Defender will miss Real Madrid match against Man City Injury hurts slim hopes of making England squad Trent Alexander-Arnold is expected to be out for at least two months after a scan confirmed the Real Madrid full-back has torn his left thigh muscle. Alexander-Arnold was withdrawn just before the hour in a 3-0 win at Athletic Bilbao on Wednesday night having provided his first assist of the season, from which Kylian Mbappé scored the opening goal. He was making his fourth consecutive start since suffering an injury – also to his left thigh – against Marseille in September. Continue reading...

Real Madrid edge home 4-3 in Greece Giménez heads home in injury time for Atlético Kylian Mbappé scored the second-fastest hat-trick in the Champions League as he helped himself to all four goals in Real Madrid’s 4-3 win at Olympiacos. The La Liga leaders were trailing to Chiquinho’s early strike at the Stadio Georgios Karaiskakis before he intervened with a seven-minute treble after 22, 24 and 29 minutes. Only Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah, who achieved the same feat in six minutes and 12 seconds against Rangers in October 2022, is ahead of him in the all-time list. Continue reading...

France winger Louis Bielle-Biarrey scored twice and set up two more as Les Bleus overcame Australia 48-33 in Paris on Saturday, handing the Wallabies their first winless European tour since 1958.

America, here we come! France secured their place in the 2026 World Cup by beating Ukraine 4-0 at the Parc des Princes. Kylian Mbappé led the team with a brace, reaching a new milestone of 400 career goals. The match featured a tribute before kickoff to the victims of the November 13, 2015 attacks.

France will face Ukraine on Thursday in the qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup. Kylian Mbappé’s side will secure their spot in the tournament with a victory. The match will take place in a significant context, marking the 10th anniversary of the November 13, 2015, terrorist attacks in Paris.

The clock in Santiago Bernabéu showed 98min 40sec when Pedri picked up the ball on the edge of his area and went on the final run of an exhausting afternoon. Here perhaps was one last chance to get something, the Barcelona midfielder somehow hauling himself up the pitch; instead, as he reached the other area, a tired, loose touch, a desperate lunge to get it back, saw him take out Aurélien Tchouaméni – the world upside down – and get sent off. And so the clásico was over, bar the shouting and the pushing. There was plenty of that, players squaring then and again when the whistle at last went a few seconds later, Thibaut Courtois and Lamine Yamal, Vinícius Júnior and Raphinha, who wasn’t even playing, confronting each other. But it was Madrid who celebrated. They had gone at it for over an hour then just about controlled it. The fixture that never lets you down, the game with only one 0-0 draw in more than 50 meetings, was 105 minutes long, delivered 38 shots, three goals scored, three more disallowed, a penalty given and taken away again and another saved. Continue reading...

Barça capitalise on dismissal of visitors’ Hezze Bayer Leverkusen 2-7 Paris Saint-Germain A Fermin López hat-trick and two goals from Marcus Rashford powered Barcelona to a commanding 6-1 Champions League victory over Olympiakos, while Ousmane Dembélé scored on his return to the Paris Saint-Germain side as they won 7-2 away to Bayer Leverkusen in a battle of two 10-man teams. The match got off to a flying start when the 22-year-old López opened the scoring from a rebound in the seventh minute and he doubled his tally in the 39th, finishing off a lightning-quick counterattack. Continue reading...

Updates from the 8pm BST kick-off at the Emirates Get in touch! Share your thoughts with Scott Two of the biggest clubs never to have won the European Cup meet tonight in north London. Could this be the year that a strange wrong is righted? Very possibly: Arsenal are currently joint second favourites to win this edition of the Champions League, while Atlético Madrid are usually there or thereabouts. So this qualifies as a proper heavyweight clash. The clubs have only met once before, in the Europa League semi-finals in 2018. Antoine Griezmann and Diego Costa did for Arsenal as Atleti won the tie 2-1 on aggregate, en route to winning the trophy. So that’s in the Colchoneros’ favour. On the other hand, Arsenal have won six in a row against Spanish teams, losing just one of their last 14 home games against visitors from Spain, while Atleti have won just one of their last nine against English sides. So all of that very much favours the Gunners. Continue reading...

Following his goal and assist in France's 3-0 victory over Azerbaijan, Kylian Mbappé will not be closing in on Olivier Giroud's national team scoring record this October. The French team captain is leaving the squad due to injury. Meanwhile, the French are getting closer to securing their place at the 2026 World Cup. Leading their group by a large margin, they could secure their place in the 2026 World Cup on Monday evening when they play Iceland.

Response to strained schedule has been more football than ever, and a danger that the best will have nothing left to give at the World Cup Cole Palmer and Ousmane Dembélé looked great when they were photographed sitting on Top of the Rock on the eve of the Club World Cup final but it is not being wise after the event to suggest that both might have been better off spending their summer lying on sunbeds. Top players struggling with fitness issues was foreseeable before the first edition of Fifa’s expanded tournament took place. “The worst idea ever,” was Jürgen Klopp’s take, citing concerns over the long-term impact of squeezing even more football into an ever expanding calendar. “Last year it was the Copa [América] and the European Championship, this year it’s the Club World Cup, next year it’s the World Cup. That means no recovery for the players involved.” Continue reading...

Real bounce back from derby defeat with 5-0 away win Atalanta fight back to beat Club Brugge 2-1 at home Kylian Mbappé scored a hat-trick as Real Madrid eased to a 5-0 away win over Champions League debutants Kairat Almaty on Tuesday. Xabi Alonso’s side bounced back from Saturday’s humbling 5-2 La Liga loss to Atlético Madrid in style, with Mbappé taking his Champions League tally to five goals in two European games this season. Continue reading...

Bonmatí scoops top honour for third successive year Sarina Wiegman and Hannah Hampton win awards On a breathlessly glitzy night in Paris, Ousmane Dembélé won the men’s Ballon d’Or award for the first time. It was a victory that brought the audience in a fever‑pitch – Théâtre du Châtelet to their feet, reward both for Paris Saint-Germain’s Champions League triumph and Dembélé’s own stellar form since Christmas. Otherwise it was a night of flowers and gongs for English football in Paris as the women’s game swept the opening half of the ceremony. There were awards for the England head coach, Sarina Wiegman, the England goalkeeper Hannah Hampton and Arsenal, the Champions League winners, as club of the year. Such was the degree of Anglo-dominance in the opening hour there were even scattered boos from the Parisian crowd as Arsenal’s – players went up to receive their gong. Continue reading...

Nayef Aguerd’s early header settles delayed Ligue 1 tie Antonio Conte’s side stay perfect in Serie A with 3-2 win Paris Saint-Germain suffered a 1-0 defeat at Marseille in Monday’s rearranged “Le Classique”, with Nayef Aguerd’s early header proving decisive in his side’s first home league win over their bitter rivals since 2011. After Sunday’s weather-enforced postponement of the match amid heavy rain and storms, PSG fell to their first league defeat of the season on a night where winger Ousmane Dembélé was presented with the 2025 Ballon d’Or men’s award in Paris. Continue reading...

Ousmane Dembele won the Ballon d'or as the world's best player. Guillem Balague looks at his rise to the very top.