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The Athletic FC ⚽ is The Athletic’s daily football (or soccer, if you prefer) newsletter. Sign up to receive it directly to your inbox. Hello! Vinicius Junior used to be Real Madrid’s big shot. Increasingly however, the Bernabeu belongs to Kylian Mbappe. On the way: ? Mbappe gets Madrid rolling ? Liga MX targets the world Advertisement ⛽ Elite-level football pump ? FBI director… in a Liverpool tie Kylian Mbappe was Real Madrid’s most galactico signing in years, and with a fair amount of irony, they won nothing domestically in his 2024-25 debut season. For 12 months, the French forward looked like the missing piece from somebody else’s jigsaw. To knock Barcelona off their perch in Spain (and his previous club Paris Saint-Germain off theirs in Europe), Mbappe will have to cook — and so far this season, he has. Two penalties on Tuesday night not only banked a 2-1 opening Champions League home victory over Marseille, but enhanced his image as Madrid’s top boy, the talent on whom better days are leveraged. With perfect timing, Dermot Corrigan touched on changing fortunes at the Bernabeu yesterday. This time last year, the narrative at Madrid focused on Vinicius Junior, who was, in many people’s eyes, the best player in the world then. Now, new head coach Xabi Alonso is taking the club into the Champions League and naming the Brazilian on the bench. Mbappe is on penalty duty. Mbappe is the guaranteed pick up front. Mbappe is already up to six club goals for the season. In truth, Alonso’s football is designed for Mbappe more than it is for Vinicius Jr, who likes opportunities to let his pace burn on the counter — but the transition from Carlo Ancelotti to Alonso is still in progress. Madrid made hard work of last night’s tie. They conceded first to USMNT forward Tim Weah (a tidy finish it was, too, with shades of Weah’s old man), lost Dani Carvajal to a red card for a stupid headbutt, and got lucky nine minutes from time via a pretty iffy handball. Vinicius Jr’s run drew that late penalty, but Mbappe dispatched it, his 50th Madrid goal in 64 matches. It’s pretty clear which one of them Alonso is more inclined to stake his reign on. Advertisement The risk that more league-phase matches in Europe’s top competition might yield a high number of uneventful contests wasn’t borne out in the new format’s first iteration last season, and yesterday’s first set of matches brought more of the same. Madrid’s scrambled victory ranked fairly low on the Richter scale in comparison to Juventus scoring twice in stoppage time to draw 4-4 with Borussia Dortmund and Azerbaijan’s Qarabag clawing their way back from two down to beat Benfica 3-2 in Lisbon. Benfica’s collapse spelt the end of Bruno Lage’s 12-month stint as their head coach. The reality of UEFA’s revision of the old group stage seemed to dawn on competing sides quickly. A knockout-rounds place is there for the taking (24 of the 36 clubs will get one) and good results pull in a fortune. In those circumstances, it makes sense to play to win. That’s what Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur did yesterday, the former using Gabriel Martinelli off the bench to beat Athletic Club in Bilbao, and the latter profiting from a funny goalkeeping error (above) to book a 1-0 home defeat of Villarreal. One day gone and we’re hooked already. You’d be forgiven for failing to realise how massive Mexico’s Liga MX is. Those who follow it closely — and there are millions of fans who do — know full well, but for too long, the competition has done a modest job of selling itself to outside audiences. That’s changing, though, and rapidly. Liga MX is attracting more players of note, including Sergio Ramos. It’s getting serious about how to expand and evolve, and it’s as determined as either La Liga or Serie A in Europe to take an official league match to the United States, where a broad Mexican audience already exists. Advertisement Felipe Cardenas’ feature on Liga MX’s commercial vision lays bare some unapologetically aggressive intentions. It also makes a good point: that as foreign competitions clamour to perform on U. S. soil, America’s own club product, Major League Soccer, will have to fight hard to avoid being overshadowed. Global exposure from co-hosting the 2026 World Cup should further MLS interests, but Liga MX sees a scenario in which it benefits more. Certain things are taken for granted in football. Or certain things you never think about. For instance, whose job is it to inflate (and keep inflated) the countless balls professional clubs use? Here’s your answer: Maurin Kieft, the inventor of an electric pump that can, as unlikely as it sounds, blow up 40 balls in a mere two minutes. OK, Kieft isn’t going around Europe inflating them all himself. But he is going around Europe selling his creation to the great, the good and those who are neither. Barcelona have invested in it. So too Liverpool, Manchester City and PSG. You’re on the hook for more than £450 ($614) if you want one, but it’s worth every penny when the alternative is laboriously pumping up balls by hand. The reality of a mundane task didn’t cross my mind before, and it comes as no surprise to learn that the game’s elite have this base covered. (Selected games, kick-offs ET/UK) UEFA Champions League (all TNT Sports in UK): Slavia Prague vs Bodo/Glimt, 12. 45pm/5. 45pm — Paramount+, Vi X; Ajax vs Inter — CBS, Paramount+, Fubo, Vi X; Bayern Munich vs Chelsea — Paramount+, Vi X; Liverpool vs Atletico Madrid — Paramount+, Vi X; Paris Saint-Germain vs Atalanta — Paramount+, DAZN (all 3pm/8pm). Carabao Cup, third round: Swansea City vs Nottingham Forest, 3pm/8pm — Paramount+/Sky Sports. MLS: Real Salt Lake vs LAFC, 9. 30pm/2. 30am — MLS Season Pass/Apple TV. Something that definitely wasn’t on our bingo list: FBI director Kash Patel turning up to a U. S. Senate hearing in Washington, D. C. yesterday wearing a branded Liverpool Football Club tie. We’re assuming he’s a fan – he tweeted about their Premier League title win in April – and it’s one heck of a twist in the storyline of Liverpool’s attempt to claim the American market. ? Love TAFC? Check out The Athletic’s other newsletters, including Full-Time, for women’s soccer. (Top photo: Gokhan Taner/SOPA Images/Light Rocket via Getty Images) Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle Phil grew up near Edinburgh in Scotland and joined The Athletic in 2019 as its Leeds United writer. He is now lead writer of The Athletic FC newsletter. He previously worked for the Yorkshire Evening Post as its chief football writer. Follow Phil on Twitter @Phil Hay_