A Draw in Monaco, Millions in Birmingham: European Football Is Writing Its Own Rules Again

The draw in Monaco: Arsenal get Real, City get PSG and Barcelona

The pairings for the league phase of the Champions League for the 2026/27 season were drawn at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco, and the English clubs did not come off flatteringly. Arsenal, the Premier League champions, host Real Madrid and travel to Bayern Munich - two clubs with 21 titles between them. Manchester City, on their first European campaign since Pep Guardiola's departure, drew PSG and Barcelona. Manchester United return to the elite with Atletico Madrid and Bayern, and Liverpool travel to Inter. Eight matches, not one of them easy - and that is exactly why the new format works as a marketing machine: every round has at least one game half of Europe will watch. The first round is played from 8 to 10 September.

Aston Villa take Jackson for 65 million, and UEFA's rule looks the other way

Aston Villa are close to signing Nicolas Jackson from Chelsea for a total of 65 million pounds, and the whole story is more interesting than the transfer itself. Villa sold Morgan Rogers to Chelsea for a reported 117 million pounds in July - a record for a British player - and immediately afterwards Alejandro Garnacho went the other way on loan. UEFA has a 45-day rule for exactly these swaps, to stop clubs linking transfers in a way that artificially inflates the profit in their books. If two transactions between the same clubs are declared a swap, the seller cannot book the entire profit. Except UEFA is now clarifying that timing is "one of the factors", not a verdict. Villa will argue that Jackson is an entirely separate matter. A rule applied with that much discretion is not a rule - it is a recommendation with good lawyers.

Guendouzi set Lyon alight: provocation, a brawl and objects from the stands

Fenerbahce qualified for the Champions League after 2:1 on aggregate against Lyon, but almost nobody is talking about that. Matteo Guendouzi, a former Marseille player and therefore Lyon's favourite enemy, showed the home fans his middle finger during the warm-up. After the final whistle he celebrated in front of the furious Lyon players with his arms spread wide, then made the well-known Marseille gesture and shouted "Allez OM" at the stands. A general brawl involving the coaching staffs followed inside, and objects were thrown at him from the stands as he headed for the tunnel. Guendouzi is 27 and knows exactly what he is doing - this is not an incident, it is a calculation. The question is whether the disciplinary committee will recognise the same.

KMF Proekt in the Champions League: a 6:0 defeat, then drama for 3:3

Macedonian futsal champions KMF Proekt opened their Champions League campaign with a 6:0 defeat to Austrian hosts Graz. Bukovec scored three, Kovacic two, Juric closed out the scoring. But the figure that matters more than the result is a different one: the Macedonian side had 27 shots on goal against the hosts' 40. Goalkeeper Antonio Petrovski kept the defeat from being far heavier with a string of saves, and the stands applauded him. In the second match, against Slovenia's Vrhnika, Proekt led but allowed an equaliser late for 3:3. One more fixture remains in Group A, against Israel's Maccabi Netanya. The gap between 27 shots and six goals conceded is not talent - it is infrastructure, and that does not get built in one season.

Macedonian First League: Shkendija want five from five in Kratovo, but with half a squad

The fifth round of the First League opens with the Kratovo derby between Sileks and Shkendija - first against third in the table. The Tetovo side are the only ones with a perfect record: four wins, 12 points and +5 ahead of Sileks. Except they will be drastically weakened for this match too - Krasniqi, Gaye, Freitas, Gjorgjievski and Dimoski are all out injured, while centre-back Anes Meliqi returns. The hosts arrive after a convincing defeat to Vardar, and a second loss in a row would be hard on Aleksandar Vasoski's side. Shkendija's striker, Fahd Ndzengue, delivered the standard line before the match about the team being above everything. Five from five in a ten-team league sounds stronger than it is, but somebody still has to stop them - and with half a Shkendija on the pitch.