GM football fans. It’s Friday, Apr. 25 - Title-deciding matches this weekend, a dispute over Champions League ticket allocations, and everything else you need to know. Forwarded this email? Sign up here.

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KEY FIXTURES

Copa Del Rey, Final: Barcelona vs. Real Madrid, Sat 26, 21:00 / 16:00. Barcelona won the Spanish Super Cup earlier this year, beating Real Madrid 5-2 in the final, while they are in charge of the La Liga title race, sitting four points clear of second-placed Madrid. Moreover, Real have lost their last three meetings with Barcelona in competitive competition.

FA Cup, Semi-Finals: Crystal Palace vs. Aston Villa, Sat 26, 17:15 / 12:15. Palace enter the fixture with a four-game winless run, but they’re unbeaten in four against Villa. While Villa have won five of their last six, they have lost six of their last eight trips to Wembley. Nottingham Forest vs. Manchester City, Sun 27, 16:30 / 11:30. City are on a six-game unbeaten run in the Premier League, and they’ve only lost one of their last six league encounters against Forest, though that loss came last month. For Premier League Matchday 34 fixtures, see here.

Results…

• Coppa Italia, Semi-Finals: Bologna 2-1 Empoli (Agg 5-1)

• La Liga: Atletico 3-0 Vallecano | Betis 5-1 Valladolid | Leganes 1-1 Girona | Osasuna 1-0 Sevilla (Table)

TOP TALKING POINTS

Title-Deciding Matches

Liverpool and Bayern Munich could seal their respective league titles as early as this weekend. A point against Tottenham Hotspur secures Liverpool the Premier League trophy, while Bayern will be crowned Bundesliga champions if they at least draw to Mainz and Bayer Leverkusen lose to Augsburg.

In Serie A, it’s a little more complicated. Inter Milan and Napoli are level on points, separated only by goal difference. However, the Italians introduced a rule in 2022 in which a play-off is required if teams are tied on points for the title or relegation. Napoli, though, have the easiest set of fixtures remaining of any side in Serie A, while Inter’s is ranked as the ninth-hardest.

Portugal’s Primeira Liga is similarly close. League leaders Sporting Lisbon are level on points with Benfica, with only four goals separating them. The head-to-head record would decide the Portuguese title if both teams are level on points. Sporting beat Benfica 1-0 in December, and they face each other again in the penultimate game of the season.

In La Liga, Barcelona sit four points clear of second-place Real Madrid. The Catalan side could clinch the title in a match against Real Madrid on May 11 if they beat Valladolid on May 3 and Madrid lose to Celta Vigo on May 4.

Ticket Allocation Dispute

Paris Saint-Germain fans are still unable to purchase tickets for Tuesday’s Champions League semi-final at Arsenal due to a dispute between the clubs over away ticket allocation, according to reports in France.

Uefa regulations require clubs to allocate 5% of stadium capacity to away fans—around 3,000 tickets at the 60,000-seat Emirates Stadium. Arsenal are reportedly attempting to reduce PSG’s allocation to 2,500, though the reason is unclear.

In January, Arsenal were involved in a similar ticket dispute. They were accused of breaking FA Cup rules for the clash with Manchester United, who were given 8,000 seats despite being entitled to 9,000 fans. The club cited safety concerns at the time.

W7F Clubs Confirmed

Manchester United, Bayern Munich, Ajax, and Benfica have been announced as the first clubs participating in the inaugural World Sevens Football (W7F) tournament—a new seven-a-side tournament for women’s clubs. Matches will be played on pitches half the size of a typical 11-a-side pitch, and they will play 15-minute halves.

The new competition has an unprecedented €5m prize pool, with half expected to go to the winner. Comparatively, this year's Women's Champions League winners could earn up to €1.4m and up to €2.8m from the 2027-28 season.

The tournament will run from 21–23 May, just three days after the UWCL final. Since the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) runs until 22 November, any participating U.S. clubs would compete mid-season.

POLL

ON THE BALL

Europe

> David Kogan, a 'sports media rights veteran', is to be announced as the first chair of the Independent Football Regulator in the coming days (More)

> Jamie Vardy, 38, is set to leave Leicester City at the end of the season after 13 years; he’s open to a move to MLS (More); explore the stats behind his Leicester career (More) | Aston Villa have held internal discussions about a potential move for Kevin De Bruyne (More)

> Chelsea and Barcelona (agg 1-4) meet in the Women’s Champions League semi-final second leg on Sunday (Apr. 27) (Match Details) | Lyon and Arsenal (agg 2-1) meet in the other semi-final at the same time (Match Details)

> Eduardo Camavinga, Real Madrid midfielder, is out for the rest of the season after injuring his adductor (More)

> League One player Lucas Akins has been jailed for 14 months for causing the death of a cyclist due to a “momentary lapse of concentration” while driving his seven-year-old daughter to a piano lesson (More)

Americas

> UANL Tigres salvaged a 1-1 draw against Cruz Azul in the first leg of their CONCACAF Champions Cup semi-finals (Highlights) | Inter Miami visit Vancouver Whitecaps in the other semi-final; result decided just after publication (See Result)

> Ecuadorian player Jackson Rodriguez's wife and 5-year-old child were kidnapped when men broke into their home in search of the Emelec defender (More)

> Former U.S. men’s national team head coach Bruce Arena has criticised the appointment of Mauricio Pochettino, saying that the job should’ve gone to an American (More)

> MLS weekend fixtures (More) | NWSL weekend fixtures (More) | Brazil Serie A weekend fixtures (More) | Argentine Primera Division weekend fixtures (More)

Rest of the World

> Auckland FC need just one point this weekend to secure the men’s A-League title; they would become the first New Zealand team to win A-League’s silverware (More) | The elimination rounds of the women’s A-League finals series kick off this weekend (More)

> The Asia Champions League will be decided by a new finals phase competition over the next eight days (Team Information); Dive deeper into the centralised format (More)

> Across 65 leagues in the world, on average, two-thirds of coaches have been in place for less than a year (65.6%) (More)

ROUTERS’ VOICE

Yesterday’s Poll: Do you care more about your club's style of play or just getting results?

🟨 🟨 🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ 💃 Style of play... (34%)

🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 🟩 📈 Results... (63%)

🟨 ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ⬜️ ✍️ Other... (3%)

Your punditry takes:

• 💃 R.F: “Results are fantastic, no doubt, but if I can’t enjoy watching my team play, that’s hard to stomach. I’m a Spurs fan (ugh) and I hate Ange-ball (mindless pressing and crosses to no one).”

• 💃 G.H: “At the end of the day, I want to win. Anyone who tells you otherwise is probably lying. However, there is a balance. You don’t need to win every game. Good football is played from box to box, and while a result might invoke the greatest feeling, it’s just not the same if your play style didn’t earn it.”

• 📈 L.J: “Maybe it is a European thing, but this obsession with winning 'the right way' is nonsensical to me. Results are what matter. If you win a title or a cup, no one will remember how ugly any of the wins were—only that they were wins.”

• 📈 J.P: “Results are the number one thing that matters in professional football and professional sport. Any team would take 38 boring 1-0 wins and win the Premier League, for example, over playing fancy flowing football and finishing 10th. Sport at the very top level is all about winning.”

EXTRA TIME

A failed throw-in in the last seconds of a game.

Everton v Bayern: remembering Goodison’s greatest night.

Attendance in women’s football–analysed.

Football at 7ft 3 looks like this.

Vardy’s all-time Leicester XI includes no current teammates.

Best keeper stats from the PL this season.

Liverpool’s baseball jersey for 2025-26. 

GAME FACE ON

Question: Who scored the fastest goal in FA Cup final history—just 12 seconds in?

Scroll below for the answer.

ON TODAY

Bundesliga

• Stuttgart vs Heidenheim (19:30)

Serie A

• Atalanta vs Lecce (19:45)

Ligue 1

• PSG vs Nice (19:45)

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

Answer

Ilkay Gundogan scored 12 seconds into the 2023 final for Manchester City against Manchester United. See that goal here.

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