While Europe freezes over, football managers across the continent are feeling the intense heat, as triggers are pulled and players revolt, and no, this isn’t a “Star Wars” opening crawl:

ii. Speaking of the French giants, they have resumed their regularly scheduled programming atop Ligue 1. But off the field, PSG are attempting to transcend football in a whole new way. Read our good pal Rory Smith’s full story here. 📖

iii. The best recent goal you might’ve missed: Here’s every angle of PSG’s Georgian marksman Khvicha Kvaratskhelia’s inch-perfect volley from last weekend. Smooth like beurre. 🧈

iv. Conversely, this incredible recent self-own by Bayern’s Lennart Karl and the defender’s impeccable response must be seen to be believed. 👍

Cheers,
Tommy Stewart & Max Bonem

PS - We’re not sure which is better: The stunning backdrop or this bit of dead-ball wizardry from the top amateur league in Türkiye’s Hakkari province. 🏔️

Real Madrid vs. Real Sociedad (Saturday, 3 p.m. ET, ESPN+)

Like his predecessor Xabi Alonso, despite being a point off the top of La Liga, Álvaro Arbeloa has an impossible job on his hands at Real Madrid, facing a reported mutiny and the ire of veteran club captain Dani Carvajal for a lack of game time. With Barcelona not playing in the league until Monday, Los Blancos can go top, but New Jersey’s Pellegrino Matarazzo and his undefeated-in-six Real Sociedad are one of La Liga’s most in-form sides.

More: Pellegrino Matarazzo, the New Jersey mathematician who has revitalized Real Sociedad.

Copa del Rey Semi-Final (First Leg): Atlético Madrid vs. Barcelona (TODAY, 3 p.m. ET, ESPN+)

Barcelona’s La Liga break is like a holiday in Mordor, because in Spain’s version of the FA Cup, they’ll travel to Atlético Madrid’s hostile Riyadh Air Metropolitano without key injured players, Raphinha and Marcus Rashford. Diego Simeone’s snarling gang of orcs are third in the league but way adrift of the top two, so the Copa del Rey remains their best chance of silverware this season.

More: Please enjoy a bit of press conference shithousery from Barca manager Hansi Flick.

Pisa vs. AC Milan (Friday, 2:45 p.m. ET, Paramount+)

Max Allegri’s AC Milan prioritize clean sheets over vivacious football, so their 3-0 romp at Bologna two Tuesdays ago was a pleasant surprise. Thanks to the Milan Winter Olympics, the Rossoneri haven’t played since then, which has allowed Christian Pulisic to return to fitness after a bout of bursitis in a season where he’s scored 10 goals, but none since late December. A victory over winless-in-13 and second-bottom Pisa puts them back alongside neighbors Inter in the Scudetto conversation. 

Inter Milan vs. Juventus (Saturday, 2:45 p.m. ET, Paramount+) 

Historically, Juventus dominate the Derby d’Italia, a cinematic name coined in the 1960s for the match that pits Italy’s two most successful sides against each other, but Christian Chivu’s Inter Milan are the captains now. In his first season managing the club he won everything with as a player, Chivu’s side lead Serie A by eight points, and fourth-placed Juve will be subdued by the return of his key midfield metronomes, Nicolo Barella and Hakan Çalhanoğlu.

More: Why the Derby d’Italia is Italy’s Manchester United vs. Liverpool.

Napoli vs. Roma (Sunday, 2:45 p.m. ET, Paramount+)  

Napoli may have dropped their shield and armor in a so far disappointing title defense, but this opportunity to bury the hopes of Roma can morally elevate them, and should Juve upset Inter, put them back into battle. It’s low block vs. high press and grit against risk, as Antonio Conte’s third-placed side welcome Gian Gasperini’s fifth-placed Roma, who bounce into the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium after a 2-0 win and Donyell Malen brace on Monday.

Borussia Dortmund vs. Mainz (Friday, 2:30 p.m. ET, ESPN+)

A vital late win at Wolfsburg last Saturday kept Niko Kovač’s Borussia Dortmund six points behind Bayern Munich, all thanks to striker Serhou Guirassy’s 13th goal of the season. With four wins in their last five, Rhineland side Mainz are being dragged out of the relegation scrap by the man behind Union Berlin’s ascent to the UCL in 2022, Urs Fischer.

Werder Bremen vs. Bayern Munich (Saturday, 9:30 a.m. ET, ESPN+)

After a brace in Bayern Munich’s 5-1 decimation of Hoffenheim last weekend, Harry Kane now has 39 goals for his club this season and is chasing not just silverware, but greatness. Poor Werder Bremen haven’t won a game of football since Nov. 7 of last year (a miserable 11-match stretch), although they can summon encouragement by the fact that Vincent Kompany’s champions have recently been complacent against struggling sides.

When PSV overturned Ajax’s nine-point lead with five games left to win the Eredivisie by a point last year, it felt like the perfect prelude to another title tussle this season, but it hasn’t turned out that way for Peter Bosz’s side. While Ajax scramble around in fourth, with the help of Sergiño Dest and Fulham target Ricardo Pepi, USA Eindhoven leads second-placed Feyenoord by a whopping 17 points in one of the most dominant continental cakewalks in years.

Dutch lads Guus Til and Joey Veerman have provided goals and assists aplenty, but it’s Bosz’s innovative cocktail of modern and classical styles of play that melds intense pressing with presiding possession that has impressed. And despite exiting the UCL, with a historic 4-1 win over bald brother Arne Slot at Anfield, Bosz has proved his tactical acumen on the grandest stage.

More: After 13 years at PSV that included a position switch to goalkeeper, bask in Niek Schiks’ post-Player of the Match joy on debut for his boyhood club. We’re not crying, you are. 🥹

Como 1907 and Argentina’s Nico Paz is a talent managers will mold generations around. FC26 has already dubbed the 21-year-old No.10 a “future star,” something Como manager Cesc Fabergas and his cohorts have known since signing him from Real Madrid in August 2024. Now the numbers are confirming it, his ascent to superstardom seems inevitable. 

While last season’s 15 goal contributions impressed, in 2025/26 he’s already matched that same total, and Como could reach Europe for the first time in their 119-year history. If they do, Paz’s smorgasbord of skills will be key: he’s had more shots on target and completed more take-ons than anyone in Serie A. He’s also second in assists and tackles.

But here’s the hitch. Los Blancos will reportedly trigger their measly $9.5 million buyback clause on the midfielder this summer, which would break his Catalonian manager’s heart, but Fabregas remains ‘calm about his future.’ And although Paz has only had six Argentina caps, if he can feature in Messi’s supporting cast this summer, the world is his.

More: Why Nico Paz could light up the World Cup.

Multiple choice round two, electric boogaloo! As a reminder: We ask a question, you click on your answer below, and whoever gets it right first wins an illustrious MiB patch. Here you go:

Congratulations to last week’s winner, Douglas Kusyk, who was the first to correctly answer that Sevilla and Real Betis do not share a stadium. Your patch is in the post, Doug. 📬

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