Posted May 8, 2025 at 11:00 AM EDT
An August trip to the Old Country.
Mafia: The Old Country will be released on August 8th on PS5, Xbox, and PC, 2K and developer Hangar 13 announced today. There's also a new gameplay trailer for the game, which is set in 1900s Sicily. 2K debuted a teaser trailer last summer.
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New York Times
20 minutes ago
- New York Times
The ultimate Champions League final guide – PSG's pacy pressing vs Inter's intelligent defensive unit
With 188 Champions League games played, just one remains. Tonight's final between Paris Saint-Germain and Inter Milan provides an intriguing tactical battle between two styles of play. The omens look good for PSG as they look to lift the trophy for the first time — the previous four finals in Munich all provided a first-time winner and the only other time a French and Italian side met in the final (Marseille vs Milan, 1993 in Munich), the team from France came out on top. Advertisement However, Simone Inzaghi's Inter are competing in their second Champions League final in three years, and many of that 2022-23 squad remain, meaning they benefit from experience. This is the first time the two teams have faced each other in a competitive fixture, so there is no historical data to look at, but there are clues from the run-in to the final, so allow The Athletic to unpack some key tactical themes that might emerge. Last week, speaking at the UEFA media day ahead of the final, Luis Enrique was glowing in his assessment of PSG's pressing capabilities: 'You can see how many ball recoveries (the attackers) have. This is one of the concepts that is hardest to instil because attackers have to change their mindset. It's about working as a team. We did that last season, but we've been better this year.' He has coached them into becoming one of Europe's most aggressive pressing sides, often comfortable going man-for-man, though they have tweaked their scheme in deeper Champions League rounds — keeping an extra defender back and leaving No 9 Ousmane Dembele to cut the pitch in half while PSG lock on down one side. Their press was particularly excellent in the round of 16 first leg at home to Liverpool, forcing them long, and left-back Nuno Mendes shut down Mohamed Salah when he was targeted with direct balls. The challenge now is implementing that press against one of Europe's best sides at playing over and through opponents. Manchester City head coach Pep Guardiola summarised after the 2023 Champions League final that 'they bring you up (bait the press). They found the strikers, they link really well, (they) can keep it, and after they run for the other side.' Inter's opening goal in the quarter-final first leg away to Bayern Munich — the top-pressing team in the Champions League this season — proved that. Inzaghi's side built up in a 2-3 shape, pushing left centre-back Alessandro Bastoni on. When Bayern jumped, Sommer went over the press, targeting Lautaro Martinez, with Inter two-v-two against Bayern's centre-backs. Lautaro, only 5ft 8in (176cm) tall, beats Kim Min-jae in the air and flicks it on to Marcus Thuram. Immediately, he arcs a run in support as they play a one-two. The release pass to wing-back Carlos Augusto is not quite on — because he ran so early, he is offside — so Lautaro finds the advancing centre-back Bastoni. Bastoni then plays forward to Augusto, with both Inter wing-backs on the last line (Matteo Darmian is just in shot on the near side). The rest of the move has to be appreciated in video form, with Augusto's early, low cross trying to find a tap-in for Thuram. It ends up a little more behind him than he wants, and the France international reacts excellently to backheel it into Lautaro's path. He picks out the top-right corner with an outside-of-the-boot finish. Full-backs — or wing-backs — very rarely tend to be match-winners, but that could easily be the case in this final. Inter's 3-5-2 in possession is built on the attacking output of Federico Dimarco and Denzel Dumfries, with the latter involved in five of Inter's six goals (two goals, three assists) in the semi-final over Barcelona. Collectively, Inter have scored 10 times from crosses this Champions League season, the most in the competition. They showed their wide threat inside a minute of the semi-final when they baited the Barcelona press, played long to Thuram, and Nicolo Barella released Dumfries. After his first cross was cleared — with Dimarco attacking the back post — he crossed low for Thuram to backheel in. It's a dream start for Inter. Marcus Thuram gives the visitors the lead after just 30 seconds with a wonderful improvised finish. The Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys is stunned.#UCL 🎥 @footballontnt — The Athletic | Football (@TheAthleticFC) April 30, 2025 PSG's full-backs are equally fundamental to their style. Right-back Achraf Hakimi is rarely right or back in the team, often taking up aggressive positions in the half-space in attack, as PSG's 4-3-3 really builds up as a 3-2-5. He provides plenty of underlapping runs to support and combine with the winger — either Desire Doue or Khvicha Kvaratskhelia — and a real box-crashing threat too. On the left, Nuno Mendes tucks in plenty to cover for Hakimi, often making a back three. In moments of settled possession, though, he will push forward too to overload the last line. Hakimi (eight) and Mendes (five) are second and fourth for goal involvements in the PSG squad this European term, and they either scored or assisted eight of their 19 knockout round goals. They combined for PSG's second in the quarter-final return leg away to Aston Villa, breaking from deep with Hakimi making the third-man run when Kvaratskhelia set a pass back to Joao Neves. PSG were four-versus-two, with Mendes running — offside — straight through the centre and Dembele having pulled wide. Hakimi passed wide to Dembele, who dribbled. Hakimi's underlap took the defender with him… … and Dembele passed across to Mendes, who controlled with his first touch and curled past Emi Martinez, in off the post, with his second. Many neutrals might give PSG the edge in Saturday's final, given the blistering pace and intelligent interchange of their fluid attack. However, if there were one team in European football that you would back to stop them, it would be Inter. Inter's defensive unit has been incredible in the Champions League this season, conceding just one open-play goal in their opening 10 games. Granted, six goals conceded across two semi-final legs against Barcelona will give Luis Enrique confidence that he can inflict similar punishment on Inzaghi, but Inter are comfortable in their disciplined 5-3-2 block that can frustrate teams for long periods. Inter are not set up to be gung-ho in their pressing, but will shuffle across from left to right and block central spaces — forcing the opposition to circulate possession and do their best to find gaps in their structure. While PSG are not the most aerially dominant in attack, they could learn from Inter's semi-final clash with Barcelona — where crosses were a thorn in the side of the Nerazzurri. Running back the tape, Inter failed to deal with back-post crosses specifically, with Barcelona scoring three goals that way. Advertisement Given Inter's back-five defensive line, disruption can come from second-line runners or aggressive full-back position from the opposition (as was the case with Dani Olmo and Eric Garcia's finishes below), meaning that late runs from PSG's Hakimi, Nuno Mendes, or Fabian Ruiz could be crucial in unlocking Inter's defence. Crucially, Inter are not accustomed to chasing the game. Such defensive discipline and intelligent street-smarts have meant that Inzaghi's side have trailed for just 16 minutes across the whole Champions League campaign — just one per cent of their total time on the pitch. Considering they have played against Arsenal, Manchester City, Bayer Leverkusen, Barcelona and Bayern Munich, you can understand why caution is being encouraged when suggesting that PSG are the overwhelming favourites in Munich. When the margins are so tight between two elite sides, moments from set pieces could be integral in swinging the outcome of this final. Inter have had plenty of success from set-piece situations on the domestic stage this season, with 18 set-piece goals scored being comfortably the highest in Serie A. Meanwhile, goals from corners have been particularly lucrative for Inzaghi's side in the Champions League, with 9.5 goals per 100 corners being the highest rate of any team in the competition this season. Goals from Benjamin Pavard and Dumfries have been crucial in Inter's knockout phase clashes with Bayern Munich and Barcelona, with the Nerazzurri boasting seven different goalscorers from corner routines across league and European competition this season. Much of that threat stems from the delivery. While Dimarco can whip in an excellent cross from the left, Inter's best set-piece taker is undoubtedly Hakan Calhanoglu, with the Turkey international well placed to take corners from both sides of the pitch. Advertisement That explains Inter's asymmetry in corner style, where the majority of deliveries are from Calhanoglu's outswingers from the right — compared with a more equitable share between Dimarco and Calhanoglu from the left, varying the approach between inswinging and outswinging crosses. Irrespective of the taker, Inter's delivery is often placed perfectly towards the central zones — close to the penalty spot — for team-mates to attack. The battling approach from Inzaghi's side is borne out in the numbers, with a 54 per cent duel success rate in Europe this season — better than any other side since the start of the competition. Winning first contact and responding to second balls might not sound attractive, but such an agricultural part of the game could be crucial in deciding where the trophy ends up by the end of Saturday evening. For this answer, we can turn to The Athletic's match prediction model. This uses per-shot expected goals to create an attacking and defensive rating for each team, before employing a data model to simulate upcoming games. Here, the model is giving the edge to Luis Enrique's side, with PSG having a 53 per cent chance of victory (excluding penalties) compared with Inter's 27 per cent. If pushed for more detail, The Athletic's model predicts that a 2-1 PSG victory will be the most likely scoreline on the night. That would be a logical projection of events on Saturday evening in Munich — but as we know, football does not conform to logic. In a straight shootout at the highest level of European competition, all rules often go out of the window. Leave your predictions in the comments below. Where to watch the final: UK — TNT Sports 1 and Discovery+, 6pm BST; U.S. — CBS and Paramount+, 1.30pm ET (Illustration: Eamonn Dalton / The Athletic; Thibaud MORITZ / AFP, David Ramos, Jeroen van den Berg/Soccrates, Mattia Ozbot – Inter/Inter /Getty Images)
New York Times
25 minutes ago
- New York Times
Ben Greenhalgh won a TV show, joined Mourinho's Inter and lost his Champions League medal on a golf course
'And next he's gonna meet the big boss, Jose Mourinho. I think it will finally sink in that he's an Inter Milan player when he's given that shirt,' Jamie Redknapp, the former England midfielder and Sky presenter, says. Ben Greenhalgh laughs as he remembers what happens next. 'I nearly leave Mourinho hanging in a minute!' Advertisement We are watching a rerun of Football's Next Star, the television show that was broadcast on Sky One in 2010 with the prize of a six-month contract at Inter for the winner. More than 7,000 boys entered before being whittled down to the final 10, who stayed together in a villa overlooking Lake Como. 'Every week, it was a case of, 'We want to be here next week, and that's all we were fighting for',' Greenhalgh says. 'I don't think we were ever fighting for who was going to win.' Essentially, it was football's version of the X Factor with Marco Monti, the technical director at Inter's academy, playing the role of Simon Cowell. Greenhalgh not only ended up winning the show and signing for Inter but, remarkably, also finished the season with a Champions League medal around his neck (he later lost it on a golf course, but that's another story). It was a surreal experience for a 17-year-old A-level student who had never been around professional football before. 'Look, that could have been terrible!' Greenhalgh says, cringing as we watch the moment when Mourinho, who was Inter's manager at the time, congratulates him and waits for the handshake that almost never comes. Greenhalgh was too busy trying to take in the enormity of it all. A TV show that he had entered in the early stages 'as a laugh' was now turning his life upside down, propelling him from the fringe of the first-team at non-League Welling United, who were playing in the sixth tier of English football at the time, to training alongside some of the greatest players in the world at Inter. Those close to Greenhalgh were every bit as excited as him. 'I'm still with Grace!' Greenhalgh says, his face lighting up as the camera pans to his girlfriend. 'I've got three kids with her now!' Greenhalgh's relationship with Inter didn't last anything like as long, which was probably to be expected. By the start of 2011, the left winger was back in England, on trial at Brighton, following a successful loan spell with Como in Serie C, Italy's third tier. He rejoined Welling later the same year. Advertisement The experience at Inter, however, was unforgettable. Greenhalgh brings along to the interview a signed shirt that Patrick Vieira gave him, tells stories about Mario Balotelli and his Lamborghini, marvels at the way the Inter players worked so hard for Mourinho and, more than anything, feels privileged to have had a front-row seat for the most successful season in the club's history. 'My six-month contract began in January (2010), so it went to the end of the season,' Greenhalgh explains. 'Everything was high-flying because they were on for the treble at this time – they've got through the group stage in the Champions League, they're in the quarter-finals of the Coppa Italia and they're top of the league as well. It was some experience.' Inter created history by winning all three competitions, and although Greenhalgh played for the reserves and the under-18s rather than the first team, he was in the right place at the right time when it came to the Champions League final against Bayern Munich at the Bernabeu. 'Before the final, we played a game at Real Madrid City (the Spanish club's training ground) against Bayern Munich,' he says. 'It was called the 'UEFA Under-18 Challenge', and that's now become the UEFA Youth League. We also won 2-0 (the same scoreline as the first team). 'Some of us then travelled with the match-day squad, staying in the team hotel, and then sitting just behind them at the game. Just being able to experience those types of matches was ridiculous, really.' And what about the medal? 'We managed to get one because… they were just handing them out in the changing room afterwards!' Greenhalgh says, smiling. All of which explains why the supporters at non-League side Margate, who play in the Isthmian League South East Division (the eighth tier of English football), sing what they do on a match day. 'Champions League, he's won that too. Now he's at Margate, playing in blue.' Advertisement Greenhalgh, who is the player-manager at Margate, breaks into laughter. 'That's a good song. I've had some bad songs,' he says. 'At Tonbridge Angels – and I loved it when I was there – I'm about to take a free kick on the edge of the area, and they go, 'We got Super Ben Greenhalgh, he runs around the park…' 'I'm listening to it thinking, 'Oh wow, I've got a song.' 'And then they go, 'He looks like (British TV celebrity) Rylan Clark', and I think, 'Oh no!'' In his younger days, when he was still at school and before he grew a beard, Greenhalgh looked more like Cristiano Ronaldo, so much so that he was a body double for the former Manchester United and Real Madrid player in a television commercial. 'I started coaching for a guy called Mike Delaney, who also ran a company called Select Sports Artists,' he explains. 'Mike was one of the big ones at the time when it came to body-doubling adverts and he managed to get me Ronaldo, which was obviously massive. I was 16 and this was Ronaldo in his prime. And, fair play to Ronaldo, I've been to so many shoots where the players are there for 10 minutes maximum. But he was there for about three to four hours. He was even doing kick-ups with us.' That line of work provides another chapter to a colourful life story that includes a playing CV unlike any other. Greenhalgh's list of clubs, in order, reads: His time at Inter jumps off the page and, naturally, is a constant source of ribbing on the non-League circuit. 'I get banter all the time about it,' says Greenhalgh, who is also the academy director at Dartford Town, whose first team are one league above Margate. 'When it comes down to it, it's always going to be the thing that I'll be known for. It's been 15 years and it's still memorable.' Looking back, the fact that he joined Inter via a reality TV show was always going to pose challenges for him in Italy. There was even a wrangle at the outset between Welling and Inter, Greenhalgh recalls, over whether the non-League club were entitled to a transfer fee for him, delaying his registration. 'Welling started asking Inter for £100,000,' he says. Advertisement Greenhalgh also felt under added pressure to prove himself, not helped by the way the reserve team coach spoke about him in front of the other players. 'I remember him introducing me and it was like, 'He's won a TV show, he's with us now.'' Perhaps that kind of reaction was inevitable, even if it didn't need to be announced in that way. With or without his unusual backstory, Greenhalgh quickly realised that elite professional football is a dog-eat-dog world, especially for those who are still trying to prove themselves. 'When you're in the reserves or the under-21s of a top club, the chances of you breaking through are so slim. So these players are doing absolutely everything to get in, even injuring people,' Greenhalgh says. 'I used to play against a right-back who went on and played for Bayer Leverkusen. Not a very good footballer, in my opinion. But he would smash me every training session.' Not that Greenhalgh is in any way bitter or resentful about any part of his experience at Inter. He had the time of his life at the club, still speaks to several of his former team-mates and cherishes all the memories, including the episode on the television show when he was thrown in at the deep end with the first team. 'That was probably one of the biggest times ever in football where I did freeze a bit,' he says. 'I hadn't warmed up and you're suddenly playing with Lucio, (Ricardo) Quaresma and players like that, who you've seen on TV. I got the ball and I'd just pass because you didn't want anything to go wrong.' Some of the Inter first-team players went out of their way to be friendly towards Greenhalgh, including Vieira, who gave him a shirt that he had worn in the Milan derby. Greenhalgh also warmed to a teenage Mario Balotelli. 'At the time, I was 17 and he was 19 – he did not look 19. He was absolutely huge. He could have still played for the under-21s, that's what we found funny. Advertisement 'To be fair to him, he'd come and watch us. He rocked up in his Lamborghini for one game and he blocked the gateway for the coach to come in. The coach driver gets out and says, 'Can someone move this?' And he just said, 'No.' So they ended up having to park down the road and all their players had to walk.' As for Mourinho, Greenhalgh was fascinated by his approach. 'Interestingly, he wouldn't run training sessions too much. But you respected him because of his aura. Everything he said, you believed. 'I couldn't believe the manner that the players worked so hard for him, but then also how relaxed training was. There was no intensity to training. But then loads of tactical information, and then absolutely 100 miles an hour on a match day.' Realistically, Greenhalgh was never going to make it at first-team level at Inter, although he does sometimes wonder whether he should have stayed for longer at Como, where he spent half a season on loan and enjoyed his football. Instead, he came back to England in search of a professional club but was left with the feeling that he had been out of sight and out of mind in Italy. It was a different story for Connor Smith, the Irishman who finished second to Greenhalgh in Football's Next Star. 'I still speak to Connor, he's Barnet's assistant manager and they've had a brilliant year (winning promotion to the Football League),' Greenhalgh says. 'After we finished the show, me and Connor trained with Watford for four months because my contract (with Inter) didn't begin until January. I was still back and forth to Italy, but more for the camera stuff. Connor managed to get himself a deal at Watford and that probably propelled his career in England. And I think that's the one thing I always struggled with: my career never took off in England.' Greenhalgh ended up in Scotland at one stage, playing for the former England captain Terry Butcher at Inverness Caledonian Thistle, although it was another sport that grabbed his attention there. 'I was always a reasonable golfer,' he says. 'I was something like a 12 handicapper. But Scotland completely changed me.' Advertisement In fact, he spent so much time on the golf course in Scotland that he turned professional in 2015. Two years later, Greenhalgh posted a picture on Twitter showing him finishing first at a pro-am tournament. 'I ended up winning a little bit of money, but I was still a footballer playing golf,' he says. Over the moon to win my first PGA professional golf competition & to break the course record! Still hasn't sunk in Thanks to @TheAddingtonGC — Ben Greenhalgh (@BenGreenhalgh) July 14, 2017 That much was clear to anyone who played golf against him – and not because of his swing. Greenhalgh – and he shakes his head when he tells this story – used his Champions League winners' medal as a golf marker for a while. 'I took it off the ribbon mainly because I think, when I was young… it was brilliant, but I felt like I hadn't played in it (the final). So we were doing it as a laugh with my friends, just as a story to try and get in other golfers' heads. Like, 'Oh, what's that?' Because everyone uses medallions anyway. 'But it went missing at Aldenham Golf Club and, luckily, I knew the pro, who'd had it handed in. When I look back now, I think I was an absolute idiot doing those sorts of things. From there, I got it back on the ribbon, put it in a glass box and it's at my mum and dad's house now.' Greenhalgh hopes that Inter get their hands on the famous trophy again on Saturday, when they face Paris Saint-Germain in Munich in the Champions League final. There are similarities, he says, between the current side and Mourinho's team. 'They're hardworking and they've got that tenacity where when things are going badly for other teams, they really jump on it. They're almost bullies – and that's what the Inter team were under Mourinho. 'I look back at it now and that was an unbelievable Inter team. But I do think they overachieved – they beat 2010 Barcelona in the semi-final! But that was when Mourinho was at his finest.' It was also when Greenhalgh was living the dream. (Credit: Ben Greenhalgh)
Yahoo
34 minutes ago
- Yahoo
How to watch the Champions League 2025 final for free in the UK
PSG and Inter Milan will be facing off in the Champions League final on Saturday night (May 31), and viewers will be able to watch from home even if they don't have a subscription to TNT Sports. Europe's major club competition will involve French champions PSG, who will be hoping to win the tournament for the first time. Their only previous appearance in the final was in the 2019-20 season, where they lost 1-0 to Bayern Munich. Meanwhile, Inter Milan has won the Champions League on three separate occasions, although they lost their most recent final 1-0 to Manchester City in the 2022-23 season. Two days to go 🏆 #UCLfinal — UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) May 29, 2025 The Italian side also missed out on domestic honours on the final day of the Serie A season, as Napoli pipped them to first place, so they'll be hoping to make up for that with European success. Champions League matches have only been available to watch through TNT Sports up until this stage of the competition, but viewers are able to see the final for free. For people in the UK to watch the 2025 Champions League final for free, they will need to do so on discovery+. To access the service, you will need to register for a free account on the website. What do you notice? 🤔#UCLfinal — UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) May 29, 2025 After registration, you can access the service via an app or on a smart TV. EE customers and Sky customers can also get discovery+ as part of their package. Up until the 2023/24 season, the major European finals were streamed live on the BT Sport YouTube channel. However, that is no longer the case, as BT Sport has merged with Eurosport under the TNT Sports brand. All of their live coverage comes under the umbrella of discovery+ online, so they have made the choice to keep coverage to their service. Recommended reading: Match Of The Day fans say it 'won't be the same' without Gary Lineker amid exit Pubs across the country to stay open longer this summer - but on one condition See the 10 stadiums in the UK and Ireland that will host Euro 2028 matches The 2025 Champions League final will be hosted at the Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany. It is the home of Bundesliga side Bayern Munich and has a capacity of more than 70,000. The match is scheduled for an 8 pm BST kick-off on Saturday, May 31.
