Liverpool and Spurs rely on the role to wreak havoc in attack and Saturday’s game will show how the position has evolvedIt is quarter of a century since Jack Charlton observed after the 1994 World Cup that full-back had become tactically the most important position in football, and with each passing year his words have come to seem increasingly true. It is entirely possible – likely, even – that Saturday’s Champions League final could be decided by the performance of the respective pairs of full-backs, something that would have seemed absurd even a couple of decades ago. Related: Why I gave away my Champions League final ticket to watch it with dad | Max Rushden Related: Sadio Mané happy at...
I will be in Madrid on the morning of Spurs v Liverpool but will see the all-English European Cup final at home on my sofaOn Saturday I will wake up in Madrid. A few hours later when Spurs walk out to play Liverpool in the Champions League final in the Spanish capital, I will be in my living room watching the game on TV, possibly the only football fan getting on a plane back to England from Spain that day.I’ve had a ticket for months – not deserved, it’s who you know – but I don’t need to be there. I need to watch Tottenham’s first ever European Cup final with my dad. Related: ‘You wake at 4am’: Son Heung-min...
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...