City guilty: eight years of investigation, and the punishment is still to be written

An independent commission has found Manchester City guilty on 114 of 115 charges of financial breaches across nine seasons, from 2009/10 to 2017/18. According to the Premier League, the club used a series of "sham" commercial deals to artificially inflate revenue and understate costs by more than 900 million pounds, and three of the four charges of failing to cooperate with the investigation itself were also upheld. City are "disappointed and surprised," insist they are innocent and have until October 2 to appeal. Juicier still: according to ESPN, the club's leadership learned of the verdict back in July - and then spent over 450 million pounds on seven signings, crowned by Enzo Fernández at 125 million pounds. The punishment will be set by the commission at a separate closed hearing, and a fine, a points deduction and even expulsion from the league are all on the table. Everton got minus ten points for a single breach, later cut to six - so how much do 114 weigh?

England win 2:0 in Prague, Ngumoha makes history

England beat Czechia 2:0 at the Fortuna Arena in the Nations League, and Liverpool youngster Rio Ngumoha became England's youngest debutant in a competitive match in the last five years. The hosts were down to ten men before the half-hour, when Pavel Šulc was sent off for a dangerous challenge on Elliot Anderson. Two minutes after the break, the visitors made the extra man count: a cross from Trent Alexander-Arnold, a header from Anthony Gordon. Harry Kane wrapped it up in the 69th minute, and the ball also hit the woodwork twice. Thomas Tuchel's side are second in Group C and play Croatia on Saturday - the Balkans are their next test.

El Clásico moves to the courtroom: Barcelona sue Pérez for defamation

Real Madrid and Barcelona will also meet on November 25 - but at a conciliation hearing, not on the pitch. Barcelona have filed a defamation suit over comments by Real president Florentino Pérez, who in May called the case of payments to former refereeing official José María Enríquez Negreira "the biggest scandal in history." Pérez went further at the time: he announced a 500-page dossier for UEFA and claimed his seven Spanish league titles could have been fourteen, because "seven leagues were stolen from me." The Catalans want him to retract the statements, and if he doesn't show up at the hearing or back down, they say they'll file a criminal complaint too. When the Real - Barça rivalry is settled by lawyers instead of goals, does anyone still believe the truth about Negreira will come out?

Macedonia 607 minutes without a goal: Slovenia extend the dismal run

The national team lost 2:0 to Slovenia at Stožice in the second round of the Nations League, with goals from Sandi Lovrić in the 55th and Aljoša Matko in the 82nd minute. Head coach Goce Sedloski made a full eight changes to the starting line-up, and last season's top scorer in the domestic league, Hristijan Maleski, made his debut, only to see his shot saved by Jan Oblak. The numbers are brutal: Macedonia haven't scored for 607 minutes, the last goal came from Bojan Miovski on November 18, 2025, and under Sedloski the team has played six games, scored none and has a goal difference of 0:13. The last win was on September 7, 2025, 5:0 against Liechtenstein. Sedloski is asking for patience: "We have to be realistic, these aren't Luxembourg and Gibraltar." True - but the Football Federation replaced Blagoja Milevski precisely on a promise of new energy and a World Cup place, so who answers for it when the patience runs out?

A wounded Scotland come to Skopje - if not now, when?

Macedonia's next opponents, Scotland, were thrashed 0:3 by Switzerland at Hampden Park and visit the Todor Proeski Arena on Saturday. The Scots were down to ten men as early as the 10th minute, when Jack Hendry was shown a straight red card for a foul on Dan Ndoye, and the goals came from Ricardo Rodríguez from a free kick, Nico Elvedi and Zeki Amdouni. New head coach Sébastien Pocognoli didn't park the bus even with a man down, bringing on attackers Ben Gannon-Doak and Ryan Christie. Scotland have just one point, from a 0:0 draw with Slovenia, and sit third in the group, right above us. After that comes a trip to Switzerland, so the game in Skopje is the only realistic chance of a first point - and of a first goal after more than ten hours of football.