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Champions League

Lots of new Champions League history being written earlier this morning or evening in Munich with Paris Saint Germain too good over Inter Milan 5-0.

If you’re a PSG fan, just can’t get enough of their free-flowing and expansive attacking play, particularly with their electrifying front three that includes two-goal star off the right Désiré Doué – did it all by himself at just under age 20 and also homegrown via the academy wow!

He’s not the only one setting himself up towards those world-class heights, there’s Senny Mayulu down in the centre of midfield and he too scored the 5th and final goal not long after he came on-field.

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It’s just incredible that this is the PSG the fans love to see having moved on without now Real Madrid striker Kylian Mbappe.

Credit to coach Luis Enrique on making the balance right in both young talent and tactics which comes with benefits of playing good football. Lovely tribute by the fans of him inserting that flag with his late 9-year-old daughter Xana who sadly passed away back in 2019 when he has done that once before with Barcelona.

She may no longer be with us after she lost her battle with cancer but Luis owes that gratitude to both family and the football world where he continues to win more like he did as a player and he’s done it once again here & there as a coach.

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Now PSG will be the team to beat going into next season as first-time Champions League title winners with a star on their crest. Gotta have faith with the right group of mid to late 20s players at their strongest with their peak and youth stars of tomorrow which is their today to shine.

Other than that, not Inter’s night to see out with not many chances to try and sink in goals at least within the box. 

Also, their defensive five were completely torn into shreds left, right & centre.

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All Inter came up with was simply little to no strategy to make PSG’s superior front three look isolated and difficult to grasp while funnelling back counter-attacks.

Nope, just hit and misses, poor use of selections plus tactics where some could’ve done better than the 11 on the field like forward Marko Arnautovic who didn’t even get a minute, and terrible defense that made GK Yann Sommer look utter tired after unable to stop five goals.

If Inter come back next time, then great good for them but better to be flexible in case things go wrong before it’s too late.

After around nine months of the new-look CL as well as Europa and Conference Cup competitions, the season is finally over alongside two Premier League clubs winning the rest like Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham Europa triumph 10 days ago over Man Utd & Chelsea with the whole sweep of UEFA club trophies v Real Betis.

We’ll wait and see if Ange will stay on in spite of Tottenham finishing 17th in the PL but if so, he could always win another trophy going into his third season as well as another journey of European nights – even if it’s a long shot with the Super Cup around the corner v PSG in mid-August.

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Here’s some quickfire sports items this week:

1️⃣ Moana Pasifika and Hurricanes take wins that kept their Top 6 alive with Reds unlucky to Drua and Waratahs lose again away where they were so out of depth v Brumbies after half-time – they better pull those strings tomorrow v the Reds again.

2️⃣ Top weekend from NSW Netball – Giants finally crush champs Adelaide Thunderbirds by one goal (64-63) while Swifts still so unbeatable v Firebirds. 

3️⃣ Lots of recognised NZers at the second from Grace Nweke to Kiri Wills along with Silver Ferns coach Dame Noeline Taurua & the ANZ Premiership is back this weekend.

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4️⃣ NRL now officially welcomes back the Bears as a WA team. Fun fact: Reds & future Wallabies coach Les Kiss used to play there back in his day.

5️⃣ More Football in the form of soccer, Leeds won the Championship at the last minute while Arsenal won’t be in the CL Final with PSG v Inter – and now we’ll see if Tottenham along with Man Utd will be up for the Europa Cup 2nd leg semi tomorrow.

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What a way to finish off the UEFA European club season at London’s iconic Wembley Stadium earlier this morning (our time) where Borussia Dortmund came back in the main event picture for the first time back in 2013 v the multi-championship winning Spanish giants Real Madrid. The first half was 0-0 with Dortmund leading the way up front where they had a couple of chances but couldn’t get away with a goal that gave Real a sigh of relief. The tug-o-war continued a bit longer going into the 2nd half before Real’s turnaround with the ball led to a series of advantages and that’s where they eventually cashed in two goals in return en route to full-time. One comes from a brilliant header by Dani Carvajal via a corner in the 73rd minute, while Jude Bellingham found the intercept off Ian Maatsen for Carlos Vinicius Jr. to process the finishing touches with the 2nd goal.  

Hard luck from Dortmund to fall short once again having made the best past of their first half performance with a really good threat to try & scare off Real Madrid up front. Unfortunately, they just couldn’t get themselves through the net with a couple of hit and misses here and there – including one that hit the crossbar before it deflects away from the in-goal. What they’ve done despite finishing 5th in the Bundesliga is that they’ve come from a long, long way to get they want to be as sure they will hopefully win back the league that would mean another good Champions League run next season. You got to credit the strong German teams performance across Europe that grants them an extra CL spot on top of the usual four at the best level.

Then congratulations to Real Madrid on their Champions League triumph for the 15th time including yet another major silverware being delivered by the head coach Carlo Ancelotti, which is his 2nd at the Bernabeu having last won it back in late May 2022 v Liverpool 1-0 at Stade De France in Paris, France. They’ve put in a excellent defensive display including a huge effort from the goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois following a really tough last 12 months when he was out for the majority due to an ACL knee injury before getting back out there a few weeks ago & to produce a world-class beater was incredible. Then Real was so fortunate enough to turn things around after half-time that gave them the upper hand – such as the dominant possession & winning penalties/corners/free-kicks that exposed the opposition’s poor defense in the end with the win.

The UEFA Euro 2024 tournament is not far away that will begin in two weeks time across Germany and then we will return later this year on top of the UEFA Super Cup between the best of the European champs (Atalanta from the Europa League v Champions League triumphs Real Madrid) with an expanded but new look Champions League that also applies with the Europa League and Conference League. Gonna be a brilliant few months ahead including the Olympics in Paris as well.

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By Haider Manzar

Preview: Yesterday, May 28, the Champions League final was played between the Royal Whites of Spain and The Reds of England. This was the ninth meeting between these two teams in the UEFA Champions League and the previous competition European Cup.

Liverpool was not able to get any win against Real Madrid in their last five matches (D1 L4). This was also the third time these two European Giants were facing each other in the final of UCL (1st in 1981, 2nd in 2018).

Liverpool, after days of speculation, started Konate and Thiago. Diaz joined Salah and Mane on the front. Meanwhile, Real Madrid had 5 players from the lineup that won the 2018 UCL final.

The match was also delayed by 30 minutes due to a drama that happened outside the stadium as the fans climbed the gates and entered the stadium without tickets. The pepper spray was also sprayed on the fans which resulted in quite a drama before the final.

1st Half: The first half started and as expected from the Klopp boys, they started well. They did everything to get the lead in the early minutes. At minute 16, Salah’s shot was blocked by Belgium wall Courtois, who has been phenomenal for Real Madrid this season. 5 minutes later, another attempt by Mane was saved by Courtois.

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The match kept going on at an incredible pace and just before the end of the first half, Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema scored after a mix-up by Liverpool defenders but to their great luck, the goal was ruled offside by VAR. The first half ended with Liverpool being the dominant side but the result was still 0-0.

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2nd Half: The second half started and Salah was again leading the attack but his shot at the 58th minute was again denied by Madrid’s keeper. After the rebound, the second shot was blocked by Alaba’s hand but the penalty wasn’t awarded as it was unintentional and his hand couldn’t be moved away. At minute 59, the ever-hungry young gun of Real Madrid – Vinicius Jr scored the goal and gave Real Madrid the lead.

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Liverpool didn’t let themselves down and their attack kept attacking at Real Madrid’s goal but what a guy Courtois is. After this Salah was again denied by Courtois two times. He blocked 9 shots from Liverpool’s attack and kept the clean sheet till the end of the match.

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Result: Real Madrid won their record 14 UEFA Champions League, twice more than any other team in the competition. Real Madrid did it again just 3 years after they did the 3-peat UCL. Liverpool did everything in their power but the Klopp boys were not able to get the prestigious trophy. The main credit goes to Courtois because he was the man that kept Real Madrid in this final fully alive till the end. Real Madrid are the CHAMPIONS of Europe!

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