He's one of the world’s highest-rated attackers, a 26-year-old with almost 450 professional games to his name, 252 goal involvements, and nearly won the Ballon d’Or in 2024.

Add that to last year’s Premier League winners, who boast Europe’s best defence, one of England’s best midfielders, but whose only minor Achilles heel protrudes from their left flank.

Vinicius Jr to Arsenal was a match (expensively) made in heaven.

It’s exactly what the rightfully greedy football fan wants. You start spending money precisely when you’re at the top, to consolidate your position and leave your competitors with too much work to do to catch up.

Speaking on The Athletic podcast in July, renowned journalist Adam Crafton said: “I will say on Arsenal, I had a conversation maybe in May with someone who is incredibly well connected in European football, who said that talk of people he was speaking to is that Arsenal were ready to do some seriously disruptive business this summer, in terms of taking the team from where they were up to that next level.”

Seriously disruptive business.

It’s the sort of short phrase that widens the eyes of transfer junkies, and landing Vini Jr would be comfortably deserving of the label.

At this point in the life cycle of a transfer rumour, you head to your favourite stats site and see he’s scored over 20 goals in all competitions in his last five seasons, four of those after playing over 50 games. No injury concerns.

Then you glance through Mikel Arteta’s squad. Gabriel. Martinelli. Jesus. Bruno Guimaraes has just signed. This Brazilian's going to fit right in here.

You realise you’re getting giddy, so you go and check what the Spanish media are saying. He’s rejected two contract renewals at Madrid.

I’m building to a big crescendo here, but you already know what I think. You’ve read the headline. It wouldn’t have worked. It was too big.

This is where I’d like to launch into a technical explanation about why these mega deals don’t work, but the truth is, there is just something intangibly, inherently doomed about them.

Seriously, look down the list of the most expensive deals football has witnessed.

Neymar and Kylian Mbappe top the list, costing Paris Saint-Germain a combined £353,740,000. Yes, they scored a hatful of goals in the French capital, but we all know a Champions League trophy was the driving force behind that immense outlay.

Two did arrive – in the years following Mbappe's exit, with Neymar having departed a year prior.

Ousmane Dembele is next up, costing Barcelona £129.68m in a blockbuster move after a showstopping one season at Borussia Dortmund.

He departed in 2023, and an ESPN headline from that summer succinctly rounds up his time in Catalonia.

“Barcelona are better without Dembele’s unfulfilled potential”.

The premise was bang on at the time, but fast-forward two years later, the Frenchman would be taking centre stage at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, clutching a Ballon d’Or.

His move to PSG 24 months early had cost a much more sedate £43.5m.

Arsenal themselves know this sorry tale all too well, with Nicolas Pepe's ill-fated £72m back in 2019 never living up to the hype.

As a basement-dwelling writer, I’ll never quite understand how these galactic, earth-shattering deals weigh on the human at the centre of them, but it has to at least be a factor in such a high failure rate. Or maybe the mind-boggling sums of money involved just mean the product could never live up to expectations.

Either way, evidence points towards Vini Jr at increased risk of being next, had he rocked up in north London.

Yes, the Brazilian was heading into the last year of his contract at Madrid, but the transfer market is Los Blancos’ second sport. It feels as though, backed up by the contract offer they eventually put in front of Vini, they’d sooner have had him for an extra year and see him leave for nothing, rather than let him go for anything less than a significant sum this summer.

Real are not a selling club. Of that top 100 most expensive players list mentioned earlier, they feature as sellers just four times. Ronaldo to Juventus, Angel Di Maria and Casemiro to Manchester United, and Alvaro Morata to Chelsea. Some worked out well, but you’d say they got the better end of the bargain on the whole.

They don’t sell their best, and Vini Jr is one of them, so the King’s club would have demanded a king’s ransom.

With the ink now dry on the Brazilian’s new six-year contract at the Bernabeu, we’ll never know what the figures involved might have been.

However, just 18 months prior, reports in the Sun suggested that Real would only begin to consider offers near the player’s £830m release clause – a figure interested parties in Saudi Arabia were clearly pondering, given the same report revealed officials in the Middle East had thrown together a proposal that would see Vini earn £168m per year.

Arsenal, of course, would have been nowhere near these numbers – neither are Madrid – but it illustrates some of the bargaining power his agents have.

The Gunners, according to The Athletic, were willing to “break their wage structure” for the winger, with an offer they felt Madrid couldn’t match. A more realistic sum than that on the table in Saudi is the offer finally accepted by Vinicius. The figures have been kept private, but from the same report we know it’s more than the £18,813,300-per-year offer that was turned down last.

That means paying significantly more than £361,794 per week, after tax.

Baked in with the cost of the transfer fee itself, and any agent’s fees, what would Vini have had to produce to make that worthwhile? Would one Champions League have been enough? For it to scorch all wage structures and future negotiations that lay before it?

And that's not to mention the wider narratives – what would it have meant for the likes of Max Dowman's progression? What message would it send to the rest of the academy if a talent like that is blocked further each season in the market?

Vini Jr. to Arsenal was always doomed to fail, because almost nothing is worth what it would have cost in the long run.

The footballing revolution will be televised – just not if you live in the UK.

A new direct-to-fan streaming service has been rolled out by the Premier League that offers access to all 380 of this season’s games live and direct for armchair viewers. Launched under the banner of ‘Premier League +’, the English top flight is making tangible strides towards a long-touted Netflix of football model, alias ‘Premflix’, with their new one-stop shop from the comfort of your living room, tablet or wherever else people get their football fix.

Appetite for a similar move on home soil is already growing with YouGov revealing that 42% of 876 football fans polled online last year endorsed the prospect of signing up for a potential Premier League in-house platform.

But the wealth is not set to be shared. Only supporters in Singapore will reap the benefits of the service created in tandem with the league’s longstanding international broadcast partner, StarHub, which will provide it to those in the former British outpost.

Homegrown fans still getting a raw deal on televised football

Even before the new deal’s announcement, Singaporeans and expats alike have long enjoyed the trappings of Premier League football screening outside of those available on home soil. Varying kick-off times over the past two decades helped cultivate devoted armies of night owls and early risers wanting their fill of the so-called ‘greatest league in the world’. They are not alone, either, with fans across the globe able to tune in for games from stadiums up and down the country at all hours of the day. Meanwhile, those based in the league’s domicile continue to be hamstrung by exorbitant costs and other rigid constraints.

Premier League + has been costed at around £25 per month, disproving the theory that watching live football at a premium is unavoidable. It's a similar story in other territories with the United States, South America and the Middle East also offering coverage at significant markdown prices. UK-based viewers, in contrast, will have to stump up as much as three times Singapore's figure for access to games on Sky Sports and TNT Sports, which only accounts for 267 of the 380 games in the forthcoming campaign. However, it doesn’t stop there. Alongside a TV licence, consumers would need to subscribe to eight different services to access to all available matches in the Champions League and Europa League, EFL competitions, LaLiga, Serie A, Bundesliga and Ligue 1 for an eye-watering minimum of £132.97 per month. DAZN, Premier Sports, ESPN via Disney+, Amazon and even Ligue 1 itself all now have cuts of the pie. What remains goes to free-to-air platforms BBC and ITV, once bastions of mainstream football coverage now forced to settle for little more than crumbs.

Worse still, Ligue 1’s newly launched streaming platform at £17 monthly is the only subscription that covers all bases for games in a single competition with screened matches for the rest of Europe's main five leagues disproportionately split between no fewer than two different providers. Those fixated exclusively on Premier League matters will have to shell out £791.88 just to watch games legally according to research by eSIMatic. There is also is still no legitimate route to watching this season’s remaining 113 matches not covered by its leading broadcast partners. The 3pm blackout remains an ongoing bone of contention that prevents supporters unable to attend matches from seeing their team, or indeed any other football match, in the traditional timeslot. What advocates for preserving the sanctity of the blackout overlook is that it isn’t done out of a goodness for the game, nor was it ever. The concept for a ban on televising top tier games taking place between 2.45pm and 5.15pm on Saturdays was originally put forward in the 1960s by Burnley chairman Bob Lord, a fierce opponent of football being broadcast live who argued that it would protect attendances at lower-league games. But a potential ulterior motive for the proposal emerged when he declared, much to widespread disdain, in a keynote speech to the Variety Club in March 1974 that, “We have to stand up against a move to get soccer on the cheap by the Jews who run TV”.

Yet broadcasters appear just as in favour of enacting prohibition as those who see it as the last vestige of football tradition which should be preserved at all costs. Jeff Stelling’s impassioned argument against the abolition of the blackout may have come from a genuine place as a lifelong Hartlepool fan but, equally, he will know that a change to the status quo would effectively kill one of its golden gooses. As the former presenter of Sky's Soccer Saturday for 29 years, Stelling will be all too aware of the cult-like following the programme continues to enjoy in offering alternative coverage of the action. Prince William has been a vocal critic of the blackout with the Football Association figurehead and future king describing an inability to watch his beloved Aston Villa in the 3pm time slot as ‘irritating’ on the occasions when he is precluded from observing from the directors’ box.

Cunning supporters continue to bypass the archaic ruling through illegal streaming routes; something that routinely finds itself on the front pages of national newspapers as part of a crackdown campaign by the Premier League and UK authorities. Those prosecuted for facilitating workarounds through jailbroken technology are paraded as public enemies in the fight against of online piracy rather than symptomatic of a wider problem. Football is not a TV show but its riches continue to elevate the Premier League season on season without giving anything back to those on which it made its fortune. New research by working class think tank Democracia84 found that fans aged between 18 and 35 in the game’s traditional heartlands are being squeezed financially due to a 47% increase in the cost of football between 2015 and 2025 while household income has flatlined. Changing habits in how the game is consumed, with a technology-driven shift now more pronounced than at any other stage, further pushes the risk of a wider disconnect with the sport.

Loopholes to the blackout do exist without running the risk of criminality, as all domestic football being made available free from the usual restrictions during Covid attests. A technicality in UEFA’s Article 48, which can only be enforced when 50% of matches in a country’s top two divisions are played simultaneously, was also waived for the EFL's opening weekend earlier this month while the Premier League remained on summer hiatus. Up to 25 matches across the Championship, League One and League Two were screened live, with concerns around dwindling attendance figures seemingly ignored. That particular argument is yet to be fully proven with average figures for last season’s Championship standing at 26,684 while the drop between divisions saw League One’s clock in at 9,912 – a drop of more than two-and-a-half times that figure – and League Two’s deficit was double that at 4,164.

The merits of a continued blackout will be revisited in the next 18 months when the new broadcast rights cycle is set to be finalised ahead of the 2029/30 campaign, but a new contender has already potentially emerged in the battle to implement ‘Prem Flix’ on native shores. Jeff Bezos’s recent arrival at Liverpool as a minority investor with the 1892 Holdings consortium hints at more than a vanity purchase with the Amazon mogul’s Prime Video platform successfully muscling in on Premier League and Champions League games over recent seasons. The e-commerce giant has already won over fans with its innovative yet no-nonsense coverage of the flagship competitions; offering multigame access and the option to replace banal commentary with raw crowd audio. Despite losing access to the English game, Amazon have continued to keep their hand in on live football by also offering selected Nations League matches through a pay-per-view service. An opportunity for Bezos to usurp Sky and TNT as the official home of Premier League TV coverage is likely to prove too strong to resist.

The Singapore deal proves that televised football can be made affordable and accessible to those watching through a screen; something fans in the UK continue to be told is impossible. Removing the current barriers would not only enrich the Premier League’s already sizeable cash cow but also help reduce the rise of illegal streaming by providing a viable alternative.

Until those at the top acknowledge a need to move with the times, though, the needless fleecing for the supposed 'good of the game' will continue apace.

Looking for football fixtures across the 2026/27 calendar? Look no further!

Perhaps you're simply looking for how to watch the Premier League – or maybe you'd like a full guide on the top four divisions of English football, each cup competition, Europe's top five leagues, women's competitions, or even Major League Soccer, the J.League or the Super Lig.

Well, we can help you plan your schedule with a fully interactive calendar that includes every match from the biggest competitions – and even a search bar to find the complete schedule for your team. Let's begin, shall we?

FourFourTwo's football calendar

The 2026/27 calendar for football fixtures

View this calendar full-screen in a new tab

How to watch

There's more football than ever before: from leagues to cups, from Blighty to abroad, you just can't move for all the action – with TV guides these days resembling that famous Mitchell and Webb sketch.

With literally every second of the football presumably mattering to someone somewhere, the 2026/27 season promises to be a big one across Europe in both the men's and women's game – and FourFourTwo are your friends when it comes to all the info on where to watch all the action. Our exhaustive guide delves into the TV details for every competition that you'll find in our calendar, so there's really absolutely no excuse for ever missing another second ever again (unless, of course, it's just too much).

Wherever you're watching on Planet Earth, we've got the details you need, plus our calendar has different time zones built in for you to peruse – so you're no longer having to add or subtract hours to your team's kick-off time. And if you're a frequent flyer (or sailor, or even enjoy the EuroStar from time to time), then fear not either: we can help you catch up with all the action with a VPN. All the details below.

Remember, the best place to be first when it comes to the football schedule is our exclusive …And It's LIVE! newsletter. We kindly drop a full list of every kick-off that you'll want to invest in ahead of the weekend – plus all the quizzes, injury news, features and previews that you know and love from FourFourTwo.

The full list of football broadcasters

How to watch the Premier League

► Premier League TV guide

From 2025 until 2029, the Premier League will be split between just the two broadcasters, with a sharp increase in the number of games shown on television.

Sky Sports have the rights to 215 live games, with TNT Sports and HBO Max getting 52 games. The BBC's Match of the Day retains the rights to the highlights.

► These are the cheapest ways to watch the Premier League this season

How to watch the English Football League

Until 2029, Sky Sports will be the sole broadcaster of the English Football League – the Championship, League One and League Two – showing over 1,000 matches from the three divisions a season, including the play-offs.

ITV has the rights for the highlights.

How to watch the Scottish Premiership

The Scottish Premiership is available to watch across two broadcasters until the current television deal ends in 2029.

There are 60 live Premiership matches available to watch on Sky Sports, with 20 pre-split matches (and six post-split) per season on Premier Sports. Premier Sports also get coverage of the Scottish Cup.

Select Scottish Cup games are on the BBC, too.

How to watch the Women's Super League

In October 2024, it was announced that Sky Sports and the BBC would share the coverage of the Women's Super League, in the first long-term agreement of its kind for women's football in England.

Sky have the lion's share, with 163 live matches broadcast, with the BBC taking 19.

How to watch the FA Cup

The FA Cup is continuing on non-terrestrial television and will be shown via TNT Sports and HBO Max.

While ITV no longer hold any rights, however, the BBC have entered into a new agreement as the free-to-air broadcaster of the competition, showing 14 games – which includes two live matches from each round through to the quarter-finals, one semi-final and the final.

The FA Cup Final is one of 10 events reserved for live broadcast on UK terrestrial television under the Ofcom Code on Sports and Other Listed and Designated Events.

How to watch the League Cup

The League Cup is available to watch across Sky Sports' platforms: a select few games are available to watch on the Sky Sports Football channel, with the rest streamable on Sky Sports+.

A select few games are available to watch free-to-air on ITV, following the broadcaster showing the final last year in conjunction with Sky.

How to watch the Women's FA Cup and League Cup

The Women's FA Cup will be broadcast across TNT Sports and Channel 4 with 25 matches shown live across the season.

Sky and BBC are broadcasters of the Women's League Cup although we have no confirmation on how many games will be shown.

How to watch the Champions League

In the UK, the Champions League is largely broadcast on TNT Sports, which is available on television and via the HBO Max app, with one game every Tuesday available to watch on Amazon Prime.

The highlights show for the competition is shown on BBC One.

Watch the Champions League for FREE in Ireland

Every Champions League game live in the US and Australia

How to watch the Europa League and Conference League

TNT Sports have the rights to both the Europa League and the Conference League, with all games from both competitions available to watch on television and via the HBO Max app.

How to watch the Nations League

The Nations League broadcaster depends on which home nation you're looking to watch.

After Channel 4's tenure of covering the England men's national team, the Nations League returns to ITV Sport for the Three Lions this season. The BBC will broadcast games for Northern Ireland and Scotland, while S4C will show Wales.

How to watch the Lionesses

England women's national team matches are live and exclusive to ITV Sport, just as the men's are.

How to watch Ligue 1

The French top-tier is available via a bespoke Ligue 1 pass, available to those in the United Kingdom, with added content such as highlights packages and episodes dedicated to iconic former players, season reviews and the best of Ligue 2.

DAZN shows the Coupe de France.

How to watch the Bundesliga

In the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, the Bundesliga is broadcast on Sky Sports, with the BBC getting the rights to Friday night games.

The premium fixture of each weekend is shown live every Saturday at 5.30pm on Sky Sports Football, as an alternative to the teatime kick-off in the Premier League.

Premier Sports shows the Pokal.

How to watch Serie A

For the 2026/27 season, you can watch Serie A on DAZN with select games on TNT Sports via HBO Max. Premier Sports is your place for the Coppa.

How to watch La Liga

The La Liga television rights in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland are held by Premier Sports, who broadcast the competition on their LaLigaTV platform, with over 340+ matches available online and on television.

In addition to this, one match per week from the 2026/27 season will be shown on Disney+. The platform will show a Saturday night fixture.

In the US, ESPN is the home of La Liga.

How to watch the Primeira Liga, Eredivisie, Belgian Pro League and the Super Lig

The Primeira Liga, Eredivisie, Belgian Pro League and Super Lig are all broadcaster on Triller TV.

How to watch the MLS

All Major League Soccer matches are available to watch on Apple TV+ around the world.

How to watch the J-League

The J-League is available to watch on YouTube, with four matches broadcasted per week.

How to watch the A-League

Australia's men's A-League coverage is available to watch in the United Kingdom on TNT Sports and HBO Max.

How to watch the NWSL

Selected NWSL matches are available to watch on TNT Sports and HBO Max in the United Kingdom, with all other fixtures on NSWL+.

We recommend VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example: 1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service). 2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad. We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.

Real Madrid begin their La Liga campaign on Saturday – for the first time since 2013, they’ll be under the management of Jose Mourinho.

The Portuguese boss previously spent three years at the Bernabeu, winning the league in 2012, during a time when Barcelona had both Pep Guardiola and Lionel Messi.

After a spell at Benfica last term, Mourinho was reappointed this summer by Florentino Perez, who believes he could be the man to turn things around after a difficult couple of seasons for Real Madrid.

Real Madrid great gives his verdict

Former Bernabeu favourite Steve McManaman works as a co-commentator and analyst for Disney+, who will screen Real Madrid’s opening match at Espanyol this weekend.

McManaman is fascinated by the club’s decision to rehire Mourinho, and is sure it will make the La Liga season an entertaining one.

“He’s going to have to do well,” McManaman told FFT. “That’s why he’s been brought back – it’s as simple as that, he’s got one job, and that job is to finish above Barcelona.

“With all respect to Atletico Madrid, Villarreal etc, the team they need to beat is Barcelona. They’re the strongest side, so that’s his job – to usurp them. Challenging for the Champions League is secondary.

“Hansi Flick has done the most incredible job since he’s been at Barcelona – they’re starting to get their finances in an upward trajectory, Camp Nou will bring in more and more people, therefore helping their financial situation, and with the signing of one of the world’s best players in Rodri, that will strengthen them as well, as will Anthony Gordon.

“It will be a hell of a La Liga season – it’ll be fireworks all around, watching Jose and everybody.”

Real Madrid have spent heavily to add the likes of Yan Diomande and Marc Cucurella to their squad, but Barcelona have won the title in each of the past two seasons, and McManaman knows Perez cannot afford that to happen again.

“There was a lot of criticism about them last year and they have to turn it around,” he says.

“Either you win things, or you don’t and you’re losers, aren’t you? It’s as simple as that. When it’s as cut and dry and as black and white as it is in Spain, when it’s Real Madrid and Barça, if your main rivals win, it’s a disaster.

“So it’s up to Real Madrid to sort themselves out and try to come strong. It’s going to be a hell of a contest this year.

“Barcelona were excellent last year and for all their frailties – you saw them at times and thought ‘How on earth can they keep winning?’, because they let in a number of goals – the proof is in the pudding. They’ve been winning and they’ve been successful.

“The only blot on their campaign was their loss to Atletico Madrid in the Champions League, and that was circumstances, red cards etc.

“Bringing in Rodri, he will be the metronome, they’ve got the Pedris and the like around him and a new quick forward line with Lamine Yamal and Anthony Gordon, as well as Rafinha, that’s exciting.

“Expect lots of goals in La Liga this year, and fantastic football, certainly between the top two.

“I don’t want to keep saying the top two because hopefully you want to see Atletico, Villarreal and other teams challenging, but the two biggest teams have invested more than anybody this summer and look as if they’re going to be streets clear.”

ESPN on Disney+ is home to live LALIGA action every Saturday night, bringing the best of Spanish football to fans across the UK

West Ham United look set to miss out on top summer transfer target Troy Parrott after negotiations with AZ Alkmaar stalled, according to reports from talkSPORT.

The Hammers had been in active discussions with the Dutch club over a deal for the Republic of Ireland international.

However, talks broke down after West Ham failed to meet AZ Alkmaar's valuation for the 24-year-old forward. The required fee would have made Parrott one of the most expensive signings in Championship history following West Ham's relegation from the Premier League.

West Ham pass on Troy Parrott transfer

LaLiga outfit Real Betis have emerged as new frontrunners, with the Hammers unable to compete with the level of football on offer in Seville.

The Spanish side are closing in on a €20m (£17m) deal to sign the former Tottenham Hotspur striker, with negotiations entering their final stages. Betis, who qualified for Champions League football after finishing fifth in LaLiga, can offer Parrott elite European competition and top flight football.

This summer's transfer pursuit follows a transformation in Parrott’s career since moving to the Netherlands.

After a productive loan spell at Excelsior where he scored 17 goals in all competitions, he completed a permanent transfer to AZ Alkmaar and quickly established himself as one of the more dangerous forwards in Dutch football.

Parrott enjoyed a prolific 2025/26 campaign in the Netherlands, registering 31 goals and 10 assists across 48 appearances in all competitions for AZ Alkmaar, including 16 goals in the Eredivisie.

Parrott’s club form was matched by headline-grabbing exploits for the national team last autumn, which saw him become a household name across Europe.

During Ireland's dramatic World Cup qualifying campaign, Parrott scored a hat-trick against Hungary that included a 96th-minute winner to secure a 3-2 victory.

Having been gazumped in their pursuit of Parrott, West Ham have turned their attentions to alternative attacking targets to lead their Championship promotion bid, bringing in Joel Piroe from Leeds United on an initial season-long loan deal.

The Hammers began their 2026/27 campaign with a Carabao Cup win over Portsmouth, followed by a 2-2 draw against Burnley in the league.

Meanwhile, Parrott is expected to finalise his move to Seville in the coming days.

It has been nothing short of a meteoric ascent for Yan Diomande. Over the past 17 months, he has made his professional debut for Leganes, joined RB Leipzig for €20 million, competed in the Africa Cup of Nations, won the Bundesliga Rookie of the Season award, and now joined one of the biggest clubs in the world: Real Madrid.

This summer, Diomande made his presence felt on the biggest stage, delivering a Man of the Match display in a win over Ecuador at the World Cup. He assisted Ivory Coast's opening goal against Curacao, too, as the African nation qualified for the World Cup knockouts for the firrst time in their history.

For most people around the world, the 2026 World Cup was the first time they'd caught a glimpse of Diomande's potential. But as far as Todd Eason is concerned, Diomande's talent has been on display ever since he first landed in the USA four years ago.

"[In terms of the best players that I've coached], I think Diomande is by far the highest," Eason stated in an exclusive FourFourTwo interview. "I've never had the opportunity to see a player of this level, let alone work with. He was at an extremely high level when he came to us at 15 years old, and it was a real joy to have that opportunity to work with him for a while.

"As Diomande got acclimated to the country, you could really see that he was starting to take off and get comfortable, and then the talent just kept coming out of him," Eason, who worked as DME Academy's Director of Soccer from 2021 to 2024, added. "He's probably the most talented player I've worked with, and I still don't think we've seen everything that he's capable of doing."

When he was 9 years old, Diomande left home and moved over 100km away and joined Académie Inter Foot Sud Comoé, where he finally started playing with a pair of cleats. Six years later, he left the Ivory Coast and embarked on a solo, one-way journey to Florida, where he joined DME Academy in Daytona Beach.

Despite a language barrier and homesickness, Diomande emerged as an attacking talisman for DME and affiliate side AS Frenzi, leading them to the 2023 United Premier Soccer League title and claiming the Playoff Golden Boot and MVP. However, he wasn't able to earn a professional contract, with Orlando City and several other European sides overlooking him.

Diomande returned to his hometown of Abidjan after his student visa expired, but it wasn't long before he was on the move again, playing for Leganes' reserves in the Spanish fifth tier before making his first-team debut at Real Madrid on March 29, 2025. After just 10 appearances for relegated Leganes, Diomande was sold to RB Leipzig for €20m, where he scored 13 and registered 10 assists in 36 appearances last season.

It has taken just one year for Leipzig to make a six-fold return on their investment, with Real Madrid spending a club-record €125m plus €15m in potential bonuses, signing him to a contract through 2033. With Rodrygo still to return from an ACL tear, all signs point to Diomande beating the likes of Brahim Díaz, Bernardo Silva, Arda Güler and Endrick for the starting spot on the right side of Real's attack.

"It's going to be a scary thing once he's in his prime," Eason said. "I don't know what that looks like, whether it's achieving certain accolades like winning the Champions League or getting Man of the Match awards.

"Those are the measurements of his ceiling to some degree, but I just think he's a sponge and continues to learn more about the game and put himself in situations where he's going to be successful. I'm excited to see what he continues to evolve into. It’s hard to say what his ceiling is, but he's going to be on the team that is going to be demanding that ceiling.

"When he was with me, we would play games, and luckily, my team was solid enough that it wasn't all Diomande, but it was a good portion of it," Eason added, now General Manager of USL Championship side Miami FC. "But he would play the game and do whatever he had to to be successful in that game, and I had the task of finding opponents that would challenge my team more."

"As we did that, we were going from playing little regional youth club teams to MLS Academy teams to college teams, and Diomande was still excelling against all of those teams. He was the best player on the field every time he played here, so we needed to start playing against professional teams. That's when we started playing MLS Next Pro teams and winning those games. It's like, 'Holy cow, for a high school team to be beating pro clubs, and it's because of Dio...what is his ceiling?"

Is Yan Diomande a good signing for Real Madrid? Tell us in the comments

The La Liga 2026/27 season is here and it promises to be a cracker, as Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho resumes hostilities with reigning champions Barcelona 13 years on from his first spell in the Spanish capital. It is an exciting time for Spanish football after the national side added the World Cup to their European Championship crown this summer, and FourFourTwo has all the broadcast information you need to watch every game live.

Mourinho's return to Madrid has grabbed the headlines ahead of the new season, as 'The Special One' aims to rediscover the aura that has made him one of the most talked-about managers in world football over the last 25 years. The Portuguese, 63, arrives with the same brief as he had when he began his first spell in 2010: knock Barcelona off top spot. The Catalan club have won the last two La Liga titles, so Mourinho must get the best out of superstars such as Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham and take back the trophy.

Away from the two heavyweights, Villarreal and Atletico Madrid will aim to consolidate their position in the Champions League places after top-five finishes last term, while Real Betis must juggle their domestic action with competing in Europe's top competition for the first time since 2005. The three promoted clubs - Deportivo La Coruna, Racing Santander and Malaga - all have La Liga pedigree which could make for another incredibly close season, after five points separated half of the league last term.

In this guide, we'll show you how to watch La Liga live streams in the UK, US, and around the world, and how you can use a VPN to tune in while you're abroad.

• Read More: How to watch Carabao Cup 2026/27: TV Guide, Free Streams & Fixtures

Can you watch La Liga for free?

CazéTV on YouTube in Brazil have entered into a sub licensing agreement with ESPN meaning select La Liga games will be available for free.

Outside of Brazil? You need a VPN to unlock your stream — find out more below.

How to watch La Liga from anywhere

Chances are you'll find yourself overseas when some La Liga games are taking place, but does that mean you have to miss the action? No, it doesn't... a VPN will ensure you get your coverage from anywhere.

La Liga live streams are geo-restricted on all streaming services, but a VPN (Virtual Private Network) is a neat way around this, unpicking the geo-locks by altering your device's digital location. It's great for accessing your usual streaming services while on the move, and it does wonders for your internet security, too.

NordVPN is the best, so say our good friends across the office at TechRadar.

How to watch La Liga in the UK

The La Liga television rights in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland are held by Premier Sports, who broadcast the competition on their LaLigaTV platform.

Premier Sports will show more than 340 games this season online and on television, while one fixture per week will be shown on Disney+, just like in 2025/26.

How to watch La Liga in the US

In the US, ESPN Select is the home of La Liga, with all 380 matches available live in English and Spanish.

ESPN Deportes will present at least 200 games for fans who want Spanish-language coverage. Meanwhile, at least 20 matches will also be presented on linear TV across ABC, ESPN and ESPN2.

How to watch La Liga in Australia

Fans in Australia can watch every La Liga match this season live on beIN SPORTS, with all games available on the beIN SPORTS Connect streaming platform.

Plans start from $15.99 a month or $159.99 a year, where you can take advantage of a one-week free trial.

Other La Liga live streams around the world

As one of the biggest leagues in the world, it is no surprise that La Liga is popular across the planet. You can watch La Liga live streams in dozens of countries - here are a few providers in select locations:

Africa

BeIN SPORTS has the rights in MENA countries (Middle East and North Africa), while SuperSport is the official broadcast partner in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Canada

TSN and RDS share the rights to La Liga live streams in Canada.

Hong Kong

Viewers in Hong Kong can tune into La Liga action on Now Sports.

New Zealand

beIN SPORTS is your destination to watch La Liga 2026/27 in New Zealand.

South Africa

La Liga fans in South Africa can watch all the action via subscription service SuperSport and on free-to-air Sporty TV.

What are the La Liga 2026/27 key dates?

The 2026/27 La Liga season starts on Saturday, August 15, with Alaves vs Getafe and Sevilla vs Rayo Vallecano the only games on the opening day.

It's a staggered start to the campaign, with Real Madrid and Barcelona not playing their opening matches until the following weekend. Los Blancos begin at Espanyol on Saturday, August 22, while the Catalans kick-off their title defence at Elche 24 hours later.

The season ends on Sunday, May 30, 2027.

We recommend VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example:1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service).2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad.We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.

Barcelona could be forced back into the transfer market following a training ground setback for young forward Roony Bardghji.

The Swedish international is reported to have sustained a serious knee injury during a training session, leaving the pitch in pain, raising fears of a lengthy, layoff.

In light of the sudden blow, the Catalan giants may now reignite their interest in Manchester United star Marcus Rashford.

Marcus Rashford back to Barcelona? Maybe

Rashford spent the 2025/26 campaign on loan at Spotify Camp Nou, offering attacking depth across Hansi Flick’s forward line.

Although Barcelona held an option to sign the England international permanently at the conclusion of the loan, they ultimately chose not to exercise the buyout clause earlier in the summer transfer window, instead signing Anthony Gordon from Newcastle United.

However, Rashford’s long-term future back at Old Trafford remains uncertain. His relationship with sections of the Manchester United fanbase has become strained in recent seasons, leaving both the player and the club open to a parting of ways before the transfer deadline.

Bringing in Rashford would not be a direct like-for-like replacement for Bardghji. The Swedish youngster typically operates as a winger on the right-hand side, whereas Rashford does his best work cutting inward off the left.

Nevertheless, adding the 28-year-old back into the squad would grant Flick tactical flexibility.

With new signing Gordon likely to start on the left, signing Rashford would allow Los Cules the option to deploy both Englishmen together on opposite sides, giving Spain World Cup star Lamine Yamal a rest after a long summer of international football.

Rashford arriving once more, potentially on loan, would offer much-needed insurance should Yamal suffer an injury.

Given Barcelona's tight financial constraints and the timing of Bardghji's injury, an outright purchase of Rashford appears less likely.

Instead, Barcelona could attempt to arrange another season-long loan deal with Man United rather than buying him outright, which would be a considerable outlay they have previously baulked at.

When reports first surfaced linking Arsenal with a move for Real Madrid’s Vinicius Júnior, eyes widened across North London and further afield.

Signing one of world football’s best wingers would be the ultimate statement of intent for a club keen to build on their recent Premier League success.

But strip away supporters' excitement over transfer rumours and examine the realities of modern transfer sagas, and a very different picture emerges.

Vinicius Jr. knows how to work the Real Madrid boardroom

It is this writer's opinion that Arsenal are not on the verge of landing a Real Madrid superstar.

Instead they're being used as a pawn in a game of contract poker with eye-watering stakes.

The core of this drama lies in the ongoing contract negotiations at the Santiago Bernabeu.

According to reports from ESPN, Real Madrid recently presented Vinicius with a fresh extension offer worth approximately €22 million per year. For Vinicius, this fell short of expectations, leading to another round of contract talks.

The 26-year-old Brazilian international is said to have rejected the proposal, with his representatives holding out for a total package closer to €30m annually, to reflect his standing alongside football's top earners and importance at Real Madrid.

Enter Arsenal.

Reports of Mikel Arteta’s interest and the Gunners' theoretical willingness to make Vinicius the highest-paid player in their history have naturally made headlines - he would be the Premier League's marquee summer signing.

But while Arsenal are undeniably ambitious, the notion that the Emirates hierarchy would blow apart their wage structure to offer in excess of the €22 million proposed by Real Madrid is fanciful.

Arsenal have built their recent success on smart financial discipline; destroying that wage balance for a single arrival would undermine a lot that Arteta has built during his seven years in charge.

The public narrative of Arsenal links growing increasingly credible couldn't be more conveniently timed for Vinicius' camp.

With just 12 months remaining on his current contract, Real Madrid face time pressure to reach a solution that satisfies all parties. This window represents the club's final realistic opportunity to command an above-market transfer fee for their star man before risking a cut-price deal or losing him for free next summer.

Florentino Perez and the Madrid board know they are backed into a corner: sign the extension or watch a prime asset walk next summer.

In modern transfer sagas, a mega-club’s public interest is the ultimate bargaining chip, and Vinicius evidently knows how to play the room.

Keeping Arsenal’s interest front and centre, and highly publicised, Vinicius and his representatives are generating maximum leverage for ongoing contract talks. The threat of the Premier League champions waiting in the wings forces Real Madrid’s hand, nudging them closer to bending towards that €30m figure.

Real Madrid clearly do not subscribe to football’s adage about never going back.

Second honeymoons are a common occurrence for Real Madrid, with 13 of the 52 managers appointed as either interim or permanent hires in the club’s 116-year history afforded returns, some multiple times. Nearly half of that figure, including the likes of Carlo Ancelotti and Zinedine Zidane, did so across the previous three decades alone.

Such romanticism is particularly on brand for a club nicknamed ‘La Casa Blanca’ with a familiar face back in the Bernabeu’s dugout considered more of a hallmark than a habit.

A third 'do-over' for the Special One

Jose Mourinho is the latest beneficiary of a homecoming in the Spanish capital, 13 years after his original spell ended in acrimony. Attempting to finish what he started is a recurring pattern in the Portuguese’s coaching career, with Madrid becoming the third club he has managed more than once after do-over spells with Benfica and Chelsea.

Still, it was a move which raised eyebrows, just months since clashing with his former employers over the alleged racist abuse of Vinicius Junior by Gianluca Prestianni in the second leg of February’s tempestuous Champions League knockout round play-off tie.

Even before that controversy, little love had been lost during Mourinho’s near decade-and-a-half away. His Bernabeu afterlife became a source of derision as much as intrigue. In 2018, fresh from Manchester United’s Champions League exit to Sevilla, Madrid-based daily sports newspaper MARCA likened him to ‘a washed-up rock star, one of those guys who goes around holiday hotels for pensioners, playing old hits on an organ with the base and percussion playing on a tape recorder’. As similes go, there have been fewer more damning for the now sexagenarian ‘Special One’.

Los Blancos witnessed the beginning of his villain arc and, arguably, its most volatile state in a three-year period where just one LaLiga title and a Copa del Rey constituted major silverware. Unlike the redux periods of Ancelotti and Zidane, president Florentino Perez staked a successful re-election campaign on lightning not striking twice with the two-time European champion’s second coming as he is again tasked with halting Barcelona’s latest period of domestic dominance.

But the signs already appear ominous. The Catalans cantered to last season’s title with an eight-point cushion which would have reached double figures had Hansi Flick’s side not taken their foot off the gas in two of the final three games after seeing off their arch-rivals in the latest El Clasico meeting. Confidence remains high that they can secure further bragging rights against Madrid with the teams all-square on 106 victories apiece in their regular contests while Barca could soon equal, and even overtake, their foes’ previously unparalleled haul of 105 major honours after moving to within two with their 29th title success.

Mourinho, meanwhile, inherits a squad devoid of confidence and discipline as evidenced by the unedifying end of Xabi Alonso’s brief tenure and a stumble to the finish line with his interim replacement Alvaro Arbeloa. The advancement of Father Time also has done little to dim his abrasive tendencies which reared an ugly head in his first spell. High-profile fallouts with Cristiano Ronaldo, Iker Casillas and Sergio Ramos pockmarked the end of that tenure as he openly lampooned Perez’s vision for a team of ‘Zidanes y Pavones’, mixing stars such as Zidane with homegrown talents like Paco Pavon. In one fractious press conference, he savaged youngster Pedro Leon – one of Pavon’s successors as inferior to both ‘Zizou’ and Diego Maradona.

Hindsight suggests that Mourinho would have done well to endear himself to a more impressionable crop of players instead of an already powerful dressing room clique. A cursory glance at Madrid’s early summer business follows a similar theme to that dynamic with Bernardo Silva, newly minted World Cup winner Marc Cucurella and Ibrahima Konate among the strong personalities that Mourinho will need to bring on side at their Valdebebas training base. There is also the small matter of ingratiating himself with Vinicius after suggesting he had provoked the racist abuse he routinely suffers, even if the imminent arrival of Yan Diomande has seemingly put the writing on the wall for the Brazilian’s long-term future.

He is, at least, hoping a break from some old habits will avoid past mistakes. Mourinho has already turned down a formal media unveiling, which previously guaranteed a box-office entrance and soundbites aplenty. Shunning the flashbulbs has seen him instead working diligently on the training pitches with the club’s less established players while their household teammates were toiling at the World Cup earlier this summer.

The only utterances that Madridistas have heard from their new manager came in the form of a bite-sized social media clip on the club’s official channels during which he insisted ‘Words aren’t enough, because this feels like a mission. This isn’t about me or whether I win, more or less. I’m here to help everybody become better.’

Mourinho knows that Madrid will be his last big job in elite-level management, having only attracted offers from Roma, Fenerbahce and Benfica after his last spell in the Premier League ended in all-too-familiar fashion five years ago. Failure is not an option but he is likely to have little choice with the deck already stacked against him.

Spain’s players will kick off the 2026-27 season as world champions for the second time in 16 years and the opportunity to sign them could be too tempting for the biggest clubs to refuse.

Real Madrid suffered the ignominy of a Spain squad being named for the World Cup without a single one of their players. Marc Cucurella subsequently joined from Chelsea and Real Madrid president Florentino Perez appears to be willing to add at least one more.

Recent reports indicate that the capital club have agreed terms with Spain’s captain and the World Cup Golden Ball winner, but doubts remain over the possible transfer.

‘Little substance’ in Rodri to Real Madrid rumours

Manchester City midfielder Rodri has been heavily linked with a return to Spain to join Los Blancos. According to TEAMtalk, Rodri has decided to leave the Premier League and prefers a move to Real Madrid.

“Sources with knowledge of the situation have told us that the Spain international has decided he wants to embark on a new challenge,” reports Graeme Bailey.

“Rodri believes he still has plenty to offer at the highest level and feels the opportunity to join Real Madrid has come at the right stage of his career.”

Yet while the prospect of the 30-year-old lining up in a white shirt in August appears to be coming into view, doubts are emerging in Madrid.

AS reports that a deal is far from done and that club sources have been clear that there is ‘little substance’ to claims that Rodri and Real Madrid have already agreed on terms.

“Club officials grew frustrated by the repeated use of Madrid’s name despite there being no contact between the parties,” writes Jose Felix Diaz. “Sources indicate that Madrid executives even reached out to their counterparts at City to deny the alleged discussions.

Rodri, the 2024 Ballon d’Or winner, is admired by senior figures at Real Madrid but AS suggests that one in particular plans to shape the team in a way that casts doubt on the viability of a move for the former Villarreal and Atletico Madrid midfielder.

Real Madrid returned to a familiar face to succeed Alvaro Arbeloa as manager. Jose Mourinho is back after three seasons in charge at the Bernabeu between 2010 and 2013, and his appointment could be the biggest obstacle between Rodri and a move back to Spain.

“Mourinho’s Madrid is currently moving toward a different footballing model, one that is less possession-oriented and less dependent on the kind of cerebral, controlling midfield presence Rodri provides,” reports Diaz.

“That said, the club continues to hold the Spain international in the highest regard.”

Real Madrid have been active in the transfer market this summer after two trophyless seasons.

Cucurella and Inter Milan right-back Denzel Dumfries have both been acquired for fees along with the free transfers of ex-Liverpool central defender Ibrahima Konate and Bernardo Silva, Rodri’s former teammate at the Etihad Stadium.

Had qualification for the World Cup been decided by population, Spain would only just have made it for the past seven tournaments. Ranked 31st by that metric, they lag behind Myanmar, Sudan and Colombia – plus England, for that matter.

Instead, their men’s and women’s teams both currently sit top of the FIFA rankings, having now won three World Cups and three Euros between them.

No country consistently produces as many exceptional players as Spain, so FourFourTwo flew to the Canary Islands to find out exactly why, and try to spot the players who’ll help them dominate the globe once more a decade from now.

Futures Bright (and on TV)

We’re in Las Palmas for La Liga’s latest FC Futures tournament – several of the events take place throughout the year, and this one is particularly prestigious, welcoming all of Spain’s biggest clubs and others from across Europe to Gran Canaria each winter.

Despite it being an under 13s tournament, all three days are shown live on the sports channel of RTVE, Spain’s equivalent of the BBC, plus DAZN, YouTube and other platforms. This year it’s been switched to the 32,000-capacity home of UD Las Palmas, currently pencilled in to host matches at the 2030 World Cup. It’s hard to imagine such prominence ever being given to a youth event in the UK.

A big reason for its reverence is the list of alumni – Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Iker Casillas, Fernando Torres, Gerard Pique and Lamine Yamal are just a few of the greats who once shone at the tournament. If you want to see the next Spanish superstar, this is the event to watch.

That’s a great source of pride for former journalist Jose Ramon de la Morena, who founded the tournament in 1992, when it took place on the outskirts of Madrid. He’s seen it grow to a status he never imagined, aided by La Liga getting on board. The fact that so many graduates of the event went on to win the World Cup with Spain in 2010 is something he remains emotional about.

“I still feel it,” he tells FFT. “All those players who were champions in South Africa, they all played in this tournament. I can still picture Iniesta when he was nine years old – we chose him as the best player at the tournament. A great friendship was born – I followed him when he was 10, 12, 14, then 16, when they took him to train with the first team in Barcelona. Then I saw him become a world champion, and I’m still friends with him now. Great pride.”

Launching the tournament wasn’t easy. “We didn’t have money, and I had to put my own in,” he explains. “We had to prepare the field ourselves, there was no advertising, nothing. The first two or three years were difficult, then we started broadcasting it and things worked out. Canal Plus started taking care of everything.

“When we started, it was just after the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, so a lot of facilities had been created in the country, and there was a very good climate for sports. We came up with the idea of this championship for children – for a few days, they felt like professional footballers, because it was on TV, and they saw themselves in the newspapers, and they started to grow and grow.”

Not that things went smoothly for every future superstar at the tournament. “Iker Casillas was very good, but one year he didn’t play,” De la Morena remembers. “Real Madrid came to train at the field where the tournament was being played, and they saw a kid, the son of a local petrol station employee, who was playing as a goalkeeper. They told us ‘Hey, we want to try out that kid’, so that kid played instead of Casillas. Later, Casillas came to me with his father. His mother was very angry and told me ‘You’ve blocked my son’.”

Thankfully, when he sees Casillas these days, they’re able to joke about it. “I had nothing to do with him not playing, but he still doesn’t forgive me, he’d been very excited to play in that tournament, he still says it was my fault!” De la Morena chuckles.

The founder remembers Yamal playing in FC Futures events, too. “He was the top scorer at a tournament in Villarreal five years ago, then he played in New York and Abu Dhabi as well,” the 69-year-old says. “I remember going for a walk with all the teams alongside the Hudson River. Lamine came up to me and asked if I was going to take him to see some rap – his father had told him there was very good rap music in New York, and he should see some. I said ‘Rap? No, you’re here to play football!’ I met him again two months ago for an interview, and showed him all the goals he scored at the tournament. It was really nice to see him again.”

De la Morena breaks off to take a call from David Villa, whose son Luca is playing for Atletico Madrid in the latest tournament. The former striker has phoned to accept an invitation to present the prizes at the end of the event.

We ask De La Morena if there are particular players we should watch out. “A lot,” he says. “For Atletico Madrid, a kid called Toro, and another called Mario. For Real Madrid, the number 10, Hugo Fernandez. For Barça, their number 11, Mounirou. For Inter, their number nine (Leonardo Bolzoni).”

Modric 2.0

Inter are one of six non-Spanish clubs taking part in the 16-team tournament, together with Juventus, Dortmund, Benfica, Sporting and Paris Saint-Germain, who play Real Betis in the first game we take in.

PSG have been praised for bringing through young players who helped them win the Champions League last year, but they didn’t reckon with the might of Spanish youth academies – Betis incredibly go 5-0 up inside eight minutes, aided by two goals each from forwards Ivan Calderon and Eric Villalba. Matches are seven-a-side and 12 minutes each way on a reduced-size playing surface, with Betis enthusiastically cheered on from the stand by what appear to be mum ultras, a small group who sing the entirety of the club’s official anthem in support of their sons. They eventually win 6-0, making this PSG’s most challenging visit to Spain since the Remontada.

Betis coach Edgar Agudo is delighted. “An experience like this tournament is immense for our players,” he says. “For two or three years now, they’ve been playing in tournaments – a boy who’s been at Betis since he was eight will have played many tournaments at this level. Perhaps not with this media exposure, but against this level of opponent, so they’re used to it. They’ve played a lot of seven-a-side, too, from the age of six to 12, even though they’ve been playing 11-a-side for six months now.

“At Betis, our academy is important to us, to bring players to the first team, and we’re proud that Spanish clubs are also contributing to the success of the national team. Our players were at an event yesterday where there was a presentation showing all the elite footballers who’ve passed through this tournament previously – it inspires them that there’s a path to follow.”

Juventus captain Andrea Ortoncelli impresses against Benfica – the right-back also scores and goes straight to the camera to show off the Dybala-esque hand gesture he’s prepared to celebrate. Some of these youngsters haven’t played on live TV before, and a few have devised special celebrations for the occasion – including Valencia’s Luca Sanchez, in a 3-0 win over Inter.

Atletico Madrid take on hosts Las Palmas, who are backed by a number of the most ardent fans of the club’s first team. The group make a grand entrance into the stadium banging drums and waving giant flags, then sing virtually non-stop and throw confetti, which all feels rather surreal for an under 13s tournament. They even whistle their disapproval at refereeing decisions.

Despite being the middle of winter, it’s nearly 20 degrees and more than 1,000 have been tempted into the stands – including David Villa, who’s sitting with the rest of the Atletico Madrid parents.

Barcelona beat neighbours Espanyol despite many of their players being noticeably small – there can be big height differences, with some still awaiting growth spurts. If anything, we’re most impressed by the smaller players who show talent, since they already have the technique to compete against taller opponents, and will become even better when they grow. Barca’s composed centre-back Claudio Ruiz looks like he could be one such player.

Real Madrid captain Hugo Fernandez isn’t the biggest either, but against Athletic Bilbao, we can immediately see why De la Morena mentioned him earlier – and why another of our contacts had told us to look out for him, too. The number 10’s idol is Luka Modric and he’s already got a similarly flowing mane of hair, plus many of his technical skills – albeit unlike the Croatian, he’s left-footed. He sets up one goal and scores another, while left-winger Nacho – complete with orange boots that give off a vibe that he knows he’s good – is a dangerous dribbler who delivers the most outrageous piece of skill we see all day.

Of the six overseas sides, only Juventus make it out of the group stage and into the quarter-finals, such is the strength of the Spanish teams. “Year after year, they show they’re the best,” smiles Cristina Sanchez, one of La Liga’s representatives at the event. “We have many tournaments, and the Spanish academies are the ones that really stand out.”

Dortmund coach Jannik Pleschke has been impressed. “You can tell that Spanish teams live football in a very special way,” he says. “Every team has players who’ve stood out for their dribbling, skills and solutions in pressure situations. They produce many footballers who have a high understanding of the game and are artists with the ball.

“Seven of the teams in the quarter-finals are Spanish, and that’s partly also because they defend well. It’s a highlight for us to compete at this level with top international opponents – it’s great experience for our team.”

“Our best generation ever”

In the quarter-finals, rangy right winger Aly Nestor Fofana shows plenty of ability as Villarreal beat Espanyol, but the beaten side have still relished being part of the tournament. “It’s been fun, we’ve had a very good time,” says dreadlocked defender Max Novas, after Espanyol invite us to speak to two of their players. “It’s been my first time in the Canary Islands – I was very motivated to come here to play in such an important tournament,” adds midfielder Issa Sigue.

They’re both understandably shy – this is more or less their first time speaking to any type of media, and talking to them reminds us just how young the footballers at this tournament are, even though they’ve spent the day playing and behaving like impressive mini professionals. “The coaches at Villarreal have been teaching me a lot,” explains Yellow Submarine midfielder Raul Perez. “My dream is to be a professional player, and to win this tournament.”

Atletico Madrid join them in the semi-finals after victory over Juventus, when talented dribbler Viti deploys his hammer of a left foot to smash home a goal from outside the box. Goalkeeper Inigo even scores, giving the ball an old-fashioned punt upfield and seeing it bounce over the head of his opposite number.

Barcelona lose a penalty shoot-out to Valencia, then Betis goalkeeper Gaby Oseremen Anorh is in tears at the end of their quarter-final with Real Madrid, after he can only parry a shot into the path of Modric lookalike Fernandez, who tucks away a difficult chance with aplomb for the only goal of the game. “That kid’s got aura,” another pitchside journalist remarks of the goalscorer – Thibaut Courtois regen Andres Estaire had previously thwarted Betis with several fine saves.

In the semi-finals, our interviewee Raul Perez does a panenka for the decisive spot kick as Villarreal beat Valencia on penalties, then David Villa’s son scores as Real Madrid are eliminated by city rivals Atletico, prompting a beaming smile from his dad in the stand.

In true Atleti fashion, they win the final 1-0, after Jaime’s solitary goal. Delighted at the result, and wearing an Atletico shirt underneath his hoodie, Villa strides on to the pitch to present the champions’ dribbling king Viti with the tournament’s MVP award. Real Madrid’s Modric 2.0 gets the top scorer honour, with Valencia’s Ibai Garcia named the best goalkeeper.

Finalists Villarreal must content themselves with runners-up medals, but it’s all part of a learning process that coach Paco Peris hopes will lead some of them to the club’s senior side one day. “We sign players at a very young age, because it gives them time to develop within our training model, and we’re a club who promote a lot of players to the first team,” he says.

Why have Villarreal and Spain had so much success with bringing players through to senior level? “Because of their quality, and because we trust them,” Peris adds. “When they’re good enough, trust your players, give them opportunities.”

Tournament founder De la Morena is confident that Spain’s conveyor belt of quality footballers will continue, based on what he’s seen here. “We have probably the worst generation of politicians we’ve had in years, but the best generation of footballers we’ve ever had, and over a prolonged period too,” he smiles.

The players we’ve seen in Gran Canaria won’t be ready for the 2030 World Cup on home soil, but given that this event gathered together all of the best under-13 footballers in the country, it would be little surprise if at least one or two of them are representing La Roja by the time 2034 comes around.

Spain have climate advantages that allow them to play tournaments all year round – even three-day tournaments on Las Palmas’ home pitch, without severely damaging it – but they’re the envy of the world right now when it comes to youth development, and with good reason.

In 10 years’ time, one can only guess at the total financial value of the players we’ve just witnessed.

Manchester United have made midfield their priority in the summer transfer window so far as they prepare for a first full season under Michael Carrick and a return to the Champions League.

The Red Devils have already signed Andrey Santos from Chelsea and Youri Tielemans from Aston Villa for a combined fee of around £83m.

And it appears they have their eye on another top quality midfielder following Casemiro’s departure, and a serious knee injury for Manuel Ugarte.

Play our FREE match predictor below and win £1k

United interested in Camavinga

According to the Daily Mail, Real Madrid could allow Eduardo Camavinga to leave the club this summer amid reported interest from United and rivals Manchester City.

The report claims United want to target “more conservatively priced options” after spending big on Santos and Tielemans.

Much will depend, then, on Real Madrid’s potential asking price for Camavinga, who has spent five seasons with Los Blancos after arriving as a highly-regarded teenager from Rennes in 2021.

The 23-year-old, who missed out on France’s squad for the World Cup, reportedly wants to remain at the Bernabeu, but Real Madrid could look to sell to facilitate more incoming transfers.

City are interested, too, but are said to be prioritising a move for Lille's Ayyoub Bouaddi, who at 18 was one of the standout players at the World Cup with Morocco.

If United do not do a deal to sign Camavinga, they have also been linked with Roma midfielder Manu Kone, who caught the eye in his five appearances for France at the World Cup.

Fabrizio Romano has claimed that United have called Kone’s representatives to discuss terms over a potential deal.

United have reportedly shortlisted “several options” as they hunt for a defensive-minded midfielder to complete their rebuild in the middle of the pitch.

Their pursuit of Atalanta midfielder Ederson appears to have failed, though, with Romano claiming that deal is off, having seemingly been done before the World Cup.

Lionel Messi turned 39 this summer, but shows no signs of slowing down as he continues to impress in the twilight of his career.

Currently playing at his sixth World Cup, having made his tournament debut back in 2006, he could be on course to win it back-to-back, while also potentially claiming the golden boot.

And that's barely even the tip of the iceberg of Messi's astonishing career, in which he has shone both at club and international level.

Play our FREE match predictor and win £1k 

Messi has won 46 trophies during a glittering career

Lionel Messi was born in Rosario, Santa Fe Province, Argentina on June 24, 1987.

After starting out at Argentine club Newell's Old Boys, he moved to Barcelona aged 14 after his father convinced then first-team director Carles Rexach to write a contract on a napkin.

It would prove to be an inspired move, with Messi staying at the Catalan giants for 21 years in total, becoming their all-time top goalscorer, winning 10 La Liga trophies, seven Copa del Rey, seven Supercopa de Espana, four Champions Leagues, three UEFA Super Cups and three club world cups.

He finally left the Camp Nou in 2021, when he joined French giants PSG, where he claimed three trophies, including two league titles and a Trophee des Champions.

However, after two seasons, he moved again to Inter Miami where he has guided them to an MLS Cup, a Supporters' Shield and a Leagues Cup, scoring 90 goals and providing 51 assists in 104 matches.

In his later years, it has been his international exploits that have made headlines more than his club football.

In the last five years, he has picked up four international trophies, including the 2022 World Cup, two Copa Americas and a Finalissima, although some people don't count the latter as a particularly noteworthy cup.

As an individual he is the most decorated player of all time and has won the Ballon D'or a record eight times, including four years in a row from 2009-2021.

He could claim a second World Cup this summer, with Argentina in the quarter finals of the 2026 North American tournament.

He's currently the top scorer too, with eight goals from five games.

Real Madrid are reportedly stepping up their efforts to sign Michael Olise.

Michael Olise has been on Real Madrid's radar throughout this summer as they aim to launch Jose Mourinho's second spell in charge with a marquee signing.

The Spanish giants are in the midst of a summer recruitment spree with four high-profile additions already winging their way to the Bernabeu in a matter of weeks.

Play our FREE match predictor and win £1k

Real Madrid's world-record Michael Olise package revealed

Marc Cucurella, Bernardo Silva, Ibrahima Konate and Denzel Dumfries have all signed up with Los Blancos since president Florentino Perez's re-election.

However Bayern Munich winger Olise was a cornerstone of Perez's manifesto to stay in power for a 23rd combined year across two spells in the Spanish capital.

Although the Madrid figurehead did not publicly name the France international, the club has been forced to publicly dispute suggestions of talk with the player's camp.

Bayern president Herbert Hainer echoed that by insisting the only contact he received from Madrid was to deny allegations of any behind-the-scenes contact.

Hainer also cautioned Perez that he can 'save himself the effort' if he did have an offer in mind for Olise amid claims of a €150 million offer to tempt the Bavarians.

But fresh reports suggest that last season's La Liga runner-up are now planning to put together an eye-watering financial package for the ex-Crystal Palace star.

According to Fichajes, Madrid will table a proposal of €190 million with a further €30 million which would take the deal close to the existing world-record transfer fee.

Neymar continues to hold the title as football's costliest ever player following his €222 million switch from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain in summer 2017.

Olise is in the throes of his best-ever season with Bayern in which he racked up 25 goals and 28 assists in 57 appearances to win his second Bundesliga title.

The 24-year-old remains in with a strong chance of winning the World Cup after France reached the quarter-final stage, where they will take on Morocco.

As fans might have expected, Group H's opening fixture contained endless waves of Spanish first half dominance.

Perhaps less expected, Spain entered the break at half-time tied 0-0 with Cape Verde, despite a whopping 13 shots and 1.33xG in their favour.

Amidst the goal-line scrambles and heroism on display from Cape Verde's goalkeeper, Vozinha, one Spain player managed to break a remarkable World Cup record, held for 60 years.

Play our free match predictor and win £1k

Spain striker Mikel Oyarzabal breaks incredible 60 year World Cup record against Cape Verde in Group H

Spain's frontline, with the notable absence of Lamine Yamal, did not have a clinical first half against Cape Verde.

Out of the 13 shots that the Spaniards failed to convert in the first half, their striker, Mikel Oyarzabal, did not get involved until just before the 40th minute, breaking a pitiful World Cup record.

The Real Sociedad striker enjoyed a prolific La Liga campaign during the 2025/26 season, bagging 15 goals.

For his club, he averaged over 37 touches per game in his 34 appearances, but football fans would not have been able to tell in the first half against Cape Verde.

Oyarzabal failed to touch the ball in the first 30 minutes of a World Cup game - the first time since 1966 at the tournament.

Getting the ball to the bagsman's feet continued to be an issue, even after he received his first long-awaited touch of the football.

The 29-year-old ended the half with two opportunities, both headers, forcing a save from one and sending the other wide of the right post.

Despite Spain's difficulties in getting Oyarzabal involved, the first half went the way of Luis De La Fuente's men in every action, except for finding the net.

The Spaniards completed well over double the passes of Cape Verde, maintaining 70% possession, and conceded three shots with a combined xG total of 0.04.

The game culminated in a disappointing 0-0 draw, so, if Spain are to do better going forward, perhaps getting the ball to their striker before the 30th minute would be a good plan.

Newcastle have reportedly lodged an official bid for Osasuna's highly-rated winger, Víctor Munoz.

According to football transfer expert Fabrizio Romano, the Magpies have formalised their interest in the Spanish winger, who has emerged as a top target following the departure of Anthony Gordon earlier this summer.

Negotiations are now said to be actively ongoing on both the club and player side as all parties attempt to reach a final agreement.

Newcastle chase £30m deal for Spanish attacker

The proposed package, reportedly worth an initial €30-35 million (£26-30m) plus add-ons, would comfortably smash Osasuna's previous record sale, which has stood for almost 20 years since Raul Garcia joined Atletico Madrid for €13m (£8.5m) in 2007.

However, the financial mechanics of the deal are somewhat complicated.

When Real Madrid sold Muñoz to Osasuna in July 2025 for €5 million, recruitment sources, and now Romano, claim the LaLiga giants retained a 50 per cent sell-on clause.

This means that last season's runners-up in Spain are owed exactly half of whatever Newcastle end up paying for the attacker, presenting a major windfall for the Spanish capital club.

This will also inflate the price Osasuna are likely to command for Munoz, given half of their earnings are expected to be forfeited to Madrid.

Born in Barcelona, 22-year-old Munoz spent his early years developing at the famous La Masia academy before moving away.

In 2021, he made the controversial cross-country switch to join Real Madrid’s youth set-up, eventually thriving for their reserve side, Real Madrid Castilla.

Known primarily for his pace down the flanks, Munoz can operate as a direct winger on either side of the pitch or as an advanced forward.

Last season, he proved a vital spark for a struggling Osasuna side, registering a respectable return of seven goals and five assists across 36 appearances in all competitions.

His stellar domestic performances even earned him a senior international debut for Spain in early 2026, where he caught the eye by scoring in a 3–0 friendly victory over Serbia.

Real Madrid are increasingly confident of making a huge transfer breakthrough, according to reports.

News broke on Thursday evening that they are pursuing former Manchester City man Bernardo Silva and have approached the player with an official contract offer.

Bernardo is a free agent this summer, having left City at the end of his contract and looks set to be among Mourinho's first signings, after his return to Madrid was announced on Thursday evening. He will officially begin work at the Bernabeu again on July 13.

Madrid make 'surprise move' to claim Bernardo's signature

Mourinho's reappointment was one of president Florentino Perez's promises ahead of his recent successful re-election campaign - a promise he has now fulfilled.

Currently, there are no official plans for a grand unveiling, with Sky Sports claiming he has decided against holding a press conference or staging a welcome ceremony.

Instead, he wants to get straight to work, with summer recruitment an important part of his immediate workload.

The news of his and Madrid's pursuit of Bernardo came out of the blue, according to transfer expert Fabrizio Romano, who now claims that the La Liga giants are 'confident' of completing the signing.

In a message on X, he stated that the team were in "advanced talks" with the player, after an official bid was sent.

In the video, Romano said: "Real Madrid are in advanced talks to sign Bernardo Silva as a free agent. A surprise move in the last 24 hours.

"Bernardo Silva is wanted by Jose Mourinho, so Real Madrid are now ready to attack and try to close the deal as soon as possible. The official bid is already in the hands of the former Manchester City midfielder."

The proposal has put Madrid "ahead of" all the other clubs interested in capturing Bernardo's signature this summer.

That includes Barcelona, who have "nothing advanced or concrete", despite their admiration for the player.

Atletico Madrid have also been credited with interest in the free agent.

Bernardo spent nine years with Manchester City, winning six Premier League titles, three FA Cups and a Champions League among a host of trophies.

During that time, he scored 76 goals in 460 matches in total. Included in those goals are three against Real Madrid across two different Champions League matches.

In FourFourTwo's opinion, this will be a solid move for Real Madrid if they can pull it off, given Bernardo's experience and the fact that he's a proven winner.

While at City, he shared a dressing room with some big personalities and learnt a lot from his manager, serial champion Pep Guardiola, something that will be incredibly useful in the Real dressing room as they look to recover from a second year without winning the league title.

Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal prevailed at the fourth time of asking in this year’s Premier League title race, pipping Manchester City to English top-flight glory.

Arsenal, who also strung together a remarkable Champions League run before losing in the final, now face tough decisions ahead of the 2026/27 season, aiming to produce another historic campaign.

One such decision is perhaps nearer than others, with the Gunners having received interest from enquiring Champions League royalty regarding one of their standout players.

Real Madrid aim to raid Arsenal this summer

Real Madrid, with returning boss Jose Mourinho at the helm, are looking to secure top-level signings this summer, with the possibility of a third successive trophyless season looming.

The La Liga giants have already picked the pockets of one Premier League club for their defender, Liverpool and Ibrahima Konate, and they’re hoping to do the same to Arsenal.

According to reports from Sport Witness and Italian transfer expert Gianluca Di Marzio, the Gunners will face a significant pursuit for the Italy international this summer.

The former stated that Mourinho’s highest priority targets are Calafiori and Manchester City’s Josko Gvardiol, with the Gunners man likely easier to obtain.

Di Marzio revealed further details: that Real Madrid have already called to register interest in the Italy international, to which Arsenal answered.

Valued by Transfermarkt at over £45 million, and having played upwards of 2000 minutes for Mikel Arteta this season en route to a historic Premier League title, Arsenal face a tough decision regarding Calafiori’s future.

While Di Marzio made no comment in reference to Arsenal’s willingness, or unwillingness, to sell, Real Madrid’s allure to Premier League defenders has been made clear over the last two seasons, and Calafiori's previous stint playing under Mourinho at Roma could also play a role.

Dean Huijsen was swayed to leave Bournemouth for the Spanish giants, despite an array of attractive offers in England awaiting him, and Ibrahima Konate rejected a contract extension with Liverpool to join ex-Reds defender Trent Alexander-Arnold in La Liga, who departed at the height of Liverpool's top-flight success.

Years prior, Antonio Rudiger traded in Chelsea for Real Madrid, starting in the Champions League final the following season.

While Arsenal appear likely to continue competing, making Calafiori’s decision less clear-cut than the aforementioned pair, history has proven that this isn’t always the case.

Konate won the Premier League just a season prior to his impending move, finishing fourth in 2025/26, and Rudiger won the Champions League the season before his Madrid move, enduring a quarter-final exit to his future La Liga side in the following campaign.

If the Italian wants to leave, there’s scarcely a club with stronger pull in world football than Los Blancos – for now, Arsenal are left with the first of what will surely be a summer of tough transfer decisions, to ensure their next campaign lives up to the heights set by its preceding one.

Twenty-nine year-old Neal Maupay worked under Roberto De Zerbi at Marseille and believes Spurs fans can be optimistic of a much better campaign in the Italian’s first full season in charge.

He told FourFourTwo: “I've got to say I've got big hopes for him and Tottenham next season. I've played for him for a season and a half, and I believe he will be a top manager in the world in a few years’ time. I'm convinced of that.

The interview with Neal was arranged by YRDS.

Neal Maupay is a fan of Spurs coach Roberto De Zerbi

“The hardest part for me was to keep Tottenham in the Premier League. Now he has the time to build the squad he wants, and get the injured players back. Having a full preseason of work will be hugely important too, because he’s very detailed and it takes time to implement his ideas.

“He's very detailed, and at Marseille it took us three or four months to start to be on the same page. Then all of a sudden, everything became easier for us as players.

“So, I think they will be a dangerous team next season. I don’t know to what extent, but I don’t see them having as tough a season as they just had.”

Maupay’s own future is up in the air at the moment after his loan spell at Sevilla came to an end, and the striker’s understanding is that the LaLiga club will not take up the option to turn this into a permanent deal.

“They [Sevilla] said they have a lot of things to fix, and Sergio Ramos was in discussions to buy the club.

“There's a lot going on behind the scenes, and I believe that they’re not planning to bring me back there or take the option [to buy].

“I’m still contracted with Marseille right now, but I don’t know what will happen. They just changed the sporting director and there is expected to be a new manager as well.

“One thing I can say is, I feel really good after my experience in Sevilla. I am in good shape, I feel confident and I'm still very, very, very hungry to play.

“And why not in England? I believe I’ve benefitted from my experience in France, and in Sevilla, and England is where I feel really at my best.

“The country, and the English culture is made for me really so, who knows?

“I would be more than happy to be back. But if I have to stay, Marseille is the biggest club in France, so we’ll see. I can't predict the future, but either way I'm hungry for more.”

As for the immediate future, the striker will have his eyes peeled on the World Cup and feels that reigning European champions Spain will be the ones to beat in North America.

“I see Spain as a really, really strong team. Maybe the best team in a tournament. I think the way that they've been playing for many years now means that everyone's on the same page.

“That's pretty hard to do with national teams, because they only get to see each other every couple of months and for just a few days. So it's not easy to build a chemistry, but they have that.

“The France squad is stacked. When you look at the names on paper, I would love us to win again. Big, big hugs go to [Kylian] Mbappe for the season he’s had at Real Madrid. It's been difficult for him, and he hasn't won any trophies. With that in mind, I think he’ll be very hungry to bring back another World Cup.

“And then there is England. Every World Cup and international tournament, you wonder if it’s coming home or not. I guess we have to see. There have been some strong players that have been left home.

“I think [Thomas] Tuchel is a good manager, and they will be a strong team as well.”

The former Bournemouth head coach will make an Anfield arrival imminently ahead of the 2026/27 season.

Andoni Iraola, set to replace failing boss Arne Slot, who was sacked by Liverpool last weekend, is already plotting a rescue mission to reunite himself with a former Cherries man.

The Spaniard’s prospective Liverpool squad, looking to return to major trophy-winning glory next season, is now beginning to form a clearer shape.

Iraola wants Huijsen, plans Real Madrid swoop

Liverpool recently experienced the departures of club legends Mohamed Salah and Andrew Robertson, both of whom drew the curtain in May on their illustrious nine-year-long Reds spells.

Their exits overshadowed the later exit of Ibrahima Konate, one of the finest centre-backs Anfield has witnessed in its modern era. The Frenchman announced his departure days later without an opportunity to say goodbye in-person as Salah and Robertson did.

Iraola has the perfect replacement in mind and is quietly plotting an ambitious Real Madrid raid: Dean Huijsen, the former Cherries star who moved to LaLiga last summer.

According to a report from Fichajes, Real Madrid are unwilling to let their young centre-back leave so easily, however, the pressures endured at a club facing a potentially third successive trophy-less season could lead to previously unforeseen decisions.

Huijsen experienced a less than convincing debut season in the Spanish top-flight, and the LaLiga giants appear to be in disarray with various inter-club feuds and an upcoming presidential election.

From Iraola’s perspective, reuniting with a familiar face, who provided enough value to the Cherries that it led to interest from Real Madrid and other European giants, makes perfect sense as a Konate replacement that Liverpool now require.

The figure being discussed is €70 million, which would see Real Madrid gain an almost €10 million profit within just a season of signing the youngster.

The decision will hinge entirely on Huijsen’s own plans, and, of course, Real Madrid’s to perhaps sell the 21-year-old at a later date for a far higher fee, should his potential be deemed great enough.

Liverpool’s financial situation heading into the 2026/27 campaign remains unclear, and if Los Blancos are to push for a greater transfer value, it could derail Iraola’s hopes.

The Reds spent significantly in the aftermath of their 2025 Premier League title victory, spending £300 million on a trio of attacking signings in Hugo Ekitike, Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak.

Having lost Mohamed Salah, Ibrahima Konate and Andy Robertson on free transfers at the end of their respective contracts, Liverpool may have to bite the bullet this time around to see drastic improvements made to an ailing, hole-filled Reds squad.

Despite the impending arrival of Jeremy Jacquet from Rennes, the era of Virgil van Dijk is rapidly drawing to a close, and a second young centre-back will surely be among the club's top priorities this summer.

The Real Madrid home kit for the 2026/27 season is out - and it’s a beauty.

There’s a lot more colour present in the latest Real Madrid kit: from its sweeping red-pink stripes along the arms and down the shoulders, to its emerald green cuffs and collars - this is a shirt for the ages.

While details on the centre of the shirt have remained largely identical to past iterations of the Real Madrid kit, Adidas’ latest outing strays from its typical gold, black and blue colouring.

The Real Madrid home kit is something different, but beautiful

Blue was a featured colour on the 2021/22 Real Madrid home kit — the shirt in which Karim Benzema won the Ballon D’or and led Los Blancos to their 14th Champions League trophy.

Adidas’ latest kit design brings something similarly fresh to a tired Real Madrid colour-way that, while iconic and prestigious, was quickly becoming old in an increasingly stale series of successive releases.

Adidas’ latest kit design brings something fresh to a Real Madrid colourway that, while iconic and prestigious, was quickly becoming old in an increasingly stale series of successive releases.

Los Blancos are aiming to make a return to major trophy-winning ways in the 2026/27 campaign, after two consecutive trophyless seasons.

Their latest shirt feels like a design that will be beloved in the years to come, provided Real Madrid don’t falter for a third successive season in their La Liga and Champions League pursuits.

The colour shift surely reflects the rejuvenated feeling that Real Madrid are hoping to impart upon their supporters next season, with Los Blancos royalty returning in Jose Mourinho.

While the noticeable absence of gold and black prevents this Adidas kit from appearing retro in design — harkening back to the days of Cristiano Ronaldo and the Portuguese manager in partnership — there’s a certain freshness about the latest Real Madrid home shirt.

The kit symbolises a club in transition, not entering a ‘new era’, as evidenced by Mourinho’s comeback, but a return to past glory, translated through a refreshing colourway that Los Blancos fans can surely see stamping its mark on the club’s history.

There’s also something distinctly fashionable about this latest Adidas drop, perhaps aiming to align itself with the aesthetic sensibilities of current players Jude Bellingham and Trent Alexander-Arnold, both featured in the product photoshoot and known for their clear styles.

What do you think? Leave your comments below…

Arsenal have already had a tough start to the transfer window, with one club in particular looking bullish and hoovering up potential targets.

The Gunners’ season is not yet even over, with Saturday’s Champions League Final against Paris Saint-Germain in Budapest still to come.

But, nevertheless, few things move quicker than the summer transfer market, and evidence suggests they could already be getting left behind.

Barcelona are already running away with the transfer window

According to a report from AS, the Catalan club are considering an offer for Brazilian wonderkid Gabriel Veneno, a 16-year-old winger who could cost as much as €20m, if current club Atletico Mineiro hold out for their asking price.

Veneno has been likened elsewhere to Neymar Jr – a hero in Brazil and also for his exploits for Barca – and Arsenal are said to have been considering a move last year which, as yet, has not materialised.

Much closer to home, the Gunners were also at one stage believed to have an advantage in the race for Anthony Gordon, with the 25-year-old reported by SunSport to prefer a move to London over any other city.

Unless, it transpires, that city is Barcelona, as the former Everton winger has now travelled to Spotify Camp Nou for a medical, ahead of a reported £69.3m move to the LaLiga champions.

So, two Arsenal targets look Barca-bound. It can’t go on like this, can it? It can.

The tyres on Gordon’s jet had not yet met the tarmac of Catalonia before a report from The Athletic dropped, confirming that Hansi Flick’s side were in talks with Atletico Madrid for striker Julian Alvarez, in a proposed €100m deal.

The former Manchester City forward is said to be admired by those at Arsenal, who have been rotating between Kai Havertz and Viktor Gyokeres this season.

It’s been a whirlwind few days for Arsenal in terms of transfer targets, with more crossed out than ticked off, but, in FourFourTwo’s opinion, there is no cause for panic just yet.

They already have a strong squad, with strength in depth and few ageing stars – as shown in their Premier League triumph – so there is no need for knee-jerk reactions in the market, especially not before a Champions League Final, for which transfer tales could prove unsettling to the squad.

That means the Gunners have the luxury of time on their side, and the ability to pick out candidates who will add quality to their squad, rather than scrapping to fill gaps.

Gordon is valued at €60m, according to Transfermarkt, while Alvarez is estimated to be worth €90m.

Marcus Rashford is something of a forgotten man at Manchester United after a year and a half away from the club.

Rashford has spent this season on loan at Barcelona, scoring 14 goals in all competitions for the La Liga champions.

But it remains to be seen where his future lies, with his contract at Manchester United running until 2028.

Barcelona agree Marcus Rashford contract, with Manchester United exit sealed

According to Mundo Deportivo, Rashford has agreed in principle a three-year deal with Barcelona.

The 28-year-old is reportedly willing to accept a salary 40 per cent lower than at United, but the agreed deal now needs to be renegotiated.

A five-year deal could instead help Barcelona spread the required transfer fee over a longer period as they continue to be held back by financial limitations.

Barca have an option to sign Rashford permanently from United for a fee of £26m, but they are reluctant to pay it.

United do not want to reduce their demands, so there is currently an impasse, despite the player’s apparent willingness to remain with the Catalan club.

The combination of his big wages - when Casemiro leaves United, Rashford will become the club’s highest earner - and the required transfer fee has complicated the potential deal.

Asked earlier this month if he would stay at Barcelona, Rashford said: “I don't know, I am not a magician. If I was, I would stay. We will see.”

Back in December, he said: “I feel very lucky and fortunate that this is one of the places that I’ve been able to play for. Because it’s a huge club, a club I’ve always admired as a young boy – my favourite club outside of England.

“It’s amazing football that they play here, like lots of football fans know. To be able to wear this shirt is a tremendous feeling.”

Rashford has clearly found a place where he feels at home, then, but whether he can remain is still up in the air.

Wrexham’s high-profile owners, willingness to spend and rapid ascent up the divisions has inevitably led to some outlandish transfer rumours.

The Red Dragons are targeting the Premier League having narrowly missed out on the Championship playoffs following three successive promotions.

While the likes of Kieffer Moore, Josh Windass and Sam Smith provided plenty of goal threat in the second tier, could Wrexham have a big-name striker leading the line next season?

Robert Lewandowski to Wrexham?

Former Spain international Gaizka Mendieta believes the signing of Barcelona forward Robert Lewandowski would benefit both parties.

The legendary striker, who has scored prolifically for Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich and Barca in an illustrious career, is out of contract at the end of the season.

Lewandowski won his first of two The Best FIFA Men's Player awards in 2020 - ahead of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. In the same year, Wrexham’s strikeforce consisted of the likes of Jordan Ponticelli, Kwame Thomas, Gold Omotayo and Dior Angus.

It is remarkable, then, that the potential signing of Lewandowski can be raised as a genuine suggestion, even if it remains extremely unlikely.

“Robert Lewandowski should sign for Wrexham - but he could struggle in the Championship,” Mendieta told PlayUK.

“Robert Lewandowski said he is open to taking a step down and if he wants to be an actor after he retires, Wrexham is the place to go!

“He's looking for the next step. If he wants to continue playing football, he's obviously got options. I'm not sure about the level of the league or the category.

“But I don't think these kinds of players always thrive, especially in the Championship or the Spanish Segunda Division. Very tough leagues for players like him.

“I think his quality and ability can still provide something. I don't think he will be short of options, so let’s see what happens. But it would be exciting.”

Lewandowski, now 37, might still have top-flight aspirations, but perhaps he will be swayed by the allure of Hollywood - or, indeed, north Wales.

Manchester City’s abundance of talent means there is not always room in the squad for some of Europe’s most talented players.

At the back, the emergence of Abdukodir Khusanov and Nico O’Reilly this season has been a major boost for Pep Guardiola, with Manchester City winning both domestic cups this term, following Saturday's FA Cup final.

But that has left one defender - a key player until very recently - on the periphery, and potentially on his way out this summer.

Manchester City star on Real Madrid's radar after transfer offer

Josko Gvardiol has only played 17 times for City in the Premier League this season, and made just five appearances in the Champions League, having struggled with a shin injury throughout the campaign.

The 24-year-old was almost ever-present in 2024/25, and helped City to the Premier League title in 2023/24, chipping in with important goals from defence.

It seemed the £77m acquisition had been a successful one, but recurring injury issues have become a problem.

And according to AS, Gvardiol has been offered to Real Madrid by the player’s representatives.

The Croatian has reportedly been on Los Blancos’ radar “for some time”, with the Spanish giants said to be interested back in 2023 when the former RB Leipzig centre-back opted to join City.

Real Madrid are prioritising defensive reinforcements as they look to improve their squad after a disappointing, trophy-less 2025/26 campaign.

But AS claim there is “no movement towards a transfer” as things stand, with Gvardiol contracted until 2028.

The player’s agents are believed to be “exploring potential destinations” in the event that he becomes surplus to requirements at the Etihad.

Real Madrid have also been offered City midfielder Bernardo Silva, who is set to leave the club after an illustrious nine-year spell.

The 31-year-old has reportedly rejected an offer from Barcelona, but it remains to be seen if Real Madrid will explore a potential deal.

Xabi Alonso will have plenty of work to do when he begins his tenure as Chelsea manager.

It is likely to be another busy transfer window as the Blues look to improve a squad that has underachieved in the Premier League.

But one of Chelsea’s top performers this season could be on his way out amid reported interest from one of Europe’s biggest clubs.

Chelsea striker Joao Pedro is on Barcelona's radar

Joao Pedro has impressed since his summer move from Brighton & Hove Albion, scoring 15 goals and providing five assists in the Premier League.

According to AS, Barcelona sporting director Deco met with Pedro’s agent in London last week to discuss a potential move to the Catalan club.

The Brazil international is reportedly “keen” on a switch to Camp Nou, with the prospect of potential domestic and European silverware under Hansi Flick an enticing one.

But Barcelona are said to be unable to afford such a transfer as things stand, while Chelsea are not interested in selling their star forward.

Alonso will reportedly decide whether or not he sees Pedro as an indispensable part of his squad.

If not, Chelsea could attract a sizeable fee for the 24-year-old, who they signed in a deal worth up to £60m.

AS claim Alonso may look to move Pedro on if the player is not happy at Stamford Bridge and has his head turned.

The Spaniard had issues with player power at Real Madrid in his short tenure this season, and wants a squad all pulling in the same direction, committed to his vision.

Barcelona’s top target is believed to be Atletico Madrid forward Julian Alvarez, formerly of Manchester City, but Los Colchoneros are refusing to sell.

Pedro is contracted until 2033 at Chelsea and the London club would command a huge fee if they opted to sell.

Unless you support Tottenham Hotspur or West Ham United, you will probably have rather enjoyed this season's Premier League relegation battle.

There was a lack of jeopardy at the bottom of the top flight in 2024/25, with 17th-place Spurs finishing 13 points ahead of Leicester City, who ended up 18th.

But this time around the survival fight looks set to go down to the final day of the campaign. Tottenham are 17th again, yet they have only a two-point cushion over West Ham with two games remaining.

The incredible survival fight where half the league could still be relegated

While the battle between two big clubs to avoid relegation to the second tier is absorbing, the Premier League has nothing on the incredible drama unfolding in LaLiga.

With only two games remaining for most of the teams in Spain's top flight, an incredible 10 clubs could still fall into one of the final two relegation places - ranging from Sevilla in 10th down to Girona in 19th.

Seven-time Europa League winners Sevilla are in the top half of the table and still have faint hopes of qualifying for Europe, but they are also only four points above the drop zone.

Meanwhile, the teams currently occupying the relegation places, Levante and Girona, are among four sides on 39 points, with Elche and Real Mallorca out of the bottom three only on goal difference.

It means all four clubs could still finish above Sevilla, although the permutations are complicated by Levante facing Mallorca in their penultimate game and Girona hosting Elche on the final day.

The at-risk clubs in the bottom half of the table include Conference League finalists Rayo Vallecano, two-time Champions League runners-up Valencia, and Espanyol, who ended an 18-match winless run with a 2-0 victory over Athletic Bilbao on Wednesday.

While eighth-place Real Sociedad and Athletic, in ninth, are only five points above the relegation zone and still appear at risk, it would take an extraordinary combination of results for either of those sides to go down because of the number of teams below them who play each other in the final two rounds of fixtures.

The congestion at the foot of the table was illustrated by Alaves jumping from 19th to 15th following their 1-0 win over champions Barcelona on Wednesday night, with three points making a massive difference to the survival fight.

And while one more victory would be enough to secure safety for every team from 14th-place Espanyol upwards, several clubs are likely to be looking over their shoulders on the final day.

The only side in the bottom half whose fate is sealed is Real Oviedo, who are 10 points adrift at the foot of the table and set for an immediate return to the second tier.

Diego Simeone’s men are aiming to add an out of favour Premier League forward to their ranks ahead of the 2026/27 season.

Atletico Madrid have suffered an underwhelming season under Simeone after missing out on the Copa del Rey trophy last month and a Champions League final appearance last week.

Currently placed fourth in the La Liga table, Simeone has reportedly set his sights on an out of favour Premier League attacker who he believes is an ideal candidate ahead of the club’s attacking rebuild this summer.

Atletico Madrid want Nick Woltemade

According to a report from Fichajes, Newcastle’s Nick Woltemade is perceived as the perfect fit for Simeone’s high-intensity system, ahead of an offensive overhaul this summer.

Atletico Madrid are prioritising signings who will provide an immediate impact ahead of the 2026/27 season, as opposed to developing talents.

Woltemade has been closely monitored by the club’s sporting management and will face a dilemma ahead of the summer, having failed to establish himself as the man to lead Newcastle forward this season.

Eddie Howe’s side, having lost superstar striker Alexander Isak to Liverpool last summer, are placed 13th in the Premier League table — a stark drop-off from last season’s Top 5 finish and Champions League qualification.

Woltemade has bagged seven goals and recorded three assists in 31 Premier League appearances, four of those ten involvements arriving in his first five games.

Atletico Madrid will have difficulty in convincing the Magpies to part ways with their striker, largely due the sizeable financial investment they made in securing his services.

The German was signed for a deal worth almost £70 million, who arrived from Stuttgart in August 2025 after bagging 12 goals in 28 games, and 17 starts, for the Bundesliga side.

Woltemade’s combination of power and technique has attracted Atletico Madrid’s interest, with talks potentially set to intensify once the league season concludes.

Simeone’s side — who lost 4-2 on penalties in April’s Copa del Rey final to Real Sociedad, and 2-1 (agg.) to Arsenal in the Champions League semi-final — are also attracted to his versatility as a striker or attacking midfielder, and his aerial presence, stood at nearly two metres tall.

For now, Atletico Madrid will look to step up their efforts to sign the German, hoping to see his talents arrive at the Metropolitano Stadium next season.

Real Madrid were beaten to the LaLiga title last weekend, losing 2-0 to arch-rivals Barcelona, a result which clinched top spot for the Catalans.

Needless to say, they haven't taken the defeat well.

The 2025/26 season has been a turbulent one from start to finish as the club parted company with new head coach Xabi Alonso only a few months into the campaign.

Florentino Perez goes nuclear in Real Madrid press conference

Alvaro Arbeloa replaced Alonso but looks set to either return to his Real Madrid Castilla posting or move on entirely following his interim stint in charge.

More recently there have been heated, public disagreements within the Real Madrid squad, chiefly between Federico Valverde and Aurelien Tchouameni, who came to blows in the dressing room as per reports last week.

Against the backdrop of another disappointing season, Perez called a press conference offering a mock apology for his refusal to resign. Instead, the 79-year-old seemingly attempted to weaponise the club's democracy by bringing forward elections by three years and daring anyone to try and unseat him, playing on the fact his presence casts an especially long shadow at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Despite the room being filled with questions about the failed title race, Perez immediately shut down the press, stating he had no intention of discussing the sporting side of the club’s recent struggles.

Real Madrid last won the league title two years ago, and the Copa del Rey in 2023. The club have also been eliminated from the Champions League at the quarter-final stage in each of the last two seasons.

Perez also cited his 74 trophies as evidence that he is the greatest president in the club's history, making it abundantly clear that he would not be leaving his post voluntarily. To further illustrate this point, the executive added that someone would have to 'shoot him' to remove him from his role as club president.

On Valverde and Tchouameni's fisticuffs, which left the Uruguayan requiring stitches, Perez dismissed the severity of recent altercations claiming it's normal for 'four or five' teammates to hit each other every season. He described both Valverde and Tchouameni as 'good kids' who were merely showing heart.

Perhaps forgetting the established question-and-answer format of press conferences, Perez pulled out his phone to scroll through headlines, openly laughing at what he described as 'fake news' and singling out Spanish outlet ABC for ridicule.

The Real Madrid president then targeted a female journalist from ABC, who had written a column on the club's recent failings, questioning whether she possessed even a basic level of footballing intelligence.

The journalist was not the final recipient of one of Perez's barbs, either, as he took aim at Barcelona in relation to the Negreira scandal.

The case, which remains an ongoing sports corruption investigation involving Barcelona and Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira, former vice president of the Technical Committee of Referees, is the subject of intense debate in Spanish football. Perez claimed Real Madrid have drafted a formal report to UEFA to ensure their rivals are punished. He is of the opinion that the LaLiga title remaining in Barcelona is part of a larger conspiracy, dubbing it a 'theft'.

Perez had more points to make, explaining he does not feel the weight of his 79 years, claiming he works day and night, describing himself as a 'supernatural animal' and a 'beast', before then arguing with reporters, threatening to restrict media access for outlets who have written things he disliked.

In true theatrical fashion, Perez ended the diatribe by highlighting his immense wealth and corporate success, instructing supporters to get behind the players, wishing those present in the room a good evening, and expressing his desire to never set eyes on them again. And scene.

Quiz time!

It is arguably the world's biggest fixture. Real Madrid versus Barcelona is so much more than a game of football. El Clasico mixes sport with culture, politics, identity and nationality. And it is watched by fans all over the world. Ever-present in La Liga since its inception in 1929, Madrid and Barça have met 187 times in the competition and in 256 matches overall.

Los Blancos currently have the edge historically – but last night, the Blaugrana tied up the title against their bitter rivals. Overall, there have been over 800 goals in El Clasico: can you remember who scored all of those? 12 minutes on the clock, 93 players to guess.

Handpicked football quizzes we know you'll love

You've mastered Spanish football, clearly – but now it’s time to see if your mental archives can handle the weight of decades of continental dominance and the egos of the world’s most decorated individuals. Fancy testing your ball knowledge? We have more, powered by Kwizly.

We’re starting with an audit of the true upper crust, focusing on those who have reached the pinnacle of the club game and the individual icons who defined the turn of the millennium. We want you to trace the history of Old Big Ears by naming every club to have ever reached a European Cup/Champions League final, a task that spans from the early white-and-black footage of the 50s to the high-definition dramas of the 2020s. Once you’ve conquered the clubs, it’s time to celebrate the stars: can you name every Ballon d'Or top 10 of the 2000s?

Next up, can you order these 40 teams by how many trophies they have? Then, turn your attention to the Bavarian boardroom: can you tell us whether these 20 managers have coached Bayern Munich? From the tactical geniuses who delivered trebles to the surprise appointments that barely lasted a season, let’s see if your footballing IQ is truly world-class.

To decompress after that heavy statistical lifting, find a quiet spot for FourFourTwo’s Weekend Crossword 52, featuring a clever focus on fours, draws, and preseason tours. To ensure you stay ahead of the pack as the season progresses, subscribe to our newsletter for your daily afternoon briefing of curated trivia. To truly cement your legacy, join our free membership portal, The Club: it’s the ultimate digital hub for the dedicated fan, offering exclusive hints to help you finish those stubborn quizzes and global leaderboards to climb.

Barcelona’s La Liga title is all but confirmed, but they couldn’t ask for a more fitting occasion to seal it than a home El Clásico. Here's how you can watch Barcelona vs Real Madrid from anywhere in the world.

Blaugrana have been a picture of consistency in La Liga this season and have the chance to seal the title this weekend at the Camp Nou, where they have maintained a perfect record all term.

For Real Madrid, although their title hopes are virtually non-existent, it represents an opportunity to spoil their rivals’ celebrations. A win here would go some way to alleviating what has been a disappointing season by their standards.

FourFourTwo has all the information on live streams and TV channels so you can watch Barcelona vs Real Madrid online, on TV, and from anywhere.

Barcelona vs Real Madrid: Team News

Barcelona XI: Joan García; Eric García, Cubarsí, Gerard Martín, Cancelo; Gavi, Pedri; Rashford, Dani Olmo, Fermín López; Ferran Torres

Real Madrid XI: Courtois; Trent, Rüdiger, Huijsen, Fran García; Tchouameni, Camavinga, Bellingham; Brahim Díaz, Gonzalo, Vinicius

Watch Barcelona vs Real Madrid from anywhere

Out of the country when El Clásico is on? That doesn't mean you have to miss the game. A VPN - or Virtual Private Network - means you can set your IP address to make your device appear to be in any country in the world, bypassing streaming geo-restrictions.

Provided it complies with your broadcaster’s T&Cs, you can use a VPN to unblock the streaming services you use back home. It also comes with added internet security benefits, which sounds like a winner to us.

FourFourTwo’s colleagues at Tom's Guide are VPN experts, and they rate NordVPN as the best VPN out there.

Watch Barcelona vs Real Madrid in the UK

In the UK you can stream Barcelona vs Real Madrid on Premier Sports. Specifically the Premier Sports 1 channel.

MORE: Crystal Palace given clear path to appoint most-hated La Liga manager

Watch Barcelona vs Real Madrid in the US

In the US, ESPN will show Barcelona vs Real Madrid with the main ESPN channel broadcasting linear coverage.

How to watch Barcelona vs Real Madrid in Australia

In Australia, beIN SPORTS will broadcast Barcelona vs Real Madrid.

Barcelona vs Real Madrid: El Clásico preview

It feels like Barcelona have had the upper hand over Real Madrid for a few years now, and a consecutive La Liga title is now a formality, with just two points required. A draw on Sunday, however, would be enough, limiting Los Blancos to a maximum of 87 points (Barça sit on 88 currently).

But as much as today will be a ceremony, a bit of history is on the cards, with this El Clásico having the potential to be the first to decide a Spanish league title since 1932.

Key to Barça’s impending title has been their home form. The Blaugrana have won all 17 games at home this season, scoring 52 and conceding just nine in the process.

Albeit they will be without top scorer Lamine Yamal, it is still hard to see past Hansi Flick’s side as they look to put one final nail in the Madrid coffin.

MORE: Football fixtures: Interactive 2025/26 calendar for all competition

For Álvaro Arbeloa, his stint in charge of Los Blancos hasn’t been overly successful. Kylian Mbappé’s future has consistently dominated the headlines, and their exit to Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals of the Champions League has meant it is now almost two years since they last won silverware.

But El Clásico always offers a potential silver lining, and the chance to spoil their rivals title party should be motivation enough.

It has been confirmed, Mbappé will miss this game again, while Éder Militão, Rodrygo, Arda Güler, and Ferland Mendy all miss out as well.

FourFourTwo's prediction

Barcelona 4-1 Real Madrid

Barcelona will secure their title in style.

We test and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example: 1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service). 2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad. We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.

Hansi Flick's Barcelona have won all 17 of their home league matches to date this season and are on the cusp of making history in El Clasico this weekend.

The Catalan side only need to avoid defeat against Real Madrid at Spotify Camp Nou to clinch back-to-back titles under the German boss, denying their arch rivals for the second season running.

Never before has a Barcelona title win been confirmed due to a result against Real Madrid, but that is expected to be the case come Sunday evening when the two sides meet.

Barcelona set for historic LaLiga title decider

Barcelona are favourites for the match, largely given their imperious home form and 10-game winning streak in the league.

Real Madrid, meanwhile, are in turmoil with Alvaro Arbeloa not expected to continue as interim boss beyond the end of the season, and Clasico preparations marred by a pair of physical altercations between Fede Valverde and Aurelien Tchouameni, which left the former requiring stitches, according to reports.

"They're going to win the title," Gibson said, ahead of taking up his position as Premier Sports co-commentator this weekend. "They've put together some 10 straight wins in LaLiga since they lost to Girona.

"You thought then Real Madrid could catch them, but to go and win a streak of 10, [especially] the last two or three have been some really tricky fixtures.

"I found it hard to believe that the Barcelona haven't won it playing directly against Real Madrid. So, that brings a bit more pressure as well.

"They don't need to win, but all the talk is about them ramming it down the throats of Real Madrid and winning, not just by one nil. It's got to be two, three, four, five nil. I don't predict that's going to happen."

It's anything but a foregone conclusion, though, Gibson warns, having seen his fair share of Clasico fixtures that have sent pulses racing, turning on a sixpence at a moment's notice.

"Whether [Barcelona] do it against Real Madrid, they'd love to, but I do sense working on the Real Madrid game last week that there's some determination there from the players. They were determined to beat Espanyol, to make sure they didn't have to give the guard of honour [to Barcelona at Spotify Camp Nou].

"They'll do their utmost to make sure that they're not the team that's in the building when Barcelona lift the trophy. So, it's going to be a feisty old game."

FC Barcelona vs Real Madrid is exclusively live for UK fans on Premier Sports 1 or via the Premier Sports app, with coverage beginning at 7:30pm for an 8pm kick off.

Barcelona and Real Madrid's latest showdown is set to be historic for Spanish football.

Sunday's Clasico at the Camp Nou could see Hansi Flick's side clinch their 29th La Liga by avoiding defeat to their arch-rivals, who are firmly in the grip of a full-blown crisis.

Never before have either of the country's two biggest clubs clinched a title against their fiercest foe, and Barcelona have added incentive for making that dream a reality.

Real Madrid in freefall ahead of Barcelona clash

Real Madrid arrested a run of four successive Clasico defeats when they edged out Barca in October's meeting at the Bernabeu which opened up a five-point cushion.

But behind the scenes, a storm was brewing. Vinicius Junior's outburst after he was substituted in the 73rd minute by Xabi Alonso exposed the fragility of Los Blancos.

The Brazil international reportedly shouted, “Always me... I'm leaving!” at Alonso, whose authority began to wear thin before he was sacked following January's Super Cup final.

Madrid's problems only worsened when the former midfielder was replaced by his ex-teammate Alvaro Arbeloa, promoted from the B team until the end of the season.

The World Cup winner fared even worse with dressing room discourse which blew up further by Aurelien Tchouameni and Fede Valverde ruling themselves out of the clash.

Both players will miss the trip to Catalonia following a training ground bust-up while Arbeloa has reportedly faced conflict with other senior players including Dani Ceballos.

That dichotomy stands at the heart of a second trophyless campaign which sees them now 11 points adrift of the champions-elect heading into their final four matches.

Barca, meanwhile, have steadily reclaimed their dominance with an unbroken run at the top since the end of November while their post-Clasico form has been imperious.

Since the reversal in the capital, they have lost only two of their next 24 games in La Liga and are on a run of 10 straight victories with the return to Camp Nou proving key.

Their late-September homecoming has seen a return of 17 domestic victories with 52 goals scored and just nine conceded; a feat made more impressive by the absence of key figures across the course of the season including Raphinha and Lamine Yamal.

A potential 18th home victory would be defining for their rivalry with Madrid for more reasons than the outcome of the game and the Spanish title's confirmed destination.

One win separates the clubs in Clasico contests with the visitors holding a 106-105 lead while the Blaugrana sit just two trophies away from their haul of the same number.

They could be level-pegged on all fronts if paired together in another Super Cup final, as they have been in the last four editions of the revamped four-team tournament.

Putting one over on their ultimate rival could lead to a defining moment in their shared history. For Madrid, it could not arrive at a worse possible moment than this.

When Kylian Mbappe joined Real Madrid, it looked as if the stars had finally aligned.

Mbappe was a long-term target of the then European champions, who had waited it out to sign him on a free transfer once his contract with Paris Saint-Germain expired.

But the France captain's time at Real Madrid has been anything other than plain sailing, and after two years, talk has turned to a potential departure in the near future.

Kylian Mbappe's Real Madrid issues laid bare

Mbappe arrived at Los Blancos just weeks after they claimed a record-extending 15th Champions League and had wrested their La Liga title from arch-rivals Barcelona.

The forward's personal return at the Bernabeu has been promising with 85 goals across his 100 appearances to date, breaking the 40-goal barrier in successive seasons.

However Mbappe's stock has plummeted as Madrid face up to a second campaign ending with no major honours and discourse raging within its inner sanctum.

The appointment of Alvaro Arbeloa as interim head coach following his former teammate Xabi Alonso's sacking has only increased reports of dressing room unrest.

Mbappe is alleged to have clashed with a member of the coaching staff in training ahead of their trip to Real Betis, where he suffered a hamstring injury last month.

Madrid fans are equally unimpressed and have questioned the 27-year-old's commitment to the cause after he travelled to Sardinia for an approved break period.

Pictures of Mbappe aboard a yacht in the luxury Italian destination with his actor girlfriend Ester Exposito surfaced last weekend, just before the club faced Espanyol.

His representatives insisted the criticisms stem from 'an over-interpretation' of his recovery period but some Madridistas suspect he is saving himself for the World Cup.

An online petition calling for Mbappe's departure as the 'best for the club's future' has since gone viral and generated more than 33 million signatures at last count.

All signs point to, at some stage, an acrimonious split, but that is easier said than done.

Which clubs could sign Kylian Mbappe?

Recent reports indicate Madrid have no intention of selling Mbappe but they would still struggle to offload him with most of, if not all, their rivals already well stocked.

Beyond the obvious dealbreakers of Barcelona and Atlético Madrid, the evolution of PSG's forward line since his departure has ended hopes of a potential homecoming.

Bayern Munich, similarly, have an embarrassment of attacking riches despite their recent Champions League semi-final exit, with Harry Kane flourishing at their fulcrum.

In the Premier League, Manchester City and Arsenal have no shortage of options while even Liverpool already have Alexander Isak and an injured Hugo Ekitike in their ranks.

Beyond those big hitters, Mbappe's only viable outlets are a move to Serie A, which could be as retrograde as it is restorative, or a club outside of the Champions League.

Chelsea would be the closest suitor in terms of matching his valuation and salary demands but given their unending chaos, it would be a risky move for the No.9.

Real Madrid’s preparations for this weekend’s decisive El Clásico fixture against Barcelona have been thrown into turmoil following reports that midfielder Fede Valverde has been hospitalised.

According to an initial report from Marca, the Uruguayan international required medical attention following a physical altercation with teammate Aurelien Tchouameni after a training session at Valdebebas.

This incident is reportedly the second time Valverde has been involved in a violent dispute with the same Madrid teammate, suggesting significant internal friction within Alvaro Arbeloa's squad.

Fede Valverde 'hospitalised' after dressing room incident

The timing of the incident is particularly damaging for Real Madrid, who are scheduled to face Barcelona this Sunday evening in a match that will likely decide the destination of the LaLiga title.

Valverde is considered a core component of Madrid’s midfield and tactical balance, therefore his potential absence, coupled with ongoing fitness concerns for Kylian Mbappé, leaves the team significantly weakened.

While Real Madrid are yet to release an official statement confirming the incident or comment on the extent of Valverde’s injuries, Marca suggest he sustained a head cut after the training session.

It is claimed Tchouameni did not deliver the blow which ultimately led to the cut, but that the pair were involved in a violent altercation within the confines of the dressing room.

Barcelona, meanwhile, arrive at the fixture with a largely fully fit squad, Lamine Yamal aside, and the psychological advantage of knowing their rivals are in disarray.

If Valverde is ruled out of the Clásico, Arbeloa will likely have to pivot to a more defensive setup or rely on Eduardo Camavinga to fill the void, though the loss of Valverde’s leadership and work rate remains a major blow.

Barcelona can clinch the LaLiga title this weekend by avoiding defeat against their arch rivals. Los Cules have won each of their 17 home league matches under Hansi Flick this season and are favourites for the match.

Crystal Palace have already had nearly four months to line up Oliver Glasner's replacement as manager.

The Austrian announced in January that he will depart Selhurst Park this summer and he will hope to leave after lifting the Conference League title, having already led the Eagles to the FA Cup - the first major trophy in their history - last season.

It has given Palace plenty of time to plan for a new chapter, with the likes of outgoing Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola linked with the soon-to-be-vacant post.

Crystal Palace linked with controversial La Liga boss

The Eagles' search could potentially be complicated by a particularly busy summer of managerial changes, which could see as many as 10 new bosses in Premier League dugouts next season.

That may lead them to look abroad - and there is one coach who has consistently been linked with the job.

Getafe manager Jose Bordalas was named as the leading candidate to be Palace's next manager back in December - before Glasner's departure had been officially announced - and has publicly suggested he is open to a move since then.

According to Spanish outlet Marca, the 62-year-old has rejected multiple offers to extend his contract in Madrid beyond this summer, having complained several times about the financial constraints he is working under at the La Liga club.

Despite those difficulties, Bordalas has steered Getafe to seventh in the table and could lead them into Europe for a second time, having managed them in the Europa League in 2019/20 following a club-record fifth-place finish in 2019 during his first spell.

The Spaniard has recently switched agents to YouFirst and is reportedly looking to work abroad in his next role, but some fans may seem him as a controversial choice.

Bordalas has previously been criticised for his 'anti-football' style of play, which has repeatedly seen Getafe have the lowest average possession in La Liga and commit the most fouls per game.

That has led to criticism from major figures within Spanish football, with former Barcelona player and manager Xavi calling his football an "embarrassment" and the coach even branded "the most hated manager in La Liga".

Bordalas also courted controversy for his comments after Getafe signed former Manchester United forward Mason Greenwood, who left Old Trafford after charges against him including attempted rape, controlling and coercive behaviour and assault occasioning actual bodily harm were dropped in February 2023. The one-cap England international denied the charges.

Bordalas said in September 2023: "It is too delicate a situation to trivialise this issue. Everybody knows what happened, the appropriate measures were taken.

"Obviously we can only talk about football, about other issues, I think, that the people and the relevant systems did what they had to do, and everybody knows how it ended - without a condemnatory sentence. He's a footballer of the highest level, who comes to Getafe with enormous hope. We are going to help him to recover his best level."

Atletico Madrid were forced to withdraw their Argentine bagsman from action in this week's Champions League semi-final match against Arsenal.

Julian Alvarez exited the pitch shortly before the 80th minute during the game between Atletico Madrid and Arsenal, which ended 1-1 through two penalties.

The Argentine attacker cancelled out Viktor Gyokeres’ 44th minute penalty with a spot kick of his own in the 56th, leaving Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya planted between the sticks.

Will Julian Alvarez be fit for the second leg?

With his second half penalty, Julian Alvarez became the first man in Atletico Madrid’s history to reach a double digit goal tally in a single Champions League campaign.

The Argentine has scored 10 goals for the Spanish side in Europe this season, pairing that figure with four assists in a run which has taken Atletico Madrid to the tournament’s semi-finals.

According to a report from Cadena SER, the 26-year-old was withdrawn due to an ankle issue, which has since been revealed to be minor.

The Argentine forward, who ranked at No. 5 in FourFourTwo's list of the best strikers in the world, has suffered a minor ankle sprain, making his return for the Champions League semi-final second leg at the Emirates highly likely.

Barring any setbacks or relapses, Julian Alvarez will line up for Atletico Madrid next Tuesday evening as his side look to book a place in the Champions League final against one of Bayern Munich or PSG.

This update vindicates coach Diego Simeone’s optimism regarding Julian Alvarez’s condition in a post-match press conference, when asked whether he’d be present for the next leg.

Despite being unaware of the diagnosis, Simeone said: ‘Optimistic for the return leg? I’m always optimistic. Julian Alvarez will play on Tuesday against Arsenal… I know [him].’

The Atletico Madrid manager was also forced to withdraw his son Giuliano from the pitch after he suffered a knock.

Simeone echoed the same optimism for his child and player, saying: ‘I absolutely do not see [him] being out of a return semi-final leg.’

Julian Alvarez will return against Arsenal in the Champions League semi-final second leg, currently tied 1-1, at the Emirates next Tuesday.

A VPN is essential for streaming the biggest matches in 2026/27. The huge games will come across the globe and a VPN ensures you won't miss a kick this season. But why should you get a VPN to watch the Champions League, Premier League or La Liga? And which are the best VPNs for streaming the biggest games? FourFourTwo is here to offer some guidance.

First, you might be asking: what exactly is a VPN? It stands for Virtual Private Network, a type of software you can install on your computer, phone, or even a smart TV to help keep your online activity secure. It works by hiding your real location and encrypting your internet connection (there’s more going on behind the scenes, but that’s the basic idea).

VPNs serve a wide range of purposes, from safeguarding journalists and dissidents operating under restrictive governments to simply giving you extra peace of mind when using public Wi-Fi.

We’re lucky enough to share an office with TechRadar and Tom's Guide, who know everything there is to know about VPNs. They’ve tested hundreds of them, and we’ll be leaning on their expertise as we take a look at some of the key benefits of VPNs when it comes to streaming football online.

Benefits of a VPN for streaming football

Use a VPN to watch your usual football streams from anywhere

The biggest advantage of a VPN for those looking to stream TV is that it allows you to do so from anywhere.

What if you’re on holiday during the Premier League season, or you can't stream a crucial match because of a work trip? A VPN will allow you to access your usual coverage from another country, so you never have to miss a game.

Pretty much all streaming platforms these days are geo-restricted – in other words, they work only in the host country. For example, Sky Sports, which shows the majority of Premier League games in the UK and Ireland, works only in those countries. If you try to watch from abroad, you’ll find yourself geo-blocked.

A VPN gets around this by re-routing your connection through a remote server, which replaces your device’s IP address (a sort of unique digital passport). The best VPN providers will have server options in pretty much every country in the world – often multiple servers – so when you connect through one of them, it will appear that you are in that country.

Heading on holiday or spending time away from your home country doesn’t mean you have to be locked out of the services you subscribe to and pay for. It’s a good way to make sure you’re getting full value out of your subscriptions.

Use a VPN to improve picture quality

Another advantage of a VPN is improved streaming quality for live football.

Your internet provider may advertise high speeds, but in reality performance is often reduced by throttling, especially during peak times or when streaming in high definition.

A VPN masks your activity by routing your connection through its servers, making it harder for your ISP to throttle your speed based on what you are doing.

Use a VPN to stay safe while streaming

While streaming capabilities are a key component of VPNs, internet security is at their core.

Who doesn’t want to stay safe online? And who doesn’t worry about that in the modern age? There are other things that can re-write your IP address, but VPNs are considered key tools in cyber security, keeping your data private and protecting you from the malign forces out there.

VPNs encrypt the data that's transferred between your device and the internet, which makes it impossible for it to be spied upon and taken advantage of. When it comes to log-ins and payment details, you can keep these under lock and key. This is doubly important when stepping out into the risky world of public WiFi or mobile connections.

See also ► EFL Championship TV Guide: Live Streams for 2026/27

Best VPNs for watching football

In a nutshell: TechRadar and Tom's Guide recommend NordVPN. It is one of the most affordable and ranks among the top VPN's for unblocking streaming services.

NordVPN

Our pals at both TechRadar and Tom's Guide rate NordVPN as the best VPN money can buy right now. NordVPN has consistently come out on top in deep testing from the teams on both sites for a long time now – specifically for streaming but also overall.

“We’re confident that virtually anyone can sign up for Nord and get what they need,” say TechRadar. “It’s easy to use, has robust security, seriously fast speeds for downloads and gaming, flawless unblocking (it’s our top choice for streaming), plus a host of compelling extra features.”

Surfshark

Both TechRadar and Tom’s Guide rate Surfshark as the best budget VPN out there. It might fall short of NordVPN on certain features, but manages to sneak past it on price.

“Surfshark is the perfect choice if you're on a budget but don’t want to compromise on quality,” say Tom’s Guide.

Norton VPN

Both TechRadar and Tom's Guide rate Norton VPN as one of the best VPNs for streaming right now, following a string of improvements over the past 12 months.

"It's fast, very user friendly and has the kind of array of features you’d expect from a top VPN service," say TechRadar, while Tom's Guide add: "It offers fast, secure connections and solid unblocking capabilities, making it a good VPN for streaming, torrenting, gaming, and browsing the internet securely."

ProtonVPN

Our office mates at TechRadar rank ProtonVPN as one of the very best for ad-blocking and streaming.

We test and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example: 1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service). 2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad. We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.

Manchester United are close to the signature of Barcelona’s 22-year-old fullback, now awaiting approval from Balde to secure his services.

Manchester United will need to submit a hefty bid to receive the signature of Alejandro Balde, with Barcelona open to being convinced of a sale.

The 22-year-old has dealt with repeated injury blows throughout the season, missing ten matches and 61 days of football for the Spanish side.

Manchester United await approval from Alejandro Balde

According to a reports from Sport Witness and Sport, Manchester United, who once ‘led the way’ for Alejandro Balde, are awaiting approval directly from the player to pursue him further.

Balde, who graduated from Barcelona’s La Masia academy to first-team football, has started 19 La Liga games this season, appearing in 24, and has recorded impressive defensive statistics.

The Spain international has averaged over three duels won and three recoveries per game for Barcelona, and recorded two assists in the process.

Manchester United are currently planning defensive and centre-of-the-park rebuilds, and were recently linked with a Bundesliga ‘assist machine’ who can play as both a natural right-back and winger.

Adding Balde into the mix, a similar mix of both defensive and attacking talent from the opposite flank, now hinges on the player’s approval for Manchester United to pursue him.

Reportedly, Barcelona are willing to entertain and are possibly open to a figure in the region of €50 million, however, the club will not force the La Masia graduate out.

Instead, Balde will decide his own future alongside agent Jorge Mendes, with both being aware of Barcelona’s desire to offload the 22-year-old.

The Spain international, whose contract expires in 2028, has largely lost his place in Hansi Flick’s side on the left flank, with Joao Cancelo proving to be formidable competition.

Barcelona are chasing Cancelo’s signature – currently on loan in Spain from Saudi side Al-Hilal – and also exploring other left-back options in the market, leaving Balde’s future uncertain.

Manchester United view Balde as a ‘market opportunity’ and will be ready to pounce should the 22-year-old decide a Manchester arrival is his desire.

Barcelona and Hansi Flick are pushing for a rival side raid this summer ahead of Robert Lewandowski's departure.

Barcelona are on track to retain their La Liga title, now 11 points clear of second-placed Real Madrid with just five games left to play.

Lewandowski, who has netted 12 goals in 26 games this season, was Barcelona’s most prolific domestic goalscorer for three consecutive seasons from 2022 to 2025.

Hansi Flick pushes for rival side signing to combat Lewandowski loss

The Poland international will depart from the Camp Nou this summer, and manager Hansi Flick is pushing for an ambitious rival signing heist to replace his bagsman.

Despite the impending arrival of their 2025/26 La Liga crown, Barcelona fell to rivals Atletico Madrid in the Champions League by a 3-2 aggregate score.

According to a report from Fichajes, Hansi Flick has identified Atletico striker Julian Alvarez as the ideal Lewandowski replacement, and will push for his signature this summer.

Earlier this month, Alvarez netted Atletico's first goal in a Champions League quarter-final clash that saw Barcelona exit once more on club football’s biggest stage.

Beyond goalscoring, the Argentine has also registered the fourth most xA in the competition, behind three world-class creative wingers in Lamine Yamal, Michael Olise, and a departing Mohamed Salah set to announce his next club soon.

This combination of talents has seen Julian Alvarez emerge as the preferred candidate to complete a dream trio that will also raise the goalscoring ceilings of Lamine Yamal and Raphinha.

The report expands on another from ESPN which stated that Barcelona had made contact with Atletico Madrid to explore the possibility of a transfer, with Alvarez’s potential signing now revealed to be the result of a firm push from Hansi Flick.

Barcelona will wait to hear the terms of any transfer involving the Argentine, but the financial operation already appears complex.

Atletico Madrid have set a staggering asking price of €140 million, which makes the likelihood of a transfer unlikely unless the valuation is lowered.

Barcelona return to La Liga action this weekend — with the potential to mathematically secure the 2025/26 title — against ninth-placed Osasuna.

Jose Mourinho is set to return as manager at the Santiago Bernabeu, with the Portuguese coach being Real Madrid’s favoured candidate.

Jose Mourinho has been identified by Real Madrid president Florentino Perez as the man to lead the Spanish giants forward, with current head coach Alvaro Arbeloa set to depart at the end of the season.

The Spaniard took over from fellow countryman Xabi Alonso in January, on track to deliver a second-placed La Liga finish identical to Alonso’s table position at the time of his departure.

Jose Mourinho is set to lead Real Madrid forward once more

According to a report from The Athletic, the decision on who will become Real Madrid’s next head coach is led by club president Florentino Perez.

During this process, Jose Mourinho has emerged as Perez’s favoured candidate to assume the role as Real Madrid’s head coach, setting the stage for a managerial return after the 63-year-old's last stint with the club ended in 2013.

Perez is reportedly frustrated with the failing Real Madrid project, which has now yielded two successive trophyless seasons, and believes Jose Mourinho can solve the club’s issues.

This insistence on a Mourinho return has been met with some opposing voices, but a Perez-led decision on the next Real Madrid manager may eventually render them silent.

It was previously reported that Jose Mourinho’s tactical discipline, the presence of nostalgia and his ability to shield the Real Madrid players from external criticism made the Portuguese coach an alluring figure for the Spanish side.

It has also become somewhat common for Real Madrid to welcome back returning managers to the club – notably, both Zinedine Zidane and Carlo Ancelotti made comebacks in the years following their respective departures.

The Portuguese coach is currently under contract until June 2027 with his current club Benfica, however, there is reportedly a clause in the region of €3 million that allows either party to break the deal up to 10 days after the season’s final match.

Mourinho led the Spanish side to a record-breaking La Liga title win in the 2011-12 season, but tensions with superstar Cristiano Ronaldo — who ranked at No.1 in FourFourTwo’s list of the greatest finishers in football history — were rumoured to be the cause of his demise.

During that legendary campaign, Mourinho set the record for the most La Liga games won in a season with 32, the most away wins in a season with 16, and a record points total.

Real Madrid return to La Liga action this weekend against Espanyol, hoping to stop rivals Barcelona from lifting the La Liga trophy.

When Endrick signed for Real Madrid in the summer of 2024, he arrived days after Kylian Mbappe and joined an attacking corps that already contained the likes of attacking talents Vinicius Junior, Rodrygo and Brahim Diaz.

Competition for places was clearly going to be an issue for the teenager from the get-go, with Endrick having to largely settle for a super-sub role.

Now in his second season, the 19-year-old chose to head out on loan to Lyon in order to get more minutes under his belt.

Endrick on his favoured role

And while his spell at the French side has seen him pick up valuable playing time, he has also been able to prove that he has the kind of versatility that managers crave and will open the door to further opportunities when he returns to his parent club.

Asked about his favoured positions, he tells FourFourTwo about how he has been able to adapt throughout his young career so far.

“My position is centre forward,” he says. “My favourite shirt is the number nine and playing centrally is where I feel the most comfortable – where I have the freedom to move more and attack the space, which is one of the things I enjoy most on the pitch.

“But I can also play on the right, as a false nine or even on the left. The Lyon coach [Paulo Fonseca] knew that and we spoke about it when I arrived.

“I don’t see myself as a winger in that situation, but more of a striker who drifts wide.

“It reminds me of my time at Palmeiras when I worked very well with Breno Lopes.

“It’s good to have the freedom to drop back a little bit or move out to the right. My early goals for Lyon have all come when I was playing more centrally inside the box, but I like helping out the team with whatever the coach might ask of me.”

With seven goals and seven assists in his first 20 games at Lyon, Endrick is clearly benefiting from his increased playing time as he looks to make his case to Alvaro Arbeloa - or whoever is in the Bernabeu dugout next season.

“I just want to play, no matter how,” he declares.

For South American wonderkids, the move across the Atlantic to Europe at a young age is a well-trodden path, but for Brazilian starlet Endrick, it felt extra special.

After making a name for himself at an early age with Palmeiras, the teenager striker quickly became one of world football’s hottest prospects and caught the eye of Europe’s biggest sides.

Real Madrid would win the race to land Endrick, who joined up with the Spanish side shortly after making his full Brazil debut in March 2024.

Endrick on what it meant to join Real Madrid

As is their style, Real Madrid unveiled their new €60million signing at a packed Bernabeu in July 2024, days after Kylian Mbappe was introduced to the Spanish capital.

“It was very emotional,” Endrick tells FourFourTwo. “I didn’t imagine that there would be so many people, because Mbappe had been announced first. I thought the fans would have gone to see him already and that maybe for my presentation, there would be 5,000 people at most.

“When I stepped out into the stadium, there were so many people there. From the very first day, I thanked God for the privilege of wearing the shirt of the biggest club in the world and for the thousands of fans who came to welcome me. It was incredible, and that reception made me very happy. Because it was my childhood dream, I couldn’t hold back the tears.

“Football is dynamic – things can change quickly and I also thank Lyon very much for the opportunity they’ve given me, but when I arrived at Real Madrid, I imagined it would be the second and last club of my career, after Palmeiras. It’s difficult to describe in words what I felt that day. I’ll never forget that moment and all the fans who came out to welcome me with so much affection.”

But with great fanfare comes great expectation. So did he feel pressure to succeed immediately?

“Actually no, because I’d just arrived and the attention was all on Mbappe, who signed as the number nine and starting striker that season,” the Brazilian admits. “I played maybe 15 minutes at most in matches, so I didn’t feel much pressure. Also, when I came off the bench I managed to score goals, win penalties and cause danger for the opposition.

“When I say I didn’t feel any pressure, that’s more in terms of the individual side, because at Real Madrid the pressure for collective success is always very high.”

Goals would follow on his club and Champions League debuts, with Endrick making an early impact off the bench. But with his playing time in the talent-packed Madrid front line limited, he moved on loan to Lyon in January. So when did he realise he wasn’t getting the minutes he wanted

“It’s difficult to say, because for me, my first year at the club was excellent,” he continues. “At 18, you don’t arrive at a club like Real Madrid as a starter. That only happens in rare cases. In my first season, I came off the bench and scored goals in the Copa del Rey. But in the second year, the coach changed; the new manager, Xabi Alonso, didn’t know me and I was also just coming back from an injury.

“I wasn’t getting many minutes, so my team and I realised early on that I wouldn’t have many chances and we didn’t wait. In the first transfer window, the best option was to leave and continue developing my football. Coming to Lyon has been spectacular because I’m playing a lot and that’s what every player wants.”

If you’re a big Barcelona fan — or simply looking for where to watch their next match — you’ve come to the right place. Below, we’ll show you how to stream every Barca game from anywhere in the world, including the occasional free viewing option.

Barcelona defined a generation with their iconic sides of the late 2000s and early 2010s, as Lionel Messi and Co scooped up four Champions League titles in 10 years.

The Catalan club have not hit those incredible heights since, but the emergence of teenage sensation Lamine Yamal and last season's La Liga and Copa del Rey double suggests they are ready to begin a new era of dominance.

Read on for all the essential TV and streaming details for Barcelona in the 2025/26 season.

• Read More: How to watch La Liga in 2025/26

Watch Barcelona from anywhere

Away from home and want to watch Barcelona? That doesn't mean you have to miss out on seeing Barca in action. All you need is a VPN, a handy piece of software that makes your devices appear to be in a different location.

FourFourTwo’s colleagues TechRadar have tested hundreds of VPNs, and they say NordVPN is the best VPN you can get.

How to watch Barcelona live streams in the UK

Barcelona's La Liga games are broadcast on Premier Sports in the UK and Republic of Ireland, with more than 200 matches available online and on television through their LaLigaTV platform.

Meanwhile, Disney+ is showing one La Liga fixture per week during the 2025/26 season.

You can also watch all of Barca's Champions League games live in the UK on TNT Sports.

Watch Barcelona in the US

In the US, you can stream all of Barcelona's La Liga and Copa del Rey matches live on ESPN Select.

Meanwhile, CBS is the home of the Champions League in the US, with every game streamed live on their online platform Paramount+.