GM football fans. It’s Monday, Mar. 9 - The Premier League fixture run-in, La Liga plans a retro shirt weekend, and everything else you need to know. Forwarded this email? Sign up here.
KEY FIXTURE
FA Cup Fifth Round (Mar 9): West Ham United vs. Brentford, 19:30 GMT / 15:30 ET. Brentford have won seven of their 10 games against West Ham in all competitions since becoming a Premier League side in 2021. The Hammers have also been eliminated from their last three FA Cup Fifth Round ties, while it is the first time since 2018-19 that Brentford have reached this stage of the competition. See every FA Cup result here.
Results…
La Liga: Athletic Club 0-1 Barcelona | Celta Vigo 1-2 Real Madrid (Table)
Serie A: AC Milan 1-0 Inter | Genoa 2-1 Roma (Table)
Ligue 1: PSG 1-3 Monaco | Lens 3-0 Metz (Table)
Bundesliga: Bayern Munich 4-1 M’gladbach | Koln 1-2 Borussia Dortmund (Table)
SheBelieves Cup: United States 1-0 Colombia | Canada 0-0 Argentina (Canada win 3-2 on pens)
TOP TALKING POINTS
Premier League Run-In
Arsenal, who lead the Premier League table by seven points, have a relatively favourable fixture run-in according to Opta’s fixture difficulty calculator. Only four teams have an easier schedule, with Arsenal facing Everton and Bournemouth before a crucial trip to Manchester City, while relegation-zone sides West Ham and Burnley are among their final five opponents.
Man City, who have a game in hand over Arsenal, have a tougher run-in than the league leaders, with only five teams facing harder schedules. Pep Guardiola’s side must play Chelsea, Arsenal, Everton, Brentford, and Aston Villa amongst their remaining fixtures. Having dropped points in the last matchday with a 2-2 draw at home to Nottingham Forest, City’s projected chances of winning the league have dropped to just 6.4%, compared to Arsenal’s 93.8%.
Among teams competing for Champions League places — Manchester United, Aston Villa, Chelsea, and Liverpool — Villa have the easiest run-in. Villa face Manchester United next, but then a favourable sequence including West Ham, Nottingham Forest, Tottenham Hotspur, and Burnley. Meanwhile, Liverpool have one of the toughest run-ins among the top sides.
See every Premier League fixture here.
Iran Team Threatened
Iran's women’s national team were labelled as “wartime traitors” by an Iranian state television presenter after they chose not to sing the national anthem before a match. Iran's participation in the Women’s Asian Cup in Australia comes during the ongoing US and Israeli strikes on the nation.
“Let me just say one thing: traitors during wartime must be dealt with more severely,” the Iranian presenter said, referencing the non-singing before the opening game. “Anyone who takes a step against the country under war conditions must be dealt with more severely.” Following the comments, players’ union FIFPro said it had written to the tournament’s organisers and Fifa to request they “urgently engage” with the Iranian FA and the Australian government to “ensure every effort is made to protect the safety of the players”.
Iran lost all three of their Asian Cup group matches and have been eliminated. Before their third loss on Sunday, the players and coaches sang the national anthem and gave a military salute before the match. It is not known how or when Iran’s players will be able to return home, given the war and fears the regime could arrest them.
Retro Shirt Weekend
La Liga will stage a retro-themed matchday as Spain’s top two divisions will wear vintage-style kits across the weekend of April 10 to 13. Reports in Spain say the initiative aims to tap into an appetite for nostalgia by celebrating club histories while reaching new audiences. Barcelona, Real Madrid, Rayo Vallecano, and Getafe will not take part due to production issues, but will participate in wider parts of the retro weekend.
The retro kits will be officially unveiled on March 19 during Fashion Week Madrid — see some of the best La Liga kits of all time here. In addition to the kits, scoreboards, TV graphics, and the TV broadcast will also adopt a retro aesthetic.
In related news, popstar Madonna has responded to La Liga side Celta Vigo’s open letter to help find a shirt she wore during a 1990 concert at its Balaidos stadium. “This shirt is hanging in my archives! I am wearing and representing your team in spirit!” Madonna said via social media.
POLL
Is the English Championship the most exciting league in Europe right now?
ON THE BALL
Europe
> Pep Guardiola has received a two-game touchline ban for his sixth yellow card this season (More) | Liverpool and Manchester United complain to social media platform X over “sickening and irresponsible” posts about the clubs (More)
> Paris Saint-Germain lost 3-1 to Monaco on Friday, and Lens moved within one point of the leaders following their 3-0 win over Metz (More)
> Coventry City secured their fifth straight victory in a 2-0 away win at Bristol City as they lead the Championship table by eight points (Match Report); see the Championship table (More)
> Celtic beat Rangers on penalties to edge into the Scottish Cup semi-finals as fans clashed on the pitch after the shootout (More); watch the chaos on the pitch (More); see all Scottish Cup results (More)
Americas
> The United States women’s national team beat Colombia 1-0 to clinch their eighth SheBelieves Cup title for the Americans (More)
> San Diego FC, Vancouver Whitecaps, LAFC, and San Jose all have a perfect start to their opening three MLS matches; see all the results (More) and Conference Standings (More)
> Lionel Messi is one strike away from reaching 900 career goals after scoring for Inter Miami against DC United on Saturday (More); watch the goal (More)
> Jamaican team Mount Pleasant had 10 of its players denied visas for the club’s Champions Cup match against MLS team L.A. Galaxy on Wednesday (More)
> Jesse Lingard's move to Corinthians has been confirmed, and he becomes the first Englishman to play in the Brazilian Serie A (More)
Rest of the World
ROUTERS’ VOICE
Friday’s Poll: Do you think the expanded Championship play-offs are a good idea?
🟨 🟨 🟨 🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ 👍 Yes (39%)
🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🙅♂️ Nope (58%)
🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ✍️ Other (3%)
Your punditry takes:
👍 D.T: “This is a great idea. With more teams having a chance to be promoted to the world's best league, more owners will be incentivised to invest in their squads. More investment means stronger teams will be promoted to the Premier League. Also, broadcasters love play-off games, so all Championship teams will benefit from higher broadcast revenue.”
🙅♂️ M.M: “The regular season needs to mean something more. Adding teams to the postseason dilutes this, particularly when so many regular-season games are played. Why play 30+ games to prove your side is the best of the group, only to lose the right to move forward to a side that plays over their head for a single game?”
🙅♂️ J.D: “Terrible idea. It’s a money grab, pure and simple. The gauntlet that is the Championship should reward the team that finished 3rd. The play-offs are a dumb idea altogether.”
✍️ R.B: “The likelihood of a team getting promoted from a newly added lower position is still going to be remote, and given the recent history of at least two of the three promoted teams going straight back down, I don’t think this is the crux of the issue related to promoted teams being competitive in the Premier League.”
EXTRA TIME
Is Arsenal’s time-wasting really that bad?
Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney react to VAR after Chelsea loss.
Juan Mata’s free-kick in A-League’s biggest game.
A rare interview with Brentford owner Matthew Benham.
Meet the first female head coach of a men’s pro team.
Predicting World Cup starting XIs.
How set-pieces reshaped the Premier League.
GAME FACE ON
Question: Earlier this season, Eberechi Eze became the first player to do what in the Premier 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.
I pay Messi — worth every penny — but it's $70 million to $80 million a year. Across everything.
Answer
He was the first player to score a Premier League hat-trick in the north London derby.
