This Weekend: Everything you need to know in 5 minutes
Welcome to our regular guide to what’s going on in world football across the weekend. This one is kind of a biggy, what with both of UEFA’s showpiece finals coming just 48 hours apart but as usual, there’s plenty going on elsewhere to get stuck into for the obsessional, or just plain inquisitive fans of the beautiful game.
? Friday Night
? This is the big one tonight, no doubt about it as Sevilla and Inter contest the 49th Europa League Final.
Famously, Sevilla are no strangers to this stage as five times winners of the competition, both under its former guise as the UEFA Cup and since the re-brand. They won three back-to-back between 2014 and 2016 so Antonio Conte’s side are facing some real pedigree.
? Elsewhere in top European competition, UEFA’s Women’s Champions League returns with the start of the quarter-finals.
The games are played in another mini-tournament setting, this time at the homes of Basque La Liga sides, Athletic Club and Real Sociedad. And today, Glasgow City face German champions, Wolfsburg whilst Spain’s two biggest sides go head-to-head – Atlético Madrid vs. Barcelona.
You should be able to watch both games via UEFA.com, or via official club channels.
? And in US football, there’s the beginnings of a new rivalry starting tonight as New Amsterdam FC, formed just this year and based in the Bronx go up against New York Cosmos, one of the more established names competing in the NISA League.
? Saturday
?? League football returns to French soil this weekend with the start of the 2020/21 Ligue 1 season. Bordeaux get proceedings underway tonight, but in tomorrow’s biggest game there’s a chance to see how Lille are shaping up when they play Rennes.
?? We like to call this one the big cat derby, but it’s not really a term that’s caught on to be honest. El Classico Universitario is the name more often given to tomorrow’s clash between Liga MX’s two biggest university sides – Tigres vs. Pumas.
?? It’s also Derby Day in the MLS where the league, now back in to the regular campaign after the recent one-off tournament in Florida throws up another edition of El Tráfico, LA Galaxy vs. LAFC.
It’s a game that usually guarantees goals so you can blame it on FotMob if this one turns out to be a damp squib.
? In one of those strange coincidences that football does so well, tomorrow also features a re-match, of sorts for fans of Lyon and Bayern München. This time, their respective sides meet in the quarter-finals of the Women’s Champions League.
? Sunday
? In case you’ve been living under a rock for the last few weeks, you’ll already know all about Sunday’s top game!
It is of course, the 65th Champions League Final – featuring for the very first time, French champions Paris Saint-Germain up against tournament stalwarts, Bayern München.
Bayern have been all-conquering so far in the competition, racking up 42 goals in the 10 games they’ve played, with Robert Lewandowski scoring at least once in each of them. But PSG have surprised a few teams along the way and with their attacking trio of Mbappé, Neymar and Di María restored to the starting line-up in this week’s semi-final against Leipzig, it’s far too soon to write them off.
?? If that wasn’t enough action for you on Sunday, there’s another derby in the MLS as Portland Timbers, recent winners of the league’s comeback tournament in Florida go up against old rivals Seattle Sounders, the current holders of the regular MLS Cup.
?? And lastly, the biggest game in Ecuadorian football takes place on Sunday night where Shipyard rivals, Barcelona and Emelec meet at the 52,000 capacity Estadio Monumental in Guayaquil, the country’s second city.
The atmosphere is usually electric at Barcelona so it will be a real shame to see the game take place behind closed doors.
If you want to follow any of the games mentioned above, click on the relevant link and tap the bell icon to receive all the key match updates.
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