Since the format of the former Champions Cup was changed to allow more than just league champions (plus the defending tournament winner), the final has paired teams from the same country several times. In 2014 and ’16, Real Madrid defeated Atletico Madrid in the Champions final. Sevilla FC won the Europa League in both of those years, as well.

The Premier is not the first league to claim European primacy, though.

After 28 years, the Premier League has finally validated its name. All four finalists in the Champions League and Europa League are from the Premier, marking the first time teams from the same country will be matched in both title games.


The Premier League, established as a rebrand of the First Division in 1991, is guaranteed to match that double this year, with Liverpool and Tottenham in the Champions League in Madrid June 1, and Arsenal and Chelsea in the Europa League in Baku next Tuesday.

But none of the four finalists was the best team in England this season. That designation went to Manchester City, which finished in first place in the Premier, and also won the Charity Shield, FA Cup, and League Cup.

The Citizens closed the season with a remarkable run: They went 21-1-1 in all competitions from February on. Man City defeated Chelsea on penalty kicks in the League Cup final Feb. 24. Then, Manchester City lost at Tottenham, 1-0, and was eliminated on away goals after a 4-3 home victory over Spurs in the Champions quarterfinals. City appeared to have converted the deciding goal in the 90th minute of the home leg against Spurs, but the score was nullified by an offside.

Manchester City commemorated the “Quadruple” with T-shirts reading “Fourmidable” during a two-hour parade featuring the team and coach Pep Guardiola.

But missing out on the Champions final leaves a blank in the Manchester City trophy case (though it does relieve marketers from a challenging wordplay allusion to a fifth trophy).


There is still a ways to go before catching city rival Manchester United (20 league championships, 12 FA Cups, three European Champions titles).

And before City’s Abu Dhabi-based ownership started investing billions of pounds in the club in 2008, supporters would have been more than content with the team’s domestic record; four of the Citizens’ six English League titles and four of their six FA Cups have been won since then. Expectations have risen, and falling short in the Champions League is considered a disappointment for Manchester City.

Captain Vincent Kompany played his last game for City in a 6-0 victory over Watford in the FA Cup final. Kompany, 33, returning to his original club, RSC Anderlecht, was part of the current Man City ownership’s first recruiting group. The feature player of that group was Brazilian Robinho, who was contracted Sept. 1, 2008, the same day Tufts graduate Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak took over as club chairman.

Arena standing by

Bruce Arena will not be involved in Revolution practices until next week, in preparation for the team’s visit to Los Angeles to play his former team, the Galaxy, on June 2. Arena was named Revolution sporting director and head coach May 14, but the team is still being guided by interim coach Mike Lapper.

Arena is expected to attend the Revolution’s game Saturday against another of his former teams, D.C. United, at Gillette Stadium.


Lapper has guided the Revolution to a 1-0-1 mark since replacing Brad Friedel. The Revolution (3-8-3, 12 points) have had mostly good luck with interim coaches. Steve Nicol had interim status as he guided the team to the 2002 MLS Cup final and Tom Soehn compiled a 3-1-1 record after replacing Jay Heaps in 2017.

Tender tendons

After Chelsea midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek ruptured an Achilles’ tendon, questions were raised about the wisdom of the team’s visit to the Revolution for a charity match last week. A combination of excessive activity (Chelsea played five games in four cities in three countries in two weeks) and unfavorable playing conditions (temporary grass laid over an artificial surface) was blamed for Loftus-Cheek’s injury.

The intentions of raising funds in a “Final Whistle on Hate” game were admirable, but the planning of the Revolution-Chelsea contest could have been better.

Coincidentally, Chelsea’s Callum Hudson-Odoi ruptured an Achilles’ tendon in a Europa League match against Eintracht Frankfurt at Stamford Bridge last month. Both Hudson-Odoi, 18, and Loftus-Cheek, 23, developed in Chelsea’s youth academy and are valued at 25 million euros by transfermarkt.com.

National duty

Revolution assistant coach Marcelo Neveleff is set to move to the Dominican Republic national team next month. Among Neveleff’s priorities will be to recruit Raul de Tomas, who played once for Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey and for Zinedine Zidane at Real Madrid Castilla. De Tomas performed alongside Hector Bellerin, Gerard Deulofeu, Santi Mina, and Saul Niguez on Spanish junior national teams. But his chances seem slim of earning a call to the full Spanish national team.