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GM football fans. It’s Monday, Dec. 15 - Messi’s GOAT tour kicks off chaotically, Juventus reject a $1.2bn sale of the club, and everything else you need to know. Forwarded this email? Sign up here.
KEY FIXTURE
Premier League (Dec 15): Manchester United vs. Bournemouth, 20:00 GMT / 15:00 ET. United are winless in their last four league meetings with Bournemouth, with the Cherries winning their last two trips to Old Trafford 3-0 both times. However, Andoni Iraola’s side are winless in their last six league games (D2 L4). See the Premier League table here.
Results…
Premier League: Chelsea 2-0 Everton | Liverpool 2-0 Brighton | Burnley 2-3 Fulham | Arsenal 2-1 Wolves | Palace 0-3 Man City | Forest 3-0 Spurs | Sunderland 1-0 Newcastle | West Ham 2-3 Villa | Brentford 1-1 Leeds
La Liga: Barcelona 2-0 Osasuna | Alaves 1-2 Real Madrid (Table)
Bundesliga: Bayern 2-2 Mainz | Freiburg 1-1 Dortmund (Table)
Serie A: AC Milan 2-2 Sassuolo | Udinese 1-0 Napoli | Genoa 1-2 Inter (Table)
Ligue 1: Lens 2-0 Nice | Metz 2-3 PSG (Table)
TOP TALKING POINTS
Messi Event Turmoil
Lionel Messi’s tour of India kicked off chaotically on Saturday as fans threw objects, ripped up seats, and invaded the pitch at Kolkata’s Salt Lake stadium. Fans were left angry when Messi was walking around the pitch but was obscured by a large group of officials and celebrities. Messi was scheduled for a 45-minute appearance, but left the event after just 20 minutes due to safety concerns. See a video of the events here.
Thousands of supporters paid up to 12,000 rupees (£100; $133) to see Messi at the stadium as part of the Argentine’s ‘GOAT [greatest of all time] tour’. The Times of India reported that many ticket-holders said that they failed to see Messi at all despite waiting for hours. The Indian football federation said it was "deeply concerned" by the scenes, adding that it was not involved in the event's planning, deferring responsibility to the PR agency that organised it.
Messi was seen briefly kicking the ball with a local state politician, a moment that later went viral—watch here. Messi’s tour began with the unveiling of a 70-foot statue of himself in Kolkata (see here), echoing Diego Maradona’s visit to a statue of himself in 2017.
Ticket Demand Soars
Fans submitted around 5 million ticket requests in the first 24 hours of Fifa’s third phase of World Cup ticket sales on Thursday. Demand continues for tickets despite complaints over prices (see costs here), with the English FA expected to pass on England supporters’ concerns about high 2026 World Cup ticket prices to Fifa. On the resale market, the cheapest tickets for the World Cup final are currently listed at $4,185 (£3,120).
Fans from the host nations, the United States, Mexico, and Canada, lead the way in terms of interest for tickets. Supporters from Colombia, England, Ecuador, Brazil, Argentina, Scotland, Germany, Australia, France, and Panama round out the top ten nations where fans have submitted the most requests to attend matches next year. Among the group stage contests, Colombia's clash with Portugal and Cristiano Ronaldo in Miami on June 27 attracted the most ticket requests.
With two million tickets already sold across the first two sales phases, fewer than five million remain available. This third phase of sales will remain open until January 13–see here.
Juventus Reject Takeover
Juventus' owners publicly rejected a $1.2bn buyout offer from a cryptocurrency firm, ensuring the Italian club will remain controlled by the Agnelli family. The company, Tether, which could soon be valued at $500bn, already owns an 11.5% stake in the club and has been vocal about its ambitions to increase its influence.
The Agnelli family has owned Juventus for over a century, and family head John Elkann said that “our history and our values are not for sale.” Tether’s slogan “Make Juventus Great Again” was also seen as misaligned with the club’s identity. The phrase referenced Juventus posting close to €1bn in cumulative losses over the past five years, driven by the pandemic, financial penalties linked to accounting breaches, and the costly nature of signing Cristiano Ronaldo in 2018.
On the pitch, Juventus continue to struggle by their historic standards. Serie A’s most successful club has not won a league title since 2020, ending a run of nine consecutive championships. It marks their longest title drought since the late 1980s.
POLL
Does it matter what managers wear on the sideline?
ON THE BALL
Europe
> Lens retain top spot in Ligue 1 after a 2-0 win over Nice; PSG sit one point behind after 16 matches played (Table)
> Harry Kane scored his 50th goal for Bayern Munich in 2025, marking the first time he has hit that mark for his club in a single calendar year (More)
> St Mirren have won the Scottish League Cup for just the second time in their history after beating holders Celtic 3-1 (Match Report)
> Khadija Shaw becomes WSL’s third all-time goalscorer as she scores four in Manchester City’s 6-1 win over Aston Villa; read a WSL round-up (More); City maintain their six-point lead at the top of the table (Table)
Americas
> Toluca hosts Tigres in the second leg of the Apertura 2025 Liga MX final with Tigres leading Toluca 1-0; match concludes shortly after publication (Live Result)
> Estudiantes de La Plata emerged victorious in the Argentine Clausura final, defeating Racing Club 5-4 in a penalty shootout (More)
> The NSWL Board of Governors is in "advanced discussions" on a proposal that would allow higher salaries for star players (More)
Rest of the World
> Flamengo secured a spot in the final of the Intercontinental Cup by defeating Pyramids FC 2-0 in the semifinals; Flamengo will face PSG on Wednesday, December 17 (More)
> Henk ten Cate, 71, has been appointed the new coach of Suriname as they look ahead to the World Cup playoffs in March (More)
ROUTERS’ VOICE
Yesterday’s Poll: Do you think that the club you support should be where you grew up and/or who your family supports?
🟨 🟨 🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ 🏡 Yes (31%)
🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🙅♂️ Nope (64%)
🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ✍️ Other (5%)
Your punditry takes:
🏡 B.D: “I don't think so many smaller clubs would be in as much financial trouble if this were the case. Even supporting your local club as a second club in the lower divisions and non league would be a massive boost to the clubs financially and from a community point of view.”
🙅♂️ D.J: “There are all sorts of reasons why you may not want to support the team where you grew up, or whose family support. Clubs are (or should be) about identity, and for many people they resonate with a team that doesn't match their home area or family allegiance.”
🙅♂️ M.H: “Where I live in Ottawa, Canada, we didn’t have a team to ‘support’. Usually, I pick a ‘favourite’ in each of the leagues that I follow. Liverpool is my favourite team of them all. Barca in Spain, Dortmund in Germany. I support the 2 local teams now, too: men’s Atletico Ottawa, and women’s Ottawa Rapid.”
✍️ L.J: “This would depend on where you're from. An American ‘soccer’ fan should be allowed to select a Premier League team to support, much like how I selected the New York Yankees when I got into baseball, (I'm from Liverpool, England and yes, that's who I support), but I once met someone from Peterborough who supported Manchester United because Peterborough United were rubbish—they always will be if the locals don't support their team.”
EXTRA TIME
The furthest goal in the Championship since records began.
Salah breaks another all-time Premier League record.
Six players to watch at Afcon 2025.
The best (and worst) football statues ever.
Why US soccer could lose its most compelling star to Europe.
Sunderland didn’t include Newcastle’s badge on scoreboard.
Why have managers stopped wearing suits?
GAME FACE ON
Question: Which three Serbian players have won the Uefa Champions League?
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.
When I become a coach, I've set myself a goal. To coach all the teams where I have played.
Answer
Nemanja Vidic (2008 Manchester United), Dejan Stankovic (2010 Inter Milan) and Branislav Ivanovic (2012 Chelsea).
