Key events
Manchester United are playing a post-season friendly against Hong Kong at the Hong Kong Stadium today.
The football truly never does stop, does it? They lost 1-0 the other day to ASEAN All-Stars in Kuala Lumpur, by the way.
After a ‘welcome Trent’ tweet confirmed Real Madrid’s signing of the English right-back, they then went scouring his X history for something from 11 years ago.
Alexander-Arnold and Bellingham at the Club World Cup, then.
The capacity for Sunday’s National League playoff final has been increased to 50,000 following a lobby from Southend fans over their ticket allocation. The Shrimpers face Oldham at Wembley on Sunday, with the attendance initially capped at 40,000.
The size of both clubs, formerly EFL regulars, means the demand has been higher than initially expected, with a spokesperson for London mayor Sadiq Khan releasing a statement on the situation:
Both teams are former Football League clubs, but the ticket allocation was determined by the stadium and set at 40,000 before it was known which clubs would be competing.
Following negotiations with Wembley Stadium, Transport for London and the Metropolitan Police, Sadiq Khan and [Mayor of Greater Manchester] Andy Burnham have now confirmed that capacity has been increased to 50,000.
A fair few reports this morning are suggesting Bruno Fernandes could be on the move this summer.
Al Hilal have reportedly not given up trying to sign Fernandes from Manchester United, with the Portuguese set to consider a lucrative wage offer from the Saudi club, who could bid in excess of £100m for the United captain.
Should United cash in and invest the funds elsewhere? Their stance so far has been that Fernandes – their best player by far – is not for sale.
Liverpool allow Alexander-Arnold to join Real Madrid early
Liverpool have agreed to let Trent Alexander-Arnold join Real Madrid when the transfer window opens on Sunday in a deal that will be worth £10m to the Premier League champions. It should mean he can play in the upcoming Club World Cup.
Here’s the full story via Andy Hunter:
A live blog from the world of women’s friendlies for you, this morning:
Another pre-match read for you here, from a man who knows a thing or two about winning trophies at elite level, Philipp Lahm.
Managers Luis Enrique and Simone Inzaghi are yet to confirm team news for their sides, but PSG’s dilemma will be how to balance their front three in Munich. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia has been struggling with a slight knock but is still expected to start. For Enrique, it will be whether Bradley Barcola or Desire Doue start alongside the Georgian and Ousmane Dembele in the front three.
Inter have enjoyed some serious highs of their own en route to the final.
The whole semi-final tie versus Barcelona was insane but the second leg was particularly brilliant. Goals, goals, goals.
The road to Munich: and was this the best Champions League performance by any team that resulted in a defeat? How on earth PSG lost this to Liverpool I’m still unsure.
Transfer news time! (You didn’t think you were getting away without any transfer stories, did you?)
Liam Delap and Luis Díaz look like they could be on the move this summer.
PSG and Inter, of course, are no strangers to Champions League finals in recent years. Both have fallen at the final hurdle, with Inter beaten 1-0 by Manchester City in 2023 as Pep Guardiola’s side completed the treble. PSG lost out by the same scoreline in 2020 courtesy of a goal from their former player Kingsley Coman.
Incidentally, the last time a French team won the Champions League was way back in 1993 when Marseille beat … AC Milan.
This is a belting read by Barney Ronay. PSG’s Qatari owners finally have a team to be proud of, and winning the Champions League is the final piece in their puzzle. Is this their time?
The atmosphere is already building in Munich ahead of tomorrow night’s final. It’s not too far for fans of PSG and Inter to travel, so expect a strong contingent from both clubs in the city.
The Champions Festival is always worth catching before these events. Uefa can put on a party, to be fair to them.
The Guardian Football Weekly Champions League final pod has dropped. Get your ears around it.
Before we get to the Champions League final, there’s a whole heap of Women’s Nations League action tonight, including England v Portugal at Wembley with the Lionesses in need of a win to keep alive any lingering hopes of toping Group 3A – which is currently topped by Spain. They are away to Belgium this evening.
Before the game Tom Garry caught up with England’s Esme Morgan, who has been in sparkling form over in the USA for Washington Spirit.
Preamble
Good morning. All roads lead to Munich this weekend, with tomorrow night’s Champions League final between Paris Saint-Germain and Internazionale bringing the curtain down on another thrilling domestic club season. It’s not the final many predicted – Real Madrid, Manchester City, Liverpool and others have fallen by the wayside – but it pits two of the more interesting and dynamic teams in Europe against each other in a perfectly-balanced final. PSG’s speed and swagger against Inter’s intelligence and intensity.
We’ll hear from both camps today, run through the latest team news, remind you of the two clubs’ history and runs to the final, as well as bringing you some analysis and previews from our team of expert writers. Can the perennial French champions lift Ol’ Big Ears for the first time in their history? Or will the Nerazzurri claim the trophy for the first time since 2010, José Mourinho and all that?
We can hardly wait. Let’s get stuck into then it shall we?
