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Welcome to The Euro Debrief , the Sky Sports column in which Adam Bate rounds up some of the key stories from the latest matches across the continent. This week: "When you see the first goal he scored, unbelievable," said Hansi Flick of Lamine Yamal. "This is, for me, at the moment, the best player in the world." It was an outrageous opener in his side's 5-2 win away to Real Betis as Barca made it nine wins from nine in LaLiga. There is certainly nothing outrageous about Flick's claim. The teenager's manipulation of the ball at speed is unparalleled. Betis competed - Giovani Lo Celso unfortunate to have a sensational strike of his own ruled out - but Barca's firepower is something else. They have scored 39 goals in their nine games so far, the best scoring start to a season in LaLiga by any team in 86 years and the longest run of victories to begin a campaign in 58 years. They will take some stopping and it is Real Madrid who will be next to try. Having been lucky enough to be there to see the first Clasico of last season, in which Lamine Yamal failed to back up his comments, released pre-match, accusing their great rivals of "stealing and complaining", it will be fascinating to see how this one plays out. The winger was relatively becalmed that day. One year on, and just one day before the Ballon d'Or ceremony in London, momentum seems to be with him this time. A chance for this 10-out-of-10 player to make it 10 wins out of 10 for this thrilling Barcelona side. In truth, Real Madrid were just as impressive in their 4-1 win over Sevilla on Sunday. Arda Guler set the tone with an ambitious angled finish in the Bernabeu before Kylian Mbappe danced through for the first of his two goals as he warmed up for El Clasico too. All eyes will be on that showdown but the two great rivals are still separated in the league table by the presence of Atletico Madrid in second spot. That is because Alex Baena came off the bench to produce a fine finish into the side-netting to beat Espanyol late on. LaLiga results: Deportivo A Coruna 1-1 Levante, Espanyol 0-1 Atletico Madrid, Villarreal 0-0 Elche, Real Betis 2-5 Barcelona, Valencia 0-0 Athletic Club, Osasuna 2-0 Racing Santander, Celta Vigo 2-1 Alaves, Malaga 2-5 Real Sociedad, Real Madrid 4-1 Sevilla. Harry Kane has not given up on grabbing the Ballon d'Or for himself at next week's ceremony and he offered more evidence for his compelling case as Bayern Munich went one better than Barcelona and racked up six goals in their dismantling of RB Leipzig. The England captain marked his 100th Bundesliga appearance by scoring one and setting up two more in what was a demolition at the Allianz Arena and something of a return to form for Bayern back in Bavaria after two consecutive draws away from home. Luis Diaz scored three goals and the slip-ups elsewhere in Germany saw normal service resume in the Bundesliga with Bayern claiming top spot. Borussia Dortmund do remain unbeaten themselves but they could only muster a disappointing draw away to Union Berlin. It means Dortmund go into their game against Eintracht Frankfurt next week, live on Sky Sports , still one point shy of the tally that seemed in the bag when two up to Werder Bremen last week. Niclas Fullkrug changed that and the striker pulled off another rescue act on Saturday, scoring twice to salvage a point against Paderborn. Freiburg, meanwhile, went into the weekend top of the table but suffered a 2-1 defeat at Bayer Leverkusen despite opening the scoring. That man Patrik Schick netted the winner, having now scored in all six of Leverkusen's Bundesliga games so far this season. How Borussia Monchengladbach could do with any kind of winner, from anyone. Our weekly check-in on the five-time champions of Germany reveals that they remain pointless after the latest 2-1 home defeat to Hoffenheim. New coach but the same old problems. Eintracht Frankfurt have parted ways with their sporting director Markus Krosche but the feel-good story in Germany goes on with newcomers Elversberg beating Augsburg 4-3 at home. Few fancied them to win many games but this was their second 4-3 win alone. Inter came from behind to win at Bologna and they remain top of the table in Italy but they are certainly not the biggest story in Serie A. That accolade belongs to Lazio after their remarkable 3-0 win over Juventus in Turin continued their astonishing run of form. It was already their best ever Serie A start but this was the most emphatic win yet, underlining their unexpected improvement under Gennaro Gattuso. The club had sold a tiny number of season tickets going into the campaign with fans at odds with the owner-president. But the team have been a revelation with so many players raising their level. Oliver Provstgaard opened the scoring against Juve with a glancing header, only the second top-division goal of his career, the previous having come for Velje in his native Denmark. His compatriot Gustav Isaksen scored too. Mattia Zaccagni has been magnificent. Nuno Taveres is in the form of his life. But it is true of so many. Davide Frattesi did not get a goal for Inter last season but recently scored in three games in a row. Dare Lazio dream of glory? Their neighbours Roma might have something to say about that. They remain unbeaten themselves and will be encouraged to have won comfortably enough against Genoa without the services of Donyell Malen, Roma's star striker still serving a suspension. Ruben Amorim's Milan, as they must now be known, are also yet to be beaten despite a wobble against Atalanta - holding on for a 3-2 victory. But it was not such good news for Napoli, who were defeated at Venezia - Kevin De Bruyne having a tame penalty saved. PSG briefly clambered their way to the top of Ligue 1 on Saturday as Luis Enrique continued his policy of patiently waiting to introduce his most devastating players from the bench. Strasbourg were one goal up on Saturday until Ousmane Dembele came on. Dembele proceeded to squander the opportunity to equalise from the penalty spot but then provided the assist to level it up and go on to score what proved to be the winner. Fellow substitute Desire Doue added gloss to the scoreline in stoppage-time. Such depth. Elsewhere, Olivier Giroud, now 40, did score from the spot to earn a point for Lille and there was a 5-2 win for a resurgent Marseille at Angers. But both Monaco and Rennes missed the chance to go top, losing their away games to Lorient and Paris FC respectively. Liam Rosenior's Paris team were 4-3 winners, staying level on points with their illustrious neighbours from the capital. He is enjoying a superb start there. But it is Lyon who are top of the table now, hanging on with 10 men for a 2-1 win at home to Nice. There was a defeat for reigning champions PSV in the Netherlands, beaten in stoppage-time by Den Haag. Meanwhile, the Portuguese league took a break but over in Turkey credit is due to Youssoufa Moukoko who scored a late winner for his new side Corum. His smart finish was the Germany international's first goal since joining on loan as he attempts to rebuild a career that has lost momentum since his Dortmund days when Erling Haaland was describing him as the brightest young talent anywhere in the world.

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Hearing about Tottenham 's team-bonding trip to Marbella last week made me think about the similar methods I used as a manager to build team morale. While some things have changed from my day, the idea behind taking your players away to a new environment where they will benefit from spending a lot of time together has not. I wrote a few weeks ago about how Spurs boss Roberto de Zerbi needed time with his players on the training pitch after their poor start to the season, to bed them in and build a proper team. He will have used their warm-weather camp in southern Spain to do more of that, getting to know what is almost a new squad of players. With De Zerbi being cut from Italian cloth, I am sure the players will have been working mornings and afternoons to drill in the manager's principles in respect to team shape and direction. But that's not the only purpose of taking them away. De Zerbi will also have been able to monitor the different personalities within the group away from the grass. If the trip has worked then, as well as getting them ready to face Coventry on Monday night, I am sure he will now, for the first time, understand the strengths and weaknesses of each individual, on and off the field. A few eyebrows were raised about Spurs going away so early in the season but it makes perfect sense to me when you consider so many new players arrived there this summer, with several signings late in the transfer window. When I was Stoke manager, I often took my teams away to Austria in our pre-season for the same reasons De Zerbi and Spurs have gone to Spain. Those trips were set up not only to test the players' fitness, but also to see how the group worked together. I have always believed in building a family togetherness within the dressing room, with a commitment from every player to the benefit of the team. The extreme tests that we asked our players to do over that 10-day period brought out an inner determination to fulfil the tasks given them and, in my opinion, helped us through some tough times early on in our Premier League campaigns. Watching the lads slowly bond together on the training pitch and at meal times was great to see and I found out a lot about all of them, good and bad. Yes, I have to admit one or two players were short of the character we wanted and needed, but they didn't last long and left with no bad feelings on my side. Today, whether it's pre-season or a winter break, most Premier League clubs who take their players away go first-class and enjoy great hotels, great facilities and wonderful food. Wherever the team bus goes, it is followed by an even bigger bus with all the non-playing staff on it. It is very different to my experiences in my early years as a player, when we would be taken to Blackpool for three days' pre-season training. Again, the idea was to bring the lads closer together, but that happened in a different way than today's professionals are used to. We stayed in a guest house with three-quarter beds that we all shared - that certainly brought us closer together! - then trained on the beach each morning, doing our running sessions on the sand. Then we played seven-a-side games in the afternoon on a local park pitch, after clearing the dog muck off first. In the evenings, we were allowed out for a few beers, with no time stipulated for our return - apart from having to be downstairs and ready to hit the beach again at 8am the next morning. That is where things have changed most of all, right through football, during the past few years. In the 1970s and 80s, there was a massive drinking culture right through the leagues - just listen to the stories that came out of clubs as big as Liverpool, Manchester United or Arsenal, when they had teams who not only dominated English football but the European game too. In my early years of management, the bonding I've been talking about used to happen right through the season through the lads meeting in pubs after games and after training on week days as well. Winter breaks were rare and, rather than for a training camp, the only time most players I knew went to Spain was at the end of the season when more alcohol would be consumed. That was what British players classed as bonding sessions and, as I've written about before, even the ones at the top level were much more connected to normal society, rather than living in an eternal bubble. Now, while they are certainly more aware of the dangers of drinking to excess, as a manager you have to find other ways for them to connect when there are other distractions to contend with. One item I am very glad my generation was not brought up with is mobile phones. I used to go mad if I walked into a dining room at the training ground or a hotel to see a group of lads looking at their phone and not engaging with each other. I sometimes think that, as a young player, I had nothing compared to the players of today but, really, we had everything. The stories, the friendships and the memories of the togetherness I remember from every dressing room during that time still resonate with me and recreating them was always my aim as a manager. Some other things have changed too - I am not sure De Zerbi has ever considered taking his team away to an army camp like I did on many occasions early in my managerial career, where we worked on the players in different ways. One year, I took Stoke down to Exmouth, where the lads were put through their paces doing cross-country circuits. That probably doesn't sound too bad on the face of it, but it was freezing cold and chucking it down and the circuits incorporated climbing and swimming under water in a darkened tunnel - I did all of it too by the way - while trying to keep up with the Army PT Instructor. That was just the morning, the afternoon was spent indoors, where the boys were set different kinds of tasks, where their minds were tested with more practical team-building exercises where they had, say, 20 minutes to use some drums and planks to cross an area without touching the ground. At night, they slept in bunk beds with only plastic sheeting over the mattress, and one very thin blanket. Like my own trips to Blackpool as a player, it was spit and sawdust but everyone bought into it and attacked every challenge with great gusto and spirit. As I moved onwards and upwards as a manager I was allowed to take teams abroad, to locations that were a little more lavish. Irdning in Austria is my favourite destination, and somewhere I have taken many clubs over the years. It is a small town in the Alps that is ideal in every aspect of what I wanted as a manager, and not just because of the mountains I made my players run or cycle up! We have almost always stayed in the same place there, too - a 1,000-year-old building I call 'The Castle'. It has swimming pools, a large gym, saunas, steam rooms, a spa and a golf course - you get the picture. Real Madrid stayed there all the time too - it led to us playing them in a friendly in 2007 because we had already booked it and they said they would play us if we swapped hotel - yet my first time there could have turned out to be a disaster. It was in 2004, during my first spell as Stoke manager, when I was having a tough time under the Icelandic ownership who were at the club at that time - I liked them as people but we all tended to largely disagree when it came to football. My first-team then was made up of some really strong characters, but who were also great lads and old-school to the core, in the ways I've been talking about in this column. During our first three days in Irdning, they had worked their socks off. The fourth day was meant to be the rest day where, fishing, golf or shopping was on the agenda but the players had other ideas. Gerry Taggart, who was a fantastic lad, came and asked if the boys could borrow the team bus and go somewhere to have a few beers away from our hotel. Now, being a manager and not in the dressing room as a player, my responsibilities had changed. The group had been brilliant in responding to all the hard work I had thrown at them, so I agreed - well, kind of! Knowing what a 'fun-loving' group the lads were, and the fact they would be out of my sight, and control, the alarm bells were going off in my head, loud and clear. So, without the lads' knowledge, I paid the bus driver a few quid to make sure he didn't find any really exciting places, and they ended up coming back to the hotel. The players eventually worked out that I had instigated this under-cover plot but I know it didn't stop them having a great time because it was at our hotel, where I could keep an eye on them. That's probably not something De Zerbi had to worry about last week! I wanted to end this column by talking about a football match. Manchester City's Champions League game against Paris St-Germain last week was an absolute throwback, which provided so many crosses, shots and goalmouth action. PSG were fantastic in the first half but City really showed their teeth after the break and, in my humble opinion, were unlucky not to get anything out of the game. Both teams played football through the pitch, got the ball to the most talented players - the forwards - as quickly as possible and produced unbelievable excitement. There was no passing backwards or square, and hopefully any young coaches watching will have been influenced by both teams' urgency to play forward. You cannot mention City at the moment without referencing what is going on with them off the pitch. When news broke that they had been found guilty of breaking the Premier League's financial rules, I wrote tongue in cheek, asking City to send over the FA Cup and winners medals from 2011 to my old club Stoke. Surprisingly, they have not arrived... but as the fall-out continues from the verdict of the independent commission, I'd like to add some further thoughts on the whole saga and ask some questions of my own. But one thing I would like to ask people to explore is why, after the Premier League discovered that City first broke these rules, it has taken so long get to this point. Why were the Premier League top-brass still standing on the podiums, presenting City with the many trophies they have won in this time? The situation now has cast a shadow over the entire game.

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Shortly after England's disappointing defeat by Argentina at this summer's World Cup, boss Thomas Tuchel offered his view on why the Three Lions are struggling to win major tournaments. "I think ball possession plays a crucial role," he said. "It's maybe not in our DNA like it is in the Spanish DNA or Argentinian or Brazilian DNA to take the ball, control the game and the ball, which is also a big problem." DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid), in scientific terms, usually refers to the master blueprint for life - the hereditary material in humans and almost all other organisms. In football, the DNA of a team starts out at grassroots level, where young players are shaped and developed. This season, the Football Association (FA) has implemented a change in youth football that could well result in a change of the DNA of the English game. For a long time, it was considered normal for children of all ages to play 11 versus 11 matches on full-sized pitches, but in 1999 the FA introduced "mini-soccer" for under-10s. The idea was that the small-sided variation of association football would provide youngsters with more opportunities to get a touch of the ball, and therefore be more involved than they were in large-sided games. Up until the end of last season, the smallest variation of the game that served as an introduction to football for children under the age of seven was 5v5. Last month, that was reduced further to 3v3. This variation of the small-sided game does away with goalkeepers and there are also no referees - the idea is that fewer players in a "team" means those three will get more touches of the ball, and score more goals. It is the result of two years of research by the FA in conjunction with Liverpool John Moores University, where over 400 games from under-6 to under-14 level were analysed. "All of the research done demonstrates that those players having more touches of the ball are more engaged in the game," John Folwell, the FA's head of grassroots coach development, told BBC Sport. "They are also making more decisions and are engaged in more physical activity, so that is the thinking behind it. "There are no goalkeeper and no substitutes, so everyone is active in the game. They are not sitting on the side watching their mates play, or they are not standing in goal watching their friends play. They are actually involved in the game." With the new format having only been introduced a few weeks ago, it will take some time before teams and coaches have been able to fully adapt. The smaller-sized format can pose logistical issues, with more games and more coaches and volunteers needed to oversee them. BBC Breakfast recently visited Collingham FC in Nottinghamshire to see how the coaches there were adapting to the new format. "We have three pitches going on at once and all it needs is one parent to be at work and you are trying to keep an eye on three games and nine children at once," said Michael Bland, coach of Collingham FC's under-7s. "It is the self-officiating, dangerous tackles flying in and trying to teach the kids what a safe tackle is." Mick Goodwin has been a youth football coach since the 1990s, so has seen it evolve from 11-a-side games to the small-sided format it is now. "My concern is you will get one dominant player in the 3v3 where the not-so-good players will not get a touch of the ball," he said. "What we've seen is the dominant player has been shooting from the halfway line. "We can absolutely see the concept, I just think it needs a bit of finessing and it will be fine." The guidelines for football for children under seven is that the sport should not be about tactics or competitiveness, but about enjoyment - that is what the FA believes the new format will provide. At Collingham FC, that was generally the consensus among those who played, and their parents. "They are open goals and you can score more," said one child, while another added: "There's less players so it is easier to dribble around them." One parent, Dean, said: "Before [my son] was just in goal but now he is learning to pass to other players, block stuff and be a better defender as well." Another parent, Hannah, added: "My son has an older brother so he is used to playing in the more traditional format, so for him it has taken a bit of adapting." One of the more criticised aspects of the new, smaller format is the lack of goalkeepers, with some concerns over how that might impact their development. The 3v3 format only lasts for 12 months, so goalkeepers do return from under-8 level when the game progresses to 5v5. "When you make decisions like this, there are obvious trade-offs but we don't believe it is going to be detrimental to the development of future goalkeepers," Folwell added. "Obviously playing 3v3, players can't use their hands but they are still going to be developing skills of blocking, sliding across, needing to get between the ball and the goal. "They will also improve their ability on the ball, which we know for goalkeepers now is an increasing technique they need to have. "We don't believe that goalkeeping is an early specialisation position. There are lots of examples of players who have come through and ended up being goalkeepers at a later age - England goalkeeper Hannah Hampton, for example, first played outfield for a long time." Whether the new format improves the development of English footballers will not be clear for a few years yet. But England are far from alone in opting for 3v3 at under-7 level, with the format already part of the youth structure in Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and other countries. Indeed, it is a format that is growing in popularity across the world. "It is the first year of adoption and obviously these things can take time to implement and for people to accept change," Folwell said. "What we have seen is that once people have experienced it they tend to be a convert and understand why we are doing it, because the children really love it." Listen to the latest Football Daily podcast

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The Champions were clinical as they ruthlessly swept aside Hearts at Celtic Park.

Scottish Premiership

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Match of the Day pundits Shay Given and Dion Dublin analyse Brighton's emphatic 5-0 victory over Crystal Palace, with Dublin saying the Seagulls could be in the title race.

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Kylian Mbappe scores twice as Real Madrid beat Sevilla 4-1 in La Liga to close the gap on Barcelona to six points ahead of next weekend's El Clasico.

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The top stories and transfer rumours from Monday's newspapers... Manchester United are weighing up a stunning move for ex-Tottenham forward Troy Parrott, with the club said to have 'sent officials' to Spain to watch him in action for Real Betis - Daily Mirror Pierre Sage is under growing pressure at Crystal Palace and could become the first Premier League manager sacked this season after an embarrassing 5-0 defeat against rivals Brighton - Daily Mail Manchester United fans were stunned when they noticed Sir Alex Ferguson sitting alongside iconic kitman Albert Morgan for the crunch match with Leeds - The Sun Nottingham Forest are the subject of fan discontent after banning a 'misogynistic' chant and warning their supporters of consequences if they continue to sing it - Daily Mail Paper Talk is a review of the sports headlines from the national newspapers, every Monday to Friday, live on Sky Sports News from 10.30pm. Missed the show? Catch up on the latest news with the Paper Talk podcast. Manchester United's players and staff have attributed part of the blame for their miserable start to the season to the cameras filming a behind-the-scenes documentary at the club - Daily Star Exiled Tottenham star Richarlison has shared a pointed social media post where he backed criticism of Roberto De Zerbi - Daily Mail 'A goal Brighton fans will never forget!' | Diego Gomez goal from ALL ANGLES Man City maintain perfect record as Chelsea, Man Utd and London City Lionesses all win - Women's Super League round-up Hilarious moment referee does ball-drop test on SWAMPED pitch Brighton 5-0 Crystal Palace: Fabian Hurzeler's side hit five in emphatic derby win as Gomez nets wondergoal Roy Keane and Ian Wright have their say on how Diego Gomez's 'goal of the season contender' compares Former Arsenal and England star Jack Wilshere has described former Celtic captain Scott Brown as the player in football he hated playing against the most - Scottish Sun Frank Warren wants Daniel Dubois to face the winner of Tyson Fury's blockbuster showdown with Anthony Joshua in a world heavyweight title unification - The Sun Derek Chisora reckons Fabio Wardley's boxing career is over following his brutal rematch loss to Daniel Dubois - The Sun

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Gennaro Gattuso kept up with his amazing start to the season, as goals from Danish duo Oliver Provstgaard and Gustav Isaksen helped the high flying Lazio beat Juventus 3-0.

Italian Serie A

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With ongoing supporter discontent, a recent tennis ball protest against the major shareholder on a golf course and a veteran manager deciding now is not the time to "wrap things up", as Martin O'Neill put it, you'd be forgiven for scratching your head when examining Celtic's current domestic situation. They sit four points clear at the top of the Scottish Premiership. Five, really, if you factor in a goal difference at present 12 better than nearest challengers Rangers. All this off the back of a 7-1 demolition of last season's runners-up, Hearts, who - at least until they turned up at Celtic Park - were widely viewed as viable title contenders if there's to be another three-way fight for Scottish football's main prize. Has normal service been restored in the east end of Glasgow after the wobbles of four significant defeats in their past half-dozen? Not as far as their wily old manager is concerned. Keen to stress that the road is yet long to the division's ultimate destination, O'Neill was full of smiles after his side's biggest win since he returned last year, but he didn't even accept that such a thrashing of the third-placed side in the division was even a 'statement' victory. "I'm not really sure about that," O'Neill told BBC Scotland. "We're eight or nine games into the season or whatever it is. "It was nice to win and win in the manner we did as well. We scored some really great goals. We looked really good going forward and I thought, defensively, the back four did really well for us when we were under pressure. "But I think they were helped by the players in front of them as well too, so overall it was very, very pleasing." So, just how good a Celtic performance was this? As far as former Rangers striker Kris Boyd is concerned, it was a throwback to Parkhead's favourite Australian, whose fast-flowing, attacking football delivered a domestic double followed by a treble in his two seasons in charge, prior to Brendan Rodgers' return. "That is the closest I've seen to Ange Postecoglou's Celtic," Boyd told Sky Sports. "That first half was devastating." Former Hearts defender Ryan McGowan felt his old side simply ran into Celtic at the wrong time. "It's a really poor performance from Hearts," McGowan said on Sky Sports. "At the same time, you've got to give Celtic credit. It was probably their best performance of the season." Celtic showed more cohesion and spirit than in recent performances, according to former goalkeeper Pat Bonner, who feels two youngsters shone particularly brightly in the October sunshine. "Celtic's organisation was better," Bonner told BBC Radio Scotland's Sportsound. "They worked harder as a unit. Their attitude was better, everybody doing that little bit of hard graft that you have to do and then ability takes over. "Young Callum Osmand and Colby Donovan, they're the ones that set the tone." Former Celtic captain Scott Brown summed up his old side's performance in one word: "Fantastic." And he added: "The best thing about Celtic today was the pace in the forward line and how they got after Hearts. Camilo Duran through the middle is exciting me. "Callum Osmand did more in 45 minutes out wide than Sebastian Tounekti has done probably since he signed for the club. Haissem Hassan has got a few issues defensively but going forward he's a delight to watch." The front four of Osmand, Benjamin Nygren, Hassan and Duran caused Hearts no end of problems. A double for the young striker, a double for the Sweden international who's now on eight for the season from midfield well before Halloween, a goal and two assists from the consistently impressive Colombian, and one of the Egypt winger's best displays since signing after the World Cup. Is this then the template going forward? Not necessarily, according to their manager. "No, because we've got so many matches coming up in Europe and in the league," O'Neill explained. "We're going Sunday, Thursday, Sunday, Thursday, Sunday, Thursday. So, we will have to mix it up a little bit. It's also a squad game for us at this stage. Between now and the beginning of January we are at it constantly." As if to illustrate his point, Celtic's next fixture comes under the 'must-win' category as Celta Vigo come calling in Thursday's Europa League fixture, with both sides yet to register a point in the league phase after two defeats each. "We'll make a couple of adjustments on Thursday evening," O'Neill said. "We still want to try and win and I think other players coming on and getting little bits of games here and there helps immensely. It helps the whole squad and I think it helps the confidence of the team. "It will be a tough game for us. Celta Vigo are a team in a big league in Spain, they're very, very decent, but it's a game we probably have to win. "We have to win to give ourselves some momentum and do some catching up because we've lost two games, so we really need to win this game. We'll go all out to try and do it." Celtic score seven in humiliation of title rivals Hearts Hearts roll out red carpet... and Celtic walk all over it All the latest Celtic news, views and analysis O'Neill, fresh from the memory of two recent defeats by arch rivals Rangers, knows there is many a slip between cup and lip when it comes to the Premiership rollercoaster. "Four points at this stage of the season is absolutely nothing," he stressed. "I thought the team did really well. We got the goals, which seemed to match the performance, which was really nice. It's not too often you get a scoreline like that. So, we'll enjoy it this evening." It was all summed up rather nicely by one of O'Neill's favoured sons when he was manager first time around between 2000 and 2005 - Henrik Larsson's strike partner, Chris Sutton. "It's a strange old season for Celtic," Sutton told Sky Sports. "Domestically, they've been flying, but in Europe it just hasn't been there. Good to see Jota back. What a contribution Callum Osmand made. Will this result lead on to more confidence in Europe?" With Celta Vigo turning up in midweek, everyone associated with Celtic will certainly hope so.

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Sergio Ramos could make a surprise return to Madrid, Bournemouth put a high price tag on Alex Scott, and Florian Wirtz staying at Liverpool . Spain and Real Madrid legend Sergio Ramos, 40, could be in line for a shock move to Madrid-based Getafe with the defender now a free agent. (Sport - in Spanish), external Bournemouth could ask for more than £100m for English midfielder Alex Scott, 23, who is attracting interest from Chelsea and Liverpool. (Football Insider), external Germany's Florian Wirtz, 23, has no intention of leaving Liverpool as reports suggest possible interest from Chelsea who are coached by his former Bayer Leverkusen boss Xabi Alonso. (CaughtOffside), external Tottenham are continuing to monitor Eintracht Frankfurt 's German forward Younes Ebnoutalib, 23. (TeamTalk), external Newcastle United have been tracking Valencia's 19-year-old midfielder David Otorbi. (Marca - in Spanish), external Tottenham are interested in signing Japanese midfielder Yuito Suzuki, 24, from Freiburg as Roberto de Zerbi looks to strengthen his squad. (Fussball News via CaughtOffside), external Barcelona are monitoring Benfica defender Daniel Banjaqui, 18, but may face competition from Premier League sides Newcastle and Manchester United . (Ekrem Konur), external Barcelona are facing competition from Real Madrid for Stuttgart defender Finn Jeltsch, 20, with Liverpool also showing interest in the German youngster. (Sport - in Spanish), external Arsenal and Tottenham are keeping an eye on Barcelona youngster Xavi Espart, 19, but they could be held back by the Spanish defender's significant release clause. (CaughtOffside), external Gyokeres pushing for Arsenal exit - Sunday's gossip Listen to the latest Football Daily podcast

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Michael Carrick called Manchester United's 1-1 draw with Leeds a "fresh start" on Sunday. No doubt that encapsulated the sense of relief the manager felt after watching his side battle and duel better than they had all season, showing the commitment that had been missing from most performances so far. He will be pleased Bryan Mbeumo's form is a continuation of what went before, though - about the only player who has shown a shade of consistency during this difficult start. Three of Mbeumo's four Premier League goals have put United 1-0 ahead this term. His strike against Leeds marked an important momentum shift in a game that could have otherwise got away from them. Fortunately for Carrick, Mbeumo has been a reliant source since his switch from Brentford, his 15 goals more than any other United player since his debut - including Bruno Fernandes. Just two victories from 10 games in all competitions means Carrick is not off the hook. But while Mbeumo keeps scoring, he's got something positive to hook performances on. Especially while Fernandes continues to look off-colour. Laura Hunter Eberechi Eze has spent a year at Arsenal since leaving Crystal Palace, but questions remain over whether he is ready to become one of the club's leading figures as their ambitions continue to grow. His talent is undeniable. The real concern is whether he can influence games consistently, and the trip to Nottingham Forest presented another opportunity to silence his doubters. With Arsenal struggling to break down Forest, Eze had the chance to make a difference. Instead, he was substituted at half-time, watching from the sidelines as Noni Madueke replaced him and went on to score the 80th-minute winner. Roy Keane's assessment on Sky Sports was telling, suggesting his concerns extended beyond a single performance. "We're still waiting for him, the talent is there," Keane said. "We just want him to be at Arsenal and be able to take responsibility and try to be the main man at a big club." That is the challenge facing Eze. At Crystal Palace, he was the focal point, the player expected to create chances and turn games in his team's favour. At Arsenal, however, talent alone will not earn him that status. He must deliver consistently, particularly in tight contests when his team need inspiration. Ian Wright offered some important context, describing Eze as a "moments player" who benefits from having players around him and can become isolated on the left. There is merit to that argument. Eze offers a different threat to Madueke, whose pace, directness and willingness to take on defenders gave Arsenal a fresh dimension in the second half. Yet that only underlines the challenge facing the former Palace man. While Madueke seized his opportunity and made an immediate impact, Eze failed to leave his mark on the contest. Competition for places is healthy at a club with Arsenal's ambitions. For Eze, though, the task is no longer simply to showcase his ability in flashes. He must demonstrate that he can influence games regularly, take responsibility when his team need him and establish himself as a first-choice player. The talent is there. Now, Eze must prove he can turn that potential into consistent performances and become one of Arsenal's main men. William Bitibiri There was only so long Nottingham Forest could rely on defensive resilience before their lack of goals caught up with them. Now they are in the relegation zone. Oliver Glasner's side have failed to score in every Premier League home game this season, and their defeat to Arsenal highlighted why they are in trouble. Forest competed and created opportunities but lacked the quality in the final third to make their efforts count. Liam Delap struggled to make an impact against Arsenal's defence, summing up a frustrating afternoon. Forest needed someone to take responsibility but their attacking play lacked conviction. That is the worry for Glasner. Defensive organisation can only take a team so far; they still need goals to win matches. Forest are now in the relegation zone with just five points. Their performances offer some encouragement, but until they find a reliable source of goals at the City Ground, it is difficult to see their situation improving. William Bitibiri There was a time when Hurzeler could barely win over his own supporters. Now he has Brighton dreaming again. Back in February, Hurzeler was booed off at the Amex after a 1-0 home defeat to Crystal Palace. The frustration was palpable. Questions were being asked, patience was wearing thin. Fast forward to this 5-0 demolition of their fiercest rivals and the transformation is remarkable. This is what happens when a club refuses to panic. Brighton could have pulled the trigger when the noise around Hurzeler was at its loudest. Instead, they trusted their process and back their man. Brighton have always prided themselves on smart decision-making, from recruitment to managerial appointments. Hurzeler is the latest example of that philosophy working. And what better way to underline that progress than by dismantling Palace? The boos of February feel a long way away. Brighton are going places. Lewis Jones Crystal Palace won three trophies in the previous two seasons. On this evidence, they look a million miles away from those glories. This was Pierre Sage's worst day as Palace boss by some distance. There have been defeats this season where you could at least point to some decent football, a positive spell or an individual performance worth celebrating. At the Amex, there was nothing. No resistance, no response. Brighton ripped them apart in a 5-0 humiliation that exposed just how far Palace have fallen. The defensive holes were glaring. Replacing Marc Guehi and Maxence Lacroix was never going to be straightforward but the scale of the problem is becoming impossible to ignore. Palace look vulnerable every time opponents turn up the pressure. Last weekend, Nottingham Forest missed seven big chances in their defeat to Palace. That was a warning sign, perhaps one that was easy to dismiss with three points in the bag. Brighton offered no such charity. They punished Palace's mistakes ruthlessly. Sage must find answers quickly. If Palace continue to concede chances at this rate, the pressure on their manager will grow with every passing week. Their recent trophy haul feels a long way away. Lewis Jones Bournemouth head coach Marco Rose must have grown tired of constantly explaining how well his side had played in defeat this season, a recurring theme for the Cherries as they looked for a first Premier League win of the season under their new head coach, but no more after Sunday's much-needed, but hugely deserved victory over fellow strugglers Sunderland. Sure, the hosts were helped on their way to the the three points by some calamitous defending from the Black Cats, but it was more that they forced their opponents into those mistakes, including for both their goals, as well as Kevin Danso's 17th-minute red card. In fact, such was Bournemouth's dominance from start to finish at the Vitality that their final xG of 4.46 was their highest on record in the Premier League, with the German even joking after the game that he might now treat himself to a non-alcoholic beer. It may have taken Bournemouth seven league matches to get off the mark but anyone who has watched them this season knows that first victory was just around the corner. They must now build on it, especially at home, where they have lost one of their last 15 top-flight contests. Maintaining the Vitality as a fortress will go a long way to ensuring another fine campaign. Rich Morgan

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Getting rid of head coach is not going to solve the problems that led to his appointment. Perhaps it’s worth, for once, doing something different At the final whistle at Elland Road the TV cameras cut to a lingering shot of Manchester United chief executive Omar Berrada, looking down pensively from the stands, deciding, it is to be hoped, on a little clemency, a re-sheathing of the managerial shotgun. Here we have the man who hired the man. The man who fires the man. The man who also hired or rehired the previous two men he had to fire. Berrada was poached from Manchester City on the basis of his ability to grow commercial revenue (yes, OK, stop laughing), and appears, like everyone else with any actual reach around here, to exist in a strangely consequence-free bubble. How do you solve what is, on revenue versus results, the worst-run club in world football? By changing the name of the latest patsy on the touchline, of course. For now a hard-fought point is perhaps enough to stave off that pre-programmed emergency response. Stand down the cowboy cops. Call off the blue and white saloons. Although with a run of Bournemouth, Chelsea, Aston Villa and Liverpool next up in the league it will no doubt soon be time to go out there and arrest Lee Harvey Oswald again. What’s that you say? OK, well, dig him up again. Re-arrest him. Whatever it takes. Someone has to stop these lone gunmen, these managerial magic bullet merchants from derailing the Manchester United supremacy. This was a dual-track football match between Leeds United and Manchester United, on the face of it a good, even game between two teams of well-matched players. A 1-1 draw was fair in the end, although Leeds played well and probably should have won. But of course they won’t be the story. Instead this game had already been billed as that familiar thing, a referendum on the future of Michael Carrick. A stay of execution for a week or two. Or another livestreamed firing squad for the Super Sunday cameras. There has been a predictable sense of low comedy about Carrick’s own transformation in the United dugout this season. It was always going to be the case that his widely praised qualities in victory, blazer, T-shirt, jawline, inscrutable sense of calm, would become his fatal flaws in defeat. Where’s the passion, the whirling arms, the range of tailored collars? At Elland Road Carrick simply looked drained in the second half as United were pegged back and overrun at times, the beard a little more ragged, the hair unkempt but still sweeping, the look of a brave, doomed tugboat captain resigned now to the approaching tsunami wave on the horizon. A point leaves United 13th in the league and still struggling to reverse a dreadful start to the season. But it was a good game for two people. First for Carrick, who remains a million miles away from creating the problems afflicting this club, even if you accept that his presence as head coach is one of them. Michael Carrick did not hire Michael Carrick. Getting rid of Michael Carrick is, by definition, not going to solve the problems that led to his appointment. But it might just help to prolong them. Whatever his ultimate ceiling, it is surely worth keeping him just to try, for once, to do something different. This was also a good game for Lisandro Martínez, who went off injured at half-time with United 1-0 up, and who was also vindicated in his allegedly controversial (translation: entirely correct) comments on the club hierarchy in midweek. United’s energetic first-half performance clarified one half of this. The players are committed in support of the manager, at least to the best of their ability. The second half made the other half of the argument, that this remains a mismatched, lopsided, cut-and-paste squad, always likely to be pulled apart by opponents as urgent as this Leeds team, which fully deserves its current seventh place in the table. The problems are so obvious it is barely worth repeating them. But here goes. The third-richest club in the world played a second half with three of its back four out of position. Harry Maguire, signed under José Mourinho, remains the best straight defender. But Maguire is also essentially a man-shaped solid wood armoire in a pair of shorts at this stage in his career, always the slowest person on any pitch, which means you will not be able to cover space, play a high line or counterattack without leaving yourself exposed to the counter-counter. So good luck, guys. And remember Omar, who gave you this whisky bottle and loaded pistol of a squad, will be watching. This was made painfully clear after half-time as Martínez went off and Noussair Mazraoui came on. Leeds scored an equaliser that felt structurally inevitable. They found space down their right side repeatedly. At times they seemed to be constantly peppering the seats behind the United goal, like a group of kids hammering a ball against a garage door. By the end Leeds had more possession, more shots on target and just looked a happier, better structured entity than the travelling heritage exhibit at the other end. The key point here is to accept that all of this is entirely logical. This is not a mystery, a haunted house, a place of bad voodoo. Why do we talk about Manchester United so much? For obvious reasons. It’s a massive part of the English football landscape. Mainly, though, because this is a story of mind-bending waste, real-time elite-level incompetence played out on a weekly basis. Yes, you could sack Michael Carrick. It won’t change much. Let’s destroy Eddie Howe for a bit instead. But the available evidence suggests every single person making executive decisions here is outmatched and outmanoeuvred. There is a reason Manchester United feels like one of those high street legacy chain shops just before it collapses, piles of Quality Street by the door, a rat in the lingerie department, destined to become a pop-up vape shop run by Albanian money launderers. There’s a reason it feels so badly run. This is because: it is. We know the Glazer ownership has zero interest in minding the details, that this has been a wonderful acquisition whatever the performance on the pitch, an asset supremely sweated. We know also that Sir Jim Ratcliffe is pub-level incoherent on the details he promised to fix. Remember when he was going to sit down and decide what the “style of football” would be? How’s that working out? Instead Carrick is left shuffling a first XI acquired by endlessly revolving administrations. Here United had four defenders signed under Erik ten Hag, two Ruben Amorim recruits, two from the mist-shrouded age of Ole Gunnar Solskjær. No players were recruited under Ralf Rangnick, of course. But then Rangnick wanted to sign Erling Haaland, Luis Díaz, and Julian Álvarez, which all sounds far too sensible. An organisation can be built with many hands. But not when so many of those hands appear to be so far from best in class it’s hard to work out which class they’re supposed to be attending. John Murtough, the former Manchester United football director, is currently director of global development at Atalanta, who have a 24,000-seat stadium and almost zero global presence. Meanwhile Berrada, the axeman, seems entirely invulnerable from the axe himself, despite the fact his job seems to orbit around resolving the consequences of his own mistakes. United probably will sack their current manager before the year is out. This is the way this machine has to operate, always looking to buy itself, and those in the executive seats, a little more time on the payroll, an entity that has been hollowed out and allowed to rust, run on buzzwords and brown paper and string. Meanwhile, over to you Michael. We’ll see you next week, and maybe even the week after that, for more of exactly the same.

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Noni Madueke may not have the starting role he wants at Arsenal but his winning goal against Nottingham Forest showed why he is one of Mikel Arteta's valued "finishers". The England international scored a second-half winner to earn Arsenal a vital three points in their defence of the Premier League title. Madueke has started just one top-flight game this season, a 2-1 win over Leeds in the Gunners' last Premier League outing before they beat Oliver Glasner's side on Sunday. Arsenal's summer was dominated by talk of their search for an elite forward, with the left wing one of the positions identified. But after unsuccessful pursuits of world class players such as Vinicius Jr and Julian Alvarez, the only new addition in that position was Christos Tzolis, the winger brought in to replace the outgoing Leandro Trossard. Tzolis has started the season well and has been the first-choice winger for Arteta, meaning that Madueke and Eberechi Eze have had to be content with the majority of their minutes coming from the bench or in the Carabao Cup. However, Tzolis is now out with a hamstring injury picked up while playing for Greece, and that has presented a chance for Madueke to show Arteta why he should be considering the former Chelsea man as much more than a finisher - that's a term Arteta uses for his substitutes. Madueke did well when starting against Leeds, praised by Arteta for being the best player at the club during the international break. The Arsenal boss said the winger "grabbed it (the start) with both hands". The England international also started on the right wing, his more natural position, against Lille in a Champions League win on Tuesday, assisting the opening goal. Against Forest on Sunday, Madueke was introduced at half time by Arteta and said he took the manager's instructions with him onto the pitch. "Hang in there, stick to the game plan, go out there and try to attack the opposition, be dangerous, be yourself and be good defensively as well," Madueke said. He scored with a deflected shot in the 80th minute when he cut in on his weaker right foot. "I'd beaten him on the outside a couple of times so I thought I'll come inside and just let rip," Madueke said. It's fair to say that the Arsenal fans have not always taken to Madueke since his move from London rivals Chelsea. There was a 'No to Madueke' petition started when he joined the club and his performances have been criticised for being inconsistent. But since his £48.5m arrival, Madueke has helped the club lift their first title in 22 years and played a big part as Arsenal reached the Champions League final. Madueke scored eight goals and provided four assists in 43 appearances in all competitions last season, but questions over his end product remain. He is one of Arsenal's most direct players and England manager Thomas Tuchel and his staff also rate the winger as one of the best players in one-versus-one situations. "Noni, look at me, a smile on my face because he is a special character," Arteta said when he was asked about Madueke's character. "It's someone that's very much loved in and around the dressing room. The way he connects, talks with people. He is just a special guy. "I think I saw an interview where they were asking a few of our players 'who would you call if you had a problem?' And some of them said Noni, which I was surprised. "But I think it is a massive credit and describes the type of person he is." The 24-year-old has now put in three good performances in a row. "He is in a good moment," Arteta said. "After the break, he is showing something else, another level of anger, another level of conviction as well as in his actions and he is becoming decisive in matches, which is what we expect from a player like him. "He is a player that doesn't really mind left or right, but he has played many more minutes on the right side. The team needs him there at the moment and he is doing well." Madueke scores as Arsenal win tight game at Forest Arteta has made a big point of referring to his substitutes as "finishers" as he points to the importance of the squad. That mentality is seeming to have the desired effect. Since the start of last season, Arsenal substitutes have contributed to 26 Premier League goals, which is more than any other side in the league. Bruno Guimaraes scored the winner against Leeds from the bench last time out in the league while substitutes Bukayo Saka, Kai Havertz and captain Martin Odegaard played a major role in the last two goals in the win over Lille. But Arteta is not concerned the Gunners are overly reliant on players from the bench. "There have been other games as well that we have had to score in the first half," Arteta said. "We have played 11 competitive matches and we won 10. We are getting a variety of ways to win in many different contexts." Arteta said he expected few chances against a well organised Forest at the City Ground but added: "I had the belief that the moment the physical level was going to drop, the spaces would be a little bit bigger, the timing more and we would be more efficient there. "And the finishers delivered because the context of the game changed a little bit." Latest Arsenal news, analysis and fan views Ask about Arsenal - what do you want to know?

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Crystal Palace manager Pierre Sage said he felt "shame" at the Eagles' performance during their 5-0 thrashing by Brighton and did not know whether he would be given time to save his job. Sage's side conceded three times in the opening 10 minutes as they suffered their worst loss to their rivals since January 1956. "It's my fault because I am the coach, I gave the motivation. I prepare the situations. We played so bad it's my fault," said Frenchman Sage, who was only appointed Palace manager in the summer. "It's difficult to summarise because there are a lot of negative points. "We started really bad. It's completely not normal to concede three goals in this kind of game after nine minutes. "I prepare the team, that is why I am responsible of what's happened on the pitch. I have a lot of work to do because I have to change this kind of thing." Asked if he will get time to turn Palace's poor form around, he said: "I don't know." Under his predecessor Oliver Glasner, Palace enjoyed the most successful phase in the club's history, lifting the FA Cup for the first time in 2025 and then winning the Conference League in May. But Sage has had a tough start at Selhurst Park since he arrived after guiding Lens to the French Cup and second in Ligue 1 last season. Palace are 14th in the Premier League with two wins from seven games but their 17 goals conceded are the most in the top flight. "I just want to apologise to the fans," added Sage. "We were not at the level we expected, and I'm really sorry for that because I know how important it is for them, but we didn't show today that it's really important for us too." Asked on his emotions after the game, he replied: "Only one feeling - shame. When you play this kind of game you have to show another face. It was our worst face." Palace, with one win and one loss from their two Europa League matches, play on Thursday with a trip to Turkey to take on Besiktas before returning to Premier League action on Sunday at home to Newcastle. Shades of Barca and Beckham - Brighton aim to maintain superb start Latest Crystal Palace news, analysis and fan views Ask about Crystal Palace - what do you want to know?

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Champions so risk-averse Forest were lured into thinking they had a chance, until bench was used to see them off Pass. Pass. Pass. Pass. Sideways. Square. Backwards. Pass. Pass. Recycle. Pass. It wasn’t much of a spectacle. But in the end, for the second week running, thanks in no small part of their bench, Arsenal won. Fireworks in the autumn are for Bonfire Night; titles require relentless accumulation. Since the international break, Arsenal have won three games out of three despite not being in the lead at half-time in any of them. Hammered at Brighton and having endured a drab first hour at home to Leeds last week, there has been a rare sense, for the first time really since Manchester City dropped points at Everton at the beginning of May, of Arsenal not being quite at their best, needing to reassert their quality. This was not a performance that would terrify any opponent, but it did highlight Arsenal’s consistency and it did demonstrate just how deep their squad now runs. There were long periods when they were extremely flat. In the first half the ball was moved too slowly, too risk-aversely, for Bukayo Saka and Eberechi Eze consistently to isolate their full-backs. There were very few attempts to play the ball in behind an admittedly well-organised Forest backline. It was all very safe, seemingly predicated more on waiting for Forest to make a mistake than on trying to break the game open with a moment of genius. The breakthrough, ultimately, was delivered by Noni Madueke who, when he got a run at Daniel Múñoz, took full advantage, albeit with a substantial deflection off the thigh of Jair Cunha. It was Arsenal’s only shot on target – and it wasn’t even on the bit of the target it ended up going in. Arsenal may have been working with Germán Castaños, a creativity coach who has worked in handball, in designing TV gameshows and with his local council. By challenging the players and presenting them with unusual situations during the week, the theory goes, he can help them to come up with innovative solutions at the weekend. It must take a lot of creativity to make a team as unremarkable as this. Mikel Arteta is a great believer in the sort of team-building techniques that to outsiders might look like high-performance gimmicks but you dread to think how hard a watch his side would be if their collective imagination wasn’t constantly being stimulated. Castaños got a boxer to fight two opponents and a Japanese football team to play against a side with 16 men. You wonder how a team might prepare to face an Oliver Glasner side in full stifle mode. Running headfirst into a line of three brick walls, perhaps? Or rather, given how Arsenal played for the first two-thirds of the game, running parallel to three walls looking suspiciously at them? For an hour, this was about patience and risk aversion, the only occasional flurries of something approaching unpredictability coming via Saka on the right. The England winger perhaps suffers the curse of those who emerge young, that consistent excellence seems somehow not quite enough, a betrayal of that teenage potential. Familiarity in football often breeds, if not quite contempt, then at least a sense that there could be more. He is certainly not playing badly, and he has scored three league goals, but equally, at 25, he is not the exhilarating presence he was at 21. Perhaps that is simply how Arteta wants his wide players to play, prioritising consistency and efficiency over the spectacular. Perhaps the fears of those who felt Saka was being played too consistently are being realised and he is experiencing an element of fatigue. Or perhaps this is just what regular mature performances look like in the modern Premier League. There was one delightful early turn that drew Neco Williams into a trip that earned him a yellow card, which it might have been thought would encourage Saka to run at the wing-back, but the pattern remained the patient sideways passing. Saka, though, did at least offer more than Eze on the other flank, and it was no great surprise when the former Crystal Palace man was withdrawn at half-time for Madueke. Staying wider more consistently, Madueke did perhaps offer a greater threat but he did have more space for him to exploit as an encouraged Forest began to push forward more. That, in fact, for a long time seemed Arsenal’s best chance, playing with such an absence of threat that it lured Forest into the thought that there was more for them in the game than a worthy clean sheet and a notable point. Leeds, perhaps, might argue they were suckered by something similar last week. As in that game, what turned things Arsenal’s way was a triple substitution midway through the second half. The arrival of Jurriën Timber, Mikel Merino and Viktor Gyökeres gave Arsenal legs and purpose that Forest could not match. Even as Forest were forced out of their defensive shape to chase an equaliser, the bulk of the game was played in their half. It may not have been especially thrilling, but it was enough and it was, in its own understated way, an expression of Arsenal’s strength. Thrills can come later.