While the old format never produced a same-nation final, this will be the seventh since 2000, as England steps into the void left by Spain. But there is no point weeping over lost romanceRichard Scudamore retired too soon! No sooner had the Premier League’s executive chairman picked up his parachute payment and left the building than his most famous daft idea became reality. The 39th game, the extra helping of Premier League razzle dazzle featuring two top-flight sides facing off in some far-flung location for prestige and promotional purposes, is actually happening next Wednesday in Baku, except people will insist on calling it the Europa League final. Three days later the same thing will happen again in Madrid. Even Scudamore...
Psychological momentum helped Spurs and Liverpool reach the Champions League final, even if they did not realise itWhatever you think about José Mourinho, most would agree he knows a thing or two about football. Surveying the two epic semi-final second legs of the Champions League, he came to two very different conclusions about Liverpool’s and Tottenham’s unlikely victories. Related: European finalists deliver a very English great football moment forged overseas | Barney Ronay Twitter: follow us at @guardian_sport Related: Lucas Moura: from São Paulo prodigy and PSG outcast to Tottenham hero | David Hytner Related: ‘The joy is tainted’: Liverpool and Tottenham fans face high price for success Related: Football fans, how are you travelling to the European finals? Continue...
They may be foreign-owned corporations featuring few homegrown players but we should celebrate English club successes built on the blurring, not the building, of bordersNous sommes les meilleurs! Wir sind die Besten! We are the cosmopolitan, financially skewed, managerial-outsourcing champions!It turns out the English aren’t coming. Look out of the window. We’re already here, in Madrid and Baku, Porto and Amsterdam, complaining about the milk, circling the cafe chairs, standing arms-spread on the hotel bar, simultaneously drunk on English exceptionalism and also deeply mistrustful of the phrase “English exceptionalism” because it contains a lot of syllables. Related: How English football rules Europe (with a little help from foreigners) Related: Premier League: 10 things to look out for on the final...
Manchester City, Liverpool and Spurs provided three remarkable nights – and the Premier League climax is next upThis week, football has improvised the perfect movie script, full of fight, heart, desire, determination, tears of anguish, tears of joy, unsung heroes taking centre stage and the impossible becoming possible. This movie is a true story that ended with two English teams reaching the Champions League final, proving that maybe the Premier League is the best in the world after all.Now it goes into its final weekend with Manchester City one apparently inevitable win from the title while just behind them Liverpool, after Tuesday night’s miracle at Anfield, can make up for any domestic disappointment at the Champions League final in Madrid...
Ernesto Valverde’s team failed to deliver on Lionel Messi’s Champions League dream and the issues seem to run deepAt the end Leo Messi collapsed to the floor and for a time he just lay face down on the grass, until a teammate eventually came and lifted him to his feet. Exhausted, he was barely able to breathe. Barely able to believe it, either. When at last he walked, the noise deafening as he headed towards the touchline, he was still wondering how it could have slipped through their fingers like that.This is not Anfield, this is the Camp Nou six days earlier. Related: ‘Shame. There is no other adjective’ – Spanish press on Barcelona’s defeat Related: Lionel Messi broke down...