CUP FUTBOL
The football coming our way this week …
FIXTURES TO TRACK
We’re gearing up for the summer.
The season is completed in five of the seven top leagues, and the two remaining leagues come to an end this weekend. The Spanish La Liga season concludes on Saturday, while the Italian Serie A concludes on Sunday.
The Europa League final will take place on Wednesday, and the Turkish Cup final will follow on Thursday. The English FA Cup final, the German Cup final, and the French Cup final are all scheduled for Saturday, with the Portuguese Cup final set for Sunday.
📅 Wednesday, May 22, 2024
🇪🇺 🇮🇹 Atalanta vs. 🇩🇪 Bayer Leverkusen (europa league final)
📅 Thursday, May 23, 2024
🇹🇷 Besiktas vs. Trabzonspor (turkish cup final)
📅 Saturday, May 25, 2024
🏴 Manchester City vs. Manchester United (fa cup final)
🇩🇪 Kaiserslautern vs. Bayer Leverkusen (dfb-pokal final)
🇫🇷 Lyon vs. Paris Saint-Germain (coupe de france final)
📅 Sunday, May 26, 2024
🇵🇹 Porto vs. Sporting CP (taca de portugal final)
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📅 Wednesday, May 22, 2024
🇬🇧 George Best would’ve been 78, 🇵🇾 Rolando Chilavert turns 63, 🇳🇬 Garba Lawal turns 50.🇨🇱 Arturo Vidal turns 37.
🇪🇺 Europa League Final – 🇮🇹 Atalanta vs. 🇩🇪 Bayer Leverkusen
Atalanta’s history in continental football is a recent one, and they’ve had some spectacular runs despite that. For a club with a Coppa Italia won in 1963 being their most prestigious trophy to date, a Europa League title would be historic for Atalanta.
Bayer Leverkusen is presented with the opportunity to win the title for the second time. Their last and only title success in this competition was in 1988, when they won a two-legged final through a penalty shootout after recovering at home in the second leg from a 3-0 first-leg deficit against Espanyol in Barcelona, evening the score at 3-3 on aggregate.
Both teams made it to their domestic cup finals this season. Atalanta lost the Coppa Italia final to Juventus, while Bayer Leverkusen will play Kaiserslautern in the DFB-Pokal final after this fixture.
Bayer Leverkusen became the German Bundesliga champions for the first time this season, while also becoming the first team in the history of the league to go a full season unbeaten. Additionally, Bayer Leverkusen is unbeaten in every competition this season. They have the Europa League final and the upcoming DFB-Pokal final to close out the 2023/24 football season unbeaten.
📅 Thursday, May 23, 2024
🇮🇹 Daniele Massaro turns 63, 🇧🇷 Ricardinho turns 48, 🇸🇲 Andy Selva turns 48, 🇵🇹 Hugo Almeida turns 40.
🇹🇷 Turkish Cup final – Besiktas vs. Trabzonspor.
Galatasaray (18), Besiktas (10), Trabzonspor (9).
The next two most successful clubs in the Turkish Cup will meet for this year’s final. Trabzonspor is looking to hit the double-digit mark with their titles, while Besiktas wants to widen the title count between the two sides to two. Trabzonspor’s last title was in 2020, while Besiktas picked up their last title in 2021.
📅 Saturday, May 25, 2024
🇮🇹 Gaetano Scirea would’ve been 71, 🇦🇷 Daniel Passarella turns 71, 🇺🇲 Carlos Bocanegra turns 45.
🏴 FA Cup final: Manchester City vs. Manchester United
Just as it was last season, we have a Manchester derby for the FA Cup final. Manchester City will be looking for the same outcome to retain the crown, while Manchester United will hope to amend the result from last year. Not much has changed in terms of expectations and odds. If there are any changes, expectations have arguably dipped for Manchester United to get something out of this tie.
With that said, Manchester United is looking for their 13th FA Cup title, while Manchester City is aiming for their 8th.
🇩🇪 DFB-Pokal: Kaiserslautern vs. Bayer Leverkusen:
Kaiserslautern are two-time winners of the German Cup, with their latest title coming in 1996, while Leverkusen have won it once, in 1993. With that said, the two teams are in different divisions in the German league, and while Leverkusen comfortably won the league title in the first division, Kaiserslautern wasn’t far off the relegation zone in the second division. Leverkusen goes into this game as the heavy favorite to win.
🇫🇷 Coupe de France: Lyon vs. Paris Saint-Germain:
Paris Saint-Germain are aiming for their first Coupe de France title since 2021 to extend their record in the competition to 15 titles. They face a Lyon side that hasn’t won the cup since 2012. It will be Lyon’s 6th title if they manage to win.
📅 Sunday, May 26, 2024
🏴 Sir Matt Busby would’ve been 115, 🇮🇹 Luca Toni turns 47, 🇨🇴 Juan Cuadrado turns 36.
🇵🇹 Taca de Portugal: Porto vs. Sporting CP
Porto is looking to make it three Taça de Portugal title wins in a row by beating Sporting CP. Interestingly, Sporting CP’s last title was against Porto, won through a penalty shootout after a 2-2 draw.
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