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The new Minnesota United stadium, Allianz Field, is finally open. And the Minnesotans opened it in style.

Allianz Field is the new pinnacle of soccer stadiums in the U.S. At $250 million, it’s the most expensive soccer-specific stadium in the country’s history. It seats 19,400, has 96 beer taps (is that enough?), lights up at night and is absolutely gorgeous. 

In the first game in the new stadium, the Loons unveiled an epic tifo that summed up the feelings of a city that’s waited a long time for this.

Olympique Lyonnais Féminin, or just the Lyon women for short, is the best team in Europe. Lyon has won three straight Champions Leagues (five since 2011) and the last 12 (yes, a full dozen) Division 1 Féminine league titles. 

You can now add a new attendance record to the list of Lyon triumphs.

Lyon hosted Paris Saint-Germain in what was essentially the title decider on Saturday at Parc Olympique Lyonnais, which later this summer will host the Women’s World Cup semifinals and final.

It hasn’t been a good start to the season in Vancouver. Still without a win, the Whitecaps welcomed the LA Galaxy to BC Place on Friday night. 

The match actually started well for the home side, which was immediately awarded a penalty kick. But left back Ali Adnan’s awful Panenka attempt failed and the Canadian fans began to turn on their team.

Dare to Zlatan?  pic.twitter.com/dWYPWlthkj

Nashville SC was recently awarded MLS status for the 2020 season. Expansion clubs in the recent past have quickly worked to build soccer-specific stadiums (Orlando SC, LAFC and Minnesota United). Nashville's currently playing in the USL Championship, and the club announced that it will be building the biggest soccer-specific stadium in the U.S. on the Nashville fairgrounds.

The initial renderings of the stadium looked pretty raw, but still interesting: full roofing and upper/lower decks and an assumed capacity of around 27,500.

It's not everyday that you see a women’s professional team pack a stadium, especially women’s soccer. However, the reigning Serie A Women champion packed the house this past Sunday during its match against Fiorentina, reaching an Italian record of 39,027 fans in attendance. 


Everybody knew the atmosphere inside Nippert Stadium for FC Cincinnati’s home debut in MLS would be special, but a 3-0 victory over 2018 MLS Cup finalists Portland Timbers made it an unforgettable afternoon for a capacity crowd of 32,500. 

Should we mention that over in Columbus on Saturday, the Crew drew 9,687 fans for a match against FC Dallas, a difference of 22,813? Don’t shoot the messenger.

Yesterday, Barcelona opened a ten-point gap at the top of LaLiga with only ten matches remaining, all but guaranteeing the club’s fourth league title in five years. The performance that earned the cushion was a 4-1 away victory over Real Betis at the Benito Villamarín, and all four Barca goals were of the highest order.

Things are building nicely for FC Cincinnati ahead of its home opener against the Portland Timbers on Sunday. The expansion side produced the shock of Week Two when forcing defending MLS Cup champs Atlanta United to settle for a 1-1 draw at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, and FCC’s upcoming opposition is still without a win after getting thumped 4-1 by LAFC.