EUROPEAN FOOTBALL
Copa del Rey, FA Cup, DFB Pokal...cup final fever hits Europe
Domestic cup finals take place this weekend in the bulk of Europe's main leagues with the FA Cup and Spain's Copa del Rey taking centre stage.
With the exception of Italy who brought forward their Coppa Italia final due to Juventus qualifying for the June 3 Cardiff Champions League final (which they incidentally won, beating Lazio 2-0), the major European footballing powers stage their domestic cup finals this weekend.
FA Cup Final (England)
Wembley stadium on the outskirts of London is the venue for the London derby final as Arsenal face a Chelsea side looking to pull-off the "double" after Antonio Conte's men recently claimed the 2016/17 Premier League crown. The cup presents the "Gunners" a great chance to redeem a poor season with the North London side failing to secure Champions League football next season and Arsene Wenger under fire from sections of the Arsenal faithful.
Kick-off: 18:30 CEST
AS predicts: Chelsea
Copa del Rey (Spain)
Luis Enrique's final game on the Barcelona bench offers the Asturian a chance to leave the post with silverware as the curtain comes down on his three season tenure at the Catalan club. Barça will be strongly fancied to see off an Alaves side they disposed of 0-6 in Vitoria but at the same time conscious of the two nil defeat the "Azulgrana" outfit suffered in LaLiga back in September 2016.
AS predicts: FC Barcelona
DFB Pokal (Germany)
Borussia Dortmund face Eintracht Frankfurt at the Olympic stadium in Berlin with the side from the river Main the outsiders with a 7/1 price on "Die Adle" lifting the cup come 22:00. In their last meeting Dortmund comfortably saw off Eintracht with a 3-1 win at the Signal Iduna Park but we see an upset on the cards in Berlin.
Kick-off: 20:00 CEST
AS Predicts: Eintracht Frankfurt
Coupe de France (France)
Angers travel to the French capital to face a PSG side smarting from being derived of the Ligue 1 title as AS Monaco secured that honour last week with a win over St Etienne. The French cup presents an excellent opportunity for Spanish boss Unai Emery to salvage a disappointing debut campaign on the bench with rumours of a major clear-out imminent at the Parisian outfit.
Kick-off: 21:00 CEST
AS Predicts: PSG
Taça de Portugal
Sunday is D-Day in Oeiras on the outskirts of Lisbon as Benfica aim to make it 26 cup wins in their 36 finals. Fourth placed side in the Liga Nos, Vitoria Guimares stand in their way of a domestic double with both teams guaranteed European football next season.
Kick-off: 18:15 CEST
AS Predicts: Benfica
Domestic finals also take place this weekend in Serbia, Romania, Scotland, Luxembourg and Estonia.
