The opening stages of the Europa League final at the Olympic Stadium in Baku, Azerbaijan, weren’t enough to save the match from the derision that’s threatened to overwhelm the occasion since Arsenal and Chelsea were confirmed finalists.
Jose Mourinho and Arsene Wenger, once longtime rivals, have now become fellow pundits. Mourinho has recently taken to television for beIN Sports after being released by Manchester United, and Arsene Wenger has done the same after finishing his long career with Arsenal. Their story as rivals with Chelsea and Arsenal, respectively, have been very popular among the media and fans.
Arsenal announced his official decision on Tuesday, and Gooners everywhere are cursing UEFA for it.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan will not travel to Baku, Azerbaijan, for the Europa League final against Chelsea because his safety cannot be guaranteed by UEFA or Azerbaijan.
It’s been an historic season for the English Premier League.
After an exhilarating title race won by Manchester City just ahead of Liverpool, the league will make up all four participants in the two major European finals: the Champions League and Europa League.
Liverpool faces Tottenham in the Champions League final in Madrid on June 1 after both teams pulled off insane comebacks in the semifinals against Barcelona and Ajax, respectively. The Europa League final is between Arsenal and Chelsea on May 29 in Baku, Azerbaijan.
It was a fascinating English Premier League season. The title race between Liverpool and Manchester City went all the way to "Championship Sunday." Both were incredibly talented sides who had incredible seasons. But automatic qualification for a Champions League spot by finishing in the top four was more of a story of teams dropping points than collecting them.
Everyone knows the famous boxing photograph of a victorious Muhammad Ali towering over the vanquished Sonny Liston. It’s an image that screams pride, power and the futility of attempting to fight the sport’s GOAT. During today’s Europa League semifinal second leg between Chelsea and Eintracht Frankfurt, we got a recreation of that famous moment, except Ali was substituted for Kepa Arrizabalaga (who refuses to be substituted himself) and Liston for a soccer ball.
The stumble for fourth place in the Premier League continued apace today with Arsenal getting thrashed 3-0 by Leicester City before Manchester United and Chelsea settled for a share of the spoils at Old Trafford following a 1-1 draw.
Coming into the match on the back of three straight defeats, United started strongly with both Romelu Lukaku and Marcus Rashford looking extremely sharp in attack. The Red Devils’ deserved opener arrived in the 11th minute with the aforementioned Lukaku playing a big role.