EFL eyes PSR breach

GM football fans. Route One here, and we’re covering another player strike update, refs audio admission and much more. Enjoy Route One? Share us with a friend on WhatsApp with this link.

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE STATS

Atalanta vs Arsenal (20:00 UK). The Gunners have lost their last three away games in this competition in Italy, but they’ve won their opening match in their last six major European campaigns. Atletico Madrid vs RB Leipzig (20:00 UK). Atletico Madrid were the only side with a 100% win rate at home in last season’s Champions League, winning all five games at the Metropolitano. Monaco vs Barcelona (20:00 UK). Both sides have made unbeaten starts to the season. But Barcelona don’t have a great record in France, having won just two of their last nine visits there. Full Champions League fixtures tonight here.

Plus…

• Match officials for Matchweek 5 released (More)

• Italy’s World Cup icon Salvatore Schillaci dies aged 59 (More)

• Man City’s Khadija Shaw didn’t feature in yesterday’s UCL game as the club didn’t file her visa application (More)

• New scans show damage on Odegaard’s ligaments (More)

• Everton continue to back Dyche after Carabao Cup loss to Southampton (More)

• Reading FC will pursue alternative options in the sale of the club (More)

PLAYER STRIKES

PFA backs international football strikes as talks of action grow since Rodri’s comments

Industrial action over football’s punishing fixture list should target national team competitions, says PFA chief executive Maheta Molango. The union chief believes that players should refuse to play for England but continue to play for their clubs. La Liga president Javier Tebas also supported players’ strikes if it served to wipe Fifa’s Club World Cup out of existence.

When it comes to strike action, the PFA isn’t just all talk. When the Premier League planned on reducing the PFA’s cut of domestic broadcast deals from five per cent to two in 2001, there was a real danger of players downing tools. The strikes were eventually muted after eight hours of discussion between the Premier League and PFA. And in 1960 the PFA tried to abolish the £20 a week wage cap for players with the threat of strike action. The FA and Football League eventually relented the year after.

As it stands, there’s no immediate threat of Premier League players going on strike. The train is still a good few stops from arriving at that point. But one source claims that more players have it clear behind the scenes that they are ready to take action since the expansion of the Champions League and Club World Cup. The action could include boycotting promotional activities for certain competitions, with a refusal to play seen very much as a last resort. It’s easy to dismiss Rodri’s - and others - comments as hot air, but the concerns are very deep-rooted.

POLL

HEAD START

🤕 Ref ‘didn’t like’ showing Rice red. The audio of when Declan Rice was shown a red card for kicking the ball away during the draw against Brighton was released this week. Referee Chris Kavanagh is shown to say that he ‘didn’t like’ giving the red but was left with no choice. He can also be heard telling Martin Odegaard that Rice had put him in an “awful position” by nudging the ball.

🫡 Forest in talks for Hillsborough memorial. Nottingham Forest have begun talks about creating a memorial to the victims of the Hillsborough disaster at the City Ground. Forest were Liverpool’s opponents in the FA Cup semi-final at Hillsborough in April 1989. Club officials have spoken to Forest’s branch of the Hillsborough Survivors’ Alliance (HSA) and discussed the idea with their fans’ advisory board.

❌ Women in Football calls for action. A recent Women in Football survey found almost 90 per cent of women in the industry have experienced discrimination, while a Kick It Out report earlier this year found four in five female coaches had faced some form of sexism or misogyny. As a result, the FA is working with Women in Football to tackle the rise in sexism in the game - including setting up reporting pathways to combat abuse and harassment.

EFL VS LEICESTER

EFL wants to charge Leicester with PSR breach if the club is relegated

The English Football League wants to charge Leicester over the alleged breach of profitability and sustainability rules (PSR) if the club are relegated. This comes a few weeks after Leicester won their appeal against the Premier League, which the league said it was both “surprised and disappointed” by. The EFL also made a statement at the time to say it shared the Premier League’s frustrations.

Leicester avoided a sanction on a technicality: they claimed they were not a Premier League club when they submitted their accounts on 30 June 2023 – just a month after they were relegated. The EFL will argue that it can impose sanctions on Leicester for the 2020-23 cycle. That’s because the Foxes, despite having competed in the Premier League for all three seasons, were officially in the Championship when their accounts were submitted.

As the Guardian article identifies, the EFL has successfully brought charges against clubs for historical PSR breaches. Sheffield Wednesday and Derby were docked points by the EFL in 2020 for breaches of regulations. Both cases were based on the sale of stadiums to sister companies two years earlier. But, ultimately, it all relies on whether Leicester are relegated or not – something they’ll want to avoid in any case.

AROUND THE FOOTBALL WORLD

🇮🇹 Serie A: Roma sack Daniele De Rossi after just eight months following a winless start to the season; Edin Terzic in pole position to replace him (More / in Italian)

🇺🇸 MLS: Girona’s co-owner Marcelo Claure has bought a 10% stake in Major League Soccer side New York City FC (More)

🇺🇲 USMNT: Christian Pulisic and Weston McKennie became the first pair of United States internationals to score on the same day in the Champions League (More)

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Scottish Premiership: The Scottish Premiership recorded significantly higher top-flight attendances per capita than any other European league (More)

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Championship: Stoke City have appointed Norwich City coach Narcis Pelach as their new manager on a three-year contract (More)

WEEKDAY RESULTS ROUND-UP

Champions League

City and Inter Milan draw 0-0. This is the first time Man City have dropped points at home in a Champions League game in five years. Celtic have a historic 5-1 win over Slovan. It’s the first time they’ve won an opening Champions League group game - and in some style too. PSG win 1-0 over Girona in the final minute. Paulo Gazzaniga’s 90th-minute own goal makes him the first goalkeeper from a Spanish team to score an own goal in the competition’s history. Full Champions League results here.

Carabao Cup

Brighton triumph over Wolves. New signing Ferdi Kadioglu bagged his first goal for the Seagulls which ended up being the difference in the 3-2 win. Spurs score two late goals to come from behind against Coventry City. Spence scored in the 88th and Johnson scored in the 92nd to beat Coventry 2-1.

*Correction from yesterday. In our efforts to bring you the most steaming, piping-hot football results, we sometimes burn our own fingers. So thanks to those Routers who pointed out yesterday’s typo regarding the Everton vs Southampton result – Southampton won 6-5 on penalties and are through to the next round of the Carabao Cup, not Everton.

ROUTER’S VOICE

Yesterday, we asked you: Do you support players striking over concerns about their workload?

🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 👏 Absolutely, it will teach the football associations a lesson… (59%)

🟨 🟨 🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ 😤 Nope, the players need to stop moaning… (37%)

⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ✍️ Other (write in!)... (4%)

Your punditry takes:

• 👏 S.F: “The number of games scheduled this year is ridiculous. The laughable point in their marketing is that it is for the fans who will have more choice, whereas in reality there are so many games on the same day there will be several that you will probably want to watch but be unable to under the new system. It's just pure greed on behalf of the authorities.”

• 😤 M.N: “I know it's not the same level but I worked all week and played Saturday and Sunday and had to pay for the privilege. They are fit young men paid a fortune, stop whinging and do what they're paid to do.”

• ✍️ A.M.J: “Isn’t more games what the big clubs want? They should look after their players and rotate the large squads of top-class players. They don’t all have to play in every game.”

Editors note: Brilliant responses to yesterday’s poll as always, thank you for all the effort you all put into them. Keep ‘em coming!

EXTRA TIME

The biggest Champions League wins in history.

Bayer Leverkusen release the most unique Champions League kit.

Nico Williams scores his first goal of the season, assisted by his brother.

The most stylish 2024-25 kits that you probably missed.

Jamie Carragher speaks out against the congested calendar.

A view of the game at Old Trafford sat behind Erik ten Hag.

ESPN ranks every team in team in the Champions League.

Scholes and Butt talk about Bobby Charlton getting knocked out in training.

GAME FACE ON

Question: Which side has played the most games (197) in the Champions League without ever winning the trophy?

Scroll below for the answer.

ON TODAY

Champions League

• Feyenoord vs Bayer Leverkusen (17:45)

• Red Star Belgrade vs Benfica (17:45)

• Atalanta vs Arsenal (20:00)

• Atletico Madrid vs RB Leipzig (20:00)

• Brest vs Sturm (20:00)

• Monaco vs Barcelona (20:00)

Women’s Champions League

• Sporting vs Real Madrid (16:00)

• Galatasaray vs Slavia Prague (18:00)

• St. Polten vs Mura (18:00)

La Liga

• Leganes vs Athletic Club (18:00)

*All UK times. EST -5. PST -8. CET +1. CST +8. JST +9.

Answer

Arsenal.