Everybody loves the Great Old Underdog Story, and ahead of their Champions League final encounter against Bayern Munich tonight, Borussia Dortmund are the Perfect Protagonists of that tale. From Robert Lewandowski to Marco Reus, these characters all have an important part to play in the culmination of what could just be a fairytale ending for Jurgen Klopp's men.
Italian side AS Roma have sent us a bunch of documents explaining the concept behind the club's "new logo". Interesting timing, given the fact that they were fined 50,000 euros ($64,085) for racist behaviour by fans in last Sunday's Serie A match against AC Milan. The match had to be stopped for two minutes before a warning was issued over the public address system, but AS Roma came out on Monday to condemn the "appalling" behaviour of their Curva Sud ultras.
It's time for your Weekly Dose of Gossip! In this week's column, Pato celebrates the Campeonato with a special message for Barbara, The Rooneys welcome a new baby boy to the pack, Irina Shayk attends Cannes and Man City players get turned away from a popular hotspot in New York City!
Despite not being called up to Brazil's Confederations Cup squad, AlexandrePato was grinning from ear-to-ear as his Corinthians side defeated Santos to win the prized Paulistao championship in Brazil on Sunday.
The calm and perpetually pensive Manuel Pellegrini has confirmed that he is leaving Malaga at the end of the season. Sure, half the Spanish broadsheets had been chanting "Manchester City!" since the start of the year, but Pellegrini's own statements about his departure and own objectives for next season hardly correlates with a team like City.
Ahead of this weekend's crucial Champions League encounter between Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, here are a selection of tattoos from the hardcore Dortmund fans who'll be hoping to create history this weekend. After going through the motions of getting them inked, it'd better be all worth it!
The music was thumping,Insúa was busting out some crazy dance moves (they were not bad, actually) and a flustered Falcao needed to be followed around by four security guards. "El tiempo para fieeesta!!"is the best phrase to describe the mood within the Atletico Madrid squad at the moment.
Germany and Bayern Munich captain Philipp Lahm visited the FIFA Headquarters in Zurich earlier this week and gave an interesting interview, where he spoke about his charity foundation, the Champions League final and winning the World Cup next year (in Brazil?!)
On the Champions League Final
"Everything has to come together for a Champions League final.
It was the final day of the Premiership season last night, an event traditionally billed as a 'family affair' of sorts over the years.
And naturally, after a long and highly memorable season, the likes of Steven Gerrard, Luis Suarez and Fernando Torres all took the chance to soak in the atmosphere of the fans and allowed their little ones to run amok all over the pitch!
It took them 14 years to beat Real Madrid, but Atletico Madrid did in the grandest and most magnificent manner last night: At The Copa del Rey final. If you are a long-suffering fan of Los Colchoneros, Atletico's achievement at the Bernabeu belonged to you!
It's going to be La Furia de Madrid literally, and figuratively tonight as Real and Atletico battle it out to become Copa del Rey champions at Santiago Bernabeu.
With Barcelona picking up the league title over the weekend, Los Blancos will be pulling out all the stops to ensure that they win their one and only trophy of the season before Jose Mourinho starts ordering more Ikea boxes.
Let's get this out of the way it is a sad day when David Beckham announces he is retiring from football at the end of the season. Oh come on, amid arrogant statements like : "He wasn't a footballer anyway" (right then, so it was a Hockey Stick that won those six titles with Man United!
Chelsea's 2-1 victory over Benfica in the Europa League final last night meant that they were the first English club to win all three of UEFA's major trophies. And the King Of Big Finals, Fernando Torres, naturally had a part to play in it when he slotted in the 59th minute. Luis Suarez's BFF, Branislav Ivanovic, later capped it off by scoring the winner in stoppage time.
It must be strange to know that you'll be playing in both the Championship and Europa League next season. That's Wigan's predicament at the moment the irony of 21st century football, if you will, after a miserable 4-1 defeat in the hands of Arsenal last night.
The Gunners, who were clearly gunning for Champions League football, needed a victory as badly as Wigan .
It's Offbeat Wednesday, your Weekly Gossip Special! This week, Sara Carbonero campaigns against domestic violence, Javi Martinez parties it up with Maria Imízcoz, The Rooneys take to the pitch and Xabi Alonso celebrates Mother's Day with his family and Nagore Aranburu.
With her pregnancy delivery date looming closer, Coleen Rooney ditched her 6-inch high heels for flat shoes at Man United's 20th Premier League celebrations on Sunday.
