ITALY
Corriere dello Sport notes that “Lazio laughs – Roma doesn’t”. While Lazio won in torrential rain (4-1 against Nice) – see rain photos here – it was a stomach-churning for the local rival in Borås (1-0 to Elfsborg). “I saw a lot of positives”assures coach Ivan Juric. CdS does not, which uses a historical allusion in another major headline, “Ivan – this was terrible”. The Romanist covers the front page with one word, “Embarrassing”. Towards the end of the match, traveling Roma fans were heard chanting disgruntledly, “We’re just holding on to the shirt”. In the newspapers’ match reports, references to Sweden’s geographical position are abundant. Michael Baidoo is “cold as the Swedish night” and Gazzetta dello Sport writes that “Roma butts its head against the cold wall in the north, where the Swedish giants in Elfsborg, who appear as monsters in Game of Thrones, experienced their most glorious evening”. Gazzetta dello Sport has Timothy Ouma as player of the match (7.5), Corriere dello Sport Michael Biadoo (7) and La Repubblica thinks Gustav Henriksson (7) was the best in the home team.
La Gazzetta dello Sport has a lot of Juventus. On the first pages, there are tumultuous words about goal king Dusan Vlahovic. Then follow gloomy words about the injury situation. Nicolás González has a minor injury, worse is Gleison Bremer who has a cruciate ligament injury and will probably miss the rest of the season. GdS believes that a loan of Jakub Kiwior (Arsenal) may become relevant in January. Or to bring home Tiago Djaló, who is on loan at Porto. Tuttosport sees opportunities to act now. The newspaper believes that out-of-contract Sergio Ramos is an option. GdS also has a long interview with Ruud Gullit. The Milan legend strongly believes in Zlatan Ibrahimovic in his new leadership role. “Very much”says Gullit, “He’s not conventional in his communication, but I’m sure his attitude will help take the pressure off the team”. So should he stay? “Without a doubt. The football world needs him as he is. We need more Ibrahimovic. Especially when he is competent and sees talent immediately – few in the history of football have had as much as him. I am convinced that he will do a good job in Milan”.
Ansa have good news about Isak Hien. The Swede is back in training earlier than expected and could be eligible for the game as early as tomorrow against Genoa. Eco di Bergamo agrees. Thus, he should also be able to play Sweden’s matches against Slovakia and Estonia.
Corriere della Sera highlights a bizarre story surrounding Milan star Álvaro Morata. It can currently be divided into four acts. 1/ Morata decides to settle in Corbetta, which is near Milan. 2/ On Wednesday, the mayor of Corbetta, Marco Ballarini, wrote on social media (he has 752,000 followers on TikTok), “No, it’s not an April Fool’s joke, the champion Álvaro Morata is a new resident of Corbetta!”. 3/ Morata is furious. “Dear Mayor, thank you for violating my privacy”writes the Milan star in social media. He believes that the family’s safety is endangered and announces that he intends to move immediately. 4/ Ballarini responds by posting Inter’s club badge and the text “Bye bye” to a waving hand emoji. Ballarini later explains, “I just wanted to welcome him, he didn’t understand the meaning of my post. I regret it because I always respected him as a person and as a champion”but jokingly adds, “As mayor I am sorry, as Interfan I will survive it”.
ENGLAND
Daily Star renames Harry Maguire to ”Harry Houdini” because he somehow managed to save a point for Manchester United (3-3 against Porto). Does he manage to save Erik ten Hag? Can anyone do it? The Daily Mirror writes that United boss Jim Ratcliffe is flying in for the match against Aston Villa, which increases the speculation. During yesterday’s match, many people frowned at the fact that the goalscorer Marcus Rashford was replaced at half-time. “We needed to rotate”Ten Hag replied, referring to the game schedule. Chelsea won the Conference League and scored four or more goals for the third game in a row (4-2 against Gent).
Evening Standard and Football London agree in the ratings after Tottenham’s victory (2-1 against Ferencvaros): thumbs down to Lucas Bergvallthumbs up to the slot for Dejan Kulusevski. Only Timo Werner gets a lower rating than Bergvall. The Swede gets 5 and 6 respectively. Kulusevski, on the other hand, 8 and 7. The player who ends up in the headlines after the match was otherwise just 17-year-old Mikey Moore shining.
The Sun claims PSG are leading the hunt for Mohamed Salah. The French big club is said to be prepared to give the 32-year-old a three-year contract. Salah’s contract with Liverpool expires in the summer. According to The Sun, Salah is not listening to the lures from Saudi Arabia. Furthermore, The Sun claims that Barcelona and Juventus are interested in Alejandro Garnacho. The Argentinian crowd favorite has had a somewhat slow start to the season at Manchester United, who are said to value him at £50million.
Daily Mail states that Newcastle are expected to make another attempt to sign Marc Guehi in January. Crystal Palace is expected to be more accommodating then than last summer to sell the centre-back. A bid of £50m could be enough. Liverpool and Manchester City are also interested but not already in January.
SPAIN
Mark and AS both analyze the situation in Real Madrid with concern. “We have reached rock bottom”is the headline on Marca’s front page. It must have been said in the dressing room after the shock loss in Lille. Marca emphasizes that there is no panic in Real Madrid, but an anxiety is spreading. This development was not what was expected. AS lines up problem points on the plan. The inner midfield has lost creativity after Toni Kroos. Bellingham doesn’t score anymore. Vinícius Jr gets less accomplished. Mbappé’s best self has yet to be seen. The centre-backs are not doing well. Marca was the first to report news from Fifa yesterday. An extra transfer window is proposed to be open June 1-10 for clubs that will participate in the Club World Cup in the summer. AS highlights news from Saudi Arabia. Al-Riyadiya state that Al-Nassr, with Cristiano Ronaldo in the team, are considering asking the Asian Confederation (AFC) to move the CL match against Esteghlal in Tehran to a neutral ground. The reason is the war situation with Israel. The match will be played on October 22.
Cadena Cope ticks of two Basque teams’ matches. Athletic Club won (2-0 against AZ) and Real Sociedad lost (2-1 against Anderlecht). There are gloomy headlines about the game in San Sebastian, but not so much for the result as for the Belgian fans. They broke a plexiglass and threw chairs at the home crowd (see clip here). Mikel Oyarzabal was furious afterwards. “Everything is overshadowed by what happened”he says, “It must not be the case that people do not dare to come to our home or leave it because some idiots decided to throw things”. He points an accusing finger at Uefa, which did not act despite the remarks, “Uefa is responsible for the fact that the match was not stopped”. Eight Anderlecht fans were arrested last night.
Sport focuses on “The Plan for De Jong”. Football-wise, after the injury layoff, he must be matched up to be in top form for the big games against Real Madrid and Bayern Munich on October 23 and 26, respectively. Off the pitch, Barça will intensify negotiations for a new contract. The club has set a time limit until the end of the year.
The team celebrates Lyon’s great victory on the front page (4-1 against Rangers) but notes a loss by the same numbers for Nice (4-1 to Lazio). The newspaper hasn’t fully absorbed Lille’s victory candy against Real Madrid either. On his 17th birthday, Ayyoub Bouaddi put in a top performance in midfield. Commit the name to memory. In Strasbourg, the fans continue to memorize Swedish names. Sebastian Nanasi has been voted Player of the Month for September. In August got Karl-Johan Johnson the price.
RMC Sport draws attention to the French national team. It is missing Kylian Mbappé. But it also misses Antoine Griezmann, who resigned and will not return. “Impossible to replace”says national team captain Didier Deschamps. RMC Sport looks at alternatives and believes that Michael Olise has many of Griezmann’s qualities, but Christopher Nkunku is also considered to have the potential.
GERMANY
Bild has on the news set a picture of Eintracht Frankfurt’s Omar Marmoush who salutes and the headline “Ready for Bayern”. Frankfurt took a heavy victory in Istanbul (3-1 against Besiktas), the striker scored again (seven goals and five assists in eight games) and Bayern Munich awaits this weekend. Hugo Larssonwho played from the start, may be a hot name for other clubs in the summer but there is now a lot of buzz about Marmoush. According to Bild, Frankfurt have decided not to sell the Egyptian this winter. He will stay until the summer. Then the price tag is 40-50 million euros. Heidenheim won in their debut in the European game (2-1 against Olimpija Ljubljana)
Sky Sport has a positive and a negative message for Dortmund. The positive: Key player Julian Ryerson has extended his contract until 2028. The Norwegian right-back’s new salary is five million euros a year. The negative: Karim Adeyemi’s muscle injury is confirmed, and the striker will be out for a few weeks, according to Bild for up to a month.
OTHER
Crown newspaper (Austria) reflects the disappointment in Lask Linz (2-2 vs Djurgården). “My team seemed nervous and undisciplined”says Linz coach Markus Schopp, “In the end, it was completely fair that the opponents equalized”. Goal scorer Valon Berisha: “Considering how they (Djurgården) pressed in the second half, we should be happy that we got a point at least”.
The extra sheet (Denmark) hear Viktor Claesson lamenting after FC Copenhagen’s upset (2-1 to Jagiellonia Bialystok). “It sucks”says the Swede to Disney+ after the Poles’ turn. The Swede was allowed to start but, like so many others in FCK, gets a low rating from BT, 2 out of 6.
Daily Record (Scotland) pairs up Jimmy Thelin with new super numbers. After this week’s European Games, Hans Aberdeen is the only team in the 50 Uefa-rated leagues to have won all competitive matches. Aberdeen have twelve straight wins in the league and the league cup.
Journal (Greece) states that Robin Quaison is ready to make his debut for Aris, albeit as a substitute. The striker is not considered to be sent to play from the start against Lamia on Saturday but is expected to get playing minutes.
