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Leah Williamson will make her first start for England in nearly a year when they face the Republic of Ireland on Tuesday.

The 27-year-old has not featured for the Lionesses since suffering an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury in April 2023, which forced her to miss last summer’s World Cup.

She was included in Sarina Wiegman’s squad for England’s European Championship 2025 qualifiers this month and was an unused substitute in the 1-1 draw against Sweden last Friday.

Williamson said: "Who I am on the pitch, who you've always seen on the pitch is exactly what I was off the pitch. I don't think I was a calming presence for anyone during the World Cup, especially.

"I've enjoyed watching the girls. I've enjoyed being a part of that journey in a different way. I've got people that play for the team that are very important to me. It has been a difficult journey. I'd be lying if I said this wasn't the thing that I'd had my focus on. This is where I wanted to get back to. I wanted to be good enough to get back into this squad. I had some of the best memories of my life as part of this team.

"It was emotional on Friday for me (being on the bench against Sweden). I'm an emotional person. We've all seen me cry on many occasions. If there's a team that you want to be in in the world, I think the Lionesses will be up there and I love playing for England.

"Being at the World Cup final and sitting next to Jill Scott was one of the worst decisions I've ever made in my whole life. Not being at the World Cup final and just sitting next to Jill. I just live and breathe it. I love playing for England, but I also love watching England. I was not a calming presence, as I'm probably known for on the pitch, but not on the sidelines."

Mikel Arteta has been described as a ‘leader’ by his former Arsenal teammate and Bayern Munich winger Serge Gnabry.

“He’s now fully absorbed in his role as coach and thinks very strategically,” Gnabry said of Arteta in an interview with Bayern Munich’s website.

“In my time, he was already an experienced player. He was the captain, a leader who spoke to everyone and communicated a lot."

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And don’t worry about falling asleep. Because like football, The Athletic is awake all day, every day. Welcome to our world. And enjoy.

Bayern Munich have been boosted by Manuel Neuer, Aleksandar Pavlovic, Kingsley Coman, Leroy Sane, and Noussair Mazraoui returning to training ahead of their Champions League quarter-final against Arsenal on Tuesday.

Bayern captain Neuer sustained a left adductor injury while on international duty with Germany in March. The 37-year-old goalkeeper has missed his side’s last two games with Sven Ulreich deputising in his absence.

Coman, 27, Sane, 28, Mazraoui, 26, and Pavlovic, 19, missed the 3-2 shock defeat to tenth-place Heidenheim on Saturday, but have returned to training ahead of the game against the north London side.

However, Sacha Boey, Bouna Sarr, and Tarek Buchmann missed Monday's training session as they recover from injury issues.

The German side will fly to London on Monday before taking on Arsenal at Emirates Stadium on Tuesday.

Bayern have lost their last two games, with the defeat to Heideinheim meaning that Bundesliga leaders Bayer Leverkusen, who face Werder Bremen at the BayArena on Sunday, are one victory away from winning the title.

Rudi Voller will continue in his role as director of the German national team until after the 2026 World Cup after extending his contract.

The 1990 World Cup winner, 63, has been in the role since February 2023 and took interim charge of the side following Hansi Flick's sacking in September.

Julian Nagelsmann has since been appointed and will lead the side at Euro 2024.

Voller will now continue in his role through the European Championships — where Germany are hosts — this summer and on to the United States, Canada and Mexico in 2026.

Erik ten Hag has defended Manchester United’s performance against Liverpool and suggested an open, end-to-end game is what should be expected in matches against them.

Ten Hag’s side once again came under pressure — just as they did against Brentford last weekend and Chelsea on Thursday — and faced a significant amount of shots on goal with Liverpool having 15 in the first half to United’s zero.

They should have been more than the one Luis Diaz goal down at the break but a turnaround after the interval and strikes from Bruno Fernandes and Kobbie Mainoo gave them the lead heading into the closing stages.

However, Mohamed Salah's late penalty earned the visitors a share of the points at Old Trafford.

Asked whether he would consider changing his side's style of play, Ten Hag said: "No, it's clear when you play Chelsea, when you play Liverpool it will be a transition game. They are top, both teams. Both teams want to play and will leave space for others.

"I thought that there were moments where we could've done better reactions in defensive transitions, but in general we did very good. We conceded only goals from two set plays. In our transitions, we could've done even better — for example (Alejandro) Garnacho and Bruno. Already after a couple of minutes we should've took the lead."

More from Ten Hag below

Nottingham Forest head coach Nuno Espirito Santo voiced his frustration over what he perceived as a missed opportunity to send off James Maddison during their 3-1 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur.

In the 44th minute, Spurs midfielder Maddison was involved in an off-the-ball altercation with Ryan Yates, resulting in the Forest captain falling to the ground.

Yates urged referee Simon Hooper to review the incident, but VAR opted not to intervene despite replays showing Maddison making contact with the Forest midfielder's stomach. This decision came when the score was still level at 1-1.

Nuno said, as quoted by Reuters: "It doesn't look like he punched him, he punched him. I saw the image and that is why I speak to you.

"I was surprised that VAR didn't tell Simon to review it better because honestly with all my respects, Maddison loses his composure and it is a punch in the stomach of Yates.

"It should have been reviewed and a different decision. It is not a shirt (pull) with players that looks like nothing happens, no. No, it's without the ball.

"So, there are two moments we mention (Chris Wood's miss) in the first half that can change the game.

"I didn't ask (Hooper), but I saw it. There is no problem in telling I didn't see it the same way. We didn't agree, me and VAR."

When the quarter-finals of the Champions League arrive, you know it’s the business end of the season.

Eight teams remain in Europe’s top competition, and the route to the final is now mapped out.

On one side of the draw, the winners of Real Madrid’s gargantuan clash with Manchester City will face the victors of Arsenal’s match-up with Bayern Munich — with both ties already overflowing with narrative from seasons gone by.

On the other side, Paris Saint-Germain’s battle with Barcelona may not appear as mouth-watering as previous years, but the attacking talent on show will mean that the pair are likely to trade blows relentlessly across the two legs.

Meanwhile, Borussia Dortmund and Atletico Madrid are likely to go all-in on the European stage after relatively disappointing form in their respective domestic campaigns.

This is The Athletic’s definitive guide to the Champions League quarter-finals.

Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglouy says he “couldn’t care less” about the race for fourth position, after his side’s 3-1 victory over Nottingham Forest.

Goals from Micky van de Ven, Pedro Porro, and an own goal from Forest defender Murrillo secured the three points for the north London side.

The win sees Tottenham move ahead of Aston Villa into fourth position.

When asked if he felt that the victory had helped Tottenham take control in the race for fourth position, Postecoglou said: “I couldn't care less about the race for fourth mate. What I care about is the way the team is progressing.

“I am pleased with today. It had a little bit of everything. We played some good football and scored a couple of good goals and created a couple more against a team that is desperate for points and fighting for everything.

“I guess every team is fighting for something and I thought we handled it really well.”

Tottenham are next in action against Newcastle United on Saturday.

Erik ten Hag has hailed the "amazing progress" of Willy Kambwala after his performance for Manchester United against Liverpool on Sunday.

Kambwala, 19, made just his eighth senior appearance for United as he played the full encounter against Liverpool amid a raft of injury absentees. Jonny Evans and Raphael Varane joined Lisandro Martinez, Victor Lindelof, Tyrell Malacia and Luke Shaw as absentees ahead of Sunday's showdown.

"I don't think, at this short notice, they will return," Ten Hag said of Evans and Varane during his post-match press conference. "The decision to bring Willy in is because he has been a long time training with us and, in his first game against West Ham United, he also did very well, his progress is amazing.

"During training, we didn't have any doubts and, for instance, we could have also brought Casemiro down and then bring another midfielder in."

Adding of Kambwala, Ten Hag said: "We were convinced he could do the job and he has done brilliant. I am very pleased, very happy and it is another signal and message of the future of Manchester United.

"This team, the squad has high potential and if we get more players available, especially in the backline, where we have 27 different organisations, across the season, then the future will be very good."

Former Wimbledon manager and Tottenham Hotspur defender Joe Kinnear has died at the age of 77.

Kinnear played for Tottenham and Brighton and Hove Albion during an 11-year career as a player, making a combined 212 club appearances.

He also won 26 caps for the Republic of Ireland national team.

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Ajax’s disappointing campaign hit a new low after they were beaten 6-0 away at rivals Feyenoord on Sunday — their biggest defeat in 97 years.

The defeat is Ajax’s eighth of the season, leaving the Dutch club in sixth place and seven points off a European qualification position.

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Mauricio Pochettino suggested his Chelsea squad lack the maturity to compete regularly in the Premier League after they were held 2-2 by Sheffield United at Bramall Lane.

“It’s about to compete,” Chelsea’s head coach said. “It’s about to compete. It’s about to compete, and for different reasons, we struggle to compete in these types of games.

“Then it’s about to be competitive and maybe I repeat too much but watching football like us, at 52 years old, you identify really quick if the team is ready to compete or not. Maybe because this group still is not mature enough to compete in every single game every three days."

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Virgil van Dijk criticised Liverpool for being “wasteful” in their 2-2 draw with Manchester United on Sunday.

“We should’ve been 2-0 up at half time,” he told Sky Sports. “We had them under control.”

He added: “It’s just a shame. It definitely feels like a loss at this point."

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