Manchester City dominated soccer headlines stateside this week with the news they had teamed up with the Yankees to buy MLS expansion team New York City FC.
Chelsea dominated soccer headlines worldwide Friday with reports they had hired ex-Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho for his second stint in London.
And the two Premier League giants will have the attention of city soccer fans Saturday night, when they square off in a friendly matchup at Yankee Stadium. It’s a rematch of Thursday’s game in St. Louis, where Manchester City overcame a three-goal deficit to beat Chelsea 4-3.
Technically, Chelsea is still wrapping up its season and interim boss Rafa Benitez is still on the job. But Mourinho — who reached an agreement with Real Madrid president Florentino Perez to leave the Bernabeu — has agreed to a four-year contract and will fly to London a week from tomorrow, according to Yahoo!
“Chelsea is looking for a new manager. Jose Mourinho is free, so it is easy now,” said forward Fernando Torres. “Everyone links Mourinho with Chelsea because of his past, what he has said in the last few months, and we have players that have been working with him, so they have great memories with him at Chelsea.
“We’ll see what happens.To have the chance to be under Mourinho’s management is a challenge and a big motivation, so we’ll see what happens. But we should have respect for Rafa this last week.”
It wouldn’t be the first time Chelsea was ruthless in the pursuit of winning. The Blues fired Roberto Di Matteo the season after he coached them to their only Champions League title. But Torres said after winning three trophies in the past two seasons, it’s not as chaotic as it looks.
“At least since I’m here, it always looks a bit worse than it is really. I think we’ve had two really good seasons and we have won two European trophies, so things are not as bad as everyone says,’’ said Torres, who downplayed talk of a summer exit.
“It looks like everything has been negative. Nobody really talks about what Chelsea is doing good. But at the end of the day, in all sports it is about results. Results are good. We won the FA Cup, the Champions League and we have won the Europa League this season. Things are going well. We have to be realistic with that. Chelsea has won three trophies in the last two years, it is not bad.’’
***
* In London, Bayern Munich is approaching its third Champions League final in four years with the calm of a team fully in control after a season of dominance.
Winger Thomas Mueller summed up the mood Friday. He says the showdown today against Bundesliga rival Borussia Dortmund at Wembley Stadium is just “a normal Champion League game.” Though the stakes are clear, Mueller says, “We won’t let it drive us crazy.”
***
* Former U.S. national team winger Robbie Rogers has reached a deal with the Los Angeles Galaxy, according to USA Today Sports, making Rogers the first active openly gay male athlete to compete in an American pro team sport.
— with Post wire services