missing out on each of them. They also tried and failed to sign Dean Huijsen, Bryan Mbeumo and Liam Delap. On top of that, Alexander Isak, the club’s talisman and biggest asset, is attempting to force through a move to Liverpool. …”
“As Alexis Mac Allister stepped up to take Liverpool’s second penalty of the Community Shield shootout on Sunday, Crystal Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson lingered by the post, water bottle in hand. His eyes flicked between Mac Allister, the referee, and the list of shooters taped to the bottle he was holding. Moments earlier, Mohamed Salah had blazed his attempt over the crossbar and Jean-Philippe Mateta had scored to give Palace the advantage. A save now could be decisive. Henderson glanced once more at his cheat sheet. …”
“Tactically, the Premier League is in a real state of flux. After four consecutive title-winning years with a distinct, possession and territory-based style, Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City were reduced to a third-place finish on 71 points in 2024-25 — their worst since Guardiola’s debut campaign of 2016-17. Meanwhile Liverpool cruised to the title in their first season post-Jurgen Klopp, with Arne Slot’s side developing a reputation for their flexibility and adaptability. They had 25 wins and only lost twice across the first 34 matches, by which point the trophy was theirs. Nottingham Forest showed European football can be earned with a throwback, defend-first and counter-attack strategy, while for the second season running all three promoted teams were relegated. So what might we expect from 2025-26? …”
“It was the Community Shield, and that should not be forgotten. There isn’t anybody who has been watching English football for any period of time who hasn’t made the mistake of taking too seriously a conclusion drawn in the midst of the traditional curtain-raiser, giddy on the sight of Wembley in its pomp and the return of competitive club football from the summer wilderness. … They are learning a new system, the 4-3-3/4-2-3-1 hybrid of last season yielding to a 4-2-3-1. It’s not a huge shift but Wirtz, as the most advanced of the triangle of central players between the centre-backs and the centre-forward, is very much a forward, whereas Dominik Szoboszlai, who tended to be the most advanced of the central midfield triangle last season, is an attacking midfielder. …”
“Will the return of Rodri propel Manchester City back to the top of the table? Is this the year Manchester United finally regain their status as a genuine Premier League power? How will a tragic summer affect Liverpool on the pitch? Can the promoted teams break the pattern of recent seasons and stay up? The 2025-26 season kicks off on Friday and what better way to start the week than by looking ahead to what might be in store over the coming months. We asked all of our writers to submit their predicted Premier League table — you can see that a little further down this article. …”
Scissors Kick 