Champions Once More 🏆 FA Cup & Europa League Finals Ahead

Arsenal put up a good fight again but City made history by winning their fourth Premier League title in a row.

Hey there MVP,

What can you say about Man City and their ringmaster Pep Guardiola? Conspiracy theorists are saying that the man has been so dominant in the Premier League that he’s been feeling unchallenged; so to motivate himself, he took the radical step of crafting a rival manager (Arteta) and then sold his unwanted/surplus players to him. The man is relentless. He’s been managing at the top level in his characteristically intense way since he took over the top job at Barcelona in 2008 and he’s still going strong! Just look at Klopp, the man got Mainz into the Bundesliga in 2004 and is now exhausted after a his 9-year stint at Liverpool. 

In other news,a decent number of Managers had their contracts terminated around the big European leagues. As well as Jurgen Klopp, David Moyes and Roberto De Zerbi are leaving their managerial roles at West Ham and Brighton respectively.

Today's game plan…

• Don’t Miss This Game 🎯

• This Week’s Shocker 🤬

• Around The World 🌍

• Games to Keep an Eye On 👀

• Goat Trivia 🐐 & Meme of the Week 😂

Man City vs Manchester United | Saturday | 15:00 IST

The stage is set for a thrilling FA Cup final between Manchester’s most famous teams. A Manchester derby at Wembley, with City eyeing a domestic league and cup double and United desperate for Europa League qualification.

City come into this on the back of a Premier League win and an afterparty that went on for days with plenty of alcohol imbibed. For United this as a crucial opportunity to secure a spot in the Europa League, making the stakes higher for Manchester United. If a hungover City team beat United badly on Saturday, is Erik Ten Hag out of a job?

Form & Team News

City are in formidable form, boasting a six-game winning streak across all competitions. Their relentless but smooth performances have shown the familiar resilience and experience that this City team possesses. Manchester are clear favourites to win, with a predicted win coming in at around 67%. Some talk of both teams scoring, but the safe money is definitely on City in this one.

City will be without Ederson for the final, but Stefan Ortega will step in, having been a reliable alternative in previous cup and league games. Other players like Mateo Kovacic and Nathan Ake are strong contenders for a start, providing fresh legs and strategic options.

United's form has been mixed with two losses, two wins, and a draw in their last five games. They've shown both vulnerability and unpredictability, making their performance pretty irritating for both the fan and the neutral. 

United are relieved to have Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez back in training and contention, bolstering their defence considerably. Erik Ten Hag is also hopeful that Harry Maguire will be fit, while Anthony Martial is unlikely to make an appearance. 

In terms of the Head to Head, it is tilted very much in City's favour. City has emerged victorious in seven of their last nine meetings, underscoring their recent dominance. In the Premier League this season, City did the double over United, securing a comprehensive 3-0 win at Old Trafford and a 3-1 victory at the Etihad Stadium in March. Phil Foden has been outstanding toward the end of the season especially, and will be in contention to score or assist. Interestingly, United still holds the upper hand in the rivalry historically, with more total wins.

This Week’s Shocker…

It says something when the TV viewing figures in the UK were a lot higher for Jürgen Klopp's farewell than they were for Man City's title celebrations…

On average, Jurgen Klopp drew a 70% higher TV audience than Man City celebrations on Sunday! To be fair to City, the Etihad was no-way-near empty on Sunday. The usual title winning party included plenty of city fans storming the pitch, as their own players boosted to the police’s protective curtain or down the tunnel. 

Around the world

🇸🇦 Ronaldo still leads the Golden Boot race in the Saudi Pro League

With one round of matches still to play, Cristiano Rolando looks set to win the Pro League Golden boot. Ronaldo has scored 29 goals for Al-Nassr so far and leads second-placed Aleksandar Mitrovich by 6 goals. 

🇪🇸 In La Liga, Real Madrid played out an 4-4 draw with Villareal 

Already crowned La Liga champions, Carlo Ancelloti’s Real Madrid played out a thrilling match against Villarreal that ended in a 4-4 draw.  

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Manchester City win the Premier league for a record 4th time in a row

Manchester City held their nerve, as they always do, and beat West Ham 3-1 at the Etiad to win their 4th consecutive Premier League title in a row. This season wasn;t without it’s difficulties with De Bruyne injured for a large part of the season and Rodri suspended for a difficult period of games. But in the end City did what they needed to do on the final stretch to be crowned ‘champions again’...  

🇩🇪 Bayer Leverkusen finally complete their unbeaten Bundesliga season

Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen set a new Bundesliga record by becoming the first side to go a full season unbeaten. Leverkusen now look ahead to the Europa League final against Atalanta on Wednesday.

Games to keep an eye on

Bayer Leverkusen vs Atalanta | Wednesday | 20:00 IST

Newcastle are trying to catch Spurs for that last Champions League place, whilst United are just trying to get to the end of the season and build some confidence before the FA Cup final on May 25th. 

Celtic vs Rangers | Saturday | 15:00 IST

Celtic are favourites to win the Scottish Cup final on Saturday, based on recent meetings, but it’s an Old Firm final so who knows. With the expected 50/50 split in ticket allocation between Celtic and Rangers and the weather looking good, the atmosphere at Hampden will be decent. 

Atalanta vs Torino | Sunday | 14:00 IST 

The battle for European competition places in Serie A is going down to the wire. Atalanta are in a battle for 5th with Roma, but lead by a significant goal difference. 

Juventus vs Monza | Sunday | 14:00 IST

The battle for Europe in Serie A as Juve tried to hold onto 4th place ahead of Atalanta. All in all a pretty disappointing showing from Juve this season.

Leeds vs Southampton  | Sunday | 15:00 IST

This is the Championship Playoff FInal. The winner will gain promotion to the Premier League, a prize that is worth approximately £135 million thanks to that sweet prem money.

GOAT Trivia

Say congrats to…

Iker Casillas (@IkerCasillas), the Galactico goalkeeper turned 43 on Monday 20th. 

On this day in football…

May 21st should probably always be remembered as the date that John Terry slipped on his a**e to miss his penalty in the 2008 Champions League final! 

United’s Edwin van der Sar, Ronaldo & co went on to win the Champions League for the 3rd time in the club’s history.

Goal of the week…

Our goal of the week is Mohammed Kudus’s ridiculous overhead kick vs City.

It turned out to be a consolation goal but this was a perfectly executed overhead kick from Kudus. He strikes the ball sweetly with his standing/jumping leg and it just flies past Ortega. Sensational technique.

Notable mention to Caicedo who scored this floater from 50+ yards for Chelsea on Sunday.

Meme of the week

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