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đź“° Headlines:

Italy rocked by another refereeing scandal

Gianluca Rocchi, head of referees in Serie A and Serie B, has been placed under criminal investigation. He is accused of influencing VAR decisions and altering the selection of referees to favor Inter Milan.

Man City headed to a fourth straight FA Cup final

Manchester City is headed to a fourth straight FA Cup final after surviving a scare to beat second-division Southampton 2-1 at Wembley on Saturday. Nico Gonzalez’s 87th-minute winner completed a comeback after going a goal down.

Barcelona closes in on a second consecutive title

Barcelona closed in on a second straight La Liga title after a 2-0 win at Getafe on Saturday. Fermin Lopez dedicated his opener to the injured Lamine Yamal, Barca’s leading scorer who will miss the rest of the season with a muscle injury.

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⚽ The big story: Europe’s biggest clubs still endure long UCL droughts

Going years, even decades, without a trophy happens all the time. When it comes to the longest title droughts in the Champions League, Europe’s premier club competition, the list reveals a striking contrast.

A study by Sportingpedia examined all 24 teams to have won the European Cup or Champions League, tracking both their current wait since last lifting the trophy and the longest gaps multiple champions have endured between triumphs.

At the top of this unwanted list is Benfica, who now hold the longest ongoing drought at 64 years, dating back to their 1961-62 European Cup victory. They are followed by Celtic with a 59-year wait and Feyenoord at 56 years. Notably, eight of the 10 longest current droughts belong to clubs that have only ever won the competition once.

The Champions League returns this week with the opening legs of the semifinals. PSG take on Bayern Munich (UCL winners as recently as 2020), while Arsenal play Atletico Madrid. It should be noted that neither Atletico or Arsenal have ever lifted Europe’s ultimate club trophy.

At the same time, this data underlines just how European soccer’s elite competition continues to produce both enduring dominance and decades-long waits, often within the histories of the same clubs.

While those figures highlight long-standing struggles, a separate ranking tells a different story about resilience and revival. Inter Milan hold the record for the longest completed gap between two titles, ending a 45-year wait when they won the Champions League in 2009-10 — the Italian club’s first since the 1964-65 season.

Real Madrid rank second in that category, having once gone 32 years between their sixth and seventh European crowns.

Another notable detail is that Benfica and Nottingham Forest are the only multiple-time winners to feature among the top 10 longest ongoing droughts — despite both clubs winning their titles in consecutive seasons.

At the opposite end of the spectrum are the competition’s most recent champions. Paris Saint-Germain currently have the shortest wait at just one year (with a very good shot at repeating this spring), followed by Real Madrid at two years and Manchester City at three.

🔢 By the numbers:

5 — Number of La Liga draws by Real Madrid this season, the latest on Saturday in a 1-1 game at Real Betis.

45 — Days remaining before the start of the World Cup on June 11.

145 — The number of editions of the FA Cup final, which will be played on May 16 between Manchester City and Chelsea.

💬 What they’re saying:

QUOTE

“The Iranian team is coming, for sure.”

— A FIFA statement on April 23 when asked if Italy would replace Iran at the upcoming World Cup

🏆 World Cup watch: Inside the massive FIFA marketing machine

By the time the first whistle blows at the World Cup in June, the soccer tournament will already have scored its biggest victory — commercially.

Set to take place across North America in the United States, Canada and Mexico, the expanded 48-team competition is not just the largest World Cup in history by scale, but also by ambition.

Behind the scenes, a vast ecosystem of sponsorships, licensing deals and marketing campaigns will ensure that this World Cup becomes one of the most lucrative global sporting events ever staged.

The 2026 World Cup is shaping up to be more than a sporting spectacle, but a commercial powerhouse. For FIFA, the challenge is balancing revenue growth with authenticity. For brands, it’s about standing out in a very crowded field.

The tournament, according to FIFA, is projected to generate over $80 billion in global economic output, driven by 6.5 million visitors across the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

You can read the rest of this article here.

đź“ş Upcoming top games this week (all times ET):

April 27

— Manchester United vs. Brentford (EPL) at 3 p.m. (USA)

April 28

— PSG vs. Bayern Munich (UCL) at 3 p.m. (Paramount+)

April 29

— Atletico Madrid vs. Arsenal (UCL) at 3 p.m. (Paramount+)

April 30

— Corinthians vs. Penerol (Copa Libertadores) at 8 p.m. (Fanatiz)