THE SOCCER REPORT

Liverpool win sixth Champions League; summer of soccer begins

Liverpool win sixth Champions League; summer of soccer begins
Courtesy adidas

Liverpool F.C. are back at the top of European football after winning their sixth Champions League, standing alone as the third on the list behind A.C. Milan's nine and Real Madrid's 13 UCL trophies. Now the world moves on to international soccer with the upcoming summer that features World Cup qualifiers, the UEFA Nations League, Euro 2020 qualifiers, the Concacaf Gold Cup, Copa Libertadores and the FIFA Women's World Cup.

UEFA Champions League

Tottenham 0-2 Liverpool: 2019 Champions League Final Recap with Highlights, Goals, and Best Momentswww.youtube.com

Liverpool capped off an incredible season with a 2-0 win over fellow Premier League side Tottenham in the UEFA Champions League final on Saturday. A final that wasn't the best watch for the neutral fan saw the Reds pick up an important piece of silverware and the club's first European crown since the 2005 Champions League final.

Jurgen Klopp's men were awarded a penalty in the first minute of the match and never looked back after goalscorer Mo Salah put them in the lead. Despite a rally in the second half by Spurs, Divock Origi would ice the match in the 87th minute.

UEFA Europa League

Chelsea 4-1 Arsenal: 2019 Europa League Final Recap with Highlights, Goals, and Best Momentswww.youtube.com

Chelsea were the English side victorious in the other final this past week, one that saw London rivals face off for the secondary European crown. A stalemate in Baku, Azerbaijan for the first half ended with a 4-1 Chelsea rout thanks in part to an Eden Hazard double. The Belgian has been linked to departing the Premier League and joining Spanish side Real Madrid this summer.

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Major League Soccer

East top seven: 1. Philadelphia (28), 2. D.C. United (27), 3. Atlanta (26), 4. NY Red Bulls (24), 5. Montreal (24), 6. NYCFC (20), 7. Toronto (18)

West top seven: 1. LAFC (37), 2. LA Galaxy (28), 3. Seattle (26), 4. Houston (24), 5. FC Dallas (21), 6.Minnesota (21), 7. Real Salt Lake (19)

Scoring leader: 16 - Carlos Vela (LAFC)

Assists leader: 10 - Carlos Vela (LAFC)

National Women's Soccer League

Standings: 1. Washington Spirit (16), 2. Portland Thorns (14), 3. Utah Royals (13), 4. North Carolina Courage (12), 5. Chicago Red Stars (11), 6. Houston Dash (11), 7. Seattle Reign (10), 8. Sky Blue FC (2), 9. Orlando Pride (1)

Scoring leader: 6 - Sam Kerr (Chicago)

Assists leader: 3 - Jaelene Hinkle (North Carolina) / Meghan Klingenberg (Portland) / Yuki Nagasato (Chicago)

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Upcoming Matches (All Times CT):

Tuesday, June 4

10:30 a.m. - [FIFA U20 World Cup] France vs. USA (FS2)

Wednesday, June 5

1:45 p.m. - [UEFA Nations League] Portugal vs. Switzerland (ESPN2, Univision Deportes)

6 p.m. - [International Friendly] USA vs. Jamaica (FS1)

6:30 p.m. - [MLS] Montreal vs. Seattle (ESPN+)

7:30 p.m. - [International Friendly] Brazil vs. Qatar (beIN Sports)

Thursday, June 6

1:45 p.m. - [UEFA Nations League] Netherlands vs. England (ESPN2, Univision Deportes)

Friday, June 7

2:00 p.m. - [FIFA Women's World Cup] France vs. South Korea (FS1, Telemundo)

7:00 p.m. - [International Friendly] Argentina vs. Nicaragua (beIN Sports)

Saturday, June 8

8:00 a.m. - [FIFA Women's World Cup] Germany vs. China (FS1, Telemundo)

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Braves beat Houston in extra innings, 5-4. Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images.

Marcell Ozuna hit his major league-leading eighth homer and Orlando Arcia’s RBI single in the 10th inning lifted the Atlanta Braves to a 5-4 win over the Houston Astros on Wednesday.

It completes a three-game sweep of the struggling Astros and is Atlanta’s fourth straight victory.

The Braves scored two runs in the eighth inning to tie it at 4-4. Michael Harris II started the 10th as the automatic runner on second and there was one out in the inning when Seth Martinez (1-1) intentionally walked Matt Olson.

Ozuna lined out to right field to send Harris to third base. Arcia then singled on a ground ball to left field to score Harris and put the Braves on top.

Pinch-runner Jake Meyers was on second when Kyle Tucker walked with no outs in the 10th. Meyers moved to third on a fly out by Yainer Diaz but Jeremy Peña grounded into a double play to end it.

A.J. Minter (3-1) got the last two outs of the ninth for the win and Raisel Iglesias earned his fifth save.

Reigning NL MVP Ronald Acuña Jr. added his first homer of the season to help the Braves to the victory. Ozuna also leads the majors with 23 RBIs and he extended his hitting streak to 16 games, which ties his career best and is the longest active streak in the majors.

Yordan Alvarez and Mauricio Dubón both homered for the Astros, who fell to 6-14 and are last in the AL West.

There was one out in the first when Alvarez connected on his homer to the seats in left field to put Houston up 1-0.

Ozuna opened the second with his 432-foot shot to left field, which bounced off the wall and tied the game.

Acuña put the Braves up 2-1 when he sent the first pitch of the fifth inning to straightaway center field.

The Astros tied it on an RBI single by Alex Bregman in the fifth and Kyle Tucker’s RBI double came next to put the Astros up 3-2.

Dubón hit his first home run of the year off Jesse Chavez to start Houston’s sixth and push the lead to 4-2.

Harris singled to start the seventh before a ground-rule double by Austin Riley. Olson reached, and Harris scored on a fielding error by first baseman José Abreu when he couldn’t grab a routine ground ball.

There was one out in the inning when Riley scored on a sacrifice fly by Arcia to tie it at 4-all.

Houston starter J.P. France allowed four hits and two runs in five innings.

Max Fried gave up seven hits and three runs in five innings.

UP NEXT

Braves: Atlanta is off Thursday before opening a series against Texas on Friday night with LHP Chris Sale (1-1, 4.58 ERA) on the mound.

Astros: Houston is also off Thursday before ace Justin Verlander will make his season debut Friday night against Washington. The three-time Cy Young Award winner opened the season on the injured list with inflammation in his right shoulder.

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