Ten Hag’s FA Cup triumph, Xavi’s poor treatment at Barca, more

The European soccer season concluded with domestic cups in England and Germany up for grabs as well as the final round of games in Italy, Spain and France, and boy did we get some talking points. Manchester United’s embattled manager Erik ten Hag dialed it in perfectly to spring an FA Cup shock over Manchester City, Barcelona bid farewell to Xavi in less than gracious circumstances, and Bayern Munich seemed to settle on Vincent Kompany as their new manager. Wild, right?

Elsewhere, Bayer Leverkusen shrugged off the loss of their unbeaten season — after being resoundingly beaten by Atalanta in the UEFA Europa League final — to win the German Cup, Chelsea moved on from Mauricio Pochettino as manager, Kylian Mbappé had his final game as a Paris Saint-Germain player, Real Madrid said “adios” to Toni Kroos (and also previewed their likely Champions League final starting XI) — and much, much more.

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It’s Monday. Gab Marcotti reacts to the biggest moments in the world of football.

It might not save his job, but Erik ten Hag has gotten most things right on the pitch and triumphed off it in the FA Cup final

Yes, he has taken the brunt of criticism and derision for much of the year. Some of it unwarranted, some of it because he was unprepared (understandable: at Ajax, he had a highly visible chief executive and sporting director who spoke often; at United, he was the only voice), some of it because he made poor decisions. But on Saturday, Erik ten Hag got everything right, setting up Manchester United in the most effective way possible to blunt Manchester City and win the FA Cup.

Yes, it was based on counterattacking and transition. Yes, it relied on opposition mistakes. Yes, if City had scored first and forced United out of their shell, this could have been a thumping. But he maximized United’s chances of getting a result given their quality (and Manchester…