02 Jun Soccer Insights – June Vol. 1

European Cups are settled, Santos Laguna win Liga MX, Sevilla wins the Europa League and the U-20 World Cup kicks-off. Here’s all the action from another exciting week of soccer.

Europa League

Sevilla defeated Dnipro in a thrilling game full of goals and emotions. The Ucranian side surprised everyone by scoring first, but Sevilla came back to score twice, only to receive an equalizer before the half time. Carlos Bacca scored the third and decisive goal during the second half to secure Sevilla’s fourth Europa league title and grant them a place in next season’s UEFA Champions League.

FA Cup

Arsenal defended their FA Cup champions title by defeating Aston Villa 4-0 in this year’s final.  Goals by Theo Walcott, Alexis Sánchez, Per Mertesacker and Olivier Giroud gave the Gunners their 12th FA Cup, a record number in England.

Copa del Rey

Barcelona completed another step towards their desired treble, as they won the Copa del Rey in Xavi Hernández’s last ever game at the Camp Nou. An outstanding performance by Lionel Messi secured a 3-1 victory over Athletic Club, who couldn’t do much to stop Barça’s powerful attacks.

DFB Cup

In Germany, Jürgen Klopp managed his last game as Borussia Dortmund coach in the DFB Cup final against Wolfsburg. The game didn’t go according to his plans, as his side fell by a 3-1 score. The German coach is said to be taking a sabbatical year before signing for any other club.

Serie A

Results 

Table

Talking points

• Lazio defeated Napoli in a vibrant game to claim the third and final Champions League qualification spot.
• Rafael Benitez announced that he would be leaving Napoli after the game with Lazio, and is being strongly rumored to be Real Madrid’s next head coach.
• Juventus conceded a late equalizer against Chievo Verona ahead of their UCL Final game against Barcelona.

U-20 World Cup

New Zealand U-20 World Cup kicked-off last Friday. Youth stars from all over the world are showing their bests skills to try and reach glory. United States has already secured qualification to the knockout stage. Colombia, Brazil, Uruguay and Honduras won their debut games; Mexico and Argentina complicated their options by losing one game each.

MLS

Results

Tables

Eastern Conference

Western Conference

Talking points

• Sebastian Giovinco led Toronto FC’s victory over San Jose Earthquakes, assisting Morrow and Moore in their two goals from the 3-1 score.
• Sporting Kansas extended their unbeaten run, now defeating FC Dallas and getting closer to the top of the Western Conference.
• New York City continues showing low performances in the league. From 13 games played, they have won one, tied five and lost seven.

Liga MX

Santos Laguna won the Clausura 2015 title in a rather unusual final. In the first game they dominated Querétaro with ease and won 5-0 with four goals scored by Javier “Chuletita” Orozco. Things seemed to be settled, but Querétaro showed a whole different face during the second game, winning 3-0 and being close to what could have been an epic come-back.

Copa Libertadores

The semifinalists have been decided. River Plate (Argentina) will face Guaraní (Paraguay), while Internacional (Brazil) will confront Tigres (Mexico). These games will be played after the Copa America, as some players will be attending to it.

What to look out for next week

• UEFA Champions League – The moment has come, Juventus and Barcelona will battle for the UCL on Saturday at 2:45 p.m. ET.
• U-20 World Cup – Latin American teams will play this week to define their future in the tournament.
• Women’s World Cup – Women’s national teams action will kick-off on Saturday with Canada vs China and New Zealand vs Netherlands.
• MLS – Two canadian teams will face each each other this Thursday when Vacouver Whitecaps pays a visit to Montreal Impact.
• International friendly: Mexico will face Perú on Thursday at 1:00 a.m. ET and Brazil on Sunday at 8:00 p.m. ET. both games were planned as preparation ahead of the Copa América.