SHORT TAKES

• A short, incomplete preview of Saturday's Champions League final: Atletico Madrid is all about defense, Real Madrid is all about offense. Atletico would dearly love to score an early goal and depend on its stout defense to see the game out — a strategy that came within moments of success in the 2014 Champions League Final, when Real scored in stoppage time to tie the game at 1, then scored three times in extra time to win 4-1 and take home the European Cup. This would be a fascinating tactical game anyway, but the intra-Madrid rivalry adds some extra spice.

• According to The Economist, which quoted a Nielsen TV researcher, American soccer fans have more live soccer available on TV than fans in any other country. Between Internet streaming and expanded cable, there is hardly a game anywhere that's unavailable to American consumers — a true testament to the explosive growth in interest in the game here.

• Colorado plays Philadelphia Saturday night in MLS in what is a matchup of the first-place teams in both conferences. Given that both teams were abjectly, avert-your-eyes bad in 2015, this is perhaps the best example of the parity in MLS. It's like the league starts from scratch every single season.