Lion Links: 9/18/25

How’s it going, Mane Landers? It’s been a bit of a rough patch for Orlando soccer fans as of late. The teams could use a win, to say the least. Hopefully good things are coming this weekend as seasons wind down and each result gets more and more important. Let’s dive into today’s links.

Orlando City Prepares for Nashville Rematch

The Lions are coming off of a frustrating 1-1 draw on the road to D.C. United and will host Nashville SC on Saturday. The last time these two teams squared off was on Aug. 23 when Orlando fell 5-1 to Nashville in a match that snapped an eight-game unbeaten run. Things are currently tight in the Eastern Conference standings, and Orlando could move ahead of Nashville with a win on Saturday. Head Coach Oscar Pareja spoke on how important this match is with just five games remaining in the regular season.

NWSL Playoff Race Heats Up

The Orlando Pride are currently seventh in the NWSL standings, but also only one point behind third-place NJ/NY Gotham FC. A crucial matchup awaits on Friday when the Pride host the North Carolina Courage. A win would be needed relief for the Pride, while a loss would have the Courage just one point behind the Pride during a close playoff race.

The Pride’s tumble down the league standings has put more of an emphasis on how other teams are doing amid this playoff push. Rooting for the league’s basement dwellers this weekend may make sense for Pride fans, as the Utah Royals face Racing Louisville and the Chicago Stars take on the Houston Dash. In other news, if the Washington Spirit lose against Angel City FC tonight then the Kansas City Current can officially claim the NWSL Shield with a win against the Seattle Reign on Saturday.

NWSL Announces Combines for Prospects

Starting in December, the NWSL will launch a combine to give the nation’s top college players a place to showcase their talent and gain professional experience. It will take place over the course of three days and will include matches, performance testing, and direct interaction with NWSL clubs. Considering the league did away with the draft, this should be a good way for college players to get some face time with NWSL clubs. There will be a youth combine for younger players to be evaluated at a professional level as well.

UEFA Champions League Roundup

The first round of this year’s UEFA Champions League’s league phase is underway this week and there have been some pretty exciting matches already. Bayern Munich got off to a strong start by beating Chelsea 3-1, with Harry Kane scoring a brace. Liverpool scored twice within the first two minutes of its match against Atletico Madrid, but two goals from Marcos Llorente helped the Spanish club rally back. Veteran defender Virgil van Dijk scored the winner for Liverpool in the end though, striking in stoppage time. Elsewhere in Europe, Paris Saint-Germain cruised past Atalanta in a 4-0 home win, while a brace from Marcus Thuram led Inter to a 2-0 win over Ajax.

Free Kicks

• Julian Fernandez scored in stoppage time to lift New York City FC to a 3-2 win over the Columbus Crew. The result sends the Lions to eighth in the Eastern Conference for the time being.
• To no surprise, no Pride players made ESPN‘s latest list of NWSL MVP candidates. With Barbra Banda’s injury, it’s mostly become a two-player race between Temwa Chawinga and Esther Gonzalez.
• Minnesota United’s Nectarios Triantis won MLS Goal of the Matchday for his strike from downtown in his team’s 3-1 win over San Diego FC. It was quite the first impression by Triantis in his MLS debut.
• Jose Mourinho confirmed that Portuguese club Benfica has approached him to become its coach and that he’s open to return.

That’s all I have for you this time around. I hope you all have a wonderful Thursday and rest of your week!