GM football fans. It’s Friday, May. 23 - The Women’s Champions League final, Modric confirms his Real Madrid exit, and everything else you need to know. Forwarded this email? Sign up here.

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KEY FIXTURES

Serie A: Napoli vs. Cagliari, 19:45 / 14:45. A win in this fixture would secure Napoli the Serie A title–and they will be confident going into this fixture, having won nine of their last 12 league meetings at home. Cagliari, currently in 14th, have nothing left to play for in the league since mathematically securing survival last week. Como vs. Inter Milan, 19:45 / 14:45. Inter, one point off league leaders Napoli, have won their last eight league games against Como, including a 2-0 win in the reverse fixture. But, after posting eight consecutive away wins with seven clean sheets, Inter have won just two of the last eight on their travels.

TV Channels: TNT Sports (UK) / Paramount+ (US) / FuboTV (Canada)

Results…

• Scottish Premiership Play-off final, leg 1: Livingston 1-1 Ross County (Report)

• Bundesliga Play-off final, leg 1: Heidenheim 2-2 Elversberg

• US Open Cup (Results)

TOP TALKING POINTS

Women’s Champions League Final

The Uefa Women’s Champions League final is set for Saturday as Arsenal face Barcelona, who are aiming for a fourth title in five years. The final kicks off at 17:00 BST (12:00 ET), and will air on TNT Sports in the UK and DAZN in the US and Canada. See the preview and possible line-ups here.

This is the fifth meeting between these sides in the competition, with the Gunners winning both legs of a round of 32 tie in 2012-13, before Barca won both group-stage matches in the 2021-22 campaign. Although Barca have won their last nine UWCL games, Arsenal have a good record against Spanish opposition, progressing from all four knockout-stage ties against such teams.

Opta’s prediction model gives Barca a win probability inside 90 minutes of 56.5%. Arsenal, who go in as underdogs, are given just a 21.7% chance of victory in normal time.

Modric Confirms Exit

Real Madrid captain Luka Modric will leave the club after 13 years of service following next month’s Club World Cup. The Croatian has been part of six Champions League-winning squads and won a total of 28 trophies at Real.

When Modric arrived in Madrid from Tottenham Hotspur in 2012, he was voted the worst signing of the season (see here) in La Liga by readers of the Spanish newspaper Marca. Six years later, Modric won the 2018 Ballon d’Or after winning the Champions League and captaining Croatia to the 2018 World Cup final.

Modric is the oldest player to represent Los Blancos in La Liga and their oldest goalscorer, having scored in a 2-1 win over Valencia at 39 years and 116 days, overtaking Ferenc Puskas' mark. Last month, he became an investor and co-owner of Championship side Swansea City.

Messi’s Favourite Goal

Lionel Messi has revealed his favourite goal from the 860 he has scored across his career as part of an artistic collaboration for charity. The Argentine has chosen the goal he scored for Barcelona against Manchester United in the 2009 Champions League final–watch here.

The header, chosen as one of the 50 greatest Champions League moments, was the first time Messi scored a goal against an English side. Watch Messi talk about why he chose the goal here.

Media artist Refik Anadol (see artwork here) will now turn the chosen goal into an AI-powered data sculpture, signed by the artist and Messi. It will be open to online auction bids at Christie’s New York from 11 June to 25 July, where the proceeds will go to non-profit A Goal in Life.

POLL

ON THE BALL

Europe

> The final day of the Premier League 24-25 season will take place on Sunday (May 25) and all teams will play simultaneously; Nottingham Forest vs Chelsea is the standout fixture (All Fixtures) | See the final day permutations for each team (More)

> Sheffield United and Sunderland play for the final promotion spot from the Championship on Saturday (May 24); the match kicks off at 15:01 BST (10:01 ET), a reference to the ‘Every Minute Matters’ campaign, and will air on Sky Sports in the UK, Paramount+ in the US, and DAZN in Canada (More) | The League One promotion play-off final takes place on Sunday (May 25) between Charlton Athletic and Leyton Orient (More)

> Paris Saint-Germain are on for a treble and face Reims in the Coupe de France final on Saturday (May 24); kick off is at 20:00 GMT (15:00 ET) (More)

> Italian police have seized more than 20,000 items of counterfeit Napoli merchandise ahead of their title-deciding match (More)

> Streaming platform Disney+ will begin showing live Women’s Champions League matches from next season across multiple European territories (More)

Americas

> The Liga MX final between Club America and Toluca will conclude shortly after publication (See Result)

> Christian Pulisic, Yunus Musah, Antonee Robinson and Joe Scally will miss the Concacaf Gold Cup, leaving the USMNT with a depleted squad for its last competitive matches before the 2026 World Cup (More)

> Philadelphia Union is at the top of the Eastern Conference standings as they prepare for Saturday's match against Inter Miami; Western Conference leaders Vancouver Whitecaps will travel to Salt Lake City as they look to maintain their three-point lead (Full Schedule)

> NWSL’s Portland Thorns and Gotham FC are participating in the Concacaf W Champions Cup so they will not feature in week 10 of the regular season; see NWSL Matchday 10 preview (More) | Boston Legacy FC will play their inaugural season as a NWSL expansion team in 2026 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts (More)

> The city of Garland, Texas, has proposed a $70m football facility which could host a Championship-level USL team (More) | USL Championship schedule (More)

Rest of the World

> The men’s A-League semi-finals take place on Saturday (May 24) when Auckland FC play Melbourne Victory and Melbourne City play Western United (More)

> Saudi Pro League side Al Hilal are reportedly interested in signing Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes (More)

ROUTERS’ VOICE

Yesterday’s Poll: Do you think dynamic pricing is fair for World Cup tickets?

🟨 🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ 🎟️ Yes... (13%)

🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🙅‍♂️ Nope... (84%)

🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ✍️ Other... (3%)

Your punditry takes:

• 🎟️ J.F: “I wavered back and forth with this. I understand why Fifa wants to do this. The same thing happens when tickets are picked up at face value by ticket brokers and then sold on the secondary markets at astronomical prices. So, maybe with this type of pricing model, I will actually have a chance to buy a ticket through the original ticket seller.”

• 🎟️ D.B: “Thinking that dynamic pricing is unfair means you’ve forgotten that all pro sports are businesses. If enough people disagree with the price or the product, the powers that be will change to help their bottom line.”

• 🙅‍♂️ J.L: “Football and most sports are pricing themselves out of the common fan's pocketbook. It is shameful. I have attended the last eight World Cups. I live in the US and sadly may not be able to afford tickets in 2026... what does that say about Fifa’s greed?”

• 🙅‍♂️ W.T: “As an American, I am already very concerned with the cost of attending a World Cup match here, considering the cost of goods in general. With tickets to ‘in-demand’ matches multiplying in price, you're going to get a lot of casual (but wealthy) spectators in place of real, honest supporters. I hate this idea.”

EXTRA TIME

ESPN’s Premier League 2024-25 awards.

… and how the PL title is engraved.

How Barcelona Femeni dominated Europe.

Explosive thrown onto the pitch during Cup final.

Keane and Maddison take digs at each other.

Potential transfers before the Club World Cup.

A look at Ange Postecoglou’s playing days.

GAME FACE ON

Question: One of these women’s clubs is the odd one out — but can you figure out why?

• Barcelona Femeni

• Wolfsburg

• Chelsea

• Lyon

• Turbine Potsdam

Scroll below for the answer.

ON TODAY

Serie A

• Como vs Inter Milan (19:45)

• Napoli vs Cagliari (19:45)

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

Answer

Chelsea. The other teams on the list have won the Uefa Women’s Champions League—source.

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