Yamal awarded himself the Ballon d'Or, Mbappe can wait

Lamine Yamal did not waste time on diplomacy. "Mbappe and I are the best in the world, but I deserve the Ballon d'Or", said the Barcelona teenager after a season that ended with a La Liga title and a World Cup won with Spain. The numbers, however, are not on his side: Kylian Mbappe finished with 42 goals and seven assists in 44 matches and was top scorer in La Liga, in the Champions League and at the World Cup. Yamal has 24 goals and 18 assists in 45 matches. So the argument is as old as the award itself: do you vote for a player or for a team? Mbappe has the numbers, Yamal has the trophies, and the jury will once again decide by feel rather than with a calculator.

The referees admitted Haaland's goal should not have stood

The Manchester derby finished 1:0 to City at Old Trafford, and Erling Haaland's winner in the 60th minute has now officially been declared an error. The professional referees' body said VAR should have recommended an on-field review, because Enzo Fernandez was in an offside position and probably affected the play - even though he did not touch the ball. United got an apology and the announcement of a "review of the case". That does not return three points. City celebrated with ten men for most of the match, after Phil Foden was sent off, and still walked away with the lot. An admission after the final whistle costs nothing to anyone except the side that lost the points.

Barcelona passed a billion euros in revenue - and still finished in the red

According to the accounts for the 2025/26 season, Barcelona broke the one billion euro revenue barrier, only the second Spanish club after Real Madrid to do so. Despite that, the Catalans are booking a loss of 17.8 million euros after tax. The reconstruction of the Spotify Camp Nou is eating the difference: the stadium came back in November with a capacity of 45,401 seats, rose to over 62,000 in March, and full completion is scheduled for 2028 with around 105,000 spectators. Licensing and merchandise revenue reached 189.5 million euros, a jump of 39 million in one year. A club with the largest global shirt sales that still cannot finish a season in profit - that is not a story about a crisis, but about how much one stadium costs.

Pelister steamrollered in Chair, Ohrid stays top of the Second League

Bitola's Pelister left no doubt in Skopje's Chair: 0:4 against Shkupi, with a brace from Simeon Hristov and one goal each from Jordancho Naumovski and Kire Stojanov. The only side with a perfect record in the second tier remains Ohrid, who laboured at home to a 2:1 win over newcomers Euromilk. On the table Ohrid lead on 12 points, ahead of Pelister on 11 and Brera on 10. Novaci also recorded their first win of the season (3:1 against Detonit Plachkovica), and Kozhuf won in Kochani against Osogovo. The Second League moves faster than the debate about what the plan for Macedonian club football actually is - down there, at least, they are playing.

Skopje signed two at the last bell of the transfer window

Newly promoted Skopje signed Vladica Brdarovski and Serbian striker Milos Gordic right at the close of the transfer window. Brdarovski is an experienced right back with Pelister, Rabotnicki, Brno, Gyor, Vardar, Drita and Shkupi behind him, plus caps for the national team. Gordic is 33, stands 1.87 metres and last played in India, for Namdhari. Before them, Tomche Grozdanovski and Ali Adem had already landed in Avtokomanda. Coach Muarem Muarem gets a deeper squad before the match with Shkendija Arachinovo, but four signings in the last days of the window look more like putting out a fire than like a plan. The question that remains is whether the club was buying a squad or buying time.