Porto hosts Champions League final
Portugal will welcome Chelsea, Manchester City, 12,000 fans
The all-english Champions League final will be held in Porto with 12,000 fans from Chelsea and Manchester City, UEFA confirmed Thursday.
The May 29 showpiece was moved from Istanbul to the 50,000-capacity Estadio do Dragao due to England imposing tougher pandemic travel restrictions on Turkey that would have prevented fans flying in.
The initial alternative had been to use Wembley Stadium in London, but talks with the British government stalled on Monday over being able to secure quarantine waivers for the guests and broadcasters required by UEFA to attend the game.
But Portugal is among the 12 territories that England is allowing people to return from without quarantine beginning next week. UEFA said 6,000 tickets to both Chelsea and City fans would go on sale on Thursday.
MLS: Edison Flores scored his first MLS goal in the seventh minute and D.C. United beat the Chicago Fire 1-0. D.C. United (2-3-0) snapped a threegame losing streak. Chicago (0-4-1) is winless through five matches for the second time in club history — starting 0-2-6 in 2014. The Fire have not scored in three consecutive games.
Premier League: Jurgen Klopp won at Old Trafford for the first time as Liverpool breathed new life into its top-four push with a 4-2 win in the rearranged fixture against Manchester United. After anti-ownership protesters got into the ground and onto the pitch 11 days ago, further demonstrations could not stop Thursday’s fixture going ahead . ... Everton’s Europa League qualification hopes were dealt a blow by a limp 0-0 draw at Aston Villa. Everton still climbed to eighth but is two points behind fifth-placed West Ham.
German Cup: Erling Haaland and Jadon Sancho both scored twice as Borussia Dortmund withstood a second-half fightback in teeming rain to beat Leipzig 4-1 in the German Cup final. Captain Marco Reus was involved in all four goals as Dortmund won the cup for the fifth time and denied bitter rival Leipzig a first title.
Notes: Los Angeles FC attacker Carlos Vela is Major League Soccer’s highest paid player this season, with $6.3 million in total compensation, including $4.5 million in salary. LA Galaxy forward Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez is second at $6 million, all of it salary, according to figures released Thursday by the Major League Soccer Players Association. Vela was limited to seven games during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season due to a knee injury. Miami forward Gonzalo Higuain is third, with $5,793,750 in compensation, including a $5.1 million base salary, followed by Toronto midfielder Alejandro Pozuelo at $4,693,000, including $3.8 million base salary. No list was released for 2020 amid the pandemic . ... ESPN is taking over U.S. English- and Spanish-language rights to Spain’s La Liga next season as part of an eight-year agreement, ending the run of BEIN Sport’s hyperbolic color commentator Ray Hudson. La Liga, featuring Barcelona and Lionel Messi, has been televised by BEIN since the 2012-13 season, when it took over from GOLTV. Hudson, known for his liberal use of outlandish metaphors, moved from GOLTV to BEIN along with play-byplay broadcaster Phil Schoen. BEIN Sports has limited distribution in the
U.S., narrowing the visibility of Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo during league matches in the heart of their careers. Ronaldo left Real Madrid for Italy’s Juventus after the 2017-18 season. ESPN+ will stream all 380 La Liga matches next season, and some will be televised on ESPN’S broadcast networks. The deal runs through the 2028-29 season and ESPN also will televise select second-division games and the promotion playoffs . ... Former U.S. national team defender Geoff Cameron has signed a two-year contract with Cincinnati of Major League Soccer.