Winners & Losers

  1. New Chelsea boss Alonso is BlueCo's get-out-of-jail-free card

    Could this be the moment that Chelsea's fortunes finally change under the beleaguered BlueCo ownership? The club has pulled off what looks like a seismic coup by luring Xabi Alonso to Stamford Bridge despite their continued struggles, somehow convincing the revered 44-year-old former Real Madrid boss to take the reins ahead of what now promises to be an era-defining summer.

  2. Semenyo lights up gloomy final - but Chelsea face more doom

    Antoine Semenyo ensured Manchester City wrapped up a domestic cup double at Wembley on Saturday, as his sublime flick 18 minutes from time decided the FA Cup final at Chelsea's expense. Conversely, the 1-0 defeat was the confirmation of another miserable season for the Blues, whose hopes of qualifying for any form of European football are now in serious jeopardy.

  3. Sign Rashford up! Lethal Barca loanee inflicts Real's worst nightmare

    It's official: Barcelona are La Liga champions once again - and in the end it was all very predictable. The runaway leaders only needed a point as the fixture schedule gave them the unique opportunity to retain their crown against Real Madrid in El Clasico, but they never looked like settling for a draw against their rudderless rivals, who are in the midsts of a dressing room crisis. The victory was swift and brutal, as Hansi Flick's side required just 20 minutes to put the game and the title beyond their old foes at Spotify Camp Nou.

  4. That's why Chelsea want Shaw! Striker punishes potential suitors

    As Chelsea and Man City prepared to face off in the Women's FA Cup semi-finals on Sunday, all the talk was about Khadija Shaw. The striker is out of contract in Manchester in a few weeks' time and all the talk is that she will be leaving, with Chelsea in hot pursuit of his signature. So, of course, Shaw took centre stage at Stamford Bridge, scoring twice to knock the Blues out of the competition and send City to Wembley in a dramatic 3-2 win that will go down as a cup classic.

  5. Arsenal, beware - 'Kvaradona' looks unstoppable right now

    Paris Saint-Germain endured an agonising wait before finally lifting the European Cup, but 12 months after winning their first, they've got a glorious chance to collect their second after edging out Bayern Munich 6-5 on aggregate in an absorbing semi-final tie. Wednesday's second leg at the Allianz Arena may not have been anywhere near as chaotic as last week's nine-goal thriller at Parc des Princes, but Luis Enrique was just as enthused by his side's performance.

  6. Are you watching, Amorim?! Mainoo & Carrick are the future

    For Manchester United, the first half of their game against Liverpool felt like a Sunday afternoon stroll in the park. They were cruising after scoring twice inside 14 minutes and their biggest rivals had barely laid a glove on them. The second half, though, was more akin to a mass brawl in a pub after one pint too many. But it all ended with local boy Kobbie Mainoo having the final say.

  1. Mikel Arteta, it's happening again! Arsenal's title choke is ON

    Arsenal fans love to chant, 'Tottenham Hotspur it's happening again' every time their north London rivals suffer a big defeat. But despite enjoying endless fun laughing at their relegation-threatened neighbours this season, the Gunners are heading for their own deja-vu-laced nightmare after Sunday's 2-1 defeat to Manchester City. Mikel Arteta's side gave it their all in the unmissable title showdown, but there was a familiar feeling once the final whistle went.

  2. Carrick & 'LinkedIn Liam' are heading in different directions

    Chelsea simply had to win Saturday night's Premier League clash with Manchester United. But they didn't. They lost. Again. And without scoring a goal. Again. It's now four blanks in a row in four defeats in a row for the Blues - their worst goal-less run of results since November 1912. As a result, Liam Rosenior's struggling side remain sixth in the Premier League standings, four points behind fifth-placed Liverpool, who have a game in hand.

  3. Madrid count cost of Camavinga red but Diaz is a Bayern bargain

    What a game! What a tie, in fact! Bayern Munich's Champions League quarter-final clash with Real Madrid had a bit of everything: great goals, goalkeeping gaffes and incredibly controversial calls. The net result was the kind of engrossing encounter that makes a mockery of Napoli owner Aurelio De Laurentiis' claim that we need to change the game to make it more appealing to young people.

  4. Slot's finished but Dembele's back on the Ballon d'Or trail

    Paris Saint-Germain knocked Liverpool out of the Champions League for the second consecutive season at Anfield on Tuesday evening. Unsurprisingly, Ousmane Dembele proved decisive once again. Just over a year after scoring the only goal of the second leg of the two teams' last-16 tie, which eventually led to PSG progressing on penalties, the winger returned to Merseyside to score twice in a 2-0 win that earned the defending champions a comprehensive 4-0 win on aggregate.

  5. 'Are you watching, Arsenal?!' - City set up epic title decider

    Manchester City's trip to Chelsea on Sunday afternoon came into a more intense spotlight than anticipated after Saturday's set of Premier League results. Table-topping Arsenal surprisingly lost at home to Bournemouth to open the door to Pep Guardiola's side in the title race, while fifth-placed Liverpool avoided another slip-up against Fulham to put pressure on the Blues, who are chasing Champions League qualification.

  6. Slot's time is surely up after another shameful showing

    Pep Guardiola insisted last month that Real Madrid were not his biggest rivals during his time at Manchester City, instead giving that particular honour to Liverpool. He did at least clarify that he meant Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool, which is just as well after Arne Slot's Reds failed to cause Guardiola any stress while he watched his side run out 4-0 winners in Saturday's FA Cup quarter-final from the comfort of his seat in the stands.

  7. Jude must start for England - but Kane is the key to WC26 glory

    It's never easy with the England men's national team. On paper, they should have enough quality, experience and firepower to blow most sides on this planet to smithereens. Then you sit down, watch them and wonder whether they are actually a team of total strangers assembled purely out of spite to mildly annoy the fans who had hoped so much of them. On the basis of their March friendlies, it would be a fair assumption to make.

  8. Props for Palmer but Foden's in the last chance saloon!

    As the paper aeroplanes took flight around Wembley Stadium early in the first half of this eventual 1-1 draw between England and Uruguay, the fans were showing that they had already lost their interest. It looked like the players were also phoning it in and some needed reminding that not only was a World Cup just around the corner, but that their place at the tournament was far from guaranteed.

  9. Wake up, Arsenal! Carabao crash been on the cards for weeks

    Manchester City beat Arsenal in the first final of the English football season, with Pep Guardiola schooling former apprentice Mikel Arteta to secure the Carabao Cup at Wembley on Sunday. The contest was decided by two second-half goals from Nico O’Reilly, who twice crept into the Gunners’ box effectively unmarked to score from a pair of almost identical crosses.

  10. Foden is a lucky boy - but Trent still can't win over Tuchel

    Thomas Tuchel has unveiled his England squad for this month's friendlies at home to Uruguay and Japan. These fixtures will be the final two chances for the German to examine his squad in detail before the end of the club season, and he's gone a bit rogue in how he's decided on his roster, naming an expanded 35-player selection but effectively splitting the team in two.