European Leagues / James Eastham / 24 May 2009 / Leave a comment

The Champions League final is the glittering showpiece of the week as Barcelona face Manchester United in Rome. James Eastham rounds up the best of the rest of the forthcoming week's football action

Monday May 25

It's been billed as the 'richest game in football' - but Burnley and Sheffield United's players will be thinking about glory rather than money when they run out for the Championship play-off final at Wembley. Burnley have already beaten several Premier League sides during cup runs this season so will be accustomed to important one-off occasions but Sheffield United are [2.82] favourites to win in 90 minutes after an excellent streak of form at the end of the season and an indisputably deserved 2-1 win (over two legs) over Preston in the semi-finals.

There are five fixtures in Sweden's Allsvenskan, with league leaders IFK Goteborg hosting Malmo FF and second-placed Elfsborg playing Trelleborgs, who are fifth.

Tuesday May 26

The final round of Premier League games takes place in Ukraine and the stand-out clash is a prestigious but effectively meaningless fixture between Dinamo Kiev, who have already been crowned champions, and second-placed Shakhtar Donetsk. There's more at stake at the foot of the table, where three sides - FC Lviv, Illychivets Mariupol and Zorya - are battling to avoid relegation. FC Lviv travel to Karpaty, Illychivets Mariupol play away at Tavriya and Zorya host Dnipr.

Wednesday May 27

The biggest club game of the European season takes place in Rome when Barcelona meet Manchester United in the Champions League final. Barcelona were clear favourites immediately after qualifying for the final with that last-gasp win over Chelsea in the semi-finals, but they've drifted out to [1.98] to lift the trophy while United have moved in to [2]. Seven of the last 10 Champions League finals have had over 2.5 goals so that particular wager should garner plenty of interest at [2.24]. Four of the six games between the sides in this competition down the years have finished all-square, so the 90-minute draw is another bet that should attract action at [3.5].

There are a couple of big knock-out matches going on in Brazil, where the Brazilian Cup has reached the semi-final stage. Corinthians face Vasco da Gama and Internacional play Coritiba.

Thursday May 28

The first leg of the Dutch Eredivisie play-off final between Breda and Groningen is on the agenda, with the prize of a place in next season's Europa League at stake. Over in the US, MLS leaders Chivas USA - coached by former Everton and Portsmouth star 'Preki' - are looking for their ninth win in 12 games as they host Chicago Fire.

Hajduk Split have an almighty task on their hands as they prepare to welcome Dinamo Zagreb to their Poljud Stadium for the second leg of the Croatian Cup final. Hajduk Split are 3-0 down from the first leg - just as they were against the same opponents at the same stage of the final last season - so will need to produce a monumental performance to get their hands on the trophy.

Friday May 29

The Republic of Ireland warm up for their forthcoming World Cup qualifier in Bulgaria (June 6) by hosting Nigeria in an international friendly at Craven Cottage in London while Wales get a run-out at home to Estonia before their more important World Cup trip to Azerbaijan. Wales' Group 4 opponents Germany have an intriguing game against China while Belgium's talented young team take on Chile in another international friendly.

We round-up in Argentina, Newell's Old Boys are looking to close the six-point gap that separates them from the top four when they host Arsenal FC. Elsewhere, Huracan need to collect points in order to pull away from the bottom three when they face Banfield at home.

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