Arsene Wenger isn’t a fan of the opening round of the Champions League.

And it apparently has nothing to do with being forced to watch from home after Arsenal missed out on this year’s edition of the lucrative club competition.

Wenger, whose Arsenal side failed to qualify for the first time in 19 seasons following the north London team’s fifth place finish last term, now claims that the Champions League group stage has lost its lustre and that there’s only a couple of matches worth watching.

“I think that in the group stage, there are not many interesting games,” Wenger told reporters, according to The Telegraph’s Jonathan Liew. “You choose (to watch) only one or two games.

“It’s a routine now, the Champions League, in the group stage. Look at the audiences. It has lost some attraction power.”

Arsenal enjoyed years of success in the opening stage of the competition but struggled in the knockout round, where the Premier League side was infamously eliminated in seven successive seasons, including last year’s embarrassing 10-2 aggregate loss to Bayern Munich.

Despite his criticism, Wenger admitted that he misses the excitement of competing in the tournament but stopped short of drawing comparisons to the second-tier Europa League as his side gets prepared to clash with BATE Borisov on Thursday.

“Honestly, yes,” Wenger responded when asked if he missed the Champions League. “But I must say, I have had nearly 200 games in the Champions League, so I can feel privileged.”

Arsenal will look to secure its second win of the Europa League group stage during a trip to Belarus after winning the opening tie 3-1 over FC Koln.

Washington Redskins running back Rob Kelley is expected to miss Sunday night’s game against the Oakland Raiders, and tight end Jordan Reed will be a game-time decision but also is unlikely to play, a source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

Both suffered rib injuries in last Sunday’s 27-20 win over the Los Angeles Rams.

Kelley, who is officially listed as questionable with a rib cartilage injury, was in the midst of arguably his best day with the Redskins, gaining 78 yards on 12 carries on Sunday, before leaving in the second quarter with the injury.

“When it happened, on a scale of 1 to 10, it was 10. Right now, it’s probably like a 5,” Kelley said Wednesday. “At the game, it was hard to breathe and my back started locking up. But right now, I’m pretty good.”

If Kelley can’t play, Samaje Perine would take over the bulk of the carries, with Chris Thompson still serving in his third-down role.

Miguel Maduro was removed as chairman of FIFA’s Governance Committee in May, two months after he refused Vitaly Mutko, Russia’s deputy prime minister, clearance to stand again for the FIFA Council. Ethical concerns about the removal remain.

On Wednesday, during an appearance at the United Kingdom’s Culture, Media and Sport Committee, Maduro claimed that Gianni Infantino, FIFA’s president, personally argued with him over the decision to refuse Mutko.

Maduro asserted that FIFA’s Governance Committee was implementing FIFA’s own rule of being politically neutral and keeping national associations free from government interference, but Infantino argued that the rule shouldn’t apply to Mutko. The Portuguese politician said that Fatma Samouza, FIFA’s secretary general, along with Tomaz Vesel, the chairman of FIFA’s Audit and Compliance Committee, then flew to Brussels and called him to say that FIFA’s president had asked him to leave.

“The secretary general made it clear (the Mutko decision) was extremely problematic and we needed to find a solution to declare Mr. Mutko eligible,” Maduro said, according to the Guardian’s David Conn. “She said that the World Cup would be a disaster and that as a consequence the continued presidency (of Infantino) would be in question.”

Maduro declared that he was “very clear” in his response, saying that FIFA’s Governance Committee was following the rules on being politically neutral and exercising independent judgment. Infantino subsequently sent an email to the committee to uphold its conclusion, arguing that the rule was being misapplied.

“The president expressed great concern with that decision,” Maduro stated.

When asked about Infantino’s attitude, the reforms, and whether he believed that his stance on Mutko led to his removal, Maduro answered by saying that he “never talked” to FIFA’s president again, and told the MPs in attendance of how football’s governing body is “extremely resistant to independent scrutiny, transparency, and accountability.”

President Donald Trump criticized NFL players who lodge protests during the pregame national anthem, saying Friday night that he wished those players would be released and encouraging fans who are offended to walk out of stadiums.

Speaking at a political rally in Huntsville, Alabama, Trump said: “Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, ‘Get that son of a b—- off the field right now. Out. He’s fired! He’s fired!”

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  Striking an amicable but businesslike tone while saying there was no bigger platform from which to achieve their ends than the NFL, the players on an August memo seeking a push from the league into social activism expounded on their intentions Thursday.