Premier League finding yet another way to screw the smaller clubs. Never forget the Steve Parish mantra: it's supermarkets v corner shops. In that world, only might is right.

Report from a night where Bayern & Tuchel proved their point. No need to set the hounds on Arteta/Arsenal, but it just didn’t feel as if they backed themselves in the same way. theguardian.com/football/2024/…

A win for Arsenal in Munich would be historic, transformative and their best result in Europe since San Siro 2008. Defeat would, rightly or not, feel season-ending and fuel those pushing “flopped in April” narrative. It’s a strange polarity. Preview here: theguardian.com/football/2024/…

A win for Arsenal in Munich would be historic, transformative and their best result in Europe since San Siro 2008. Defeat would, rightly or not, feel season-ending and fuel those pushing “flopped in April” narrative. It’s a strange polarity. Preview here: theguardian.com/football/2024/…

Brexit’s great isn’t it, you arrive somewhere in perfect time for an appointment, watch rest of Europe swan through in seconds, 45 min later you’re still nowhere near front of passport control. Those who sold it to public naturally avoid this with their private jets & VIP lanes.

However the next few weeks play out, nobody else could come close.

Great week to highlight why football pyramid matters. Atalanta showing up at Anfield and trouncing Liverpool. Bilbao winning a major trophy for 40 years. And Leverkusen winning the Bundesliga with a stunning unbeaten season. Huge celebrations. None of them invited to super league

Colossal second half from Aston Villa even before you consider they played under 72 hours ago with an almost identical starting XI - not seen many come to the Emirates and outplay Arsenal for 45 minutes like this in the last two years.

Doesn’t feel at all out of the question that the Championship comes down to a four-way shootout on the final day …

The Nordic countries once set standards for women’s football both on & off the pitch. Their culture stood alone and their teams won major trophies. Bigger nations have outstripped them in recent years - but perhaps the fightback began in Malmo this week. theguardian.com/football/2024/…

The Nordic countries once set standards for women’s football both on & off the pitch. Their culture stood alone and their teams won major trophies. Bigger nations have outstripped them in recent years - but perhaps the fightback began in Malmo this week. theguardian.com/football/2024/…

Preview of Arsenal v Bayern Munich - a tie whose traditional framing has flipped on its head. theguardian.com/football/2024/…

Preview of Arsenal v Bayern Munich - a tie whose traditional framing has flipped on its head. theguardian.com/football/2024/…

Ukraine have had to do this the hardest of ways, in every possible sense. So pleased for everyone involved, and for all those to whom the national team’s success spreads joy. It will be fantastic to see them in Germany - and they’ll entertain, too.

Georgia qualifying is brilliant news for the Euros (says someone sitting in a small Greek town that’s gone very quiet indeed) - rewards real progress from a fascinating football country that’s sat on the fringes, and gives one of the world’s best attackers his rightful platform.

Russia play Serbia later today - first UEFA opponent since full-scale invasion of Ukraine and pretty much the most fitting. Authorities not bothered, which seems disgraceful but maybe that’s just the quaint English view. Reminder of Aleksander Ceferin’s thoughts.