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 in England. This was the round of matches when a boy who should be getting his feet measured for a new pair of school shoes about now threatened to break a Premier…
After missing on him this summer (so far), Nick Woltemade is rumored to be Bayern Munich’s primary transfer target for the summer of 2026. Let’s follow his journey through the 2025/26 season. Union Berlin vs. VfB Stuttgart — Bundesliga VfB Stuttgart has some weaknesses on defense and dropped a 2-1 decision on the road to…
Did not have a lot to do in the first half but made two crucial saves late on, either side of Kylian Mbappe’s second goals, and remains the best in La Liga. A surprise call from Alonso to start his captain over Trent Alexander-Arnold as the first time he’s done so. Looked sharp defensively and…
| Monday, August 25th |Premier League | St. James’ Park8PM BST/3PM EST There’s no sugarcoating it. This is probably going to be a very intense and difficult match. There is a lot of perceived animosity between the clubs right now due in no small part to the contentious Alexander Isak transfer saga. Liverpool’s attempts to…
Barcelona’s first-team squad have been afforded a well-earned reward on the part of head coach Hansi Flick for the days ahead. That’s according to journalist Sergi Capdevila, who highlights as much as coming in the form of an upcoming break from training. Barcelona of course marked their return to action on Saturday, making the trip…
According to a report from Tz’s Vinzent Tschirpke and Mano Bonke (via @iMiaSanMia), Bayern Munich is satisfied with the play it is getting from Serge Gnabry at the No. 10 position, which has — once again — shifted the focus back to acquiring a versatile attacker: Serge Gnabry’s recent form playing behind the striker has…
MADRID (AP) — Real Madrid coach Xabi Alonso started with Vinícius Júnior on the bench for the Spanish league game at Oviedo on Sunday but the Brazil star still played a decisive role after coming on in the second half, creating one goal and scoring another in a 3-0 win for Madrid. France striker Kylian…
2024–25 represented a new dawn for the Champions League, as UEFA opted for expansion (shock!) and the introduction of a Swiss model. Now, you can debate all you want about the success of the new format, but it certainly wasn’t an unmitigated disaster. While it’d perhaps make more sense to drop the number of league…
Real Madrid claimed a 3-0 La Liga win at newly-promoted Real Oviedo, with Kylian Mbappe scoring in each half before Vinicius added a late third to seal the match. For Oviedo, returning to Spain’s top flight after an absence of almost a quarter of a century, the arrival of the 15-time European champions on Sunday…
Brighton and Hove Albion FC winger Facundo Buonanotte (20) has agreed to join Ligue 1 side Lyon, according to L’Equipe. But there’s a catch, the Seagulls would rather send the Argentine international on loan to one of their Premier League rivals, with a view to toughening him up. Les Gones are in the market for a right-sided winger…