Luckily for Manchester City, the bloated Champions League format means that opening group games can hardly be regarded as critically important, never mind ‘must win’, but even if the competition couldn’t ever hope to hit the ground running the way the World Cup did in Russia, this week’s action did see some of football’s global superstars exhibiting varying degrees of luminosity — from dull to blinding — in their attempts to twist again like they did last summer.

Conran Tobin is Ireland’s best pro FIFA player and member of the AS Roma eSports team that will travel the world this season defending their Gfinity title.

Hundreds of thousands of ecstatic French fans celebrated the return of their World Cup winning football team yesterday, jumping and chanting “We are the champions” as their bus paraded down the Champs Elysees before a special presidential reception.

Make sense of it all? Maybe there was no sense to be found in it at all.

Football – zut alors!

Belgium’s World Cup squad were welcomed as heroes in Brussels yesterday, after achieving their best-ever World Cup result in Russia, and were rewarded with the country’s national dish: A bowl of chips.

France have won the World Cup after beating Croatia 4-2 in the final in Moscow.

France took the lead six minutes into the second half when Samuel Umtiti got to Antoine Griezmann's corner ahead of Marouane Fellaini and saw his header clip the Belgium midfielder on its way into the net.

A scintillating goal from Neymar drew him level with Romario in Brazil’s all-time top scorers list as they cruised to a 3-0 win against Austria yesterday.

Yet again the talk surrounding England as they approach a major tournament is marooned somewhere between hope and hype but Damien Duff has questioned whether Gareth Southgate’s players have the commitment required to make a mark at the World Cup.

With many Gooners struggling to come to terms with the seemingly imminent appointment of Arteta as our new manager, the shock announcement of Unai Emery came straight out of left-field.

Not quite yet, says Chris Hatherall.

Real Madrid 3 PSG 1

Ryan Giggs says he advised Manchester United to sign Gabriel Jesus and Kylian Mbappe before the pair rose to prominence.

More people are becoming homeless because of family breakdowns, than those being forced out by landlords.

UEFA has opened disciplinary proceedings against Celtic following the pitch invasion by a fan during the Champions League tie against Paris St Germain at Parkhead.

Brendan Rodgers expressed his disappointment after a fan came out from the stands to confront Paris St Germain's Kylian Mbappe during the French side's 5-0 Champions League win at Parkhead on Tuesday night.

Celtic 0 PSG 5: Free-spending Paris St Germain demonstrated their prowess with a 5-0 thumping of Celtic in their Champions League opener at Parkhead.

Boss Brendan Rodgers believes Celtic are better placed this season to make progress in Europe despite their daunting Champions League group.

Paris St Germain’s record spending spree in the transfer window, bringing in Neymar for €222m and Kylian Mbappe for a projected €180m, has led many to suggest all the pressure is on them to provide value for money by winning the Champions League this season.

The interesting thing about the current transfer market is the trickle down effect, writes The Secret Footballer.

Kylian Mbappe has joined Paris St Germain from Monaco, the two clubs have announced.

France steamrollered Holland 4-0 with the help of goals from Thomas Lemar and Kylian Mbappe as they edged closer to qualification for next summer's World Cup finals in Russia.

Thomas Lemar and Kylian Mbappe underlined why they have had Europe's top sides chasing them all summer as they scored three goals between them in France's crushing 4-0 victory over Holland in a World Cup qualifier at the Stade de France.

France boss Didier Deschamps has stressed the importance of his players remaining calm about the situation in their World Cup qualifying group and approaching tonight’s match against Holland without fear (Sky Sports, 7.45pm).

Kylian Mbappe's anticipated move to Paris St Germain now appears a formality after Stevan Jovetic was pictured wearing the teenager's number 10 shirt at Monaco.

Pep Guardiola is backing Raheem Sterling to deliver plenty of goals for Manchester City this season.

Alexis Sanchez could return to the Arsenal team for their Premier League trip to face rivals Liverpool as manager Arsene Wenger says he is unaffected by transfer rumours concerning the Chilean.

Alexis Sanchez will miss Arsenal's opening two Premier League games through an abdominal injury as manager Arsene Wenger refused to reveal if the club had received any bids for the forward.

Cristiano Ronaldo will be playing for Real Madrid next season and reports in Spain say Kylian Mbappe could be alongside him.

Aston Villa have signed Stoke midfielder Glenn Whelan in a deal which could rise to £2m (€2.2m).

France 3 - England 2: Not even the controversial use of video assistant referees could prevent Gareth Southgate’s England from succumbing to defeat in their season-ending friendly against France.

Juventus secured their place in the Champions League final after coasting to a 2-1 win over Monaco in Turin last night.

Once again, Juventus are out to prove themselves on the European stage, says Daniella Matar.

Monaco face a summer of tough decision-making — even more so if they win the Champions League. The 2004 beaten finalists face Juventus in the first leg of the semi-final tonight, the toughest test of a thrilling season that has seen them score 146 goals in all competitions.

Dortmund 2 - Monaco 3: Borussia Dortmund head coach Thomas Tuchel criticised Uefa’s decision to make his side play their Champions League quarter-final first leg against Monaco last night.

Monaco 3 Manchester City 1 (6-6 on agg, Monaco win on away goals): Manchester City played their part in another Champions League thriller but it ultimately cost them their place in the competiton after they crashed out on the away goal’s rule to Monaco.

The Champions League scripts department has been doing some clever rewrites lately.