GM football fans. It’s Wednesday, Apr. 09 - Inter Miami’s discovery rights, Fifa’s unique ticket offering, and everything else you need to know. Forwarded this email? Sign up here.

Enjoy R1? Share us using this link.

KEY FIXTURES

Champions League, Quarter-Finals, Leg 1: Barcelona vs. Borussia Dortmund, 20:00 / 15:00. Barcelona are unbeaten in 22 matches in all competitions and are chasing a quadruple. Meanwhile, Dortmund have won three successive away games in the Champions League knockout stages but have only won three of their 20 trips to Spain. See predicted line-ups here. Paris Saint-Germain vs. Aston Villa, 20:00 / 15:00. PSG have lost just one of their last 29 matches in all competitions and are unbeaten in Ligue 1 this season. While Villa are on a seven-game winning run in all competitions, they’ve never won a European game in France. See predicted line-ups here.

Results…

• Champions League: Arsenal 3-0 Real Madrid (Report) | Bayern Munich 1-2 Inter Milan (Report)

• Women’s Nations League: Germany 6-1 Scotland (Report) | Spain 7-1 Portugal (Report) | Belgium 3-2 England (Report) (Full Results)

TOP TALKING POINTS

Miami’s KDB Rights

Inter Miami hold the discovery rights for Kevin De Bruyne—who will leave Manchester City at the end of the season—giving the South Florida side first negotiating rights if he moves to the league. Discovery rights allow MLS teams to choose up to five players to hold exclusive negotiating rights with. It was introduced to prevent MLS teams from bidding against each other and inflating prices on potential signings.

However, Miami already have the maximum designated players (DPs)–those that can be paid beyond the league’s salary cap–in Lionel Messi, Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets. It would mean De Bruyne would have a hard cap on how much he can be paid. 

Miami could use Targeted Allocation Money (TAM), a league tool that lets teams pay players more than the cap allows, but still below DP level. They can then upgrade him to DP status once a spot opens—similar to LA Galaxy’s controversial deal with Zlatan Ibrahimovic in 2018.

Learn more about the salary cap in MLS here.

Fifa’s Ticket Meal Deal

Fifa is offering guaranteed tickets for next year’s World Cup final as a reward for purchasing 20 Club World Cup (CWC) tickets. The incentive has been launched as tickets for some CWC matches are now sold on secondary sites for less than face value.

The governing body offers ticket packages whereby ticket purchases for two or three CWC matches will guarantee one ticket to a 2026 World Cup match in the United States, excluding the final. To have the option of buying a ticket for the World Cup final, a “Super Ticket Pack” must be purchased. This includes one ticket to attend 20 different CWC matches.

With less than 100 days to go until the CWC, tickets are still available for each match in the tournament. Many fixtures show large areas of seating unsold.

Paqueta Trial Delayed

The hearing into Lucas Paqueta’s alleged betting breaches has been adjourned due to his lawyers’ other commitments. The case, expected to conclude this month, will not finish until June at the earliest.

The West Ham United midfielder was charged by the FA in May last year for deliberately getting booked in four Premier League matches in which his family and friends allegedly profited. Dive deeper into the case here. While the FA seeks a lifetime ban, Paqueta denies any wrongdoing and West Ham supports him in the case.

The case being delayed until the summer hampers West Ham’s chances of selling the Brazilian during the upcoming transfer window. In 2023, Manchester City agreed to pay £70m for Paqueta but pulled out after it emerged that the FA were investigating him.

POLL

ON THE BALL

Europe

> Declan Rice scored two freekicks—his first-ever direct freekick goals—against Real Madrid as Arsenal won 3-0 in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals (Watch freekick one and two / US readers one and two)

> The Premier League will officially have five teams in the Champions League next season after it secured one of the extra places for performance by clubs (More) | The man, 20, who allegedly slapped Jack Grealish after the Manchester derby on Sunday has been charged with assault (More) | Manchester United fan, 81, forced to give up his seat of 45 years for the club’s corporate hospitality (More)

> Pre-game concerts are coming to the Women’s Champions League from next season (More)

> Real Betis' chief executive is "cautiously optimistic" that Manchester United loanee Antony will continue at the club beyond this summer (More)

> Birmingham City have been promoted to the Championship and remain on track to break the League One season record for points (More)

Americas

> New NWSL expansion team Denver becomes the fastest club to hit 10,000 season ticket deposits in the league’s history (More) | NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman said that the league could grow as big as the NFL, which has 32 teams (More)

> Josef Martinez was named Player of the Matchday in round seven of the MLS (More)

> Brazilian side Vitoria is reportedly close to signing a partnership with an escort website for the women’s team–a deal already exists with the men’s team (More/translate)

Rest of the World

> Australia remain without a permanent coach less than a year before hosting the Women's Asian Cup, leaving players frustrated with a team in "limbo" (More)

> Manchester United have confirmed their post-season tour of Asia–specifically Malaysia and Hong Kong–beginning on May 28 (More)

ROUTERS’ VOICE

Yesterday’s Poll: Do you think home advantage in the Champions League still exists?

🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 👏 Absolutely... (68%)

🟨 🟨 🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ 🙅‍♂️ Nope... (28%)

🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ✍️ Other... (4%)

Your punditry takes:

• 👏 B.A: “Especially being at home in the second week, you get extra time and penalties on your own ground. Big advantage.”

• 👏 J.M: “Of course. Firstly, you have the physical advantage of knowing the pitch well and having control over how it is watered, grass length, etc. Secondly, you have the psychological advantage of having the vast majority of the stadium cheering you on, which has to be at least a small mental boost!”

• 🙅‍♂️ P.F: “In my opinion, the crowd will forever be the twelfth player on the pitch. However, with the advent of VAR, along with the many changes to the modern game, home-field advantage certainly does not have the same connotations as it once did.”

• ✍️ N.A.W: “I think it is more important when you have your home game. It seems playing away the first leg tends to be more beneficial.”

EXTRA TIME

Ex-Barcelona defender is now a shop assistant.

Philipp Lahm–why Italian football needs a reboot. (op-ed)

The famous Trin Spin, in motion.

POV-you’re reffing Germany’s biggest game.

Opta’s latest Championship promotion predictions.

Standard Liege fans find weapons under their seats.

Heat map shows where each PL manager stands during a game.

… and the numbers behind the worst PL relegation race.

GAME FACE ON

Question: Place the following clubs in the order they’ve reached the Champions League quarter-finals the most, including the 2024/25 season. Highest to lowest.

• Barcelona

• Chelsea

• Bayern Munich

• Juventus

• Manchester United

• Real Madrid

Scroll below for the answer.

ON TODAY

Champions League

• Barcelona vs Borussia Dortmund (20:00)

• PSG vs Aston Villa (20:00)

Championship

• Oxford vs QPR (19:45)

• Swansea vs Plymouth (19:45)

• Coventry vs Portsmouth (20:00)

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

Answer

Bayern (23). Real Madrid (21). Barcelona (20). Manchester United (14). Chelsea (12). Juventus (12).