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KEY FIXTURES

La Liga: Barcelona vs. Real Madrid, Sunday 11, 15:15 / 10:15. A win in the Clasico could settle the La Liga title race, with Real four points behind the Catalans with four matches remaining. Although, mathematically, Barcelona would have to wait at least one more matchday to celebrate. Hansi Flick’s side has already beaten Real three times this season: 4-0 in the league win, 5-2 in the Spanish Supercopa final, and 3-2 in the Copa del Rey final.

Championship Promotion Play-offs, Semi-final Leg 1: Coventry City vs. Sunderland, Friday 9, 20:00 / 15:00. Coventry come into this match unbeaten across their last 10 league games against Sunderland, and their home form against Sunderland is even stronger, as they have gone 13 games without a loss to them on home soil (W8 D5) in all competitions. Dive deeper into Championship Play-off permutations here.

Results…

• Europa League: Bodo/Glimt 0-2 Spurs (Agg 1-5) (Report) | Man Utd 4-1 Athletic Club (Agg 7-1) (Report)

• Conference League: Chelsea 1-0 Djurgarden (Agg 5-1) | Fiorentina 2-2 Betis (Agg 3-4)

• Championship Promotion Play-off Semi-final: Bristol City 0-3 Sheffield United (Report)

TOP TALKING POINTS

Beckham Buys Out ‘92

David Beckham and Gary Neville have bought out the rest of the Class of ‘92 to complete a takeover of Salford City as part of a new consortium. Their former Manchester United teammates Nicky Butt, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, and Phil Neville are no longer shareholders of the club.

Salford, currently in League Two, are expected to receive a $15–20m cash injection over the next five years. Inside that timeframe, they’re targeting promotion to the Championship, two tiers above their current standing.

Following the Class of ’92’s arrival at the club in 2014, Salford won four promotions in five seasons. They’ve remained in the fourth tier since reaching the English Football League in 2019.

Brazil FA’s Forgery Case

Ednaldo Rodrigues, president of the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF), is facing allegations of signature forgery tied to a key document securing his hold on the presidency.

The agreement in question was signed by CBF vice president Antonio Carlos Nunes de Lima in January 2025. However, a petition from Congresswoman Daniela Carneiro claims Nunes’ signature “was not made freely and consciously and under full mental faculties” and “reasonable doubts arise about the authenticity of the signature.”

The accusations follow a wave of corruption reports within the CBF, though the federation has publicly denied any wrongdoing.

The fallout comes as the CBF searches to appoint a new head coach for the Brazilian national team. Real Madrid’s Carlo Ancelotti remains the preferred candidate.

MLS Valuations Surge

Major League Soccer now accounts for 19 of the world’s 50 most valuable football clubs—more than any other league. Five MLS teams are now valued at over $1bn. When Sportico first published its valuations in 2023, no MLS club had reached that milestone.

While MLS doesn’t match the revenue of top clubs in Europe, factors like the centralised ownership structure and the lack of relegation keep MLS values stable and on the rise. The values include real estate and related businesses.

Overall, the Premier League remains the most valuable league, with a combined valuation of $34.7bn, well ahead of second-place MLS at $15.6bn. Among individual clubs, Real Madrid top the list at $6.53bn, followed by Manchester United at $6.09bn.

POLL

ON THE BALL

Europe

> In the Premier League, four points separate the teams ranked third to seventh; see the race for Europe (More); See the fixture list (More) and remaining fixture difficulty ratings for each side (More)

> With three Serie A matches remaining, Napoli leads the way with 77 points, while Inter Milan follows with 74 points–Napoli host 13th-place Genoa, while Inter travel to 11th-place Torino (More)

> Sporting and Benfica, who are level on points at the top of Liga Portugal, will face each other on Saturday (May 10) in a season-defining match (More)

> The last round of the WSL 2024-25 season will take place at 12:30 UK (07:30 ET) on Saturday (May 10) (Fixtures)

Americas

> Police raided a Buenos Aires health clinic to seize Diego Maradona's complete medical records following a court order (More)

> Ten MLS teams booked their spot in the U.S. Open Cup Round of 16 (More) | USL’s Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC scored in the sixth minute of stoppage time to beat MLS’s New York City FC to advance (More)

> MLS Matchday 12 begins on Saturday (May 10) with Columbus leading the Eastern Conference and Vancouver Whitecaps leading the Western Conference (Fixtures)

> Kansas City Current and Orlando Pride are level on points (15) going into NWSL’s Matchday 8; See full NWSL MD8 preview (More) | Players say they’re feeling the benefits of NWSL’s mental health policy (More)

> Liga MX continues the Clausura 2025 quarter-finals after Monterrey’s midweek 3-2 win over Toluca in the first leg (More); See all the upcoming fixtures (More)

Rest of the World

> James Johnson has stepped down from his post as Football Australia CEO and the country’s governing body is in search of a new figurehead less than a year out from the Women's Asian Cup (More); Heather Garriock will take over as interim CEO (More)

> Two A-League Elimination Finals matches will be played; Western United vs Adelaide United on Friday, and Western Sydney Wanderers vs Melbourne Victory on Saturday (More) | Women’s A-League semi-finals take place with Melbourne Victory vs Adelaide United (Agg 3-1) and Melbourne City vs Central Coast Mariners (Agg 2-2) (More)

ROUTERS’ VOICE

Yesterday’s Poll: Do you think the offside rule should switch to a ‘daylight’ system?

🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 👏 Absolutely... (57%)

🟨 🟨 🟨 🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ 🙅‍♂️ Nope... (41%)

🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ✍️ Other… (2%)

Your punditry takes:

• 👏 S.H: “There is nothing in football more infuriating than when a team scores a goal and it’s overturned because of a knee or a toe. There was a La Liga game this year where the announcer said if he wore a shoe one size smaller, it would have stood. There may be a middle ground that could be achieved, but overall, we are headed in the right direction.”

• 👏 K.G: “There are too many goals disallowed under the current rule. I'd like to see the rule changed to be based on the line at the top of the box, regardless of where the last defensive player is. And, once the play is onside, it stays onside until the defence clears the ball out of the box. Similar to hockey. It would make breakaways and play inside the box much more exciting.”

• 🙅‍♂️ G.G: “As a grassroots referee, I believe that this would make it harder to get offside calls correct as well as giving an attacker an advantage.”

• 🙅‍♂️ J.B: “I think that gives far too much advantage to the attacker, giving as much as a full step, while in stride to the attacker on a defender. While I think the offside rule may need adjusting, I think this is far too much.”

EXTRA TIME

The best (and worst) El Clasico kits of all time.

Way-too-early Inter vs PSG predictions.

Arda Guler writes a letter to his country.

Brazil’s host cities for the Women’s World Cup.

The longest throw-in recorded in women’s football.

The matches that define the rest of the PL season.

… and the largest cities yet to have a Premier League team.

Unique Dortmund Club World Cup kit.

GAME FACE ON

Question: Before Troy Deeney's famous last-minute goal for Watford in the 2013 play-off semi-final, which Leicester player missed the penalty at the other end?

Scroll below for the answer.

ON TODAY

Championship Promotion Play-Offs, SF

• Conventry vs Sunderland (20:00)

La Liga

• Las Palmas vs Rayo Vallecano (20:00)

Bundesliga

• Wolfsburg vs Hoffenheim (19:30)

Serie A

• AC Milan vs Bologna (19:45)

*All times in UK. ET -5. CDT -6. PDT -8. MDT -7. CET +1.

Answer

Anthony Knockaert. Watch one of the most dramatic play-off finishes in history here.

Want more? Try our daily football Wordle – guess the name of a current or former player in six tries. Play it here.