News

May 09, 2023

It's Champions League final week but the silly season never stops with Messi rumors, Benzema to Saudi Arabia

Happy Monday and welcome to the last week of the European club season. I'm Mike

Happy Monday and welcome to the last week of the European club season. I'm Mike Goodman and this is the Golazo Starting XI newsletter. It all culminates with a Champions League final on Saturday between Inter and Manchester City, but we've got plenty to get to before then ...

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All times U.S./Eastern

Monday, June 5🇩🇪 Bundesliga qualification: Hamburger SV vs. VfB Stuttgart, 2:45 p.m. ➡️ ESPN+🇧🇷 Brasileirão: Vasco Da Gama vs. Flamengo, 7 p.m. ➡️ Paramount+🇺🇸 NWSL: Angel City FC vs. Chicago Red Stars, 10 p.m. ➡️ Paramount+

Tuesday, June 6🇺🇸 Open Cup: FC Cincinatti vs. Pittsburgh Riverhounds, 7 p.m. ➡️ B/R App🇺🇸 Open Cup: Chicago Fire vs. Houston Dynamo, 8:30 p.m. ➡️ CBS Sports Golazo Network

The festival of offseason moves is already beginning before the club season is even over. The biggest story is centered around the amount of money that Saudi Arabia is throwing around. Karim Benzema is set to follow Cristiano Ronaldo to the Saudi Pro League. Lionel Messi may not be far behind. But with the ink on the season not even dry yet, there are plenty of other moves heating up as well, both players and managers. Let's look at some of the big ones that might get done this week:

These early deals are the easy ones. They're the kinds of situations where a free agent knows where they want to go, or a player has a buy-out clause making negotiations easy. As the days and weeks of the summer stretch on though, the tougher deals will start to come to the fore. Deals with multiple bidders, or where players want to leave and teams don't want to let them. With Bayern Munich and Real Madrid both in the market for strikers, and Liverpool looking to further buff up their midfield, and with lord only knowing what Chelsea are doing, many of the world's biggest clubs are sure to be splashing some serious cash as player movement picks up. It's going to be a very silly season indeed.

We're five days out from the Champions League final, which of course you'll be able to watch Saturday on CBS and Paramount+, complete with plenty of leadup to the big match on CBS Sports Golazo Network as well, including a special special edition of Morning Footy in the afternoon.

The match itself is a truly old school classic story of gritty underdog against a heavy favorite. Manchester City are -225 to win the title match outright (odds courtesy of Caesars Sportsbook). You cannot find another side in the last 20 years to enter the competition with shorter odds. That's not to say upsets can't happen, though. And for inspiration, Inter can look at Chelsea twice. It was only two years ago that Chelsea entered the final with +332 odds and defeated this very same Manchester City side to take the crown. Or then there was the 2011-12 season when Bayern entered the final as -143 favorite and some Chelsea managed to fight out a draw and then get to penalties before famously winning it all. So, yes, Inter have a huge hill to climb, but huge hills have been climbed before, and who doesn't love watching an underdog try and make history.

Now let's get to the links:

🔗 The USA U-20 side crashed out of the World Cup quarterfinals, Chuck Booth breaks it down.🔗 Zlatan Ibrahimovic is officially retiring.🔗 Karim Benzema made it official, he's leaving Real Madrid.🔗 Barcelona staged an epic comeback to win the UEFA Women's Champions League.🔗 After a disappointing four years, Eden Hazard is out at Real Madrid.🔗 Cristo Fernandez of Ted Lasso joined the Morning Footy crew and Alexis Guerrero wants everybody to know he smells amazing.🔗 Should Messi come to MLS? The Morning Footy crew debates whether the U.S. is the best place for the world's biggest star.🔗 NJ/NY Gotham hosted San Diego Wave on Sunday and set a new attendance record in a 1-0 loss.🔗 Should Washington Spirit's Ashley Sanchez make the USWNT World Cup squad? Charlie Davies breaks it down.🔗 Manchester City cruised to an FA Cup victory over Manchester United, keeping their potential treble hopes alive.🔗 In Soccer We Trust: Don't miss the crew sitting down with Fabrizio Romano to talk American transfers🔗 House of Champions: The team reacts to Karim Benzema leaving Real Madrid.🔗 Attacking Third: It's week 10 recap time with Sandra Herrera joined by Jordan Angeli

All odds courtesy of Caesars Sportsbook and all times U.S./Eastern. SportsLine has you covered with cup final bets..