Wojciech Szczesny is in line to make his Barcelona debut against Alaves in La Liga on Sunday – just over a month since he had announced his retirement.

Former Poland international Szczesny, 34, announced that he was hanging up his gloves after his contract with Juventus was terminated, but has now reversed that decision after Barca lost first-choice goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen to a serious knee injury in their 5-1 win against Villarreal last month.

“He is not going for the money at Barcelona, I can tell you that much,” Spanish football expert Guillem Balague said on the Euro Leagues podcast.

“They needed something after the injury to Marc-Andre ter Stegen. I get the impression he is coming to be the number one and play in the big games, and have an experience that will run until next summer.”

Barca go into the game looking to bounce back from their 4-2 defeat by Osasuna, as reigning champions Real Madrid look to do the same after their 36-match unbeaten run in all competitions ended against Lille in the Champions League on Wednesday.

Carlo Ancelotti’s side play Villarreal at the Bernabeu and trail Hansi Flick’s Barca side by three points.

“Defeat is an opportunity, if we take it and react well,” Ancelotti said.

“We are self-critical. There are times when you have to reconnect and you need to do it quickly.

“Sometimes a good run makes you think you’re invincible, but a defeat brings you back to reality. We are still not at our level, we have players who are not at their best.

Kylian Mbappe returned as a substitute at Lille after a thigh injury and the France striker may start this weekend, with Andriy Lunin set to deputise in goal again for the injured Thibaut Courtois.

Girona and Atletico Madrid also suffered Champions League defeats on Wednesday and both are in action on Sunday, against Athletic Bilbao and Real Sociedad respectively.

BBC Scotland will broadcast live television coverage of Threave Rovers against fellow Dumfries and Galloway side Stranraer in the second round of the Scottish Cup.

The match on Friday, 25 October will kick-off in Castle Douglas at 19:45 BST, with coverage beginning on BBC Scotland, iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app from 19:30.

West of Scotland League Third Division side Threave beat hosts Glenafton Athletic 4-2 in the preliminary round and thrashed visitors Vale of Leithen 6-1 in round one.

Stranraer enter at the second-round stage as one of the clubs in League 2.

There are 19 more ties scheduled for Saturday, 26 October, with the third round – featuring League 1 and Championship sides – taking place over the last weekend in November.

Ten Hag has won two trophies in two years at Old Trafford, but an impressive 2-1 victory against Manchester City in May’s FA Cup final proved vital to the Dutchman keeping his job.

Ten Hag ended the club’s six-year wait for silverware with victory against Newcastle in the Carabao Cup final in his first season at the club, also achieving a third-place finish in the Premier League.

But his second season proved far more difficult as United, having been knocked out in the group stage of the Champions League, finished eighth in the league before ending on a high against City at Wembley.

The initial deal Ten Hag signed when he was appointed in 2022 was due to expire at the end of the current season, in 2025.

Following a review of the team’s performance across the 2023-24 season, which included speaking to potential replacements for Ten Hag, the club – led by Ratcliffe – decided to trigger an extension to keep the manager at Old Trafford until 2026.

But just 10 games into the campaign, with United 13th in the Premier League table and winless in Europe, speculation over his future is mounting – with a trip to high-flying Villa to come before October’s international break.

“I think the club asked the league to postpone one or two or three weeks so we can have a holiday after the [Club] World Cup but it is absolutely not allowed. The Premier League say yes to us? No. Absolutely not.”

However, after talking to officials at City and the Premier League, the BBC has learned there has been no formal request.

The Premier League has yet to confirm its start date for the 2025-26 campaign. However, if past seasons are any guide, the competition will begin on 9 or 16 August, with the Community Shield – which City have been involved in for six of the past seven seasons – played the week before.

City and Chelsea are involved in the Club World Cup next summer.

The BBC has learned there have been informal discussions, with Premier League officials saying the issue has been created by an expanded international calendar which they have no say over.

Guardiola is among a number of senior City staff who have concluded the outcome of those informal talks is that the current English champions will just have to get on with it.

In the Covid-affected 2020-21 campaign, City and Manchester United were allowed to start a week later than the rest of the Premier League as they both took part in the specially-created ‘Super Eight’ competitions at the end of the Champions League and Europa Leagues in the previous season.

That meant they did not finish the 2019-20 season until 15 and 16 August respectively, four weeks before the first games of the new season took place.

Wolves, who had played their last European game on 11 August, did play in the opening round of fixtures but their match at Sheffield United was moved to Monday, 14 September.

World governing body Fifa has told all clubs at the Club World Cup they must use their strongest available squads.

“They won’t postpone these games so there will be a moment of ‘what do we do?'” added Guardiola.

“I don’t have an answer right now but we are going to take a decision with common sense.”

Farke admitted he had never experienced such an incident in his 30 years in football, with such a defining mistake coming with effectively the last touch of the match.

The Leeds boss suggested captain Pascal Struijk had seen the ball bounce unkindly in front of his goalkeeper, causing Meslier to let it spin past him.

But Farke could not definitively say if there was a rogue divot on the pitch which had cost his injury-hit side two crucial points at the Stadium of Light after an impressive display.

“After such a situation, you don’t need to speak about it – no-one wants to hear any words,” he added.

“Pascal came over and said he had never seen anything like this. He said it bounced and jumped in the other direction because there was a mark on the pitch.

“I can’t tell you if that was the case because I wasn’t on the pitch, but Pascal was probably in the best position to see. If it was this, it was unbelievably unlucky.

“To lose those points in this way is heartbreaking, is horrendous, is so sad and disappointing for our lads.”

Manchester United will turn to Thomas Tuchel if the club decide to sack manager Erik ten Hag, while Real Madrid are interested in Aston Villa’s Jhon Duran.

Manchester United will revive talks with former Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel if they sack Ten Hag. (ipaper), external

United’s hierarchy will meet on Tuesday to discuss the club’s plight after co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe watches them play Aston Villa in the Premier League on Sunday. (Athletic – subscription required), external

Inter Milan boss Simone Inzaghi has rejected an offer to succeed Ten Hag at Old Trafford (Sportitalia – in Italian), external

Former Manchester United coach Rene Meulensteen says he would be open to a return if Ruud van Nistelrooy, currently assistant manager at the club, was to become manager. (No Tippy Tappy Football Podcast, via Mirror), external

Real Madrid are closely monitoring Aston Villa’s 20-year-old Colombia striker Jhon Duran. (Football Insider), external

Arsenal are interested in Barcelona’s 18-year-old Spain Under-19 forward Arnau Pradas. (Mundo Deportivo – in Spanish), external

Manchester City have discussed Crystal Palace’s England midfielder Adam Wharton, 20, as a replacement for the injured Rodri. (Football Insider), external

Everton will attempt to revive new contract talks with England striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin, 27, if the proposed takeover by the Friedkin Group is approved. (ipaper), external

Liverpool are keen on signing England forward Eberechi Eze, 26, from Crystal Palace. (Football Insider), external

Barcelona and Atletico Madrid are both plotting a move for Arsenal’s Ghana midfielder Thomas Partey, 31. (Fichajes, via TeamTalk), external

Robertson initially ruled out Celtic’s second goal in their 6-0 win at McDiarmid Park after an offside flag, but the panel agreed that VAR was right to intervene while noting that it was “a very tight decision and would have been difficult for the assistant referee” to see.

The panel made the same observation when concluding that VAR was correct to intervene after Rangers’ winning goal at home to Hibs, scored by midfielder Tom Lawrence, was initially ruled out for offside.

VAR later intervened to advise referee Nick Walsh that Hibs should have been awarded a penalty when John Souttar blocked striker Mykola Kuharevich’s shot from within the six-yard box with his arm.

In deciding that VAR was right to intervene, the panel also noted that Walsh was correct not to show a red card to Rangers’ centre-half because he was not denying an obvious goal due to the position of goalkeeper Jack Butland, who would go on to save Kuharevich’s spot kick.

Dundee United midfielder Craig Sibbald’s 79th-minute long-range strike, which pulled his side to within a goal of Kilmarnock at Ruby Park, was initially ruled out by referee Craig Napier for a foul in the build-up.

However, the SFA panel agreed that VAR had been correct to intervene and award the goal, with United adding a late equaliser as the game finished 3-3.

A statement from global players’ union Fifpro called the judgement “a major ruling” which it said “will change the landscape of football”, but added it would communicate further after “analysing the ruling in depth”.

Diarra’s lawyers called it a “total victory” and claimed any players impacted by a similar situation could claim compensation. They said the ruling would “speed up the modernisation of governance” at Fifa.

Fifa said it would “analyse the decision in co-ordination with other stakeholders before commenting further”.

Emilio Garcia, Fifa’s chief legal and compliance officer, later said: “It is important to clarify that today’s decision does not change the core principles of the transfer system at all.

“Fifa has been continuously improving that system for many years – not for its own benefit, but for the benefit of players, clubs, leagues and member associations, to ensure that players can train, be developed and have stability, while safeguarding the integrity of competitions by implementing a robust regulatory framework for the international transfer system.”

In essence, the court has determined that players should have more power to move and work where they wish, and that Fifa rules should be less restrictive.

The court’s view is that a player whose contract has been terminated, as in Diarra’s case, should be able to go and play in a different country without either the player or the new club being automatically required to pay significant compensation to the former club.

This gives greater power to players and their agents in the transfer market.

“The result could mean far-reaching consequences for the transfer system, similar to how the Bosman Ruling affected transfers in 1995,” sports barrister Yasin Patel told BBC Sport.

“Players may now be able to move more freely to other clubs by breaking with a contract as opposed to being tied to the club and contract. In addition, buying clubs may not have to pay compensation or claims.”

Sports finance expert Kieran Maguire warned that could lead to “unscrupulous people” effectively “gaming the system” by downing tools to seek a move.

“This could be something which could be exploited in the future,” he told Radio 5 Live.

“What’s prevented players from doing it in the past is if they move on elsewhere, the club that they join would have to pay a compensation fee as a form of transfer fee. This ruling says that I can now move to another club and no compensation is due.

“It has to be said the vast majority of footballers don’t want this to be the case – we all know people that push things at work in terms of dismissals and so on – but as far as the players are concerned this is a broader issue that he wasn’t able to be a professional footballer when he should have been earning money.

Maheta Molango, chief executive officer of the Professional Footballers’ Association, said it was an “important ruling which could have potentially far-reaching ramifications for the rights of players within the current transfer system”.

He added: “More widely, it demonstrates again that football cannot behave like it does not have to work within the same employment laws that apply to any other industry.”

The exact ramifications of the judgement will be made clear once Fifa puts forward its new regulations.