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If Trent Stays a Red, Is That All That Matters?

Concerning the Trent Alexander-Arnold saga, this past week had him on the verge of signing a pre-contract agreement with Real Madrid. However, the world-class right-back has seen his situation take another turn as his record-breaking teammate, Mohamed Salah, posted a cryptic video on social media. In the clip, Salah, Alexander-Arnold, Ibrahima Konaté, and Dominik Szoboszlai were seen relaxing together in what appeared to be one of their homes.

The fact that three young men who represent the same football club were spending time together on a Saturday evening is not out of the ordinary. From the grassroots level to the elite stage of the Premier League, friendships among teammates are common. However, given that Liverpool’s vice-captain is nearing the end of his contract and a move to the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium seemed almost inevitable, the timing of the post has led to widespread speculation. Could this be a subtle message that Alexander-Arnold is reconsidering his future? Could he still opt to remain at the club he has called home for his entire footballing career?

Should the Fanbase Expect Trent to Stay?

Liverpool supporters have been left in limbo for months regarding the future of one of their most prized assets. Reports of stalled contract talks, his reluctance to sign an extension, and Madrid’s well-documented interest have all led to an uneasy atmosphere surrounding his long-term commitment. Given his world-class ability and versatility, many see him as a cornerstone of the club’s future under Arne Slot. But the big question remains—will he stay?

One major factor that could sway his decision is the influence of his teammates. The likes of Salah, Virgil van Dijk, and Andy Robertson will surely be looking to convince the homegrown academy graduate that his best years should remain at Anfield. The camaraderie within the squad has long been a defining trait of Liverpool’s success in recent years, and losing such a key figure would undoubtedly be a huge blow. It would not be surprising if some of his closest allies within the dressing room were actively pushing for him to extend his stay.

There is also the historical precedent set by one of his biggest idols, Steven Gerrard. Back in 2005, Liverpool’s legendary captain was heavily linked with a move to Chelsea, even going as far as submitting a transfer request before ultimately rejecting the move and choosing to remain at Anfield. That decision cemented his legacy as one of the club’s greatest-ever players. Alexander-Arnold has often spoken about Gerrard’s influence on his career, and perhaps he will follow in his footsteps by staying loyal to the club that developed him.

A Decision That Could Define Liverpool’s Future

If Alexander-Arnold does decide to remain at Liverpool, the fanbase should be delighted. His technical brilliance, vision, and leadership qualities make him an irreplaceable figure within the squad. While much of the frustration regarding his contract uncertainty can be attributed to the faltering attempts of Liverpool’s previous hierarchy, the responsibility now lies with the new management team led by Michael Edwards and Richard Hughes to rectify the situation.

Should Arne Slot succeed in convincing the England international to stay, that is all that truly matters. In an era where top players are lured away by Europe’s elite clubs, retaining a generational talent like Alexander-Arnold would be a major statement of intent. Now, the ball is in Liverpool’s court to ensure that happens.

Kylian Mbappe continues to leave his mark at Real Madrid, with his recent double against Leganes playing a pivotal role in securing a 3-2 victory for Los Blancos.
His remarkable form has allowed him to match Cristiano Ronaldo’s tally of 33 goals scored during their respective debut seasons at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Achieving such a feat highlights just how quickly the Frenchman has adapted to life at Real Madrid and how effectively he has cemented himself as a reliable goalscorer.
Mbappe’s recent scoring spree has been particularly impressive. Over his last two matches, he has netted four goals, with two braces coming against Villarreal and Leganes.

More records to match

This scoring run has helped propel him up a prestigious list of debut-season scorers at Real Madrid, a list that continues to be led by Ivan Zamorano, who scored 37 goals in 45 matches in his debut season.
In terms of direct comparison, Mbappe’s 33 goals have come in the same number of matches as Ronaldo Nazario, who also scored 33 goals during his first season with the club.

However, Cristiano Ronaldo managed to reach his total of 33 goals in 10 fewer matches, highlighting the Portuguese star’s efficiency during his initial season at the club.

A look at other records

Mbappe’s goal-scoring exploits have also placed him level with Dutch striker Ruud Van Nistelrooy, who scored 33 goals across 47 matches during his first season with Real Madrid.
Meanwhile, Brazilian legend Ronaldo Nazario scored 30 goals in 40 matches, further emphasising how Mbappe’s output stacks up against some of the most prolific strikers in the club’s history.

The fact that Mbappe is already drawing comparisons to such celebrated names underlines his importance to Real Madrid’s attack.
As the season progresses, the Frenchman will undoubtedly aim to surpass these impressive benchmarks and continue establishing himself as one of the most influential players in the current squad.

Hansi Flick was in attendance on Saturday as Barcelona Atletic finally returned to winning ways by beating Cultural Leonesa.
It’s been a miserable season for Barca Atletic but they had reason to celebrate as they beat the league leaders and won for the first time since December.
They were also playing under the watchful eye of Hansi Flick and his assistant Heiko Westermann.

The winning goal came after just 11 minutes of the match. A nicely-worked move saw the ball go out wide to Trilli to send the ball across goal and be knocked home at close range by Cedric.
Yet there were a few scares for the hosts. Indeed stopper Ander Astralaga made two great saves in the first half to preserve his clean sheet.

Barcelona went on to double their lead in the second half. Alexis Olmedo – who’s been training with the first team – played in Jan Virgili to run through and beat the goalkeeper at his near post for his first Barcelona Atletic goal.
It’s a huge victory for Barcelona Atletic and one that’s long overdue.
Well done, boys!

Nice manager Franck Haise has hit back at Sir Jim Ratcliffe after the club’s owner claimed he doesn’t enjoy watching them play.
Ratcliffe’s INEOS have owned the Ligue 1 side since August 2019, with the British Billionaire then famously purchasing a 27.7 per cent stake in Manchester United last year, which later rose to 28.94 per cent.

The 72-year-old has enacted a ruthless leadership and cost-cutting campaign, which saw the departures of legend Sir Alex Ferguson, and Erik ten Hag throughout this season.

He has also been at the centre of controversy at Nice too after recently saying: ‘I don’t particularly enjoy going to watch Nice because there are some good players, but the level of football is not high enough for me to get excited.’
Haise says Ratcliffe has not watched the side this season and that his comments are based on their performances prior to his appointment in June 2024.
‘The article that [the comments] appeared in was a lot more complete than that. But he hasn’t seen a Nice match this season,’ he said.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe claimed he doesn’t ‘enjoy going to watch’ Nice because ‘the level of football is not high enough’

Nice boss Franck Haise says Ratcliffe’s comments are based on Nice’s previous seasons

He’s speaking a bit more about what he saw at another time,’ the Nice manager said in a press conference.

‘With the people who are here at the club, we are here to make the club progress in order to be even better.’
He then added: ‘It’s not that serious. We can be annoyed, that’s obvious.
‘But is it really worth staying annoyed for a long time? We have got to keep working, enjoying ourselves and we have got to be doing the best possible. We have to move on and continue on our path.’

Nice currently sit fourth in Ligue 1 – a position which would ensure they qualify for the Champions League next season.

Although league leaders PSG are out of reach, Le Gym are just two points behind second-placed Marseille and set to return to Europe’s elite competition for the first time since the 2017-18 campaign.

Brazil have sacked their head coach, Dorival Júnior, the country’s football confederation (CBF) said on Friday, after the five-times world champions were thrashed 4-1 by fierce rivals Argentina in a humiliating World Cup qualifying loss in Buenos Aires on Wednesday.
The 62-year-old was appointed in January 2024 after the team spent a year under two caretaker coaches as the Brazilian FA were unable to tempt the Italian Carlo Ancelotti from Real Madrid.

“The Brazilian Football Confederation informs that coach Dorival Jr is no longer in charge of the Brazilian national team,” the confederation said in a statement. “The management thanks [Dorival] and wishes him success in continuing his career … the CBF will work to find his replacement.” Dorival was handed the job after his success in 2022 with Flamengo, where he won the Copa Libertadores and Brazilian Cup, a trophy he lifted again the next year with São Paulo. However, he never seemed to get to grips with the national-team job and failed to earn the trust of Brazil’s demanding fans after winning only seven of his 16 games in charge

After a lacklustre Copa América campaign when Brazil were knocked out in the quarter-finals by Uruguay last year, the CBF was willing to wait and see until the 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Ecuador and Paraguay in June to reassess the situation following the end of the European season and the Club World Cup in the US in June and July.
However, after Brazil slumped to their heaviest ever loss in a qualifier when they were thrashed by Argentina, the CBF president, Ednaldo Rodrigues, decided to act.
Brazil have been in unfamiliar territory for over two years since crashing out of the 2022 World Cup against Croatia on penalties in the quarter-finals, an elimination that led to the exit of the long-time manager, Tite.

Brazil are in the midst of their worst ever World Cup qualifying campaign. They are fourth in the South American standings with 21 points, a point above sixth-placed Colombia, who currently occupy the final direct qualifying berth. They have lost five of their 14 games and conceded 16 goals.
Brazil’s 1-0 defeat by Argentina in the Maracanã late in 2023 was their first-ever qualifying loss on home soil. They also lost to Colombia for the first time, saw the end of their unbeaten run against Uruguay stretching back over two decades and were defeated by Morocco and Senegal, having never previously lost to an African nation.

Former Barcelona superstar Dani Alves won his appeal against a sexual assault conviction as a Spanish court overturned the ruling.
Alves was found guilty in February 2024 of raping a woman in a nightclub in December 2022 and sentenced to four years, six months in prison.
The former Brazil and Barcelona defender denied wrongdoing during the three-day trial.

That court ruled on Friday that there was “insufficient evidence” to rule out Alves’ presumption of innocence.

“Dani Alves is innocent, and that has been proven,” his defence lawyer Ines Guardiola told Catalan radio RAC1. “Justice has finally been served.”
The Alves trial was the first high-profile case since Spain overhauled its laws in 2022 to make consent central to defining a sex crime in response to an upswell of protests after a gang-rape case during the San Fermin bull-running festival in Pamplona in 2016.
The legislation popularly known as the “only yes means yes” law defines consent as an explicit expression of a person’s will, making it clear that silence or passivity do not equal consent.

But the four judges of a Barcelona-based appeals court ruled unanimously to overturn the conviction after reviewing the evidence and testimonies given to the lower court.
In their ruling, they wrote that the testimony of the plaintiff “differed notably” from evidence of video footage taken before the woman and Alves entered the bathroom where she said he forced her to have sex without her consent.
Alves, now 41, was kept in jail from January 20, 2023 until March 2024 until he was released after paying one million euros for bail while awaiting his appeal.
Alves was one of the most successful players of his generation, winning three Champions Leagues and six Spanish league titles when at Barcelona, while helping Brazil win two Copa Americas and an Olympic gold.

He was with Mexican club Pumas when he was arrested, and had his contract terminated immediately.

Barcelona beat Wolfsburg 6-1 in Thursday’s UEFA Women’s Champions League quarter-final second leg to go through 10-2 on aggregate, while in the all-English clash Chelsea staged a remarkable comeback against Manchester City to go through.
Salma Paralluelo and Clàudia Pina got two goals each for Barca in their win. At Stamford Bridge meanwhile, the Blues scored three first half goals to defeat Man City in the second leg 3-0 to overturn their 2-0 first leg loss.

The Catalan side are seeking their third European crown in a row. The holders are now on a seven-game European winning streak; they have lost only two of their last 26 Women’s Champions League matches (W22 D2).
It will be the third year in a row that Chelsea will meet Barcelona in the Women’s Champions League semi-final.
On Wednesday night, Arsenal staged another remarkable comeback with three quick-fire 15 minute second half goals overturning a 2-0 first leg deficit against Real Madrid. In front of 22,517 spectators in the Emirates, player-of-the-match Alessia Russon got the first and third, with Mariona Caldentey scoring the second.

The Gunners will face Lyon in the semi-final after the French  side beat Bayern Munich 4-1 at home, having won the first leg 2-0 in Germany. Last year’s runners up Lyon are managed by former Arsenal boss Joe Montemurro – Lyon are unbeaten over 90 minutes in their 27 games since Montemurro became coach (W25 D2).
This will be the eighth time the London side have reached the semi-final but 2007 remains the only year when Arsenal won the European Cup. Only Lyon have more semi-final appearances – with 14 – and they hold the record of UEFA Women’s Champions Leagues win (8).

The semi-finals are set for 19/20 and 26/27 April. Arsenal will be at home in the first leg.
Estádio José Alvalade in Lisbon will stage the 2025 UEFA Women’s Champions League final on Saturday 24 May.

Arsenal could be handed a major boost ahead of their Champions League quarter-final against Real Madrid, with Kylian Mbappe reportedly among the players ‘at risk of being banned’ by UEFA.
Four players for the European champions are deemed at risk of suspension due to their celebrations after beating Atletico Madrid in the last 16 of the Champions League.

Los Blancos progressed on penalties after winning the first leg 2-1 and the losing the second leg away from home 1-0.
Former Chelsea defender Antonio Rudiger scored the decisive penalty and is one of the Real Madrid fearing a ban.
Report confirms that Mbappe, Rudiger, Vinicius Junior and Dani Ceballos could miss their quarter-final against Arsenal.

The Madrid quartet are under investigation over alleged “indecent conduct”, with an “ethics and disciplinary inspector” analysing their actions after beating Atletico on penalties on March 12.

Arsenal will obviously hope Vinicius Jr, Mbappe and Rudiger are unavailable for both legs. They probably want former loan player Ceballos to play, to be fair.

There is no doubt that Madrid will be significantly weaker if those three players are unavailable and ultimately could cost them winning back-to-back Champions Leagues.
Arsenal are also hoping Bukayo Saka will be available for the first leg on April 8 – which is eight days before the second leg at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Saka was pictured in training for the first time since suffering a serious hamstring injury against Crystal Palace in December on Thursday.

It is unclear if the England winger is going through individual training or if he is back into full first-team training.

Either way, Arsenal fans are absolutely delighted to see Saka back on the grass.

The Premier League has announced it will have two transfer windows this summer to allow Manchester City and Chelsea to sign players before the Club World Cup.
The window will open between Sunday, 1 June and Tuesday, 10 June, then close for five days before running again from Monday, 16 June until Monday, 1 September.
This summer features the first expanded Fifa Club World Cup, which involves 32 teams and adopts the format of the regular World Cup of the past few years.
Chelsea and Manchester City are the Premier League teams in the tournament which takes place in the United States from Sunday, 15 June.
But the Premier League can only have 12 weeks of a summer window – hence the five-day break in order to run it until 1 September.
Fifa has allowed new players to be registered for the Club World Cup from 1-10 June, and again from 27 June-3 July for the knockout stage.

Why is this happening?

Firstly, to bring order to the global registration system, world governing body Fifa only permits the transfer window in any individual country to be open for 16 weeks in any calendar year.
In Europe, precedent dictates four of those weeks are for the winter window, leaving 12 in the summer. In 2024, the Premier League transfer window opened on 14 June and closed on 30 August.
However, in October, Fifa approved an additional window from 1-10 June that would allow the 32 clubs competing in the Club World Cup to register new players before the tournament.
It also agreed to open a registration window mid-tournament, from 27 June and 3 July, to allow clubs to register additional players for the knockout stage.
As well as Manchester City and Chelsea, European heavyweights Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Inter Milan, Juventus, Paris St-Germain, Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and Saudi Arabia’s Al-Hilal are among others playing in the tournament.

In order to ensure Manchester City and Chelsea did not have an advantage over the other 18 top-flight clubs, the Premier League has adopted the same window.
However, 12 weeks from 1 June is 24 August. The Premier League wanted to be aligned with the rest of Europe’s big leagues around when the summer window closes. Those leagues preferred to close the window at the end of August, so that meant the window had to close and reopen.

What are the issues?

Firstly, the dates.
The Champions League final takes place in Munich on 31 May. After that, there are Nations League semi-finals and finals and World Cup qualifying double-headers. In Europe, those games take place 6-10 June.
It means players could be negotiating transfers in the build-up to important matches.
One potential impact concerns international players who may move to clubs competing in the Club World Cup.
Let us take two examples – Trent Alexander-Arnold and Kevin de Bruyne. Both are internationals who might be called up by England and Belgium for their June matches.
However, both are out of contract at Liverpool and Manchester City respectively on 30 June.
Alexander-Arnold currently plays for a club not involved in the United States this summer, but looks likely to join Real Madrid who are.

So, do Real reach an agreement over a fee with Liverpool to trigger Alexander-Arnold’s release early so he can play a full part in the competition? Or do they wait until 30 June and add him to their squad for the knockout stage?
Manchester City are involved in the Club World Cup. So, as it presently stands, De Bruyne could play in the group stage but would not be eligible for the knockout stage.
If De Bruyne does not want to commit for a further year, he could sign a short extension that covers the tournament and then leave. Or he could leave before the tournament and sign for a different club. If that club were also involved at the Club World Cup, De Bruyne would be in the same situation as Alexander-Arnold.
Fifa has also tweaked its registration rules to effectively mean clubs can sign players solely for the duration of the tournament. It is thought unlikely either Manchester City or Chelsea would be looking at that scenario.

Semi-automated offsides might come in next month

Semi-automated offside technology might be introduced to the Premier League in April.
It was trialled in the FA Cup fifth round – and will be tried again for the three quarter-final ties at Premier League grounds this weekend.
The plan was to introduce it for the Premier League in October or November, but issues with the system have delayed that.
If no problems arise from these FA Cup games, it will be rolled out in the Premier League next week.

Semi-automated offsides are designed to make the judgement of tight calls easier for officials by rendering key parts of the process automatic.
Bespoke cameras have been installed at all 20 Premier League grounds.

Since Spotify became the official sponsor of FC Barcelona and the Camp Nou was rebranded as Spotify Camp Nou, El Clasico league matches have frequently featured an artist’s logo on the jerseys of the Catalan club’s players.

Drake was the first to feature in October 2022, followed by Rosalia, Rolling Stones, Karol G, and Coldplay. With the next round of El Clasico set to enthrall us in May, one wondered who would get the opportunity to feature on Barcelona’s jersey for this particular game.
According to RAC 1 (h/t Mundo Deportivo), a number of artists were in the running for the same, including the very famous Ed Sheeran and Travis Scott (a rapper), but Taylor Swift has now emerged as the favourite to appear on the jersey in the Clasico at the Montjuic.
Taylor Swift needs no introduction, having released numerous chart-topping hits over the years. Therefore, it would be no surprise if she is ultimately chosen to feature on the Barcelona jersey during El Clasico.
Interestingly, it wasn’t long ago that Taylor Swift performed at Real Madrid’s stadium, specifically on May 30, 2024. Now, she has the opportunity to further enhance her global appeal by being featured on the Barcelona jersey.

El Clasico is arguably the biggest game in club football, and the entire world will tune in to watch the two Spanish heavyweights battle it out for bragging rights this season. It helps that there is also a tight title race on the line.
In their previous La Liga encounter earlier this season, Barcelona thrashed Real Madrid 4-0 at their own backyard. The two sides have since faced off in the Spanish Super Cup final—another match where the Catalan club delivered a dominant performance.
Everything is shaping towards the game against the two sides in May turning out to be a potential title decider. Much like Taylor Swift has around the world over the years, let’s wait and see if Hansi Flick’s men can put on a show and go 3/3 against their bitter rivals this season.

ARSENAL’S WOMEN produced a thrilling fightback from a 2-0 first-leg defeat to beat Real Madrid 3-0 on Wednesday and set up a Champions League semi-final with eight-time winners Lyon.
Alessia Russo scored twice for the Gunners in front of a crowd of 22,517 at the Emirates, either side of Mariona Caldentey’s header, to fire Arsenal into the last four.

Madrid arrived in London full of confidence after beating Barcelona for the first time in a women’s Clasico on Sunday.
However, the Spanish giants were made to wait for a first Champions League semi-final by a dominant Arsenal performance.
The home side’s pressure bore no fruit before the half-time break and indeed, they were thankful to a fine save from Daphne van Domselaar that prevented Filippa Angeldahl from adding to Madrid’s aggregate advantage.
Three goals in the first 14 minutes of the second half transformed the tie.
Russo swept home Chloe Kelly’s dangerous cross just seconds after the restart.
Kelly then picked out former Barcelona midfielder Caldentey to head in just three minutes later.

Russo produced an acrobatic finish to complete the comeback on the hour mark after Madrid failed to deal with a free-kick into the box.
The England striker thought she had a memorable hat-trick, only for VAR to intervene and rule out an Arsenal fourth for offside

But Renee Slegers’ side held out to march into the semi-finals, where the French champions will be waiting.
Lyon thrashed Bayern Munich 4-1 to advance 6-1 on aggregate in their quest for a record-extending ninth title.

Klara Buehl gave Bayern hope with a first-half strike that reduced Lyon’s two-goal advantage from last week’s first leg in Germany.
Lyon levelled on the night moments into the second half through Melchie Dumornay’s header before Kadidiatou Diani punished a defensive error to put the French champions in complete control.

Malawi international Tabitha Chawinga grabbed Lyon’s third and former Ballon d’Or winner Ada Hegerberg came off the bench to round off the scoring in stoppage time.

Three-time winners Barcelona hold a 4-1 lead over Wolfsburg ahead of Thursday’s quarter-final, second leg in Spain.
Meanwhile, English champions Chelsea must follow Arsenal’s lead in overturning a two-goal first-leg deficit against Manchester City.

Morocco is selling its first euro-denominated bonds in five years as it boosts spending for the football World Cup it’s co-hosting in 2030.

The sale of a combined €2 billion ($2.2 billion) in four- and 10-year notes has attracted total bids of more than €6.75 billion, according to a person familiar with the matter. The sale, the North African nation’s first foray into euro bonds since 2020, is €500 million larger than earlier expected.

The country is raising money as it prepares to co-host the 2030 FIFA World Cup along with Spain and Portugal. It’s encouraging a landmark investment drive, with the central bank cutting interest rates for a second consecutive time last week to ease local borrowing costs.

The final spread at 155 basis points over midswaps for the four—year note compares with initial price talk in the 190 basis points area. For the 10-year note, it’s at midswaps plus 215 basis points, also narrower than initial talk. Morocco, which holds the highest non-investment grade at all three main rating companies, last sold $2.5 billion of dollar debt in 2023, with the bonds rallying so far this year.
The bookrunners for the sale are BNP Paribas SA, Citigroup Inc., Deutsche Bank AG and JPMorgan Chase & Co., while Lazard Inc. is acting as an adviser.

(Some insight were gotten from Bloomberg)