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Good morning football fans. It’s Friday, August 14 - A Uefa-led alliance is considering a new structure for Fifa, La Liga’s projections ahead of the season opener, and everything else you need to know. Forwarded this email? Sign up here.
KEY FIXTURE
English Community Shield final (August 16): Arsenal vs Manchester City, 15:00 BST / 10:00 ET. This year's match takes place in the 74,500-capacity Principality Stadium in Cardiff, not Wembley, bringing the Community Shield to Wales for the first time in two decades. Recent meetings between these sides favour Man City, having beaten Arsenal 2-0 in the EFL Cup final in March, followed by a Premier League victory at the Etihad Stadium in April. Across their last five encounters in all competitions, Man City hold two wins to Arsenal's one, alongside two draws.
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TOP TALKING POINTS
FIFA’s Proposed New Structure
An alliance, led by Uefa, is discussing proposals to rotate the Fifa presidency among different confederations as a way to prevent too much power from being concentrated in the position. The proposal, still in its infancy, would only apply if Fifa’s current president, Gianni Infantino, leaves office.
Senior football officials gathered in Salzburg ahead of the Super Cup, with the European governing body’s president, Aleksander Ceferin, holding several meetings on the future structure and ideals of Fifa. The presence of Patrice Motsepe, president of the Confederation of African Football, was particularly significant given CAF's previous support for Infantino. A source with knowledge of the situation told The Guardian that the three confederations are working on a policy document outlining how Fifa could evolve.
With Infantino refusing to yield to pressure from these confederations, and Fifa having so far ignored their request for an independent review of the controversial plans to sell parts of the World Cup, the debate is now shifting towards how Fifa should operate in the future. Rather than simply seeking Infantino’s removal, these confederations are now drawing up a framework for what Fifa’s role should be, how it should be structured and what governance model should be adopted, reports The Guardian.
Infantino, though, does have the support of several federations, including six Arab football federations, which on Thursday declared their “full support” and “confidence” in the incumbent president.
La Liga Projections
Barcelona have a 45.6% chance of winning this season’s La Liga title, according to Opta’s prediction model. The Catalan side won the title last season with three matches to spare following a 2-0 win over rivals Real Madrid at Camp Nou, and should they win a third consecutive title this season, it would be their 30th La Liga title. Real Madrid have 36.
Meanwhile, with Jose Mourinho in charge of Real Madrid for the second time, the 15-time Champions League winners are projected to have a 31% chance of winning the title. Mourinho’s side have spent close to €225m in the transfer window, including the club-record signing of Ivory Coast winger Yan Diomande — read more on his player profile here. Atletico Madrid are third favourites (8.6%), Villarreal fourth (3.3%), and Real Betis fifth (2.1%).
In terms of Champions League spots, while the top two favourites are projected to finish in the top four in more than 81% of simulations, Atletico Madrid, Villarreal and Real Betis face stiff competition from Valencia (despite finishing ninth last season), Rayo Vallecano, and Celta Vigo.
The La Liga season kicks off on Saturday (August 15) at 18:30 BST (13:30 ET) with Alaves vs Getafe. See the full list of fixtures here.
Consistent VAR Push
UEFA referees’ chief Roberto Rosetti met with senior officials from each of the top five European leagues ahead of the new season. While Rosetti accepts that VAR will be interpreted slightly differently across the leagues, he aimed to make the application of the technology more consistent and less forensic. Rosetti also called for VAR reviews to place greater emphasis on normal-speed footage and use fewer replays.
“We realise that everywhere now there is not any satisfaction about how VAR is impacting football,” Rosetti told the BBC. “So we want to avoid microscopic situations. The context is super important. It's football, not PlayStation. We need to be very, very careful.”
Part of Uefa’s strategy to improve transparency around VAR is the introduction of ‘Clear Line’, a public-facing video library explaining when VAR should and shouldn’t intervene. It’s aimed at fans, clubs and players, not just referees, so they can compare controversial incidents with Uefa’s examples after matches.
POLL
Will you be tuning into the Community Shield?
ON THE BALL
Europe
> Disney+ has bought the rights to broadcast Gary Neville’s The Overlap podcast, following Netflix’s deal with Gary Lineker’s Rest is Football (More)
> Atletico Madrid have agreed a £34.2m (€40m) fee to sign centre-back Cristian Romero from Tottenham (More) | Celta Vigo’s opening La Liga match against Osasuna has been postponed following fungal “disease” affecting their pitch (More)
> Rangers exit the Europa League after losing to Polish side Jagiellonia Bialystok 3-2 on aggregate in the third round qualifying (Match Report); see all the Europa League qualifying results (More)
> The Championship season kicks off with Wolves vs Blackburn Rovers on Friday (August 14); see the full list of Championship fixtures (More)
> The 2027 Spanish Super Cup tournament between Barcelona, Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, and Real Sociedad will be held in Turkiye at Istanbul's Ataturk Olympic Stadium (More)
Americas
> Club Leon beat Inter Miami 3-2 to complete a perfect Phase One with nine points in the Leagues Cup; read a full Matchday 8 recap (More); several fixtures conclude shortly after publication (Live Results) | The MLS regular season resumes on Saturday (Aug 15); see all upcoming fixtures (More) and Conference Standings (More)
> NWSL leaders Gotham FC will face seventh-placed Kansas City Current on Friday (August 14) as they look to maintain their four-point lead; see all NWSL fixtures (More) and Standings (More)
> USL Championship’s Matchday 24 kicks off on Saturday (August 15); see all fixtures (More) and Conference Standings (More) | The Prinx Tries USL Cup semifinals draw has been completed (More); USL Cup format explained (More)
> NSL leaders Ottawa Rapid, six points clear of Montreal Roses, face last-placed Calgary Wild on Saturday (August 15); see all upcoming NSL fixtures (More) and Standings (More)
Rest of the World
> Malawi and Cameroon will meet in the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations final on Sunday (August 16) (More)
ROUTERS’ VOICE
Yesterday’s Poll: Is Bruno Guimaraes the best Premier League signing this summer?
🟨 🟨 🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ 👍 Yes (30%)
🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🙅♂️ Nope (66%)
🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ✍️ Other (4%)
Your punditry takes:
👍 J.L: “Bruno G. is a proven Premier League standout, leader, warrior and just had a great World Cup performance with his Brazilian team. Bruno has the ability to change matches in a variety of ways, and plugging him into Arsenal’s midfield is going to strengthen the squad that the Gunners have. He’s a proven world-class footballer. Anderson and Rogers were more expensive, but they have not proven themselves to the level of Bruno G.”
🙅♂️ M.B: “Absolutely not, especially at the price paid. The best signing so far for the money involved has to be Tielemans at Man United. He had a great end to last season at Villa and a decent World Cup, so you'd think he might kick on a bit more at United.”
✍️ L.J: “In terms of a known quantity and value for money, he would appear to be, currently, but I'm confident that some players of much lesser profiles will prove to be better signings in time.”
EXTRA TIME
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GAME FACE ON
Question: When was the last time a team other than Barcelona or Real Madrid won the La Liga title?
Scroll below for the answer.
Daily Wordle: Guess the football-related word, from player names to classic phrases, in six tries or fewer. Play it here.
As someone who trained at the Barcelona academy, with strong influences from Johan Cruyff and Rinus Michels, among others, I feel a special connection to Dutch football. You could say that I am somewhat of a son of Dutch football.
Answer
Atletico Madrid won the 2020-21 season.