The last time Spain won a major tournament, technically speaking, was last year. Their women’s side triumphed in Sydney to win the Women’s World Cup playing a brand of football that was very familiar to the men’s side.

Arguably their key player in the knockout stage was Salma Paralluelo, which was unusual considering she wasn’t actually a regular starter. She was a substitute in the quarter-final and scored the winner. She was again a substitute in the semi-final and again scored the winner. She started up front in the final and didn’t score, but she was a surefire pick for the best XI of the tournament, despite the fact she wasn’t a surefire pick for her own team’s starting XI.

This seems strange but also seems increasingly common. Federico Chiesa, who started only four of Italy’s seven games at the last European Championship, was also voted into the team of the tournament despite being most effective as a substitute. Perhaps, in this era where managers can use five subs, we should also pick a ‘best bench’ of the tournament — not simply players who consistently started but weren’t quite good enough to get in the best XI, but players who made the biggest impact from the bench.

That is likely to be the role of Dani Olmo at Euro 2024. With Spain already…

Dear readers,

The Premier League and Champions League are over for another season but the summer of 2024 is packed full of live action and transfer fun and games — and we’ll cover it all in detail on The Athletic.

From Europe’s major clubs travelling across the world (and to the United States in particular) to all the moves (and nearly moves) of the summer transfer window, plus two major international tournaments, Emma Hayes starting her reign as USWNT head coach and the Olympics, our team of reporters will bring you in-depth coverage of the things you care about.

We’ll be on the ground in Germany for Euro 2024; across the U.S. for Copa America, MLS, NWSL and Premier League pre-season; in Paris, France for the summer Olympic Games’ football action, and everywhere in between — ensuring you don’t miss a thing when it comes to the beautiful game.

The club content you know and love won’t stop either. Our trusted team of reporters will hit the phones to bring you the latest moves in the transfer window as we embark on an ambitious project to cover the summer ins and outs like never before.

And it doesn’t stop there.

You might already follow our NFL, NBA or NHL coverage, but did you know we also cover a range of other sports, including golf, Formula 1 and tennis? Mark out…

The Champions League final is the biggest club game on the calendar and the climax of the football season.

On June 1, Real Madrid, the 14-time winners of Europe’s elite club competition, will play German club Borussia Dortmund at Wembley Stadium in London. According to UEFA, the game will be shown in more than 200 territories and will reach 450million people worldwide, with an estimated global average viewership of around 145m.

The most ardent of football supporters, be it in the United States or the United Kingdom, will devour any match if it is on TV, whether that is the Premier League, Ligue 1, Major League Soccer (MLS) or the Women’s Super League (WSL).

Fortunately for fans, most games are now available on TV — but just how much do those in the U.S. and the UK pay to tune in?

As part of TNT Sports’ deal with UEFA, the broadcaster has to make the Champions League final free to view in the UK, giving supporters a small reprieve from the monthly costs associated with watching football on TV.

Regular fixtures, however, are seldom made available for free, and following your team on TV, or another league, is not cheap.

For the figures in this article, the platform’s baseline cost is not factored in. For example, the cost of basic cable in the U.S. is not included in the…

The season is rapidly approaching its conclusion and the pressure is cranking up.

At the top of the Premier League, Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City and Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal are locked in a gripping title race; at the other end of the table, Rob Edwards is desperate to prolong Luton Town’s top-flight fairytale at the expense of Nuno Espirito Santo and Nottingham Forest. And in the English Football League (EFL), play-off season is in full swing, complete with all its usual emotional ebbs and flows.

These are the days when reputations are forged or shattered and, while it is enthralling for fans, managers would be forgiven for regarding the whole thing with dread.

Jurgen Klopp’s announcement in January that he would be leaving Liverpool at the end of this season was proof of how draining the job can be. “I cannot do it again and again and again and again,” said Klopp, who turns 57 next month.

In February, Roy Hodgson left Crystal Palace shortly after collapsing at their training ground. Although the 76-year-old’s health was not a factor in the club’s decision to end his contract three months early just a few days later, it caused understandable concern among players and staff.

It is not just in the Premier League, either.

Emma Hayes, who is leaving Chelsea Women at the…

Former Spain and Real Madrid head coach Vicente del Bosque has been appointed as the head of a new government-created committee to supervise the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF).

Government spokesperson Pilar Alegria confirmed on Monday that Del Bosque, 73, will lead the Superior Sports Council’s (CSD) new commission of “supervision, normalisation and representation” as part of a bid to reform Spanish football.

The new body has been created in response to the ongoing fallout from scandals following former president Luis Rubiales’ departure, after he was forced to resign over the fallout from his conduct at the Women’s World Cup final. Rubiales faces sexual assault and coercion charges, which he denies, after kissing Jennifer Hermoso following Spain’s 1-0 win over England.

Del Bosque’s committee will work with the RFEF to “initiate a stage of regeneration under a climate of institutional stability” until the governing body holds new elections in autumn. Spain will co-host the 2030 World Cup along with Portugal and Morocco.

Last week, Pedro Rocha was formally announced as the RFEF’s new president, despite being one of several individuals questioned as part of a judicial investigation into alleged corruption during Rubiales’ reign.

GO DEEPER

El Clasico is box…

When Barcelona lost the 2022 Women’s Champions League final to Lyon, one player’s face stood out among her team-mates’ anguished expressions.

Aitana Bonmati took her silver medal, gave it a kiss and went to thank the travelling Barca fans. As she applauded those supporters, she made a promise to them: “We’ll be back.” Sure enough, the next year, Barcelona won their second Champions League title with a fine comeback against Wolfsburg.

After Barca lost the first leg of this season’s Champions League semi-final at home against Chelsea, Bonmati once again fronted up to the media. The midfielder was angry about how Emma Hayes’ visiting side had played, especially when it came to running the clock down to protect their 1-0 lead.

“To me, that’s playing dirty,” she said. Her anger was shared by Barcelona’s staff and fans.

It produced a similar result. With a player of the match performance in Saturday’s second leg at Stamford Bridge, Bonmati carried Barca to their fourth consecutive Champions League final and fifth in six years. She levelled the tie with her 25th-minute goal and won the penalty from which Fridolina Rolfo sealed the win with 15 minutes of the 90 to go.

GO DEEPER

Aitana Bonmati exclusive interview: ‘There’s no hiding. It’s what comes naturally to…

It has been a busy week for Spanish football.

Sunday’s Clasico saw Real Madrid set one hand on the La Liga trophy after a thrilling 3-2 win over Barcelona, with Carlo Ancelotti’s side now preparing for a Champions League semi-final against Bayern Munich.

La Liga president Javier Tebas has been talking about staging games in the United States, while a noisy debate continues about introducing goal line technology after the ‘phantom goal’ by Lamine Yamal at the Bernabeu. Barca coach Xavi has changed his mind and after being set to leave at the end of the season, will now stay on at the club next campaign.

But by the end of the week, many headlines were about the government intervening in the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) to try and clean up the mess still flowing from the exit of former president Luis Rubiales, after his behaviour at last summer’s Women’s World Cup.

Thursday saw the Spanish government’s Superior Sports Council (CSD) announce a new ‘commission of supervision, normalisation and representation’ to work with the RFEF to “initiate a stage of regeneration under a climate of institutional stability”.

But less than 24 hours later Pedro Rocha — handpicked by Rubiales as his successor — was formally named the new president, despite being one of…

Wednesday was another dramatic day in the saga involving former Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) president Luis Rubiales, as an investigation into alleged corruption during his term from 2018 to 2023 gathers pace.

The 46-year-old was detained by police officers and questioned about his role in potential crimes of money laundering and misuse of RFEF funds. Investigators believe Rubiales and a number of his associates were involved in a number of different schemes linking Spain, the Dominican Republic, Saudi Arabia and China.

Rubiales resigned as RFEF president in September, having already been provisionally suspended by FIFA for his behaviour after Spain won the 2023 Women’s World Cup, when he held his crotch in celebration just a few seats down from Queen Letizia and the 16-year-old Princess Sofia of Spain, before grabbing star forward Jenni Hermoso by the head and kissing her on the lips during the medal ceremony.

For his kiss on Hermoso, Rubiales is to go on trial on charges of alleged sexual assault and coercion (which he has always denied), with prosecutors seeking a two-and-a-half-year jail term.

Here, The Athletic explains the latest dramatic developments in Spanish football’s growing crisis, and the potential consequences for Rubiales and the RFEF.

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Why was Rubiales…

Former Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) president Luis Rubiales was detained and questioned immediately after landing in Madrid on Wednesday morning, as part of an anti-corruption investigation.

Rubiales, who resigned as RFEF president in September, having been suspended by FIFA over his kiss on Spain forward Jenni Hermoso after the Women’s World Cup final in August, was travelling back from the Dominican Republic.

That is where he was on March 20, when RFEF headquarters in Madrid and Rubiales’ home in Granada were searched as part of an investigation into alleged corruption during his five years in charge from 2018.

Officers from Spain’s Civil Guard (Guardia Civil) were waiting for Rubiales to land at Madrid-Barajas airport. Footage broadcast by Spanish TV station La Sexta showed him being led away from a plane on the tarmac and into a black minivan.

According to Guardia Civil sources, Rubiales was informed he was being indicted and his lawyer was called so they could be present during questioning. Rubiales invoked his right not to testify and was released. However, he is expected to be called to testify when a warrant for his arrest is issued by an investigating judge, the same sources said.

Guardia Civil officers seized a mobile phone and a tablet from Rubiales on…

Irene Paredes grasped the trophy and took two steps forward before stopping. She looked up at the sky, took a moment, and closed her eyes, grimacing as she tried to hold back the tears. But it was too late — she was finally lifting a title as Spain captain.

Paredes was a key part of the Spanish side that won the Women’s World Cup last summer and had been captain for four years before that, but she was stripped of the armband before that tournament for her role in a player protest against then-head coach Jorge Vilda and the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF). In September 2022, she had been one of the three players to support ‘Las 15’ — the 15 players who wrote the letter to the RFEF standing down from international duty until changes were made — albeit without sending the same letter to the RFEF.

So the Barcelona defender did not lift the most important title in the history of Spanish women’s football as captain. That honour went to Real Madrid’s Ivana Andres instead. It meant victory in Wednesday’s inaugural UEFA Nations League final had special significance for Paredes. Her thoughts immediately turned to her late father, who died just before the World Cup.

You only had to look at the images of the team celebrating to see it had special significance for all of…