Key events
Derby v Luton has just kicked off, a massive game in the Championship with big implications on the relegation battle.
The Hatters are three points from safety with just four Championship games left to play this season. Derby are immediately above the relegation places with 43 points and are unbeaten in their last 10 home league games against Luton, dating back to 1990.
Some emails to get through!
Krishna writes:
Last night I went to sleep when the score was 2-4 only to wake up this morning to see the incredible result. All I could say was “ Football! Bloody Hell!”
Lesson learned: never fall asleep when United are playing!
And Tommy asks:
Is this the first time England had four clubs in the semi-finals of all three European club competitions? And if not, what other years did they do so? Or indeed exceed four.
A great question! The Conference League was first contested in 2021–22 season so there are not that many seasons to get through but will take a look. Or maybe a future Knowledge question …
Tottenham will face Bodø/Glimt in the semi-finals, hosting Kjetil Knutsen’s side at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on 1 May before the second leg on 8 May at Aspmyra Stadion.
Bodø/Glimt’s progression to the semi-finals marks the first time a team from Norway has made it to the semi-finals of any European competition. Lazio appeared to have done enough last night after taking a 3-0 lead in extra time, but the Norwegian outfit showed tremendous character to fight back, win the shoot-out and make history. Nikita Haikin, the goalkeeper, did not realise his side had won the tie after he saved Valentín Castellanos spot-kick: “But then I saw the guys running and I started running too.”
They have now won eight of their last ten two-legged European ties and have only failed to score in two of their last 26 European games.
Maguire’s last-ditch header ‘sums up time’ at Manchester United
Jamie Jackson
Harry Maguire, Manchester United’s dying-seconds hero against Lyon, characterised his headed winner as emblematic of a six years at the club in which the defender was made captain under Ole Gunnar Solskjær, was stripped of the status by Erik ten Hag and nearly left for West Ham before revitalising his career under Ruben Amorim.
I’ve had some amazing moments at this club and I’ve had some great times – some bad times as well. That game pretty much summed up my time at this club, to be honest. It was an incredible feeling to score that winner in such an important game, in a game that was full of emotion and the strangest, maddest game I’ve ever played in or witnessed. The lads showed great spirit and fight in the end to dig in and turn it around.
Of being deployed as No 9 by Amorim he said:
We’re probably short on attackers. The squad tonight, we’ve got two attackers in the squad in Garners [Alejandro Garnacho] and Rasmus [Højlund] and they give everything out there. Garners was on his last legs and he was up and down the pitch numerous times. So if he asks me to go up there, I’m willing to go up there. I do see myself as a threat and I do feel like I can score a goal up there.
Let’s go back to the Europa League and take a look at the challenges that await Manchester United and Tottenham in the semi-final.
United will take on Athletic Bilbao, playing first at Estadio de San Mamés on 1 May before the return leg at Old Trafford on 8 May. Here was Amorim’s first reaction to their semi-final opponents:
I played against them in pre-season with Sporting. I know a little bit. Of course, it is a different moment and we know they are really technical. They have two wingers who are really good. We will have time to assess all the characteristics of the opponent and we need to focus a lot on what we need to do until that game because we need to.
Especially if you look at the team in the moments at the end of the second half, the team was really tired and you can feel it with some players. Bruno Fernandes was a little bit tired, so I need to be careful, even with Bruno. In the game and also in-between the next two games in the Europa League, I will try to do that, but I will not promise.
Brighton’s Carlos Baleba recently got his chat on with Ed Aarons to overcoming Premier League nerves, adapting while grieving for his mum and what shaped his work ethic.
Mum liked when my dad told me to train. She was not like some mums in Africa who say: ‘No, it’s too hard for him, it is not the right age to be in the gym.’ She wanted me to work hard. When I was a kid, I said to her: ‘When I become a professional, I will build you a house, buy you a car.’ Everything was for her. I told her this when I was 13. I started [the house] when I was at Lille. Now it’s done.
Liverpool’s ‘big summer’ has already begun, says Slot
Andy Hunter
Arne Slot has said Liverpool’s big summer has already begun with securing the services of Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah for the next two years.
Van Dijk claimed “a big summer” awaited Liverpool before following Salah in signing a new two-year contract with the Premier League champions-in-waiting. But Slot believes retaining two world class talents, in deals that could ultimately cost Liverpool in the region of £90m in total, are a fundamental part of that strategy. He again refused to be drawn on Trent Alexander-Arnold’s future, who is the only one of Liverpool’s potential free agents not to recommit and has an offer on the table from Real Madrid.
“I think at Liverpool there is always a big summer and it is already a big summer now,” said the Liverpool head coach. “Maybe the players don’t follow everything what has been said in the media, me neither, but what I do know is that it was a big thing – ‘Can we hold onto them?’ – and by already holding on to two it is already a big summer. Let’s see what the rest of the summer will bring but it would be strange for me to say now I am not happy with the team. Maybe if we can keep that team it will already be a big summer.”
Liverpool are expected to target a new centre-forward and a young left back this summer but, just like last summer, Slot does not believe many improvements are needed for a squad that is on the brink of winning the Premier League title by some distance.
Slot, who expects Alexander-Arnold to return to the squad against Leicester on Sunday following an ankle injury, added: “We didn’t change anything last summer and I don’t think we went downwards. There are lots of studies being done that the longer a team plays together the more success it has. I think the core of the team you want to keep as long as you can together, as long as they are performing in the best possible way, but it is also in general good to have some new energy in and around the place with one or two players. That I agree on.
“But it isn’t really a necessity when you look at the quality we have and the quality of the season we have had because, again, we saw during the week how good a team Newcastle is. They are No 3 and that they played so well against us in the League Cup final is probably not a surprise any more. Paris Saint Germain have been good but Villa, No 7 at the moment, showed they can win against Paris Saint Germain. What a league we are in.”
Kaoru Mitoma is one of many available for Brighton’s trip to Brentford tomorrow after the club, Fabian Hürzeler confirmed. The Japanese has been out with a heel issue since the beginning of the month.
The big word today is positivity. Kaoru [Mitoma] is back, JP [van Hecke] is back.
A few players [Igor, Tariq Lamptey, Joel Veltman] will be stepping up their rehab next week, so the message is positive. We are positive that they will be back with the squad so they can help us on the pitch.
We have six finals left – that’s a good message and one the players share. We know every game will be a challenge but it’s also an opportunity and that is how we will approach it. You have to go step by step, you can’t force it and that’s our approach. We’re a young group and it’s a process, which we know takes time, and sometimes you have to take one step back to take two forward.
The stand-in Newcastle head coach Jason Tindall will offer his Aston Villa counterpart Unai Emery his hand before the pair go head-to-head in the battle for Champions League qualification.
Newcastle head for Villa Park on Saturday with memories still fresh of their stormy 3-0 Premier League win over Villa at St James’ Park on Boxing Day, during which Tindall and the visitors’ analyst Victor Manas were both sent off during a 20-man half-time melee in the tunnel.
Manas was later handed a two-match ban and fined after admitting his part in the incident, while a FA charge of acting in an improper manner against Tindall, who will be at the helm once again with head coach Eddie Howe still recovering from pneumonia, was found not proven.
Asked if he would shake hands with Emery before kick-off, Tindall said:
I’ve said before, I’ll always offer my hand for the opposition manager. When you are playing a game, all you want to do is win. That is how I have always been. I’m very passionate. That’s the only thing that crosses your mind during battle. It’s a frustrating game at times. I’ll certainly hold my hand out and if he wants to shake it, I am sure he will.
Exclusive: Club World Cup teams facing tax threat in new blow
Fifa is facing complex negotiations with the US authorities before the Club World Cup after failing to secure tax exemptions for the 32 competing clubs.
The world governing body announced a huge prize fund for the tournament of $1bn (£754m) in March, including up to $125.8m for the winners, but without tax agreements clubs could be left with bills of tens of millions of dollars to the US tax authorities on top of tax payable in their home countries. At least 29 clubs from outside the US, including Chelsea and Manchester City, will be competing.
Fifa has obtained exemptions from a range of taxes for the 2026 World Cup games in the US, with competing nations exempted from many city, state and ticket-sales taxes, but with the schedule for the Club World Cup put together at shorter notice it has been unable to secure similar dispensation.
Read more from Matt Hughes’s exclusive here.
Barnsley have appointed Conor Hourihane as head coach on a permanent basis.
Hourihane succeeds Darrell Clarke, who was dismissed last month. He has agreed a two-year deal with the option of a third season. The 34-year-old, who rejoined Barnsley last summer as a player-coach and was Clarke’s assistant, has taken charge of six matches so far on a temporary basis, overseeing one win, two draws and three defeats.
“It’s pretty emotional, to be honest,” said Hourihane. “I’m really honoured. I had success as captain, and now I want success as a head coach – it’s as simple as that. I want to win football matches more than anyone. Step by step, the ultimate goal is to have success.”
Barnsley, who play Leyton Orient on Friday, are 11th in League One with four matches to play. PA Media
Alexander-Arnold nearing return and could face Leicester
Trent Alexander-Arnold has been sidelined since sustaining an injury during the Champions League tie with Paris Saint-Germain on 11 March but Arne Slot confirmed that the right-back has trained with the squad for the first time this week.
Trent is coming back from injury and trained with us this week. He is not ready to start, but if things go well today and tomorrow, he might – might – be on the bench. First session with the team was Wednesday.
Every time he plays with us or trains with us, he shows his commitment. He has worked so hard to be back already now and the moment he is on the pitch, he shows me what a great football player he is and how much he is involved in us trying to achieve our goals this season. He has worked hard during the whole season and now in his rehab to be back with the team again.
The fans of Liverpool, everyone who watches football over the last five, six or seven years knows he’s been an incredible full-back for this football club. Let’s see what the future brings.
Alexander-Arnold’s future at Liverpool remains in doubt with the vice-captain’s contract up this summer and reports suggesting he is on his way to Real Madrid.
It is mathematically possible for Liverpool to clinch the Premier League title this weekend. Arne Slot’s side need a maximum of six points from their remaining six fixtures to seal a record-equalling 20th top-flight title.
If Arsenal lose away at Ipswich Town on Sunday and Liverpool follow that up with victory over Leicester a few hours later, the league leader’s points haul of 79 would be unassailable with five games left.
That being said, Slot said in his press conference this morning that he isn’t really focused on when and where Liverpool will confirm No 20:
My whole life, I’m living in the moment, living in the day; I’m not looking backwards a lot, I’m not looking forward a lot. That’s the type of person I am. In football, people tell you to enjoy the whole journey, but the only thing as a manager you are thinking about is that, at the weekend, there is a game coming up. We need to win that, then the next, then the next.
My thoughts are not on that at all. My thoughts are on Leicester and on our team. How to improve, what we can do better. We could do many things better in the first half against West Ham, we could do a lot of things better in the second half.
During the start of the week, we’ve worked on that a lot and now we are working towards Leicester. One game at a time and influence the one we can influence.
Just when you think you have caught your breath from the European football, the action comes at you thick and fast. Here are our ten things to look out for this weekend in the Premier League including Fulham looking to make derby history and a possible sneak peak into Ipswich’s Delap-less future.
Birmingham City have been transformed off the field and now face battle on the pitch with London City for promotion from the Championship. The side face Durham on Sunday before heading to Newcastle next weekend. Their final game of the season will be against London City, the team they are currently two points behind in the table.
Tom Garry and Fabio De Paola visited their training ground to get a sense of how Amy Merricks, the head coach and the players are feeling.
Walking around it on a sunny spring 2025 morning, the transformation is astonishing, after the club’s American owners dreamed a dream of WSL football. In the corridors, murals of former women’s team stars such as Karen Carney and Kerys Harrop are interwoven with those of the academy product Jude Bellingham. A state-of-the-art anti-gravity treadmill resides in the gym, together with hamstring testing kits, and the team meeting rooms have touch screens for analysis. In the canteen, the food is tailored around the team’s training loads and the “carbohydrate code” mapped to their weekly schedule with their full-time nutritionist. Their chef, Alan, goes with the women’s team on away games.
The Europa League dream came to an end for Rangers last night after Athletic Bilbao’s Nico Williams scored late to maintain hopes for the Spanish side to win the tournament in their home stadium. Here is Sid Lowe’s verdict from Estadio de San Mamés:
Rangers, by contrast, weren’t good enough. Over 180 minutes they only had two shots on target, although they actually had the first here, James Tavernier’s free-kick flying into the stands. Their task, or perhaps their limitations, were much the same as the first leg. This was, above all, about holding Athletic back again, or trying to.
On the left Nico Williams ran at them, Ridvan Yilmaz being nutmegged and then having to depart with an early injury that reinforced the idea that what Rangers had to do was resist. On the right, Óscar de Marcos provided a steady stream of balls into the box. In the middle, Maroan Sannadi, a huge, broad-shouldered centre-forward with his socks half way down his shins, was becoming a key figure. He was playing third tier football three months ago; now he stood above on the European stage.
Chelsea’s James ‘out for a period of time’ with injury
Chelsea have confirmed Lauren James “will be out for a period of time” with a hamstring injury.
The 23-year-old sustained the injury on international duty with England and was substituted at half-time during the 5-0 win over Belgium. Chelsea said James “returned to the club to begin rehabilitation which she will continue with the support of our medical team”.
The news will come as a blow to Sonia Bompastor’s quadruple-chasing Chelsea who face Barcelona in Sunday’s Champions League last-four first leg at Estadi Johan Cruyff. Chelsea host the return leg a week later and the WSL leaders, who lead Arsenal by three points, have four games left in their bid for a sixth successive title.
It was an interesting night for Chelsea. They are through to a European semi-final … but they got booed off the pitch as it happened. From west London, Jacob Steinberg wrote:
Losing 2-1 to Legia Warsaw on the night was embarrassing. Chelsea, who seemed intent on giving the fifth-best side in Poland hope of pulling off a comeback for the ages at a disgruntled Stamford Bridge, were shambolic and easily could have crashed out.
No wonder Maresca is not feeling the love from the crowd. Nobody celebrated Chelsea squeezing into a Conference League semi-final against Djurgården after winning 4-2 on aggregate. The defending was miserable and the attack was poor. Filip Jörgensen, Robert Sánchez’s understudy, was jittery in goal and the worries around Cole Palmer’s slump are not going away.
Reece James’s assessment was blunt and damning:
It was a poor performance. We had a 3-0 lead – maybe that played a part in taking our foot off the gas. Maybe we disrespected the competition today. If you don’t prepare right, you will pay. It’s going to affect the mindset. It’s going to be in the back of people’s heads. I understand the frustration. Fans come to see excitement. We were frustrating to watch.
Former Rochdale player Joe Thompson dies aged 36
The former Rochdale player Joe Thompson has died at the age of 36. Thompson, who retired at the age of 29 in 2019, was diagnosed with cancer for a third time last year.
His former club said in a statement: “Rochdale Football Club is devastated to learn of the passing of Joe Thompson.
“Joe, who had been bravely battling cancer for a third time, passed away peacefully at home on Thursday, with his family by his side.”
Ange Postecoglou is another Premier League manager who has been under pressure this season but he insisted after last night’s victory he never lost faith in his Tottenham players.
We can’t get too far ahead of ourselves. We’re in the semi-final and will play a difficult opponent in the semi, but it’s not about my belief in the team.
What’s more important is the belief the team has had because after a season like ours, it would be very easy for the players and staff, they could have left me in a pretty vulnerable place in terms of them splintering. But I’ve never felt that [even] with all the noise around our season.
Could we get a Manchester United v Tottenham Hotspur final in Europe this season? We’re one step closer after last night.
We will bring more Manchester United reaction as it comes but let’s turn to the other British teams in Europe last night.
Spurs impressively got it over the line against Eintracht Frankfurt, keeping a clean sheet in Germany to go through 2-1 on aggregate. The win means Tottenham have won two of their last four quarter-final matches in European competitions, as many as their last 14 attempts between 1982 to 2013.
Ed Aarons was at Deutsche Bank Park as Dominic Solanke kept his cool from the penalty spot.
A disciplined Tottenham side showed they are still playing for their manager. Solanke had not scored since 4 January – a run of 12 matches – but there were unbridled celebrations in the away end when he stroked home the decisive spot kick just before half-time and at the full-time whistle after almost eight nerve-racking minutes of injury-time.
The loss will be a tough one for Lyon to take. L’Equipe’s called it a “cruel” defeat, opting to go for a photo of a crestfallen Alexandre Lacazette, who scored a penalty in the 109th minute, being comforted by his manager, Paulo Fonseca on their front page.
Here’s what the Portuguese said after his side’s loss:
It’s hard to understand what happened. We have done magnificent things; we led 4-2 with one fewer player on the pitch. But we celebrated a lot at 4-2 when the match was not over. We thought we had won when we should have continued to think about our game management. We lacked experience at that moment. After the penalty to make it 4-3, Manchester United put a lot of pressure on us and put in a lot of crosses, and we gave in.
I am sad because I thought we deserved more but I don’t regret my changes at the end, because Manchester United started playing long balls, so I had to respond to that. But tonight, in the heat of the moment, I must above all remember that I am proud of my team and my players, of what they did with 10 against 11.
Lyon are still fighting for a spot in next season’s Champions League. They are currently fourth in Ligue 1 but fifth-placed LOSC and sixth-placed Strasbourg are only a point behind.
Maguire has come up with quite a few goals for United when needed, but last night’s header certainly has to be up there:
If you looked madness up in the dictionary you would probably describe it as that game. A crazy game and unbelievable to be on the right side of the result, and yet we’ve created great memories for a lot of our fans. We’ve made them happy and given them lots to talk about, good and bad.
We made really hard work of it, I must say. We don’t do things easily! Half-time at 2-0 up, we had full control. I think even in the second half, I feel like we had chances to score a third. Then they score a third out of nowhere, bit of a pinball goal which put us on the back foot and they manage to get that equaliser.
To go 4-2 down against ten men in extra time is nowhere near good enough, we opened ourselves up too much. They are a good team, have some good forwards, play great football. But we dug in, showed great spirit, and that is what this stadium does and to come back like that is an incredible performance from everyone in the final minutes.
I felt like the fourth goal for them was a real suckerpunch. Even going 3-2 down I felt like we were gonna get chances.
Obviously [the chance] fell to myself and I put it in the back of the net, which was an amazing feeling.
Any stats nerds around? Because United accomplished a few feats that no ever side has done before. Commit these to memory because I reckon they will be asked at a few pub quizzes around the country this weekend.
Harry Maguire’s goal was the first 120th-minute winning goal scored in Europa League history and the first in a major European tie since Atlético Madrid beat Liverpool at Anfield in March 2020.
It was only the second 5-4 win in Manchester United’s history, along with their 5-4 victory over Arsenal in the top-flight in February 1958.
Manchester United’s 5-4 win over Lyon was also the first game in major European football history to see five goals scored in extra-time.
Manchester United have lost only one of their last 30 Europa League matches at Old Trafford. They have also won their last five home Europa League matches.
This was the first nine-goal game in Europa League history. Ten previous matches had involved eight goals.
Lyon have been defeated in their last four two-legged European ties against English teams. The French side were unbeaten in ten away European games before this one.
This was Manchester United’s 28th Uefa competition quarter-final, a new English club record.
Manchester United have won eight of their last nine two-legged European ties against French teams.
Amorim, who has been under quite some pressure, would have faced quite a bit more had United not gotten it over the line yesterday. His side threw a two-goal lead and let a 10-man Lyon back into the game. But the head coach must be hailed for how they got through it in the end. His inspiration? Fergie time, of course.
I was watching the 1999 [Treble] documentary to have some inspiration for these moments. It was a great night, the team were tired, 4-2 with one more player, we think it’s over, but here it’s never over. Here everything is possible, you feel the environment. At 4-3, after the Bruno Fernandes penalty, we felt we could change the game.
We tried to put Harry Maguire up front because he is the only one who can score a goal with a header. Kobbie Mainoo has a lack of pace in this moment because of injury, but he’s really good in short spaces,” said Amorim.
The sound of the two last goals were amazing. It is something we can keep for the future. But in the end you go to the semi-finals but you need to win it. We just need to focus on the next stage and try and win the competition.
Jamie Jackson was at Old Trafford to witness the mayhem. He writes:
This is Manchester United and their proud DNA of Fergie-time and that 2-1 triumph over Bayern Munich at the Camp Nou. So: enter Harry Maguire to head the winner 34 seconds into added time, put United in dreamland and take the roof off the stadium – Casemiro again the provider, to make it three involvements in the three crucial strikes.
United, then, head to Spain for a semi-final first leg at Athletic Bilbao and after this who will wager against them reaching the showpiece at the same venue, after what was, too, a night of redemption for André Onana.
Preamble
All of the talk from the Spanish capital leading up to this week of European football was “Remontada this, remontada that”. Los Blancos were all talk and no action and it was ultimately Manchester United who managed the unthinkable comeback of the week.
Against Lyon, Ruben Amorim’s side scored three goals in the final six minutes of the match to seal a memorable 5-4 win over Lyon and book their berth in the Europa League last-four. For the first time in the history of a major European competition, a club had scored two goals in the 120th minute. Cue pandemonium at Old Trafford and on the Guardian sports desk.
There is bound to be a load of reaction from Manchester alone, which we will be bringing you right here. Spurs and Chelsea also booked their spot in the semi-finals of their respective European competitions and we will cast an eye towards a big weekend including Premier League, WSL and Football League action.
As always, if you have any thoughts, questions, complaints or musings (football related or otherwise), feel free to send me an email.
