Messi reached his hundredth goal for Inter Miami, and United threw away a 2:0 lead at home for the first time in 50 years

Messi scored his hundredth goal for Inter Miami - at 39

Inter Miami beat Cruz Azul 2:0 in the Champions Cup final, and Lionel Messi recorded his hundredth goal for the club. It came in the 24th minute, a header from a Luis Suarez cross - the same pair who have been doing this for two decades. Casemiro closed the match out in the 81st minute, assisted by Messi. Before this game the club had only one win in nine matches, so the trophy arrived like oxygen. This season the Argentine has 23 goals in 27 games, and at the World Cup he scored eight and set up four. At 39 we are still waiting for him to start ageing.

Manchester United led 2:0 at home - and lost. First time in 50 years

Brighton won 3:2 at Old Trafford in the League Cup, after the hosts had gone 2:0 up inside ten minutes. Shea Lacey and Mason Mount got the goals, then Kostoulas, Gross and De Cuyper answered. United last lost at home from a 2:0 lead in 1976, against Tottenham. Half a century. This is the third time running the club has gone out of a cup competition early, each time with a different manager in the dugout. Michael Carrick said after the match that he feels no pressure. The question is not whether he feels it, but whether the board does - the sporting director is reportedly already drawing up a list of three names.

Atletico is offering Alvarez his freedom - if he scores 20

Barcelona have not given up on Julian Alvarez, and Atletico Madrid have found an elegant way to keep the peace: president Gil Marin has promised to lower the Argentine's release clause if he scores at least 20 goals this season. Last year Alvarez scored exactly that - 20 - and in his first season after moving from Manchester City, 29. So the threshold has been set precisely where both sides know it will be cleared. This summer the striker openly said he wanted to join Barcelona, Atletico refused to negotiate with a direct rival, and the fans whistled him during a 2:2 draw with Villarreal. This is not a condition. This is a departure with a deferred date.

Serafimov missed Levski's biggest match through injury

Levski of Sofia lost 0:1 to Salzburg in front of their own crowd in their first Europa League match, the only goal coming from Haris Tabakovic in the 39th minute. Nikola Serafimov was absent from the Sofia side - the Macedonian defender missed out through injury, on precisely the night the club returned to the European stage. For our players abroad, nights like this are rare and they get counted; one injury in the wrong week can cost a whole season of visibility. The same evening in Crete, favourites Hoffenheim lost 0:2 to OFI, a good reminder of how little paper form counts for in this competition.

Two weeks before the match, one training session: how our under-17 women prepare

The women's under-17 national team play two friendlies against Montenegro, on 22 and 24 September in Kolasin. The first kicks off at 13:30, the second at 11:00. Coach Katerina Mileska gathers the squad on 20 September and will hold a single training session before they travel. One session for two international matches. That is not the coach's failing - it is what the calendar and the budget allow. There is a selection, there are call-ups, there is a schedule; the preparation time is measured in hours. The girls always take the field. The question is how long they will be expected to do it from a standing start.