GM football fans. It’s Tuesday, June. 03 - Uefa make a change to next year’s Champions League, the UK government faces an inquiry into the potential football regulator chair appointment, and everything else you need to know. Forwarded this email? Sign up here.

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KEY FIXTURE

UEFA Women’s Nations League: Spain vs. England, 18:00 / 13:00. England are currently two points below leaders Spain in League A Group 3, meaning that victory by any margin will see them qualify for the semi-finals. England edged out Spain in the reverse fixture in February, with Jess Park scoring the only goal in their 1-0 win. However, this fixture has been a stalemate over the last five meetings, with both nations winning twice and drawing once. See where each team is currently here and every fixture here.

TV Channels: ITV (UK) / FuboTV (US)

Results…

• Brazil Serie A: Internacional 0-2 Fluminense (Table)

Route One Reader Survey: Dear Routers, if you have a moment, we’d be so very grateful if you could complete this short survey. Your feedback helps us improve your experience. Click here to start the survey.

TOP TALKING POINTS

New Champions League Rule

Uefa is changing the Champions League rules for next season to give home advantage to the best-performing teams in the League Phase throughout the knockout rounds. The rule change comes as Arsenal and Barcelona, who finished higher than their semi-final opponents, both played their second-leg matches away and were eliminated on aggregate.

This season, in the inaugural expanded tournament, clubs who finished in the top eight were only guaranteed to play the second leg of their round of 16 tie at home. From next season, instead of holding an open draw for the quarter-finals and semi-finals, the team that finishes higher in the League Phase will play the second leg at home.

It’s commonly seen as an advantage to play the second leg of a Champions League fixture at home, especially if the tie goes to penalties. However, researchers in Belgium, who analysed 320 two-legged matches from Europe’s top two club tournaments between 2010 and 2017, found no evidence to suggest that playing the second leg at home increased a team’s chances of progressing.

The same change is expected to apply to both the Uefa Europa League and the Uefa Conference League.

Independent Regulator Inquiry

The UK government will face a “full inquiry” into the handling of its proposed appointment of David Kogan as chairman of the Independent Football Regulator. Commissioner for Public Appointments, William Shawcross, will lead the inquiry after initial “spot checks” raised concerns about the selection process. Read more on Kogan here.

The specific concerns have not been disclosed. Kogan was appointed to the role by Secretary of State Lisa Nandy, despite not being included on the original three-person shortlist. He has previously donated to Labour leadership campaigns, including those of Lisa Nandy and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer in 2020. Kogan has written two books on the Labour Party, recently stepped down as chair of the independent news website LabourList, and has made nine donations to the party.

The Independent Regulator will be tasked with ensuring financial stability across English professional football and will operate independently of both government and football authorities. It is expected to be operational by autumn 2025.

Madrid Top Uefa Rankings

Real Madrid have overtaken Manchester City to top Uefa’s coefficient rankings for the 2025–26 season. The rankings are based on a rolling five-year period and reflect club performance in continental competitions.

The 2025-26 Champions League finalists, Paris Saint-Germain and Inter Milan, are ranked fifth and sixth, respectively, moving up one and four positions. Tottenham Hotspur, this year’s Europa League winners, sit 27th, while runners-up Manchester United are 11th, a place above Champions League semi-finalists Arsenal.

The top 10 also includes Bayern Munich and Liverpool in third and fourth, who remain unchanged. Chelsea (seventh), Borussia Dortmund (eighth), Roma (ninth), and Barcelona (tenth) round out the list.

Dive deeper into how club coefficients are calculated here.

POLL

ON THE BALL

Europe

> Premier League players have contacted the PFA, the players’ union, to express concerns over their involvement in post-season tours (More); See Premier League pre-season fixture (More)

> Chelsea have reached an agreement to sign striker Liam Delap from Ipswich Town as they activate his £30m release clause (More); Explore what Delap offers Chelsea and how he compares to Nicolas Jackson (More)

> Bayer Leverkusen have reportedly rejected Liverpool’s €130m bid for Florian Wirtz, and they reportedly want Harvey Elliot as part of the deal (More)

Americas

> Platense secured their first top-flight Argentine Apertura tournament title with a 1-0 victory over Huracan (More)

> Cruz Azul beats the Vancouver Whitecaps 5-0 to claim their seventh Concacaf Champions Cup title (More)

> The Seattle Sounders protested against the Club World Cup bonus structure with shirts reading “Club World Ca$h Grab” during their warm-up before playing Minnesota United (More)

> Neymar was sent off for Santos after guiding the ball into the net in the ‘Hand of God’ style; Santos lost the game 1-0 to Botafogo after an 86th-minute winner (More); Watch Neymar’s disallowed goal (More)

Rest of the World

> Egyptian club Pyramids claimed their first African Champions League title by beating South Africa's Mamelodi Sundowns 2-1 on home soil to seal a 3-2 aggregate win (More)

ROUTERS’ VOICE

Yesterday’s Poll: Are you looking forward to the Club World Cup?

🟨 🟨 🟨 🟨 🟨 ⬜️ 👏 Absolutely... (46%)

🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🙅‍♂️ Nope... (51%)

🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ✍️ Other... (3%)

Your punditry takes:

• 👏 S.H: “I know it’s not the most serious tournament, but I’d much rather have the Club World Cup to watch than nothing in the summer. Should be especially interesting to see Real Madrid under Xabi Alonso and to see if PSG can keep up their dominance.”

• 👏 K.W.N: “For sure, wish my first team was playing closer, but I secured tickets to my Serie A side Inter Milan versus River Plate in Seattle, Washington! Excited to see Inter but also stoked to watch a storied South American team like River Plate!”

• 🙅‍♂️ A.A: “The CWC feels like another competition manufactured by FIFA for the sole purpose of generating more marketing revenue. The concept of a tournament comprised of the best teams from the various confederations sounds appealing in theory. However, the format/qualification is confusing and overly complex, it elongates the normal club season, and presents participating clubs with significant travel in addition to expanding pre-season tours.”

• 🙅‍♂️ A.R: “Meaningless trophy. It doesn't count for anything. Does anyone know who won it last time? A complete waste of money which would be better spent by Fifa on grassroots football.”

• ✍️ D.F: “Yes, but with reservations. Being in the US, some of the kick off times for Europe are ridiculous, and while there is the potential for some exciting matches, if the clubs (understandably) come out and casually stroke the ball around like it's a pre-season friendly, I can see myself getting very bored, very quickly and turning off.”

EXTRA TIME

Which countries follow football the most? (Graph)

Everything to know about the PL’s transfer window.

The mystery of the famous football drone.

Real Madrid’s stadium noise complaints grow.

… and Real’s 25-26 home kit leaked.

The most influential players this season. (Report)

Argentina have an interesting way of tackling football piracy.

GAME FACE ON

Question: Which club has reached the most Champions League/European Cup finals without ever winning the competition?

Scroll below for the answer.

ON TODAY

UEFA Women’s Nations League

• Spain vs England (18:00)

• See full list of fixtures here.

*All times in UK. ET -5. CDT -6. PDT -8. MDT -7. CET +1.

Answer

Atletico Madrid. 1974, 2014 and 2016.

Want more? Try our daily football Wordle – guess the name of a current or former player in six tries. Play it here.