Spanish Clubs

The Champions League final kicks off on Saturday, May 26 at 2:45 p.m. ET on FOX, and you’re a right foul git if you don’t enjoy the experience with some friends. To enliven the experience, here are some Champions League final bets that you can place amongst amigos.

It figures to be one of the most attack-minded finals of the last decade with both Zinedine Zidane and Jurgen Klopp promising to approach the match with the same principles that got them there (score a bunch, concede slightly less), so there’s a lot to be excited about in Kiev. 

Barcelona put the finishing touches on its 2017-18 La Liga title with a 1-0 victory over Real Sociedad on Sunday. Philippe Coutinho scored the lone goal with a wonder strike in the 57th minute. The match also brought Andres Iniesta’s Barca career to a close.

Fernando Torres has been enjoying one helluva send-off at Atletico Madrid. Last Wednesday, he appeared as a late substitute in Atletico’s 3-0 Europa League triumph over Marseille. Torres represented Atleti at the senior level for over 10 years, but it was the first trophy “El Niño” had lifted with his boyhood club since the Segunda Division title back in 2002.  

Today, ESPN published a Lionel Messi story by Sam Borden that’s scheduled to appear in ESPN The Magazine’s June 8 World Fame issue. The long-form article mainly concerns Messi’s off-field demeanor — he’s quiet, reclusive and prefers to express himself on the pitch. 

As most everyone expected, Antoine Griezmann and his Atletico Madrid teammates to comfortably disposed of Marseille in the Europa League final in Lyon. After Marseille attacker Valere Germain scuffed an early chance from 10 yards out, the writing was on the wall.

That was Marseille's opportunity to make it interesting, as Atletico eased to a 3-0 win behind a Griezmann brace and its stingy defense. 

In attendance was a pair of Atletico fans who had traveled to Lyon 32 years prior to see the 1986 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Final between Dynamo Kyiv and Atletico.