Welcome to The Tap-Inn. Where you can tap in to the world of soccer with me, your Irish Tap-Inn bartender, Joe. 🍻

The title's been won, a legend's been recalled, and a 41-year-old just refused to retire quietly. Here's what's on tap today:

Let's pour. 🍺

Picture this.

A young barback is learning his trade under the best bar manager in town, at the bar that's been named “Best in the City” year after year. Then he leaves, joins another place across the road, and spends years finishing second-best on the street. Again and again and again.

Then finally, something arrives in the post — it’s an award — and it’s got “Best Bar” written on it. The plaque goes up over his door, and across the road, the old master's stools sit half-empty for the first time in years.

“Let me guess — that barback is Mikel Arteta, and the old master is Pep Guardiola?”

Correct and right. And the original bar is Manchester City — where Arteta learned his trade as Pep's assistant before leaving to build something of his own.

And this week, in the very same few days that Pep announced he's leaving City, Arteta's Arsenal were crowned Premier League champions — their first title in 22 years.

You couldn't write it.

The last time Arsenal won the league, it was 2004 — the famous "Invincibles" side that went a whole 38-game season unbeaten, a feat nobody's matched since. After that? Two decades of not a whole lot.

Arteta has been at the reins sice 2019, finishing 8th, 8th, 5th, 2nd, 2nd, 2nd.

That’s three straight second-place finishes. Three years of watching someone else lift the cup. Opposing fans had a cruel little song — "second again, ole ole" — and they sang it with relish.

In fact, Arsenal were one season away from an unwanted record: no English club has ever finished runner-up four years running. They were staring it dead in the face. Instead, they flipped the script and went one better.

No dramatic final-day winner needed. Arsenal beat Burnley 1-0 on Monday to go five points clear. Then they let Manchester City do the rest. City could only draw at Bournemouth on Tuesday, and just like that, the math was done. Champions with a game to spare.

And the poetry runs deeper. Arteta's now the first former Premier League player to win the league as a manager, having formerly played with Arsenal himself.

The cherry on top? Arsenal aren't done.

They face PSG in the Champions League final on May 30 — a shot at being crowned the best club in Europe, which Arsenal have never managed. Win that, and a 22-year wait becomes the greatest season in the club's history.

But that's for another pint. For now, North London is red and white and very, very loud.

Sláinte to the Gooners.

The title's wrapped, but there’s still plenty on tap on the final day this Sunday.

Spurs sweating on survival. The most exciting thing to keep an eye on this weekend is the relegation battle. Three teams get relegated from the Premier League every year, Wolves and Burnley are already confirmed. The final spot is between two teams.

The race for Europe. Finish high enough and you're in European competition next season. The state of play:

That last one sets up the single biggest final-day game: Sunderland vs Chelsea at the Stadium of Light — the winner gets Europe, the loser gets nothing.

And it all kicks off at once. Here's the bit that melts American minds: all 10 final-day games start at the exact same time — every stadium, 10 a.m. ET Sunday, whistles together. Imagine every NFL Week 18 game kicking off simultaneously.

Over the last couple of weeks, five of the biggest clubs in the world have made big decisions regarding their ‘gaffers’.

At 41, Cristiano Ronaldo is a league champion again.

Al Nassr beat Damac 4-1 on Thursday to win the Saudi Pro League — the club's first title in seven years, and Ronaldo's first trophy since arriving in 2022. He marked it in style, too, with a brace including a trademark free-kick.

Here's the wild stat: Ronaldo has now won a league title in four different countries — England, Spain, Italy and Saudi Arabia. (The one that got away? His native Portugal — he left Sporting for Manchester United as a teenager before he could win one there.)

Three weeks out from a sixth World Cup, the man just won't stop.

Cristiano Ronaldo just added the Saudi Pro League to his cabinet at age 41. Counting every club and country trophy of his career, how many winner's medals does he now have in total?

Answer at the bottom 👇

The biggest squad news of the week came out of Rio. Brazil named their 26 men for the World Cup, and the headline was a name nobody was sure they'd hear: Neymar.

For the newer crowd: Neymar is Brazil's all-time leading scorer (79 goals) and was, for a decade, one of the most famous players on the planet. But he hadn't played for Brazil since tearing his ACL — a serious knee injury — back in October 2023. Two and a half years in the wilderness. Most pundits had written him off.

Then coach Carlo Ancelotti made the call. At 34, after months of doubt over his fitness, Neymar's going to a fourth World Cup.

The scene said it all: fans packed outside the announcement venue in Rio, chanting his name on a loop, while inside, a banner behind Ancelotti read "It's forbidden to dream small." Very Brazil.

Whether he starts or comes off the bench, it's one of soccer's great "never count him out" stories.

🇺🇸 USMNT: the big reveal is Monday

One for the calendar: this Monday, May 26, U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino names his final 26-man World Cup squad at a live event at Pier 17 in New York — and we'll break down who made it (and who got snubbed) in Monday's edition.

Phrase: "Heavy metal football (soccer)"

Origin: Coined by manager Jürgen Klopp back in 2013. Asked how his style differed from Arsène Wenger's at Arsenal, Klopp said Wenger's passing game was "like an orchestra — a silent song," while his own was louder: "I like heavy metal more. I always want it loud!"

Definition: A fast, ferocious, in-your-face style — relentless pressing, chasing the ball down the second you lose it, and attacking at a hundred miles an hour. The opposite of patient, keep-the-ball soccer.

Usage: "Forget the slow build-up — these two teams went at each other for 90 minutes. Proper heavy metal football."

May 22, 2010: José Mourinho's Inter Milan beat Bayern Munich 2-0 in the Champions League final, Diego Milito scoring both, to complete the first treble in Italian history — league, cup and European crown in one season. Mourinho left for Real Madrid days later. Some exit.

Aston Villa win Europa League. Villa’s most famous fan, Prince William was there to witness his team win their first trophy in thirty years. Watch below to see the future King of England crying about football. We’ve all got our weakness.

Ronaldo's Saudi title was the 36th trophy of his career. Stacked as that is, he's still chasing his old rival — Lionel Messi sits on 46. The GOAT debate pours on.