Elmas scored after 45 seconds, while at Manchester United a centre-back publicly went after the technical director

Elmas broke the ice in Bergamo in under a minute

Elif Elmas had been waiting for his first goal in an Atalanta shirt since his move from Leipzig, and when it came, it came express. Against Cypriot champions Pafos in the Conference League he needed just 45 seconds: Giacomo Raspadori broke down the right, found him in the heart of the box, and the Macedonian's powerful low strike left the keeper no chance. Atalanta finished 3:1, with Raspadori and Gianluca Scamacca scoring in the second half. The goal comes just days after his assist against Venezia in Serie A. Visar Musliu had a good night too, one of the pillars of the Sint-Truiden defence in a 2:0 win over Georgia's Iberia. Macedonian internationals deciding matches in Europe - news that doesn't need inflating, just recording.

Gaštarov with an assist on his debut, Alioski laughing at the end

Lugano hosted a small Macedonian duel. Matej Gaštarov made his official European debut for Crvena Zvezda, played the full 90 minutes and in the 31st minute pushed forward to set up Timi Max Elšnik for 1:1. The Belgrade side went 1:2 up through Rade Krunić, but the finish belonged to the hosts: Derek Moncada equalised in the 84th minute after Gaštarov misjudged the flight of the ball, and Anto Grgić converted a penalty four minutes later for a final 3:2 to Lugano. On the winning side, Ezgjan Alioski played the last ten minutes or so. In 90 minutes young Gaštarov learned how quickly Europe forgets an assist, and how long it remembers a mistake.

Mourinho: "You want to kill a player two hours before a match?"

José Mourinho is in his element again. The Real Madrid coach attacked the Spanish Football Federation because Vinícius Júnior learned of his four-match league ban only two hours before the Champions League trip to Roma. The Brazilian was sent off in the 1:0 win over Villarreal and will miss El Clásico against Barcelona. "A Spanish team winning points for Spanish football, for the ranking, for prestige. You want to kill a player two hours before the match? It doesn't seem normal to me," Mourinho said. Except that on the pitch Vinícius didn't help his coach: 22 touches, six balls lost, not a single shot, and he gave the ball away before Roma's second goal. Mourinho took him off after an hour, and Real still won 4:3 thanks to three late goals from Carlos Espí, Endrick and Antonio Rüdiger. Is the problem the timing of the ban - or that big clubs have got used to commenting on the rules rather than reading them?

Lisandro Martínez said what the dressing room didn't want to hear

After the 2:0 defeat at Atlético Madrid in the Champions League, Lisandro Martínez didn't go after the defence - he went after the offices. "I expect more from our technical director," the Argentine said, referring to Jason Wilcox, who in his view didn't back coach Michael Carrick in the transfer market. The numbers don't contradict him: Manchester United spent around 155 million pounds on Youri Tielemans, Andrey Santos and Carlos Baleba, missed every main midfield target, and are now 13th in the Premier League with one win from six games and five matches in a row without a win. His teammates didn't like the remarks, and Martínez's contract runs out next summer, with a one-year option that, according to British media, the club is unlikely to trigger. At Old Trafford it was a centre-back who told the truth - and he's the one most likely to pay for it.

Wenger against Infantino? Europe wants a candidate, Wenger stays silent

Senior figures in European football want Arsène Wenger to run against Gianni Infantino for FIFA president. Infantino has no opponent so far and is expected to win a fourth and final term next year, despite the collapse of his controversial FIFA Forward Enterprise project. Wenger, 76, has been FIFA's head of global football development since 2019 and has support in Africa and Asia, while potential challengers Aleksander Čeferin and Victor Montagliani have already stepped back. To stand, he needs nominations from at least five national federations and an application by 18 November. The Frenchman has not said he will run, and his close relationship with Infantino may be the biggest obstacle. How many times have we seen elections where the boss's only rival is a colleague from the office next door?