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• Premier League rejects Man City request to delay 2025-26 season start

  The Premier League has rejected a request from Manchester City to delay the start to their 2025-26 campaign to allow for more recovery time after the Club World Cup.

  As 2022-23 Champions League winners, City are one of two English clubs – alongside Chelsea – to have secured a spot at FIFA's first 32-team Club World Cup, which will be held in the United States next year.

  The tournament's expanded format has proven extremely controversial, provoking widespread criticism for denying players rest time during the off-season.

  Players' union Fifpro has started legal proceedings against FIFA over the scheduling of the tournament, claiming the fixture schedule has become "unworkable".

  The Club World Cup is set to run from June 15 to July 13, with players involved unlikely to receive substantial rest time before the domestic season begins in early August.

  Speaking ahead of Saturday's Premier League clash with Fulham, boss Pep Guardiola revealed City had already seen a request to delay their opening game knocked back.

  "The Premier League has not allowed us to postpone the first two games for our recovery," Guardiola said. "Thank you so much.

  "I think the club asked the league to postpone one or two or three weeks so we can have a holiday after the [Club] World Cup but it is absolutely not allowed. 

  "Would the Premier League say yes to us? No. Absolutely not. They won't postpone these games so there will be a moment of, 'what do we do?

  "I don't have an answer right now but we are going to take a decision with common sense."

• Rudiger lauds 'ridiculous' Yamal after sensational LaLiga start

  Real Madrid's Antonio Rudiger has lauded Barcelona's Lamine Yamal as 'ridiculous' following the teenager's rapid rise to stardom for their fierce LaLiga rivals. 

  Yamal broke into Barca's first-team last term, making 50 appearances in all competitions before announcing himself on the international stage for Spain at Euro 2024. 

  He became the first Spanish player to register four assists in a single European Championship tournament.

  It was also the joint most that any player has ever assisted at a single edition of the tournament that Opta has on record (1980 onwards).

  Yamal also broke Pele's record from the 1958 World Cup final for Brazil against Sweden by becoming the youngest player to feature in a major international tournament final at the age of 17 years and 249 days in Spain's 2-1 win over England. 

  And the teenager has picked up where he left off in Germany, already notching 10 goal involvements (five goals and five assists) in 10 appearances in all competitions this season.

  The 17-year-old has also completed the joint-most dribbles alongside Sevilla's Chidera Ejuke (23) in LaLiga this season, while only Raphinha (26) has created more chances for Barcelona in the league this season than Yamal (17). 

  "You have to give credit where credit is due," Rudiger told The Inside Scoop podcast when asked about Yamal.

  "He is 17, it's ridiculous. The player he is already for them [Barca] at 17, it's quite scary. What he did in the Euros, you have to give kudos to him. He has a great future ahead.

  "I think they [Barca] have a player who has a [big] career and hopefully, he will stay healthy."

• Conte embracing Napoli improvements after Como triumph

  Antonio Conte is embracing Napoli's recent run of form after they extended their lead at the Serie A summit to four points ahead of the international break. 

  Scott McTominay's early opener was cancelled out by Gabriel Strefezza, only for star man Romelu Lukaku and substitute David Neres to seal the win after the break. 

  Conte is now the sixth manager to have won each of his first four home games as Napoli head coach in Serie A, after Paolo Iodice, Luis Vinicio, Alberto Bigon, Carlo Ancelotti and Luciano Spalletti.

  The Italian, however, started his Napoli reign with a shock 3-0 defeat to Hellas Verona on the opening day, but his team have since gone seven games unbeaten, scoring 19 goals during that run. 

  Conte acknowledged that his side may not deserve to be at the top of the table, but felt quietly optimistic about his players' progression during the early stages of his tenure.

  "I don't know if this is currently a Napoli that deserves to be in first place in the standings, but we are first and that is a fact," Conte said to DAZN.

  "If someone had told me this three months ago, it would have been difficult to believe.

  "We're growing in terms of temperament, and in our ability to adapt—playing good football, but also willing to get our hands dirty when we need to.

  "That's a great sign, and we have to embrace it fully."

  But the encounter against Como was far from comfortable for Conte's side, with the visitors registering 11 shots compared to Napoli's nine, while Cesc Fabregas' men also ended the contest with 59.3% possession. 

  Napoli, though, created the better chances, ending the encounter with an expected goals (xG) total of 2.02 from their six efforts on target, with Lukaku continuing to flourish under Conte's stewardship. 

  McTominay's opening goal after 26 seconds was the third-quickest for Napoli in the three-points-per-game era, while the former Manchester United midfielder also became the first Scottish player to score for Gli Azzurri in Serie A. 

  "We started well in the first half, scoring a great goal, the result of our hard work," Conte said.

  "Then we changed things tactically in the second half, and they were no longer in the game.

  "We lost too many duels, but that's part of the process of rebuilding confidence and self-esteem."

  Conte also showered praise on the home supporters inside the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona. 

  "Playing in Naples, at the Maradona, with a full stadium means that the players can really feel the crowd's emotions," he said. 

  If you make mistakes, you can feel the disappointment, and that can chip away at your confidence.

  "Napoli has a deep passion for football. We try to feed that passion by giving our all, like we did today. In the second half, we improved from every point of view."