Summary
Time to wrap this up for today, but never fear, there is more football on the way. I will be back shortly with England v Sweden – LIVE – in qualifying for Women’s Euro 2025.
Please do join me for that. Below are today’s football pieces, just in case you missed anything. Bye for now.
Updated
Athletic Bilbao will look to end a painful 40-year title drought when they face Real Mallorca in Seville on Saturday.
After losing to Basque rivals Real Sociedad in 2020 and Barcelona in 2021, Bilbao have reached their 40th Spanish Cup final while also bidding for a top-four La Liga finish under Ernesto Valverde.
Unbeaten at home since August, the Basque club are fifth and in a rich vein of form which has cheered their fans set to invade the streets of the southern city. More than 82,000 Basque supporters are expected to travel to Seville, half of them without tickets, for the match at a sold-out La Cartuja stadium which holds 60,000 spectators.
Bilbao fans will outnumber Mallorca’s four to one, according to Spanish authorities who have set up a special operation with 1,500 officers to police just over 100,000 supporters expected, with hotels and restaurants fully booked. Mallorca are aiming for only the second major trophy in their history after their Copa del Rey win in 2003.
Bilbao last won silverware in 1984, when they beat Barcelona 1-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu to lift their 23rd Copa del Rey, still the second most behind Barca with 31. Bilbao are the fourth oldest Spanish club and among three never to be relegated, alongside Real Madrid and Barcelona, while staying loyal to their philosophy of only fielding players of Basque origin. (Reuters)
