GM football fans. It’s Monday, Apr. 07 - A landmark freedom of speech ruling in football, a record Premier League relegation, and everything else you need to know. Forwarded this email? Sign up here.

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KEY FIXTURES

Premier League MW31: Leicester City vs. Newcastle United, 20:00 / 15:00. Leicester have lost eight games in a row in all competitions and are one defeat away from becoming the first team in English league history to lose eight straight home league matches without scoring. Meanwhile, Newcastle have won six consecutive Premier League games against newly-promoted sides. See all the Premier League MW31 results here.

Results…

• Premier League: Brentford 0-0 Chelsea | Fulham 3-2 Liverpool (Report) | Spurs 3-1 Southampton (Report) | Man Utd 0-0 Man City (Report) (Table) 

• La Liga: Real Madrid 1-2 Valencia (Report) | Barcelona 1-1 Real Betis (Report) | Sevilla 1-2 Atletico (Table)

• Serie A: Parma 2-2 Inter (Report) | Atalanta 0-1 Lazio | Roma 1-1 Juventus (Table)

• MLS: See full results (More)

TOP TALKING POINTS

‘UEFA Mafia’ Landmark Case

Norwegian club Brann have won a landmark case ruling that Uefa should not have punished them for fans singing “Uefa mafia” or displaying banners with the message. The ruling sets a clear precedent for freedom of speech in football, limiting governing bodies’ power to punish fan expression.

Uefa said that they are not part of a criminal organisation, so the phrase “Uefa Mafia” is not factual and does not fit under the European Convention on Human Rights. As such, the governing body fined Brann twice, with a third pending. Brann appealed the decisions, arguing that sanctions for power-critical statements are fundamentally problematic.

Notably, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) said that using the phrase would not be acceptable in all cases. However, it’s on Uefa, and other governing bodies to prove that the slogan is offensive and provocative in each specific context.

PSR Loophole Invalid

Chelsea have breached Uefa’s financial rules after the European governing body refused to recognise the internal sale of its women’s team as valid income. The club will face a fine, but there has been no indication of a potential ban from European competitions. See the previous write-up on the sale here.

Unlike the Premier League, Uefa does not allow for the sale of intangible assets to sister companies to count towards their Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules. This means that the combined £200m sale of the women’s team and the club’s two hotels, for £76.5m in 2022-23, to itself, are not recognised by Uefa.

The west London club has confirmed they are in talks with Uefa over a financial settlement. Historically, clubs have faced relatively minor fines for breaching Uefa’s FFP rules—PSG were fined €10m in 2022 for failing to stay within spending limits, while Manchester United were fined €300k in July 2023 for a “minor” breach.

Southampton’s Record Relegation

Southampton have become the earliest relegated team in Premier League history with seven games still to play. They’ve beaten the record jointly held by Ipswich and Derby County, whose relegation was confirmed with six matches left to play in 1994-95 and 2007-08, respectively.

Should Southampton fail to earn a point in their remaining matches, they will also record the lowest points tally in Premier League history. Derby managed only 11 points in the 2007-08 season (learn more)—Southampton are currently on 10. However, Opta predicts that the Saints will finish with at least 15 points.

To make matters worse, Southampton’s 23 goals are the fewest in the top flight, while the 74 they’ve conceded is the most.

Dive deeper into the worst Premier League teams in history here.

POLL

ON THE BALL

Europe

> Kevin De Bruyne announced he will leave Manchester City at the end of the season (More); the numbers behind his Premier League career (More)

> Paris Saint-Germain have been crowned Ligue 1 champions with six games to spare and 24 points ahead of second-place Monaco (More)

> Thomas Muller will leave Bayern Munich after 25 years at the Bundesliga side when his contract expires this summer (More)

> Barcelona drew to Real Betis (report) and Real Madrid lost to Valencia (report) as the former goes four points clear of the La Liga table (Table) | Mbappe, Vini Jr, Rudiger and Cebellos are cleared to play Arsenal in the Champions League following a Uefa investigation into their conduct (More)

> Jose Mourinho has been given a three-match ban for pinching Galatasaray boss’s nose (More)

Americas

> Trinity Rodman scored five minutes into her international return as the USWNT won 2-0 over Brazil (More)

> Sporting Kansas City won their first game after parting ways with Peter Vermes with a 2-0 win over cross-state rivals St. Louis City SC (More); Inter Miami have a chance to reclaim top spot from Columbus Crew in the Eastern Conference when they host Toronto; game decided after publication (See results)

> River Plate’s third consecutive league draw leaves them fourth in the Argentine Primera Apertura Group B with 21 points, four points behind league leaders Rosario Central (More)

Rest of the World

> Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice in Al Nassr’s 3-1 derby win over Al Hilal, taking his goal tally for club and country to 931 (More)

> For the first time in 153 days, Adelaide United end a Matchweek outside the top six of the men’s A-League; Auckland FC lead the table by five points (More)

ROUTERS’ VOICE

Friday’s Poll: Which European league has been the most competitive this season — and why?

🟨 🟨 🟨 🟨 🟨 ⬜️ 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Premier League... (34%)

🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🇪🇸 La Liga... (40%)

🟨 🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ 🇩🇪 Bundesliga... (6%)

🟨 🟨 🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ 🇮🇹 Serie A... (16%)

🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ 🇫🇷 Ligue 1... (2%)

🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ✍️ Other... (2%)

Your punditry takes:

• 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 J.H: “The competition in the PL is more widely spread throughout the teams. The points race is always a close one. I believe the PL has the best players spread throughout the teams, making even the bottom of the league teams competitive on any given weekend.”

• 🇪🇸 C.V.S: “It is literally neck and neck between Barcelona and Madrid. Any slip-up will cost either side a potential treble-winning season. It’s insane and I’m here for it as a Barca fan.”

• 🇮🇹 D.P: “You really can’t beat the point differential in Serie A right now! The top three teams are constantly within a few points of one another, whereas most other leagues currently have a clear winner (i.e, PSG in Ligue 1 & Liverpool in the Prem). While Inter might be set to win it, Napoli are constantly on their tails with Atalanta not far behind them! Every game really does matter in the league, it’s anyone’s race for the title and Champions League qualification.”

EXTRA TIME

Brazilian league bans a skill move. (translated)

… and watch the skill in action.

Mapping women’s football—across 19 leagues.

The numbers behind PSG’s incredible season.

A map of every football club in the UK.

Germany’s 3rd tier is pure passion. (via X)

Gary Neville apologises for boring commentary.

10 worst Premier League teams to qualify for Champions League.

GAME FACE ON

Question: Of players to make 50+ appearances in the Premier League, Kevin De Bruyne has the best minutes per assist ratio in the competition's history (177). Can you name the player in second?

Clue: 1995-2006.

Scroll below for the answer.

ON TODAY

Premier League

• Leicester City vs Newcastle United (20:00)

La Liga

• Leganes vs Osasuna (20:00)

Serie A

• Bologna vs Napoli (19:45)

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

Answer

Dennis Bergkamp (236 mins per assist).