Ismail Kartal resigned as head coach of Fenerbahce just minutes after the Turkish side’s 1-1 draw with Roma in the Champions League.
Kartal made the surprise announcement in his post-match news conference, stating he plans to never return to the club he previously served as a player and assistant coach.
He came back to Fenerbahce for a fourth spell as manager in June 2026, with the club returning to the Champions League for the first time in 18 years.
Now he departs with the team sitting ninth in the Turkish Super Lig after two wins and two defeats, and after only one Champions League match.
“I have been here three months. From the beginning of the season until today, the training sessions and camps we held with the players, and the efforts of our president, have been very helpful. Those were wonderful days,” Kartal said.
“As of this evening, I congratulate my players and resign from my position.
“I made this decision to pave the way for my club. We made this decision together as a team.
“From now on, to help Fenerbahce, my players and future coaches, I have resigned from my position, with the intention of never returning.”
Club president Aziz Yildirim has not accepted 65-year-old Kartal’s resignation.
Wrexham are away to another side relegated from the Premier League, leaders West Ham United, on Friday evening (20:00 BST).
There are doubts over the availability of Max Cleworth and Josh Windass after injuries against Burnley, but Parkinson is hopeful the blows are not too serious.
Defender Cleworth came off after half an hour while forward Windass did not come back out for for the second half.
“Max looks like his hamstring’s tightened up and Josh got a kick on the calf,” Parkinson added.
“[Max] he felt it early in the half actually and we kept saying to him ‘are you alright’ and he wanted to stay on. I don’t think it’s too serious, but we’ll see.
“Josh had got a whack on the calf and when you’ve made one sub in the first period, you’ve only got then two entries in the second period.
“He probably could have gone out and tried it, but we just decided to make the change then.”
Rybakina, 27, dropped only four points in a near flawless performance on serve against four-time Grand Slam champion Osaka, who said after the match she was struggling with pain in her leg.
She faced the 28-year-old full of confidence, having not dropped a set in her opening three matches at the tournament, and took control of the contest in a dominant first set.
Reigning Australian Open champion Rybakina opened up a double break over Osaka, before sealing the set in just 21 minutes.
Osaka showed greater resistance early in the second set but, after failing to convert her only break point of the match, Rybakina soon seized control again.
She broke to go 4-3 up, before safely seeing out the rest of the match, with Osaka unable to contend with her opponent’s deep groundstrokes.
Rybakina sealed the match inside 66 minutes with her seventh ace of a match where she hit a total of 29 winners to Osaka’s nine.
Asked about the gap of almost six years since her last major win, at the 2021 Australian Open, Osaka said: “I thought about it, and if I win another Grand Slam, it’s not going to change my life.
“That’s kind of crazy that I can say that, because I remember the first Slam that I won, it was, like, a huge whirlwind.”
Liverpool head coach Andoni Iraola says his side need to “learn lessons” after they twice come from behind to draw 2-2 with Nottingham Forest at Anfield.
Carlos Alcaraz will start his US Open title defence against Russia’s Roman Safiullin in the first serious examination of his fitness following a long-term wrist injury.
Second seed Alcaraz, who won the men’s title in New York last year, has not played a competitive singles match for more than four months because of inflammation in his playing right wrist.
Despite his lack of action, the 23-year-old Spaniard is still considered by many as the favourite to triumph again – particularly because his great rival Jannik Sinner is not playing due to a knee injury.
The pair may have been a cut above the rest of the tour for the past two seasons, but Alcaraz coming back from a prolonged absence with such a delicate injury and beating the rest of the field – even though he is a generational talent – would be remarkable.
The seven-time major champion missed this season’s French Open and Wimbledon as a result of the issue, which did not require surgery, before making his return to court in the US Open mixed doubles alongside Serena Williams earlier this week.
Wearing a long compression sleeve on his right arm, Alcaraz did not look totally convincing in the exhibition-like event. Understandably, he appeared to be holding back on his serve and return as he eased himself back into matchplay.
There is no doubt that a Grand Slam singles bout played over five sets will be another step up physically. Safiullin, with a hefty serve and attacking groundstrokes, is not an ideal opponent to start against.
The 29-year-old Russian, who reached the Wimbledon fourth round last month before falling to Novak Djokovic, is likely to take time away from Alcaraz, test the Spaniard’s durability at the baseline and generally make him feel uncomfortable.
Predicting how Slam draws will pan out is always a fool’s errand, but if Alcaraz does get past Safiullin and goes as far as the fourth round, there are more potential opponents who appear daunting given the length of his absence.
If you analyse Alcaraz’s projected draw by the seedings, he could face rock solid American Tommy Paul or unpredictable Kazak Alexander Bublik in the last 16.
Athletic Frenchman Arthur Fils and huge-serving Ben Shelton are potential quarter-final opponents. Djokovic could lie in wait in the semi-finals.
Nobody outside of Alcaraz and his core team knows how his wrist is likely to stand up to the rigours of playing five-set matches in the heat of a Grand Slam tournament.
A challenging start at Flushing Meadows and a potentially intimidating second week will tell us.
Last season’s runners-up, Arsenal, will play the likes of Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund and Lille in the league phase.
Published On 27 Aug 202627 Aug 2026
Two-time defending champions Paris Saint-Germain were handed meetings with Barcelona, Manchester City and Aston Villa, among their eight matches in the league phase of this season’s Champions League, when the draw took place on Thursday.
PSG, who beat Arsenal on penalties in Budapest in May to retain the trophy, will play Barcelona, Roma, Turkish champions Galatasaray and Slovan Bratislava of Slovakia at home.
Luis Enrique’s team will travel to England twice to face City and Villa. They beat both teams on the way to winning their first Champions League title in 2025, and also defeated the latter in the UEFA Super Cup in Austria earlier this month.
The French champions will also go to Spain to play Villarreal and Italy to take on a Como side coached by Cesc Fabregas.
“I can’t say anything bad about the Champions League, but I won’t be watching the draw. I will be relaxing and going out on my bike, then we’ll take a look at the menu. But I would sign up for the same result as in the last two years,” Luis Enrique told reporters earlier Thursday.
PSG are aiming to become European champions for a third straight year, something only the Real Madrid of 2016 to 2018 have achieved in the last 50 years.
The first matches in this season’s league phase will be played between Tuesday, September 8 and Thursday, September 10, with the final games in late January. UEFA is expected to announce the full fixture schedule on Saturday.
Last season’s runners-up, Arsenal, the Premier League champions, will notably host Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund and Lille, as well as Sabah, the club from Azerbaijan who came through four two-legged qualifying ties to reach the league phase for the first time.
The Gunners have a tough list of away ties against Bayern Munich, Real Betis, Napoli and Slavia Prague.
Fenerbahce back, Viking in
Andoni Iraola’s Liverpool will be at home to Atletico Madrid, Porto, Villarreal and Lens, while playing Inter Milan, Club Brugge, Fenerbahce and Austrian league phase debutants LASK away.
Manchester United, who were not in the first pot of seeds, have home games against Bayern, Roma, RB Leipzig and Sabah, and also a series of difficult away fixtures against Atletico, Sporting of Portugal, Villarreal and Como.
Other notable games include Manchester City visiting Barcelona and Real Madrid entertaining Inter, while last season’s Europa League winners, Villa, must go to Barcelona and play Dortmund at home. Unai Emery’s team will also tackle Istanbul giants Galatasaray and Fenerbahce.
The latter are appearing in the Champions League proper for the first time since 2008/09 after beating Lyon in the playoffs this week.
New names in this season’s competition are Como, who have upset the traditional order in Serie A, and Sabah, while LASK made it to this stage for the first time after a stunning comeback win over Celtic in the playoffs.
Last year’s Norwegian champions Viking, from the city of Stavanger, have reached the Champions League proper for the first time, too, and they have a glamorous fixture schedule that includes Bayern, Atletico, Villa and Napoli.
This is the third season since the introduction of the new format for the Champions League, with 36 teams now all pooled together in one giant league and each playing games against eight different opponents.
This season’s final will be played at the Metropolitano Stadium in Madrid on June 5, 2027.
European champions Paris St-Germain will face Premier League duo Manchester City and Aston Villa as well as five-time winners Barcelona in the league phase of this season’s Champions League.
The back-to-back Champions League winners will welcome Barca to Parc des Princes, while they were also handed trips to Villa Park and Manchester in the draw for the league phase.
Premier League champions Arsenal, meanwhile, will host 15-time winners Real Madrid at Emirates Stadium, and have also been handed a trip to Bayern Munich.
Mikel Arteta’s men, who were beaten by PSG on penalties in the final last season, will face Borussia Dortmund, Real Betis, Lille, Napoli, Azerbaijan champions Sabah and Slavia Prague as well.
Enzo Maresca’s City will welcome PSG to Etihad Stadium and travel to Barcelona, where they will have a reunion with Spanish World Cup-winner Rodri, who moved to the Nou Camp in a £65m deal this summer.
City will also be up against another of their former midfielders in Kevin de Bruyne when Napoli visit Manchester, with Sporting, Porto, RB Leipzig, AEK Athens and Lens their other opponents.
Europa League winners Villa, returning to the competition after a season away, will host PSG and Dortmund and travel to Barcelona and Galatasaray.
Unai Emery’s side also face Club Brugge, Fenerbahce, Viking and Slavia Prague.
Manchester United, returning after a two-year hiatus, will meet Bayern, Atletico Madrid, Roma, Sporting, Leipzig, Villarreal, Sabah and Como.
Liverpool, meanwhile, host Atletico, Porto, Villarreal and Lens while visiting Inter Milan, Brugge, Fenerbahce and LASK.
The first league-phase matches will be played on Tuesday, 8 September and the last round of games will take place on 27 January 2027, with the exact schedule to be released on Saturday.
This season’s final will be held in Madrid on 5 June.
Britons Jacob Fearnley, Toby Samuel, Harry Wendelken and Harriet Dart stand one win away from a place in the US Open main draw after coming through their second round qualifying matches in New York.
Fearnley showed great resilience in battling to a three-set victory over Frenchman Luka Pavlovic, which set up a meeting with Austria’s Jurij Rodionov.
The 25-year-old world number 100 recovered from a break of serve down to take the opening set, and held his nerve in the decider after his opponent levelled the match to clinch a 6-4 6-7 (4-7) 6-4 win.
Samuel, bidding to qualify for the US Open for the first time, produced a comeback victory against fellow Briton Billy Harris.
The 23-year-old, who made his slam debut at this year’s French Open, recovered to win 4-6 6-4 6-1 and set up a meeting with Chile’s former top-20 player Cristian Garin.
Wendelken, who has never contested the main draw at an overseas slam, saved a match point to come through a three-hour tussle with Switzerland’s Remy Bertola.
The 24-year-old, ranked 196th, appeared on the brink of elimination at a set and 5-2 down, but denied Bertola a match point to level at 5-5 before edging the second-set tie-break.
Wendelken took charge of the decider, establishing a 5-2 lead, but was forced to withstand a late fightback from his opponent before eventually clinching a 5-7 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 win. He will face Lithuania’s Vilius Gaubas next.
Liverpool will take on Tottenham as the teams who compete in Europe enter in the third round of the Carabao Cup.
Leeds could potentially face Chelsea, should the London club beat Luton on Thursday.
Manchester United face Premier League opposition in Brighton, while holders Manchester City host Norwich.
Fleetwood, the only fourth-tier side left in the competition, host Sheffield United.
The nine Premier League teams that are playing in Europe – Arsenal, Aston Villa, Bournemouth, Brighton, Crystal Palace, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Sunderland – all enter the Carabao Cup in the third round.
To avoid clashes with the opening rounds of the Champions League and Europa League, matches will be played across the weeks commencing Monday, 7 and Monday, 14 September.
The final two places will be decided on Thursday when Chelsea host Luton (19:30 BST) and Fulham take on AFC Wimbledon (20:00 BST).
Football’s biggest club competition returns for the 2026-2027 season as the UEFA Champions League gets under way next month, with the draw for the main round taking place on Thursday.
Back-to-back champions Paris Saint-Germain are chasing a historic third consecutive title, while European giants Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester City, Liverpool and Bayern Munich will look to dethrone the two-time champions.
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The league phase format, now in its third year, will begin in September and run until January. It will be followed by the knockout rounds, with the champions crowned in early June.
Here’s all you need to know about this year’s draw:
Paris St Germain’s Achraf Hakimi lifts the trophy as he celebrates with teammates after winning the UEFA Champions League on May 30, 2026 [Andrew Boyers/Reuters]
When and where is the Champions League draw?
The main round fixtures will be drawn on August 27 at 6pm (17:00 GMT) at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco.
How does Champions League qualifying work?
Of the 36 competing teams, 29 qualified with their rankings in their respective national leagues. The remaining seven spots were up for grabs in a qualifying competition that began earlier this month and will conclude less than 24 hours before the draw.
Bodo/Glimt, LASK and Sabah became the latest teams to book their place in the elite competition, leaving eight teams to battle it out for the last four places on Wednesday.
Which teams have qualified for the Champions League?
Arsenal
Aston Villa
Atletico Madrid
Barcelona
Bayern Munich
Bodo/Glimt
Borussia Dortmund
Club Brugge
Como
Feyenoord
Galatasaray
Inter Milan
LASK
RB Leipzig
Liverpool
LOSC Lille
Manchester City
Manchester United
Napoli
Paris Saint-Germain
PSV Eindhoven
RC Lens
Real Betis
Real Madrid
AS Roma
FC Porto
Sabah FK
Shakhtar Donetsk
Slavia Prague
Sporting CP
VfB Stuttgart
Villarreal
What are the pots for this season?
Under the new format, each team will play fixtures against eight teams – two teams each from Pots 1, 2, 3 and 4.
Four of the eight matches will be at home, and the other four away.
Pot 1: PSG, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Liverpool, Inter Milan, Manchester City, Arsenal, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid
Pot 2: Aston Villa, Manchester United, Borussia Dortmund, Roma, Sporting, Porto Club, Brugge PSV, Eindhoven, Real Betis
Pot 3: Feyenoord, Lille, Napoli, RB Leipzig, Villarreal, Shakhtar Donetsk, Galatasaray, Bodo/Glimt, (winner of League Path)
Pot 4: Slavia Prague, VFB Stuttgart, LASK, Como, Lens, Sabah, (3 winners of Champions Path)
When are league phase and knockout matches?
The league phase matches are scheduled for:
Matchday 1: September 8-10
Matchday 2: October 13 and 14
Matchday 3: October 20 and 21
Matchday 4: November 3 and 4
Matchday 5: November 24 and 25
Matchday 6: December 8 and 9
Matchday 7: January 19 and 20
Matchday 8: January 27
The knockout phase matches are scheduled for:
Playoffs: February 16, 17 and 23, 24 Round of 16: March 9, 10 and 16, 17 Quarterfinals: April 6, 7 and 13, 14 Semifinals: April 27, 28 and May 4, 5 Final: June 5
When and where is the Champions League final?
The upcoming season’s final will be held at the Estadio Metropolitano, home of Spanish club Atletico Madrid.
How did PSG win last season’s Champions League?
The French side held their nerve in a cagey final to retain the title by beating Arsenal 4-3 on penalties as the nail-biting showdown ended 1-1 after extra time.
Arsenal defender Gabriel blasted his spot kick over Matvey Safonov’s crossbar at the Puskas Arena in Budapest, his miss confirming PSG as the first club to retain the trophy since Real Madrid completed their three-year reign from 2016 to 2018.
Earlier in August, PSG won the UEFA Super Cup for a second straight year by beating Aston Villa 2-1, thanks to Desire Doue’s second-half goal in the annual curtain-raiser to the European football season.
Doue’s 61st-minute strike after running onto Ousmane Dembele’s pass was initially ruled out for offside, only for the goal to be awarded following a video review, with Matty Cash adjudged to have marginally played him onside.
Angel City goalkeeper Angelina Anderson saved a penalty kick from Guro Reiten to preserve a scoreless draw against Gotham FC at BMO Stadium on Sunday.
Initially ruled a clean block in the 82nd minute, video review reversed the call and a handball was called on Angel City defender Sarah Gorden. On the ensuing penalty kick attempt, Anderson denied Reiten.
Anderson made four saves for her sixth shutout for Angel City (7-7-5).
Ann-Katrin Berger had three saves for her 10th clean sheet of the season for Gotham (13-3-5), which is unbeaten in nine games.
Gotham midfielder Rose Lavelle landed hard with the back of her head hitting the ground in the 31st minute. Both teams had trainers evaluating the U.S. women’s national team star, who left the game six minutes later.
Denis Bouanga scored late in the second half and LAFC escaped with a 1-1 draw after trailing the Portland Timbers for 75 minutes at BMO Stadium on Saturday night.
David Da Costa took a pass from Kristoffer Velde in the fourth minute and scored his third goal this season to give Portland a 1-0 lead that it carried into the 79th minute.
That’s when Bouanga used assists from Jude Terry and Aaron Long to knot the score with his 11th goal of the season.
Portland forward Vincent Janssen, who entered in the 69th minute, picked up yellow cards in the 89th and third minute of stoppage time to leave the Timbers down a man.
But, James Pantemis finished off a 10-save night for Portland (8-9-4) — including his final one on a shot by Bouanga in the final minute of stoppage time — to keep it tied.
Pantemis had five saves in the first half with four of them coming in the first 22 minutes.
Hugo Lloris turned away one shot for LAFC (10-7-5), which was coming off back-to-back 1-0 losses.
Portland is 4-1-2 in its last seven matches.
The Timbers beat LAFC on their last trip to BMO Stadium and lead the all-time series 7-6-8.
MONTREAL — Daniel Ríos scored his first goal in MLS and Prince Owusu also scored a goal for CF Montreal in a 2-2 tie with the Galaxy on Saturday night.
Goalkeeper JT Marcinkowski, shown a red card in the 68th minute, was replaced by Novak Micovic and the Galaxy played a man down the rest of the way. The Galaxy have drawn red cards in three consecutive games.
Owusu scored his career-high tying 13th goal this season to make it 2-2 in the 79th minute. The 29-year-old forward, who also scored 13 goals for Montreal last season, has a goal in four consecutive games and scored seven goals in the past seven.
Montreal (6-10-5) has a season-long four-game unbeaten streak.
Rubén Ramos Jr. and Maya Yoshida each scored a goal for the Galaxy (6-9-7), who beat San José 1-0 on Wednesday to snap a six-game winless streak.
Ríos made his debut for Montreal and opened the scoring in the 16th minute. Matty Longstaff played a low ball into the area from the right side that was parried by Marcinkowski at the front post before Ríos tapped in the rebound from point-blank range.
Ramos scored his first career MLS goal in the 20th. On the counter-attack, Kyōgo Furuhashi played a first-touch shot off a cross from Robert Taylor that was stopped by goalkeeper Thomas Gillier, but Ramos slammed home the putback to make it 1-1.
Yoshida back-heeled a shot from the center of the area into the net to give the Galaxy a 2-1 lead in the 48th minute.
Phil Parkinson bemoaned his team’s lack of ruthlessness – and the amount of stoppage time at the end of the game – after a 98th-minute equaliser denied Wrexham a Welsh derby victory at Cardiff City.
Parkinson’s side were on course to begin the new Championship campaign with a hard-fought win after Kieffer Moore’s third-minute goal at the Cardiff City Stadium.
Wrexham missed chances to extend their lead – and twice hit the woodwork – on a night when they carried greater threat than their hosts only to be denied a win when Rubin Colwill smashed in a free-kick in the last act of the game.
“We’ve had chances to kill the game off. We haven’t taken them, the keeper’s made saves, but we haven’t really made him make a top-class save,” Parkinson said.
“We knew we could give Cardiff problems and time and time again. We did and really in the cold light of day, the game should have been out of sight, but it wasn’t.”
While Parkinson suggested his side could have managed the closing minutes of the game better, there was frustration over the timing of Cardiff’s goal.
The fourth official’s board showed six minutes of added time, with George Dobson fouling Joel Colwill in the last of those minutes before Rubin Colwill seized the chance to equalise.
“I’m not quite sure where they got six minutes from – I’m looking forward to asking [the officials about] that,” Parkinson said.
“However, giving cheap free-kicks away at this level, you can get punished and that’s what cost us tonight.
“All we had to do was stay calm in that moment and we’d be talking about three points.”
Ally Sentnor scored in the 85th minute to pull Angel City into a 1-1 draw with the Washington Spirit at BMO Stadium on Sunday night.
Trinity Rodman scored her 10th goal of the season in the 65th minute to give the Spirit (11-5-4) a 1-0 lead.
Tara Rudd drove toward Angel City’s back line and threaded a pass through to Rodman, who raced downfield and curled a shot just over goalkeeper Angelina Anderson.
Sentnor scored on a long-range shot for her first goal with Angel City (7-7-4).
During second half stoppage time, Angel City striker Sydney Leroux joined the match as a substitute. It was Leroux’s first game appearance since Nov. 1, 2024. She initially was sidelined while recovering from a physical injury, then requested a mental health leave of absence.
Sentnor appeared to give Angel City the lead in the 37th minute, but the goal was overturned following a VAR review that determined teammate Prisca Chilufya committed a handball.
The Egyptian forward, who joined the Turkish club on a free transfer, came off the bench early in the second half.
Published On 16 Aug 202616 Aug 2026
Ex-Liverpool star Mohamed Salah made his competitive debut for Trabzonspor on Saturday, coming off the bench in their Turkish Super Lig opener as Kasimpasa rallied from a goal down to secure a 1-1 draw.
Trabzonspor took the lead in the first half through Noah Saviolo before Kasimpasa’s Adrian Benedyczak levelled from the penalty spot in the second half.
The Egypt forward, deployed on the right wing, helped create a number of openings for the visitors but Trabzonspor were unable to find a winner.
Salah in action against Kasimpasa’s Andri Baldursson [Umit Bektas/Reuters]
“It’s a sad start today,” Trabzonspor coach Fatih Tekke said.
“It was a game we had to be victorious in, but we couldn’t succeed.”
“Thursday is really important; we play a match in Europe, and the opponent is far better than us,” Tekke added, referring to Trabzonspor’s Europa League playoff with Hungarian side Ferencvaros on August 20.
Trabzonspor, seven-time Turkish champions, finished third in the Super Lig last season and won the Turkish Cup.
Widely known as the “Egyptian King” among his fans, Salah established himself as a Premier League great with Liverpool, winning two league titles and the Champions League among eight major honours at the Anfield club.
The forward is considered among the greatest players of all time and the best from the African continent in recent years.
Anders Dreyer scored on a penalty kick in the 89th minute and CJ dos Santos finished off a clean sheet as San Diego FC pulled off a 1-0 victory over LAFC on Saturday night.
Dreyer scored the winner after a video review led to a hand-ball foul on LAFC defender Ryan Porteous. It was his eighth goal this season and his 27th in 53 career appearances.
Dreyer will be suspended for San Diego’s next match after picking up a red card in the seventh minute of stoppage time.
Dos Santos had three saves for San Diego (6-7-6) to earn his first shutout in six starts this season after posting 10 in 30 starts last year.
Hugo Lloris turned away one shot for LAFC (10-6-4), which had piled up 11 goals in its previous four matches.
LAFC’s Son Heung-min saw his four-match streak with a goal come to an end.
LAFC rallied from a two-goal deficit to earn a 2-2 draw in San Diego in April.
Dreyer scored on a PK in the 64th minute to help San Diego earn 1-1 road draw with Minnesota United last time out.
Up next for LAFC: at Colorado Rapids on Wednesday.
