GM football fans. It’s Thursday, Sept. 18 - Jose Mourinho is set to return to Portugal in his latest job, Manchester United post record revenues, and everything else you need to know. Forwarded this email? Sign up here.
KEY FIXTURES
Champions League league phase (18 Sept): Newcastle vs. Barcelona, 20:00 BST / 15:00 ET. Barcelona have won 12 of their last 16 Champions League games against English opposition, scoring 2.1 goals per game on average. While Newcastle have won six of their 11 encounters against Spanish opposition in major European competition, they have won just one of their last eight Champions League games. Manchester City vs. Napoli, 20:00 BST / 15:00 ET. Napoli have never won away to an English side in any European competition. Meanwhile, City’s Erling Haaland can reach 50 Champions League goals, and if he scores in this match, he will set a new record for the fewest appearances taken to reach the milestone. See every Champions League fixture here.
Results…
Champions League: PSG 4-0 Atalanta | Liverpool 3-2 Atletico | Bayern 3-1 Chelsea | Ajax 0-2 Inter | Slavia Prague 2-2 Bodo/Glimt | Olympiakos 0-0 Pafos
EFL Cup, 3rd Round: Swansea City 3-2 Nottingham Forest
TOP TALKING POINTS
United’s Record Revenue
Manchester United recorded the highest revenues in the club’s history last year, despite finishing 15th in the Premier League and failing to qualify for the Champions League. The club announced total revenues of £666.5m, driven by record matchday and commercial income. However, United also posted a sixth consecutive annual loss, amounting to £33m for the season, though this was down from £113.2m the year before.
Matchday income rose to £160.3m, the most ever for an English club, while commercial revenue reached £333.3m, boosted by the front-of-shirt deal with Snapdragon. In January, Deloitte ranked United fourth in world football revenues with £651m, behind Real Madrid (£883m), Manchester City (£708m), and PSG (£681m).
The club’s gross debt, dating back to the Glazer family’s leveraged takeover 20 years ago, remains at around $650m, though it has fallen in sterling terms from £511m to £471.9m due to the pound’s performance against the dollar.
Mourinho’s Next Club
Jose Mourinho has agreed to become Benfica’s new manager almost 25 years after starting his managerial career with the club. The appointment follows the firing of Bruno Lage after the club’s Champions League home defeat to Qarabag of Azerbaijan on Tuesday.
Last month, Mourinho left Fenerbahce after failing to qualify for the league phase of the Champions League against Benfica—though some reports claim he was sacked. The 62-year-old began his managerial career with Benfica in 2000 but stayed for only 10 games and left after a dispute with the club president. He hasn’t managed in Portugal since he left Porto in 2004 after guiding them to Champions League glory.
Since leaving Portugal, Mourinho has managed Chelsea, Inter Milan, Real Madrid, Manchester United, Tottenham, Roma, and Fenerbahce. If a deal is completed, Mourinho would face his former club Chelsea later this month, as Benfica travel to Stamford Bridge on September 30 in the Champions League.
See how Mourinho became a manager here (w/ video).
NWSL Expands TV Rights
Coverage of the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) will expand from the 2026 season. The league has signed a new, supplementary media rights deal alongside its existing $240m, four-year package to ensure more matches are broadcast.
ESPN, CBS Sports, and Victory+ will carry additional games, including coverage of the two new expansion clubs in Boston and Denver, which will bring the league to 16 teams. As part of the deal, ESPN and ABC will air weekly regular-season matches and all eight fixtures on Decision Day, the final matchday of the season.
The existing deal, signed in 2023, has already quadrupled audiences, and Nielsen reported a five-fold increase in total viewership to 18.7m across all platforms for the 2024 season.
POLL
Do you think Jose Mourinho is still an elite manager?
ON THE BALL
Europe
> Trent Alexander-Arnold is expected to miss up to six weeks with a hamstring injury sustained in Real Madrid's Champions League win over Marseille (More) | Real Madrid’s appeal against Dean Huijsen’s red card against Real Sociedad has been rejected by the Spanish Football Federation, despite the refereeing committee admitting it was an error (More)
> The Uefa Women's Champions League third qualifying round concludes on Thursday with the second legs (Match Previews); see all fixtures (More)
> Crystal Palace have been fined €10,000 by Uefa for a banner displayed by fans during a recent match, which labelled the organisation as 'UEFA MAFIA’ (More)
> Former Arsenal footballer Thomas Partey has pleaded not guilty to three sexual assault charges against him (More)
Americas
> Lionel Messi delivers a goal and assist in Inter Miami’s 3-1 win over Seattle Sounders in MLS; Miami sit fifth in the Eastern Conference with three games spare (More)
> U.S. Open Cup semi-final between Minnesota vs. Austin will conclude shortly after publication (Live Results)
> Jess Fishlock scored in the 90th minute, and the Seattle Reign beat Racing Louisville 1-0 in the rescheduled match-up (More)
> Liga MX’s Tigres drew a crowd of 40,186 fans against Leon, marking the fourth time this season that Los Felinos hosted the most attended game of the round (More)
Rest of the World
> Two former A-League players who admitted to taking part in a spot fixing scheme by deliberately earning yellow cards have asked to be spared jail (More)
ROUTERS’ VOICE
Yesterday’s Poll: If you could only pick one for your club this season, would it be domestic glory or continental success?
🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 📆 Domestic league (61%)
🟨 🟨 🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ 🏆 Continental trophy (36%)
🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ✍️ Other (3%)
Your punditry takes:
📆 B.K: “It is always more fulfilling to be number one among your local peers. The continental trophy is mere icing on the cake. No one describes it as delicious.”
📆 S.F: “As a Liverpool fan, as much as I would like another Champions League crown, especially after having won the Premier League last season, I would give up every other trophy if it meant we take the league and Arsenal finish second AGAIN.”
🏆 D.A: “Arsenal supporter. The league would be amazing, but we’ve never lifted a Champions League trophy–at least they could never again say ‘champions of Europe, you’ll never sing that.’”
✍️ K.S: “Why not both!? I’m a Seattle Sounders fan. We already have the continental trophy this year! On to the domestic! But I won’t be heartbroken if we don’t make it to the domestic final, to be honest.”
EXTRA TIME
FBI director wears Liverpool tie at US Senate hearing.
Messi’s rookie collectable card sells for $1.5m.
Why this manager made four substitutions after just one minute.
Meet the most prolific striker with ‘XG’ initials.
ESPN tracks the NWSL MVPs.
An all-time Champions League table.
GAME FACE ON
Name the club where the following pairs of players were teammates…
Andrea Pirlo & Alvaro Morata.
Ashley Cole & Mason Mount.
Sergio Ageuro & David de Gea.
Scroll below for the answer.
ON TODAY
UEFA Champions League
Club Brugge vs. Monaco (17:45)
Kobenhavn vs. Bayer Leverkusen (17:45)
Eintracht Frankfurt vs. Galatasaray (20:00)
Manchester City vs. Napoli (20:00)
Newcastle United vs. Barcelona (20:00)
Sporting CP vs. Kairat (20:00)
Women’s Champions League, 3rd Round Qualifying
Sorting CP vs. Roma (Agg 2-1) (16:30)
Manchester United vs. Brann (Agg 0-1) (19:00)
Real Madrid vs. Eintracht Frankfurt (Agg 2-1) (19:00)
See all fixtures here.
*All times in UK. ET -5. CDT -6. PDT -8. MDT -7. CET +1.
Answer
Juventus. Derby County. Atletico Madrid.
Daily Wordle: Guess the football-related word, from player names to classic phrases, in six tries or fewer. Play it here.
It's important to have the pressure. I feel the pressure, and I often rise to it.
