Rwandan president Paul Kagame and Arsenal fans protesting the Visit Rwanda sponsorship before a match against Paris Saint-Germain.
“Minutes before touching down at Kigali International Airport, a video plays on a RwandAir flight from London. Former Paris Saint-Germain goalkeeper Jerome Alonzo hits a golf ball that is caught by Keylor Navas, another ex-PSG ‘keeper, who throws it to Lionel Messi. Messi flicks it to Sergio Ramos, who passes to Ander Herrera. It then cuts to the ball flying across Rwanda, showcasing the east African country, before landing on a golf course. The Visit Rwanda promotional video ends with ‘Tee off your next adventure in Rwanda’ alongside the PSG club badge. …”
NY Times/The Athletic
Arsenal, Bayern, PSG and Visit Rwanda sponsorship: ‘We would rather wear anything on our sleeves’
Leave a reply
“This time, it’s West Germany in 1990. This is remembered as the most negative, defensive World Cup, supported by the lowest goals-per-game figure on record, 2.21. It was so disastrous that FIFA and IFAB felt compelled to improve the spectacle afterwards, largely by clamping down on dangerous tackles and introducing the backpass law — although not, as was floated by some, by increasing the size of the goals. West Germany won the competition in somewhat unglamorous fashion, as their key matches were dominated by penalties and opposition red cards. But in the group stage, they played some good football, and in the knockout stage, they at least attempted to, which was more than most of their opponents could claim. …”
“Declan Rice took the captain’s armband after Bukayo Saka was substituted, charged down a loose ball and seconds later Arsenal were ahead through Noni Madueke in the 69th minute. Gabriel Martinelli then made it 3-1 seven minutes later, with Bayern Munich cut apart by a through ball and the substitute doing the rest. 
“Liverpool fell to a shock 4-1 loss to PSV Eindhoven on Wednesday night to make it three defeats in a row. After a handball by Virgil van Dijk, Ivan Perisic scored a sixth-minute penalty to put PSV Eindhoven ahead. But the hosts levelled in the 16th minute after Cody Gakpo dribbled down the left before cutting inside on his right foot. His shot was saved, but the ball fell to Dominik Szoboszlai, who fired home to level the game. …”
Gennaro Gattuso gestures during the defeat by Norway
“Mohamed Salah didn’t hang around. The Egyptian attacker briefly applauded Liverpool’s jubilant away end inside Deutsche Bank Park after the final whistle before turning and making a beeline for the tunnel as the celebrations continued. His body language spoke volumes. 
“After half an hour of Wednesday’s Champions League game at Eintracht Frankfurt, Liverpool were facing the prospect of losing five straight matches for the first time in 72 years. Trailing to a crisp strike from former Leeds United defender Rasmus Kristensen, Arne Slot’s decision to make five changes and leave Mohamed Salah on the bench looked questionable. But three goals in nine first-half minutes transformed this match, which Liverpool’s head coach will hope can be a defining moment for a team that has been struggling to find its identity after a summer of change. One of the new arrivals, Hugo Ekitike, drew Liverpool level, scoring on the counter-attack after a piercing through ball from Andrew Robertson. …”
“When you have spent 17 years stuck behind the Electrical Contractors’ Association, the Edinburgh College of Art, and the European Cockpit Association in Google’s search results for the acronym ‘ECA’, it probably is time for a makeover. So, when the hundreds of delegates arrived at the European Club Association’s 32nd general assembly in Rome this month, they actually found themselves at the first general assembly of European Football Clubs, which is a good name for a lobby group that represents European football clubs. …”
“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. …”
“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 
“… In a tournament compromised by wet weather and therefore boggy pitches, hosts West Germany were not overwhelmingly popular winners. 
Slovakia celebrate their second goal in the shock 2-0 win over Germany.
“It is just 90 days since Paris Saint-Germain claimed their first Champions League with 
“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. …”
“Players are the focus of any football transfer storyline. Managers, agents and club owners add to the intrigue, of course, but it’s a relatively new role which has been garnering increased attention with every transfer window — the sporting director. Fundamentally, the remit of the sporting director is to be a link between the coaching staff and the club’s hierarchy, providing continuity, sustainability and a stable strategy in the club’s football operations. …”
“When it comes to Xabi Alonso’s Real Madrid, nothing seems to be a coincidence, and that applies to the emergence of Arda Guler. Madrid’s new coach has been taking care of every detail since he took over in May, with the 20-year-old Turkey playmaker one of the main beneficiaries of his arrival. After their 
“Ignore all the fluff that occurs in the middle of the pitch for a moment. Real Madrid’s winning reputation is built on their clinical efficiency in both boxes. Never was that more true than against Borussia Dortmund on Saturday afternoon, with Kylian Mbappe and Thibaut Courtois showing how fiercely skilled they are in such crucial moments. There was a glimmer of hope for a Dortmund comeback after substitute Maximilian Beier’s goal made it 2-1 in the 92nd minute, but Mbappe’s expert finish restored Madrid’s two-goal lead barely 90 seconds later. …”
“If the starting line-ups contain names such as Michael Olise, Jamal Musiala and Kingsley Coman on one side, with Bradley Barcola, Desire Doue and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia on the other, there is a high probability of entertainment. Yet how both teams approach the game factors in whether we see the individual flair or not. Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich didn’t disappoint the audience on Saturday, with their proactive and positive approaches resulting in a 
“It was billed as the game of the Club World Cup and it did not disappoint. Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich produced a breathless game that had just about everything in Atlanta, and not all of it good. There was a serious injury to Bayern’s Jamal Musiala, two second-half red cards for PSG’s Willian Pacho and Lucas Hernandez and late drama with an overturned penalty decision in the French club’s favour. Musiala’s injury was the most serious incident, the German international badly damaging his left ankle in a collision with PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma. It left both sets of players shocked and cast a cloud over this occasion. …”
“With apologies to the fans of the clubs that have been eliminated from the FIFA Club World Cup, it’s a relief that this tournament’s penchant for upsets and excitement hasn’t ended after the group stage. Like 
“This is where the Club World Cup gets serious. Football’s new-look global competition may not have convinced every sceptic so far, but the line-up for the last eight offers an intriguing mixture of European aristocrats, Brazilian excellence and even an outsider in 
“The Club World Cup begins on Saturday, June 14, when Inter Miami take on Al Ahly at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami. How will Lionel Messi and friends get on? Are they likely to get out of Group A? And what about Real Madrid? The world’s biggest club have replaced Carlo Ancelotti with Xabi Alonso, their former midfielder, and signed Trent Alexander-Arnold and Dean Huijsen in the mini transfer window before the tournament. 
“Brace yourselves, the World Cup countdown officially starts…now. … Having 16 more teams means even more of the globe’s best players can showcase their talents on the biggest stage, but who do we expect to be the protagonists next summer? Some names might be obvious, others might not have even earned their first international cap or play for countries whose qualification hangs in the balance. It’s a tricky assignment, but it is fun to try. So, almost one year out, this is The Athletic’s shortlist of those predicted — or expected — to light up World Cup 2026. …”
“Historically, Bayern Munich have always had the upper hand over Inter at San Siro. In their previous four competitive matches in Milan, the German side were victorious in each one of them. That’s why Harry Kane’s opener in the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final tie gave the impression that history might be repeating itself. …”
“Time can make fools of us all. Even supercomputers. Barring some sensational results in the quarter-final second legs this week, there are probably only five teams left who can win this season’s 
“On average, about one in every 30 corners leads to a goal. The success rate tends to go up dramatically, however, when the goalkeeper and their entire defence are standing outside their six-yard box when a corner is taken. That was the remarkable scene during the UEFA Nations League quarter-final in Dortmund on Sunday. Germany’s Jamal Musiala turned the ball into an empty net against an Italy team who acted like they thought the game would stop for them to hold a debrief into where everything had been going wrong for them during the first half. Joshua Kimmich had other ideas and the combination of his brilliant quick-thinking and Musiala’s goal-hanging — allied to a ball boy who was, well, on the ball — led to Germany doubling their 1-0 lead from a highly unusual corner on 36 minutes, and making fools out of Italy in the process. …”
“Fifteen of the 16 clubs left in the 
“If Liverpool’s loosely-defined ‘luck’ in the Premier League is a real thing then consider the not-so-compelling narrative in the 
“The 
“The Champions League’s new format may have given every team only two possible opponents in the round-of-16 draw but that has done little to dampen the excitement now that we know the eight ties. 
“Football very rarely goes to plan. AC Milan’s new strike force were supposed to quickly start scoring a lot of goals. Feyenoord selling their best player was supposed to mean their season was over. Bayern Munich were supposed to crumble away from home again. Oh, and VAR was supposed to eradicate horrendous refereeing decisions. As you can see from last night’s Champions League play-off knockout clashes, the sport rarely fails to disappoint when it comes to predictability. Here Tim Spiers analyses the key talking points from Wednesday evening’s matches. …”
“One of the familiar tells of St Pauli’s standalone attitude to their kit, until recently, was the sleeve patch advertising a local brewer. Astra make much of their alternative worldview too, as well as their attachment to the location of their microbrewery in the Reeperbahn. Like the football club, they see themselves at the heart of St Pauli’s community. Astra’s logo, spray-painted on the main stand at Millerntor, is particularly evocative of where they’re at. It’s a red heart with an anchor piercing the top, a nod to the city of Hamburg’s maritime heritage resembling a sailor’s tattoo (which is why it always looked so satisfying on the upper arm of St Pauli’s jerseys). …”
“Diego Simeone’s super-charged Atletico Madrid were just too much for Xabi Alonso’s eventually overwhelmed 
A mural of Arsenal co-chair Josh Kroenke on the approach to the Emirates Stadium
“Before Omar Marmoush was racking up goals and assists in the 
“The celebrations were not what they might have been. Bayern Munich had planned a Christmas display after the Friday night game with RB Leipzig, the full stop to their calendar year, which was swiftly cancelled after news filtered through of the 
“The 
“
“Less talk, more action? Having stepped out of Austrian football for the first time in his career, Christian Ilzer has taken the opposite approach as he seeks to establish himself and to find his feet at Hoffenheim. Appointed to the top job little more than a week ago, the new head coach took over an alarming situation, with his new European-qualified team teetering just above a weak-looking bottom three. Yet he immediately felt that making time to chat was the best start. …”
“Five games into the new-look 
“… Hello! 
“Jhon Duran. Villa Park. Champions League nights. It is a combination that has provided nothing but unbridled joy to Aston Villa so far. 
“It was 
“
“The map page shows a location-map for the 18 clubs in the 2024-25 Bundesliga, with recently promoted and relegated teams noted. (Promoted in 2024: FC St. Pauli, Holstein Kiel; relegated in 2024: FC Köln, Darmstadt.) The map also shows the 16 Federal States of Germany, and the 14 largest cities in Germany, with 2021 population estimates listed at the the top of the map. …”
“How badly did German football need last season? New champions for the first time in 11 years and a story, in 
Scissors Kick 