Lion Links: 8/27/20

Happy Thursday, Lionesses and Lions, as ever I sincerely hope you overcame your hump day with ease. Orlando City made its return to the Exploria Stadium in front of a sparse, socially distanced, yet present crowd with a win against Nashville SC. Because of that, this hump day was much easier than the past weekend was for fans of Orlando soccer.

Along with the Orlando City win, there was also a great deal of news that occurred as well. With that, let’s get into the links.

Orlando City Cruises Past Nashville SC in Exploria Return

Orlando City managed it’s first win of the, well, as close to “regular” as it can be MLS season, beating Nashville SC, 3-1. The Lions played very well, dictating possession in the protagonistic way which Oscar Pareja prefers and the young Americans — Chris Mueller and Daryl Dike — were responsible for the three goals. Mueller forced in an equalizing header in the 21st minute and Dike scored the second and third, which saw the Lions across the line. Orlando City will be full of confidence going into the next game against Southern rivals, Atlanta United, away from home come Saturday.

Check back at TML later today for Dave Rohe’s five takeaways from the match and Michael Citro’s player grades and Man of the Match.

Weston McKennie is Reportedly Juventus Bound

Schalke and USMNT midfielder Weston Mckennie looks set to move to Juventus. The ever-reliable Fabrizio Romano reported the news and it appears as if the American midfielder is Turin bound. While some have reservations over the switch from the Bundesliga to Serie A, for the American and America as a whole, the move is one of gigantic proportions. I Bianconeri has won the Scudetto nine times running and it would be safe to bet on the side winning again next season as well. McKennie would be the first ever American to win the Serie A league title if Juventus bags the trophy again. 

It is reported that the side now managed by Andrea Pirlo will be bringing the 21-year-old in on loan for one-year and an €18 million Euro ($21 million) option to buy will be attached to the Texan Schalke midfielder.

Lionel Messi May be En Route to MLS

CBS Soccer has reported that Manchester City is weighing up an offer for superstar and face of Barcelona, Lionel Messi. The report states that Manchester City may sign the Argentine on a three-year deal that would then see Messi move to partner club, NYCFC, after the 36-month tenure in England comes to an end. Even at the ripe age of what will be 36, it would be a massive coup for MLS. However, with this link coming to light there is also still a great deal of clubs interested in Messi’s signature — Juventus, PSG, Manchester United, and basically everybody else as well, also seem to be interested in signing the 33-year-old who has been playing for Barcelona for 20 years. 

Olympique Lyon Feminin Reach Fifth Consecutive UEFA Women’s Cup Final

Captain Wendie Renard scored to book Olympique Lyon Feminin a spot in the UEFA Women's Champions League final with a thunderous header, knocking out PSG. With Lyon on to the final, if the French side win, it will be it’s fifth consecutive UEFA Women’s cup title and seventh overall, which is the most out of any other side. Lyon is the favorite to win going into the trophy decider against Wolfsburg come Sunday. The previous final between the two sides in the final this season was during the 2017-2018 season. On that day Lyon emphatically prevailed by a margin of 4-1.

Free Kicks

• An unnamed Orlando CIty player has returned an inconclusive COVID-19 test. The club mentioned a statement stating so and that the player was isolate from the rest of the squad while he awaits results from a second test. The anonymous individual was the only person who saw a test come back inconclusive. Those who didn’t appear on the team sheet last night include Antonio Carlos, Tesho Akindele, Joey DeZart, and David Loera, if you want to speculate (we don’t).
• Orlando City supporters will be able to watch Lions’ loanee Santiago Patino at Cimarrones de Sonora on TUDN this season, starting today. Patino may not be settled in there yet, so he may not play against Cancun F.C. at 9:55 p.m., but it’ll be handy to watch him when he is ready to go.

• FC Cincinnati has shown interest in English midfielder Marcus Maddison. The 26-year-old attacker is currently a free agent after his contract with Peterborough United expired after making 249 appearances with the club. He spent the last half of the season on loan at Hull City and only made seven appearances.
• Yesterday was National Women’s Equality Day, and Pride supporters can enter to win a pair of tickets for the 2021 season. The link to enter remains available until Friday and the link can be found here.
• The MLS Twitter page voiced it’s support for equality upon the horrifying Jacob Blake shooting. Aside than Orlando City’s match vs. Nashville, none of the other scheduled MLS games too place.

That’ll do, pig. That is all for today’s set of links. As always, I’ll catch you on the flip side.