⚽️The Champions League Final (Feat. CLIVE TYLDESLEY)
⚽️The Champions League Final (Feat. CLIVE TYLDESLEY)
Borussia Dortmund vs. Real Madrid in the big one.
It’s the biggest match in club football, the capstone to a competition that represents the highest technical and tactical level of any tournament—and that includes the World Cup or this summer’s European Championships. The UEFA Champions League final scarcely requires an introduction, and neither does our guest this week, CLIVE TYLDESLEY.
The first FIFA game I ever had was the ‘06 edition, and Clive was the commentator when I’d pirouette with Bergkamp or curl one with Del Piero. But more importantly, he’s voiced 30 years of European Cups and Champions League finals, bearing witness to Manchester United’s treble triumph in 1999, Zinedine Zidane’s devastatingly graceful volley to defeat Bayer Leverkusen in 2002, and Barcelona’s world-conquering display in 2011 under a young coach named Pep Guardiola.
He’ll be calling this year’s final between BORUSSIA DORTMUND and REAL MADRID for CBS and Paramount+ here in the States, but first Clive joined The Football Weekend to preview the match and look back on some massive moments in his storied career:
You can also check out the show on Apple Podcasts, Audible, Amazon, and Acast.
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SATURDAY
THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL
3pm ET, 8pm GMT
It’s Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid in the biggest match club football has to offer. Get the full preview above!
GOAT WATCH
7:30pm ET, 12:30am GMT
We are approaching the football dead zone ahead of the EUROs and Copa América, so you’ve got to take your thrills where you can get ‘em. Here’s hoping Lionel Messi features for Inter Miami against St. Louis City before he (and Luis Suárez) head off to prepare for Copa América.
SUNDAY
ATALANTA vs FIORENTINA
12pm ET, 5pm GMT
The Serie A season is over, and yet there’s Serie A. Both these clubs played European finals in the last week—Atalanta bashed Bayer Leverkusen in a shocking end to the German champions’ unbeaten run, while Fiorentina fell to Olympiacos in the Conference League—which forced the league to schedule this one for after the league was done. It has the potential to be a seriously bizarre atmosphere, something not unlike a summer friendly, though Atalanta still have the chance to leapfrog Juventus into third place.
SERIE B PLAYOFF FINAL
2:30pm ET, 7:30pm GMT
I may or may not have listed Venezia-Palermo last week as the final. In fact, it was the semi, and voguish Venezia earned a place in the actual final with a 3-1 aggregate victory. Now they face Cremonese, the club from a tiny town near Piacenza in Lombardy who were relegated from Serie A last season. With a win here, they can bounce back up 12 months later. The first leg ended 0-0, and this is the second. For Venezia, it would be their first season in the top flight since 2022, when they earned promotion by winning a playoff final.⚽︎