The Daily Football Briefing

Arsenal are losing their sporting director Edu…to Nottingham Forest. Sort of. James McNicholas joins us to explain more. The Champions League is back! Do you remember what was going on? Could you tell me right now who’s top and who’s second? Probably not, so we’ve previewed the whole thing for you. Plus, we’ve got all the news from Monday’s games including Fulham’s stunning late win against Brentford. Listen here. Now. It’s not like you have anything better to do. Presenter: Iain MacintoshWith: James McNicholasProducer: Si Watts

Not so much for supporters of other title contenders, however. Arsenal, Manchester City and Aston Villa all lost, Liverpool won and Nottingham Forest have sneaked into third place. Who saw that coming?We’ve got all the scores from around the world including Napoli’s shock defeat to Atalanta, as described by James Horncastle. We’ve got Bayer Leverkusen dropping more points, but it’s nothing to worry about according to Seb Stafford Bloor. We’ve got Abi Paterson with all the WSL action. And there’s all the most important updates from all the leagues I run on a game of Football Manager. (England, Spain, Germany, Italy, France, Netherlands, Portugal, Scotland, Turkey and the USA, obviously. I’d run Belgium, but I just don’t understand it.) Presenter: Iain MacintoshWith: Carl Anka, Jack Pitt Brooke, Abi Paterson, James Horncastle, Seb Stafford BloorProducer: Si Watts

Manchester United aren’t wasting any time. They sacked Erik Ten Hag on Monday and they reached agreement with Sporting over Ruben Amorim on Thursday. Laurie Whitwell joins us to explain what’s been happening. And how good are Bayern Munich really? They’re unbeaten in the Bundesliga, but that Barcelona result was pretty rough. Seb Stafford Bloor has been watching them and he’s written an assessment for The Athletic which he helpfully condenses for us here. Plus how much trouble are Man City in and why? And will Arsenal’s wonderkid keep his place in the team? Find out here. Presenter: Iain MacintoshWith: Laurie Whitwell, Seb Stafford Bloor, Sam LeeProducer: Si Watts

Manchester United had a rare fun night at work on Wednesday, levelling Leicester City in an enjoyable 5-2 victory. Casemiro scored twice. Twice! Laurie Whitwell was there. Manchester City are out at the hand of Spurs, which means this competition is now wide open. Jack Pitt Brooke was watching. We had people at Aston Villa for their defeat to Crystal Palace, Brighton for Liverpool’s win, Preston for Arsenal’s teenage goalkeeper and Liam Twomey was watching Chelsea on the telly. And we’ve got all the big scores from elsewhere including another very good night for Aberdeen.   Presenter: Iain MacintoshWith: Laurie Whitwell, Jack Pitt-Brooke, Andy Jones, Jordan Campbell, Jacob Tanswell and Liam Twomey. Producer: Si Watts

What’s the latest on Manchester United’s hunt for a new manager? Laurie Whitwell joins us with an update. Ruben Amorim is the man they want and they are in a hurry to get this done. Southampton survived a bit of a scare against Stoke City, they’re through to the last eight. Brentford needed penalties to beat Sheffield Wednesday. But they were brilliant penalties. Napoli are top of Serie A, Dortmund are out of the DFB Pokal and we’ve got loads of other scores from around the world too. Presenter: Iain MacintoshWith: Jay Harris, Laurie WhitwellProducer: Steve Hankey

It’s felt like it’s been coming for some time, so how quickly will Manchester United look to replace Erik ten Hag following news of his departure on Monday?Carl Anka looks back on a frantic day at Old Trafford and what t expect under current interim boss Ruud van Nistelrooy, although could Sporting’s Ruben Amorim be on his way in imminently?Sam Lee has been watching events at the Ballon d’Or, where Real Madrid are really not happy and they’ve let everybody know about it.Plus, all the scores from Monday’s action and news from the rest of Europe including an injury blow for Brighton, a new club for Mario Balotelli and the Italy legend who could be set for a sensational return to Serie A at the age of FORTY EIGHT!Need something to read? Catch up with David Ornstein and Adam Crafton’s insight into Manchester United’s move for Ruben Amorim:https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5880077/2024/10/28/manchester-united-manager-next-ruben-amorim/Need something to listen to? The Athletic FC podcast looks back on how it all went so badly wrong for Erik ten Hag:https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/podcast/144-athletic-football-podcast/episode-921/Presenter: Iain MacintoshWith: Carl Anka, Sam LeeProducer: Si Watts

It’s happened, Manchester United have sacked their manager Erik Ten Hag following Sunday’s defeat to West Ham. David Ornstein and Adam Crafton broke the story and David joins us to explain what happened. Presenter: Iain MacintoshWith: David OrnsteinProducer: Abi Paterson

It’s been quite a weekend, hasn’t it? Who would have thought that Arsenal’s clash with Liverpool would be struggling to make the top three stories? Two giants of European football experienced desperately disappointing weekends. Manchester United, of course, are used to that sort of thing. But Real Madrid? Did anyone expect the European champions to be torn apart in their own home by Barcelona? But we’re here for all your Monday morning questions. Like, how did Bayern Munich react to their midweek misery? Who won in the French top of the table clash between PSG and Marseille? And did Aberdeen win because I am now really invested in them for reasons I do not understand.Listen now. It’s 15 minutes of your life and you’ll be so pleased with the transaction, you won’t even want them back. Presenter: Iain MacintoshWith: Carl Anka, Liam Twomey, Jay Harris, Dermot Corrigan, Producer: Si Watts

It’s two steps forward and three steps back for Manchester United at the moment. The confidence boosting victory over Brentford seems a long time ago already after this disappointing draw away at former manager Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbahce. Laurie Whitwell was there. No such issues for Tottenham, they’ve won three from three after a good win over AZ Alkmaar in London. Teenage sensation Mikey Moore impressed again, Jay Harris is here to tell us how good he is. And Chelsea are dominating a competition in which it doesn’t seem entirely fair that they get to play. They battered Panathinaikos 4-1 in front of Liam Twomey. Well, in front of lots of people really, but Liam was one of them.Plus, Roberto Mancini has left Saudi Arabia. I wonder where he’ll end up next… Presenter: Iain MacintoshWith: Laurie Whitwell, Jay Harris and Liam Twomey Producer: Steve Hankey

Well, I don’t think anyone expected that. Barcelona stuck four past a worryingly open Bayern Munich to put their Champions League campaign back on track. Pol Ballus was there, he thinks it’s was a performance for the ages and it’s rather hard to disagree.Atletico Madrid’s performance will live long in the memory too, but possibly not for the same reasons. They were beaten 1-3 at home by Lille and the irony that Lille beat Real Madrid last time out is unlikely to console them.Sam Lee watched Erling Haaland score quite the most remarkable goal I’ve seen in many years as Man City swept past Sparta Prague. And we’ve got all the other games from across the continent too. Well, most of the big ones. We drew the line at the Finnish Conference League play-offs.    Presenter: Iain MacintoshWith: Pol Ballus, Sam LeeProducer: Tom Fuller