European Super Football

Real Sociedad 1 - 2 Bournemouth  Bournemouth held on to claim a famous victory at Real Sociedad in the first European match in the club's history. Author | Ajay Stadium | Estadio Municipal de Anoeta Goals from Justin Kluivert and Rayan put the Cherries in control as their relentless pressing overwhelmed their Basque opponents during a dominant first half. Sociedad improved considerably after the break, pulling one back through Sergio Gomez and pushing hard for an equaliser late on, but Marco Rose's side held firm to secure victory and make a winning start to their Europa League campaign. A closer analysis of what happened In a remarkably open start to the game, both sides found dangerous positions, but the first chance of note came in the 11th minute and was converted by Kluivert at the end of a fine move. The goal was initially ruled out for offside, but the video assistant referee intervened and, after a two-minute delay, it was confirmed that the Netherlands international h...

A comfortable win for Manchester United on their return to the Champions League  Here's out their players rated in a comfortable 4-0 over Sabah from Azerbaijan Author | Olivia T Stadium | Old Trafford Senne Lammens: Not the busiest of nights for the Belgian, who dealt comfortably with everything required of him. 6 Noussair Mazraoui: Got forward regularly, with an early shot blocked before another effort found the side netting. Was fortunate to escape punishment when he failed to spot Joy-Lance Mickels dropping towards the far post, where the Sabah player was left with a clear header in the first half. 6 Leny Yoro: A big season awaits the young Frenchman, who needs to find the consistency that has so far been missing during his United career. Had limited opportunity to shine but made no real errors. 7 Lisandro Martinez: Led United's defence and helped guide Yoro through the game. Marked his return to the scoresheet by pouncing on a loose ball after the Sabah defence hesitated. 7...

Club Brugge 2 - 3 Aston Villa Aston Villa breathed fresh life into their season with a narrow Champions League victory over Club Brugge. Author | Peter Grainger  Stadium | Jan Breydelstadion Villa try to build an attack First-half goals from John McGinn, Emi Buendia and Nicolas Jackson secured a hard-fought win for the Premier League side in Belgium. Hugo Vetlesen had briefly brought the hosts level after McGinn's opener, but Buendia and Jackson, with his first goal for the club, restored Villa's advantage. Nicolo Tresoldi's 61st-minute penalty, awarded after Aaron Wan-Bissaka's handball, set up a nervy final 29 minutes for the visitors, with Tresoldi later striking the post. Villa held on for a result they will hope can provide a platform to build on after three successive league games without scoring, with Unai Emery still working to integrate 10 new signings. View from the away end The Europa League winners have lost six members of the starting XI from their triumph...

It has been another summer of transfer records in the Premier League Let's explore a rather eventful few months Author | Josh T Three of the 10 most expensive transfers in football history have taken place this summer, with all three involving Premier League clubs. The window also produced four of the top flight's five biggest deals on record. Fernandez was the headline signing, eclipsing the £116m Manchester City paid earlier in the window for Nottingham Forest midfielder Elliot Anderson.  Chelsea, meanwhile, spent £117m to bring Morgan Rogers to Stamford Bridge from Aston Villa. Liverpool paid an initial £106m, potentially rising to £123m, for Paris St-Germain and France forward Bradley Barcola. Yan Diomande's move to Real Madrid and Anthony Gordon's switch from Newcastle to Barcelona are the only deals completed so far this summer by clubs outside the Premier League to exceed £60m. Tottenham's signing of Sandro Tonali represented a club-record fee that could even...

Celtic 3 - 0 LASK Celtic took a giant step towards the league phase of the Champions League as two stunning Camilo Duran strikes gave a commanding first-leg play-off lead. Author | Sean M Stadium | Celtic Park Duran hit fabulous efforts either side of half-time after a wonderful finish from Benjamin Nygren set the Scottish champions on their way. A closer analysis of what happened Pre match atmosphere The Champions League is all about big players producing big moments, and the goals from Nygren and Duran were of the very highest order. Duran already looks like an inspired signing. His pace, skill, finishing and willingness to work make him a player who appears perfectly at home on the biggest stage. The Colombian scored five goals in the Champions League last season for Qarabag and, if Celtic can finish the job against LASK, he looks capable of becoming a key weapon. Watch | Reaction from Celtic's star player on the night. Video from the club's YouTube channel. Celtic looked vu...

Premier League breakthrough stars | Shea Lacey The first in a series of articles where we analyse young players who might be making a huge impact in the Premier League this season Author | George B At Manchester United, much of the conversation around the academy has centred on JJ Gabriel, a player so precociously gifted that he can seem almost unnatural. But he is still only 15, meaning his involvement this season is likely to be limited to the occasional EFL Cup appearance. A few years further along the pathway, but still only 19, is Shea Lacey, who has put his early injury problems behind him and featured prominently during pre-season. Lacey is an exciting wide player, exactly the sort United supporters tend to take to, and he is already well known to Michael Carrick. The United head coach has watched him develop not only in his professional capacity, but also from a more personal perspective after following his son Jacey through the academy over the years. I watched Lacey against B...

Arsenal 3 - 0 Manchester City Premier League champions Arsenal produced a statement victory over rivals Manchester City to lift the 2026 Community Shield in Cardiff. Author | DJ Stadium  | Principality Stadium Kick-off at the 2026 Community Shield Mikel Arteta’s side took the lead after just 23 seconds when Myles Lewis-Skelly played in Riccardo Calafiori, who calmly slotted the ball past Manchester City goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma. Arsenal doubled their advantage in the 28th minute when Kai Havertz headed home, with summer signing Christos Tzolis nodding Martin Odegaard’s cross back across goal for the German to finish. Three minutes into the second half, Tzolis found Odegaard inside the City penalty area. The Norwegian sent Donnarumma the wrong way with a superb dummy before placing the ball into the opposite corner. Arsenal players and families celebrate Victory over the FA Cup holders secured Arsenal’s second trophy in four months and their 18th Community Shield triumph ov...

Wolves 2 - 2 Blackburn Rovers Returning Blackburn Rovers boss Tony Mowbray was denied a dream start to his second spell in charge as a late Raul Jimenez penalty earned Wolverhampton Wanderers a point in the Championship opener  Author | Peter Grainger Stadium | Molineux View from the stands Wolves, widely tipped to challenge for promotion, appeared on course for the expected three points when Marshall Munetsi powered them in front after 18 minutes. But Rovers drew level nine minutes later through Sean McLoughlin's first goal for the club, before completing the turnaround when Andri Gudjohnsen struck three minutes into the second half. Mowbray's side defended resolutely for much of the second period and even threatened to extend their lead, only for Ryan Alebiosu's clumsy handball to result in a penalty awarded by referee Farai Hallam. Both sets of fans watch on Second-half substitute Jimenez kept his composure after an almost comically long, stuttering run-up to send the sp...

PSG 2 - 1 Aston Villa  Paris St-Germain retained the Super Cup with a narrow victory over a spirited Aston Villa to make it back-to-back triumphs in the competition. Author | Peter Grainger  Stadium | Red Bull Arena Salzburg Desire Doue's 62nd-minute winner, after a VAR check for offside, settled the contest in Salzburg and secured another trophy for the Champions League holders. PSG had taken the lead in the 20th minute when Khvicha Kvaratskhelia thumped a fine finish into the net, but Villa hit back through Brian Madjo just before half-time. A new hero for Villa The 17-year-old striker marked his competitive debut in memorable fashion, becoming the youngest player to score in the Super Cup when he volleyed John McGinn's cross in at the back post. Madjo had already passed up two good opportunities, shooting wide before heading over, but made no mistake with his third chance to cap an eight-month battle to be allowed to play. The England Under-17 international joined Villa fro...

PSG v Aston Villa preview Two teams looking to make a statement in Salzburg Author | Peter Grainger Stadium | Stadion Salzburg The traditional European season curtain-raiser sees Luis Enrique's all-conquering Paris seek to become only the second team in the modern era to retain the Super Cup after Real Madrid managed it in 2016 and 2017.  The French champions overcame Tottenham on penalties in last season's edition in Udine, Italy Standing in the way of PSG are am Aston Villa side who will still be buoyant from defeating Freiburg in the Europa League final on a famous night for the club in Istanbul in May.  This was Villa’s first trophy since winning the League Cup in 1996. Fans are now looking at more trophies and the Super Cup would be a great place to start.  They have won the competition once before, beating Barcelona 3-1 on aggregate over two legs in the 1982/83 season. Previous encounters between the sides The only previous meetings between Paris and Villa produced ...

The first round of the EFL Cup saw domestic football return to England Let's have a look at some of the best moments from across the country on Saturday 8th August Author | Lewis Whatley The match reports below are from across the Super News Affiliate network. QPR 1 - 1 Millwall | Millwall won 2-0 on penalties A fantastic goalkeeping performance sees Millwall progress. Millwall keeper Lukas Jensen saved all four QPR penalties in the shootout as the Lions booked their place in the second round West Ham 3 - 1 Portsmouth West Ham have started preparation for life back in the Championship with a win over Portsmouth in the EFL Cup. They scored three goals in seven minutes as they came from behind to beat Pompey. This was the highest attendance ever at this stage of the competition. Stoke City 2 - 0 Oldham Athletic League Two Oldham made Championship side Stoke City work hard for this win to earn them progress to the next round. Wolves 3 - 0 Port Vale New Wolverhampton Wanderers manager ...

Sturm Graz 4 - 0 Hearts Wouter Vrancken's reign as Hearts head coach began in the worst fashion as his side slumped to a damaging defeat in the first leg of their Champions League qualifier. Author | Ben A Stadium | Stadion Graz-Liebenau After missing out on the Scottish title in the closing moments of last season, the Edinburgh club were making their first appearance in the competition since 2006, but the occasion quickly unravelled. Sturm Graz took the lead after just four minutes when Jon Gorenc Stankovic rose highest to head home from a long throw. Hearts responded positively for a spell, however. Pierre Landry Kabore and Alexandros Kyziridis both squandered excellent opportunities, moments that proved increasingly costly as the match wore on. Watch | Highlights from Premier Sports Early in the second half, Sturm doubled their advantage from a corner as defender Jeyland Mitchell was left unmarked to tap home after poor defending at the set-piece. Three soon became four as Heart...