Paris Saint-Germain begin their latest quest for Champions League glory next week, but the extra workload required in the competition this season will not change Luis Enrique's approach.

PSG face Brest in Ligue 1 on Saturday, having made a perfect start to the season with three wins from three games to sit two points clear of Marseille, Nantes, Monaco and Lens.

They then face Girona in the first of eight matches in the Champions League's league phase on Wednesday, with the competition's new-look first round running until January.

However, Luis Enrique's approach to managing his squad's workload will remain the same.

He told reporters: "It's true, the schedule is a bit different but I don't think it is going to change the way I work as a coach.

"I have principles that I think are best for the team. It is always good to have around 20 players who think they can play, rather than 12 or 13. That is something that has always produced the best results for me.

"Now we are playing every three days with an intense schedule. I am still calm. Of course players can get injuries or suspensions but I am confident that we can manage all of that this season."

Midfielders Vitinha and Warren Zaire-Emery are unlikely to feature on Saturday after picking up injuries while representing Portugal and France during the international break.

PSG could also be without Gianluigi Donnarumma after the goalkeeper became a father and Luis Enrique has yet to make a decision on the Italian's involvement.

Bradley Barcola has excelled for PSG this term, netting as many goals in their first three league games (four) as he managed in the entirety of 2023-24.

He was also on target for France versus Italy last week, but Luis Enrique is keen to avoid putting pressure on the 22-year-old, saying: "It would be easy to protect the players without journalists. 

"Right now everyone is talking about Barcola. People said he couldn't play in the past, that he wasn't ready for the Champions League. But we're lucky that he is very sensible, humble and hard-working.

"In the season there are highs and lows for everyone and we have to manage that. The press always want something black or white, but that is not how it is."

Tom Brady has taken to social media to congratulate A'ja Wilson for breaking the WNBA record for most points scored in a single season on Wednesday.

The Las Vegas Aces star scored her 941st point in the competition this term late in the first half of Wednesday's game against the Indiana Fever, having entered the matchup 11 points shy of the record.

She beat Jewell Lloyd's 2023 mark of 939 points, with her big moment coming when she sank a jumper from the free throw line with 26.4 seconds left in the second quarter.

Wilson ended the game with 27 points, 12 rebounds and two assists. She is averaging 27.3 points, 11.9 rebounds and 2.3 assists this season. 

Seven-time Super Bowl champion Brady bought a minority stake in the Aces in March, and he took to X to hail Wilson in the aftermath of her achievement.  

"There are so many incredible players in the WNBA right now," Brady wrote. "But there's only one A'ja Wilson!"

Wilson responded to the NFL legend, simply telling him: "Appreciate you!"

Wilson still has four more regular-season games in which to improve on her historic haul, with another trip to Indiana the team's next assignment on Friday. 

Carlo Ancelotti is unconcerned about Vinicius Junior's current form and fully expects him to bounce back quickly as they prepare to face Real Sociedad.

Vinicius has scored once and registered one assist in LaLiga so far this season, while he has created 15 chances, the most of any of his team-mates.

However, he has been criticised for a slow start to the season with Madrid, and for lacklustre performances for Brazil in a narrow win over Ecuador and a shock loss to Paraguay during the international break. 

Ancelotti acknowledged that Vinicius has yet to hit the heights of his previous seasons, but stressed that the player needs support.

"He's not at his best, but he's still very important for us," Ancelotti told a press conference on Friday. 

"We're in no hurry because the team has managed to score, and he has been important... and the last concern for me is Vinicius' condition, but we have to take good care of him.

"He always works well, and it's a matter of just time for him to reach his best level. I can't fool myself into thinking that I'll have all players at 100% at all times.

"I don't want to go into his problems in Brazil, but what I see is a more general issue, because they are not managing to bring out their best version as a group.

"Here we are delighted with Vinicius because although he is not at his best right now, no one can forget that with Vini, we have been able to win two Champions League titles... We have to be very fond of him at Madrid."

Ancelotti said that he will have to evaluate the fitness of Vinicius and his Brazil team-mates Rodrygo and Endrick after a long trip back from international duty, in order to minimise the risks of injury as his side gear up for a busy schedule with seven games in the next three weeks.

The Italian will face a selection headache ahead of Saturday's clash at La Real with defender David Alaba and midfielders Jude Bellingham, Eduardo Camavinga, Dani Ceballos and Aurelien Tchouameni still recovering from injuries.

"With the way the calendar is built, we will have injuries, it is just the way it is, so rotating is a good thing," Ancelotti added.

"We are used to playing that many games but need to be vigilant in monitoring the players' fatigue so they can rest when they need.

"The players who have just come back from the international break, like Vinicius, Rodrygo and Endrick, who had long travels with Brazil, are under observation because they haven't had time to rest or train.

"We have to try to avoid injuries. Last year we had a lot of injuries, but we managed to cope very well. With this schedule, it's normal to have injuries, and we have to face it."

Paris Saint-Germain sporting director Luis Campos believes the club have an "electric coach" in Luis Enrique and has praised his "special touch".

Luis Enrique succeeded Christophe Galtier in July 2023, signing a two-year contract with PSG.

In his first season in charge, he won a domestic treble, winning the Ligue 1 title by nine points, and also led the team to the Champions League semi-finals, where they were beaten by Borussia Dortmund.

In 53 games in 2023-24, Luis Enrique oversaw 34 wins (64.15% win percentage), with his team scoring 124 goals across all competitions and conceding 52.

And Campos has been pleased with the results he has seen from the Spaniard so far.

Speaking at the Thinking Football Summit organised by Liga Portugal, Campos said: "Above all, I must tell you that it is a great pleasure to work with Luis Enrique every day.

"He is someone fantastic. His involvement, his energy, his electricity. That's why he is very modern.

"We are in a moment when everyone is looking for electricity for cars. We have an electric coach, who is very modern, who forces us to give our best every day and who makes the team work as a team.

"It's a pleasure to work with Luis Enrique. He is a huge coach. Special and very good."

PSG lost their biggest star at the end of last season, with Kylian Mbappe choosing to leave the club on a free transfer, ending a seasons-long saga by joining Real Madrid.

The French club brought new faces in during the off-season, with the likes of Matvey Safonov, Willian Pacho, Desire Doue, and Joao Neves coming into the squad.

Campos believes PSG were able to stick to their transfer strategy, with Neves a perfect example of getting a player they hope can seamlessly slot into Luis Enrique's style.

"What we seek is competent players, players capable of playing the game that Luis Enrique wants, and players capable of responding to what our president also demands, in terms of dignifying the name of the club, dignifying the city, and dignifying the country," he said.

"Joao Neves met the profile of the coach. The coach needed a player with this profile. We discussed it. I never hired a player that the coach didn't want.

"Joao had that profile. And we did everything to have him with us.

"I think he's responding. He's still in the adaptation phase. He'll have normal highs and lows like someone who arrives for the first year to a club as big as PSG, although he comes from a very big club with many requirements. In Paris, it's different.

"We're very happy with the arrival of Joao, as we're very happy with the arrival of Doue, with the arrival of Safonov, with the recruitment we did. We're very happy."

Despite Safonov's arrival, Gianluigi Donnarumma is still set to be PSG's number one and is now playing in his fourth season in Paris.

He has made 117 appearances in all competitions since joining from Milan, keeping 40 clean sheets in that time.

In the past, Donnarumma has come under scrutiny for making mistakes, despite making just one error that led to a goal in Ligue 1 last season, and Campos thinks he has been treated too harshly.

"No. I think there is more external noise around Donnarumma than internal noise," he added.

"Internally, we are very happy with him, and we will try to renew his contract."

Juventus make their return to the Champions League next week, but head coach Thiago Motta says the Bianconeri's full focus is on this weekend's trip to Empoli.

Motta has made a strong start at Juve since joining from Bologna, with an unbeaten start to the Serie A campaign putting them level with Scudetto holders Inter at the summit.

Next week, the Bianconeri face PSV in their first Champions League game since 2022 before welcoming Napoli to Turin for a huge clash on September 21, but Motta will not look beyond Saturday's visit to the Stadio Carlo Castellani.

"The other two games of the week we have time to think and prepare for. The focus is tomorrow. Then we will think about the other games," Motta said on Friday.

"We only have to think about the game against Empoli. 

"Tomorrow will be a complicated match like all the games you face in Serie A, against a team that is doing well that knows what they want to do on the pitch."

Empoli are also unbeaten after three league games, sitting just two points behind Juventus in seventh place, and Motta won't be taking the Tuscan side lightly.

"We face an Empoli team that is doing well right now, they have played three really good games, but we are also in good shape," Motta said.

"We knew the calendar and the games to be faced. Tomorrow we have to be determined and focused and play a serious game.

"Then from game to game we will face everything as always, with maximum commitment and focused on doing our job well."

Motta began the season with a limited squad, still waiting on the club to bring in players, but the new coach now has plenty of options at his disposal, and Douglas Luiz and Teun Koopmeiners could both make their first starts next time out.

"They are two great players that I am lucky enough to have on our side, like many others in our squad. Let's see tomorrow who will start the game," Motta said.

"I'm happy because we have everyone available." 

Sergio Perez accused the media of lacking understanding regarding Red Bull's recent issues, as the team rediscovered their pace in Friday's first practice at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Red Bull looked set to dominate Formula One again after making a flying start to 2024, but McLaren have made it a fight for the constructors' championship crown.

Max Verstappen won seven of the first 10 races of the season but has since failed to record a victory in six outings, while Perez has gone 11 races without a podium finish after achieving four in the first five races of the year.

Red Bull rediscovered their pace at first practice in Baku on Friday, though, with Verstappen finishing fastest ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Perez following in third.

Speaking ahead of that session, Perez acknowledged he had suffered more than Verstappen from difficulties with the team's RB20 car, but said many onlookers lacked understanding.

"I've had them probably for the last 15 months, with the car development, the direction, the trajectory we've been taking," Perez said of his issues. 

"I think it's a thing with the style of Max. The good thing is he was less sensitive to the issues we had, just by his nature.

"Some people don't understand it, especially from the media side, that different driver styles can come to different conclusions. 

"Ten, 12 races ago, I was complaining about these issues, but now they are so big that even Max is feeling them. I think the solution will benefit me even more with my style.

"It's very clear in the data, the team is fully aware of it and hopefully we can fix the issues soon going forwards. Then we can unlock a lot of performance from the car."

Friday's opening session at the Baku street circuit – where Perez is the only driver with multiple victories – saw Verstappen set a leading time of 1:45:546 on his last lap.

A chaotic session saw three red flags waved, with Charles Leclerc causing one of them when he hit a wall at Turn 15. 

Williams rookie Franco Colapinto also hit a barrier less than 10 minutes after the session resumed, with the running also being paused to allow the removal of debris from a dusty surface.

McLaren's Lando Norris had the fourth-fastest time, with Carlos Sainz in fifth and Oscar Piastri sixth, ahead of Fernando Alonso and George Russell.

Arne Slot insists Liverpool will not be distracted by the contract situations of Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold, all of whom are set to become free agents next year.

Liverpool are yet to tie down any of their star trio to new deals despite them entering the final 12 months of their contracts, with Salah's future in particular making headlines.

After scoring in the Reds' 3-0 win at Manchester United ahead of the international break, Salah said he was keen to enjoy this season in case it proves to be his "last year" at Anfield.

Since Alexander-Arnold made his Premier League debut in December 2016, only Salah (253) has bettered his 229 league outings for Liverpool.

Captain Van Dijk, who joined in 2018, is sixth on that list with 200 appearances, behind Andy Robertson (221), Roberto Firmino (211) and Alisson (204).

Speaking ahead of Saturday's meeting with Nottingham Forest, however, Slot outlined his confidence that any contract negotiations will remain in the background.

"Again, it's the boring answer, but we don't talk about contracts here," Slot said.

"Is it a distraction? No, it isn't, I am fully focused on the individuals and the team to work with them to get the best possible out of them. It's not a distraction for me at all."

Alexander-Arnold is yet to complete a full 90 minutes in the Premier League under Slot, being replaced by Conor Bradley in all three of Liverpool's games this term.

Slot believes he is now ready for a full outing, however, having impressed while playing the full 180 minutes as England beat the Republic of Ireland and Finland under interim coach Lee Carsley.

"He proved he could do 90 minutes. He became tired in the Ipswich game. He's completely ready to play 90 now," Slot said of Alexander-Arnold. 

"We have another player like Conor Bradley, who can do the job really well. We have a whole team to manage and it's also good for Conor to get his playing minutes. 

"It's not always the individual, I look at the team and the whole squad for the fixtures."

Arne Slot is "something special" and can have a sensational impact as Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool replacement, believes Eredivisie chief executive Jan de Jong. 

Speaking at the Thinking Football Summit organised by Liga Portugal, De Jong also backed Slot – alongside embattled Manchester United counterpart Erik ten Hag – to manage the Netherlands in the future. 

Slot has enjoyed a fine start to life at Anfield after leaving Feyenoord, leading Liverpool to three straight Premier League wins, including an impressive 3-0 triumph over United.

The Reds have won all three of their Premier League games this term while keeping a clean sheet in each victory. When they host Nottingham Forest on Saturday, they could become just the fifth team in English top-flight history to start a season with four straight wins without conceding. 

Manchester City last achieved that feat in 2015-16, following in the footsteps of Aston Villa (1900-01), Ipswich Town (1974-75) and Chelsea (2005-06).

Ten Hag has found things more difficult at Old Trafford, becoming the first United manager to start two Premier League seasons with the club by losing two of his first three matches.

However, De Jong expects both bosses to be successful in the long term, telling Stats Perform: "The Premier League is the highest goal you can reach. So if there are two Dutch coaches at such big clubs, we are very proud of it. It's the best we can do. 

"We hope that in the near future, both will be the coach of the Dutch national team. I think Ten Hag started very well, but Louis van Gaal says Manchester United is a very difficult team to manage. 

"So Erik is facing a lot of problems, but I think he's technical, a very good coach on a very high level and Arne Slot is something special. 

"I think he will be a sensation. You never know, but he has everything in him to be one of the greatest coaches of his time. "

De Jong's primary concern for 2024-25 is ensuring the Eredivisie maintains its position as Europe's sixth league, pointing to the importance of Champions League revenue going to multiple Dutch clubs.

"To be honest, we want to be the sixth league. There's a huge gap and we cannot bridge it between the big five and the others," he said.

"A couple of years ago, in 2018, we were number 14 in the UEFA ranking and now we are number six. That's very important and we have at least two teams participating in the Champions League. 

"That is crucial for us because the money the teams get out of Champions League football is much more than the local media rights. So this year is fully aimed at how we stay in sixth position."

The Eredivisie is one of several leagues to be threatened by the big-spending approach of Saudi Pro League clubs, with Steven Bergwijn swapping Ajax for Al-Ittihad in a €21million move earlier this month.

That switch led Netherlands boss Ronald Koeman to leave Bergwijn out of his squad for this month's Nations League fixtures, and De Jong admits the financial power of Saudi clubs is a real concern.

"When you make a step in your career, I hope that it's always out of an aim that you want to reach the highest level," he added.

"I'm a little bit naïve, but I hope winning prizes is more important than earning as much money as you can."

On Koeman's decision to exclude Bergwijn, he said: "He said that from his point of view, he would no longer take Bergwijn as a player of the Dutch national team. 

"He did not say that the competition was not strong enough, but he was very surprised that he did it at the age of 26. That was the point Koeman was trying to make."

Afghanistan's Test versus New Zealand became just the eighth match in red-ball history to be abandoned without a single ball being bowled due to rain on Friday.

The Greater Noida region of Afghanistan has seen heavy rainfall all week, leaving the Greater Noida Sports Complex surface unplayable on each of the first four days.

On Friday – scheduled to be the fifth and final day of the Test – continued rain ensured there would be no play, making the Test the first this century to be abandoned with no balls being bowled.

The last time it occurred was a scheduled Test between New Zealand and India at Carisbrook in December 1998.

Only seven previous Tests have been abandoned without a single ball being bowled, two in England, two in New Zealand, and one each in Australia, West Indies and Pakistan.

Black Caps coach Gary Stead said everyone connected with the team was frustrated as they were denied a chance to prepare for series in Sri Lanka and India.

"The most disappointing part for us is that we lost the opportunity to be match-hardened and match-ready when we go into our Test match next week," Stead said.

"The guys are really disappointed. It was an opportunity to play Afghanistan. It doesn't come around that often.

"They have some unique bowlers – it's always good to get your head around how you face them. The way they play is a little bit different to other countries."

New Zealand's first Test against Sri Lanka begins on September 18 with the second match set for the following week. Their three-match tour of India then begins on October 16.

Miami Dolphins offensive lineman Austin Jackson said he was "crushed" after seeing Tua Tagovailoa suffer another concussion in Thursday's loss to the Buffalo Bills.

The Dolphins were beaten 31-10 at Hard Rock Stadium, with Tagovailoa throwing for 145 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions before his third-quarter exit.

Tagovailoa collided with Bills defensive back Damar Hamlin on a fourth-down keeper before hitting the back of his head on the turf, staying down for two minutes as several Dolphins players crowded around him.

The quarterback was able to walk to the locker room but was swiftly ruled out as Skylar Thompson finished the game in his place, throwing for 80 yards and no scores.

Tagovailoa previously suffered two concussions during the 2022 season, when the NFL and NFLPA opened a joint investigation into how one of Tagovailoa's injuries was handled.

Asked about the mood in the Miami locker room after the game, Jackson said: "Crushed. I hate to see him like that. Even with his history already with that type of stuff, I hate to see it. 

"I hate that it was him rushing out of the pocket. Wish I could get that back for all of us. I could have been better."

Tagovailoa previously missed two games after being concussed in a 2022 game versus the Cincinnati Bengals, then was shut down for the rest of the season when he sustained another concussion in a Christmas Day meeting with the Green Bay Packers.

Coach Mike McDaniel was in no mood to think about the timeline of his recovery after the game, saying: "Right now it is more about getting a proper procedural evaluation tomorrow and taking it one day at a time.

"The furthest thing from my mind is what the timeline is. We just need to evaluate him and I just worry about my team-mate. 

"We'll get more information tomorrow and then take it day by day from there."

McDaniel added Tagovailoa's past head injuries will not inform the way Miami handle his latest blow, saying: "I think it's important to approach each and every situation with the mindset of, 'we're going to handle this particular situation with this particular player'. 

"Every situation is unique. I am not worried about anything that's out of my hands, I'm just worried about the human being, and he'll drive the ship when we get the appropriate information. But it's day-by-day health, particularly with concussions."

Juan Soto hit a game-ending single leading off the 10th inning to lift the New York Yankees over the Boston Red Sox 2-1 Thursday night as Aaron Judge’s homerless streak stretched to a career-high 16 games.

With pinch-runner Jon Berti on second as the automatic runner, Soto grounded a single against Josh Winckowski just past the glove of diving shortstop Trevor Story, and Berti slid home ahead of center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela’s throw to give the Yankees back-to-back walk-off wins for the first time in three years.

Judge, who leads the major leagues with 51 homers and 126 RBIs, went 1 for 4 with a single and is batting .207 (12 for 58) with 21 strikeouts since Aug. 26.

Gleyber Torres homered off Cooper Criswell leading off the first and Danny Jansen went deep against Nestor Cortes starting the fifth.

New York (85-62) won for the fifth time in seven games and opened a two-game AL East lead over Baltimore (83-64), the Yankees’ largest since before play on Aug. 27. The Yankees have won seven straight series openers.

Boston (74-73) dropped 4 1/2 games back of Minnesota (78-68) for the final AL wild card.

Rangers rally past Mariners in Rocker’s debut

Nathaniel Lowe drove in the go-ahead run for Texas with an infield single during a three-run eighth inning, hit a solo homer in the seventh, and the Rangers erased a three-run deficit for a 5-4 win over the Seattle Mariners on in top prospect Kumar Rocker’s major league debut.

After Lowe made it a 4-2 game with his seventh-inning homer, Marcus Semien brought Texas within one with a solo homer off Collin Snider in the eighth.

Josh Smith reached on an error, Wyatt Langford doubled, and Adolis García drove in Smith on a groundout to shortstop to tie the game at 4-4. Lowe then hit an infield single to second base to score Langford from third.

Rocker struck out seven while allowing one run on three hits over four innings. The only run he allowed came on a solo homer from Justin Turner in the fourth.

Rocker allowed back to back singles to lead off the first inning, but retired the next six batters.

Kirby Yates pitched the ninth for his 30th save.

Heyward, Singleton lead Astros over Athletics

Jason Heyward hit a two-run homer early and Jon Singleton had three hits, capped by a tiebreaking RBI single in Houston’s four-run eighth inning, and the Astros got a 6-3 win over the Oakland Athletics.

After Brent Rooker homered off Ryan Pressly with one out in the eighth to tie it at 2, Yainer Diaz and Kyle Tucker hit consecutive singles with one out in the bottom of the inning to chase T.J. McFarland and bring on Grant Holman. There were two outs in the inning when Singleton’s single to center field scored Diaz to put the Astros on top.

Jake Meyers followed with a run-scoring double before the Athletics intentionally walked Heyward to load the bases. Mauricio Dubón singled on a ground ball to left field to score two more, pushing the lead to 6-2.

Houston’s Framber Valdez allowed five hits and a run with six strikeouts in 6 1/3 innings to help the Astros avoid a three-game sweep and snap a three-game skid.