Rob Hughes
26 May 2022
Paris once more plays host to European royals
Liverpool and Real Madrid are the last two teams standing in Europe’s – the world’s – most prized club competition, the Uefa Champions League
Read the full article19 May 2022
Draining the colour out of the Cup final
Chelsea's attempt to change their luck by wearing yellow in the FA Cup final didn't pay off
Read the full article12 May 2022
High hopes and higher prices for Europa fans
The Europa League final represents the night of a lifetime for Eintracht Frankfurt and Rangers fans, but the cost of getting there will be a challenge
Read the full article05 May 2022
Title rivals in a tireless search for perfection
In agreeing new contracts at Liverpool and Manchester City, Jürgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola are putting down roots that are rare in modern life, let alone in the ephemeral world of football
Read the full article28 April 2022
Dutch disciple is taking on a Devil of a job
In Erik ten Hag Manchester United have appointed a manager steeped in the finest Dutch traditions
Read the full article21 April 2022
The game ain’t broke.. so why try to fix it?
A year on from the failed attempt to make European football a closed shop, the sport's administrators still want to tinker with the Champions League
Read the full article07 April 2022
Ukraine needs freedom, not a Qatar free pass
The proposal to give Ukraine a bye to the World Cup is a worthy one - but Fifa has never gone down that route
Read the full article31 March 2022
Italy mourns as Mancini’s magic act is exposed
Missing the country's second World Cup in a row, Italy's European Championship victory last summer now appears like a blue mirage
Read the full article24 March 2022
The surprising spring rising of Barça and Auba
Not for the first time in recent history, Barcelona is playing beautifully while living on bank loans that almost defy financial gravity
Read the full article17 March 2022
PSG: The luxury brand that fails to deliver
Paris St Germain's superstar project has failed and the fans are turning their fire on their expensive acquisitions
Read the full article09 March 2022
Last orders for Chelsea’s bartender?
Chelsea’s future is uncertain and manager Thomas Tuchel finds himself asked questions about war and morality instead of tactics and injuries
Read the full article03 March 2022
When sport bends its knee to tyranny
While some in sport suck up to Vladimir Putin, others are reacting correctly to the threat of the obliteration of life on our continent
Read the full article24 February 2022
The Putin supporter’s club that’s in exile because of Putin
Shakhtar Donetsk dream of being the Chelsea of the east, but just playing a game at home seems as far away as ever
Read the full article17 February 2022
Hammer blows for the game’s moral compass
Kurt Zouma's animal cruelty is just the latest wretched revelation for football, says ROB HUGHES
Read the full article10 February 2022
Football’s great migration home
Africa is finally getting something back from the long, long money trail that has procured its talents for the rich Europeans
Read the full article03 February 2022
From Rafa to Mario, talent will out
Long deemed "unmanageable", Mario Balotelli might be the man to rescue Italy's World Cup qualification
Read the full article27 January 2022
This comeback makes the game hold its breath
ROB HUGHES on the potential return of Christian Eriksen, eight months after his heart stopped suddenly on the pitch
Read the full article20 January 2022
Silver spoons don’t make for silverware
Two of the leading lights behind the failed European Super League bid have since gone in very different directions
Read the full article13 January 2022
Brian Clough of the Black Forest
Freiburg's Christian Streich is similar to a managerial legend in more ways than one
Read the full article06 January 2022
Remember Jean-Pierre Adams when talking about the good of the game
Football's authorities need to pay more attention to players' physical and mental burnout, says ROB HUGHES
Read the full article16 December 2021
The Cup is the new goal for Samuel Eto’o
The Cameroonian soccer player has his eyes set firmly on the prize, writes ROB HUGHES.
Read the full article09 December 2021
Welcome to the golden winter of Thiago Silva
The Brazilian player defies age. He started with nothing and now plays for millions, still captaining his country 102 captaincies later.
Read the full article02 December 2021
Does football need a dictator?
The Football Association lost influence over the sport when it ceded power to the Premier League in 1992. Now, ROB HUGHES asks who owns football?
Read the full article25 November 2021
Will Manchester United go Double Dutch?
Whoever succeeds Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will inherit a hollow and lost group of players, writes ROB HUGHES.
Read the full article18 November 2021
How Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini remind us that sleaze is not just for politicians
Football is no longer a game for the game's sake. ROB HUGHES writes how fans can but dream of it returning to this.
Read the full article11 November 2021
Is football hero Joshua Kimmich a Covid hypocrite?
The Bayern Munich star is seldom a disappointment. Has he now broken this track record?
Read the full article04 November 2021
Will Xavi Hernández bring fans, and glory, back to Barça?
One thing's for sure, he's certainly ready to try.
Read the full article28 October 2021
Their coach is in his kitchen, but Bayern refuse to sink
Julian Nagelsmann has been managing the team from his kitchen, but Bayern Munich's spirits won't be dimmed.
Read the full article21 October 2021
The grace and magic that makes Mohamed Salah the world’s best
The Egyptian footballer, dubbed The Egyptian King by Liverpudlians, is a fine man and even finer player, writes ROB HUGHES
Read the full article14 October 2021
Football has become a game that cares about your money, not your motives
It doesn't matter your intent, the sport will take your money anyway, argues ROB HUGHES
Read the full article07 October 2021
When football becomes the generation game
Sporting talent can run in the family. Just take it from the Maldinis who have dominated football for generations...
Read the full article30 September 2021
The builder of Madrid starts his latest project
Real Madrid remains focal to European football. Florentino Pérez, Real Madrid president, is both responsible for this and has hindered it
Read the full article