Opinion

In 2021, a graphic designer working for Sky Sport Germany was going to change the footballing world forever. After Jadon Sancho went his first seven matches for Manchester United following his £73m move from Borussia Dortmund without a direct goal contribution, his face was edited onto a picture of James Bond, also known as '007'. In this instance, the two zeroes represented his goals and assists, with the seven the amount of matches he had played.

Jack Grealish's omission from Thomas Tuchel's latest England squad was not just a surprise, but also completely ridiculous. Only a handful of Premier League players have made better starts to the season than Grealish, who has quickly rediscovered the form that once saw him touted as one of the brightest talents of his generation, since joining Everton on loan from Manchester City in the summer transfer window.

Are Bayern Munich the strongest side in Europe right now? They're certainly not far off it. The Germans maintained their flawless start to the 2025-26 season with a 3-0 win at Eintracht Frankfurt at the weekend. Unsurprisingly, Harry Kane was among the goals again, as the free-scoring striker maintained his record-breaking start to the campaign.

Lamine Yamal went out of his way to hype up his return to the Barcelona line-up for Wednesday night's Champions League clash with Paris Saint-Germain at the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys. The 18-year-old posted a clip on his Instagram account from the movie 'The Devil's Advocate' in which Al Pacino's character, John Milton, discusses the effects of pressure: "Some people, you squeeze 'em, they focus; others fold. Can you summon your talent at will? Can you deliver on a deadline? Can you sleep at night?"

"He has great potential. He's really smart, a guy who's always thinking," Ruben Amorim said after Benjamin Sesko's £74 million ($101m) switch to Manchester United from RB Leipzig at the start of August. "He can play a different type of football. He is going to feel that the Premier League is aggressive. He is going to learn. But Ben can be a striker for United for a lot of years; that's why we paid so much money to have a striker who will have his history in our club."

Jamie Carragher immediately expressed his concerns over Arne Slot's tactics after Liverpool had won their opening game of the new season against Bournemouth. So he was never going to hold back after watching the disturbingly ragged Reds slump to a second consecutive defeat in Tuesday's Champions League clash with Galatasaray.

The age-defying England captain is in the form of his life, and can achieve all his remaining career dreams in Germany

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 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.

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.

A Spanish publication reported last week that Real Madrid want to sign Ryan Gravenberch, which would make sense, in fairness. Toni Kroos is still sorely missed at the Santiago Bernabeu after retiring after Euro 2024, as doubts persist over the likes of Aurelien Tchouameni and Eduardo Camavinga to fill the void left behind by the genius German.

Arne Slot knew full well that the first question of his post-match press conference after Tuesday night's Carabao Cup win over Southampton would be about Hugo Ekitike - but he wasn't happy about it.

Much of the aftermath of Manchester City's 1-1 draw with Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium focused on the cautious tactics of the hosts, somehow ignoring that it was the visitors who resorted to park-the-bus mechanisms in order to try and grind out a win. In the end, neither side truly deserved the victory and a point apiece seemed fair, but the performance from Pep Guardiola's men was strange in several ways.

When Marcus Rashford was unveiled as a new Barcelona signing in August, he kept coming back to one word: discipline. For a player who had missed training after going on a drunken night out in Belfast a year ago and been forced out of Manchester United by Ruben Amorim for his lack of application, it was an intriguing theme for him to draw upon.

It's incredible to think that, four years ago, Aitana Bonmati was the subject of one of the most shocking snubs in Ballon d'Or history. After playing a starring role in Barcelona's first Women's Champions League triumph, the midfielder looked sure to be in the mix for the Golden Ball - and yet, she didn't even make the 20-player shortlist. Did she take it personally? Knowing her focus on team over individual, perhaps not, but she's certainly made herself impossible to ignore in the interim, with Bonmati claiming a third successive Ballon d'Or on Monday.

The latest round of action across Europe's elite leagues saw Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Porto maintain their winning starts to the 2025-26 season. However, while everyone expects Bayern to run away with the Bundesliga, Barca are hot on the heels of Madrid in La Liga, while Porto are presently processing the news that the most famous manager in the club's history has just taken charge of their hated rivals Benfica.

There are obviously two ways of looking at Liverpool's 3-2 victory over Atletico Madrid at Anfield on Wednesday evening. On the plus side, they scored another late winner. On the negative side, they needed another late winner.

Ruben Amorim is under mounting pressure to keep his job at Manchester United. The Portuguese coach has overseen the club's worst start to a Premier League season for 33 years, and has faced widespread criticism for his rigid tactics, with a £200m summer spending spree doing little to improve the Red Devils' fortunes.

Heading into the summer, Arsenal fans were told to expect an 'unprecedented' window by transfer reporters. The club held up that end of the bargain, splashing out roughly £250 million ($340m) on new players to bolster Mikel Arteta's squad as they look to end their 22-year wait for a Premier League title. Through four games of the season, their recruits look right at home.

'The Chaaaaampions'. That's right - the most famous anthem in world football is set to ring out around Europe yet again as the 2025-26 Champions League season gets under way this week. Thirty-six teams are vying it out to lift the European Cup in Budapest on May 30, but can any of them take Paris Saint-Germain's crown away from them?

GOAL runs through the best and worst of British players plying their trade on foreign soil. Now more than ever, British players are finding that the grass can be greener elsewhere. The lure of the Premier League remains grand, but it's not the be-all and end-all. In fact, some of the home nations' biggest stars have decided to take their talents abroad to the mainland continent and beyond.

The Croatian is still producing midfield masterclasses at 40 years of age, while the egalitarian environment at Barcelona is reaping rewards

The Portuguese faces two massive games after the international break and thus must make the right selection calls to get his team clicking

The goalkeeper is leaving the Red Devils on loan for Trabzonspor after two error-strewn years, and he will not be remembered fondly

The Three Lions bored fans into leaving early against Andorra last time out while La Roja look like world-beaters once more after destroying Turkey

The midfielder claims to have ambitions of playing at the 2026 World Cup, but those seem wildly unrealistic at this point

The calamitous Cameroonian is set to depart for Turkey this week, and there won't be a single United fan who is sad to see the back of him

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