Apart from the match itself, last night’s most anticipated action in Madrid was I̶m̶a̶g̶i̶n̶e̶ ̶D̶r̶a̶g̶o̶n̶s̶ ̶w̶a̶i̶l̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶o̶n̶ ̶s̶o̶m̶e̶ ̶d̶r̶u̶m̶s̶ taking place inside the beIN Sports studio at the Wanda Metropolitano, where longtime Premier League rivals José Mourinho and Arsène Wenger sat side-by-side for pregame, halftime and post-game analysis of the 2019 UEFA Champions League Final.
It’s here: the 64th edition of the European Cup (and the 27th since it was rebranded the Champions League). It’s an all-English affair pitting Liverpool, a five-time winner, against Tottenham, making a first-ever final appearance. Here’s what you need to know about the match in Madrid, including Champions League final TV USA information, streaming options, team previews, injuries and predicted starting lineups.
Tottenham Hotspur vs. Liverpool FC
When Tottenham and Liverpool take to the pitch on June 1 for the 2019 UEFA Champions League Final, Spurs (the designated home team) will do so wearing their historic “Lilywhites” while Liverpool will be outfitted in iconic red. However, more eagle-eyed observers will notice one distinctly different kit on the pitch: that of the referees.
Slovenian ref Damir Skomina and his assistants, Jure Praprotnik and Robert Vukan, will wear the new threads after UEFA agreed to a deal with Italian sportswear company Macron to provide referee uniforms for all UEFA competitions until 2022.
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.
Manchester City is facing a ban from the Champions League, according to a report this week from the New York Times. Now, Man City is setting itself up to use that report to get out of such a ban.
The New York Times reported UEFA officials will seek a one-year ban from the Champions League for the Premier League-winning club for misleading UEFA’s financial regulators, citing people with knowledge of the case. A ruling could be made within the week.
With Mohamed Salah ruled out of Tuesday’s Liverpool-Barcelona Champions League semifinal second leg with a concussion, maybe Jordi Alba thought he was in for a beautiful stroll across the lovely confines of Anfield. Maybe, looking across at replacement Xherdan Shaqiri, he thought, “Hell yeah, I might be marginally taller than this dude.”
Or perhaps he thought he’d simply feed it to Lionel Messi (as has been the case on three occasions in LaLiga and twice in the UCL this season) and let him do the rest.
Ah, the Champions League. A bastion of European Football and a staple of any footy fan’s season. There’s certainly a lot to love about the competition: goals, matchups, drama and more — but mostly the goals. Something characteristic of European competitions, both the Champions League and the Europa League, is the scoring. The away goals rule is important because it prevents tie-breakers and can change the mentality of how teams play. Here’s how Champions League scoring works.
Euro 2020 will be an historic tournament. With 12 cities in 12 countries hosting matches, the 60th anniversary event will be a romantic show of how football brings the world together.
When it comes to bringing the world together, the only thing that might compare to soccer is Game of Thrones. The HBO show, which debuts the final season on Sunday, brings fans of beheading, incest and dragons together to borrow their parents’ HBO passwords like nothing else in the world.
The UEFA Women’s Champions League quarterfinal second legs were held across Europe today, and the field has now been trimmed to four after some truly captivating matches between the continent’s biggest clubs.
After defeating Norwegian side LSK Kvinner 3-0 in the first leg, Barcelona took care of business in Lillestrøm by opening the scoring in the seventh minute to doom any hopes of a Kvinner comeback. Barca has advanced to the semis in two of the last three seasons, but the club has never made it to the final.