UEFA Champions League

2024/25

Which footballer made the biggest leap in competitive levels between games? | The Knowledge

Plus: worst-ever penalty shoot outs, poachers turned gamekeepers … and footballers donating antiques?!<ul><li><a href="mailto:knowledge@theguardian.com">Mail us</a> with your all of your questions and answers</li></ul>“Malachi Fagan-Walcott’s final game of last season was for York City against Rochdale in the National League. His first competitive game of 2026-27 season was for Hearts against Sturm Graz in a Champions League qualifier. Has a player ever made a bigger leap in competitive levels between consecutive club games?” asks Tom Reed.Does a jump from the Welsh League to the FA Cup count as a bigger leap? Probably not, but this was an FA Cup semi-final, rather than a Champions League qualifier, and it’s a cracking yarn regardless. “I’ll nominate Gary Plumley,” writes Russell Connor. “Gary made almost 200 appearances for Newport County in four separate spells over the course of a decade but by 1987 he had effectively retired and was running a wine bar while making occasional appearances for Ebbw Vale in the Welsh League.Steve Baines, the only referee in the English professional leagues <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2002/aug/25/sport.sportfeatures">to have had significant experience as a player</a>.Dick Jol, who refereed the 2001 Champions League final between Bayern Munich and Valencia.Ben Haverkort, who as a player received 73 yellow cards and six reds, many for verbally abusing referees. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/aug/05/which-footballer-biggest-leap-in-competitive-levels-between-games-the-knowledge">Continue reading...</a>

guardian

TV-guide: Så ser du Malmö FF i Champions League-kvalet

Malmö FF och Vålerenga gör upp i Champions League-kvalet.Så här följer du matchen. Malmö FF ställs mot norska Vålerenga i kvalet till UEFA Women’s Champions League. Mötet spelas onsdagen den 5 augusti 2026 på Stadion am Brentanobad i Frankfurt med avspark klockan 13:00 svensk tid. Här hittar du sändningsinformationen och detaljerna du behöver inför matchen: Kan jag […] The post <a href="https://fotbolldirekt.se/champions-league/tv-guide-sa-ser-du-malmo-ff-i-champions-league-kvalet/">TV-guide: Så ser du Malmö FF i Champions League-kvalet</a> appeared first on <a href="https://fotbolldirekt.se">FotbollDirekt</a>.

fotbolldirekt

Tough Champions League challenge awaits Hearts and Rangers

Heart of Midlothan and Rangers start their new season in the Champions League qualifying group stage on Wednesday, but how are they are prepared?

bbc

Så startar Mjällby i Champions League-kvalet

Ställs mot Yaya Touré The post <a href="https://fotbolldirekt.se/champions-league/just-nu-sa-startar-mjallby-i-champions-league-kvalet/">Så startar Mjällby i Champions League-kvalet</a> appeared first on <a href="https://fotbolldirekt.se">FotbollDirekt</a>.

fotbolldirekt

The ex-sandwich maker who cycles to Champions League games

Meet Mjallby striker Jacob Bergstrom, a former sandwich maker who cycles to games and hopes to upset Yaya Toure's new club in the Champions League.

bbc

Celtic fans say the same thing after Champions League draw

football_insider

Marc Skinner may have been a Marmite manager but Manchester United’s budget was spread thin | Tom Garry

He divided opinion but made the most of a small budget – his successor must work with youngsters not big signings“If we want to compete at this later stage, we’ve seen what we’ve got to do, as a club. It’s our choice now, isn’t it? We have to look at what we seriously want to achieve … It takes, sometimes, a punch in the face to wake up.”Those were the words of the Manchester United head coach Marc Skinner after his side went out of the Women’s Champions League with elimination by Bayern Munich in April. Just over four months later, the bruise from that punch has faded, but so, it would seem, have the club’s ambitions to compete in the transfer market, and Skinner has decided not to get into the ring for another round. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/aug/03/marc-skinner-manchester-united-budget-wsl-womens-super-league">Continue reading...</a>

guardian

Celtic learn CL opponents as Brighton discover European route

Celtic will play Austrian champions LASK for a place in the league phase of the Champions League, while Brighton will face CFR Cluj or Tromso in the Conference League play-off round.

sky_sports

‘They are terrified’: Como spark row with fans over controversial new stadium policy

<ul><li>Supporters must not miss more than three home games</li><li>Serie A club’s chairman defends harsh new rules</li></ul>The surprise package of last season’s Serie A, Como, who qualified for the Champions League <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/may/25/como-roma-champions-league-juventus-milan-serie-a-chaos">for the first time in the club’s history</a>, will revoke season tickets from fans who fail to attend three home matches, under a series of new rules that have sparked a row among supporters.<a href="https://comofootball.com/regolamento-stadio-biglietti/">In a statement issued on Monday</a> the club, coached by the former Arsenal midfielder <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/may/07/we-bring-in-hungry-humble-players-how-cesc-fabregas-is-leading-the-incredible-rise-of-como">Cesc Fàbregas</a>, said its supporters “who miss more than three home matches without what it considers a valid reason risk having their season tickets revoked”. Another new rule bans fans from wearing the opposing team’s shirts or scarves anywhere in the stadium except the away section. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/aug/03/they-are-terrified-como-spark-row-with-fans-over-controversial-new-stadium-policy">Continue reading...</a>

guardian

Celtic drawn against LASK in Champions League play-off

Celtic will play against Austrian champions LASK in the Champions League play-off round as four other Scottish sides await Europa League and Conference League draws.

bbc

Are Bournemouth set to strike defender gold again with Silva?

There was a time when Antonio Silva's rise to the top appeared an inevitability. He was only 18 years old when he scored his first Champions League goal for Benfica in a 4-3 win over Juventus. He played at the 2022 World Cup for Portugal soon after that.

sky_sports

Not so black and white: how Eddie Howe lost control at Newcastle in one summer

Everything was looking rosy for Howe at St James’ Park until Alexander Isak’s departure led to rushed signings and a messy seasonLast September, David Hopkinson, just installed as Newcastle’s chief executive, perched on a stool at a downstairs corner table in Shearer’s Bar at St James’ Park and between sips of zero alcohol lager, likened Eddie Howe to Bruce Springsteen. According to Hopkinson, Newcastle’s manager was “the Boss” and “the talent”. He conjured up an imaginary scene involving Springsteen asking for M&M’s before a concert and being duly supplied with a dressing room overflowing with the brightly-coloured confectionery. The same principle, he said, would apply to “Eddie”, who would be furnished with “whatever he wants”.Six months later, things had changed. In late March, Hopkinson sat around a heavy wooden table in a St James’ Park boardroom and, between sips of coffee, said he did not “have a stance on the manager’s future”. What he could tell assembled reporters was that a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/mar/22/newcastle-sunderland-premier-league-match-report">recent home defeat</a> to Sunderland “hurt”. It “resonated” and was being taken “seriously”. Given that Newcastle had just lost a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/mar/18/barcelona-newcastle-champions-league-last-16-match-report">Champions League tie 8-3 to Barcelona on aggregate</a> and were en route to finishing 12th in the Premier League, Howe admitted to “sleepless nights” before a summit with the club’s majority Saudi Arabian ownership at Matfen Hall hotel in Northumberland the following month. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/jul/30/not-so-black-and-white-how-one-summer-saw-eddie-howe-lose-control-at-newcastle">Continue reading...</a>

guardian

Klart: De får Mjällby möta i Champions League-kvalet

Ställs mot Yaya Touré The post <a href="https://fotbolldirekt.se/champions-league/klart-de-far-mjallby-mota-i-champions-league-kvalet/">Klart: De får Mjällby möta i Champions League-kvalet</a> appeared first on <a href="https://fotbolldirekt.se">FotbollDirekt</a>.

fotbolldirekt

Newcastle in pole position to sign Champions League star who created 0.60 big chances per 90

football_insider

bet365 Champions League Offer: Bet £10, Get £30 in Free Bets

talksport

Are there already worrying signs for Vrancken's Hearts?

Former Hearts forward Ryan Stevenson delivers a scathing verdict as Wouter Vrancken's reign begins with a chastening Champions League elimination.

bbc

bet365 Champions League Offer: Bet £10, Get £30 in Free Bets

talksport

17/1 acca on Wednesday’s Champions League action: Bet £10 and get £30 in free bets with bet365

talksport

20/1 acca on Tuesday’s Champions League action: Bet £10 and get £30 in free bets with bet365

talksport

Wolves outcast Tolu Arokodare set to join former Champions League winners on initial loan deal

talksport