OL Reign’s Rose Lavelle has encountered further setbacks in her recovery that was initially described as “a little knock” by United States women’s national team head coach Vlatko Andonovski.

Lavelle has missed the last eight games in all competitions for NWSL side OL Reign. The initial knee injury came against Ireland in a friendly game back in April while playing for the USWNT.

Reign head coach Laura Harvey explained to Equalizer’s Bella Munson that Lavelle “was really on track to be back” but has since suffered another setback in her recovery.

“I would love her to be on the field tomorrow,” Harvey said. “I don’t think that’s gonna happen. I hope that we get to see her before the World Cup but honestly right now I don’t know.”

Despite the lingering injury, Lavelle is expected to be named in the USWNT’s squad for the upcoming World Cup. Lavelle had standout performances at the 2019 World Cup and should be amongst the names released from NWSL clubs on June 26th to join up with the USWNT.

Lavelle’s injury is not the only injury that the USWNT and coach Andonovski have had to deal with. Sam Mewis, Catarina Macario and Mallory Swanson will all miss the World Cup as the USWNT will have to dig deep to three-peat in down under.

The second leg of the 2023 Liga MX final is coming up as the first leg featured no goals scored. The final game will see Chivas host Tigres on Sunday, May 28th, at the Estadio AKRON.

The first leg saw Tigres dominate possession with 68% but were unable to find the back of the net. Tigres also had double the amount of shots when compared to Chivas, 14 to 7, and accumulated a superior xG of .70 to .33.

While Tigres were trying to score as many goals as possible, Chivas were set up in a defensive formation to take control of the series back to Guadalajara.

The second leg promises to be full of entertaining play as both teams go into the game knotted at 0-0.

When is kick off? Sunday, May 28th, 9:35 PM EST

Where is the game being played? Estadio AKRON

TV channel/live stream? UNIVERSO/Telemundo

What time does TV coverage start? 9:30 PM EST

Chivas executed part of their plan to come back from the first leg in control of the tie. “First objective accomplished, not conceding a goal. Second objective, scoring a goal, not accomplished,” said head coach Veljko Paunovic. “We’re not completely satisfied with the result, but it’s important to have not conceded a goal.”

Chivas will look to be more expansive in front of their home fans on Sunday night, in contrast to their defensive performance in the first leg.

Chivas will be without Jose Macias and Carlos Cisneros, as they remain out indefinitely with cruciate ligament injuries.

Tigres coach Robert Siboldi still backs his side to go on and win the final following the 0-0 first leg. “The series is still, for me, open,” he said. “I think we showed that we were superior. The opposition came to find a result that would allow them to continue in the race.”

Sebastian Cordova was fined by the FMF Disciplinary Comission after his comments on twitter that said “incredible that they don’t check the VAR.” Cordova’s remarks were due to a late challenge made in the 82nd minute where he felt that Chivas defender Alejandro Mayorga should’ve been shown a red card.

Miguel Ortega’s shoulder injury and David Ayala’s broken knee cap will see them out of action until next month after the Liga MX season is over.

As both teams were evenly matched in the first leg, the second leg beckons to be more entertaining and somewhat chaotic. Both teams are on the cusp of glory and will give everything they can to get their hands on silverware.

Chivas lost only three home games during the 2023 Liga MX season. They’ve turned the Estadio AKRON into a fortress and they will look to feed off their supporter’s energy during the game and should have just enough to edge Tigres.

Prediction: Chivas 3 – Tigres 2

Paris Saint-Germain won a record 11th Ligue 1 title after drawing 1-1 at Strasbourg on Saturday night.

Les Parisiens now have an unassailable four-point lead over Lens – who have now secured qualification to the group stages of the Champions League – heading into the final matchday of the season next week.

The visitors looked to beat their hosts with balls over the top for Kylian Mbappe early on but they nearly fell behind when Habibou Diallo managed to beautifully bring a high ball down and dance past Danilo Pereira, only to be denied by a smart save from Gianluigi Donnarumma.

Mbappe’s first actual chance saw him skip and prance away from a slieu of Strasbourg defenders, only to be denied a near-certain goal by a challenge from Ismael Doukoure.

From the resulting corner, Lionel Messi pulled the ball back for Renato Sanches to volley, with Matz Sels coming up with an instinctive save.

PSG were struggling to deal with Strasbourg’s bombardment, with Diallo thundering a shot against the post via a hand from Donnarumma after Mouhamadou Diarra beat Sergio Ramos in an aerial duel.

But the visitors took the lead on the hour mark. Danilo’s long ball over the top was expertly brought under control by Mbappe, and he teed up Lionel Messi to fire home.

Mbappe should have doubled PSG’s lead when Messi returned the favour minutes later, but he somehow fired wide from a few yards out.

With ten minutes to go, the Ligue 1 leaders were pegged back by a familiar face. Morgan Sanson’s strike was palmed away by Donnarumma, and Kevin Gameiro nipped in front of Danilo to tap into an empty net.

Once more, Mbappe was released on goal by Messi but this time was denied by Sels as the game entered the closing stages.

With Strasbourg’s safety secured with a point, both sides were happy to play out for the draw in two minutes of stoppage time, with PSG’s title confirmed at the final whistle.

GK: Matz Sels (6); CB: Ismael Doukoure (6), CB: Gerzino Nyamsi (6), CB: Lucas Perrin (5); RM: Colin Dagba (5), CM: Ibrahima Sissoko (6), CM: Morgan Sanson (5), LM: Frederic Guilbert (5); RF: Mouhamadou Diarra (6), LF: Jean-Richer Bellegarde (5), CF: Habibou Diallo (6)

SUBS: Dimitri Lienard (5), Kevin Gameiro (7)

GK: Gianluigi Donnarumma – 7/10 – Kept PSG in the game with some stunning stops in the first half.

CB: Danilo Pereira – 5/10 – Looked a little ropey throughout, though his pinpoint pass led to Messi’s opener.

CB: Sergio Ramos – 5/10 – Thrown around by Diarra and Diallo in physical duels.

CB: El Chadaille Bitshiabu – 6/10 – Up for the fight physically but Gameiro was able to ghost in on his side to score the equaliser.

RM: Warren Zaire-Emery – 7/10 – Played with a maturity and fearlessness beyond his 17 years of age.

CM: Vitinha – 5/10 – Did not stand out in the midfield battle, again.

CM: Marco Verratti – 6/10 – Played at a lower intensity than usual but given the circumstances that was understandable.

CM: Renato Sanches – 6/10 – Made more inroads than compatriot Vitinha, but that wasn’t a particularly high bar to clear.

LM: Juan Bernat – 6/10 – Stretched play but like many of his teammates wasn’t outstanding in his efforts.

CF: Lionel Messi – 9/10 – Picked apart Strasbourg at will. Now the all-time record scorer in Europe’s top five leagues and he overtook Cristiano Ronaldo in style.

CF: Kylian Mbappe – 8/10 – Twisted and contorted himself to flee trailing Strasbourg’s legs. Major criticism is his finishing was a tad off but it didn’t really prove crucial.

Substitutes

Carlos Soler (84′ for Vitinha) – N/A

Manager

Christophe Galtier – 6/10 – PSG didn’t really need to win and they didn’t spare any effort that was otherwise needed.

Player of the match – Lionel Messi (PSG)