03

The Budapest LatAm Story: Pacho Gets His Medal, Gabriel Faces Heartbreak, Martinelli Goes Home Empty-Handed

Champions League

Three South American players were in the starting lineups in Budapest; all three now carry the weight of Saturday’s result into the World Cup. Willian Pacho, 23, started at centre-back for PSG alongside Marquinhos and played 90 minutes before Marquinhos was substituted in extra time. The Ecuadorian international, who came through Independiente del Valle and moved to Eintracht Frankfurt and then Paris, now has two Champions League winner’s medals before his 24th birthday. He held his line against Gyökeres and Havertz throughout, and his calm reading of Arsenal’s counter-attacks in extra time was among PSG’s most important contributions in the second half of the shootout wait. For Ecuador’s World Cup preparation, his confidence will be high.

Gabriel Magalhães had, by widespread assessment, a strong match. His interceptions in the first half were crucial to Arsenal’s lead; his second-half defending against Kvaratskhelia (particularly a goal-line clearance in the 73rd minute) was the kind of performance that warranted a winner’s medal. Instead, it ended with the ball sailing over the bar from the penalty spot. The Brazilian defender walked from the Puskás Aréna pitch with Marquinhos’s arm around him, a remarkable image: a Brazilian in white and red consoled by a Brazilian in red and blue, the shared nationality cutting across the club colours of one of the sport’s biggest club finals. Gabriel joins the Brazil World Cup camp Monday, his preparation now coloured by both the quality of his club performance and the one moment that defined the night. Ancelotti, asked by ESPN Brasil on Saturday about the miss, said: “Gabriel had a wonderful match. One penalty does not define a player.” Rodrigo Lasmar, Brazil’s doctor, confirmed Gabriel reported no physical issues from the match.

Gabriel Martinelli, Arsenal’s Brazilian left winger, scored Arsenal’s third penalty calmly and cleanly, sending Matvey Safonov the wrong way. His broader contribution to the match had been more constrained: Nuno Mendes tracked him tightly all night and Martinelli managed only two shots. He ends a season in which he scored 6 Champions League goals, the most by any Arsenal player in the campaign, without a trophy to show for the European run. He is not in Ancelotti’s 26-man World Cup squad; his consolation is that his performances this season have given future Brazil managers strong evidence for inclusion.

The three players join their respective national squads over the next 48 hours: Pacho with Ecuador (who face Senegal on June 11 in their World Cup opener at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles), Gabriel and Martinelli with Brazil (camp at Granja Comary, Panama friendly tonight).

04

Brazil’s Maracanã Send-Off: Vinicius, Endrick and Raphinha to Lead; Neymar Watches From the Stands

Brazil WC

Brazil face Panama at the Maracanã tonight at 18:30 local time (21:30 UTC) in their final home match before the World Cup. Carlo Ancelotti is expected to use a majority of his first-choice starting line-up, though the four players involved in yesterday’s Champions League final (Gabriel Magalhães and Gabriel Martinelli (Arsenal), Marquinhos and Vitinha (PSG)) will not be available, joining the camp from Budapest on Monday. In their absence, Ancelotti’s likely XI starts with Alisson in goal, an untested centre-back pairing, and an attacking trident of Vinicius Júnior, Raphinha, and Endrick behind a 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 structure.

Neymar is confirmed in attendance as a spectator. He has not played since May 17 and will not play tonight; the Grade 2 calf tear confirmed last Thursday by CBF doctor Rodrigo Lasmar means he watches from the stands as Brazil use this fixture to examine squad depth and tactical combinations. The two questions Ancelotti wants answered from the Panama game: whether Endrick is ready to start as a false nine or second striker at tournament level, and whether the midfield balance without Casemiro or Rodri-equivalent depth can sustain pressure. Brazil have scored in each of their last ten matches and have not conceded more than one goal in nine.

Panama qualified for this World Cup via CONCACAF and are considered opponents Brazil should defeat comfortably. Under Thomas Christiansen, Panama have been organised defensively and dangerous on transitions, winning one and drawing two of four recent friendlies against stronger competition. Brazil won the previous two competitive head-to-heads against Panama by a combined 6-0 margin. The Maracanã crowd, expected at near-capacity (78,000), has not seen a competitive defeat for Brazil since a World Cup qualifying loss to Argentina in November 2025.

Result and full coverage in Monday’s edition. The squad then travels to the United States for the final warm-up against Egypt in Cleveland on June 6, before relocating to New Jersey for the June 13 opener against Morocco.

05

Knicks vs Spurs: The 1999 Rematch, Robinson’s Finger, and Why the Series Could Go Any Way

NBA

In 1999, the San Antonio Spurs beat the New York Knicks in five games in the NBA Finals, Tim Duncan averaging 27.4 points and 14.0 rebounds in what was the last lockout-shortened Finals in league history. Twenty-seven years later the two franchises meet again, with Wembanyama standing where Duncan did and Jalen Brunson leading the Knicks side that has been one of the postseason’s dominant forces. The Knicks swept the Cleveland Cavaliers in the East Finals, winning by an average margin of 22.3 points across four games; they have played 11 consecutive playoff wins going back to Game 4 against Atlanta in the first round. They are rested, healthy apart from Mitchell Robinson’s fractured pinkie, and arriving in San Antonio having watched the last eight days of basketball without playing.

The Robinson question is the series’ most consequential medical subplot. The Knicks centre averaged 9.2 points, 10.4 rebounds, and 1.8 blocks per game in the postseason before his surgery Thursday; he has been publicly optimistic about availability for Game 1, but the Spurs’ coaching staff will have prepared for scenarios with and without him. With Robinson, New York has a legitimate rim protector who can challenge Wembanyama in the paint; without him, Karl-Anthony Towns operates at centre and the Knicks’ defensive rebounding profile changes significantly. Towns (averaging 22.8 points in the Knicks’ postseason) is a better offensive option at the five but a considerably weaker rim deterrent against a player of Wembanyama’s specificity.

On the Spurs side: Mitch Johnson has used a nine-man rotation throughout the WCF. De’Aaron Fox (19.6 ppg in the postseason) has been the secondary engine alongside Wembanyama; Devin Vassell has shot 44% from three across the series; and Dylan Harper, whose 18-point Game 5 and consistent minutes since have made him one of the postseason’s most surprising contributors, provides a third ball-handler that the Knicks have no direct equivalent for at his age (20) and in his role. The Spurs also possess the WCF MVP, a defensive Player of the Year Award from the regular season, and road confidence: they won Games 4 and 7 on the road and went 4-2 away from home across the entire WCF.

NBA Finals Game 1: Wednesday June 3, 8:30 PM ET, Frost Bank Center, San Antonio. TV: ABC.

06

Frequently Asked Questions

FAQ

What happened in NBA Game 7 and who is in the NBA Finals?

The San Antonio Spurs beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 111-103 in Game 7 on Saturday May 30 at the Paycom Center, advancing to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2014. Victor Wembanyama was named Western Conference Finals MVP after scoring 22 points with 7 rebounds and three three-pointers. Julian Champagnie scored 20 points by going 6-for-6 from three; Stephon Castle added 16 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists; seven Spurs players finished in double figures. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 35 for OKC but received minimal support, with only Cason Wallace (17 points) among the other starters contributing double digits. The turning play was Luke Kornet’s chasedown block of an Isaiah Hartenstein fast-break attempt in the third quarter, which sparked a decisive 7-0 Spurs run. San Antonio will face the New York Knicks in the NBA Finals, beginning Game 1 on Wednesday June 3 at 8:30 PM ET at the Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, a rematch of the 1999 Finals which the Spurs won in five games.

How did the Champions League final end and what is the LatAm connection?

PSG beat Arsenal 1-1 after extra time, then won the penalty shootout 4-3 to retain the Champions League title at the Puskás Aréna in Budapest on Saturday May 30. Kai Havertz put Arsenal ahead after 6 minutes from a Declan Rice cross, and Arsenal defended that lead until Ousmane Dembélé equalised from the penalty spot in the 65th minute, converting after a VAR-confirmed foul on Kvaratskhelia by Mosquera. Neither side scored in extra time. In the shootout Arsenal’s Eberechi Eze missed first (wide), and Brazilian centre-back Gabriel Magalhães sent the decisive fourth attempt blazing over the crossbar to hand PSG the title. PSG becomes only the second team to win back-to-back Champions League titles since Real Madrid’s 2016-18 threepeat. The South American angles: Willian Pacho of Ecuador (PSG centre-back) collects his second UCL winner’s medal; Gabriel Martinelli of Brazil (Arsenal) scored Arsenal’s third penalty but finished on the losing side; Gabriel Magalhães (Brazil, Arsenal) missed the decisive attempt and was consoled by PSG captain Marquinhos, also Brazilian.

When is Brazil’s game and how is Neymar’s World Cup fitness?

Brazil face Panama tonight at the Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro at 18:30 local time (21:30 UTC) in their final home warm-up before the World Cup. Neymar will be in attendance as a spectator but will not feature; CBF doctor Rodrigo Lasmar confirmed last Thursday that MRI results reveal a Grade 2 calf muscle tear requiring two to three weeks’ recovery from May 28. That window places his earliest return around June 11-18. Brazil’s World Cup opener is June 13 against Morocco at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Ancelotti said on Friday: “We hope so. We will see” when asked about Neymar’s availability for that game. The FIFA squad replacement window remains open until June 12. Brazil’s likely lineup tonight features Vinicius Júnior, Raphinha, and Endrick in attack, with the four Champions League finalists (Gabriel Magalhães, Martinelli, Marquinhos, Vitinha) joining the camp from Budapest on Monday June 1.