A ridiculous four-goal showing from Kylian Mbappe led an otherwise shaky Real Madrid to a 4-3 win over Olympiacos in the Champions League on Wednesday evening. The Frenchman continued his outrageous run of form, while Vinicius Jr eased tensions after a week of controversy by grabbing an assist to carry Los Blancos to a much-needed European victory against a dogged opponent.
Bayern Munich's unbeaten start to the season came to an end on Wednesday as they fell to a 3-1 loss at Arsenal in the Champions League. Teenager Lennart Karl found the net yet again for Vincent Kompany's side after they had fallen behind to a Jurrien Timber header, but strikes from Noni Madueke and Gabriel Martinelli settled the game in favour of the Gunners.
Arsenal are now the last team with a perfect Champions League record this season after they beat Bayern Munich 3-1 on Wednesday. The Gunners have recorded five wins from five and kept up their 100 percent start by ending that of the Germans' in the process. Jurrien Timber put Arsenal ahead in the first half, while Noni Madueke and Gabriel Martinelli came off the bench to score.
GOAL spoke to a number of former NCFC players, who outlined the harsh realities of a volatile league after being made redundant four days before a playoff game
A new league, a new routine, and a surprisingly “boring” life in Germany - John Tolkin tells GOAL he’s finding stability at Kiel just as his USMNT chance reopens.
England are missing a lot of key names for their final international camp of 2025. Captain Leah Williamson remains sidelined, making the absences of both Alex Greenwood and Jess Carter all the more notable in a depleted centre-back unit, while Lauren James remains out of the squad having only just returned from injury at Chelsea. Perhaps the most significant bit of team news, though, concerns Hannah Hampton, who could miss the rest of the year with a quad issue.
The signs that Vinicius Jr's relationship with Xabi Alonso's wasn't going to run smoothly were there almost immediately. Had Trent Alexander-Arnold not suffered an injury the day before Real Madrid's Club World Cup semi-final against Paris Saint-Germain, the new Blancos boss was planning to bench his Brazilian winger, preferring instead to hand homegrown forward Gonzalo Garcia a start up front alongside Kylian Mbappe.
Three games into the 2025-26 season under new head coach Thomas Frank, Tottenham must have believed they were onto a sure-fire winner. They showed tremendous promise in their eventual UEFA Super Cup defeat to Paris Saint-Germain on penalties, destroyed Burnley in their Premier League opener, and then tore apart Pep Guardiola's Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium.
You'll Never Walk Alone? Liverpool supporters started streaming out of Anfield long before referee Andy Madley brought an end to Saturday's shambolic showing against Nottingham Forest. They knew that there was no way back for their team after Morgan Gibbs-White fired in the visitors' third and final goal with 12 minutes remaining. Truth be told, it felt like the game was up for the hosts as soon as Murillo opened the scoring after just over half an hour of play, because this is a side suddenly bereft of backbone.
In an interview with Andrés Cantor for Futbol de Primera, Mauricio Pochettino discusses the work behind the USMNT’s recent turnaround - and calls out coaches who have criticized his approach.
Newcastle squandered a wonderful opportunity to all-but seal their route to the Champions League knockout stages after a quick-fire double from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang sunk the Magpies 2-1 in Marseille. In-form Harvey Barnes opened the scoring in the sixth minute, but a dreadful error from Nick Pope just seconds into the second-half allowed Aubameyang to turn the game in the hosts' favour.
Barcelona were comprehensively beaten at Stamford Bridge as the Blaugrana hardly put up a fight on the way to a 3-0 defeat against Chelsea in the Champions League. Hansi Flick's side went down to 10 men in the first half after Ronald Araujo was dismissed after picking up two bookings, and had the ball in their net six times as Chelsea attacked against their infamous high line at will.
Pep Guardiola marked his 100th match in the Champions League with Manchester City by dishonouring the competition with an arrogant team selection and got what he deserved: a 2-0 defeat to a streetwise and slick Bayer Leverkusen. The three-time winner of Europe's top competition made 10 changes to his line-up, including leaving out Erling Haaland, Phil Foden and Ruben Dias.
Chelsea's fine form under Enzo Maresca continued with a blockbuster win over Barcelona in the Champions League on Tuesday. The Blues turned on the style against their Spanish rivals, coming away 3-0 winners, thanks to an own goal from Jules Kounde, a wonderful Estevao strike and Liam Delap's first goal at Stamford Bridge. But the Premier League side could have had six or seven, such was their dominance under the lights in the capital.
GOAL’s writers found no shortage of drama in the Conference semis, highlighted by Messi’s Miami rolling on and Son Heung-min’s LAFC crashing out in dramatic fashion.
Everton secured their first victory over Manchester United at Old Trafford for 12 years on Monday night despite a first-half red card, but the game will be best remembered for the bizarre manner in which the Toffees were reduced to 10 men. In a rare example of the lesser-seen on-pitch team-mate bust-up, midfielder Idrissa Gueye and defender Michael Keane completely lost it with one another under the eyes of 74,000 fans and plenty more watching on at home.
One year should be more than enough time to transmit your ideas to your squad and mould them to your way of playing. But Ruben Amorim's first anniversary as Manchester United coach against Everton felt like being back at square one, his players still no closer to working out how to beat mid-table Premier League opponents, even when playing against 10 men for more than 77 minutes.
Losing Robert Lewandowski to Barcelona in the summer of 2022 was a bitter blow for Bayern Munich. The Pole had scored 344 goals in just 375 appearances for the club, after all. Replacing him was never going to be easy, but it ended up taking Bayern more than a year to find a worthy successor, as Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting rather unsurprisingly didn't exactly prove himself up to the task.
When Manchester City signed Gianluigi Donnarumma, most of the reaction focused on his ability, or lack thereof, with the ball at his feet, in sharp contrast to the man he was replacing, Ederson. But nearly three months into his spell with City, the Italian is struggling with a different challenge: the Premier League’s attitude to pushing in the box.
Gary Neville thought taking the Valencia job in December 2015 would begin his route to eventually becoming England manager; instead, his four-month stint in Spain drained his confidence, made him ill and put him off coaching for life. Neville's was a shock appointment as the former Manchester United defender took over one of the biggest clubs in La Liga despite having no club coaching experience, little knowledge of Spanish football and no grasp of the language.
Saturday's 4-0 rout of Athletic Club was a very meaningful match for Barcelona - and not just because it marked the Blaugrana's belated return to Camp Nou. Indeed, the Catalans winning without conceding a goal was arguably of far greater significance than the long-awaited reopening of their beloved home ground, as it was their first clean sheet for nine games in all competitions. Not since the facile 3-0 win over Getafe on September 21 had Barca shut out an opponent.
Messi produced 12 goal involvements in the playoffs already, and Miami’s defensive improvement could be the difference-maker on the road to potentially winning MLS Cup.
Manchester United were deservedly booed off the pitch as they slumped to a 1-0 defeat at home to an Everton side who played the vast majority of the game with 10 men. Idrissa Gueye's bizarre sending off for snapping at his team-mate Michael Keane gave United the perfect advantage but they completely blew it, falling behind to Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall's stunning long-range hit then failing to react.
Was this Trinity Rodman’s last match for the Spirit - and is Gotham’s quiet confidence about to reshape the league? Here’s what comes next for both finalists after a dramatic NWSL final.
With just under 20 minutes to go in the first Clasico of the current campaign at Santiago Bernabeu, Real Madrid coach Xabi Alonso made a double substitution with his side 2-1 up on Barcelona. Federico Valverde accepted his withdrawal with good grace; Vinicius Jr did not. Five times he incredulously asked "Me?!", to the understandable bewilderment of his manager. "Come on, Vini, damn it!," Alonso pleaded. But there was no calming the winger down.
Arne Slot is not only facing an uphill battle to save Liverpool's season, but also his job. That is a sentence no Liverpool supporter would have imagined reading barely six months on from seeing the Dutchman deliver the club's second Premier League title, and yet it is no exaggeration. The Reds have plummeted to 11th in the table after losing six of their first 12 games in the 2025-26 campaign, which leaves them a whopping 11 points behind early pace-setters Arsenal already.
GOAL brings you the lowdown on how British players are doing away from home, with many footballers now taking their talents abroad in search of prosperity. Despite the riches and the glamour of the Premier League, it's far from the be all and end all. You can still carve out a fantastic career even while out of the intense spotlight of the English media.
While the November international break was one for the ages as teams around the globe kept their World Cup dreams alive in dramatic circumstances, the return of club football marks a magic time in the calendars of many fans, as it means we are now at the beginning of four uninterrupted months of club action. This is when narratives truly take form, with teams able to build momentum and set off on potentially season-defining runs.
Lionel Messi is one step closer to lifting his first MLS Cup after scoring once and assisting three to power Inter Miami past FC Cincinnati in a dominant 4-0 win that booked their place in the Eastern Conference finals. The Argentine was outstanding throughout, while Tadeo Allende added a brace as Miami snapped a three-year winless run at TQL Stadium.