Cup final bonanza in Europe – Barcelona and Dortmund in action
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Cup final magic will be well and truly in the air this weekend, with no fewer than five major showpieces taking place.
Sitting alongside the Emirates FA Cup is Spain’s Copa del Rey, Germany’s DFB Pokal, France’s Coupe de France, and Portugal’s Taca de Portugal.
So, while Arsenal and Chelsea meet at Wembley, we’re taking a look over at proceedings across the Channel…
Spain – Copa del Rey, Saturday 20:30
Barcelona v Deportivo Alaves
With Real Madrid surprisingly knocked out in the quarter-finals by Celta Vigo, Barcelona have been heavy favourites in the Copa del Rey for some time.
And after missing out on La Liga to their fierce rivals, Lionel Messi and co will be even more determined to end the season with some silverware.
That should be bad news for Alaves, but this might not be so straight-forward for the Catalan giants.
Alaves ended the season on a seven-game unbeaten run, finished a handy ninth, and have a history of producing thrilling Cup finals, having taken Liverpool to a 5-4 thriller in the 2001 UEFA Cup Final.
Germany – DFB Pokal, Saturday 19:00
Eintracht Frankfurt v Borussia Dortmund
Frankfurt needed penalties to see off Borussia Monchengladbach in the semi-finals, and they’ll have been relieved to see Borussia Dortmund defeat Bayern Munich.
Dortmund are regulars here, and this is their fourth-straight appearance in the final, while Frankfurt haven’t been this far since 2006.
The Eagles have defeated BvB in two of the last three meetings, but haven’t won their last four games.
France – Coupe de France, Saturday 20:00
Angers v Paris Saint-Germain
After hammering a much-weakened Monaco side 5-0 in the semi-finals, Paris Saint-Germain can make up for missing out on the Ligue 1 title to their Principality rivals.
Out to stop them are Angers, a side who are consistently inconsistent. They very much blow hot or cold, and lost all five league games in April.
They ended the campaign with two wins on the spin however – including a fine success at Nice – but have lost each of the last three meetings with the capital outfit.
Portugal – Taca de Portugal, Sunday 17:15
Benfica v Guimaraes
On paper this clash is first place Benfica v fourth place Vitoria Guimaraes.
But the final is unlikely to be so close. Benfica finished a full 20 points ahead of their cup final rivals as they won the Portuguese league for the 36th time.
And even more damning for Guimaraes, is that they were hammered 5-0 by the Lisbon giants just a fortnight ago.
Fancy the favourites to do the business this weekend?
We go 6/4 on Dortmund, Barcelona, Benfica and PSG all to win.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing
