Three To See – The Weekend’s Football (30.5.09 – 1.6.09) – Cup Finals And French Title Deciders

Allow me to begin this weekend’s Three to See by explaining the lack of posts this past week. Unfortunately, ventures to foreign lands made it nigh on impossible for me to update the site. We are now back though, and expect normal service to resume starting with this latest edition of Three to See and our exclusive interview with Fulham striker Bobby Zamora, to be posted over the next few days.

So, onto the weekend’s football. Which three matches have we chosen for you? All is revealed after the jump.

1, Chelsea vs Everton (FA Cup Final) 15.00 GMT, Saturday 30th May 2009

The final game of the English domestic calendar takes place this weekend as Chelsea take on Everton in the FA Cup final. Its an all-blue affair at Wembley this time around, with the Toffees making the long journey South for their first cup final since 1995, while Chelsea make the short trip across London hoping to win the FA Cup for the second time in three seasons.

The game is just reward for the excellent season Everton have had under David Moyes – not just this year but for several years now. While other clubs do far worse with far richer benefactors and resources (Newcastle, Spurs I am looking your way), Everton run a tight ship up on Merseyside with cash at a premium. Despite this they still perform consistently well, with Moyes successfully building a team made up of honest, hard-working players who have a genuinely good rapport. Neutrals the length and breadth of England will be hoping Moyes is lifting some well deserved silverware come 5pm on Saturday; if he is it will be Everton’s 6th FA Cup triumph.

But as Barcelona recently found out, Chelsea are far from pushovers. Guus Hiddink takes charge of his final game as Blues boss at Wembley, and many of those fans at Stamford Bridge who sang ‘We want you to stay’ to Hiddink will surely spend some moments at Wembley wondering just what might have been had the Dutchman been in charge from the very start of the season. It would be a lovely way for Hiddink to sign off from his tenure if he could deliver a trophy, and Chelsea are certainly the favourites.

On the team news front Frank Lampard and Alex face late fitness tests but should be fine, while for Everton captain Phil Neville and Steven Pienaar, excellent of late, are both expected to shake off injuries and start.

2, Bayer Leverkusen vs Werder Bremen (German DFB Pokal Final) 19.00 GMT, Saturday 30th May 2009

“I want to give something back to the club. This will be the most important match of my career to date.” Words to worry any Leverkusen fan preparing for the German Cup final in Berlin this weekend – Werder Bremen’s Diego is a man on a mission. Cruelly robbed of a place in the UEFA Cup final loss to Shakhtar Donetsk due to suspension, the Brazilian midfielder has been the shining light for Bremen over the past three years. Now on his way to Juventus in the summer, a star performance and some silverware in his last game for Thomas Schaaf’s men would be a fitting way to bow out.

Overall it has not been a season to remember for either side in league terms. Finishing 9th and 10th respectively, the cup final represents both clubs’ last chance for glory – and a Europa League place, in 2008/2009. For the winners a bright spot in an otherwise pretty disappointing campaign. For the losers, nothing. Werder Bremen have played Champions League football for the last five years, so to miss out on Europe altogether would be a massive blow for Die Grün-Weißen. Leverkusen too have underachieved.

On the road to Berlin, Bayer Leverkusen beat Rot-Weiß Oberhausen, FC Augsburg, Energie Cottbus, FC Bayern München and FSV Mainz 05. Bremen conquered Eintracht Nordhorn, Erzgebirge Aue, Borussia Dortmund, Bundesliga champions VfL Wolfsburg and Hamburger SV – despite being drawn to play every round away from home. Bremen have won the competition four times previously, Leverkusen just once. Who will be celebrating in Berlin on Saturday night?

3, Caen vs Bordeaux (French Ligue Une) 20.00 GMT, Saturday 30th May 2009

Its the final day of the domestic season in France this weekend, and either Girondins Bordeaux or Olympique Marseille will be crowned new champions.

10 years after winning their last league title, Bordeaux are in pole position heading into the final match, boasting a three point lead and a superior goal difference to their closest rivals. They can almost smell the Le Championnat crown. But it is not quite over yet. The goal difference is merely +1 in Bordeaux’s favour, a narrow enough margin that it would be overturned were Marseille to win at home to Rennes and Bordeaux lose. Should that happen, Marseille would win the league.

To add spice to the matter Bordeaux have never won at Caen. In 9 visits to the Stade Michel d’Ornano they have lost 7 and drawn 2 – stats that do not bode well for Laurent Blanc’s men. In last season’s corresponding fixture Caen smashed Bordeaux 5-0. And what is worse, Caen are also fighting for their survival at the foot of the table and must win to guarantee their safety. So while les marine et blanc are agonisingly close to their first championship in 10 years, one final and very significant hurdle remains.

In the build-up to Saturday’s game Bordeaux have been boosted by completing the signing of Yoann Gourcuff, one of the players of the season, on a 4-year contract from AC Milan. He is in Blanc’s squad for Caen and will be a key player as Bordeaux seek out that all important point. Blanc, chasing a league title in only his second ever season as a manager, will also be delighted that Brazilian left midfielder Wendel has shaken off injury and makes the squad.

10 years ago, Bordeaux and Marseille went into the final game of the season fighting for the title and, with minutes remaining and Bordeaux faltering, a young Pascal Feindouno came off the bench to score the winner against PSG, crushing Marseille’s dream and wrestling the title back into the hands of Bordeaux. A decade on what drama awaits?

Bayer Leverkusen, Caen, Chelsea, Everton, FA Cup, French Ligue 1, German Football, Girondins Bordeaux, Three to See, Werder Bremen