By David Owen
August 21 – To borrow a phrase that has become a social media cliché: that escalated quickly. Sunday night’s first appearance in a Champions League final by Paris Saint-Germain, the loadsamoney, Qatar-backed giants of Ligue 1, was prefaced by a minor farce that might have been plucked from a Jacques Tati comedy.
August 31 – Kosovan club FC Prishtina have taken the unprecedented step of signing players on loan from rival teams for a Europa League fixture because a raft of their own squad tested positive for Covid-19.
August 21 – New Barcelona head coach Ronald Koeman says he does not know if he can convince Lionel Messi to stay after the Argentine superstar reportedly threatened to quit following last week’s 8-2 Champions League humiliation at the hands of Bayern Munich.
By Andrew Warshaw
August 20 – They weren’t at their best and were never going to deliver another eight-goal blitz. But Bayern Munich, 8-2 quarterfinal conquerors of Barcelona, duly booked their place in Sunday’s Champions League final with a hard-fought 3-0 semi-final over Lyon on Wednesday to set up a dream climax against fellow big-hitters Paris St. Germain.
August – UEFA has decided no fans will be able to attend Nations League matches in September, confirming a report by the Scottish FA earlier this week.
August 20 – New England women’s head coach Sarina Wiegmann (pictured) believes she will be working with a “world-class team” when she takes over the role in September next year.
August 19 – Ronald Koeman has quit as boss of the Netherlands to become the new head coach of Barcelona two days after the club sacked Quique Setien following that humiliating 8-2 Champions League drubbing by Bayern Munich that stunned world football.
August 19 – It took them 110 games in the competition stretching back several years to get this far.
August 19 – With so many grassroots clubs in danger of going out of business, English football’s lower non-league divisions will be allowed a limited number of fans after the government updated its guidance on recreational team sport events.
August 18 – The start of the new French domestic season scheduled for this Friday has been plunged into turmoil by Covid-19 after Olympique de Marseille said they had confirmed four cases of the virus and had their game against St Etienne called off.
August 18 – Former Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany has finally hung up his playing boots to become head coach at Anderlecht.
August 18 – The telescoping of the UEFA club competition final rounds to a mini-knockout competition and the impact of Covid-19 has seen some surprise results but in reality has also served to emphasise the polarisation of European around the Big 5 leagues, according to research by KPMG Football Benchmark.
August 18 – Texas-based Italian-American billionaire Dan Friedkin (pictured), the new owner of Roma, has promised to turn the club into “one of the greatest names in world football” after completing his €591 million purchase of an 86.6% majority stake.
August 18 – Ten years old when her family fled the civil war in Somalia, Jawahir Roble is English football’s first female Muslim referee and has her sights set on getting to the top.
August 18 – Inter Milan set up what should be an intriguing climax to the Europa League against five-time champions Sevilla after thrashing Shakhtar Donetsk 5-0 in Monday’s second semi-final.