IN UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
Arsenal scored three goals in seven second-half minutes to maintain their perfect start to the league phase of the Champions League by beating Lille at Emirates Stadium.
Defender Jurrien Timber sent them on their way in the 64th minute after he collected a pass from Noni Madueke and lifted a clever finish over Berke Ozer.
England forward Eberechi Eze added the second three minutes later when he finished first time from substitute Bukayo Saka’s cross.
Having won at Napoli, Arsenal sealed a second victory in the competition when Saka himself rolled in the third in the 71st minute.
=================
Barcelona star, Anthony Gordon has scored his first Champions League goal for Barcelona as the Spanish side came from behind to beat Galatasaray four-one in Istanbul.
Barcelona sought to extinguish the febrile atmosphere early on by controlling possession, but fell behind after Galatasaray’s first proper attack.
Joao Cancelo, Fermin Lopez and Karim Adeyemi scored a goal each for Barcelona, while Galatasaray’s only goal was scored by Aleksey Batrakov.
=================
Manchester United’s poor run of results continued as they fell to a two-nil Champions League defeat by Atletico Madrid after conceding inside the first minute.
Although head coach Michael Carrick could reflect on a much-improved performance after making five changes to his starting line-up, United have now gone five games without a win.
Pablo Barrios and Ademola Lookman scored a goal each for Atletico Madrid.
=================
Norwegian champions Viking have produced one of the biggest results in their history to hold six-time European winners Bayern Munich to a three-all draw in the Champions League.
Viking, who were in Norway’s second tier as recently as 2018, scored two first-half goals to take control before England captain Harry Kane equalised with a penalty and back-post header.
Luis Diaz gave Bayern the lead with a tap-in but Michael Olise was sent off shortly after for two yellow cards in the same phase of play, including throwing the ball in a Viking player’s face.
That gave Viking, who are playing in Europe’s top competition for the first time since 1992-93, renewed energy.
==================
Club Brugge star, Nicolo Tresoldi has scored a stunning hat-trick as Club Brugge handed Inter Milan their fourth consecutive Champions League defeat for the first time in their history in a four-three win.
It took until the half-hour mark for the first of the seven strikes when referee Rohit Saggi awarded a penalty for Club Brugge which Tresoldi hammered into the top right corner for his first of the evening.
On the brink of half-time, captain Lautaro Martinez made it one-all with his first Champions League goal since November 2025.
==================
Sporting has made it two wins from two in the league phase of the Champions League with a two-nil victory at Lens.
After soaking up plenty of pressure from the hosts in the early stages, the Portuguese side snatched the lead in the 22nd minute when Luis Suarez met a low cross from Nestory Irankunda with a first-time flicked finish.
Suarez scored in eight consecutive matches in all competitions this season, and is now Sporting’s all-time leading Champions League marksman with seven.
Sporting’s second goal was scored by Issa Doumbia.
==================
Azerbaijani champions Sabah has picked up a historic first Champions League win with two-nil victory over Slavia Prague.
The competition debutants, who were thrashed by Manchester United in the opening round of fixtures, scored two second-half goals to clinch their win.
Kaheem Parris and Joy-Lance Mickels scored a goal each for Sabah FK.
===================
Liverpool manager Andoni Iraola has thrown his full support behind under-fire marquee signings Florian Wirtz and Bradley Barcola, insisting he retains absolute faith in the struggling duo ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League fixture against LASK.
Wirtz arrived at Anfield last summer in a blockbuster one hundred and sixteen million pounds deal but has faced mounting scrutiny after struggling to reach double figures in Premier League goal contributions.
Meanwhile, 24-year-old French winger Barcola was brought in from Paris Saint-Germain for a fee reaching one hundred and twenty-three million pounds with add-ons, tasked with the daunting responsibility of filling the boots of Mohamed Salah.
==================
Paris Saint-Germain boss, Luis Enrique says he was surprised to learn Manchester City had been found guilty of breaching Premier League financial rules and hopes the club can avoid sanctions.
City host European champions PSG in the Champions League on Wednesday, their first home match since being found guilty of the majority of 115 charges.
==================
The head of English football’s independent regulator, David Kogan says he will resign if he encounters any political interference over the future of Manchester City.
Kogan has the power to assess the suitability of club owners and executives.
If an independent commission’s findings that the club broke Premier League financial rules are upheld, the watchdog would have to decide whether to force a sale.
===================
Former Manchester United defender Jaap Stam has backed summer signing Carlos Baleba to play a pivotal role for the club this season, tipping the young midfielder to successfully fill the void left by Casemiro.
Baleba faced a frustrating start to life at Old Trafford following his seventy million pound summer switch from Brighton, with an injury-disrupted pre-season hindering his immediate integration.
Stam expressed strong confidence in the 22-year-old’s physical profile, energy levels, and technical composure on the ball, qualities he believes make him the ideal successor to Casemiro in the defensive midfield enforcer role.
==================
IN NIGERIA
Nigeria’s Super Falcons have booked their place into the third round of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic qualifier, after thrashing Comoros five-nil in the second leg in Ikenne.
The commanding win saw the Super Falcons reach the next round of the qualifier on a seven-nil aggregate win.
A brace from Toni Payne and Uchenna Kanu and solitary strike from Christy Ucheibe secured the dominant win for the former African champions.
In the 29th minute the Super Falcons were forced to make a substitution as captain Rasheedat Ajibade went off injured and was replaced by Folashade Ijamilusi.
===================
Nigeria’s Golden Eaglets have been forced to hold their final training session ahead of their opening fixture at the ongoing WAFU B U-17 Championship on a poorly maintained, termite-infested five-a-side pitch.
The Nigerian team had been scheduled to train at the USFA football pitch in the Burkinabe capital.
However, upon arriving at the venue, the delegation discovered that the facility’s owners, USFA, had scheduled a friendly match for the same time allotted for the Eaglets’ training session.
The development left the players disappointed, but the technical crew and the team have resolved to put the setback behind them and focus on their opening encounter against Niger Republic on Wednesday.
The Golden Eaglets will face Niger Republic and Côte d’Ivoire in Group B, with their sights set on progressing to the knockout stages of the competition.
===================
Shooting Stars Technical Adviser, Salisu Yusuf, says he left Benin Republic top-flight club Coton FC by mutual agreement before returning to Nigeria.
The 64-year-old manager signed a two-year contract with Coton FC ahead of the 2025/2026 season, shortly after rescuing Nasarawa United from relegation in the 2024/2025 EuroMatch–NPFL campaign.
Yusuf explained that he enjoyed a good working relationship with the club’s hierarchy and operated in a healthy working environment.
==================
Udinese manager Kosta Runjaic has attributed his side’s narrow two-one defeat to Torino to a costly communication breakdown between Super Eagles goalkeeper Maduka Okoye and teammate Nicolò Bertola during the Serie A clash.
The Nigerian international found himself at the center of the game’s decisive moment at the Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino when a mix-up occurred inside the penalty area.
As Okoye rushed out to claim a ball, he collided with Bertola, leaving the goal completely unguarded.
Runjaic admitted that the defensive error completely altered the outcome of an otherwise tightly contested encounter.
==================
OTHER LEAGUE
Former Real Madrid captain Dani Carvajal has joined Getafe on a free transfer.
The Madrid-born right-back has been without a club since his contract at the Bernabeu expired in June.
The 34-year-old spent 23 years with Real Madrid and is one of the most decorated players in the game’s history, with 27 titles to his name, including six Champions League wins.
He signed a deal until June next year with Getafe, who sit 11th in La Liga and are based in the south of Spain’s capital city.
==================
OTHER SPORTS
In Boxing, As anticipation builds for his long-awaited heavyweight showdown against Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua has offered a tactical breakdown of why past rivals stumbled against The Gypsy King, and how he plans to avoid the same fate.
Joshua (30-4, 27 KOs) is set to square off against Fury (36-2-1, 25 KOs) on December 11th at a sold-out Principality Stadium in Cardiff, headlining a blockbuster card broadcast live globally on Netflix.
Joshua analysed Deontay Wilder’s trilogy encounters with Fury, pointing out that emotional pacing ultimately cost the American puncher.
===================
In Tennis, British number one Katie Boulter is out of the Wuhan Open after a first-round defeat by Russian Diana Shnaider.
After a competitive first set, Boulter lost her serve four times in the second as world number 13 Shnaider convincingly won 6-3, 6-1 in one hour and 30 minutes.
This has been a largely disappointing season for Boulter, who is ranked 54th in the world and has posted just two wins across the four Grand Slam tournaments.
===================
In Cricket, Jacob Bethell will return for England’s white-ball tour of Australia, while there are also first international call-ups for exciting prospects Thomas Rew and Eddie Jack.
Warwickshire’s Bethell has not played since suffering a knee injury in July but is back as part of a near-full-strength squad for three one-day internationals.
England have made changes for the five T20s, resting players ahead of the Test tour of South Africa, meaning 18-year-old Somerset wicketkeeper-batter Rew and Hampshire’s 21-year-old pace bowler Jack are included.
The tour begins with the first ODI in Perth on 13th November and ends with the final T20 in Canberra on 2nd December a week before England’s warm-up match in South Africa leading into a three-Test series.
===================
In Rugby, Former England captain Lawrence Dallaglio’s 2003 Rugby World Cup winner’s medal has been sold for fifty-four thousand pounds at auction.
The 54-year-old put a number of items from his illustrious career up for sale, including medals, trophies and caps, after being declared bankrupt.
A British and Irish Lions cap was sold for eleven thousand pounds, an England cap for eight thousand pounds and a 2003 Six Nations Championship winner’s medal for seven thousand, five hundred pounds.
=================
In Golf, Rory McIlroy says he would vote to have LIV Golf defectors back on the PGA Tour and believes the breakaway circuit is no longer a threat to traditional tours.
Despite securing a possible three hundred million dollars in financing from BC Partners Credit, there is ongoing uncertainty around LIV’s future, with two-time major winner Jon Rahm opting out of the tour.
===================
In Cycling, Matt Richardson says he will co-operate with a British Cycling investigation amid allegations of misconduct and promised do so with contrition for the feelings of anyone involved.
The 27-year-old was withdrawn from the Great Britain squad for this week’s World Track Cycling Championships in Shanghai.
Richardson said in a statement he was deeply disappointed to miss the event in China from 14th to 18th October, but understood the seriousness of what has been raised in recent media reports.
=======================
TODAY’S FIXTURES
IN UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE – LEAGUE STAGE
Feyenoord vs Como
LASK vs Liverpool
Aston Villa vs Fenerbahçe
Bodø / Glimt vs Borussia Dortmund
Manchester City vs Paris Saint-Germain
Real Betis vs Porto
Roma vs Real Madrid
Shakhtar Donetsk vs AEK Athens
Slovan Bratislava vs Stuttgart
========================
FOOD FOR THOUGHT.
Develop success from failures. Discouragement and failure are two of the surest stepping stones to success….words from Dale Carnegie
.
