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

I don’t say this lightly, but this might be the best Tap-Inn edition of all time? Here’s what I’ve poured for you today:

Let’s tap in.

An uninterrupted shot from 12 yards out. How could you miss?

Even the most average of soccer player could score ten penalties in a row in training without issue. But put them in a stadium in front of 60,000 with millions more watching on TV? Different story altogether.

So much so, that on average only about 78% of penalties are scored — pressure gets to even the best players in soccer.

But not me. Never missed a pressure-pen in my life. Pressure's for kegs.

"Okay, Joe, I believe you. But how do penalties actually work?"

There are two times you'll see a penalty in soccer:

The rules below apply to both. Here's how it shakes out:

Most penalties are taken with power into the corner.

But every now and then a brave (or insane) penalty taker will go for a Panenka — a soft little chip down the middle of the goal while the keeper dives while trying to predict where the shot is going.

It's named after Antonín Panenka who pulled it off in the Euro 1976 final to win the Czech Republic the trophy.

When it works, you're a poet. When it doesn't, you're a clown — just as Brahim Diaz found out in the AFCON final.

"It can’t get more bizarre than that, can it?"

Absolutely it can.

In 2016, Messi rolled the ball sideways for Suárez to slot home for Barcelona — turning a penalty into an assist. Audacious. Genius.

In 2005, Arsenal's Robert Pires and Thierry Henry attempted the original routine. It went so horrificly wrong it was no wonder it took eleven years before Messi and Suárez decided to attempt it again.

Want proof that pressure gets to the best of them? Three names for you:

Congrats — you've just scored knowledge.

City threw away a 3-1 lead at Everton on Monday to draw 3-3, leaving Arsenal 5 points clear at the top with 3 games to play (City have a game in hand). The Gunners are now firmly in the driving seat for their first title since 2004.

Here’s this weekend's pick of the fixtures:

Both semi-finals wrapped up this week. Recap below:

It's Arsenal vs PSG in the final on May 30th.

Pour yourself a tall one for this.

Real Madrid play Barcelona on Sunday in El Clásico, where a Barcelona win would hand them the league title. And the wheels are coming off the Madrid train in spectacular fashion.

This week alone:

Coach Álvaro Arbeloa has — to use a phrase you'll hear in the Quickfire below — lost the dressing room. He's reportedly being replaced in the summer.

Whether Real channel all this rage into a Clásico win or implode for the world to see is anyone's guess.

Mexico — AKA “El Tri” (The Tricolour) — are co-hosting next month's World Cup for the third time. What's their best ever World Cup result?

Answer at the bottom 👇

Co-hosting a World Cup should be the dream gig.

Get the home crowd. Skip qualifying. Pick your squad in peace. Pop a Corona. Easy.

Except this is Mexico. And this is the kind of story you couldn't make it up if you tried. Here's the situation:

So now Mexico's facing the real possibility of leaving big names off their World Cup squad — at home — over a club-vs-country squabble that didn't need to happen.

Keep sippin’:

Phrase: "Lost the dressing room"

Origin: A pretty literal one, this. The dressing room is where players change, talk, and — when things go south — vent. The phrase started cropping up in British soccer media in the 1990s to describe the moment a manager loses the trust, respect and buy-in of the squad.

Definition: Team chemistry and collective harmony are gone. Some senior players lead a mutiny against the coach who usually gets fired within weeks.

Usage: "Did you see Real Madrid's training ground stories this week? Arbeloa's lost the dressing room — three bust-ups in seven days. He'll be gone by June."

May 8, 2013: Aruably the great coach of all time, Sir Alex Ferguson announced his retirement from Manchester United after 26 years in charge.

When Alex Ferguson took over Manchester United in 1986, he famously said his mission was to “knock Liverpool FC right off their perch.” At the time, Liverpool were England’s dominant club with 18 league titles to United’s 7.

Ferguson finally did it in 2011, when United won their 19th league title — overtaking Liverpool after 25 years in charge (who in all that time didn’t win a single one).

United have been through 10 managers since trying to replace him and his 38 trophies he won the club. None have come close.

Adidas dropped their World Cup commercial this week — and it might be the most ridiculous (and/or glorious) two minutes of your day.

It's called "Backyard Legends" and the plot is somehow this: Timothée Chalamet assembles a team of global soccer royalty — including Messi and Beckham — to take on a neighborhood pickup squad that's apparently been undefeated for generations.

And even if none of those name’s mean nothing to you, maybe Chalamet’s opening line to bad Bunny will:

"What do I know about soccer? Nothing. I know about football, Benito. Football."

Go on, give it a watch.

Mexico have made the quarter-finals twice in their entire World Cup history — both times as hosts (1970 and 1986).

That's why Mexican fans have a name for the elusive next step: el quinto partido — the fifth match. Get out of the group (3 games) + win a Round of 16 (4) + win a quarter-final (5).

¡Buena suerte (good luck) amigos!