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Futbol

Scottish Clubs Can Postpone League Match For European Play-offs

Scottish clubs will be able to postpone a league match to prepare for a play-off round tie in European competition from next season. Previously postponements had to be agreed by both clubs but now a team playing in Europe can unilaterally delay a game. However, the change only applies to matches on the weekend of 23 and 24 August 2025, between the first and second legs of play-off ties in the Champions League, Europa League, and Conference League. Next season the Scottish Premiership winners - likely to be Celtic - will enter the Champions League at the play-off stage. The second place side, which looks set to be Rangers, will enter in the second qualifying round, while this season's Scottish Cup winners, or third-place side if Celtic win the cup, will enter the Europa League at the play-off stage. The change was approved by the SPFL board after a working group recommended altering the rules. Managers and club owners have continually stressed the difficulty of balancing European qualifiers in the early part of the season with domestic duties, particularly with other leagues moving games to help clubs in their own leagues. The league body's chief operating officer Calum Beattie said the SPFL is "very keen" to support clubs but stressed options to move games are "very limited" due to the "extremely congested" schedule. "This new policy has received extremely positive feedback from our clubs on the SPFL Competitions Working Group which believe it will be beneficial in their aims of reaching the league phase of Uefa competitions, and we're pleased to be introducing it for next season," Beattie added.

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Futbol

Scots Can Call On 'superpower' V Germany - Howard

Uefa Women's Nations League A: Scotland v Germany Venue: Tannadice Park, Dundee Date: Friday, 4 April Kick-off: 19:35 BST Coverage: Watch on BBC Alba & iPlayer, listen on BBC Radio Scotland Extra & Sounds, live text commentary on the BBC Sport website & app Sophie Howard believes Scotland's "superpower" will be required if Germany are to be beaten in Friday's Women's Nations League meeting at Tannadice. The Leicester City defender, born and raised in Germany to a Scottish mother and an English father, is not just fluent in German but fully versed in the development of the German game at club and international level. That familiarity, as well as the fact the Germans may not know so much about the Scots, could help interim head coach Michael McArdle's side get the better of the team ranked third in the world. "I've got an advantage in that I know a lot of the players," Howard explained. "I've seen them for many, many years and I believe they don't know as much about us as we do about them - and that can be our superpower on Friday. "You always go in wanting to win, why do we play football otherwise? We're fully aware a lot has to go right for us to come out on top. "I'm convinced we can perform and compete with Germany, a top nation. We just need to be at our best." Scotland have lost their past three matches to Finland, Austria and the Netherlands, and could do with a morale-boosting win. The significant scalp of Germany would certainly fit into that category, although Howard is not getting too preoccupied with results at all cost. "What we need is to build internally," she said. "What happens externally with results is sometimes secondary, because we need to build on performances to make this sustainable. "A one-off result won't solve problems and won't bring back belief. A result can help you but we see every day what we put in and that is more valuable than anything else."