Key events
Paul Roche gets in touch: “Ah Jaysus, as a Irishman, by default, you naturally have a soft spot for Glasgow Celtic, but Amelia Hogg’s dad has made my mind up for today. Come on Hearts!”
It’s happening …
Alvaro Arbeloa would be pleased if Jose Mourinho replaces him as Real Madrid coach and leads the club next season.
The Portuguese who led Madrid between 2010 and 2013 has been heavily linked with a return to the Santiago Bernabeu bench. Currently coaching Benfica, selecting the divisive Mourinho would be a gamble on the part of president Florentino Perez after Los Blancos finished without a major trophy for a second consecutive season.
“For me, as a former [Madrid] player and as a Madridista, Jose Mourinho is number one. He’s one of ours,” said Arbeloa, who replaced Xabi Alonso in January but was unable to help Madrid salvage anything from a troubled campaign. “If he comes back next year, I’ll be very happy to see him back home.” AFP
Gerry Scott gets in touch: “I feel a bit sick. I appreciate everyone else wants Hearts to win but as a Celtic fan I can’t recall ever wanting to win the title more.”
Amelia Hogg too: “To answer your question about nerves, my papa (lifelong Hearts fan) is so nervous he doesn’t think he’s gonna watch the game! He’s 74 and worried his heart can’t take it. Personally I only bother with international football but I would love to see Hearts win it for him. He still talks about the heartbreak in 1986, and since Hearts last won the league (pretty sure he was 7/8) he’s been married 50+ years with two kids and three grandkids, retired, had cancer and cared for his sick wife. He deserves something nice after all that time!”
It’s just too much, isn’t it? Can’t think of a title race that has tugged on emotions like this, possibly since 1986.
A World Cup news line ahead of the Bundesliga final day, from AFP:
Bayern Munich on Friday pledged to do everything they could to give injury-hit star Alphonso Davies a chance to be fit to play for Canada at the World Cup.
The club’s sporting director Max Eberl said that the Bundesliga champions were cooperating with Canada Soccer with an eye not only to the World Cup but also on the player’s long-term fitness.
“Our hope is that we can all work together to do what’s best for Phonzy,” Eberl told a press conference before Bayern’s final Bundesliga game of the season against Cologne.
Since returning in December following a long absence after a knee ligament tear, the 25-year-old has suffered a series of muscle injuries, the most recent after he came on as a substitute as Bayern were eliminated from the Champions League by Paris Saint-Germain on May 6.
Davies suffered an injury to the back of his left thigh, which will keep him out for “several weeks”, said Eberl, meaning he will miss not only Saturday’s home game against Cologne but also the German Cup final against Stuttgart in Berlin on May 23.
Canada plan to announce their 26-man World Cup squad on 29 May.
Bundesliga final matchday is today and it looks like it is going to be a enthralling relegation battle. The bottom three teams are all equal on points, and only the bottom two go down directly.
I think Heidenheim will win at home against Mainz due to the form they are in. And unfortunately I don’t trust Sankt Pauli to score more than 1 or 2 goals, but hopefully Irvine can score his first Bundesliga goal and lead the boys in brown to a memorable victory.
There is also battles for some of the European spots in the Bundesliga as well.
Michael Carrick is set to be permanent manager of Manchester United, if any manager of Manchester United can be permanent post Busby/Ferguson, and he’s been praising his key assistant, Steve Holland.
“Steve’s been fantastic. He’s got an awful lot of experience and seen pretty much everything before, and gone through it in some good times and in some more challenging times. He’s a very wise man, Steve, and says things that really are important at the right time.
“I think just general calmness and composure around for everyone – for me, and for my staff and for the players as well. I think with all the staff, there’s the dynamics of bringing something a little bit different. Steve obviously is in that role where he’s got the experience for us and for us to lean on, and there’s absolutely no shame in that at all.”
Stephen McCrossan gets in touch: “To answer your question, as a Celtic fan, my stomach is in knots. More news as we get it…”
Louise Taylor spoke to one of the breakout players of the season, Sunderland’s Enzo Le Fée.
“I can be good on the ball but from the first minute I’m also fighting,” he says. “I try to bring some magic but I win a lot of tackles as well. That’s what Sunderland fans love. Since I was a young boy I’ve always been smaller than everyone so I had to learn how to fight.
“My best ability is when I have the ball. I enjoy finding solutions to problems. But in this league you’re no good if you don’t work hard for the team when we defend without the ball. If I can alter the game it’s perfect but I have to do the other side too.”
Fancy a football quiz, there’s a daily teaser on the Puzzles section of the Guardian app.
More World Cup, via Associated Press.
Former Tottenham liminary Son Heung-min will lead South Korea’s World Cup campaign as their coach Hong Myung-bo named his 26-man squad on Saturday. It will be the fourth World Cup for Son, who left Spurs last summer after 10 years in the Premier League to join Los Angeles FC in MLS. It is also South Korea’s 11th successive appearance, a streak that stretches back to 1986. Lee Kang-in of Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich defender Kim Min-jae also made the list for the 48-team tournament. Korea will play all three Group A games in Mexico, starting 11 June against Czechia before taking on Mexico a week later and then playing South Africa on 24 June.
A World Cup line, from Roberto Martinez, the Portugal coach, who spoke to the Reuters agency.
“We’re talking about going into the unknown,” Martinez said. “Forty-eight teams means a longer period. You need to have incredible resilience… You don’t prepare for iconic moments _ you prepare the team to perform under any circumstances.“
Portugal arrive with belief after a flawless qualifying campaign and a Nations League title, but Martinez was quick to douse any temptation to confuse form with entitlement.
“Anything that we’ve done until now just gives you three games in a World Cup. It doesn’t give you anything,” he said. “You arrive at the World Cup, you’ve got three games in a group phase, and everything starts there and then.“
Martinez had the chance to observe the Club World Cup in the United States last year as a member of FIFA’s Technical Study Group, an experience he described as essential for understanding what Portugal may face.
John Brewin
Good morning, anyone else nervous ahead of the Scottish stramash? I have no leanings towards either club but it still feels momentous.
And with that, it’s time for me to hand this blog over to John Brewin…
We are exactly one week away from the Championship play-off final – at least, as things stand.
The EFL indicated this week that Southampton could be kicked out of the playoffs and that the date of the final may be delayed if the club are found guilty of breaching regulations.
Southampton, who beat Middlesbrough 2-1 in the semi-final, are facing EFL misconduct charges after Boro said they had been the victims of training-ground spying. An independent disciplinary commission is due to hear Southampton’s explanation in person by Tuesday at the latest.
Yesterday, Middlesbrough demanded that the Saints are expelled from the final.
I’m sensing a theme here…
I’m an Aberdeen fan, the last club outside of the old from to win the league in Scotland…and will be cheering on for Hearts this afternoon. Scottish football needs another club to win!
I’d like Hearts to win the league.
Hats off to Motherwell as well.
Hope Hearts take the title today – with jam on it.
Morgan Blake has messaged in about Arne Slot:
“I found Slot’s most recent comments hugely dispiriting. Empty, bland, unconvincing waffle. He sounds like a politician. It’s not entirely his fault of course, because he is also having to cover for the obvious failings of Richard Hughes and others, who are apparently able to skate through life at the club without facing accountability. But when he says “I think they (the fans) are underestimating what a window can do” it’s frustrating because that isn’t true – we just aren’t seeing any evidence that the club has a plan and that they know what they’re doing.”
Football fever is getting a tail-wagging twist in Singapore as fans count down to next month’s World Cup. Sportswear giant Adidas is giving dog lovers in the city-state a novel way to show team spirit – football shirts for their four-legged friends.
The company’s first pet collection in Singapore swaps the usual squeaky toys and chew bones for mini-football fashion, including pint-sized jerseys of Japan and the reigning world champions Argentina. The pet kit is on sale at a pop-up store in the city’s Clarke Quay district this weekend and next, and from May 24 at select Adidas stores and online.
“By offering World Cup jerseys as part of the pet collection, we are giving fans a new way to express their love for the game and celebrate it as a shared family experience,” Chen Rui Yuan, Adidas country manager for Singapore, said. “Pets today are increasingly seen as part of the family and an extension of consumers’ lifestyles, especially among younger urban audiences.”
At a media preview on Saturday, dogs previously rescued from shelters and their owners strutted on a fashion runway, some wearing matching World Cup shirts. Each pet jersey retails for SG$49 ($38.26). AFP
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The current standings in the Scottish Premiership…
Ewan Murray
“This Hearts story did not begin with Stuart Findlay’s late winner at Tannadice in August, a stoppage-time intervention from Alexandros Kyziridis against Livingston later that month or the September victory at Ibrox that materially fuelled belief among Derek McInnes’s squad. Brian Cormack, Alex Mackie, Jamie Bryant, Donald Ford and Garry Halliday will not feature in the Hearts team seeking to create history at Celtic Park but that quintet set this club on a path that after 16 years has almost – though only almost – reached the ultimate glory point…”
Paul Moody says:
“FA Cup. Seems strange that I guess lot of neutral fans will want CFC. I do. But not exactly expecting that to happen, I’m in the NE of Brazil, near Fortaleza, don’t follow football here, won’t be cheering for Arsenal either.”
Melbourne City win A-League Women title
Two goals in three minutes from Matildas forward Holly McNamara and a stunning strike by Leticia McKenna have won Melbourne City a record-equalling fifth A-League Women Championship title, defeating newcomers Wellington Phoenix 3-1 in Melbourne on Saturday afternoon.
As always, feel free to email in with any thoughts, feelings, predictions, observations and all that jazz. What are your plans for the day? Are you off to Wembley? Let me know!
Joshua Keeling has messaged in to say:
“I’m not a Hearts supporter, but I’m desperate for them to do it today. Football needs these stories, and Scottish football does in particular, after 40 years of Old Firm dominance. It will be so dispiriting if Celtic still win the league in a season where they’ve been in turmoil for significant periods. Come on Hearts, do it for yourselves, do it for the neutrals, do it for football.”
Eddie Howe will look back on the season with mixed feelings after admitting it has been “a challenge” managing Newcastle. They will head into Sunday’s final home game of the Premier League campaign against West Ham knowing the Magpies, who reached the knockout stage in the Champions League and the Carabao Cup semi-finals, have underachieved. Howe’s side lies 13th in the table with two games remaining, 13 points adrift of the fifth place in which they finished last season.
Asked how he would look back on the campaign the 48-year-old, whose future has been called into question as a result, said: “I suppose time will tell, to a degree, but I think my initial thought now in response to that question is I will look back with probably mixed feelings.
“Some major, major highs, some great experiences, some memorable games, successful games for us and then some challenges and some periods where we’ve had to dig really deep and question ourselves and try to come back fighting, so a real mixture. [It is] probably different to the other seasons that I’ve had here, which have been more… not consistent success because it’s never like that, but more a feeling of smoothness through the season, of invariably positive feelings. This one has been a challenge.” PA Media
Arne Slot has promised next season will be better as Liverpool’s Champions League hopes hang in the balance after a “damaging” 4-2 defeat at Aston Villa.
The Reds could have sealed their place in next season’s premier European competition but Villa secured the win following another directionless performance from the Reds as the pressure grew on the manager, who presided over an alarming 12th defeat of the season. The Dutchman accepted supporters might not find reason to be optimistic, but he is expecting a better campaign.
“I can understand at this moment that they don’t have a lot of confidence or a lot of feeling that things can be much better next season,” Slot said. “But I think then they are underestimating what a window can do, what a new start can do, and I think we know quite well what to improve.
“I think one of the things we have to improve is very, very, very obvious, and I would have preferred not to talk about it here, but you’re actually almost forcing me to.
“If you miss nine players that can start a game of football, and almost all of them are starters for us or have been for large part of the season, then if you add that to what you can improve in a window and add that to players that are playing for the second season in the Premier League, that will automatically lead to much more. I don’t think the differences are so big, only doing in a few situations the right thing can already have a best massive upwards possibility.”
Liverpool are still favourites to book a Champions League spot and it could happen in the next few days if Brighton and Bournemouth drop points, while they can look after their own business by beating Brentford on the final day.
“Damaging because we needed either a win or maybe two draws would have been enough as well, but now we know one thing for sure, that we need a win next week if we have to do it ourselves,” Slot added. PA Media
With it looking very likely that Khadija Shaw will move on this summer, the question is, how do you replace her?
The striker is on track to win her third consecutive Golden Boot, having scored 19 goals in 21 appearances so far this season. In the event that she leaves, whoever is signed to replace her will have a huge task at hand to even try to replicate those numbers.
Tom Garry
“Saturday’s finale to the Women’s Super League season marks the end of an era, and not only because it is the final time the division will operate with 12 teams before the expansion to 14. A multitude of players synonymous with their clubs in recent years are making end-of-contract departures and the forward lines, in particular, of many of the top sides will not look the same again.”
It’s the final day of the Women’s Super League season and some key players will bid farewell to their respective clubs.
Club legends Beth Mead and Katie McCabe will play their final match in Arsenal red, alongside Victoria Pelova and Laia Codina. Naomi Williams and Manuela Zinsberger are also poised to leave north London this summer.
Sam Kerr will make her final appearance for Chelsea today, with Stamford Bridge also bidding farewell to Millie Bright following her retirement from professional football.
And a huge question mark still surrounds the future of Khadija Shaw, who is likely to leave Manchester City upon the end of her contract.
So, what’s on today?
FA Cup final:
Scottish Premiership:
Celtic v Hearts (12:30pm BST)
Falkirk v Rangers (12:30pm BST)
Hibernian v Motherwell (12:30pm BST)
Women’s Super League:
Brighton v Tottenham (1pm BST)
West Ham v Manchester City (1pm BST)
Liverpool v Arsenal (1pm BST)
Chelsea v Manchester United (1pm BST)
London City Lionesses v Aston Villa (1pm BST)
Everton v Leicester City (1pm BST)
Bundesliga
St. Pauli v Wolfsburg (2:30pm BST)
Heidenheim v Mainz (2:30pm BST)
Eintracht Frankfurt v Stuttgart (2:30pm BST)
Werder Bremen v Borussia Dortmund (2:30pm BST)
Bayer Leverkusen v Hamburg (2:30pm BST)
Borussia Monchengladbach v Hoffenheim (2:30pm BST)
Bayern Munich v Köln (2:30pm BST)
Union Berlin v Augsburg (2:30pm BST)
Freiburg v RB Leipzig (2:30pm BST)
After last night’s win, Aston Villa head coach Unai Emery suggested that qualifying for the Champions League now takes a weight off the shoulders of his players going into the Europa League final next week.
He said: “Now we can play the final, only thinking for a trophy. It is something making sense of everything we are trying to build here.
“The priority is always the league and it is the most difficult league. The consistency we must show all season is something we are setting as a huge challenge. We are always trying to get our highest level and to play there being comfortable.
“This season we started poor, then we were fantastic for three months, then we were down. But the consistency and demands were high and we never gave up. We were always focusing strongly on the league and today is a summary of the season.”
How the Premier League table looks after last night’s result…
Aston Villa cruised to a huge 4-2 win over Liverpool last night to secure qualification for next season’s Champions League. An Ollie Watkins double, along with goals from Morgan Rogers and John McGinn, saw Unai Emery and Co jump to fourth in the table.
Preamble
Hello, good morning and welcome to another Matchday live! Chelsea take on Manchester City in the FA Cup final this afternoon, but that is not the only big match we have to look forward to.
It’s the final day of the Scottish Premiership season and league leaders Hearts face second-placed Celtic in a winner-takes-all showdown at Celtic Park. Hearts need just one point to claim their first league title in 66 years.
Elsewhere, it’s the last day of the WSL season and Manchester City will lift the trophy for the first time in a decade. Arsenal travel to face Liverpool at Anfield as they look to secure second place, while Chelsea take on Manchester United at Stamford Bridge.
And we’ll be previewing tomorrow’s Premier League action as teams prepare for their penultimate game of the campaign.
Join us!
