Chelsea manager Sonia Bompastor believes her strong personality and will to succeed come from having to fight to play football when she was younger.

Bompastor, who was the first woman to win the Champions League as a player and manager with Lyon, said French attitudes and prejudice towards women playing the sport spurred her on.

“I wanted to fight against this idea that if you were a girl you couldn’t play football,” she told BBC Sport.

“After that I worked so hard but I enjoyed it so much. At around 18 I realised maybe I could have a good career in my life with football.

“Not a career thinking about winning money, more about enjoying and playing at a high level.”

The 44-year-old has gone on to have a glittering career, winning 11 major trophies during two spells at Lyon as a player before claiming three straight league titles and the 2021-22 Champions League trophy as manager.

Despite Emma Hayes’ success during her 12-year tenure at Chelsea, which yielded 13 major titles, Bompastor’s transition at the club has appeared seamless.

The Blues have won each of their opening two Women’s Super League matches, while they claimed a 3-2 win over Real Madrid in their first Champions League group-stage game on Tuesday.

However, they face a tough test against Arsenal at Emirates Stadium in the league on Saturday, in a game which is live on BBC One from 13:15 BST.

“Results have been good but this game will be different. It’s a derby. You have to be prepared,” said Bompastor, who has been impressed with the competitiveness of the WSL.

“The competition between the clubs is so big, so strong. I think something was missing in France, even if France has clubs competing at the highest level if you take Lyon and PSG.

“Here, every weekend you don’t take anything for granted and you have to fight to win the games so this is really good.”

Some of the newer faces in the squad stepping up and making an impact could inject some life into Scotland’s form this year.

Clarke has made the decision not to call up many players from the under-21s squad given the junior side are going well in their own European qualification campaign and have crucial games against Belgium and Kazakhstan to play during this international window.

It means in-form Scottish Premiership midfielders Lennon Miller and Connor Barron, or Sturm Graz right-back Max Johnston, are missing, which could have generated some excitement.

Even with lots of players out, the squad has a familiar feel to it and it falls to teenage Middlesbrough winger Ben Doak and Vancouver Whitecaps midfielder Ryan Gauld, who both made their debuts as substitutes last month, to bring some freshness.

Doak has made five appearances in the Championship since the last international break, when the 18-year-old helped set up a goal against Poland and scored his first goal on loan to Boro from Liverpool against Stoke City.

His pace and dribbling ability offers something completely different, particularly with the recent switch to a back four.

Gauld has been nursing an injury in recent weeks, but the 28-year-old looked bright when coming on against Poland, creating two chances.

Then there is Andy Irving, the West Ham United midfielder taking part in his first camp. His story in itself is positive, having left Heart of Midlothian before ending up in the Premier League via the lower leagues in Austria and Germany.

“It’s been a mad journey to be honest,” the 24-year-old told the Scotland national side’s media channels this week.

“In Austria, I played more as an attacking midfielder and number 10 – when I was in Scotland, I was a bit more defensive. I’ve added different things to my game.”

At the 2018 finals in Russia, Zlatko Dalic led a nation with a smaller population than that of Scotland to the zenith of international football when they contested the World Cup final. They would come up short against France on the day.

Croatia reaching that showpiece was a surprise, but Modric is the very embodiment of upsetting the odds.

He and his family had to flee their home near the Dalmatian city of Zadar due to the Croatian War of Independence that provided the backdrop to his childhood.

As a Dinamo Zagreb graduate, 20 years ago, he was sent on loan to Bosnian club Zrinjski Mostar. For a young Croatian, that will have been an eye-opener.

In the ensuing two decades, Modric has won six Champions League titles, five Super Cups, four Spanish titles and five Club World Cups alongside the 180 caps he has proudly amassed in Croatia’s red and white checks.

Yet, when he made big-money moves to Tottenham Hotspur and Real Madrid, where he has won anything and everything, he was written off by many. He is currently enjoying his 13th season at the Santiago Bernabeu.

“I’m still here, motivated as before,” Modric said last month. “I am most proud to play for Croatia. I think I can still help.”

He was right as he followed up that statement with a complete masterclass against Poland on matchday two in Osijek in which he scored the only goal of the game with a superbly executed free-kick.

Scotland actually have a winning record against the Croats and are unbeaten on their two previous visits to Zagreb.

However, their two victories during the 2014 World Cup qualifying campaign, including an unexpected triumph in the Croatian capital, came after the qualification horse had long since bolted.

More recently, the Scots were on the receiving end of Modric wizardry in what was their must-win final group match of Euro 2020. Croatia eased to a 3-1 victory at Hampden Park, with the veteran scoring the second, and the game exposed a big gap between the teams.

To remain in contention in the current Nations League section and maintain hopes of a place in pot one or two for next year’s World Cup qualifiers, this is a game Scotland will probably have to win.

The trouble is that Croatia do not lose at home very often. That Scotland victory 11 years ago is one of only seven competitive defeats suffered on their own soil since Croatia entered the Fifa rankings in 1994.

Like Scotland, they had a disappointing European Championship in Germany, exiting at the group stage after conceding late goals against Albania and Italy in a tough group. Eventual winners Spain topped the section.

However, that anti-climax does not detract from the fact this will be a very tough assignment.

Victory in Helsinki will help ease some of the early pressure on Hallgrimsson following last month’s defeats by England and Greece.

The Irish players were booed by sections of their home fans at the Aviva Stadium following the loss to Greece while the travelling supporters voiced their frustration in Helsinki after Nathan Collins’ woefully underhit backpass gifted Finland the opening goal.

However, Azaz insists he and his team-mates are blocking out the noise as they bid to secure back-to-back competitive wins on the road for the first time since November 2021.

“I am going out there to do my job, that’s what I am trained to do, so I try to ignore the outside noise, we all try to do that. That’s how you have to be,” said the Westminster-born 24-year-old, who qualifies for the Republic of Ireland through his Cork-born grandparents.

“We do hear criticism but that’s part of the job. You need a strong mentality to ignore the noise and hopefully this win will help us gain even more confidence. We have a lot of belief.”

Azaz, who was replaced by Jamie McGrath for the final 20 minutes against Finland, added: “I didn’t hear any boos at half-time. It was a tough game and a tough first half, but you need to show respect to the opposition.

“We are a good team. I felt we could push on at half-time and that’s what we tried to do in the second half.

“With Nathan, mistakes happen and we are ready for that. We didn’t need to say anything to him, he’s an experienced player. We just focused on the positives and had that positive energy for the second half.”

Arsenal want Bournemouth’s Antoine Semenyo and Milos Kerkez, Eddie Howe will not leave Newcastle for England, and Kobbie Mainoo set to sign new Manchester United contract.

Arsenal are planning to make bids for Bournemouth and Hungary left-back Milos Kerkez, 20, and Cherries winger Antoine Semenyo, 24, who is a Ghana international. (CaughtOffside), external

Newcastle boss Eddie Howe, 46, has no desire to leave the club despite being on a shortlist for the vacant England manager’s job. (Telegraph – subscription required), external

England midfielder Kobbie Mainoo, 19, is close to agreeing a new contract at Manchester United. (Manchester Evening News), external

Barcelona and Real Madrid are both interested in a move for Spanish left-back Alvaro Fernandez, 21, who Manchester United sold to Benfica last summer. (Mirror), external

Manchester United and Denmark midfielder Christian Eriksen, 32, is expected to re-join his former club Ajax when his contract expires next summer. (Sun), external

Former Liverpool and Cameroon defender Joel Matip, 33, is considering retirement. (Ruhr Nachrichten S04 on X – in German), external

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola is the dream long-term candidate for the Football Association, who have not interviewed anyone for the England job more than two months after the closing date for applications. (Telegraph – subscription required), external

Everton have set their sights on signing Stuttgart and DR Congo winger Silas Mvumpa, 26, in January. (Football Insider), external

Former Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, 51, is in talks with a “major club” about a return to management after turning down further talks about managing Denmark. (Tipsbladet – in Danish), external

Liverpool have earmarked Palmeiras centre-back Vitor Reis, 18, as a possible signing for the future. The Brazil youth international has a release clause of £84m. (Football Insider), external

River Plate want to extend Manchester City forward Claudio Echeverri’s loan spell. Argentina-born Echeverri, 18, signed for City in January 2024 with an agreement he would remain at River Plate before moving to England in January 2025. (TYC Sports – in Spanish), external

After securing the title with a thumping win over their nearest rivals on the pitch, Cliftonville lifted the trophy at the home of their neighbours.

Crusaders gave a guard of honour as Kelsie Burrows led Cliftonville out at Seaview, and, despite the celebrations that followed the win over Glentoran, they did not look like a team with a hangover on the pitch.

They dominated the majority of possession in the early stages, and Marissa Callaghan clipped the top of the crossbar with a long-range effort.

The Northern Ireland midfielder then hammered the crossbar with a header from Toni-Leigh Finnegan’s cross.

The pressure continued to build as Fi Morgan, Caitlin McGuinness and Carla Devine all saw chances slip away.

Callaghan was denied the opener by the offside flag as she chipped the ball into the bottom corner, and Devine fired over late in the half as the teams went in level.

After Callaghan poked an effort wide after the restart, the deserved winner came in the 52nd minute when Maxwell’s cross drifted into the bottom corner to give the visitors a lead they would not relinquish.

Finnegan fired over as the Reds looked for a second, and substitute Kirsty McGuinness saw an effort parried away by Harvey-Clifford.

The Crues had a huge chance to level the game with 20 minutes to play when Rebecca Mann raced through on goal but the substitute hooked her effort wide.

McGuinness forced Harvey-Clifford into a superb diving save, and further chances fell to Caitlin McGuinness, who hit over from Katie Markey’s cross, and Maxwell, who fired narrowly wide.

The game fizzled out in the closing stages, with the Reds perhaps having one eye on Saturday’s cup final but when the final whistle blew, the Cliftonville bench ran onto the pitch to celebrate with their team-mates.