Welcome to today's edition of Slide Rule Pass, a daily digest delivering concise recaps of the latest football news. Here's what's making headlines today:
Saka Returns
Arsenal beat Fulham 2-1 to keep whatever slim title hopes they have alive in the English Premier League. The win was marked by Bukayo Saka's return after a lengthy spell on the sidelines due to injury. Arsenal's starboy did not waste any time in coming up to speed as he scored Arsenal's second goal of the night just seven minutes after his introduction. His return will be good news for Arsenal fans as they turn their attention to their Champions League clash with Real Madrid. Unfortunately, the night was marred by Arsenal's Gabriel Magalhães limping off with an injury that may see him miss the Real Madrid tie.
El Clasico Copa Del Rey Final
Barcelona beat Atletico Madrid 1-0 to qualify for the final of the Copa Del Rey. The tie finished 5-4 on aggregate in favour of Barcelona after an intense first leg finished 4-4. Real Madrid also qualified for the final by beating Real Sociedad 1-0 after a first leg that ended 4-4 as well. The symmetry is fitting as both teams are now set to face each other in the final in another installment of the pulsating fixture that is El Clásico.
DFB-Pokal Upsets
The German DFB-Pokal cup saw upsets in its semifinal ties as Arminia and VFB Stuttgart beat Bayer Leverkusen and RB Leipzig, respectively, to set up a final between the underdogs. Leverkusen, 2nd on the Bundesliga table, and Leipzig, who are 6th, were widely regarded as the favourites to advance through their respective ties to the final. Stuttgart are 11th on the table, and their win over Leipzig is certainly impressive, but not as impressive as Arminia's win. Arminia currently compete in 3. Liga, the third tier of German professional football. Their fans will be in dreamland, and a win on the 24th of May in the final will put the icing on the cake of this fairytale cup run.
Osimhen Eyes EPL Move
Nigerian striker is reportedly eyeing a move to the English Premier League this summer. Goal reports that the prolific striker was approached by Juventus, who are reportedly looking to move on from Dusan Vlahovic in the summer, but he turned down the Italian giants. The striker has spent the season on loan at Galatasaray having fallen out with parent club Napoli last year. He has 28 goals and 5 assists in 32 appearances for the Turkish giants already this season and will surely attract a lot of interest from top clubs in the summer.
Barcelona In Financial Trouble Again
The Spanish tier 1 footballing body La Liga has released a statement saying that FC Barcelona does not meet the financial requirements to register two players in their squad. According to the statement, Dani Olmo and Pau Victor cannot be in the Barcelona squad because the club does not pass the Financial Fair Play rules necessary to register them. The players were initially registered because Barcelona announced revenue generated by selling a VIP section of the Camp Nou for 100 million Euros as profit to enable them to meet the rules. La Liga alleges that the money does not show up as revenue on their latest audited financial reports and so the players cannot be registered. Club president Joan Laporta has fired back, saying that La Liga is trying to damage the club's image and that they've done everything by the book.
Stay tuned for more updates in the next Slide Rule Pass, your concise daily digest of the biggest football stories.
