UEFA have announced two Champions League rule changes ahead of the 2026-27 league phase getting underway.

The final batch of teams will secure their places in Europe’s premier club competition via qualifying later this month, with the second leg of the play-offs set for August 25 and 26.

Matchday 1 will then commence on September 8. This season’s final takes place at the Atletico Madrid’s Metropolitano Stadium on June 5.

Paris Saint-Germain will attempt to become the first team since Real Madrid under newly-appointed France head coach Zinedine Zidane (2016-2018) to win the Champions League three years in a row.

The French giants had never won the Champions League prior to 2025 but have cemented their status as Europe’s most formidable team right now under Luis Enrique, currently ranked as the best manager on the planet.

Two Rule Changes For 2026-27 European Competitions

PSG and the rest of the teams competing have been informed of two changes to this season’s Champions League, per The Mirror. The same rules will apply for UEFA’s other primary club cup competitions: the Europa League and Conference League.

The first rule surrounds yellow cards, with the threshold raised before a player serves a one-match suspension.

Players will now require four yellow cards, rather than three, before they are handed a one-game suspension.

The second, lesser-known, rule involves clocks at stadiums.

Reuters/Andrew Boyers

UEFA have removed its long-standing regulation that prevented clocks on European nights moving beyond 45 and 90 minutes. Until now, match organisers were unable to display the elapsed time once the original period of each half had run out. The same applied to extra-time.

This subtle change was introduced into the Premier League two years ago and UEFA have now followed suit with their main competitions.

The rule now says: “The added time for each half must be indicated by the additional minutes, and not as continuous playing time (i.e. 45 + x, 90 + y). The same applies in the case of extra time (105 + x, 120 + y).”

PSG: 2026-27 Champions League Favourites

Five English clubs have qualified for this season’s Champions League. Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United, Aston Villa and Liverpool will all compete for club football’s biggest prize.

Bournemouth, Crystal Palace and Sunderland will play in the Europa League, while Brighton will represent the Premier League in the Conference League.

Reigning champions PSG (5-1) are currently the bookmakers’ favourites to win the 2026-27 Champions League, followed by Bayern Munich and Arsenal (both 6-1).

Barcelona, Manchester City and Real Madrid are all priced at 7-1, followed by Liverpool (10-1) and Manchester United (16-1).

Brock Lesnar has revealed the real reason why he is retiring from WWE.

Lesnar suffered defeat to Oba Femi in the main event of SummerSlam Night 1 after a gruelling Hell in a Cell affair; a defeat that many fans had speculated would be the 49-year-old’s last dance in the squared circle.

This comes after Lesnar’s seemingly last appearance in the ring at WrestleMania 42, where he faced a loss at the hands of Femi for the first time. The defeat coincided with him leaving his gloves and boots in the ring, a gesture that seemed to signal a goodbye to the WWE Universe.

A return short-lived, as a month later, Lesnar returned to attack Femi and challenge him to a match at Clash in Italy. A match that The Beast Incarnate ultimately won to set up a trilogy at SummerSlam.

Following the third instalment of the heavyweight clash, Lesnar seemed to confirm once again what fans had speculated, grabbing a microphone and referring to himself as the “past” and Femi as the “future” of WWE.

Now, Lesnar has officially announced his retirement from professional wrestling, after 23 years on-and-off at WWE, with four years in the UFC sandwiched between.

The announcement came on the Pat McAfee show, where Lesnar revealed the real reasons why he is stepping away.

Brock Lesnar Explains Motives Behind WWE Retirement

“When Oba Femi slammed me at WrestleMania, I was like, I can’t do this again. I think I’m done. But Saturday for Brock Lesnar, that’s it. That’s it for me in the squared circle and for everything else too.

“I’m 49, and I still want to be able to get around and move, but I’m grateful, very grateful. Oba was great, and the WWE Universe. I want to thank the promotion itself, TKO, Dana White, the UFC, the Minnesota Vikings, and the University of Minnesota.”

What Next For Brock Lesnar

Screenshot via YouTube

Lesnar also revealed what he will be getting up to now that he will have a lot of free time on his hands.

“I’ve got some hunting lined up, and I’ve got two boys in hockey; I’m going to support that and their dreams as long as that is feasible. And my daughter, she’s got her eyes on the 2028 Olympics.

“I’m just going to spend more time with the kids and in the woods, and just reap what I’ve sown. Just enjoy life.”

With the end of an era and the passing of the torch, it looks like the hierarchy of WWE Superstars is going to be shaken up. With the departure of Brock Lesnar, it looks like Oba Femi will be the new beast in town and will surely look to disrupt that hierarchy in the near future.

It looks as though one big summer saga for Arsenal is finally set to end in good news. The Gunners have been working on a deal for Newcastle United star Bruno Guimaraes for some time now, and a deal appears to have been reached.

Reports suggest the Magpies will shake hands on a deal worth a fixed fee of £75m, making him the most expensive 28-year-old midfielder ever signed. Transfer guru Fabrizio Romano has backed up these claims, now giving the deal his ‘Here We Go’ seal of approval.

Mikel Arteta will be delighted to add the Brazilian to his squad, as the Premier League ace will provide great depth alongside the likes of Declan Rice, Martin Zubimendi, Mikel Merino, and Myles Lewis-Skelly – with Christian Norgaard close to an Everton move, creating space in the team for Guimaraes’ arrival.

Guimaraes Set to Land Dream Arsenal Number

Guimaraes will arrive with a wealth of experience, having played 153 Premier League games for Newcastle, while also becoming the first Toon captain to lift a trophy at Wembley since 1955 after the club’s 2025 League Cup triumph. As such, many would expect him to take on a traditional first-team squad number.

However, shirts such as the five (Piero Hincapie), six (Gabriel), seven (Bukayo Saka) and eight (Martin Odegaard) have already been assigned to first-team members. This, however, should be no issue for Guimaraes, as there is likely only one number he will ask for at Arsenal.

Indeed, at his past three senior clubs, Atletico Paranaense, Olympique Lyon and Newcastle United, Guimaraes has worn the number 39 shirt. It seems certain he will request it once more after joining the Premier League champions, due to his emotional attachment to the digits.

He has previously explained that the ‘magical’ number was on his dad’s taxi back in Brazil: “The number tells a story more beautiful than words can say. 39. I know people think it’s a weird number for a footballer. But for me 39 is special — no, it’s more than that. It’s magical. The number 39 gave me everything in life. It got me here to Newcastle. It fed me, clothed me, and paid for three-hour bus rides to pursue my dream. #039 was the dispatch number of my father’s taxi in Rio de Janeiro.”

He added: “My mother worked in a motorcycle shop. My father, of course, was a taxi driver. In Brazil, especially in Rio, this is a tough life. You work basically all day and night. But that yellow taxi kept my dream alive. Pretty much the only day I saw my father was on Saturday, when he came to watch me play football. It made me nervous, to be honest. My father was my hero. I didn’t want to disappoint him. And he was quite hard on me, at first. Sometimes he’d even say, ‘I’m tired of seeing you lose. You can have an extra hamburger today, but only if you win.’”

No.39 Shirt Only Worn by Seven Arsenal Stars in the Past

The good news for Guimaraes is that he has a free run at the number. Last season, it was assigned to Arsenal youth prospect Harrison Dudziak. The 20-year-old never played a senior game for the Gunners, however, and is now a free agent after his contract with the club expired in July.

Having arrived as a £75m first-team star, it seems all but certain that Guimaraes will be given the number if he requests it, as he has done at his past three clubs. Interestingly, though, it’s quite a rare number for the north London side.

Just seven Arsenal players have worn no.39 in the past. The most recent was Dudziak last season (25/26), but it had been unused for over a decade, with cult hero Hector Bellerin the last man before that, wearing it in 2014/15. Youth player Zak Ansah took it briefly in 2012/13, while Francis Coquelin had it in 2011/12. Rui Fonte (08/09), Mark Howard (05/06), and Sebastian Larsson (04/05) are the final three to have worn it.