GM football fans. It’s Wednesday, May. 21 - A season-defining European final tonight, Lyon set a new precedent for women’s football, and everything else you need to know. Forwarded this email? Sign up here.

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KEY FIXTURES

UEFA Europa League Final: Tottenham Hotspur vs. Manchester United, 20:00 / 15:00. This will be the sixth all-English final in the history of Uefa club competitions, with no other country providing as many finals between two of their clubs. United remain the only unbeaten side in major European competitions this season, but they’ve lost their last three meetings with Spurs in all competitions. See predicted line-ups here.

TV Channels: TNT Sports (UK) / Paramount+ (USA) / DAZN (Canada)

Results…

• Premier League: City 3-1 Bournemouth (Report) | Palace 4-2 Wolves (Table)

TOP TALKING POINTS

Season-Defining European Final

Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United face each other in the Europa League final today (May 21). The match kicks off at 20:00 BST (15:00 ET), and will be shown on TNT Sports in the UK, Paramount+ in the USA, and DAZN in Canada. See all the channels here.

The two sit 16th and 17th in the Premier League, but this match could secure Champions League qualification, and the winner could receive up to £54.4m. It has been 16 years since Spurs secured their last trophy, the 2007-08 League Cup, and their last European trophy was the 1983–84 Uefa Cup. For Man Utd, Ruben Amorim could become only the third manager to win a major trophy in his first season in charge of the club.

Opta’s prediction model struggles to separate these sides, despite Spurs winning all three encounters against Man Utd this season. Spurs are slight favourites to lift the Europa League trophy at 50.3%. Across Opta’s 10,000 simulations, Spurs won inside 90 minutes in 37.5%, with United doing so in 35.2%. The remaining 27.3% went to extra time, and possibly penalties.

Lyon Change Course

Olympique Lyonnais Feminin have been renamed OL Lyonnes, as part of a series of announcements made by their owner, Michele Kang. The club, the most successful women’s football side in the world, has also unveiled a new badge, replacing the club’s male lion with the image of a lioness.

The team will also make the Groupama Stadium–home of the Lyon men’s team–their regular home stadium. Kang will also fund the renovation of the women’s new training facilities to create a performance centre "100% intentionally designed for female athletes."

Kang, an American businesswoman, has established herself as one of the biggest investors in women’s football. A majority owner of the Washington Spirit, OL Lyonnes, and London City Lionesses, Kang also donated $30m to U.S. Soccer to develop women’s football.

Dive deeper into how Kang has transformed Lyon here.

Premier League Charge Leicester

The Premier League has charged Leicester City for allegedly breaching the league’s Profitability and Sustainability Rules (PSR). The Foxes could face a points deduction in the Championship next season if found guilty.

Leicester have now been referred to an independent commission. Even though they’ve been relegated to the Championship, the rewritten PSR rules allow a penalty to be administered at any time, even if Leicester are no longer under the Premier League’s jurisdiction. It was for this reason that Leicester avoided sanctions for alleged PSR breaches concerning the 2022-23 campaign.

However, some commentators still believe it is unlikely that punishment would be imposed on Leicester while they are in the second tier because the Premier League and English Football League (EFL) are separate entities. That said, the EFL has previously expressed its “frustration” that Leicester escaped punishment for allegedly breaching Premier League rules.

POLL

ON THE BALL

Europe

> Kevin De Bruyne played his last match for Manchester City at the Etihad, and the club have commissioned a statue for the Belgian (More) | Manchester United have received another two-star food hygiene rating (More)

> Serie B play-offs have been delayed as the Italian football watchdog investigates financial irregularities at Brescia (More)

> Barcelona aims to return to Camp Nou stadium after two years of reconstruction work for a preseason friendly on Aug. 10 (More) | Lamine Yamal’s current Barcelona contract, which expires in 2026, includes a $1bn release clause–and the Spaniard said he will renew with the Catalan side (More)

> Former Spain and Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina has announced his retirement aged 42 (More)

> England midfielder Angel Gomes has confirmed he will leave Lille when his contract with the French club expires this summer (More); Reports have linked him to his former club Manchester United—as well as Spurs and West Ham (More)

Americas

> US women’s national team head coach Emma Hayes has named a 24-player squad that will play two friendlies during the next international window (More)

> Canada coach Jesse Marsch says some supporters might not want to travel to the Concacaf Gold Cup for fear of difficulty at the US border (More)

> Independiente beat hosts Boca Juniors 1-0 in the quarter-finals of the Argentine Apertura tournament (More)

Rest of the World

> Saudi Pro League side Al Hilal have approached FSG and Liverpool CEO of football Michael Edwards, to discuss a senior role at the club (More)

> Gadi Kinda, former Sporting Kansas City midfielder, has died aged 31, his club Maccabi Haifa has announced (More)

ROUTERS’ VOICE

Yesterday’s Poll: Which Premier League team is most likely to miss out on a Champions League spot – and why?

🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ 🐦 Newcastle... (4%)

🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ 🔵 Manchester City... (10%)

🟨 🟨 🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ 🟦 Chelsea... (19%)

🟨 🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ 🦁 Aston Villa... (12%)

🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🌲 Nottingham Forest... (55%)

Your punditry takes:

• 🔵 K.N voted City: “Villa have been in fine form recently, Newcastle are at home on the last day of the season, where they’re strongest, which leaves one spot left for us potentially. But I don’t trust us to perform away from home at all, especially after the loss to Palace in the cup.”

• 🟦 T.P voted Chelsea: “I can imagine a scenario where Chelsea lose to Forest away from home on the final day. They haven’t been the same team away from home this season, and Forest will be tactically stronger.”

• 🌲 D.W voted Nottingham Forest: “I believe that Forest are the most likely candidates to miss out, not because they are deemed the worst of the five teams vying for the remaining three places, but the cash cow train of money of Man City and Chelsea will come to the fore with their squad strength in depth. Forest have a small squad by comparison, and they have been flagging over the last few weeks, whereas both City and Chelsea just rotate fresh legs.”

EXTRA TIME

You can’t miss Marmoush’s goal. (US link)

Seven Europa League final storylines.

PSV fans bought from hospital to lift Eredivisie cup.

Manchester United's 25-26 away kit leaked.

… and Puma drops new Euro 2025 shirts.

Vertonghen’s daughter subs him off in his final game.

Carragher and Neville pick their PL team of the season.

GAME FACE ON

Question: Eight footballers have played for both Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League era. How many can you name?

Scroll below for the answer.

ON TODAY

UEFA Europa League Final

• Tottenham Hotspur vs Manchester United (20:00)

National League Promotion Play-offs, SF

• Forest Green Rovers vs Southend United (19:45)

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

Answer

Dimitar Berbatov, Michael Carrick, Louis Saha, Christian Eriksen, Zeki Fryers, Teddy Sheringham, Fraizer Campbell, and Sergio Reguilon.

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