Paulo Fonseca believes Milan's early-season rhythm has been disrupted following the late postponement of their Serie A fixture at Bologna last weekend. 

The match, scheduled to take place at the Stadio Renato Dall’Ara on Saturday, was postponed 24 hours before kick-off after heavy rain and flooding in the region.

After failing to win their first three league matches, Milan have since taken 12 points from their next five games, propelling them up the standings after a difficult start. 

But with the Rossoneri not in action over the weekend, they dropped to eighth in the Serie A table ahead of facing leaders Napoli on Tuesday.

"It was tricky to manage this moment. On the eve of the game, we trained without knowing whether we’d play or not the following day," Fonseca said. 

"We wanted to play, and I think we’ve been affected by not playing in this match."

Napoli come into the game on the back of a 1-0 triumph over Lecce, with Giovanni Di Lorenzo's 73rd minute strike sealing a seventh win of the campaign. 

Antonio Conte's side are now unbeaten in their last eight league games, their best run since a run of eight straight wins in February 2023 under Luciano Spalletti.

They have also kept five clean sheets in their last six games, as many as in their previous 34 Serie A matches. 

"As the table shows, Napoli are a strong team at a good moment. They are the table leaders and will be motivated to face us," Fonseca said.

"We are also motivated to play this match against a very strong team that has won games comfortably."

Milan, however, have won just one of their last nine meetings against Napoli whent he fixture has been played in the first half of a Serie A campaign (D2 L6). 

Despite his side's league position after nine games so far, Fonseca believes Milan can win a 20th Scudetto title under his guidance.

"The fans must believe because we are a strong team and we are improving. We think we can fight for the Scudetto," he said.

The first managerial departure of the 2024-25 Premier League season has come, with Erik ten Hag leaving his role at Manchester United.

United's decision to dismiss Ten Hag came after the Red Devils slumped to a 2-1 defeat at West Ham on Sunday, leaving them 14th in the table.

Elsewhere, Liverpool and Arsenal shared the spoils in a 2-2 draw, Manchester City downed Southampton, Chelsea beat Newcastle United and Brentford came out on top in a seven-goal thriller against Ipswich Town.

Late goals also ruled the roost this past weekend. There were five games to have a final result-altering goal scored in the 90th minute (or later) in the Premier League this weekend, the most across a single matchday in the competition's history.

But what do the underlying metrics tell us? 

Unlucky losers: Fulham

Fulham took a point away from Goodison Park on Saturday, but Marco Silva thought his team deserved two more. 

And it is fair to say Everton were largely second-best, with Beto's last-gasp equaliser sparring Sean Dyche's team.

Fulham, who took the lead through Alex Iwobi, registered 1.26 expected goals (xG) to Everton's 0.79 and had 14 shots to their hosts' 10. That being said, perhaps Silva's side only have themselves to blame - they converted only 7.14% of their shots and got only three attempts on target.

Lucky winners: Bournemouth

Evanilson's late header secured a 1-1 draw for Bournemouth at Aston Villa, and though the Cherries could point to some potential penalty decisions going against them, it is fair to say the metrics suggest they were fortunate to avoid defeat.

Only Southampton (0.21) mustered a lower xG than Bournemouth's 0.31 across the fixtures in the top flight this past weekend.

Villa, on the other hand, registered 1.81 xG - the fifth-highest total in the division across the games - while Mark Travers was exceptional in the Bournemouth goal.

He made seven saves to keep Villa at bay, bar Ross Barkley's opener. Indeed, Villa's 3.23 expected goals on target (xGoT) was more than any other team in matchweek nine, so Travers finished with a goals-prevented figure of 2.23.

Andoni Iraola's team certainly rode their luck.

Unlucky losers: Man Utd

Ten Hag's time is up, though the Dutchman was fuming about a contentious penalty decision that ultimately settled the match in West Ham's favour.

When discounting the xG from that penalty, West Ham finished with 2.21 xG - just less than United's 2.34.

United had 18 shots and five big chances (the second-most after Brentford across the weekend's matches), but failed to put those opportunities away, apart from Casemiro's close-range header.

The soft defence that plagued Ten Hag's tenure, though, ultimately came back to bite them yet again.

Gary Neville believes Erik ten Hag's lack of a consistent playing style or identity was his biggest failure at Manchester United and expects another painful rebuild at Old Trafford.

Ten Hag was sacked after just over two years at the helm on Monday, in the wake of Sunday's demoralising 2-1 defeat at West Ham.

That loss left United 14th in the Premier League table with just 11 points from nine matches. Only under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in 2019-20 (10) have they had fewer at this stage of a campaign.

Former United right-back Neville, who defended Ten Hag when his position was questioned following an eighth-place finish last term, now concedes the Dutchman failed to oversee any significant progress in terms of results or style.

Asked whether Ten Hag should have departed in pre-season, when he instead penned a new contract, Neville told Sky Sports: "Those that felt it should have happened will feel they've been proven right.

"However, there were hundreds of thousands, even millions, of fans who wanted to continue with Ten Hag, to give him a chance to succeed under a new structure.

"The shock for me has been how bad they've been with the new signings coming in, with Ten Hag having some stability. To be 14th is unacceptable with that level of spend.

"I think the lack of identity or style has been a real mystery for the last two and a half seasons.

"Even though the recruitment has been awful at times, I do believe there's a group of players there that can play a lot better than they are, if you put an identity into them.

"Yesterday I was shocked to see Casemiro and Christian Eriksen in midfield with [Manuel] Ugarte on the bench. If I was an owner, I'd be asking questions around that.

"It's a real struggle watching United play and that hasn't changed in 18 months, that's been as big a problem as the results."

United struggled for control throughout Ten Hag's reign, with their 136 expected goals against (xGA) since the start of 2022-23 the fifth-worst figure of all ever-present Premier League clubs.

They have also underperformed their underlying attacking figures by a greater margin than any other top-flight team this term, scoring eight times from 14.56 xG.

United also faced 1,739 shots in their 128 games under Ten Hag. Since 2022-23, Manchester City have faced 717 fewer shots than the Red Devils despite playing six more games in that time.

Former United striker Ruud van Nistelrooy, who was appointed as an assistant to Ten Hag in July, will now take charge on an interim basis.

Neville, however, does not expect much to change in the short term and feels no player should be guaranteed a place when the club appoints a permanent successor.

"He could set the team up differently, but he's been on the bench with Ten Hag so I'd be amazed if something drastic happened," Neville said of his former team-mate. 

"A lot of work needs to be done with those players. Erik ten Hag couldn't get performances out of them and a lot of those players are his players.

"They're not good enough but they are better than 14th, they're probably better than sixth. The new manager that comes in should probably be made to work with these players for seven or eight months to work them out, to figure out who they want to keep close."

Jordi Fernandez labelled his first NBA triumph as "special" after watching his Brooklyn Nets side upset Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks 115-102 on Sunday.

Fernandez's team outworked the Bucks for four quarters, forcing 18 turnovers and grabbing 12 offensive rebounds while attempting 17 more field goals than their opponents.

Cam Thomas and Dennis Schroder starred in the victory, scoring 61 points between them, handing the rookie head coach a maiden win at the third attempt. 

Fernandez is the first Spanish-born head coach in NBA history, with the result marking the end of a 15-year journey through the ranks. 

He started with the Canton Charge in the G League, then becoming an assistant for both the Denver Nuggets and Sacramento Kings before his move to the Nets in April. 

"It's very special to come all the way from starting from the bottom in the NBA, and working really hard and move up, and move up, and some good moments, some tough moments, different teams, friends, memories," Fernandez said.

"And it's really cool now you look and you have to enjoy this moment because there's only one time that you're a head coach and win a game.

"On the other end, I also feel like, what's the next step? And we've got to move on to the next thing and I want to be in this league, I want to be with this club for a long time."

Borussia Dortmund will likely be without full-back Julian Ryerson for their DFB-Pokal trip to Wolfsburg, but Nuri Sahin could welcome back Marcel Sabitzer and Waldemar Anton.

All three players were injured during Saturday's 2-1 loss at Augsburg in the Bundesliga, as Dortmund succumbed to a second defeat in four days after squandering a 2-0 lead to lose 5-2 at Real Madrid in the Champions League.

Speaking at Monday's pre-match press conference, coach Sahin told reporters: "I don't have high hopes for Julian Ryerson.

"With Sabi and Waldi, every hour counts. It will only become clear towards kick-off whether they can play."

Sahin is keen to see Dortmund tighten up at the back after losing three of their last five league matches, slipping seven points behind leaders Bayern Munich.

"The goals we're conceding for the effort we're putting in are extreme. That can't happen to us. We're conceding goals too easily by making mistakes," said the former midfielder.

"At the moment, we have so many issues of our own that it doesn't feel so easy."

Dortmund have lost four consecutive matches on their travels in all competitions since their last DFB-Pokal outing, a 4-1 victory at Phonix Lubeck.

They have gone unbeaten through their last three games against Wolfsburg, however, outscoring them 8-1 since suffering a 2-0 defeat at Volkswagen Arena in November 2022.

Sunday's Premier League loss at West Ham proved one defeat too many for embattled Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag, who was sacked on Monday.

The Red Devils are now seeking their sixth permanent boss since Alex Ferguson retired in 2013, with David Moyes, Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ten Hag all failing to return the glory days to Old Trafford.

Ten Hag led United to the EFL Cup in 2023 and the FA Cup earlier this year, making him their second-most successful boss of the post-Ferguson era after Mourinho, who won the Europa League, EFL Cup and Community Shield.

However, a dismal eighth-placed Premier League finish in 2023-24 has been followed by a dreadful start to 2024-25, prompting the INEOS regime to take action.

Here, we delve into the Opta data to pinpoint where it went wrong for Ten Hag at United.

No defence for United rearguard

When Ten Hag arrived at Old Trafford in 2022, having led an exuberant Ajax side to a Champions League semi-final and three Eredivisie crowns, hopes were high that he would bring a modern, possession-based style to a United side characterised by chaos for so long.

However, that dream failed to materialise. Throughout Ten Hag's time in the dugout, United were consistently among the Premier League's worst defensive outfits.

Since his first Premier League match in charge in August 2022, United have registered a total xG against (xGA) figure of 136.

While they only conceded 112 goals under him, their xGA was the fifth-worst of any ever-present Premier League side in that time, better than only Everton, Fulham, West Ham and Wolves. 

Meanwhile, United faced 1,253 shots in the Premier League under Ten Hag – only four teams (Brentford, Wolves, Bournemouth and West Ham) have faced more shots in the competition since the start of the 2022-23 campaign.

The £70million arrival of midfield enforcer Casemiro failed to solve United's defensive issues, and a failure to control games was a key theme of Ten Hag's tenure. Only Brighton (17) and Everton (16) conceded more Premier League goals from fast breaks than United (13) during the Dutchman's reign, and only three teams gave up more shots from such scenarios (61).

Attackers go missing

In the early weeks of 2024-25, however, a failure to take their chances at the other end has primarily cost United. 

Only Crystal Palace and Southampton (six each) have scored fewer Premier League goals than United (eight) this season. They have the biggest negative differential between expected goals and goals scored in the competition this term (-6.56 – eight goals, 14.56 xG).

They were guilty of spurning several clear-cut chances at the London Stadium last time out, and seven of Ten Hag's 27 Premier League defeats came via a 90th-minute winner, the highest percentage of defeats to last-minute goals of any manager to lose 20 or more games in Premier League history.

With 42 goals, Marcus Rashford was United's leading scorer in all competitions under Ten Hag.

Thirty of his strikes came in Ten Hag's debut campaign, though, and he has only netted once in nine league outings this term.

Bruno Fernandes, who Ten Hag installed as captain, has created the most chances for United since the start of 2022-23 with 364. Christian Eriksen (131), Diogo Dalot (116) and Rashford (115) were the other three players to set up at least 100 chances for team-mates under the former Ajax boss.

However, Fernandes – who scored 29 goals under Ten Hag and laid on 31 assists – has struggled for form this campaign, with his 2.48 xG the highest figure of any player yet to net in the Premier League.

The highs and lows

Ten Hag's tenure brought a few obvious highs, with the 2023 EFL Cup final win over Newcastle United ending a near-six-year trophy drought and May's FA Cup showpiece victory over Manchester City denying United's neighbours a domestic double.

That was one of two victories over City under Ten Hag, though they lost more games to Pep Guardiola's men (four) than any other team during his reign.

Most damagingly, Ten Hag's United were blown away in several big games, shipping 17 goals versus City and 16 against Liverpool. Of course, they were trounced 7-0 by the Reds at Anfield in March 2023 – the joint-heaviest competitive defeat in the Red Devils' history.

Ten Hag's reign ends after 128 games, with his 70 victories giving him the second-best win ratio (54.7%) of any United boss post-Ferguson in all competitions, after Mourinho (58.7%).

His record of 1.72 points per Premier League game, though, only bettered the figures managed by Moyes (1.68) and Ralf Rangnick (1.72) in that span.

Only Rangnick (0), meanwhile, has overseen a worse goal difference in the Premier League than Ten Hag (+11), among United bosses to manage at least five games.

And only Moyes (32.4%, 11/34) lost a higher percentage of his Premier League games as United boss than Ten Hag (31.8%, 27/85).

In the overall Premier League standings since Ten Hag took charge, they sit fifth with 146 points, some 57 adrift of first-placed Man City and also fewer than Arsenal (191), Liverpool (171) and Aston Villa (147).

Lando Norris believes Max Verstappen deserved the 20-second penalty he was hit with at the Mexican Grand Prix.

Verstappen received two separate 10-second penalties for incidents early on in Sunday's race, which was won by Carlos Sainz.

Reigning Formula One champion Verstappen was given one penalty for forcing Norris off the track at Turn Four in the 10th lap, and then another for leaving the track four corners later.

It meant Verstappen saw his lead at the top of the driver standings cut to 47 points, while Ferrari are now ahead of Red Bull in the constructor standings.

And Norris has little sympathy for his title rival.

"It was not fair, clean racing," said Norris, as reported by BBC Sport. "I think he got what he had coming to him.

"I felt like I just had to avoid collisions, and that's not what you feel like you want to do in a race.

"He's in a very powerful position in the championship. He's a long way ahead. He has nothing to lose.

"It's not my job to control him. He knows how to drive. And I'm sure he knows that today was probably a bit over the limit."

Norris and Verstappen tussled at Austin, too, but the McLaren driver wants to race clean.

"Austin, I don't think anyone should have got a penalty," he added. "Let's say we both kind of did things wrong. I feel like I was made to do something wrong.

"The majority of people, the majority of drivers feel like that was the same thing.

"That's why you've heard of some of the rule changes that might be coming and those types of things. It's because there's a common consensus that it wasn't correct what happened in the result that I had last weekend.

"Today, I think, was another level on both of those cases. I was ahead of Max in the braking zone, past the apex. I am avoiding crashing today. This is the difference. I don't see it as a win or anything like this, but it's more that I hope Max acknowledges that he took it a step too far."

"I go into every race expecting a tough battle with Max. It's clear that it doesn't matter if he wins or second, his only job is to beat me in the race. And he'll sacrifice himself to do that.

"But I want to have good battles with him. I want to have those tough battles, like I've seen him have plenty of times. But fair ones. It's always going to be on the line. It's always going to be tough with Max. He's never going to make anyone's life easy, especially mine at this point of the year.”

Steve Kerr is confident the Golden State Warriors can get by offensively in the potential absence of Stephen Curry.

Veteran campaigner Curry suffered an ankle injury in the Warriors' 112-104 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday.

According to Kerr, Curry described the issue as "mild or moderate" after he exited the game in the fourth quarter.

However, reports have suggested that Curry may miss several games, having sustained multiple sprains to his left ankle.

"I feel more comfortable that we can withstand an absence offensively without Steph because of [our] depth," said Kerr.

"He's doing okay. He’s said it was mild or moderate – he's sprained that ankle many times before, so he doesn't think it’s too bad, but obviously it's a concern."

Andrew Wiggins, who finished with 29 points and shot 11-of-15, is one of the players Kerr wants to see step up if Curry is to be out for a while.

"Wiggs is off to a great start and had a great night," Kerr said.

"He's an obvious candidate to get the ball more. But we've got a deep team. We've got a lot of guys who can play. We will be ready."

Curry's teammate Buddy Hield told ESPN: "We've just got to stick together. It'll be a great challenge."

That sentiment was echoed by Gary Payton II, who helped Curry off the court.

"[I just] shake my head," Payton said. "Hate to have it, especially with him. But we'll be all right.

"Hopefully he doesn't miss too many, but we've got to figure it out."

Curry has averaged 18.3 points, 5.3 rebounds and 6.7 assists so far this season, across three appearances.

Diego Simeone took full responsibility for Atletico Madrid's disappointing performance after their unbeaten LaLiga run ended with a 1-0 loss at Real Betis on Sunday.

Atleti failed to recover from Jose Maria Gimenez's fourth-minute own goal and wasted the few chances they created in a game riddled with errors that the coach blamed on himself.

Hosts Betis had 24 shots to Atleti's 10, albeit both teams only got three attempts on target.

Simeone, though, accepted Atleti were not up to standard, as his team lost their 24th game in all competitions in 2024, which is their joint-worst total in a calendar year under the Argentine's tutelage.

"I didn't prepare this match well. I am responsible for the plan not working," said Simeone, whose side lost 3-1 to Lille in the Champions League in midweek.

"Starting with myself first, we have work to do and things to improve. I didn't imagine anything different. The new players need to keep adapting, and I need to get more out of their strengths.

"Betis are a competitive team who have improved as they showed today, they outplayed us. We clearly couldn't play our game.

"This happened to us against Lille last week, we fell behind in the game and that didn't allow us to level this game.

"Ultimately, as a coach, I have to resolve these situations first and have a clear idea (of tactics) so that the players can perform in the way I like."

Atleti's first defeat of the season leaves them fourth in the Spanish top flight on 20 points, two clear of Betis and ten behind leaders Barcelona.

They face UE Vic in the Copa del Rey on Thursday before hosting Las Palmas in LaLiga three days later. 

Carlos Sainz celebrated a victory he "needed" after he claimed top spot at the Mexican Grand Prix.

The Ferrari driver, who will be replaced by Lewis Hamilton next season, won from pole on Sunday, edging out Lando Norris and his team-mate Charles Leclerc.

Max Verstappen was handed a 20-second penalty, and finished sixth, meaning Ferrari leapfrogged Red Bull in the Formula One constructor standings.

It marked Sainz's seventh podium finish of the season, and his second victory - one that the Spaniard was set on clinching after his excellent qualifying session.

"It's incredible to see this crowd, I've been feeling their support all week and I feel like I’ve got a lot of fan support here in Mexico and they've given me a lot of strength," he said.

"Honestly, I really wanted this one, I needed it for myself, I wanted to get it done.

"I've been saying for a while I wanted one more win before leaving Ferrari and to do it here in front of this mega crowd is incredible.

"Now, four races left I want to enjoy as much as possible and if another one comes I will go for it."

Sainz relinquished the lead to Verstappen on the first lap, before the race was put under the safety car after a collision between Alex Albon and Yuki Tsunoda.

After the restart, Sainz swiftly passed Verstappen into Turn One, racing clear as the Dutchman and his title rival Norris battled behind him.

"I didn't prepare to be honest," Sainz said of overtaking Verstappen.

"I was just a bit annoyed at the start having lost position to him and I said I need to surprise him one way or another, as he's super difficult to pass, he's proven it many times.

"I was a bit far back but I had nothing to lose. I'm just going to send one down the inside.

"I've been confident in the braking to Turn One this weekend and I knew I could make it."

Luis Enrique hailed a complete performance from his Paris Saint-Germain side following their 3-0 victory over Marseille.

PSG took the game away from Marseille, who had Amine Harit sent off in the 20th minute of Sunday's Ligue 1 contest, with a blistering show of force in the first half.

Joao Neves put PSG ahead early on before an own goal from Leonardo Balerdi and an effort from Bradley Barcola all but put the match to bed prior to the break.

PSG's opener, which came after six minutes and five seconds, was the fastest goal in a Classique clash since Marquinhos netted after five minutes and 34 seconds in 2017.

Marseille have gone five games without scoring against PSG in Ligue 1, equalling their longest drought against the same opponent in the top-flight (Bordeaux between 2000 and 2001, Lille between 2000 and 2002), and Roberto De Zerbi's team never really threatened, having only one shot on target, nine touches in the opposition box and mustering just 0.22 expected goals (xG).

"We started very well from the first minute against an opponent who played well, we kept up the pressure, we had several clear chances," PSG coach Luis Enrique said.

"With the sending-off, the game changed – it was closer and also harder for our opponents, but we continued to work.

"In the second half, it was calmer, we could have scored even more. We dedicate this victory to the fans, we know that it is important for them, it is for us too."

Previous incidents of crowd trouble between the two sets of fans meant the visitors were barred from bringing their supporters with them, but it made little difference as PSG dominated from the off, claiming their 51st win over Marseille in all competitions.

"It's a good feeling, the joy. We always want to win here. To do that in this stadium is a special favour," midfielder Vitinha told DAZN.

"They got the red card early, we scored two goals in a row, it killed the game for them. We could have scored more goals, we'll have to keep creating chances, we need to convert," he continued.

"We're happy, we won this game that has a special flavour."