List of All Articles with Tag 'epgb sports'

A Newcastle United supporter is in hospital in Milan after being stabbed on Monday night. Newcastle fans have flocked to Italy to watch their club play against AC Milan in the San Siro on Tuesday, in what will be their first Champions League match for 20 years. Eddie McKay, 58, was with his son and a friend when they were attacked by a group of men wearing hoodies at around midnight near the centre of the city, before police intervened. He was stabbed in the back and arms after he fell while trying to run away. Photos showed a shirtless man with a Newcastle United tattoo lying on the street in a pool of blood, being treated by medics before being taken away in an ambulance. Police have confirmed that Mr McKay was taken to a city hospital. His condition has been described as “stable” with non-life-threatening injuries. His daughter, Rachel McKay, told Sky Sports News: “My dad is stable and in a bit of shock. He’s gutted he’s missing the match but just wants every other Newcastle fan out here to be aware and be safe. “He has just had two knee replacements so he fell when he was being chased and that is when he was attacked. My brother is OK but is in shock after seeing that happen to our dad. I’m flying out there later. We haven’t slept all night.” A Newcastle statement said: “We are deeply concerned by reports that a supporter was seriously assaulted in Milan on Monday evening and we are liaising with local authorities to understand the circumstances. Our thoughts are with the supporter and their family and we hope for a full and speedy recovery.” Newcastle have a 4,000-seat allocation for the game at the iconic 76,000-capacity San Siro, although it is thought many more fans have travelled to Italy without tickets. The incident took place in the Navigli area of the city, where fans gathered throughout the evening. The Newcastle squad’s flight was meanwhile delayed by adverse weather on Monday, with manager Eddie Howe insisting the situation had not affected his team’s preparations for the match. Read More UEFA Champions League 2023/24 schedule - every game in the group stage The defiant message behind Newcastle’s complicated Champions League return Is Milan vs Newcastle on TV? Kick-off time, channel and how to watch

As Lionel Messi lifted the World Cup in Doha, Kylian Mbappe was “livid”. It of course wasn’t because of his former team-mate’s success. It was that Mbappe had missed his only chance to emulate Pele and win two World Cup finals by the age of 23. The Paris Saint-Germain star is said to be more aware of his legacy than perhaps any previous major player in history – certainly much more than Erling Haaland. It is why he is now so singularly focused on the Champions League. That’s why he ultimately wants to go to Real Madrid. Watching Haaland lift it in June will have only added to that, all the more so because the Manchester City forward clearly doesn’t care quite as much. That isn’t to say he didn’t greatly want it, of course, but it’s one growing difference with Mbappe. The Norwegian said only last week he didn’t care for that projected rivalry, either, and that might well be true. Those differences between Haaland and Mbappe will still define the next decade of football in the same way those between Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo did the last decade. That all might seem rather neat since this is the first Champions League season without either of its greatest players, but then the fact the Haaland-Mbappe doesn’t fit so neatly only makes it more alluring. While the French star is perhaps considered closer to Messi as an all-round playmaker, it is Haaland who is closer to the Argentine in terms of mindset. Those who know both say their approach to it all is more rudimentary. Both Messi and Haaland basically think that they are gifted so they will win. Everything becomes just an expression of their talent, meaning it’s not like they think about the game all the time. Haaland drew laughter at the recent PFA awards when he spoke about the series he watches, only revealing the Tyson Fury documentary At Home With the Furys. He is said to be more invested in Fortnite, in the way Messi was with football games. Mbappe is by contrast more like Ronaldo in how “obsessive” he is. He doesn’t allow it to flow as easily, because he thinks about it so much more. Mbappe turns inward when things don’t go his way. The outward expressions then become much more emotional, and angry. This has been evident in the last few years at PSG. Mbappe hasn’t come close to the Champions League so he has made it clear what he wants the team to look like. That has often been difficult for those around him, just as it often was with Ronaldo. Now at the peak of his physical powers, Mbappe wants a much faster and intense style of play. There may well be another twist in that Mbappe finally gets the team he wants in Luis Enrique’s youth-driven game, in what is set to be his last season at PSG.It removes some of glamour and soap opera from the Qatari project, but that might well make them a more serious proposition. That is perhaps essential to give City something resembling proper opposition this season, and to give this campaign some competitive life. In part because of the way Pep Guardiola has adapted around Haaland, the Abu Dhabi project have become such a supremely functioning machine. The Norwegian is allowed to do all he really cares about in football, which is just scoring and scoring. Even Guardiola reshaped his ideals around him, such is that finishing talent. This is what Mbappe has so far lacked in his career outside the French national team. It might be what he gets with Luis Enrique. On that, there was simply never any prospect of the French star going to the Saudi Pro League, or PSG benching him. He has too much power, he is too concerned with his legacy. It mercifully means Mbappe is still in the Champions League this season, just as Messi and Ronaldo step out. Haaland won’t have the stage to himself. Really, though, this season is only a sub-plot in a greater play. Read More Manchester United are a mess — and it could be about to get even worse From ‘unpromotable’ to the Champions League: Union Berlin fairytale is perfect antidote to modern football Ramsdale or Raya? Mikel Arteta’s unorthodox solution to Arsenal’s problem Rumours: Clubs look to sign Ramsdale after Arsenal drop him as Man Utd track Gnabry Germany beat France as Italy reignite Euro 2024 hopes Big-spending Saudis contribute £700million to record £6billion transfer total

Joe Joyce will bid for revenge against Zhilei Zhang this weekend, as the heavyweights meet in a rematch in London. When the pair clashed in the English capital in April, Zhang secured a stoppage in Round 6 after battering Joyce’s eye to the point of closure. The Chinese heavyweight, 40, will look to repeat the trick at Wembley Arena on Saturday, while his British opponent, 37, is aiming to get back to winning ways. A bout with Oleksandr Usyk could be on the cards for the winner, who will leave London as the WBO heavyweight champion – a status that Zhang took from Joyce in April. Here’s all you need to know. We may earn commission from some of the links in this article, but we never allow this to influence our content. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent. When is the fight? Joyce vs Zhang 2 is set to take place on Saturday 23 September, at Wembley Arena in London. The main card is expected to begin at 7.30pm BST (11.30am PT, 1.30pm CT, 2.30pm ET), with ring walks for the main event due at around 10.30pm BST (2.30pm PT, 4.30pm CT, 5.30pm ET). How can I watch it? In the UK, the event will air live on TNT Sports (formerly BT Sport). In the US, ESPN+ will stream the action live. If you’re travelling abroad and want to watch the event, you might need a VPN to unblock your streaming app. Our VPN round-up is here to help and includes deals on VPNs in the market. Viewers using a VPN need to make sure that they comply with any local regulations where they are and also with the terms of their service provider. Odds Joyce – 21/20 Zhang – 17/20 Draw – 18/1 Full odds via Betway. • Get all the latest boxing betting sites’ offers Full card (subject to change) Zhilei Zhang (C) vs Joe Joyce 2 (WBO interim heavyweight title) Pierce O’Leary (C) vs Kane Gardner (WBC international super-lightweight) Anthony Yarde vs TBA (light-heavyweight) Sam Noakes vs Carlos Perez (lightweight) Zach Parker vs Khalid Graidia (super-middleweight) Ezra Taylor vs Joel McIntyre (light-heavyweight) Royston Barney-Smith vs TBA (super-featherweight) Moses Itauma vs Amine Boucetta (heavyweight) Tommy Fletcher vs Alberto Tapia (heavyweight) Aloys Youmbi vs Erik Nazaryan (cruiserweight) Sean Noakes vs Lukasz Barabasz (welterweight) Read More Joe Joyce on heavyweight knockouts, oil painting, and teaching 60-year-olds to swim Heavyweight boxing is decaying before our eyes – no other sport would survive this idiocy Eddie Hearn: ‘Ask someone to name three people in boxing, they’ll say: Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua, me’ Who is fighting on the Joyce vs Zhang 2 undercard this weekend? What time does Joyce vs Zhang 2 start this weekend? Joe Joyce on knockouts, oil painting, and teaching 60-year-olds to swim

Joe Joyce tasted defeat for the first time as a professional in April, when he suffered a TKO loss to Zhilei Zhang, and the Briton gets his shot at redemption this weekend. Zhang, 40, surprised the London crowd by outboxing Joyce and injuring the 37-year-old’s eye to the point that the referee stepped in during Round 6. In doing so, the Chinese heavyweight took the WBO interim title from Joyce, who will look to regain the belt on Saturday and potentially set up a clash with Oleksandr Usyk. Will it be a repeat or revenge for the “Juggernaut” as he takes on “Big Bang” again? Here’s all you need to know. We may earn commission from some of the links in this article, but we never allow this to influence our content. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent. When is the fight? Joyce vs Zhang 2 is set to take place on Saturday 23 September, at Wembley Arena in London. The main card is expected to begin at 7.30pm BST (11.30am PT, 1.30pm CT, 2.30pm ET), with ring walks for the main event due at around 10.30pm BST (2.30pm PT, 4.30pm CT, 5.30pm ET). How can I watch it? In the UK, the event will air live on TNT Sports (formerly BT Sport). In the US, ESPN+ will stream the action live. If you’re travelling abroad and want to watch the event, you might need a VPN to unblock your streaming app. Our VPN round-up is here to help and includes deals on VPNs in the market. Viewers using a VPN need to make sure that they comply with any local regulations where they are and also with the terms of their service provider. Odds Joyce – 21/20 Zhang – 17/20 Draw – 18/1 Full odds via Betway. • Get all the latest boxing betting sites’ offers Full card (subject to change) Zhilei Zhang (C) vs Joe Joyce 2 (WBO interim heavyweight title) Pierce O’Leary (C) vs Kane Gardner (WBC international super-lightweight) Anthony Yarde vs TBA (light-heavyweight) Sam Noakes vs Carlos Perez (lightweight) Zach Parker vs Khalid Graidia (super-middleweight) Ezra Taylor vs Joel McIntyre (light-heavyweight) Royston Barney-Smith vs TBA (super-featherweight) Moses Itauma vs Amine Boucetta (heavyweight) Tommy Fletcher vs Alberto Tapia (heavyweight) Aloys Youmbi vs Erik Nazaryan (cruiserweight) Sean Noakes vs Lukasz Barabasz (welterweight) Read More Joe Joyce on heavyweight knockouts, oil painting, and teaching 60-year-olds to swim Heavyweight boxing is decaying before our eyes – no other sport would survive this idiocy Eddie Hearn: ‘Ask someone to name three people in boxing, they’ll say: Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua, me’ Who is fighting on the Joyce vs Zhang 2 undercard this weekend? How to watch Joyce vs Zhang 2 online and on TV this weekend Joe Joyce on knockouts, oil painting, and teaching 60-year-olds to swim

As the 2023 season begins to wind down, Inter Miami and Lionel Messi still have important fixtures remaining in two competitions. Having already won the Leagues Cup on penalties (10-9), Inter Miami and Messi could potentially win three trophies this season. Messi made his debut for Inter Miami on the 21 July against Cruz Azul in their first game of the Leagues Cup group stage. He came on in the 54th minute and won the game for his new side with a goal from a free-kick in stoppage time. They reached the semi-final of the U.S. Open Cup before Messi arrived. A 5-4 win on penalties against FC Cincinnati will see them face Houston Dynamo in the final. In the MLS Cup, he made his debut on the 26 August against New York Red Bulls and was key in ending Miami’s 11-game winless run in the league. His goal in the 89th minute saw them record a well-needed 2-0 win after coming off of the bench in the 60th minute. Messi missed the first game since he joined in July on 16 September when Inter Miami lost 2-5 to Atlanta United. In the same competition, they currently sit 14th in the Eastern Conference, which is made up of 15 teams. In order to make it to the playoffs they’ll need to reach ninth place. They have currently played 27 games, won eight and lost 15. So far, he has played 11 games, scored 11 goals, and had five assists. Here are the upcoming games that he could feature in for Inter Miami: U.S. Open Cup Final 27th September vs Houston Dynamo MLS Cup 20th September vs Toronto FC (h) 24th September vs Orlando City (a) 30th September vs NYCFC (h) 4th October vs Chicago Fire (a) 7th October vs FC Cincinnati (h) 21st October vs Charlotte FC (a) Read More Every Lionel Messi goal, assist and key moment for Inter Miami Cristiano Ronaldo declares rivalry with Lionel Messi ‘is over’ Messi favourite for men’s Ballon d’Or with four Lionesses on women’s list Louis van Gaal claims Qatar World Cup was fixed for Lionel Messi and Argentina to win UEFA Champions League 2023/24 schedule - every game in the group stage Spain players emphasise ‘firm will’ to refuse national team call-ups

The majority of Spain’s World Cup winning team – although with the notable exception of Jenni Hermoso – have been selected for upcoming fixtures against Sweden and Switzerland, but it remains unclear whether the players have ended their international boycott following the resignation of Luis Rubiales. Last week, a group of 39 players released an open letter demanding further changes at the Spanish Football Association before they would return to international duty, after their World Cup triumph in Sydney was overshadowed by the fallout that followed Rubiales’ unsolicited kiss on the lips of forward Hermoso. Spain’s World Cup-winning manager Jorge Vilda was replaced amid the furore, with newly-appointed coach Montse Tome announcing her first squad since taking charge. Her selection included 15 of the 23 players who were in their World Cup squad, as well as two star players, Barcelona’s Mapi Leon and Patri Guijarro, who had boycotted the tournament after previously voicing concerns over playing conditions. Tome would not reveal whether she had spoken to the players before she made her selection, which comes ahead of Spain’s match against Sweden on Friday. However, the coach explained that Hermoso had not been selected because it was the “best way to protect her” following the events that followed Spain’s 1-0 win against England in the World Cup final on 20 August. The core of Spain’s World Cup-winning team have been called up, which includes 21 of the 39 players who signed an open letter demanding further changes following the exits of Rubiales and Vilda. An original group of 81 players had initiated the boycott in response to Rubiales’ unwanted kiss of the lips of Hermoso in Sydney. Rubiales only resigned on 10 September, after Hermoso filed a criminal complaint against him for alleged sexual assault. Read More Spain’s World Cup players to continue boycott despite Luis Rubiales’ resignation Spain players demand FA overhaul and continue national team boycott Watch Luis Rubiales arrive at Spanish court over Women’s World Cup kiss

Nottingham Forest host Burnley tonight in the Premier League. Forest handed debuts to Ibrahim Sangare and Callum Hudson-Odoi for the visit of Vincent Kompany’s side. Both men arrived on transfer deadline day but were not eligible for the win at Chelsea before the international break, with Anthony Elanga and Gonzalo Montiel also coming in. Burnley, who won at the City Ground in the Carabao Cup last month, made two changes from the side that were hammered at Tottenham, with Josh Brownhill and Charlie Taylor coming in. Follow the latest action from the Premier League below.

Newcastle United face a brutally tough draw on their return to the Champions League after being dropped in group F with Paris Saint-Germain, Borussia Dortmund and AC Milan. Manchester United are up against Harry Kane’s Bayern Munich in group A along with Turkish champions Galatasaray, and new striker Rasmus Hojlund will also face his old side Copenhagen. Arsenal will play Europa League champions Sevilla as well as PSV Eindhoven and Lens, while holders Manchester City will take on RB Leipzig, Young Boys and Red Star Belgrade. Like Newcastle, Celtic were in pot four and also face a tricky group against Dutch champions Feyenoord, Atletico Madrid and Lazio. The fixtures will begin on Tuesday 19 September and wrap up on Wednesday 13 December. Champions League 2023/24 group stage schedule Matchday 1 19 September AC Milan vs Newcastle (17:45) Young Boys vs Leipzig (17:45) Feyenoord vs Celtic (20:00) Lazio vs Atlético de Madrid (20:00) Paris vs Dortmund (20:00) Man City vs Crvena zvezda (20:00) Barcelona vs Antwerp (20:00) Shakhtar Donetsk vs Porto (20:00) 20 September Galatasaray vs Copenhagen (17:45) Real Madrid vs Union Berlin (17:45) Bayern vs Man United (20:00) Sevilla vs Lens (20:00) Arsenal vs PSV Eindhoven (20:00) Braga vs Napoli (20:00) Benfica vs Salzburg (20:00) Real Sociedad vs Inter (20:00) Matchday 2 3 October Union Berlin vs Braga (17:45) Salzburg vs Real Sociedad (17:45) Man United vs Galatasaray (20:00) Copenhagen vs Bayern (20:00) Lens vs Arsenal (20:00) PSV Eindhoven vs Sevilla (20:00) Napoli vs Real Madrid (20:00) Inter vs Benfica (20:00) 4 October Atlético de Madrid vs Feyenoord (17:45) Antwerp vs Shakhtar Donetsk (17:45) Celtic vs Lazio (20:00) Dortmund vs Milan (20:00) Newcastle vs Paris (20:00) Leipzig vs Man City (20:00) Crvena zvezda vs Young Boys (20:00) Porto vs Barcelona (20:00) Matchday 3 24 October Galatasaray vs Bayern (17:45) Inter vs Salzburg (17:45) Man United vs Copenhagen (20:00) Sevilla vs Arsenal (20:00) Lens vs PSV Eindhoven (20:00) Braga vs Real Madrid (20:00) Union Berlin vs Napoli (20:00) Benfica vs Real Sociedad (20:00) 25 October Feyenoord vs Lazio (17:45) Barcelona vs Shakhtar Donetsk (17:45) Celtic vs Atlético de Madrid (20:00) Paris vs Milan (20:00) Newcastle vs Dortmund (20:00) Leipzig vs Crvena zvezda (20:00) Young Boys vs Man City (20:00) Antwerp vs Porto (20:00) Matchday 4 7 November Dortmund vs Newcastle (17:45) Shakhtar Donetsk vs Barcelona (17:45) Atlético de Madrid vs Celtic (20:00) Lazio vs Feyenoord (20:00) Milan vs Paris (20:00) Man City vs Young Boys (20:00) Crvena zvezda vs Leipzig (20:00) Porto vs Royal Antwerp (20:00) 8 November Napoli vs Union Berlin (17:45) Real Sociedad vs Benfica (17:45) Bayern vs Galatasaray (20:00) Copenhagen vs Man United (20:00) Arsenal vs Sevilla (20:00) PSV Eindhoven vs Lens (20:00) Real Madrid vs Braga (20:00) Salzburg vs Inter (20:00) Matchday 5 28 November Lazio vs Celtic (17:45) Shakhtar Donetsk vs Antwerp (17:45) Feyenoord vs Atlético de Madrid (20:00) Paris vs Newcastle (20:00) Milan vs Dortmund (20:00) Man City vs Leipzig (20:00) Young Boys vs Crvena zvezda (20:00) Barcelona vs Porto (20:00) 29 November Galatasaray vs Man United (17:45) Sevilla vs PSV Eindhoven (17:45) Bayern vs Copenhagen (20:00) Arsenal vs Lens (20:00) Real Madrid vs Napoli (20:00) Braga vs Union Berlin (20:00): Benfica vs Inter (20:00) Real Sociedad vs Salzburg (20:00) Matchday 6 12 December Lens vs Sevilla (17:45) PSV Eindhoven vs Arsenal (17:45) Man United vs Bayern (20:00) Copenhagen vs Galatasaray (20:00) Napoli vs Braga (20:00) Union Berlin vs Real Madrid (20:00) Inter vs Real Sociedad (20:00) Salzburg vs Benfica (20:00) 13 December Leipzig vs Young Boys (17:45) Crvena zvezda vs Man City (17:45) Atlético de Madrid vs Lazio (20:00) Celtic vs Feyenoord (20:00) Dortmund vs Paris (20:00) Newcastle vs Milan (20:00) Porto vs Shakhtar Donetsk (20:00) Antwerp vs Barcelona (20:00) When is the Champions League final? The final will take place at London’s Wembley Stadium on 1 June 2024. Read More Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino understands Thiago Silva’s frustration Kyle Walker says Man City ‘start at the bottom of the mountain’ this season AC Milan’s Fikayo Tomori relishing clash with former team-mate Sandro Tonali Pep Guardiola challenges Man City to win back-to-back Champions League titles Aaron Wan-Bissaka injury adds to Manchester United’s list of problems Manchester United are a mess — and it could be about to get even worse

“Ja so eisern wie Granit, so wie einst Real Madrid und so zogen wir in die Bundesliga ein und wir werden auch mal deutscher Meister sein (Irgendwann).” “Yeah, so iron, like granite, just like Real Madrid, so we’ll move into the Bundesliga, and we’ll also become German champions.” They could sing that at Union Berlin, safe in the knowledge they would never actually play Real Madrid. It was a fanciful chant, from a different footballing universe. In 2005-06, when Sergio Ramos was making his Real debut, Union were playing in the Oberliga-Nord, a regional league of clubs in the old East Germany. Less than two decades later, Union’s players and staff and their families gathered to watch the Champions League draw. Eventually, there were two possible pools for them: B and C. They were placed in the latter. And then it became clear: they would meet Real as peers. “Surreal and overwhelming,” said Christian Arbeit, the matchday announcer at Union’s Alte Forsterei ground and a lifelong fan. “For the very first time we are playing the biggest competition in club football and meet the biggest club in the world and it is the very first game.” For Union, life as a Champions League club starts at the Bernabeu. It caps the rise of Union, the underdog club from East Berlin. They haven’t become German champions yet, though they led the table after two games of this campaign and finished fourth last season. They have gatecrashed the European elite with an old-fashioned formula, an almost defiant anti-commercialism that has given them an authenticity that, paradoxically, some corporations find attractive and with a ground that was rebuilt by the fans. Arbeit is one of them, a supporter for almost four decades who took a few days’ leave from his job at a cinema company. “I knew I could never come back if I wouldn’t have helped,” he recalled. Without Arbeit, without the 2,333 supporters who provided 140,000 hours of voluntary work in 2008 and 2009, it is safe to say Union would not have reached the Bundesliga, let alone the Champions League. There was nothing inevitable about this, about the organic, improbable surge of the people’s club from the DDR. The people saved Union when the city of Berlin and the district of Kopenick, each having done nothing to maintain the Alte Forsterei, handed it over to the club, but at a point when the German Football Federation denied it a licence to host matches; unless it was refurbished, anyway. “A very heartwarming 13 months of a building site,” Arbeit remembered. “There was around about 100 people each day – you couldn’t employ more – and 80 of them had never built something before. They were like me – cinema people, teachers, sales people – and you had 20 guys, proper building people, and they had to guide us through this building site. It is kind of a miracle. We have told this story a million times but still when I do talk about it, it gives me goosebumps because it is such a crazy story.” The miracle had its roots in a different country and a different time. Union were not the dominant club in the East German capital; that mantle resided with Dynamo, who were in a run of 10 consecutive titles when a 12-year-old Arbeit first went to a game in 1986 with his father, an engineer who tended to spend his spare time playing the trombone in a Dixieland jazz band. “Until that day I was not interested in football and we came to the stadium and it was a strange world I had never experienced before,” Arbeit said. “There were grown-up men singing and chanting and shouting and swearing and using words I was not allowed to use at home so it was a huge impression of a strange way of freedom.” That freedom brought a contrast with Dynamo Berlin, the club of the notorious Stasi chief Erich Mielke and who benefitted from his patronage. “You don’t go to the secret police unless you have to,” Arbeit rationalised. And so Union attracted a different crowd. “It was more what we nowadays would call alternative culture: the young guys with longer hair, with parka jackets. The club was not an opposition club or a rebel movement because that would not have been possible. But I remember when my classmates noticed I go to Union. It was: ‘They are so-called rowdies and hooligans.’ They were considered a wild bunch, the Union fans. But I experienced them mostly like they are today, very engaged in supporting the team. In funny ways, of course.” Relegation was an occupational hazard for Union back then. German reunification brought other problems. “We played in the third division and it was very regional, it was more or less a Berlin-based league,” Arbeit said. “You had to play on Sunday at 11 in the morning in the drizzling rain and it was about 700 people turning up; it was really depressing. The people had so many more existential problems: How can I find a job? How can I feed my children?” And Union disappeared off the radar of many people, re-emerging with a first indication of their 21st-century propensity to upset more fancied teams. They had spent the 1990s acquiring the nickname of Unpromotables as, stuck in the third division, they found a range of ways not to go up. They were “Unaufstiegbar”. Twice even winning their league was not enough; financial issues meant they were not granted the licence needed to play in a higher division. And then, in 2001, they got promoted and reached the German Cup final, knocking out Borussia Monchengladbach and Bochum on their way. “It was like, wow, how did we do that?” Arbeit recalled. “After many years of being ignored, everyone noticed us.” The route to the Bernabeu nonetheless involved going backwards. Union were relegated twice in four years after the German Cup final. Short of funds, they needed the unpaid labour of their supporters to ensure they could keeping playing at the Alte Forsterei. But it helped they had a loyal fanbase: their status as outsiders may have benefited them whereas Dynamo, the former secret-police club, are now found in the Regionalliga-Nordost. Along the way, Union have acquired different rivals within the same city. They went up to the Bundesliga in 2019, a year after the appointment of the catalytic manager Urs Fischer. And then Hertha BSC got in touch. “I remember when we first got promoted to the Bundesliga, even in the congratulations was included, ‘congratulations, Union, we are happy and we are looking forward to six points,’” said Arbeit. Last season, as Hertha propped up the Bundesliga, Union took six points at their neighbours’ expense. There was long the sense that Berlin, one of Europe’s great capitals, ought to have a Champions League club. Hertha thought it should be them. No one thought it would be Union. The investor Lars Windhorst put €374m into Hertha and got just €15m back. Hertha spent more than €100m on signings in 2019-20, a season of four managers and a bottom-half finish. The most expensive of those buys, Lucas Tousart, joined Union for a cut-price fee this summer. “They manoeuvred themselves into financial and organisational instability,” Arbeit said. “We had not that much money but we had a very stable organisation.” Hertha’s grandiose dreams extended to Union territory. Dirk Zingler, Union’s president since 2004 and another lifelong fan, has described them as an East Berlin club; in a city that was divided for almost three decades, the distinction matters. “We would never go out with the approach to say we are the one club for Berlin,” Arbeit said. “The funny thing is Hertha did that for a very long time. They tried a lot of public campaigns to say that: ‘one city, one club, we are the club for the whole city’.” Instead, Hertha’s members are largely in the west, Union’s generally in the east. Now Champions League football will come to Hertha: or their ground, anyway. When Union first qualified for Europe, Uefa did not allow them to play their 2021-22 Conference League games at the Alte Forsterei. Now they had a choice: a ground with a capacity of 22,000, with fewer than 4,000 seats, but a home of symbolic importance, or a massive venue. Real Madrid, Napoli and Braga will go to West Berlin, to the Olympiastadion. So will thousands of fans, with cheap tickets. “The Champions League is for all Unioners,” said Zingler at the time. “It was one of the most difficult decisions we had to make,” said Arbeit. “We always say it is the people we are doing it for. It is something extraordinary, it is possible it is the only time in our history we reach that competition and that is why we decided to show it to as many people as possible. Still we are a bit sad.” Even Union have to compromise sometimes. But not often. Their matchday is a different experience. “We want to keep the dignity of the football match itself,” Arbeit said. “We don’t want any advertising Zeppelins flying around at the half-time break and no kiss-cam and no T-shirt gun. We don’t make any noise or any announcements in a commercial way and just a little bit, this is already something special in German football. We don’t do a half-time show with sponsored games or quiz shows. You can’t win some products. You have no entertainment before the game. “The people come here and meet their friends and they can have their beer and sausage. Just 20 minutes before kick-off, I just come on the pitch and say hello and introduce the guest team and then our team.” Union nevertheless have a corporate shirt sponsor, Paramount, and JD Sports on their sleeves, but on their own terms. “We develop in sponsorship terms from regional and local companies to international,” Arbeit said. If Union may be Germany’s least commercial club, their opposites are the other East German representatives in the Champions League: RB Leipzig, propelled by the Red Bull group. “From the view of our fans, it was about establishing a monumental marketing piece in football for a product which is Red Bull,” Arbeit said. “We are the last protesting audience: whenever we play against Leipzig our fans spend the first 15 minutes in silence.” If Leipzig – parachuted into a city with two established clubs, Chemie and Lokomotive – are the break from the past and Union a link with it, that still did not bring Ostalgie, the nostalgia for East Germany; DDR flags have been seen at other grounds behind the old Iron Curtain, but not Union’s. But they were born in the DDR. About three-quarters of off-field staff are supporters, some converts after they start working for the club. For most, it is not a stepping stone. A community club nevertheless display their ambition. As a newly-promoted club, they signed the former double Bundesliga winners Neven Subotic and Christian Gentner. A year later, Max Kruse, once the enfant terrible of German football, joined: he ended his first season with an injury-time goal on the final day to take Union into Europe. “Since then, everyone in our surroundings believes we can sign whoever we want. We are not afraid of calling someone up and asking,” Arbeit said. That policy reaped a reward this summer. Enter Robin Gosens, whose final contribution in an Internazionale shirt was to almost equalise in last year’s Champions League final, and, most remarkably, Leonardo Bonucci. The Euro 2020 winner and Italy captain left Juventus to play Champions League football with Union, a sentence that would long have sounded ludicrous. “He was perfectly prepared,” Arbeit explained. “When we had talks with him, he knew almost everything about our club; that was for us kind of a surprise because we didn’t expect this guy to know we have three sides of standing terraces. That meant to us that this person might perfectly fit because he could have gone to America or Saudi Arabia to take the next 20 million or anything but it looked like that he wanted for himself something special as well. When I was a boy, I always thought, why don’t players in the late years of their career, when they made their money already, why don’t they do something nice? And now I experienced that.” Union’s unique sales pitch is to offer less money. After all, they have no billionaire backer, a small stadium, low ticket prices and eschew some commercial deals. They have got players to buy into them, into the dream. Their wage bill last season, before bonuses for Champions League qualification, was in the bottom half of the Bundesliga’s, perhaps the bottom third. The chances are that striker Kevin Behrens can afford a car but, after he scored an opening-day hat-trick against Mainz this season, he was spotted cycling home. Only at Union, perhaps. But then the Unpromotables have done it their way as they have kept on going up and up. Union are the antidote to the worst excesses of 21st-century football. And for the fans who gravitated towards them 40 or 50 years ago, the long-haired and the parka-jacketed who sought some freedom and some wildness in communist East Germany, they don’t need to sing about playing Real Madrid anymore. It’s really happening. 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Fantasy Premier League managers get one free transfer a week to make and with the competition in full flow some players may have saved up for two free switches to their teams while others will be considering a four-point hit or more to maximise their chances of success. With prices and form fluctuating on a daily basis over these opening weeks to the season here are five players who we think are worthwhile considering as the Premier League heads into the new gameweek, judging by upcoming fixtures and individual player form. Mohamed Salah, Liverpool - Midfielder (12.5) Possibly the most consistent midfielder in the Fantasy Premier League though still going under the radar. Liverpool’s Mo Salah has scored points in every gameweek so far with his best return (10) coming in the recent victory over Wolves. He’s sliding under the radar due to the lack of goals scored (for his own ridiculous standards) with just two in five games but it is the assists where Salah is cleaning up. He’s got four already this year and looks to be settling into a new role as a supplier for the rest of the forward line. At £12.5m he’s a pricey option but will almost guarantee points and could be a fine choice of captain if you want to move away from Erling Haaland. Odsonne Edouard, Crystal Palace - Forward (5.5) Speaking of, do you need someone to partner Haaland up top that isn’t too costly? Odsonne Edouard is that man. The Crystal Palace forward is coming up trumps this season thanks to more regular gametime for Eagles. In FPL terms he’s only blanked on two occasions and has four goals in five matches. Palace have only failed to score in one of their games (against Arsenal) and will be targeting Fulham, Manchester United and Nottingham Forest and upcoming fixtures they can win. If they do so Edouard will no doubt play a big role and put a couple in the back of the net. Sven Botman, Newcastle - Defender (4.5) The Newcastle centre-back is a slight risk as you are banking on the Magpies to keep clean sheets in order to profit from his skills. He’s a threat in the air from set pieces but doesn’t score many goals and any he does net should be seen as bonuses. It must be noted that Eddie Howe’s team have been poor in defence, shipping seven goals in five games and keeping just one cleansheet. However, their performance against Bournemouth at the weekend was encouraging and it is likely they will earn repeat shutouts against Sheffield United and Burnley over the next two weeks. A relatively cheap option for a defender, Botman may be worth selecting for short term gain. Pedro Neto, Wolves - Midfielder (5.5) A bargain option in midfield, Neto is a pick you make to try and maximise your differentials. He is in form returning 22 points from matches against Everton, Crystal Palace and Liverpool despite Wolves losing two of those games. A quick winger who loves taking players on, whipping in crosses and pinging shots at goal Neto has the basis covered for the goals and assists required from a midfield choice. Wolves should dominate against Luton next up before a clash with Manchester City should play into Neto’s counter-attacking strengths. Robert Sanchez, Chelsea - Goalkeeper (4.5) Chelsea’s results have been eye-catching for all the wrong reasons this year but their main problems have come in the forward line and, for the most part, they’ve been defensively solid across their five matches with the exception being a 3-1 loss to West Ham. Robert Sanchez is Mauricio Pochettino’s No. 1 pick, is guaranteed gametime and recently earned a 10 point with a cleansheet and three bonus points against Bournemouth. The Blues’ next three fixtures are all favourable with Aston Villa, Fulham and Burnley to come so Sanchez could be a canny choice if you’re looking to replace you goalkeeper. Read More Fantasy Premier League: 30 players you must consider for 2023/24 season James Maddison, Julian Alvarez and 5 players to target for FPL Gameweek 5 James Ward-Prowse, Raheem Sterling and 5 players to buy ahead of FPL Gameweek 4 Football rumours: Joao Palhinha in the sights of Bayern Munich for January swoop Messi favourite for men’s Ballon d’Or with four Lionesses on women’s list Football rumours: Al-Ittihad set to make record £215m bid for Mohamed Salah

One of the stranger jinxes in English football may be over. Arsenal had lost on their previous three trips to Goodison Park, twice to horribly out-of-form Everton teams. Maybe logic intervened on Mikel Arteta’s fourth visit back to his former club. Or perhaps Leandro Trossard did, the substitute’s wonderfully precise finish giving Arsenal a fourth victory in five league games this season. There was a sense Arsenal avenged February’s 1-0 defeat in Sean Dyche’s first game in charge of Everton, not merely reversing the scoreline but showing their skill to take the same method – a set-piece – to find a very different way of deciding a match. Not a thumping James Tarkowski header from a corner, but a well-worked routine that culminated in Martin Odegaard slipping in Bukayo Saka, whose cutback brought a deft finish from Trossard, angled in off the far post. If some of Arteta’s recruitment in 2023 has a contentious feel, Trossard is the sort of signing who can simply be celebrated: a £20m bargain, a creative force last season who has two goals already in this, a player whose versatility makes him an ideal substitute but who has the quality to be decisive. When Gabriel Martinelli went off injured in the first half, Arteta summoned Trossard rather than the benched Kai Havertz; his decision was richly rewarded. Another of his transfer-market gambits mattered less: while David Raya may depose Aaron Ramsdale more frequently, the goalkeeper’s debut was an inconclusive affair. Everton scarcely tested the on-loan Spaniard. If the game’s best saves, one before the goal and one after, came at Odegaard’s expense, with Pickford parrying two fine efforts, they reflected the growing influence of the captain after the break. And that, in turn, was a sign of his stature. As Arsenal demonstrated more urgency, much of the excellence came from the Norwegian. It is a recurring theme: many a time in Arteta’s reign, victory has stemmed from flair players – often Odegaard or Saka – showing their substance. As the game opened up, Odegaard seized the initiative. Which was welcome. A first half of dismal drabness brought back unwanted memories of a stalemate in December 2019 in Arsenal’s last game before Arteta and Carlo Ancelotti took charge of the respective clubs; Everton are on their fourth supposedly permanent manager of the Spaniard’s time in north London and, should 777 Partners complete a takeover, a second owner as well. Whether that entails visiting English football’s second tier remains to be seen. Everton’s start has produced a solitary point in five games. They have had three matches at Goodison Park and lost all without scoring. A relegation six-pointer beckons when Luton visit later this month. Their gameplan was to defend diligently in a narrow block and they were largely untroubled before the break. The one exception came when Martinelli latched on to Fabio Vieira’s perceptive pass and placed a shot past Pickford. A VAR check later and Eddie Nketiah was spotted offside in the build-up; it meant Martinelli’s wait for a first goal of the season continues, with injury bringing his departure soon after and perhaps extending his drought further. The 22-year-old headed straight down the tunnel before reappearing on the bench shortly afterwards, and there was concern in the voice of the Gunners boss afterwards when he told Sky Sports: “He [Martinelli] felt something, he felt it in his hammy [hamstring] so he will need to be assessed.” For Nketiah, meanwhile, it summed up an ineffectual display. If Arteta got other decisions right, perhaps he should have preferred Gabriel Jesus, a regular tormentor of Everton in his Manchester City days. His choice of Raya was both instructive and irrelevant; Ramsdale, in the PFA Team of the Year for last season, watched on. His new rival had a lone shot on target to field, a tame effort from Idrissa Gueye from long range. He held it. Everton were passive before conceding. They failed to launch an onslaught after going behind, in part because they just saw too little of the ball. They have no passer of the calibre of Arteta himself when he graced their midfield for six seasons. They eschewed possession at times, having just 22 per cent of the ball before the break. That figure rose to a meagre 25 per cent by the end. Throwing on centre-forwards, in Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Youssef Chermiti, made little difference when Arsenal controlled the game and, for Everton, other numbers make for miserable reading. They have failed to score in four of five league matches this season and failed to keep a clean sheet in any of them. These two clubs are on the longest unbroken stretches of top-flight football but there is no guarantee they will meet again after this season. Not after a limp display by Everton. It became a question of whether Arsenal had the wherewithal to break them down. Thanks to Trossard and Odegaard they did and the Goodison curse was lifted. Read More Mikel Arteta claims Gabriel Jesus ‘changed Arsenal’s world’ when he joined the club Everton sale to American firm agreed Everton savour Sean Dyche effect to stun Premier League leaders Arsenal Mauricio Pochettino shares Chelsea fans’ frustrations after goalless stalemate Everton v Arsenal LIVE: Latest Premier League updates Erik ten Hag wants to see ‘how strong’ Manchester United are after Brighton loss

In a sense, Erik ten Hag is back to where he began at Old Trafford with a loss to Brighton. In others, it is far worse than that. On and off the pitch, the problems are multiplying for Manchester United. A troubled start to the season has already encompassed three defeats and, with Bayern Munich next and the prospect of a fourth, it threatens to become a terrible one. A disastrous result was accompanied by dissent in the stands. Ten Hag had carried the Old Trafford crowd with him when he won his power struggle with Cristiano Ronaldo. But when he substituted his new £72m forward Rasmus Hojlund for Anthony Martial, the decision was met with whistles and boos. It was a rare public rebuke of a manager who has been popular but United have faced three probable top-half sides this season and lost to them all. On this evidence, Brighton look likelier to get a top-four finish. Given the ease with which Roberto De Zerbi’s wonderfully incisive Albion eviscerated United, it was hard to argue that the absence of Jadon Sancho, last spotted watching the Under-18s as he is punished by Ten Hag, was the reason for defeat; nor that of Antony, the Dutchman’s costliest signing who is on a leave of absence while he addresses serious allegations of assault by three women. But for a manager who had talked on Friday of setting standards, those on the field of play have been too low in an increasingly shambolic beginning to the campaign. Ten Hag had also lost his first game in charge to Albion. But, 13 months on, with £400m spent in his reign, with an initial 11 who arrived for £347m, defeat to a patched-up Brighton side whose starting 11 cost a mere £20m was more damning. For all United’s trials and tribulations, their injuries and absences, this ought to have been a fine time to face Brighton. For various reasons, none of Evan Ferguson, Solly March, Joao Pedro, Billy Gilmour or Pervis Estupinan began at Old Trafford. Instead, Simon Adingra marked his first Premier League start with one assist, Tariq Lamptey his first in six months – and when playing out of position on the left – with two. There was a certain predictability to two of their scorers: Danny Welbeck, sold by Louis van Gaal, has found the net against United under their last four permanent managers and Pascal Gross, whose seventh goal against them continued his status as their unlikely scourge. Pedro came off the bench to add the third, completing another act of catalytic brilliance by De Zerbi. United, though, had another day when plans backfired. Lacking a right winger, Ten Hag switched to a midfield diamond, using Hojlund and Marcus Rashford as wide strikers. The Mancunian was dynamic, bringing everything but the goal, but the narrow shape left United’s full-backs exposed. Brighton, brimming with counter-attacking menace, created all three goals on the flanks. For the first, the debutant Sergio Reguilon, an emergency signing on deadline day, was found wanting. For the other two, Diogo Dalot was afforded too little protection. The centre-backs were fooled by dummies for goals, Victor Lindelof for the first, the similarly out-of-form Lisandro Martinez for the second. United ended up playing with Lindelof as a lone central defender and required an injury-time save from Andre Onana to stop Ansu Fati from adding a fourth Albion goal. It was still Ten Hag’s heaviest home defeat. His more chastening days had tended to come on the road while United went 20 league games unbeaten at Old Trafford. Now, home and away, Brighton have four consecutive league wins against United; virtually every Albion supporter can recall a time when that would have sounded inconceivable. Not now. They were deserving winners and showed the clinical touch United lacked. First Welbeck completed a one-two of sorts with Adingra, releasing the winger and meeting his cutback with a neat finish. The other crucial contribution came from Adam Lallana, who dummied Adingra’s cross. On his first start since January, the veteran’s footballing intelligence was apparent. On the first start of his Premier League career, the youngster had an assist. Then Gross had latched on to Lamptey’s pass and fooled Martinez before beating Onana. Pedro found the top corner after another Lamptey pass. United’s response came from a rookie. Hannibal Mejbri, brought on with Martial, rifled in United’s only goal from 20 yards. Another should escape the harshest of the criticism. Rashford was electric, if unable to apply the final touch. He had one shot saved by Jason Steele, another deflected onto the bar by the sliding Joel Veltman. A third flew just wide, a fourth was rifled into the side netting. Hojlund celebrated a first United goal, prodded in from Rashford’s low cutback, until VAR ruled the ball was out of play before the Mancunian crossed. If it was the first decision involving Hojlund, who showed a couple of promising touches, to irritate the majority at Old Trafford, it was not the last. His departure brought jeers. It may not be a tipping point for Ten Hag just yet. But United, no strangers to a crisis over the last decade, could soon find themselves teetering on the brink of another. Read More Erik ten Hag says he inherited Manchester United with ‘no good culture’ Erik ten Hag unsure whether Jadon Sancho will play for Manchester United again Liverpool leave it late to come from behind and beat Wolves Erik ten Hag wants to see ‘how strong’ Manchester United are after Brighton loss Pep Guardiola hails impact of Jeremy Doku in Man City’s win at West Ham Roy Hodgson ‘feeling better’ after missing Crystal Palace defeat at Aston Villa