Bayern 1-3 Eintracht Frankfurt | Kovac delivers first trophy in 30 years and EL spot

StickyGerman Football

Eintracht Frankfurt denied Bayern Munich and Jupp Heynckes a League and Cup double as they upset the Bavarian giants 3-1 in the DFB Pokal final. Frankfurt, who had lost the 2017 final to Dortmund, picked up the win thanks to Ante Rebic’s double, and will be competing in the Europa League season. Their manager, Niko Kovac, will be Bayern’s manager next season, and his first competitive game might be against his former charges when the two lock horns in the Super Cup.

It was a disappointing result for Bayern, who had been undefeated in their last fourteen games against Frankfurt going into this final in Berlin.

Heynckes Kovac

VAR again played a factor with Bayern claiming that Rebic’s second goal shouldn’t have been allowed because of a handball in the buildup. They were further incensed when Boateng’s kick on Martinez was not deemed worth of a penalty, with referee Felix Zwayer awarding a corner instead.

It was Bayern’s second straight loss in their new kit after falling to Stuttgart on the final day of the 17/18 league season. Perhaps, one could say, their minds weren’t quite in it after their agonising defeat in the semifinals of the Champions League to Real Madrid

Bayern 1 (Lewandowski) lost to Frankfurt (Rebic x2, Gacinovic)

Chelsea 1:0 Manchester United | Hazard penalty seals Wembley triumph

StickyUK Football

Antonio Conte delivered silverware to Chelsea for the second season in succession as the Blues produced a resolute defensive performance to beat Manchester United at Wembley in the FA Cup final. A defensive error from Phil Jones against Eden Hazard, leading to the centre-back clumsily bringing the Belgian down, saw Michael Oliver point to the spot, and the Chelsea playmaker easily converted his own penalty.

United, for whom Romelu Lukaku was only fit enough for the bench, had their chances, with Rashford’s one and one, and Pogba missing a header when unmarked. However Chelsea were defensively resolute, with the likes of Kante, Rudiger and Courtois all having strong games, and far too many of United’s big name players went missing on a day the Red Devils needed them to perform. There was to be no repeat of the comeback they produced against Spurs at this same venue in the semis.

Hazard

England manager Gary Southgate will be hoping that the Jones-Hazard scenario does not play out in the World Cup next month (the Three Lions are in the same group as Belgium)

Nani, Eder, Andre Gomes fail to make cut as Portugal announce squad

StickyInternational Football

Nani, Eder and Andre Gomes were among the big names missing out as Portugal announced their 23 man squad for the World Cup. Other notable exclusions were Ruben Neves, who has had a stellar reason with Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Championship and Nelson Semedo.

A total of 10 players who were in the Seleccao’s Euro 2016 winning squad failed to make the cut, with Danilo, Renato Sanches, Eduardo, Ricardo Carvalho, Eliseu, Vierinha and Rafa Silva also excluded by coach Fernando Santos.

Portugal Squad

Hoffenheim 3:1 Dortmund | TSG qualify for Champions League

StickyGerman Football

An impressive performance from TSG 1899 Hoffenheim saw them beat Borussia Dortmund 3:1 and book their spot in the group stages of the 2018/19 Champions League. The result means that Hoffenheim will become the 13th different German team to appear in the main CL tournament (only Spain have had as many representatives)

At the beginning of the day, Hoffenheim, Dortmund and Leverkusen were all in with a shout, but TSG took third with their win, while Dortmund also qualified thanks to their superior goal difference, with Leverkusen’s 3:2 win over Hannover going in vain.

The 30.150 fans present at the Rhein Neckar Arena were delighted at the final whistle, as the pic below shows you.

TSG BVB

It was a disappointing end to the campaign for BVB, who failed to beat any of their fellow top-six sides in the league. It was also veteran goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller’s final game for the club- he was a late substitute for Roman Burki.

Hoffenheim 3 (Kramaric, Szalai, Kaderabek) beat Dortmund 1 (Reus)

Hamburg relegated from Bundesliga; HSV’s top flight stay comes to an end

StickyGerman Football

Hamburg’s record of being the only Bundesliga club to have never been relegated from the top flight was broken as they were sent down by Wolfsburg’s 4:1 win over Koln. HSV needed to beat Borussia Monchengladbach, which they did, thanks to goals from Aaron Hunt and Lewis Holtby, but they also needed the Wolves to lose, but the latter triumphed at the Volkswagen Arena to send HSV down. Koln were also relegated while Wolfsburg will play a promotion-relegation playoff against Holstein Kiel.

HSV Relegated

Hamburg have flirted with relegation in the last four seasons but have always managed to pull a rabbit out the hat, but this time, there was to be no great escape for the northern outfit, who have suffered their first Bundesliga relegation since the competition was formed in 1963.

They had beaten Wolfsburg on the final day of the season to stay up in 16/17, and survived the playoffs in 2015 and 2016. Three managers have been in charge this season- Markus Gisdol, Bernd Hollerbach andChristian Titz.

Hamburg 2 (Hunt pen, Holtby) beat Borussia Monchengladbach (Drmic)

Bobby Wood sent off for Hamburg in the 71st minute of the game.