Archive May 30, 2025

It represents club football’s pinnacle.

On Saturday night in Munich, Paris St-Germain and Inter Milan will square off against one another for the Champions League title.

In an expanded tournament that has resulted in shocks, drama, and scores, 36 teams from all over Europe have been reduced to two after 188 matches.

Julien Laurens, a French football expert, says it’s difficult to call, especially if you’re a PSG fan. Inter have a lot of experience, which can help them win big games. Although my heart says PSG, my head is more centered and difficult to do so!

Italian football expert Mina Rzouki: I prefer PSG because Luis Enrique is a master at meistering these types of contests.

Ex-Germany midfielder Thomas Hitzlsperger, a pundit for the Champions League match of the day, and Thomas Hitzlsperger, a pundit, says: “It’s a tough one because I admire Inter very much for making it to the final and they obviously deserve to be here.”

However, I’ve seen more of Paris St-Germain, and I’ve been so impressed by how they play.

I believe they will prevail, but anything is possible because I’ve been impressed by Inter, particularly when they lost to Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals, by how well they defend and how they can endure such long periods of suffering and find the right opportunities to attack.

Laurens: I’m going for Ousmane Dembele, though Raphinha is one of the contenders. His transformation this season has been incredible. He initially appeared to be leaving, but he has.

He is a great guy in the dressing room for everything he has done and how he changed the perception we all had of him. He used to play until 3 a.m., then go to bed, and then awaken late. was behind schedule for training, and it was unpopular. When you have the skills to succeed in a professional sport and have the qualities to succeed, it wasn’t that discipline.

He finally arrived there at age 27. He married and established a lot of discipline. And Luis Enrique has done a fantastic job of making him aware that leaders must lead and act in a certain manner both on and off the pitch.

In the 1073-000 minutes of Champions League play this season, Dembele has scored eight goals, five of them on his right foot and three of his left. He also has four assists.

Rzouki deserves praise, but I’ll give it to PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma. Lamine Yamal and Ousmane Dembele deserve mention.

The Paris St-Germain goalkeeper has kept five clean sheets this season’s competition, with only Yann Sommer (seven) and David Raya (six) keeping more. He has also made some important saves during the French side’s run to the final.

Hitzlsperger: Normally, you would choose one of the finalist, but I think Raphinha because of his outstanding Barcelona performance.

I’ve been so impressed with Achraf Hakimi that it must be a PSG player.

I’m going to pick Raphinha because it’s difficult, but I’m going to do it because I’ve seen him perform exceptionally well overall.

One of two from that Barcelona team, according to Nicky Bandini, Champions League Match of the Day pundit. Everyone wants Yamal, but sometimes numbers come in, and Raphinha‘s numbers in this tournament are ridiculous.

Top assists provider and joint top scorer. And Raphinha once more scored in that absurd semi-final against Inter, when we were all enthralled by Yamal’s deeds.

Raphinha had a remarkable campaign, scoring 13 goals and adding nine assists in 14 games, despite his semi-final defeat to Inter Milan.

Laurens: Probably due to Lamine Yamal’s performance in the semi-final against Inter’s first half. We had the impression that something was magical watching.

Rzouki: Tough, but I’m going to score Francesco Acerbi’s goal in Inter Milan’s semifinal against Barcelona.

Hitzlsperger: As a fan of Aston Villa, do you mind if I mention Jhon Duran scoring against Bayern Munich? Thinking about that brings back some fond memories of Villa’s Champions League moments, which are special to all Villa fans.

Nations League: Wales vs. Denmark

Odense Stadion, Odense Date: Friday, May 30th Kick-off: 18:15 BST

Live coverage on the BBC Sport website and app, as well as live text commentary, BBC Two Wales, BBC iPlayer, BBC Radio Wales, and Radio Cymru.

In the run-up to Euro 2025, the Wales squad is already at a high level of tension.

The lowest-ranked team in Switzerland will make its debut at a major finals in less than a month.

They must avoid losing to Denmark on Friday if they want to avoid dropping out of the top tier and have yet to record a win in League A of the Nations League.

With matches against former champions, current champions, and traditional women’s football powerhouses in store this summer, it’s important to keep in mind that Wales have never been able to win a game in the top 20 of Fifa’s rankings.

Despite the strides they have made, the Welsh camp’s mood is more determined than resolute.

With just two games left before Denmark take on a team that is ranked 12th in the world, head coach Rhian Wilkinson declared, “This team is ready to win, let me tell you.”

As Wilkinson and Wales prepared for a city full of opportunities for inspiration, they looked it too.

And while talking about fairytales in Hans Christian Andersen’s birthplace is tempting, there is more significance in the case of another son of Odense, whose name is adorned a stand above the venue where Wales will play.

The stadium’s entrance is a tribute to Richard Moller-Nielsen’s monumental accomplishment, the country’s 1992 greatest shock, as it was led by the manager.

A team that wasn’t supposed to compete in the men’s European Championship won.

A side that has undoubtedly earned the right to be at this point and is fervent about improving should therefore be reminded of the possibilities.

Wales have consistently been competitive this time around, despite their most recent defeats in League A.

“Every game is a challenging game against opponents who have won numerous Euros and World Cups,” said captain Angharad James.

They are progressing, and there is proof of it.

Italy and Denmark both lost to Wales by one goal. They had a great chance to defeat Denmark in Cardiff a month prior, but they were soon to concede.

And they came back from a 1-1 draw with Sweden in Wrexham with a top-notch performance in Gothenburg that gave the same result.

They have appeared defensively sound, caused issues on the counter, rarely overawed, and are aware of where they need to improve if they want to match opponents’ strengths instead of defeating them.

“This is where we want to be,” Wilkinson remarked. Now that they understand that their position is among the best in Europe and those top nations, “These teams consistently have high scores, but these are tight margins.”

Some people claim that the draw with Sweden could have been Wales’ best ever, but it’s only “so-far,” because it’s going to keep getting better. “We want to keep getting better, we’re not going to celebrate getting ties with big nations,” he said.

James expressed his desire to know more about the side, which was aided by Wilkinson’s commendable decision to provide young people with experience during this campaign.

Rhiannon Roberts was one of the people to acknowledge this week that Wales will need to be more clinical in front of goals to improve their defensive record if they are to capture the statement victory.

The Real Betis defender said, “The foundations are there, defensively we’ve been fantastic, and now we need to put a little more pressure on ourselves to take our chances,”

“But we already have the mentality to defeat these opponents.”

Wales only needs to demonstrate that it can take the scalp, even though Wilkinson denied that it is necessary before Switzerland.