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Football news

Every football story we have written, newest first, with our take on what it changes.

Football · 22 OCT · Giovanni Di Lorenzo · Giuseppe Bruscolotti

Di Lorenzo to Napoli legend Bruscolotti: at 75, I won't attack this dressing room

Napoli's captain answered one of the club's great former captains in an Instagram comment: "sarò poca roba ma quando avrò 75 anni da ex capitano non mi metterò di certo a sparare a zero sullo spogliatoio del Napoli" (I may be not much, but when I am 75, as a former captain, I certainly won't open fire on the Napoli dressing room). Giovanni Di Lorenzo was replying to Giuseppe Bruscolotti, who had said the team has no leader, and Corriere dello Sport reports that Bruscolotti has since apologised.

Our take Napoli's problem is the table, not the armband

Football · 22 OCT · Feyenoord · Sem Steijn

Feyenoord's unbeaten leaders took their row to the dressing room. PSV are next

In the last minutes in Seville, Anis Hadj Moussa had the ball in the Real Betis box and did not find Sem Steijn, and after the final whistle the two Feyenoord players argued about it. Giovanni van Bronckhorst confirmed it at his press conference: the discussion carried on in the dressing room before things calmed down.

Our take The row is noise. Eight goals in three games is not

Football · 22 OCT · Bayern Munich · Jürgen Klopp

Klopp still can't work out Bayern without the ball. Kompany: "Next question"

At half-time of Bayern 2-2 Arsenal, Jürgen Klopp sat in the DAZN studio and admitted, laughing, that he still has not fully worked out what Bayern do when they lose the ball. Around midnight Vincent Kompany was asked about it and gave the shortest answer of the night: "Da sage ich nichts dazu. Nächste Frage" (I'm not saying anything about that. Next question), dpa reports.

Our take Klopp's doubt comes with a number: 8 in 4

Football · 22 OCT · Luis Suárez · Sporting CP

Luis Suárez has scored in nine straight games. The last Sporting man to do it was Yazalde

Luis Suárez scored from the spot after five minutes against LASK and again from close range in the 89th, and that makes nine games in a row with a goal for Sporting. According to Record, no Sporting player had done that since Héctor Yazalde in 1973/74, and yet Sporting lost 2-3 at Alvalade on Wednesday night.

Our take Suárez's streak is hiding Sporting's defence

Football · 22 OCT · Santos Laguna · Pumas UNAM

Pumas lost Nathan Silva inside two minutes, and Faitelson asks why VAR never looked

Pumas were down to ten men before the clock in Torreón reached two minutes: referee Guillermo Pacheco gave a penalty and a straight red to Nathan Silva for a push on Ezequiel Bullaude, and David Faitelson asked on X why the referee was never sent to the screen. Santos won 2-0 with two penalties, their sixth league win in a row, a run El Siglo de Torreón says no Santos team had managed before.

Our take The call hurt Pumas, Santos' run is real

Football · 22 OCT · Salomón Rondón · Pachuca

Salomón Rondón is two goals from Maldonado's Venezuelan record in Liga MX

Salomón Rondón has 13 goals in 13 Apertura games for Pachuca, and he has not gone two league games in a row without scoring all tournament. By Mediotiempo's count he now has 43 Liga MX goals, one behind Giancarlo Maldonado's 44, the most by a Venezuelan in the Mexican league.

Our take Rondón takes Maldonado's record this Apertura

Football · 21 OCT · Barcelona · Hansi Flick

Flick benched Rodri for the Clásico. Barcelona conceded twice in five minutes in Paris

Lamine Yamal equalised for Barcelona with a left-footed shot from a tight angle on 79 minutes in Paris, and by the 86th they were 4-2 down: Vitinha scored on 81, Fabián Ruiz on 86. Afterwards Hansi Flick admitted that Sunday's Clásico against Real Madrid shaped his line-up, with Rodri on the bench and Marc Bernal in his place.

Our take Rodri was not what Barcelona missed in Paris

Football · 21 OCT · Leandro Paredes · Boca Juniors

Paredes sends Boca to the Sudamericana final with an 88th-minute winner at the Maracanã

Eleven days after tearing his right hamstring, Leandro Paredes came off the bench at the Maracanã and hit the goal that put Boca Juniors in the Copa Sudamericana final: a shot from about 25 metres in the 88th minute. Boca won 3-1 in Rio, 3-2 on aggregate after losing the first leg 1-0 at La Bombonera, and will play the final on Saturday 21 November in Barranquilla.

Our take Rio ended a curse. Barranquilla is the real exam

Football · 21 OCT · Sevilla · Real Madrid

Sevilla demand LaLiga's raw footage after Güler's elbow got no close-up replay

Arda Güler's elbow on Peque Fernández reached Sevilla fans only in a wide shot, while Kylian Mbappé's penalty was replayed from several angles. On Tuesday Sevilla turned that into a formal complaint to LaLiga's Competitions Department, signed by president José María del Nido Carrasco, asking for the raw footage of four incidents from Sunday's 4-1 defeat at the Bernabéu and for "depuración de responsabilidades", an inquiry into who decided what.

Our take "Nothing hidden" needs the raw footage

Football · 21 OCT · FC Porto · Jan Bednarek

Bednarek applauds Porto's boos. Eight from eight in Portugal, zero in Europe

Porto have won all eight of their league games this season, and on Tuesday night some of their own Super Dragões whistled them off after a 1-0 home defeat by PSV. Jan Bednarek walked towards the stand and applauded them back, then told reporters, as quoted by Record: "Adorei" (I loved it).

Our take Porto lose Europe in both boxes, not the stands

Football · 21 OCT · İsmail Kartal · Fenerbahçe

Kartal hears "resign" chants and promises Fenerbahçe fans: win the derby, make peace

Fenerbahçe were 2-0 up on Slavia Prague after 11 minutes, conceded the equaliser in the 90th, and the Şükrü Saracoğlu answered with "istifa", resign, aimed at İsmail Kartal. He walked straight to the dressing room without waiting for his players, A Spor reports, and later told reporters: "Derbilere alışığız" (we are used to derbies), with Galatasaray away on Monday and Nathan Aké waiting for an MRI.

Our take The derby is Kartal's real vote of confidence

Football · 20 OCT · Ermedin Demirovic · VfB Stuttgart

Demirovic is "still boiling" after Hamburg. Stuttgart: 6 from 6 in Europe, 13th in Germany

For two days after Saturday's 1-0 defeat at Hamburg, the city where he was born, Ermedin Demirovic says it "really cooked" inside him: he had missed two big chances. Now the Stuttgart striker calls the loss ticked off "even if it is still boiling in me", and he told the German agency dpa that against Atlético Madrid tonight the team must reach "Champions League level in every respect" or there will be no points.

Our take Stuttgart need Demirovic's finishing, not his anger

Football · 20 OCT · Galatasaray · Leroy Sané

Galatasaray's seven attackers: 4 goals in 10 games, Sané and Leão still on 0

İlkay Gündoğan, Alexey Batrakov, Rafael Leão, Barış Alper Yılmaz, Yunus Akgün, Leroy Sané and Deniz Gül: seven Galatasaray attackers, 4 of the club's 19 goals in 10 games, and Sané and Leão still on 0. Fotomaç ran the count on Tuesday morning, citing Takvim, a day before Galatasaray go to Lille with no Champions League points.

Our take Galatasaray's goals still run through Osimhen

Football · 20 OCT · Inter Milan · Ivan ProvedelUnconfirmed report

Report: Inter top Serie A with 0 Champions League points, and Chivu turns to Provedel

Inter lead Serie A with 19 points from seven games, yet they sit 29th of 36 in the Champions League with none. For Wednesday's must-win game against Shakhtar at San Siro, La Gazzetta dello Sport reports that Cristian Chivu will rotate and hand Ivan Provedel his Inter debut in goal, 231 days after his last match.

Our take Inter's European problem is six goals, not one goalkeeper

Football · 20 OCT · Liga MX · Santos Laguna

Three teams scored five in one Liga MX round, the first time since 2005

In one Saturday evening in Mexico, Santos put five past Querétaro, América scored five at León and Cruz Azul hit Juárez for five. Three teams scoring five in the same Liga MX round had not happened since round 7 of the Apertura 2005, TUDN and Récord reported on Monday.

Our take Liga MX is a three-goal league now

Football · 19 OCT · Valencia · Javier Aguirre

Aguirre says Valencia have no strikers: 2 goals, 2 points from 5 Mestalla games

With four minutes left of Saturday's 0-0 against Athletic Club, a fan in the Tribuna shouted "Aguirre, ¡saca delanteros!" and Javier Aguirre turned round and answered "¡No hay!", COPE Valencia reported. It was his first home game in charge, and it left Valencia with no win, 2 goals and 2 points from five LaLiga games at Mestalla this season.

Our take The numbers back Aguirre: Valencia lack finishers

Football · 19 OCT · Rafael Leão · Galatasaray

Leão's groin scan decides Galatasaray's night in Lille after 7 goals conceded in 2

Rafael Leão came off the bench in Ankara on Saturday and lasted 16 minutes: in the 77th his foot slipped on the Eryaman pitch and he went off holding his groin. Galatasaray say it is a strain of the groin muscle, and Monday's tests decide whether he travels to Lille, where both teams start Wednesday's game with 0 points.

Our take Without Leão, Lille is a game not to lose

Football · 19 OCT · Bayern Munich · Arsenal

Bayern's 6-1 hid it: Olise banned, Musiala out, Neuer a doubt for Arsenal

Michael Olise scored one and set up another as Bayern beat RB Leipzig 6-1 on Saturday, and he cannot play on Wednesday against Arsenal. He is suspended after his second yellow card in Stavanger, Max Eberl does not think Jamal Musiala will be ready, and Manuel Neuer is a doubt with what Eberl called a bit of fluid in the foot.

Our take Without Olise, Arsenal arrive as the better side

Football · 19 OCT · Didier Deschamps · José MourinhoUnconfirmed report

Report: Pérez eyes Deschamps if Mourinho fails, and the Clásico is the test

Four months after giving José Mourinho a contract to 2029, Florentino Pérez has already told people close to him who would replace him, according to Sergio Valentín: "Se trata de Didier Deschamps." SPORT picked up the report on Saturday and gave an example of what "not working" could mean: no positive result in the Clásico at Camp Nou on 25 October.

Our take The table will decide this before Pérez does

Football · 18 OCT · Massimiliano Allegri · Napoli

Allegri's Napoli have 10 points from 7: the start that got Donadoni sacked

Napoli had 29 shots in Venice on Saturday, 10 of them on target, and lost 1-0 to a side that had lost all six of its games and was playing its first match under Davide Nicola. It leaves Massimiliano Allegri on 10 points from seven Serie A games, which Tuttosport calls Napoli's worst start in 17 years: the only worse one since was 2009-10, when Roberto Donadoni had 7 and was sacked.

Our take We said three minutes. Venezia make it a pattern

Football · 18 OCT · Marco Asensio · Fenerbahçe

Report: Asensio needs knee surgery, and Kartal's 'no problem' now faces a test

On Saturday night İsmail Kartal told reporters he has no problem with any player and that Marco Asensio and the club would explain everything "from A to Z" on Sunday. Before midnight, a different explanation arrived. A Spor reporter Erdem Akbaş, as carried by Fotomaç late on Saturday, says injections on Asensio's knee have not worked and the Spaniard will have surgery abroad, out for at least two months.

Our take A knee would prove Kartal right, and cost him the derby

Football · 18 OCT · Manuel Pellegrini · Lamine Yamal

Pellegrini blamed Lamine Yamal. Hours later, Bernal blamed himself

Manuel Pellegrini left La Cartuja on Saturday night saying Lamine Yamal had provoked the red card that decided Betis's 5-2 defeat by Barcelona. About two hours later the player sent off, Facundo Bernal, apologised on social media and took the blame himself: "No suelo reaccionar así y debí controlarme en esa jugada" (I don't usually react like that and I should have controlled myself).

Our take Barça would have won this 11 v 11

Football · 18 OCT · Paris Saint-Germain · Ousmane Dembélé

PSG have missed 9 of their last 19 penalties. Barcelona come on Tuesday

Ousmane Dembélé sent his 72nd-minute penalty wide of the left post at Strasbourg on Saturday, the third spot-kick Paris Saint-Germain have missed in eight days. Foot Mercato counts nine misses in PSG's last 19 penalties, our own count from ESPN's match logs agrees, and Luis Enrique admitted afterwards: "C'est vrai qu'on n'a pas de spécialiste" (it's true we don't have a specialist).

Our take PSG need one name, not nine

Football · 17 OCT · Olympique de Marseille · Bruno Genesio

Genesio's Marseille lose 6 of 8, a start OM have not seen since 1964-65

Santiago Hezze rose at a short corner three minutes before half-time on Thursday, and that header was enough to leave the Vélodrome whistling. Marseille lost 1-0 to Olympiacos, their sixth defeat in eight official games, and Bruno Genesio became the first OM coach with that record after eight matches since Mario Zatelli in 1964-65, according to the Stats du Foot account cited by Football Club de Marseille.

Our take Six defeats in eight is a pattern