There will be a German team in this year’s Champions League final, and it is going to be Dortmund.
The romantics, myself included, were pondering the intrigue of the final returning to Wembley Stadium for an all-German showdown (Bayern Munich vs. Borussia Dortmund), reminiscent of 2013. We witnessed half of that scenario on Tuesday when Dortmund triumphed in Paris. We came tantalizingly close to completing the set on Wednesday when Bayern seemed poised for success in Madrid until a late collapse.

THE SAVES WE MADE THIS WEEK

Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid will be playing in the UEFA Champions League final. Atalanta and Bayer Leverkusen will contest the UEFA Europa League final, while Fiorentina and Olympiacos will compete in the UEFA Conference League final.

May 22, 2024: 🇮🇹 Atalanta vs. 🇩🇪 Bayer Leverkusen (UEFA Europa League final)
May 29, 2024: 🇬🇷 Olympiacos vs. 🇮🇹 Fiorentina (UEFA Conference League final)
June 1, 2024: 🇩🇪 Borussia Dortmund vs. 🇪🇸 Real Madrid (UEFA Champions League final)

Monday, May 6, 2024

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Graeme Souness turns 71, 🇧🇷 Dani Alves turns 41, 🇧🇪 Dries Mertens turns 37, 🇭🇷 Mateo Kovačić turns 30

🇮🇹 Udinese ( 1 ) – ( 1 ) Napoli (italian serie a) –
Napoli conceded a late goal (90+2’) and missed out on a win, marking four straight games in the league without a victory. It is a valuable point for Udinese in their fight against relegation.

🇫🇷 Lille ( 3 ) – ( 4 ) Lyon (french ligue 1) –
Lille failed to secure the points needed to advance to third place, while Lyon edges closer to sixth place. The final 10+ minutes saw plenty of twists and turns, with four goals scored, predominantly by Lyon, enabling them to clinch a win despite trailing by two goals at the start of the second half against Lille.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Crystal Palace ( 4 ) – ( 0 ) Manchester United (english premier league) –
Michael Olise opened the scoring in each half as Crystal Palace convincingly dismantled Manchester United. As it stands, Manchester United are not in a position to qualify for next season’s continental cup football competitions.

Tuesday, May 7, 2024

🇩🇰 Henrik Andersen turns 59 🇧🇪 Youri Tielemans turns 27, 🇪🇸 Dani Olmo turns 26, 🇳🇱 Cody Gakpo turns 25.

🇫🇷 Paris Saint-Germain ( 0 ) – ( 1 ) 🇩🇪 Borussia Dortmund \ champions league – semifinal second leg
Borussia Dortmund traveled to Paris and replicated the score from the first leg. Mats Hummels had an outstanding night defensively, ultimately heading the only goal of the game into the net in the 50th minute, securing Borussia Dortmund a ‘2-0 aggregate victory over Paris Saint-Germain.

Wednesday, May 8, 2024

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Jack Charlton would’ve been 89, 🇮🇹 Franco Baresi turns 64, 🇧🇷 Cláudio Taffarel turns 58, 🇪🇸 Luis Enrique turns 54, 🇺🇸 Brad Friedel turns 53, 🇧🇷 Lúcio turns 46, 🇮🇹 Andrea Barzagli turns 43

🇪🇸 Real Madrid ( 2 ) – ( 1 ) 🇩🇪 Bayern Munich \ champions league – semifinal second leg
Just as they’ve often done in the past, particularly in recent history, Real Madrid found a way to win a Champions League game. They appeared to be down and out when Alphonso Davies opened the scoring in the 68th minute, giving Bayern a 1-0 lead in the game and a 3-2 lead in the tie. It seemed the Germans were set to depart Madrid with a victory until Joselu, who had come on in the 81st minute, pounced on a spilled shot from Manuel Neuer to level the score for Real Madrid in the 88th minute. Within about three minutes, Joselu redirected another ball into the net, granting Real Madrid a 2-1 win in the first minute of added time. Although about 15 minutes of added time were played, that concluded the scoring. Real Madrid advanced to another Champions League final in pursuit of a record 15th title.

🇧🇪 Club Brugge ( 1 ) – ( 1 ) 🇮🇹 Fiorentina \ conference league – semifinal second leg
In the first leg, Fiorentina secured a late win against Club Brugge, taking a slender lead with a 3-2 victory in Brugge. They then scored a late equalizer in Brugge to advance to the Conference League final. Lucas Beltran converted a penalty into a goal in the 85th minute, securing Fiorentina the decisive goal of the tie. With a 4-3 aggregate victory over Club Brugge, Fiorentina advanced to the Conference League final.

Thursday, May 9, 2024

🇩🇪 Jupp Heynckes turns 79.

🇬🇷 Olympiacos ( 2 ) – ( 0 ) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Aston Villa \ conference league – semifinal second leg
Aston Villa will need to overcome a two-goal deficit in Piraeus against an Olympiacos side that impressed in the first leg. However, instead, Aston Villa conceded two more goals. Ayoub El Kaabi, who scored three goals in the first leg, netted both goals in the second leg to see Olympiacos advance to the Conference League final with a 6-2 aggregate win over Aston Villa.

🇮🇹 Atalanta ( 3 ) – ( 0 ) 🇫🇷 Marseille \ europa league – semifinal second leg
Atalanta decided the game in Bergamo after a 1-all draw in Marseille. A 3-0 win over Olympique Marseille sent Atalanta to the Europa League final.

🇩🇪 Bayer Leverkusen ( 2 ) – ( 2 ) 🇮🇹 Roma \ europa league – semifinal second leg
Leandro Paredes scored twice from the penalty spot as Roma overcame a two-goal deficit in Leverkusen against a Bayer Leverkusen side that doesn’t know how to lose. An own goal from Gianluca Mancini halved the score in the 82nd minute to give Leverkusen the winning goal of the tie, and Josip Stanisic, who entered the game in the 90th minute, scored the equalizing goal of the game seven minutes later to secure Bayer Leverkusen a 2-2 draw at home, winning the tie 4-2 on aggregate. Bayer Leverkusen preserves its unbeaten run.