Kylian Mbappe roared with a hat-trick on Wednesday, which eventually ousted Manchester City from the Champions League with a 1-3 defeat as Erling Haaland watched his team’s fall from the sidelines as a knee injury kept him on the bench. The scoreline gave Real Madrid a comprehensive 6-3 aggreate win over the defending champions. In…
This is an updated version of a piece that was originally published in April 2024. “Real Madrid vs Manchester City is a modern Clasico,” former Real Madrid coach Jorge Valdano said last April, previewing the two clubs’ 2023-24 Champions League quarter-final first leg at the Bernabeu. The tie that followed did not disappoint. Madrid and…
Anterior cruciate ligament injuries. They are four words that strike dread into the hearts of footballers at every level and, at the Premier League level, they are being heard more frequently than ever. In fact, this season is on course for a record number of ACLs since injury data began. According to Ben Dinnery, head…
Erling Haaland scored against Real Madrid for the first time in his career. And then scored another. But Manchester City still lost at home to the Champions League holders. It will have felt all too familiar for Pep Guardiola and his team as they threw away a 2-1 lead with four minutes of normal time…
The transfer window might have closed on Monday night, but the question marks remain. As you sit here on Tuesday morning, you might be left wondering about the business your team did — or in a lot of cases, didn’t do. Why have they not brought in that extra player? Why did they let one…
Oleksandr Zinchenko had failed to read the room. Last summer, on vacation in the south of France, the Arsenal left-back had nowhere to run. Not in a metaphorical sense: he needed to find a pitch to maintain his fitness for a couple of hours a day before returning to Premier League duty. Fortunately, he thought,…
On February 6, 2023, Manchester City were charged by the Premier League with more than 100 breaches of the competition’s rules. As champions in six of the past seven seasons, the eventual verdict of an independent commission will have a seismic impact on the Premier League, regardless of which way their decision goes. Each of…
Manchester City’s new signing Omar Marmoush has hailed Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah as one of the three best players in the world and hopes he can emulate the success of his compatriot in the Premier League. Marmoush, who has been a revelation for Eintracht Frankfurt in the Bundesliga, made his switch to City official on…
Welcome to The Briefing, where every Monday during this season The Athletic will discuss three of the biggest questions to arise from the weekend’s football. This was the FA Cup weekend when Plymouth Argyle celebrated jettisoning Wayne Rooney by beating Brentford, Manchester City made short work of Salford City, Newcastle United were given a scare by Bromley and…
The latest winter transfer window is here, which means some of the world’s best footballers are now just six months away from the expiration of their current contracts. Thanks to the 1995 Bosman ruling, clubs in other countries can now officially begin discussions with those soon-to-be-free-agents with a view to a pre-contract agreement. This allows…