GM football fans. It’s Tuesday, Oct. 21 - The Champions League league phase resumes this week, Morocco make World Cup history, and everything else you need to know. Forwarded this email? Sign up here.
TOP TALKING POINTS
Champions League Matchday 3
Matchday 3 of the Uefa Champions League league phase takes place on Tuesday (Oct 21) and Wednesday. See every Champions League fixture here and the league phase table here.
On Tuesday, tournament favourites Arsenal host Atletico Madrid. Mikel Arteta’s side have won six straight matches against La Liga opponents, the longest run by any team in the competition’s history. PSG, the defending champions, travel to Bayer Leverkusen, while last season’s runners-up Inter visit Belgian side Union Saint-Gilloise. Among the Premier League clubs, Newcastle host Benfica, and Manchester City travel to Villarreal.
Wednesday’s headline tie sees Real Madrid face Juventus, a repeat of the 2017 final. Madrid have scored 18 goals in their last five matches at this stage, winning all five, while Juventus have won just one of their last 11 Champions League games. Elsewhere, Bayern Munich host Club Brugge, Chelsea welcome Ajax, Liverpool travel to Eintracht Frankfurt, and Tottenham visit Monaco.
U20 World Cup Winners
Morocco became the first Arab nation to win the under-20 World Cup in Chile after beating heavy favourites Argentina 2-0 in the final. The result marked a first World Cup win for Morocco at any age-group level in the country’s history. It was also the first loss in the tournament for Argentina, who had been aiming for a seventh title.
Yassir Zabiri, who plays for Portuguese top-flight side Famalicao, scored both goals in the first half, including a free-kick in the 12th minute—watch here. The Moroccon striker finished as a joint-top scorer (5) in the tournament, alongside USA’s Benjamin Cremaschi, Colombia’s Neiser Villarreal, and France’s Lucas Michal.
Morocco's success comes amid a golden period for football in the country. The men's national team reached the semi-finals of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and have already sealed qualification for the 2026 tournament in North America. Read more why Morocco’s 2022 World Cup run was no fluke here.
New Earning Entrants
Lamine Yamal and Jude Bellingham enter Forbes’ list of top 10 highest-paid footballers for the first time. Yamal, 18, is set to earn an estimated $43m (£32m) this season, while Bellingham, ranked ninth, is projected to make $44m, with both totals including off-field income.
Cristiano Ronaldo leads the list with total earnings of $280m, folllowed by Lionel Messi with $130m. Messi’s off-field earnings of $70m eclipses the rest of the list, including Ronaldo’s ($50m). The rest of the top five includes Al Ittihad’s Karim Benzema ($104m), Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappe ($95m) and Manchester City’s Erling Haaland ($80m).
The average age of the top 10 has dropped below 30 for the first time in five years, helped by Neymar, 33, falling off the list after leaving Al Hilal in January and Kevin De Bruyne, 34, departing Manchester City for Napoli.
POLL
Who do you think is the best striker in the world at the moment?
ON THE BALL
Europe
> Premier League: West Ham 0-2 Brentford (Report) | Sean Dyche has agreed verbally to take over as Nottingham Forest's new manager (More) | Eric Cantona has been approached by UAE investors to act as an ambassador for a potential bid to buy Man United (More)
> Graham Potter has been announced as the new head coach of Sweden (More)
> Son of ex-England footballer Stuart Pearce tragically passed away at age 21 in a tractor crash (More)
> Wrexham will be looking for their first home win in the Championship this season when they face Oxford United on Wednesday (Oct 22) (Match Stats); see the full list of EFL Championship fixtures (More)
Americas
> MLS play-off matches will reportedly be available to anyone with an Apple TV subscription, meaning a MLS Season Pass is not required (More)
> The Canadian Premier League play-offs will kick off on Wednesday, October 22 (More); see play-off bracket (More)
> Gotham clinched an NWSL play-off spot after a 2-2 draw with Racing Lousiville (More)
Rest of the World
> The Tel Aviv football derby between Hapoel and Maccabi has been called off after rioting and “risks to human life”, Israeli police said (More)
> Jeonbuk Motors clinched their first K League title in four seasons under manager Gus Poyet with a 2-0 win over Suwon (More)
ROUTERS’ VOICE
Yesterday’s Poll: Ange Postecoglou received the second-fastest sacking in Premier League history. Did he deserve to be relieved of his duties?
🟨 🟨 🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ 👍 Yes (34%)
🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🙅♂️ Nope (63%)
🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ✍️ Other (3%)
Your punditry takes:
👍 N.K: “He never tried to engage with the fans, he came in too soon after getting the boot from Spurs, and he wasn't the right fit for a group of players who have played in a completely different way for the past two seasons.”
👍 H.B: “Of course he did. We assume that he evaluated that Notts Forest team before he took the job. His style of play would not suit the personnel on that team. It was either his ego or money that was his motivator. The owner was not going to give him two years to get silverware like at Spurs.”
🙅♂️ J.D: “Rome was NOT built in a day. This was a knee-jerk decision from Forest’s upper management. If you expect immediate results and victories from a guy you hired literally less than 40 days ago, you’re a fool.”
🙅♂️ D.L: “He was unlucky. As a Forest fan, I enjoyed our performances in the Europa League and against Chelsea under Ange. We performed better than those results suggest.”
EXTRA TIME
How to stop your teammate from getting a yellow card.
Europe’s Golden Boot standings.
Key stats for every Champions League fixture.
ESPN updates its NWSL power rankings.
Why football got softer on purpose. (video)
Nike unveil Mbappe’s latest signature boot.
The inside story of Ange’s 39-day sacking.
Jurgen Klopp’s in-depth talk on his time at Liverpool. (podcast)
GAME FACE ON
Question: What links the following players? Johan Cruyff, Emmanuel Adebayor, Carlos Teves, Mario Gotze, and Ronaldo Nazario.
Scroll below for the answer.
I treat each individual player differently. And sometimes a player would come up to me and say: 'You would never speak the same way to me like you did to him!'.
Answer
They’ve all played for a rival clubs.
