Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers says he doubts “there’s anyone better in world football” at pressing defenders than Daizen Maeda.

The 26-year-old Japan forward was picked out for praise on Champions League Match of the Day by former team-mate Joe Hart for “setting the tone” during Wednesday’s 5-1 demolition of Slovan Bratislava.

And Rodgers knows his front players deserve a slice of credit for the concession of only two goals in seven matches – all victories – this season.

“That’s where the game starts,” he said. “I’ve seen reports in terms of the team doing very well, keeping clean sheets and the goalkeeper and the back four.

“It starts at the front. And I would doubt there’s anyone better in world football than Daizen Maeda in that context.”

Claiming to want “to show the hidden side of football”, Football Leaks shared millions of documents with media outlets in the European Investigative Collaborations (EIC) consortium, a network of investigative journalists.

They included revelations on ‘third-party ownership’, the salaries of Argentina great Lionel Messi and Brazil forward Neymar, undercover talks regarding the creation of the European Super League, and alleged cases of tax evasion by several top footballers.

Paris St-Germain also admitted that scouts had racially profiled young players following an investigation based on documents made available by Football Leaks. The club denied responsibility.

A self-taught computer mastermind, Pinto was arrested in Hungary in 2019 and extradited back to Portugal. Released from custody in August 2020, he has remained under police witness protection because of security concerns.

Pinto insisted his actions were in the public interest, but last year he was convicted on five counts of “illegitimate access” to IT systems and three counts of “correspondence violations”, along with the attempted extortion against the investment fund Doyen Sports. Prosecutors alleged that Pinto sought between £429,400 to £858,800 from the head of Doyen in order to stop publishing compromising documents.

When challenged over the illegality of his client’s activities, Bourdon said: “Of course, he didn’t find all this information in a church… He was very young, he has been naive… he should have been acquitted.

“Football should be grateful to him,” insists Bourdon. “Tax administrations should be grateful to him.”

“I hope that one day someone will shake the hand of Pinto and say ‘thanks to you, you did a tremendous job, and you will deserve a reward… for what you did’.”

Bourdon said Pinto had received death threats, and it was “very difficult for him to face a second trial”.

The lawyer said that Judge Margarida Alves – who presided over Pinto’s first trial – had noted that; “we cannot forget his contribution, his contribution to reveal facts which have been at the origin of main criminal investigations all over Europe… to open the eyes of humanity, of Europe citizens and what’s going on under the magnificent wall of [the] football industry.”

However, she also told the court in Lisbon: “The freedom to inform does not justify violations of privacy.” She added: “The court has no doubt… It has clearly been established that he was hoping to get money.”

In 2023, as a separate trial in Paris, Pinto also received a six-month suspended sentence after admitting to illegally accessing confidential information on PSG.

Derry GAA have ruled out the possibility of former manager Rory Gallagher returning as their senior men’s football manager.

Gallagher, who led Derry to the Ulster title in 2022, released a statement through his solicitors on Friday stating his intentions to return to inter-county management.

The Oak Leaf county have been without a manager since Mickey Harte’s departure in August.

A Derry statement said that Gallagher was “not in consideration for the position” of the vacant manager’s job.

Gallagher stood down in the build-up to the county’s Ulster final appearance in 2023 after allegations of abuse were made by his estranged wife Nicola Gallagher, which he denied.

He was then “temporarily debarred” by the GAA in September 2023 when an independent panel was asked to investigate claims.

The former Donegal and Fermanagh coach successfully challenged that disbarment in February, and a statement from his solicitors on Friday read that there was no “legal impediment” to prevent him returning to a senior role in the game.

“Our client fully intends to return to inter county management in the near future,” the statement continued.

“Two separate investigations have led – rightly – to decisions by the PPS not to prosecute. Mr Gallagher has not been charged with a single offence.”

Tottenham head coach Ange Postecoglou says Spurs considered signing Ivan Toney before Dominic Solanke and that fans should not “rush to judgement” on the £65m striker, who has yet to score for Spurs.

READ MORE: Postecoglou says Spurs considered Toney before Solanke

By his own admission, UFC CEO Dana White has been talking about getting into the boxing game for a while.

Apart from dipping the UFC’s proverbial toes in the water with things like Zuffa Boxing and the backing of the sport and boxers like Callum Walsh on UFC Fight Pass, it’s been much ado about little.

But that may be changing.

At a Thursday pre-fight Q&A for Friday’s Walsh fight against Przemyslaw Runowski on Fight Pass, White said news is coming soon that will include, in some fashion, White and the UFC in the boxing world in an official capacity.

“There will be some big announcements soon,” White said. “If you know anything about me and you go back and look at anything that I’ve ever said, I never say anything that I don’t do – ever. I’ve never said (something I don’t do), and we’ve been kicking the whole boxing thing around for a long time. You’ve never heard me commit and say ‘I’m in.’ I’m in.”

In the past few years, White has pushed Power Slap alongside the UFC, and now a third official venture may soon enter the fray.

Crystal Palace boss Oliver Glasner says their fine form at the end of last season meant “expectations were wrong” going into this campaign.

Palace won six of their last seven games of 2023-24, scoring 21 goals in that run. They ended up on 49 points, their best 38-game Premier League season.

But their only two wins this season have come in the Carabao Cup – against Championship sides Norwich and QPR – and they sit on two points from four games.

This is Glasner’s first full season in charge, having taken over in February.

Speaking before Saturday’s home game with Manchester United, the Austrian said: “The last seven games were great but the first 31 weren’t great – it doesn’t mean it continues like the last seven.

“The expectations were wrong because when you win two it doesn’t mean you win the next one, and when you lost two it doesn’t mean you lose the next one.

“After 31 rounds we were five points away from relegation. That is fact.

“We didn’t expect we win every game and play Champions League. When your highest number is 49 [points] you can’t expect 78.”