FEATURES

Every month, GOAL brings you the top stories involving teenage wonderkids and the world's best young footballers. During September, there was plenty to be said about the likes of Barcelona's Lamine Yamal and Real Madrid's Franco Mastantuono, but there were also plenty of other headlines made by the planet's emerging stars in both the men's and women's games.

Wednesday's Champions League clash between Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain should have immediately seen the top two players in the 2025 Ballon d'Or vote squaring off against one another. However, while Lamine Yamal has returned to full fitness just in time for the game at Montjuic, Ousmane Dembele will remain sidelined for at least another couple of weeks.

It was only a few months ago that Phil Foden was so worn out physically and mentally that he asked not to be selected by England. Now he is putting his hand up to play games that he wouldn’t normally be considered for. The fire within him that almost burned out is raging again and he has rekindled Manchester City’s fortunes, fuelling their impressive return to form from their worst start to a season in 20 years.

The Chicago Fire are returning to the playoffs for the first time since 2017, but Inter Miami won't be thrilled the visitors' postseason ticket came at their expense in a 5-3 defeat at home. Luis Suarez rolled back the years with two goals, but his brilliance wasn’t enough to cover for the Herons’ season-long defensive frailties, as they shipped three before halftime.

USMNT striker Damion Downs has yet to find his footing at Southampton, drawing criticism in the early weeks of his Championship debut.

Mic'd Up: Villa talks Barcelona, the Spanish national team and why Barcelona's Yamal will win a Ballon d'Or

After seven wins in a row in all competitions, Liverpool have now lost two on the spin, with Arne Slot's side slumping to a dismal 1-0 defeat at Galatasaray - just three days after being upset by Crystal Palace.

Spurs somehow came from two goals down to rescue a late 2-2 draw against Bodo/Glimt, despite an absolutely appalling performance in the Arctic Circle. Bodo missed a penalty and also had a 2-0 lead, but could not get over the line, as the north London side showed some real grit and determination to earn a point on the road in Europe.

Chelsea made it an unhappy Stamford Bridge return for Jose Mourinho as the Blues picked up their first win of the 2025-26 Champions League campaign on Tuesday with a 1-0 win. Neto stole the show for Enzo Maresca’s side and picked out Alejandro Garnacho superbly to force an own goal in the first half that proved enough to secure all three points and make it a bad night for The Special One.

Kylian Mbappe bagged a brilliant hat-trick to mark a fine night's work for Real Madrid in the Champions League as they saw off FC Kairat, 5-0.

Who's hot, who's not? GOAL ranks all 14 teams across the National Women's Soccer League

In the end, Xabi Alonso had just one word for Real Madrid's 5-2 loss to Atletico Madrid on Saturday: "bad". Well, duh!

To outsiders, the fact that Manchester United have not sacked Ruben Amorim yet is one of the great mysteries of our time. There have been several occasions when the Portuguese would have been given his marching orders at many other top clubs. Can you imagine Real Madrid sticking with a coach that had lost eight out of 12 league games between last December and February?

It was obvious that Jose Mourinho was finished at Fenerbahce the moment the full-time whistle blew in last month's Champions League qualifier at Benfica. However, it also felt like his time at the top was over, too, because Mourinho no longer seemed quite so special.

GOAL reviews the major takeaways from Americans playing in MLS, including Luna's excellent playmaking performance

GOAL US unpacks the main weekend storylines from the Premier League, La Liga and other top competitions in The Euro XI

With the World Cup just months away, GOAL looks at how the U.S. squad might look in the upcoming October camp.

Late, late drama was the order of a hugely entertaining weekend in the Premier League. Arsenal snatched all three points at Newcastle thanks to Gabriel's 96th-minute header, while former Gunner Eddie Nketiah also struck at the death to hand Liverpool their first defeat of the season and continue Crystal Palace's incredible start.

GOAL runs the rule over the British players earning a living away from their homeland, with plenty more stars deciding to leave the comforts of Great Britain in search of a better footballing life elsewhere. The Premier League is still obviously one of the world's most entertaining divisions and the Championship can prove fantastic for development, but there are more options out there.

Liverpool weren't the only European team to lose their 100 percent record this weekend. Over in Italy, Napoli slipped to second in the Serie A table after being beaten 2-1 by a Christian Pulisici-inspired AC Milan at San Siro.

With Pulisic delivering one of his best performances for Milan, GOAL US writers discuss the heights he can reach this season

GOAL reviews the major takeaways from Americans playing in Europe, including Pulisic's continued dominance

Arsenal stole a massive comeback victory deep in stoppage time at St James' Park as Gabriel rose highest to head home a 96th minute winner and close the gap on leaders Liverpool, in a massive statement early on in this season's title race. The home side had led through a Nick Woltemade header with Gabriel at fault for the goal but the Gunners fought back, substitute Mikel Merino guiding home a fantastic header before Gabriel powered home the winner.

No Chelsea player had ever scored in the Blues' first four games of a Women's Super League campaign - until Aggie Beever-Jones did exactly that on Sunday to set the defending champions on their way to a dominant 4-0 win that was certainly eventful. With records broken, plenty of goals scored and a stunning red card for Ines Belloumou, for pulling the hair of United States star Alyssa Thompson, those in attendance certainly got their money's worth when it came to action - though it was the kind which only the away end could really enjoy.

Midfield is certainly not one of England's best-stocked positions but Laura Blindkilde Brown continues to show that she could be a fantastic option for Sarina Wiegman as a new international cycle nears, with her putting in another excellent performance for Manchester City in Sunday's 4-1 win over London City Lionesses. It was a tricky game at times for the hosts but goals from Blindkilde Brown, Vivianne Miedema and a Bunny Shaw double allowed them to secure a third successive Women's Super League win for the first time since last November.

Manchester United climbed to the top of the Women's Super League table with a 2-0 victory over Liverpool on Sunday afternoon. The Red Devils did all of the damage in what was a dominant first-half performance as a wonderful strike from Hinata Miyazawa and a cool finish from Ella Toone maintained their side’s unbeaten start to the new league season.

Ruben Amorim claimed after Manchester United's defeat at Brentford that he is never worried about losing his job and that is just as well because, sooner or later, he is going to get his marching orders at Old Trafford. The results speak for themselves. His team have lost 17 of their 33 Premier League matches while winning just nine times. If you want to find a United coach with a worse win percentage in the league, you have to go back to before the Second World War.

Inter Miami let a first-half lead slip and were forced to settle for a 1-1 draw against Toronto FC, a result that dealt a significant blow to their Supporters’ Shield ambitions. Javier Mascherano’s side looked tired as the match wore on, and though they left Canada with a point, the dropped opportunity highlighted their struggle to finish strong.

Atletico Madrid hammered Real Madrid on Saturday in the first derby of the season, with some calamitous defending from Los Blancos leading to a comprehensive 5-2 win from their city rivals. Julian Alvarez stole the show from Kylian Mbappe by scoring twice for Diego Simeone's side, while Antoine Griezmann added a fifth in stoppage time to complete the rout.