The Champions League Final!
Rob Green stops by The Football Weekend before calling INTER vs PSG for CBS and Paramount+ on Saturday.
IN THIS ISSUE:
PSG vs INTER / SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION / WATCH THE FINAL WITH DAVID BECKHAM AND … TOM CRUISE? / AN EVEN BIGGER FINAL, KIND OF / WATCH PARTY GEAR
The Champions League final is upon us, the thrilling crescendo of the club football season. With no major tournament on the horizon this summer — and no, the Club World Cup does not count — this is the last big match for a while. There’s an announcement along those lines towards the end of this week’s show, but more importantly, we’ve got Rob Green on.
The former England national team goalkeeper will call this game for CBS and Paramount+ at 3pm ET on Saturday alongside Clive Tyldesley, who was kind enough to join us before last year’s edition of this marquee fixture. Now Rob stops by to trace how INTER MILAN got here having survived a spectacular FC Barcelona side in the semifinal and major disappointments on multiple fronts as the club chased a treble. Then there’s PSG, the club reborn as a young and hungry force of nature.
And of course, we get Mr. Green’s thoughts on the two unbelievable goalkeepers on show here in what could be a major moment for his tribe:
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Or check it out on APPLE PODCASTS🍎
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LONG READS
⚽︎ In the interest of tooting our own horn, we’ve got the latest edition of our CATHEDRALS series up this week on Bologna’s Stadio Renato Dall’Ara. There are so many layers to this one, and it’s a far different tale from its predecessors that tackled Anfield and Goodison Park.
⚽︎ Barney Ronay weighs in for The Guardian on Saturday’s showpiece, exploring how PSG’s Qatari owners could accomplish their ultimate goal with a team that people actually like.
⚽︎ And if you’re one for the tactical side, Michael Cox digs into the Champions League final Xs and Os for The Athletic.
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MORE MATCHES
GALATASARAY vs ISTANBUL BASAKSEHIR
Fri @ 1pm ET, 6pm UK
There’s not a whole lot riding on this one for Galatasaray, who wrapped up the league title a week ago, but this is a derby in Türkiye’s capital city of Istanbul and Başakşehir need the points to seal up a European place. Plus, it’s a face-off between the league’s two top scorers: Victor Osimhen for Gala, who’s on 25, and Krzysztof Piątek for the visitors, who’s on 21.
UCL FINAL WITH BECKHAM
Sat @ 3pm ET, 8pm UK
If you’re looking for an alternate Champions League final experience, David Beckham’s hosting a watch party with…Tom Cruise?
INTER MIAMI vs COLUMBUS CREW
Sat @ 7:30pm ET, 12:30am UK
This feels like the dog days of summer already, but why not see if Lionel Messi trots out there for Miami against a team two points clear of them in the MLS Eastern Conference?
OLDHAM ATHLETIC vs SOUTHEND UNITED
Sun @ 10am ET, 3pm UK
Here we go, the good stuff. Forget all that business the day before, that’s small potatoes. This is the National League playoff final, and the winner gets a ticket to League Two next season. That’ll put one of these teams on the Wrexham path, except they don’t have Hollywood money and a TV show. What they do have is history: Oldham were founded in 1895, Southend in 1906, and the latter also have a phenomenal nickname: The Shrimpers!
SPEZIA vs CREMONESE
Sun @ 2:30pm ET, 7:30pm UK
Here’s another promotion playoff, this time for a place in Serie A. Cremonese lost this fixture in a heartbreaker last May, a 1-0 defeat to Venezia across two legs, and they’ll hope to exorcise those demons here. The similarities are eerie, though, as the first leg in this tie also finished 0-0 despite Cremonese’s domination of the ball. They had 69% possession and 449 passes to Spezia’s 203, though of their 13 shots, only one was on target. Spezia had just one shot total, but it’s honors even going back to their home ground, the Stadio Alberto Pico.
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GEAR
👕 Look, not everybody has $319 laying around for a football kit, but this Wesley Sneijder Inter away from 2011-12 is just insane. Don’t sleep on the home shirts that year, either, and Classic Football Shirts has Diego Milito for those as well.
👕 While we’re at it with the finalists, can you do better than a Jay-Jay Okocha at PSG? You cannot, though this one will also run you $319. What’s the price of looking good at the watch party, though?⚽︎