Major Link Soccer: Lyon’s owner might be tampering

MLS

Ready to play LigaMX in a potentially meaningful tournament? We are getting close to a confirmed tournament between sides from the two leagues.

In good news for DC fans and foes alike, DC United will be getting a new stadium. Philly fans might be as excited as well; they are about to play the final match at RFK Stadium, which is falling apart.

Every team needs depth, and in a salary cap league with short benches, any depth piece has incredible value. It’s that fear of losing the trade that leads to uneventful deadline days.

Seattle is making a visit to the Windy City after only picking up a single point in two home matches, and our friends at Hot Time in Old Town have broken down how to beat us.

They also talked about Bastian Schweinsteiger’s “adjusting to MLS” interview, which was...interesting? I mean, it was just kind of funny.

Seattle isn’t the deepest team in MLS, though I would like to argue otherwise, but they are in the top five. At least one other Cascadia side makes the list as well. Deep teams do well, but it’s about the players fit and not how much they cost in wages.

USA

The US Open Cup has started, and one thing you may notice is that a lot of the country is missing a representative in the national tournament. 99 teams from 30 states are in the dance and the unrepresented have plenty of reasons: from interest, to funding, to support.

Other things good about the US Open Cup, goals like this:

US Soccer is going to have an “Innovate Growth Fund”, a grassroots program to grow soccer in the country.

Merritt Paulson says some stuff on Twitter that didn’t get deleted. I’m on his side this time, and Lyon’s owner should probably delete his tweets aiming to sign players under contract.

Megan Rapinoe is back to focusing on soccer, and is getting into a groove that should hopefully turn into success with the Reign.

World

Great news for Borussia Dortmund fans, Marc Bartra is back in training! You may remember the Spanish defender suffered a wrist injury that required surgery after the Dortmund bus was bombed on the way to a Champions League match.

Ever wonder where players that have left their home nation play? Or where the most players playing outside of their nation are from? Well, here you go, and a bunch of other cool data.

As Premier League sides start using the flow of new TV cash to build new stadiums, it leads to the question, which stadium is the oldest in the league?

I may have rooted against them and audibly cheered in a coffee shop when Atletico Madrid went up 2-0, but Real Madrid held on to go to another UEFA Champions League final, to face Juventus this time.