TAKEN FROM FRIDAY'S EMAIL NOTES ....

Justin Rose made a very nice start at the BMW PGA shooting a five under par 67 which leaves him in a tie for second place, he is ranked number one on the US Tour this year for second round scoring, so, every reason to expect him to put in another solid showing this morning. He starts at 08.15 UK time, so will probably have played 3-4 holes by the time I send this email out.

I am going to keep things very simple today and just preview the Copa del Rey final, but the rest of the weekend is incredibly busy and there will be two emails on each of the next two days. Schedule for these is shown below , along with probably content, but this is subject to change .

SATURDAY

EMAIL #1

10.00 UK time: 3-4 football matches, including one early lunchtime kick off and any thoughts from Round 3 of the two golf tournaments we are covering this week.

EMAIL # 2

12.00 UK time : The late MLS matches and a first look at the French Open Tennis, following the Friday draw.

SUNDAY

EMAIL # 1

09.00 UK time: All afternoon football fixtures, including the League 2 Playoff final and Matchday one  from Roland Garros.

11.30 UK time : Round 4 of BMW PGA and Crowne Plaza, plus the overnight football fixtures ( possibly two previews).

COPA DEL REY FINAL : BARCELONA - ATHLETIC BILBAO

If the politics can be forgotten for at least 90 minutes this evening, these two could serve us up a classic. Despite only finishing tenth in La liga, Athletic have had a wonderful campaign and have thrilled us at times, many times infact and I am hopeful that after pretty lethargic showings in their last handful of starts, when they looked to be running on empty, that they have one final performance in them, before this group of talented players is broken up. They have had 12 days to recharge their batteries and prepare for this and every single player will know how important this game is not only to their club and supporters, but the whole region. If they win, the party will be huge and there is talk of one million people crowding into the city to celebrate. I have a couple of concerns about Athletic, the squad is going to split and there are a couple of career defining and life changing moves in the offering and however much you love the club and it is in the blood of most/ all of these guys, it is only human to think that an injury could end all that and that will be at the back of some minds and also the pitch here at the Vicente Calderon Stadium was only relaid a couple of days ago following a Coldplay concert and might not be fully bedded down yet.

For Barcelona, this is Pep Guardiola’s final match in charge and the players will want to give him a good send off, this doesn't have to mean winning the cup, although of course they would like to, but playing the right way, the Barce way and I think that he and his opposite number Marcelo Bielsa, who are friends and have similar ideas on the game, would both be very happy with that. When the two teams met at San Mamés earlier this season, it finished 2-2...... REST OF THE PREVIEW IS RESTRICTED TO SUBSCRIBERS

As I type, Justin Rose is -2 for his first seven holes, so a good start to his second round.

Good Luck.